Title: Federal Spectrum Incentive Act of 2017
Policy area: Science, Technology, Communications

Summary:
Federal Spectrum Incentive Act of 2017
This bill amends the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act to allow federal entities that utilize government station licenses to participate in the incentive auction program under which licensees of electromagnetic spectrum voluntarily relinquish their spectrum rights in order for such spectrum to be auctioned for a repurposed commercial use in exchange for a percentage of the auction proceeds.
Instead of being reimbursed for the costs of sharing frequencies with nonfederal users or relocating to other frequencies as provided for under current law, such federal entities may receive a percentage of the proceeds from spectrum it relinquishes for auction by electing to: (1) discontinue operations on eligible frequencies without relocating to other frequencies, or (2) relocate operations to frequencies assigned to another federal entity in order for such entities to share frequencies.
The bill establishes in the Treasury a Federal Spectrum Incentive Fund to be administered by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in consultation with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
The bill requires 1% of the proceeds from such auctions to be deposited in such fund and the remainder to be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury for the sole purpose of deficit reduction.
OMB must transfer from the fund to a federal entity a specified amount attributable to the auction of frequencies vacated by such entity. Federal entities may use such amounts for: (1) any purposes permitted under the terms and conditions of an appropriations account that was subject to sequestration for any fiscal year under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, provided that the amount used does not exceed the amount by which the account was reduced by sequestration for such fiscal year; or (2) a transfer of amounts to an incumbent federal entity for such purposes when the federal entity relinquishing spectrum relocates its operations to frequencies assigned to another federal entity in order to share frequencies.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1888 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1888

To amend the National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
Organization Act to provide incentives for the reallocation of Federal 
    Government spectrum for commercial use, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 4, 2017

Mr. Guthrie (for himself and Ms. Matsui) introduced the following bill; 
  which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 
    addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
Organization Act to provide incentives for the reallocation of Federal 
    Government spectrum for commercial use, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Spectrum Incentive Act of 
2017''.

SEC. 2. FEDERAL SPECTRUM INCENTIVES.

    (a) Notice to Commission.--
            (1) In general.--Section 113(g)(4) of the National 
        Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization 
        Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)(4)) is amended--
                    (A) by striking the heading and inserting ``Notice 
                to commission.--'';
                    (B) in the second sentence of subparagraph (A), by 
                striking ``shall notify the Commission'' and all that 
                follows and inserting the following: ``shall notify the 
                Commission--
                            ``(i) of estimated relocation or sharing 
                        costs and timelines for such relocation or 
                        sharing; or
                            ``(ii) that, instead of relocation or 
                        sharing costs under this subsection and section 
                        118, a Federal entity will receive payment 
                        under section 120 because such entity is--
                                    ``(I) discontinuing the operations 
                                that the Federal entity conducts on 
                                such eligible frequencies without 
                                relocating such operations to other 
                                frequencies; or
                                    ``(II) relocating such operations 
                                to frequencies assigned to another 
                                Federal entity in order for such 
                                entities to share such frequencies.''; 
                                and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) This subsection and section 118 shall not 
                apply with respect to the discontinuance of operations 
                on eligible frequencies or the relocation of such 
                operations by a Federal entity after the Commission 
                receives notice under subparagraph (A)(ii) with respect 
                to such discontinuance or relocation.''.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--Section 113(g) of the National 
        Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization 
        Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (3)(A)(iii)(I), by striking 
                ``paragraph (4)(A)'' and inserting ``paragraph 
                (4)(A)(i)'';
                    (B) in paragraph (4)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
                        ``subparagraph (A)'' and inserting 
                        ``subparagraph (A)(i)''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 
                        ``subparagraphs (A) and (B)'' and inserting 
                        ``subparagraphs (A)(i) and (B)''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (5), by striking ``paragraph 
                (4)(A)'' and inserting ``paragraph (4)(A)(i)''.
    (b) Transition Plans.--Section 113(h) of the National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act (47 
U.S.C. 923(h)) is amended--
            (1) in the heading, by striking ``Relocation or Sharing'';
            (2) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
            ``(1) Development of transition plan by federal entity.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than 240 days before 
                the commencement of any auction of eligible frequencies 
                described in subsection (g)(2), a Federal entity 
                authorized to use any such frequency shall submit to 
                the NTIA and to the Technical Panel established by 
                paragraph (3) a transition plan in which the Federal 
                entity--
                            ``(i) declares the intention of such 
                        entity--
                                    ``(I) to share such eligible 
                                frequencies with a non-Federal user or 
                                to relocate to other frequencies, and 
                                to receive relocation or sharing costs 
                                from the Spectrum Relocation Fund 
                                established by section 118; or
                                    ``(II) to discontinue the 
                                operations that the Federal entity 
                                conducts on such eligible frequencies 
                                without relocating such operations to 
                                other frequencies or to relocate such 
                                operations to frequencies assigned to 
                                another Federal entity in order for 
                                such entities to share such 
                                frequencies, and to receive payment 
                                from the Federal Spectrum Incentive 
                                Fund established by section 120; and
                            ``(ii) describes how the entity will 
                        implement the relocation, sharing, or 
                        discontinuance arrangement.
                    ``(B) Common format.--The NTIA shall specify, after 
                public input, a common format for all Federal entities 
                to follow in preparing transition plans under this 
                paragraph.'';
            (3) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (D), by inserting ``, to 
                discontinue such use,'' after ``from such 
                frequencies'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (F), by inserting ``, 
                discontinuance,'' after ``relocation''; and
                    (C) in subparagraph (G), by striking ``The plans'' 
                and inserting ``To the extent applicable given the 
                intention declared by the entity under paragraph 
                (1)(A)(i), the plans'';
            (4) in paragraph (4)(A), by inserting ``(if applicable)'' 
        after ``timelines and'';
            (5) in paragraph (6)--
                    (A) by inserting ``(if applicable)'' after 
                ``costs''; and
                    (B) by inserting ``, discontinuance,'' after 
                ``relocation'' the second place it appears; and
            (6) in paragraph (7)(A)(ii), by inserting ``, 
        discontinuance,'' after ``relocation''.
    (c) Relocation or Discontinuance Prioritized Over Sharing.--Section 
113(j) of the National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(j)) is amended--
            (1) in the heading, by inserting ``or Discontinuance'' 
        after ``Relocation''; and
            (2) by inserting ``or discontinuance of the operations that 
        the Federal entity conducts on the band'' after ``from the 
        band'' each place it appears.
    (d) Deposit of Auction Proceeds.--Section 309(j)(8) of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(8)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (C)(i), by striking ``(D)(ii)'' and 
        inserting ``(D)(ii), (D)(iii)''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (D)--
                    (A) in clause (i), by striking ``clause (ii)'' and 
                inserting ``clauses (ii) and (iii)''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(iii) Federal spectrum incentives.--
                        Notwithstanding subparagraph (A) and except as 
                        provided in subparagraph (B) and clause (ii) of 
                        this subparagraph, in the case of proceeds 
                        (including deposits and upfront payments from 
                        successful bidders) attributable to the auction 
                        of eligible frequencies described in section 
                        113(g)(2) of the National Telecommunications 
                        and Information Administration Organization Act 
                        with respect to which the Commission has 
                        received notice under section 113(g)(4)(A)(ii) 
                        of such Act, 1 percent of such proceeds shall 
                        be deposited in the Federal Spectrum Incentive 
                        Fund established by section 120 of such Act and 
                        shall be available in accordance with such 
                        section. The remainder of such proceeds shall 
                        be deposited in the general fund of the 
                        Treasury, where such proceeds shall be 
                        dedicated for the sole purpose of deficit 
                        reduction.''.
    (e) Federal Spectrum Incentive Fund.--Part B of the National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act (47 
U.S.C. 921 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 120. FEDERAL SPECTRUM INCENTIVE FUND.

    ``(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury of the 
United States a fund to be known as the Federal Spectrum Incentive 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 consultation with the NTIA.
    ``(b) Transfer of Funds.--The Director of OMB shall transfer from 
the Fund to a Federal entity an amount equal to the amount deposited in 
accordance with section 309(j)(8)(D)(iii) of the Communications Act of 
1934 that is attributable to the auction of eligible frequencies 
described in section 113(g)(2) of this Act being vacated by such 
entity. Such amount shall be available to the Federal entity in 
accordance with subsection (c) and shall remain available until 
expended.
    ``(c) Use of Funds.--A Federal entity may use an amount transferred 
under subsection (b) for the following purposes:
            ``(1) Offset of sequestration.--Any purposes permitted 
        under the terms and conditions of an appropriations account of 
        the Federal entity that was subject to sequestration for any 
        fiscal year under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 
        Control Act of 1985. The amount used for such purposes under 
        this paragraph may not exceed the amount by which the amount 
        available to such entity under such account was reduced by 
        sequestration for such fiscal year.
            ``(2) Transfer to incumbent federal entity.--In the case of 
        a Federal entity that is relocating operations to frequencies 
        assigned to an incumbent Federal entity in order for such 
        entities to share such frequencies, to transfer an amount to 
        the incumbent Federal entity for any purposes permitted under 
        this subsection (except this paragraph). The transferred amount 
        shall remain available to the incumbent Federal entity until 
        expended.
    ``(d) Prohibition on Duplicative Payments.--If the Commission 
receives notice under section 113(g)(4)(A)(ii) of a discontinuance of 
operations on or relocation from eligible frequencies by a Federal 
entity that has received, from the Spectrum Relocation Fund in 
accordance with section 118(d)(3), relocation or sharing costs related 
to pre-auction estimates or research with respect to such frequencies, 
the Director of OMB shall deduct from the amount to be transferred to 
such entity under subsection (b) an amount equal to such costs and 
shall transfer such amount to the Spectrum Relocation Fund.''.
    (f) Department of Defense Spectrum.--Section 1062(b) of the 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (Public Law 
106-65) does not apply to frequencies with respect to which the Federal 
Communications Commission has received notice under section 
113(g)(4)(A)(ii) of the National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)(4)(A)(ii)).

SEC. 3. COSTS OF INCUMBENT FEDERAL ENTITIES RELATED TO SPECTRUM 
              SHARING.

    (a) Description of Eligible Federal Entities.--Section 113(g)(1) of 
the National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``authorized to use a band of eligible 
        frequencies described in paragraph (2)'';
            (2) by striking ``spectrum frequencies'' the first place it 
        appears and inserting ``eligible frequencies described in 
        paragraph (2)''; and
            (3) by striking ``spectrum frequencies'' the second place 
        it appears and inserting ``eligible frequencies described in 
        such paragraph''.
    (b) Definition of Relocation or Sharing Costs.--Section 
113(g)(3)(A) of the National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)(3)(A)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (iv)(II), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in clause (v), by striking the period and inserting ``; 
        and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(vi) the costs incurred by an incumbent 
                        Federal entity to accommodate sharing the 
                        spectrum frequencies assigned to such entity 
                        with a Federal entity the operations of which 
                        are being relocated from eligible frequencies 
                        described in paragraph (2), unless the 
                        Commission receives notice under paragraph 
                        (4)(A)(ii)(II) with respect to the relocation 
                        of such operations.''.
    (c) Spectrum Relocation Fund.--Section 118 of the National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act (47 
U.S.C. 928) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c), by striking ``with respect to'' and 
        all that follows and inserting the following: ``with respect 
        to--
            ``(1) relocation from or sharing of such eligible 
        frequencies; or
            ``(2) in the case of an incumbent Federal entity described 
        in section 113(g)(3)(A)(vi), accommodating sharing the spectrum 
        frequencies assigned to such entity with a Federal entity the 
        operations of which are being relocated from such eligible 
        frequencies.''; and
            (2) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ``(or, in the 
                case of an incumbent Federal entity described in 
                section 113(g)(3)(A)(vi), the eligible Federal entity 
                the operations of which are being relocated has 
                submitted such a plan)'' after ``transition plan''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (3)(B)(ii), by inserting ``except 
                in the case of an incumbent Federal entity described in 
                section 113(g)(3)(A)(vi),'' before ``the transition 
                plan''.
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