SAT Streamlining Act

IB Union Calendar No. 125 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1338 [Report No. 118–157] To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide authority for certain licenses, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 3, 2023 Mrs. RODGERS of Washington (for herself and Mr. PALLONE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce JULY 25, 2023 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 3, 2023] VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1338.RH H1338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1338 RH A BILL To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide authority for certain licenses, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H1338.RH H1338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1338 RH 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 ‘‘Satellite And Tele- 4 communications Streamlining Act’’ or the ‘‘SAT Stream- 5 lining Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY REGARDING CERTAIN LICENSES. 7 (a) AMENDMENT.—Part I of title III of the Commu- 8 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended 9 by adding at the end the following new section: 10 ‘‘SEC. 346. RADIOFREQUENCY LICENSING AUTHORITY RE- 11 GARDING CERTAIN OPERATIONS. 12 ‘‘(a) RULES.— 13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 14 after the date of the enactment of this section, the 15 Commission shall issue rules to amend part 25 of title 16 47, Code of Federal Regulations, to establish— 17 ‘‘(A) for any license granted under sub- 18 section (b) or grant of market access granted 19 under subsection (c), specific, measurable, and 20 technology-neutral performance objectives for 21 space safety and orbital debris, in accordance 22 with paragraph (2); 23 ‘‘(B) for any license granted under para- 24 graph (1) or (2) of subsection (b), specific modi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1338.RH H1338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1338 RH fications (or classes of modifications) to such a 1 license that warrant expedited treatment under 2 subparagraph (A) or (B) (as the case may be) of 3 subsection (g)(2); 4 ‘‘(C) for any license granted under sub- 5 section (b), grant of market access granted under 6 subsection (c), authorization granted under sub- 7 section (d), or covered authorization, the manner 8 in which the licensee, grantee, or entity shall no- 9 tify the Commission of a request to submit a 10 modification under subsection (g)(5); 11 ‘‘(D) for any request to modify a covered 12 authorization, the manner in which the entity 13 with the covered authorization shall indicate in 14 the request whether the entity is seeking a modi- 15 fication described in subsection (h)(2)(B)(i)(I) or 16 a modification described in subsection 17 (h)(2)(B)(i)(II); 18 ‘‘(E) for any license granted under sub- 19 section (b), grant of market access granted under 20 subsection (c), or covered authorization, in a 21 spectrum band with service rules that require a 22 licensee of such a license, a grantee of such a 23 grant, or an entity with such a covered author- 24 ization to share spectrum with another such li- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1338.RH H1338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1338 RH censee, grantee, or entity with a covered author- 1 ization that is authorized to use the same fre- 2 quencies of such spectrum, specific actions taken 3 by such a licensee, grantee, or entity with a cov- 4 ered authorization, or by any other entity that 5 is authorized to use such frequencies, that con- 6 stitute a failure to coordinate in good faith, in- 7 cluding whether withholding from another such 8 licensee, grantee, entity with a covered author- 9 ization, or other entity information necessary to 10 coordinate in good faith that it is technically 11 feasible to make available to such licensee, grant- 12 ee, entity with a covered authorization, or other 13 entity is such an action; 14 ‘‘(F) for any license granted under sub- 15 section (b)(1) or grant of market access granted 16 under subsection (c)(1), in a spectrum band with 17 service rules that require a licensee of such a li- 18 cense, a grantee of such a grant, or an entity 19 with a covered authorization to share spectrum 20 (except with respect to the use of a gateway sta- 21 tion) with another such licensee, grantee, or enti- 22 ty with a covered authorization that is author- 23 ized to use the same frequencies of such spectrum, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1338.RH H1338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1338 RH a quantifiable level of protection required under 1 subsection (h)(4); 2 ‘‘(G) rules that— 3 ‘‘(i) clarify, for purposes of subsection 4 (h)(1)(A)(ii), the protection from harmful 5 interference that, during the covered period, 6 an entity with a covered authorization that 7 was approved in a processing round is re- 8 quired to provide to any other entity with 9 a covered authorization that was approved 10 in an earlier processing round; and 11 ‘‘(ii) seek to promote competition, in- 12 novation, and efficient use of spectrum by 13 entities with covered authorizations, includ- 14 ing by accounting for advancements in tech- 15 nology capable of managing interference 16 concerns to the greatest extent possible con- 17 sistent with clause (i); and 18 ‘‘(H) for any application or request for 19 modification described in subsection (n), what 20 constitutes reportable foreign ownership for pur- 21 poses of paragraph (1) of such subsection. 22 ‘‘(2) CONFLICT WITH INTERAGENCY STANDARD 23 PRACTICES.—In the rules issued pursuant to para- 24 graph (1)(A), or any successor rule, the Commission 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1338.RH H1338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1338 RH may not establish performance objectives that conflict 1 with any standard practice established in the Orbital 2 Debris Mitigation Standard Practices adopted by the 3 United States Government. 4 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION FOR LICENSE.— 5 ‘‘(1) NGSO DETERMINATION REQUIRED.—Except 6 as provided in paragraph (5) and subsection (m), not 7 later than 1 year after the date on which the Commis- 8 sion issues a public notice of the acceptance for filing 9 of a written application submitted to the Commission, 10 the Commission shall make a determination whether 11 to grant such application (including any amendment 12 to such application) for a license for covered 13 radiocommunication services using— 14 ‘‘(A) a nongeostationary orbit space station 15 or space stations; 16 ‘‘(B) a blanket-licensed earth station or 17 earth stations that will operate with a nongeo- 18 stationary orbit space station or space stations; 19 or 20 ‘‘(C) a nongeostationary orbit space station 21 or space stations and the blanket-licensed earth 22 station or earth stations that will operate with 23 the nongeostationary orbit space station or space 24 stations. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1338.RH H1338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1338 RH ‘‘(2) GSO DETERMINATION REQUIRED.—Except 1 as provided in paragraph (5) and subsection (m), not 2 later than 1 year after the date on which the Commis- 3 sion issues a public notice of the acceptance for filing 4 of a written application submitted to the Commission, 5 the Commission shall make a determination whether 6 to grant such application (including any amendment 7 to such application) for a license for covered 8 radiocommunication services using— 9 ‘‘(A) a geostationary orbit space station or 10 space stations; 11 ‘‘(B) a blanket-licensed earth station or 12 earth stations that will operate with a geo- 13 stationary orbit space station or space stations; 14 or 15 ‘‘(C) a geostationary orbit space station or 16 space stations and the blanket-licensed earth sta- 17 tion or earth stations that will operate with the 18 geostationary orbit space station or space sta- 19 tions. 20 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—In addition 21 to the application requirements described in section 22 308(b), an application submitted under paragraph 23 (1) or (2) shall include the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1338.RH H1338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1338 RH ‘‘(A) Performance metrics with respect to 1 the frequencies and transmission power to be 2 used. 3 ‘‘(B) A demonstration of compliance by the 4 applicant with the performance objectives estab- 5 lished under subsection (a)(1)(A). 6 ‘‘(C) A description of compliance by the ap- 7 plicant with the actions established under sub- 8 section (a)(1)(E), if applicable. 9 ‘‘(D) In the case of an application sub- 10 mitted under paragraph (1), a demonstration of 11 compliance by the applicant with the quantifi- 12 able level of protection established under sub- 13 section (a)(1)(F), if applicable. 14 ‘‘(4) TERM OF INITIAL LICENSE.—The Commis- 15 sion shall grant a license for a term not to exceed 15 16 years for any application granted under this sub- 17 section. 18 ‘‘(5) EXCEPTIONS.—The deadline for the deter- 19 mination required in paragraphs (1), (2), and (6) 20 may be extended by the Commission for an applica- 21 tion subject to review under subsection (n). 22 ‘‘(6) TIMELY GRANT OF CERTAIN APPLICA- 23 TIONS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1338.RH H1338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1338 RH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 1 paragraph (5) and subsection (m), not later than 2 60 days after the date on which the Commission 3 issues a public notice of the acceptance for filing 4 of a written application submitted to the Com- 5 mission for a license described in paragraph (1) 6 with respect to which the applicant indicates in 7 the application that the application meets the 8 additional criteria described in subparagraph 9 (B), the Commission shall— 10 ‘‘(i) determine whether such applica- 11 tion (including any amendment to such ap- 12 plication) meets the additional criteria de- 13 scribed in subparagraph (B); and 14 ‘‘(ii) if the determination under clause 15 (i) is affirmative, grant such application 16 (including any amendment to such applica- 17 tion). 18 ‘‘(B) CRITERIA DESCRIBED.—The addi- 19 tional criteria described in this subparagraph 20 are as follows: 21 ‘‘(i) A limit on the number of space 22 stations authorized by the license, as deter- 23 mined by the Commission. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1338.RH H1338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1338 RH ‘‘(ii) A limit on the total in-orbit life- 1 time for any individual space station, as 2 determined by the Commission. 3 ‘‘(iii) For each space station, the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘(I) A limit on the orbital alti- 6 tude at which the space station may 7 operate, as determined by the Commis- 8 sion. 9 ‘‘(II) A requirement that the space 10 station has a maneuverability capa- 11 bility and the ability to make collision 12 avoidance and deorbit maneuvers, as 13 determined by the Commission. 14 ‘‘(III) A requirement that the 15 space station is identifiable by a 16 unique signal-based telemetry marker 17 that meets requirements issued by the 18 Commission. 19 ‘‘(IV) A requirement that the 20 space station releases no operational 21 debris. 22 ‘‘(V) A requirement that the space 23 station can be commanded by com- 24 mand originating from the ground to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1338.RH H1338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1338 RH immediately cease transmissions and 1 the applicant has the capability to 2 eliminate harmful interference when 3 required by the Commission. 4 ‘‘(iv) A requirement that the operator 5 has assessed and limited the probability of 6 an accidental explosion, including an explo- 7 sion that results from the conversion of en- 8 ergy sources on board any space station 9 into energy that fragments the space sta- 10 tion. 11 ‘‘(v) A limit on the probability of a 12 collision between each space station and 13 any other large object, as determined by the 14 Commission. 15 ‘‘(vi) A requirement that each space 16 station is disposed of post-mission and the 17 probability of human casualty from dis- 18 posal meets requirements issued by the 19 Commission. 20 ‘‘(C) CRITERIA NOT MET.—If the deter- 21 mination under subparagraph (A)(i) with re- 22 spect to an application is negative, the Commis- 23 sion shall make a determination whether to 24 grant such application (including any amend- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1338.RH H1338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 1338 RH ment to such application) under paragraph (1) 1 by the deadline specified in such paragraph. 2 ‘‘(D) EVASION.—An application does not 3 meet the additional criteria described in sub- 4 paragraph (B) if the Commission determines 5 that, taken together with any other application 6 or applications submitted by the applicant under 7 subparagraph (A) (including an application that 8 has been approved), such applications are sub- 9 mitted with the purpose of evading a negative 10 determination with respect to such additional 11 criteria. 12 ‘‘(E) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For pur- 13 poses of this section (other than this paragraph), 14 any reference to an application submitted or 15 granted or a license granted under paragraph 16 (1) shall be construed to include an application 17 submitted or granted or a license granted (as the 18 case may be) under subparagraph (A). 19 ‘‘(F) IMPLEMENTATION.— 20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 21 months after the date of the enactment of 22 this section, the Commission shall— 23 ‘‘(I) issue rules to implement this 24 paragraph; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:53 Jul 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1338.RH H1338 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 [Text truncated for display. 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