II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3490 

To clarify the rights and responsibilities of Federal entities in the spectrum 

relocation process, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 15, 2010 

Mr. WARNER (for himself and Mr. WICKER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To clarify the rights and responsibilities of Federal entities 

in the spectrum relocation process, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Spectrum Relocation 

5 Improvement Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF FEDERAL ENTI7 TIES IN THE SPECTRUM RELOCATION PROC8 ESS. 

9 (a) ELIGIBLE FEDERAL ENTITIES.—Section 

10 113(g)(1) of the National Telecommunications and InforVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:18 Jun 16, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3490.IS S3490

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1 mation Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 

2 923(g)(1)) is amended to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE FEDERAL ENTITIES.—Any Fed4 eral entity, as defined in subsection (i), that operates 

5 a Federal Government station assigned to a band of 

6 eligible frequencies, as described in paragraph (2), 

7 and that incurs relocation costs because of the re8 allocation of frequencies from Federal use to non9 Federal use shall receive payment for such costs 

10 from the Spectrum Relocation Fund if the Federal 

11 entity is found by the Office of Management and 

12 Budget (in this section referred to as ‘OMB’) to 

13 comply with the requirements of this section and 

14 section 118. For purposes of this paragraph, Fed15 eral power agencies exempted under subsection 

16 (c)(4) that choose to relocate from the frequencies 

17 identified for reallocation pursuant to subsection (a) 

18 are eligible to receive payment under this para19 graph.’’. 

20 (b) PUBLIC INFORMATION ON RELOCATION PROC21 ESS.—Section 113(g) of the National Telecommunications 

22 and Information Administration Organization Act (47 

23 U.S.C. 923(g)) is amended— 

24 (1) by redesignating paragraph (6) as para25 graph (7); and 


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1 (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol2 lowing new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(6) PUBLIC NOTICE OF RELOCATION PLANS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) Not later than 90 days after the date 

5 on which the NTIA, on behalf of eligible Fed6 eral entities and after review by OMB, notifies 

7 the Commission of estimated relocation costs 

8 and timelines for such relocation as required by 

9 paragraph (4)(A), NTIA shall post on its Web 

10 site detailed transition plans from each of the 

11 eligible Federal entities. Each Federal entity’s 

12 transition plan shall provide the public with the 

13 following information about its spectrum reloca14 tion requirements: 

15 ‘‘(i) Current use of the spectrum. 

16 ‘‘(ii) Geographic location of the Fed17 eral entities’ facilities or systems. 

18 ‘‘(iii) Frequency bands used by such 

19 facilities or systems, described by geo20 graphic location. 

21 ‘‘(iv) The steps to be taken by the 

22 Federal entity to relocate its current spec23 trum uses from the eligible frequencies, de24 tailed according to timelines for specific 

25 geographic locations in sufficient detail to 


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1 indicate when use of such frequencies at 

2 specific locations will be shared between 

3 the Federal entity and the commercial li4 censee. 

5 ‘‘(v) The specific interactions between 

6 eligible Federal entities and NTIA needed 

7 to implement the transition plan. 

8 ‘‘(vi) The name of the director, offi9 cer, or employee responsible for the Fed10 eral entity’s relocation efforts and who is 

11 authorized to meet and negotiate with 

12 commercial licensees regarding the reloca13 tion process. 

14 ‘‘(vii) The Federal entity’s plans and 

15 timeline for using relocation funds received 

16 from the Spectrum Relocation Fund. 

17 ‘‘(viii) The Federal entity’s plans and 

18 timeline for procuring new equipment and 

19 additional personnel needed for the reloca20 tion. 

21 ‘‘(ix) The Federal entity’s plans and 

22 timeline for field-testing and deploying new 

23 equipment needed in the relocation. 


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1 ‘‘(x) The Federal entity’s plans and 

2 timeline for hiring and relying on contract 

3 personnel, if any. 

4 ‘‘(xi) Risk factors in the relocation 

5 process that could affect the Federal enti6 ty’s fulfillment of its transition plan. 

7 ‘‘(B) To be eligible to receive payment for 

8 relocation costs from the Spectrum Relocation 

9 Fund— 

10 ‘‘(i) Federal entities shall make the 

11 transition plans described in this sub12 section available to NTIA at least 90 days 

13 prior to the date that NTIA shall make 

14 such plans publicly available on its Web 

15 site pursuant to subparagraph (A), in a 

16 common format to be specified by NTIA 

17 after public input; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) each transition plan shall be 

19 evaluated by a standing 3-member tech20 nical panel (in this section referred to as 

21 the ‘Technical Panel’), which shall report 

22 to NTIA and to the Federal entity, within 

23 30 days after the plan’s submission to 

24 NTIA, on the sufficiency of the plan under 

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1 quired public information is included and 

2 whether proposed timelines and estimated 

3 relocation costs, including costs proposed 

4 for expanding the capabilities of a Federal 

5 system in connection with relocation, are 

6 reasonable. 

7 ‘‘(C) The Director of OMB, the Adminis8 trator of NTIA, in consultation with the af9 fected Federal entities, and the Chairman of 

10 the Commission shall each appoint one member 

11 to the Technical Panel, and each such member 

12 shall be a radio engineer or technical expert. 

13 NTIA shall adopt regulations to govern the 

14 workings of the Technical Panel after public no15 tice and comment, subject to OMB approval, 

16 and the members of the Technical Panel shall 

17 be appointed, within 180 days of the date of en18 actment of the Spectrum Relocation Improve19 ment Act of 2010. No person shall serve as a 

20 member of the Technical Panel for more than 

21 18 months. 

22 ‘‘(D) If any of the information otherwise 

23 required by this paragraph is ‘classified infor24 mation’, as that term is defined in section 

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1 eral entity’s transition plan shall explain the ex2 clusion of any such information as specifically 

3 as possible, shall make all relevant non-classi4 fied information available in its transition plan, 

5 and shall discuss as a risk factor the extent of 

6 the classified information and the effect on the 

7 relocation process of the classified information. 

8 ‘‘(E) NTIA, in consultation with OMB and 

9 the Department of Defense, shall adopt regula10 tions within 180 days of the date of enactment 

11 the Spectrum Relocation Improvement Act of 

12 2010 to ensure information released publicly for 

13 the purpose of this paragraph contains no sen14 sitive or classified information.’’. 

15 (c) SHARING AND COORDINATION OF SPECTRUM BE16 TWEEN COMMERCIAL LICENSEES AND FEDERAL ENTI17 TIES DURING RELOCATION TRANSITION.—Section 118 of 

18 the National Telecommunications and Information Ad19 ministration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 928) is amend20 ed by adding at the end the following new subsections: 

21 ‘‘(f) ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENT OF RELOCATION

22 COSTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) SPECTRUM SHARING.—To be eligible to re24 ceive payment for relocation costs from the Spec25 trum Relocation Fund, a Federal entity shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) in its transition plan for relocating its 

2 current spectrum uses, provide— 

3 ‘‘(i) to the fullest extent possible, for 

4 sharing and coordination of eligible fre5 quencies with commercial licensees, includ6 ing reasonable accommodation by the Fed7 eral entity for the use of eligible fre8 quencies by the commercial licensee during 

9 the period that the Federal entity is relo10 cating its spectrum uses (in this subsection 

11 referred to as the ‘transition period’); and 

12 ‘‘(ii) a presumption that commercial 

13 licensees shall be able to use eligible fre14 quencies during the transition period in ge15 ographic areas where the Federal entity 

16 does not utilize those frequencies; 

17 ‘‘(B) during the transition period, make 

18 itself available, within 30 days after a written 

19 request, for negotiation and discussion with 

20 commercial licensees; and 

21 ‘‘(C) during the transition period, make 

22 available to a commercial licensee with appro23 priate security clearances any ‘classified infor24 mation’ as that term is defined in section 

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1 ing the relocation process, on a need-to-know 

2 basis, to assist the commercial licensee in the 

3 relocation process with that Federal entity or 

4 other Federal entities. 

5 ‘‘(2) TIMELY AND SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION

6 OF RELOCATION.—In addition to the conditions of 

7 paragraph (1), to be eligible to receive payment for 

8 relocation costs from the Spectrum Relocation Fund, 

9 a Federal entity— 

10 ‘‘(A) shall complete the relocation of its 

11 current spectrum uses not later than 1 year 

12 after the date upon which funds are transferred 

13 to the entity to fund the relocation; 

14 ‘‘(B) may complete the relocation of its 

15 current spectrum use at a time period different 

16 that required under subparagraph (A), if prior 

17 to the date the Technical Panel (as described in 

18 section 113(g)(6)(C)) is required to post pub19 licly the Federal entity’s transition plan, the 

20 Federal entity receives written approval from 

21 the Office of Management and Budget (in this 

22 section referred to as ‘OMB’), with the advice 

23 of the Technical Panel; and 

24 ‘‘(C) shall make available to NTIA, not 

25 later than 15 days prior to the date that is the 


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1 halfway point of the time period described in 

2 subparagraph (A), a complete update of its 

3 transition plan, provided that NTIA shall post 

4 such update publicly on its Web site not later 

5 than the date that is the halfway point of the 

6 time period described in subparagraph (A). 

7 ‘‘(3) Nothing in paragraphs (1) or (2) shall be 

8 construed to adversely affect critical communications 

9 related to the mission of any Federal entity. 

10 ‘‘(4) Subject to subsection (d), payments for re11 location costs from the Spectrum Relocation Fund 

12 shall be made to an eligible Federal entity not later 

13 than 30 days after the grant of the first license fol14 lowing the close of the auction. 

15 ‘‘(g) DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) If, during the spectrum relocation process, 

17 a dispute arises over the execution, timing, or cost 

18 of the Federal entity’s transition plan, either the 

19 Federal entity or the affected commercial licensee 

20 may seek resolution of the dispute from a 3-member 

21 dispute resolution board, consisting of a representa22 tive of OMB, NTIA, and the Commission, and 

23 chaired by the representative of OMB. 

24 ‘‘(2) The dispute resolution board shall meet 

25 with representatives of the Federal entity involved in 


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1 the dispute and the commercial licensee together to 

2 discuss the dispute. The dispute resolution board 

3 may require the parties to make written submissions 

4 to it. The dispute resolution board shall rule on any 

5 dispute within 30 days after the date that the dis6 pute was brought before it. 

7 ‘‘(3) The dispute resolution board shall be as8 sisted by the Technical Panel described in section 

9 113(g)(6)(C). 

10 ‘‘(4) Subject to OMB approval, NTIA shall 

11 adopt regulations to govern the working of the dis12 pute resolution board and the role of the Technical 

13 Panel after public notice and comment within 180 

14 days after the date of enactment of the Spectrum 

15 Relocation Improvement Act of 2010. 

16 ‘‘(5) Appeals may be taken from decisions of 

17 the dispute resolution board to the United States 

18 Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Cir19 cuit by filing a notice of appeal with that court with20 in 30 days after the date of such decision. Each 

21 party shall bear its own costs and expenses, includ22 ing attorneys’ fees, for any litigation to enforce this 

23 subsection or any decision rendered under it.’’. 

Æ 


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