(1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 
‘‘No person’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(b) EXCEPTION FOR PRISONS.— 
‘‘(1) Waiver.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the 
Federal Bureau of Prisons or the chief execu-
tive officer of a State (or his or her designee) 
may, by petition, request that the Commission 
grant a waiver of subsection (a) to permit the 
installation of devices for the sole purpose of 
preventing, jamming, or interfering with wire-
less communications within the geographic 
boundaries of a specified prison, penitentiary, 
or correctional facility under his or her jurisdic-
tion. 
‘‘(B) TERM.—A waiver granted under this 
subsection shall be for a term not to exceed 10 
years, but shall be renewable by petition. 
‘‘(C) FEE.—The Commission may not 
charge a filing fee for a petition under this 
paragraph. 
‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION; DATABASE.— 
‘‘(A) NOTIFICATION OF CARRIERS.—Upon 
receipt of a petition under paragraph (1), the 
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Commission shall provide a copy of the petition 
to each commercial mobile service provider serv-
ing the area that includes the prison, peniten-
tiary, or correctional facility to which the peti-
tion applies. 
‘‘(B) DATABASE.—The Commission shall 
maintain an electronic database containing a 
copy of each such petition received by it and the 
disposition thereof. The Commission shall up-
date the database at least monthly and shall 
make the database publicly available on the 
Commission’s Internet website and publish a 
copy of the database in the Federal Register at 
least quarterly. 
‘‘(3) DISPOSITION
OF
PETITION.—In deter-
mining whether to grant a requested waiver, the 
Commission shall consider, among other factors, 
whether the grant of the waiver would interfere with 
emergency or public safety communications. The 
Commission shall act on a request under this sub-
section within 60 calendar days after the date on 
which the Commission receives the petition. 
‘‘(4) TRANSFER PROHIBITED.—A prison, peni-
tentiary, or correctional facility that receives a waiv-
er pursuant to this subsection may not transfer the 
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ownership or right to use any device authorized pur-
suant to the waiver to any third party for use out-
side the area of the prison, penitentiary, or correc-
tional facility for which the waiver was granted. 
‘‘(5) LIMITATIONS
ON
USE.—Within 1 year 
after the date of enactment of the Safe Prisons 
Communications Act of 2009, the Commission shall 
adopt final regulations governing the use of devices 
authorized by a waiver under this subsection that, at 
a minimum, require that the prison, penitentiary, or 
correctional facility— 
‘‘(A) utilize a device— 
‘‘(i) authorized by the Commission; 
and 
‘‘(ii) specifically approved by the Com-
mission for the purpose described in para-
graph (1); 
‘‘(B) operate the device at the lowest pos-
sible transmission power necessary to prevent, 
jam, or interfere with wireless communications 
by inmates; and 
‘‘(C) operate the device in a manner that 
does not interfere with wireless communications 
that originate and terminate outside the area of 
the prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility, 
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by operating the device on a directionalized 
basis, by utilizing all other interference-limiting 
capabilities available to the device, or otherwise. 
‘‘(6) SUSPENSION; REVOCATION.— 
‘‘(A) TERMINATION
OR
SUSPENSION
OF 
WAIVER.— 
‘‘(i) NOTICE
FROM
PROVIDER.—The 
Commission shall suspend a waiver grant-
ed under this subsection with respect to a 
prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility 
upon receiving written notice from a com-
mercial mobile service provider, supported 
by affidavit and such documentation as the 
Commission may require, stating that use 
of a device by or at such prison, peniten-
tiary, or correctional facility is interfering 
with commercial mobile service provided by 
that provider or is otherwise preventing or 
jamming such communications (other than 
within the confines of such prison, peniten-
tiary, or correctional facility). Within 90 
days after receiving such a notice and doc-
umentation, the Commission shall conclude 
an investigation to determine whether the 
device authorized for use at the prison, 
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penitentiary, or correctional facility is 
causing such interference and shall issue 
an order reinstating, modifying, or termi-
nating the waiver based on its findings and 
conclusions. 
‘‘(ii) NONCOMPLIANT USAGE.—If the 
Commission has reason to believe that a 
prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility 
for which a waiver has been granted under 
this subsection is not in compliance with 
the regulations under this subsection, the 
Commission shall suspend the waiver until 
it can make a determination with respect 
to such compliance after notice and an op-
portunity for a hearing. 
‘‘(B) REVOCATION.—The Commission may 
revoke a waiver under this section for willful or 
repeated violations, or failure to observe the re-
quirements, of the waiver or the regulations 
promulgated by the Commission under this sub-
section. 
‘‘(C) INTERIM USAGE.—If the Commission 
initiates a suspension or a revocation pro-
ceeding under this paragraph, it may prohibit 
use of the device to which the waiver relates at 
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