IIB 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1320
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JUNE 12, 2003
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation 
AN ACT 
To amend the National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration Organization Act to facilitate the re-
allocation of spectrum from governmental to commercial 
users.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
HR 1320 RFS 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commercial Spectrum 
Enhancement Act’’. 
SEC. 2. RELOCATION OF ELIGIBLE FEDERAL ENTITIES FOR 
THE 
REALLOCATION 
OF 
SPECTRUM 
FOR 
COMMERCIAL PURPOSES. 
Section 113(g) of the National Telecommunications 
and Information Administration Organization Act (47 
U.S.C. 923(g)) is amended by striking paragraphs (1) 
through (3) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE FEDERAL ENTITIES.—Any Fed-
eral entity that operates a Federal Government sta-
tion assigned to a band of frequencies specified in 
paragraph (2) and that incurs relocation costs be-
cause of the reallocation of frequencies from Federal 
use to non-Federal use shall receive payment for 
such costs from the Spectrum Relocation Fund, in 
accordance with section 118 of this Act. For pur-
poses of this paragraph, Federal power agencies ex-
empted under subsection (c)(4) that choose to relo-
cate from the frequencies identified for reallocation 
pursuant to subsection (a), are eligible to receive 
payment under this paragraph. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE FREQUENCIES.—The bands of 
eligible frequencies for purposes of this section are 
as follows:
HR 1320 RFS 
‘‘(A) the 216–220 megahertz band, the 
1432–1435 megahertz band, the 1710–1755 
megahertz band, and the 2385–2390 megahertz 
band of frequencies; and 
‘‘(B) any other band of frequencies reallo-
cated from Federal use to non-Federal use after 
January 1, 2003, that is assigned by competi-
tive bidding pursuant to section 309(j) of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
309(j)), except for bands of frequencies pre-
viously identified by the National Telecommuni-
cations and Information Administration in the 
Spectrum Reallocation Final Report, NTIA 
Special Publication 95–32 (1995). 
‘‘(3) DEFINITION OF RELOCATION COSTS.—For 
purposes of this subsection, the term ‘relocation 
costs’ means the costs incurred by a Federal entity 
to achieve comparable capability of systems, regard-
less of whether that capability is achieved by relo-
cating to a new frequency assignment or by utilizing 
an alternative technology. Such costs include—
‘‘(A) the costs of any modification or re-
placement of equipment, software, facilities, op-
erating manuals, training costs, or regulations 
that are attributable to relocation;
HR 1320 RFS 
‘‘(B) the costs of all engineering, equip-
ment, software, site acquisition and construc-
tion costs, as well as any legitimate and pru-
dent transaction expense, including outside con-
sultants, and reasonable additional costs in-
curred by the Federal entity that are attrib-
utable to relocation, including increased recur-
ring costs associated with the replacement fa-
cilities; 
‘‘(C) the costs of engineering studies, eco-
nomic analyses, or other expenses reasonably 
incurred in calculating the estimated relocation 
costs that are provided to the Commission pur-
suant to paragraph (4) of this subsection; 
‘‘(D) the one-time costs of any modifica-
tion of equipment reasonably necessary to ac-
commodate commercial use of such frequencies 
prior to the termination of the Federal entity’s 
primary allocation or protected status, when the 
eligible frequencies as defined in paragraph (2) 
of this subsection are made available for private 
sector uses by competitive bidding and a Fed-
eral entity retains primary allocation or pro-
tected status in those frequencies for a period
HR 1320 RFS 
of time after the completion of the competitive 
bidding process; and 
‘‘(E) the costs associated with the acceler-
ated replacement of systems and equipment if 
such acceleration is necessary to ensure the 
timely relocation of systems to a new frequency 
assignment. 
‘‘(4) NOTICE TO COMMISSION OF ESTIMATED 
RELOCATION COSTS.—
‘‘(A) The Commission shall notify the 
NTIA at least 18 months prior to the com-
mencement of any auction of eligible fre-
quencies defined in paragraph (2). At least 6 
months prior to the commencement of any such 
auction, the NTIA, on behalf of the Federal en-
tities and after review by the Office of Manage-
ment and Budget, shall notify the Commission 
of estimated relocation costs and timelines for 
such relocation. 
‘‘(B) Upon timely request of a Federal en-
tity, the NTIA shall provide such entity with in-
formation regarding an alternative frequency 
assignment or assignments to which their 
radiocommunications operations could be relo-
cated for purposes of calculating the estimated
HR 1320 RFS 
relocation costs and timelines to be submitted 
to the Commission pursuant to subparagraph 
(A). 
‘‘(C) To the extent practicable and con-
sistent with national security considerations, 
the NTIA shall provide the information re-
quired by subparagraphs (A) and (B) by the ge-
ographic location of the Federal entities’ facili-
ties or systems and the frequency bands used 
by such facilities or systems. 
‘‘(5) NOTICE TO CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES 
AND GAO.—The NTIA shall, at the time of providing 
an initial estimate of relocation costs to the Commis-
sion under paragraph (4)(A), submit to the Commit-
tees on Appropriations and Energy and Commerce 
of the House of Representatives, the Committees on 
Appropriations and Commerce, Science, and Trans-
portation of the Senate, and the Comptroller Gen-
eral a copy of such estimate and the timelines for re-
location. 
‘‘(6) IMPLEMENTATION OF PROCEDURES.—The 
NTIA shall take such actions as necessary to ensure 
the timely relocation of Federal entities’ spectrum-
related operations from frequencies defined in para-
graph (2) to frequencies or facilities of comparable
HR 1320 RFS 
capability. Upon a finding by the NTIA that a Fed-
eral entity has achieved comparable capability of sys-
tems by relocating to a new frequency assignment or 
by utilizing an alternative technology, the NTIA 
shall terminate the entity’s authorization and notify 
the Commission that the entity’s relocation has been 
completed. The NTIA shall also terminate such enti-
ty’s authorization if the NTIA determines that the 
entity has unreasonably failed to comply with the 
timeline for relocation submitted by the Director of 
the Office of Management and Budget under section 
118(d)(2)(B).’’. 
SEC. 3. MINIMUM AUCTION RECEIPTS AND DISPOSITION OF 
PROCEEDS. 
(a) AUCTION DESIGN.—Section 309(j)(3) of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(3)) is 
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (D); 
(2) by striking the period at the end of sub-
paragraph (E) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(F) for any auction of eligible frequencies 
described in section 113(g)(2) of the National
HR 1320 RFS 
Telecommunications and Information Adminis-
tration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)(2)), 
the recovery of 110 percent of estimated reloca-
tion costs as provided to the Commission pursu-
ant to section 113(g)(4) of such Act.’’. 
(b) SPECIAL AUCTION PROVISIONS FOR ELIGIBLE 
FREQUENCIES.—Section 309(j) of such Act is further 
amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(15) SPECIAL AUCTION PROVISIONS FOR ELI-
GIBLE FREQUENCIES.—
‘‘(A) SPECIAL REGULATIONS.—The Com-
mission shall revise the regulations prescribed 
under paragraph (4)(F) of this subsection to 
prescribe methods by which the total cash pro-
ceeds from any auction of eligible frequencies 
described in section 113(g)(2) of the National 
Telecommunications and Information Adminis-
tration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)(2)) 
shall at least equal 110 percent of the total esti-
mated relocation costs provided to the Commis-
sion pursuant to section 113(g)(4) of such Act. 
‘‘(B) CONCLUSION OF AUCTIONS CONTIN-
GENT ON MINIMUM PROCEEDS.—The Commis-
sion shall not conclude any auction of eligible
HR 1320 RFS 
frequencies described in section 113(g)(2) of 
such Act if the total cash proceeds attributable 
to such spectrum are less than 110 percent of 
the total estimated relocation costs provided to 
the Commission pursuant to section 113(g)(4) 
of such Act. If the Commission is unable to 
conclude an auction for the foregoing reason, 
the Commission shall cancel the auction, return 
within 45 days after the auction cancellation 
date any deposits from participating bidders 
held in escrow, and absolve such bidders from 
any obligation to the United States to bid in 
any subsequent reauction of such spectrum. 
‘‘(C) AUTHORITY TO ISSUE PRIOR TO DE-
AUTHORIZATION.—In any auction conducted 
under the regulations required by subparagraph 
(A), the Commission may grant a license as-
signed for the use of eligible frequencies prior 
to the termination of an eligible Federal entity’s 
authorization. However, the Commission shall 
condition such license by requiring that the li-
censee cannot cause harmful interference to 
such Federal entity until such entity’s author-
ization has been terminated by the National
HR 1320 RFS 
Telecommunications and Information Adminis-
tration.’’. 
(c) DEPOSIT OF PROCEEDS.—Paragraph (8) of sec-
tion 309(j) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
309(j)) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or sub-
paragraph (D)’’ after ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(D) DISPOSITION OF CASH PROCEEDS.—
Cash proceeds attributable to the auction of any 
eligible 
frequencies 
described 
in 
section 
113(g)(2) of the National Telecommunications 
and Information Administration Organization 
Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)(2)) shall be deposited in 
the Spectrum Relocation Fund established 
under section 118 of such Act, and shall be 
available in accordance with that section.’’. 
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND AND PROCEDURES. 
Part B of the National Telecommunications and In-
formation Administration Organization Act is amended by 
adding after section 117 (47 U.S.C. 927) the following 
new section:
HR 1320 RFS 
‘‘SEC. 118. SPECTRUM RELOCATION FUND. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF SPECTRUM RELOCATION 
FUND.—There is established on the books of the Treasury 
a separate fund to be known as the ‘Spectrum Relocation 
Fund’ (in this section referred to as the ‘Fund’), which 
shall be administered by the Office of Management and 
Budget (in this section referred to as ‘OMB’), in consulta-
tion with the NTIA. 
‘‘(b) CREDITING OF RECEIPTS.—The Fund shall be 
credited 
with 
the 
amounts 
specified 
in 
section 
309(j)(8)(D) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
U.S.C. 309(j)(8)(D)). 
‘‘(c) USED
TO
PAY
RELOCATION
COSTS.—The 
amounts in the Fund from auctions of eligible frequencies 
are authorized to be used to pay relocation costs, as de-
fined in section 113(g)(3) of this Act, of an eligible Fed-
eral entity incurring such costs with respect to relocation 
from those frequencies. 
‘‘(d) FUND AVAILABILITY.—
‘‘(1) APPROPRIATION.—There are hereby ap-
propriated from the Fund such sums as are required 
to pay the relocation costs specified in subsection 
(c). 
‘‘(2) TRANSFER
CONDITIONS.—None of the 
funds provided under this subsection may be trans-
ferred to any eligible Federal entity—