Spectrum Coexistence Act

To require the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to establish a working group on performance criteria for radio receivers, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Spectrum Coexistence Act 2. Working group on performance criteria for radio receivers (a) Establishment (1) In general Not later than 3 months after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and the Commission, shall convene a working group to develop, and periodically update, criteria, ratings, and other measures, including voluntary standards of radio receivers operating in Federal systems. (2) Purpose The purpose of the criteria, ratings, and other measures, including voluntary standards developed by the working group, shall be to encourage the design, manufacture, and sale of radio receivers operating in Federal systems that incorporate appropriate measures to provide interference immunity to ensure that the reasonable current and future use of cochannel or non-cochannel spectrum, including use by non-Federal systems of spectrum designated by the Commission for commercial operations, will not result in receiver operations being seriously degraded or obstructed, or their operations repeatedly interrupted. (3) Criteria In developing the receiver criteria, ratings, and other measures, the working group shall take into consideration the unique technical and operational characteristics of the different Federal systems. (b) Chair; members The Chair of the working group shall be the Secretary of Commerce and shall include representatives from the following: (1) The Assistant Secretary. (2) The Commission. (3) The telecommunications industry. (4) Academia. (c) Publication of criteria, rating, and other measures Not later than 18 months after the date on which the working group is established pursuant to subsection (a)(1), the Commission and Assistant Secretary shall publish the criteria, ratings, and other measures developed pursuant to subsection (a)(1) on a publicly accessible page on the website of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and in the Federal Register. (d) Periodic review and update Not less frequently than every 4 years, the working group shall review and update, if appropriate, the criteria, ratings, and other measures published pursuant to subsection (c). Any such update shall be published as described in subsection (c) not later than 14 days after the date on which the update is completed. (e) Savings clause No action taken by the working group, the Assistant Secretary, or the Commission pursuant to this section shall be used to impose any obligation on manufacturers with respect to any radio receivers designed to operate exclusively in non-Federal systems. (f) Definitions In this section: (1) Assistant Secretary The term Assistant Secretary (2) Commission The term Commission (3) Federal system The term Federal system

Summary: Spectrum Coexistence Act This bill requires the Department of Commerce to convene a working group to develop and periodically update technical specifications and other measures to minimize interference from commercial operations in the portions of the electromagnetic spectrum that are allocated for federal use or shared use. This includes developing voluntary standards and other measures for encouraging the design, manufacture, and sale of radio receivers operating in federal systems with features that provide interference immunity (i.e., features that limit interruptions or obstructions of federal operations when spectrum is shared). The working group must include representatives from federal agencies, the telecommunications industry, and academia. Additionally, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission must publish the measures developed by the working group on the website of the NTIA and in the Federal Register.