Federal

Government Spectrum Valuation Act

Source: Congress.gov · 997 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to estimate how much electromagnetic spectrum (the invisible waves used for wireless communication) that federal agencies use is worth. The NTIA must base these estimates on what that spectrum would be worth if private companies could use it instead.

Who It Affects

- Federal agencies and departments that use electromagnetic spectrum - The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) - The Federal Communications Commission - The Office of Management and Budget - Members of Congress - The public (through disclosure of estimates)

Key Provisions

- The NTIA must estimate the value of electromagnetic spectrum frequencies between 3 kilohertz and 95 gigahertz that are assigned to federal entities, working with the Federal Communications Commission and Office of Management and Budget (Sec. 105(b)) - The NTIA must complete estimates for frequencies between 3 kilohertz and 33 gigahertz within one year of the law taking effect, then every three years; frequencies from 33 gigahertz to 66 gigahertz within two years, then every three years; and frequencies from 66 gigahertz to 95 gigahertz within three years, then every three years (Sec. 105(c)) - Value estimates must be based on what the spectrum would be worth if reallocated for commercial wireless services that do not currently have access to it (Sec. 105(d)(1)) - The NTIA must publicly disclose how it reached each value estimate, except for classified information, law enforcement-sensitive information, or proprietary information, which it can share with Congress in a classified document (Sec. 105(d)(4)) - Federal agencies that use spectrum must report the estimated value in their budgets and annual financial statements (Sec. 105(e))

What Changes

If this becomes law, the federal government will have formal estimates of how much spectrum its agencies use is worth. Federal agencies will be required to include these spectrum value estimates in their official budget documents and financial reports to Congress.

Important Definitions

- "Covered band": frequencies between 3 kilohertz and 95 gigahertz (Sec. 105(a)(1)) - "Federal entity": Not defined in this bill; refers to the definition in another section (Sec. 105(a)(2)) - "OMB": Office of Management and Budget (Sec. 105(a)(3))

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 999 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 28, 2023 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 02:31 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S999.IS S999 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 999 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 02:31 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S999.IS S999 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 999 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 02:31 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S999.IS S999 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 999 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 02:31 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S999.IS S999 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 999 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 02:31 Apr 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S999.IS S999 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.