Government Spectrum Valuation Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 553 To require the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to estimate the value of electromagnetic spectrum assigned or otherwise allocated to Federal entities. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 3, 2021 Mr. LEE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to estimate the value of electromagnetic spectrum assigned or otherwise allocated to Federal enti- ties. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Government Spectrum 4 Valuation Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Apr 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S553.IS S553 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 553 IS SEC. 2. ESTIMATE OF VALUE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC SPEC- 1 TRUM. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part A of the National Tele- 3 communications and Information Administration Organi- 4 zation Act (47 U.S.C. 901 et seq.) is amended— 5 (1) by redesignating section 105 (47 U.S.C. 6 904) as section 106; and 7 (2) by inserting after section 104 (47 U.S.C. 8 903) the following: 9 ‘‘SEC. 105. ESTIMATE OF VALUE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC 10 SPECTRUM. 11 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 12 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered band’ means the band of 13 frequencies between 3 kilohertz and 95 gigahertz; 14 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Federal entity’ has the meaning 15 given the term in section 113(l); and 16 ‘‘(3) the term ‘OMB’ means the Office of Man- 17 agement and Budget. 18 ‘‘(b) ESTIMATES REQUIRED.—The NTIA, in con- 19 sultation with the Commission and OMB, shall estimate 20 the value of electromagnetic spectrum in the covered band 21 that is assigned or otherwise allocated to each Federal en- 22 tity as of the date of the estimate, in accordance with the 23 schedule under subsection (c). 24 ‘‘(c) SCHEDULE.—The NTIA shall conduct the esti- 25 mates under subsection (b) for the frequencies between— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Apr 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S553.IS S553 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 553 IS ‘‘(1) 3 kilohertz and 33 gigahertz not later than 1 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, 2 and every 3 years thereafter; 3 ‘‘(2) 33 gigahertz and 66 gigahertz not later 4 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this sec- 5 tion, and every 3 years thereafter; and 6 ‘‘(3) 66 gigahertz and 95 gigahertz not later 7 than 3 years after the date of enactment of this sec- 8 tion, and every 3 years thereafter. 9 ‘‘(d) BASIS FOR ESTIMATE.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The NTIA shall base each 11 value estimate under subsection (b) on the value 12 that the electromagnetic spectrum would have if the 13 spectrum were reallocated for the use with the high- 14 est potential value of licensed or unlicensed commer- 15 cial wireless services that do not have access to that 16 spectrum as of the date of the estimate. 17 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATION OF GOVERNMENT CAPA- 18 BILITIES.—In estimating the value of spectrum 19 under subsection (b), the NTIA may consider the 20 spectrum needs of commercial interests while pre- 21 serving the spectrum access necessary to satisfy mis- 22 sion requirements and operations of Federal entities. 23 ‘‘(3) DYNAMIC SCORING.—To the greatest ex- 24 tent practicable, the NTIA shall incorporate dynamic 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Apr 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S553.IS S553 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 553 IS scoring methodology into the value estimate under 1 subsection (b). 2 ‘‘(4) DISCLOSURE.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 4 graph (B), the NTIA shall publicly disclose how 5 the NTIA arrived at each value estimate under 6 subsection (b), including any findings made 7 under paragraph (2) of this subsection. 8 ‘‘(B) CLASSIFIED, LAW ENFORCEMENT- 9 SENSITIVE, AND PROPRIETARY INFORMATION.— 10 If any information involved in a value estimate 11 under subsection (b), including any finding 12 made under paragraph (2) of this subsection, is 13 classified, law enforcement-sensitive, or propri- 14 etary, the NTIA— 15 ‘‘(i) may not publicly disclose the clas- 16 sified, law enforcement-sensitive, or propri- 17 etary information; and 18 ‘‘(ii) shall make the classified, law en- 19 forcement-sensitive, or proprietary infor- 20 mation available to any Member of Con- 21 gress, upon request, in a classified annex. 22 ‘‘(e) AGENCY REPORT ON VALUE OF ELECTRO- 23 MAGNETIC SPECTRUM.—A Federal entity that has been 24 assigned or otherwise allocated use of electromagnetic 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Apr 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S553.IS S553 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 553 IS spectrum within the covered band shall report the value 1 of the spectrum as most recently estimated under sub- 2 section (b)— 3 ‘‘(1) in the budget of the Federal entity to be 4 included in the budget of the United States Govern- 5 ment submitted by the President under section 1105 6 of title 31, United States Code; and 7 ‘‘(2) in the annual financial statement of the 8 Federal entity required to be filed under section 9 3515 of title 31, United States Code.’’. 10 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 11 Section 103(b) of the National Telecommunications and 12 Information Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 13 902(b)) is amended— 14 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘section 15 105(d)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 106(d)’’; and 16 (2) in paragraph (2), in the matter preceding 17 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘section 105(d)’’ and 18 inserting ‘‘section 106(d)’’. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Apr 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S553.IS S553 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS