116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7310 
AN ACT 
To require the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Commu-
nications and Information to submit to Congress a plan 
for the modernization of the information technology sys-
tems of the National Telecommunications and Informa-
tion Administration, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Spectrum IT Mod-
ernization Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. MODERNIZATION EFFORT. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
(1) the term ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’ means the 
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communica-
tions and Information; 
(2) the term ‘‘covered agency’’— 
(A) means any Federal entity that the As-
sistant Secretary determines is appropriate; and 
(B) includes the Department of Defense; 
(3) the term ‘‘Federal entity’’ has the meaning 
given the term in section 113(l) of the National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration 
Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(l)); 
(4) the term ‘‘Federal spectrum’’ means fre-
quencies assigned on a primary basis to a covered 
agency; 
(5) the term ‘‘infrastructure’’ means informa-
tion technology systems and information tech-
nologies, tools, and databases; and 
(6) the term ‘‘NTIA’’ means the National Tele-
communications and Information Administration. 
(b) INITIAL INTERAGENCY SPECTRUM INFORMATION 
TECHNOLOGY COORDINATION.—Not later than 90 days
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Sec-
retary, in consultation with the Policy and Plans Steering 
Group, shall identify a process to establish goals, including 
parameters to measure the achievement of those goals, for 
the modernization of the infrastructure of covered agen-
cies relating to managing the use of Federal spectrum by 
those agencies, which shall include— 
(1) the standardization of data inputs, modeling 
algorithms, modeling and simulation processes, anal-
ysis tools with respect to Federal spectrum, assump-
tions, and any other tool to ensure interoperability 
and functionality with respect to that infrastructure; 
(2) other potential innovative technological ca-
pabilities with respect to that infrastructure, includ-
ing cloud-based databases, artificial intelligence tech-
nologies, automation, and improved modeling and 
simulation capabilities; 
(3) ways to improve the management of covered 
agencies’ use of Federal spectrum through that in-
frastructure, including by— 
(A) increasing the efficiency of that infra-
structure; 
(B) addressing validation of usage with re-
spect to that infrastructure;
(C) increasing the accuracy of that infra-
structure; 
(D) validating models used by that infra-
structure; and 
(E) monitoring and enforcing requirements 
that are imposed on covered agencies with re-
spect to the use of Federal spectrum by covered 
agencies; 
(4) ways to improve the ability of covered agen-
cies to meet mission requirements in congested envi-
ronments with respect to Federal spectrum, includ-
ing as part of automated adjustments to operations 
based on changing conditions in those environments; 
(5) the creation of a time-based automated 
mechanism— 
(A) to share Federal spectrum between 
covered agencies to collaboratively and dynami-
cally increase access to Federal spectrum by 
those agencies; and 
(B) that could be scaled across Federal 
spectrum; and 
(6) the collaboration between covered agencies 
necessary to ensure the interoperability of Federal 
spectrum.
(c) SPECTRUM INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MOD-
ERNIZATION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 240 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Assist-
ant Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that 
contains the plan of the NTIA to modernize and 
automate the infrastructure of the NTIA relating to 
managing the use of Federal spectrum by covered 
agencies so as to more efficiently manage that use. 
(2) CONTENTS.—The report required under 
paragraph (1) shall include— 
(A) an assessment of the current, as of the 
date on which the report is submitted, infra-
structure of the NTIA described in that para-
graph; 
(B) an acquisition strategy for the modern-
ized infrastructure of the NTIA described in 
that paragraph, including how that modernized 
infrastructure will enable covered agencies to be 
more efficient and effective in the use of Fed-
eral spectrum; 
(C) a timeline for the implementation of 
the modernization efforts described in that 
paragraph;
(D) plans detailing how the modernized in-
frastructure of the NTIA described in that 
paragraph will— 
(i) enhance the security and reliability 
of that infrastructure so that such infra-
structure satisfies the requirements of the 
Federal Information Security Management 
Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–296; 116 
Stat. 2135); 
(ii) improve data models and analysis 
tools to increase the efficiency of the spec-
trum use described in that paragraph; 
(iii) enhance automation and work-
flows, and reduce the scope and level of 
manual effort, in order to— 
(I) administer the management 
of the spectrum use described in that 
paragraph; and 
(II) improve data quality and 
processing time; and 
(iv) improve the timeliness of spec-
trum analyses and requests for informa-
tion, including requests submitted pursu-
ant to section 552 of title 5, United States 
Code;
(E) an operations and maintenance plan 
with respect to the modernized infrastructure of 
the NTIA described in that paragraph; 
(F) a strategy for coordination between the 
covered agencies within the Policy and Plans 
Steering Group, which shall include— 
(i) a description of— 
(I) those coordination efforts, as 
in effect on the date on which the re-
port is submitted; and 
(II) a plan for coordination of 
those efforts after the date on which 
the report is submitted, including with 
respect to the efforts described in sub-
section (d); 
(ii) a plan for standardizing— 
(I) 
electromagnetic 
spectrum 
analysis tools; 
(II) modeling and simulation 
processes and technologies; and 
(III) databases to provide tech-
nical interference assessments that 
are usable across the Federal Govern-
ment as part of a common spectrum
management infrastructure for cov-
ered agencies; 
(iii) a plan for each covered agency to 
implement a modernization plan described 
in subsection (d)(1) that is tailored to the 
particular timeline of the agency; 
(G) identification of manually intensive 
processes involved in managing Federal spec-
trum and proposed enhancements to those proc-
esses; 
(H) metrics to evaluate the success of the 
modernization efforts described in that para-
graph and any similar future efforts; and 
(I) an estimate of the cost of the mod-
ernization efforts described in that paragraph 
and any future maintenance with respect to the 
modernized infrastructure of the NTIA de-
scribed in that paragraph, including the cost of 
any personnel and equipment relating to that 
maintenance. 
(d) INTERAGENCY INPUTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the head of each 
covered agency shall submit to the Assistant Sec-
retary and the Policy and Plans Steering Group a
report that describes the plan of the agency to mod-
ernize the infrastructure of the agency with respect 
to the use of Federal spectrum by the agency so that 
such modernized infrastructure of the agency is 
interoperable with the modernized infrastructure of 
the NTIA, as described in subsection (c). 
(2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted by the 
head of a covered agency under paragraph (1) 
shall— 
(A) include— 
(i) an assessment of the current, as of 
the date on which the report is submitted, 
management capabilities of the agency 
with respect to the use of frequencies that 
are assigned to the agency, which shall in-
clude a description of any challenges faced 
by the agency with respect to that manage-
ment; 
(ii) a timeline for completion of the 
modernization efforts described in that 
paragraph; 
(iii) a description of potential innova-
tive technological capabilities for the man-
agement of frequencies that are assigned
to the agency, as determined under sub-
section (b); 
(iv) identification of agency-specific 
requirements or constraints relating to the 
infrastructure of the agency; 
(v) identification of any existing, as of 
the date on which the report is submitted, 
systems of the agency that are duplicative 
of the modernized infrastructure of the 
NTIA, as proposed under subsection (c); 
and 
(vi) with respect to the report sub-
mitted by the Secretary of Defense— 
(I) a strategy for the integration 
of systems or the flow of data among 
the Armed Forces, the military de-
partments, the Defense Agencies and 
Department of Defense Field Activi-
ties, and other components of the De-
partment of Defense; 
(II) a plan for the implementa-
tion of solutions to the use of Federal 
spectrum by the Department of De-
fense involving information at multiple 
levels of classification; and