Spectrum IT Modernization Act of 2020

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7310 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 18, 2020 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 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- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7310.RFS H7310 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 7310 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Spectrum IT Mod- 2 ernization Act of 2020’’. 3 SEC. 2. MODERNIZATION EFFORT. 4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 5 (1) the term ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’ means the 6 Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communica- 7 tions and Information; 8 (2) the term ‘‘covered agency’’— 9 (A) means any Federal entity that the As- 10 sistant Secretary determines is appropriate; and 11 (B) includes the Department of Defense; 12 (3) the term ‘‘Federal entity’’ has the meaning 13 given the term in section 113(l) of the National 14 Telecommunications and Information Administration 15 Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(l)); 16 (4) the term ‘‘Federal spectrum’’ means fre- 17 quencies assigned on a primary basis to a covered 18 agency; 19 (5) the term ‘‘infrastructure’’ means informa- 20 tion technology systems and information tech- 21 nologies, tools, and databases; and 22 (6) the term ‘‘NTIA’’ means the National Tele- 23 communications and Information Administration. 24 (b) INITIAL INTERAGENCY SPECTRUM INFORMATION 25 TECHNOLOGY COORDINATION.—Not later than 90 days 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7310.RFS H7310 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 7310 RFS after the date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Sec- 1 retary, in consultation with the Policy and Plans Steering 2 Group, shall identify a process to establish goals, including 3 parameters to measure the achievement of those goals, for 4 the modernization of the infrastructure of covered agen- 5 cies relating to managing the use of Federal spectrum by 6 those agencies, which shall include— 7 (1) the standardization of data inputs, modeling 8 algorithms, modeling and simulation processes, anal- 9 ysis tools with respect to Federal spectrum, assump- 10 tions, and any other tool to ensure interoperability 11 and functionality with respect to that infrastructure; 12 (2) other potential innovative technological ca- 13 pabilities with respect to that infrastructure, includ- 14 ing cloud-based databases, artificial intelligence tech- 15 nologies, automation, and improved modeling and 16 simulation capabilities; 17 (3) ways to improve the management of covered 18 agencies’ use of Federal spectrum through that in- 19 frastructure, including by— 20 (A) increasing the efficiency of that infra- 21 structure; 22 (B) addressing validation of usage with re- 23 spect to that infrastructure; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7310.RFS H7310 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 7310 RFS (C) increasing the accuracy of that infra- 1 structure; 2 (D) validating models used by that infra- 3 structure; and 4 (E) monitoring and enforcing requirements 5 that are imposed on covered agencies with re- 6 spect to the use of Federal spectrum by covered 7 agencies; 8 (4) ways to improve the ability of covered agen- 9 cies to meet mission requirements in congested envi- 10 ronments with respect to Federal spectrum, includ- 11 ing as part of automated adjustments to operations 12 based on changing conditions in those environments; 13 (5) the creation of a time-based automated 14 mechanism— 15 (A) to share Federal spectrum between 16 covered agencies to collaboratively and dynami- 17 cally increase access to Federal spectrum by 18 those agencies; and 19 (B) that could be scaled across Federal 20 spectrum; and 21 (6) the collaboration between covered agencies 22 necessary to ensure the interoperability of Federal 23 spectrum. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7310.RFS H7310 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 7310 RFS (c) SPECTRUM INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MOD- 1 ERNIZATION.— 2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 240 days 3 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Assist- 4 ant Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that 5 contains the plan of the NTIA to modernize and 6 automate the infrastructure of the NTIA relating to 7 managing the use of Federal spectrum by covered 8 agencies so as to more efficiently manage that use. 9 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required under 10 paragraph (1) shall include— 11 (A) an assessment of the current, as of the 12 date on which the report is submitted, infra- 13 structure of the NTIA described in that para- 14 graph; 15 (B) an acquisition strategy for the modern- 16 ized infrastructure of the NTIA described in 17 that paragraph, including how that modernized 18 infrastructure will enable covered agencies to be 19 more efficient and effective in the use of Fed- 20 eral spectrum; 21 (C) a timeline for the implementation of 22 the modernization efforts described in that 23 paragraph; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7310.RFS H7310 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 7310 RFS (D) plans detailing how the modernized in- 1 frastructure of the NTIA described in that 2 paragraph will— 3 (i) enhance the security and reliability 4 of that infrastructure so that such infra- 5 structure satisfies the requirements of the 6 Federal Information Security Management 7 Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–296; 116 8 Stat. 2135); 9 (ii) improve data models and analysis 10 tools to increase the efficiency of the spec- 11 trum use described in that paragraph; 12 (iii) enhance automation and work- 13 flows, and reduce the scope and level of 14 manual effort, in order to— 15 (I) administer the management 16 of the spectrum use described in that 17 paragraph; and 18 (II) improve data quality and 19 processing time; and 20 (iv) improve the timeliness of spec- 21 trum analyses and requests for informa- 22 tion, including requests submitted pursu- 23 ant to section 552 of title 5, United States 24 Code; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7310.RFS H7310 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 HR 7310 RFS (E) an operations and maintenance plan 1 with respect to the modernized infrastructure of 2 the NTIA described in that paragraph; 3 (F) a strategy for coordination between the 4 covered agencies within the Policy and Plans 5 Steering Group, which shall include— 6 (i) a description of— 7 (I) those coordination efforts, as 8 in effect on the date on which the re- 9 port is submitted; and 10 (II) a plan for coordination of 11 those efforts after the date on which 12 the report is submitted, including with 13 respect to the efforts described in sub- 14 section (d); 15 (ii) a plan for standardizing— 16 (I) electromagnetic spectrum 17 analysis tools; 18 (II) modeling and simulation 19 processes and technologies; and 20 (III) databases to provide tech- 21 nical interference assessments that 22 are usable across the Federal Govern- 23 ment as part of a common spectrum 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7310.RFS H7310 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 HR 7310 RFS management infrastructure for cov- 1 ered agencies; 2 (iii) a plan for each covered agency to 3 implement a modernization plan described 4 in subsection (d)(1) that is tailored to the 5 particular timeline of the agency; 6 (G) identification of manually intensive 7 processes involved in managing Federal spec- 8 trum and proposed enhancements to those proc- 9 esses; 10 (H) metrics to evaluate the success of the 11 modernization efforts described in that para- 12 graph and any similar future efforts; and 13 (I) an estimate of the cost of the mod- 14 ernization efforts described in that paragraph 15 and any future maintenance with respect to the 16 modernized infrastructure of the NTIA de- 17 scribed in that paragraph, including the cost of 18 any personnel and equipment relating to that 19 maintenance. 20 (d) INTERAGENCY INPUTS.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 22 the date of enactment of this Act, the head of each 23 covered agency shall submit to the Assistant Sec- 24 retary and the Policy and Plans Steering Group a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7310.RFS H7310 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 HR 7310 RFS report that describes the plan of the agency to mod- 1 ernize the infrastructure of the agency with respect 2 to the use of Federal spectrum by the agency so that 3 such modernized infrastructure of the agency is 4 interoperable with the modernized infrastructure of 5 the NTIA, as described in subsection (c). 6 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted by the 7 head of a covered agency under paragraph (1) 8 shall— 9 (A) include— 10 (i) an assessment of the current, as of 11 the date on which the report is submitted, 12 management capabilities of the agency 13 with respect to the use of frequencies that 14 are assigned to the agency, which shall in- 15 clude a description of any challenges faced 16 by the agency with respect to that manage- 17 ment; 18 (ii) a timeline for completion of the 19 modernization efforts described in that 20 paragraph; 21 (iii) a description of potential innova- 22 tive technological capabilities for the man- 23 agement of frequencies that are assigned 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7310.RFS H7310 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 HR 7310 RFS to the agency, as determined under sub- 1 section (b); 2 (iv) identification of agency-specific 3 requirements or constraints relating to the 4 infrastructure of the agency; 5 (v) identification of any existing, as of 6 the date on which the report is submitted, 7 systems of the agency that are duplicative 8 of the modernized infrastructure of the 9 NTIA, as proposed under subsection (c); 10 and 11 (vi) with respect to the report sub- 12 mitted by the Secretary of Defense— 13 (I) a strategy for the integration 14 of systems or the flow of data among 15 the Armed Forces, the military de- 16 partments, the Defense Agencies and 17 Department of Defense Field Activi- 18 ties, and other components of the De- 19 partment of Defense; 20 (II) a plan for the implementa- 21 tion of solutions to the use of Federal 22 spectrum by the Department of De- 23 fense involving information at multiple 24 levels of classification; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7310.RFS H7310 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 HR 7310 RFS (III) a strategy for addressing, 1 within the modernized infrastructure 2 of the Department of Defense de- 3 scribed in that paragraph, the ex- 4 change of information between the 5 Department of Defense and the NTIA 6 in order to accomplish required proc- 7 essing of all Department of Defense 8 domestic spectrum coordination and 9 management activities; and 10 (B) be submitted in an unclassified format, 11 with a classified annex, as appropriate. 12 (3) NOTIFICATION OF CONGRESS.—Upon sub- 13 mission of the report required under paragraph (1), 14 the head of each covered agency shall notify Con- 15 gress that the head of the covered agency has sub- 16 mitted the report. 17 (e) GAO OVERSIGHT.—The Comptroller General of 18 the United States shall— 19 (1) not later than 90 days after the date of en- 20 actment of this Act, conduct a review of the infra- 21 structure of covered agencies, as that infrastructure 22 exists on the date of enactment of this Act; 23 (2) after all of the reports required under sub- 24 section (d) have been submitted, conduct oversight 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7310.RFS H7310 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 HR 7310 RFS of the implementation of the modernization plans 1 submitted by the NTIA and covered agencies under 2 subsections (c) and (d), respectively; 3 (3) not later than 1 year after the date on 4 which the Comptroller General begins conducting 5 oversight under paragraph (2), and annually there- 6 after, submit a report regarding that oversight to— 7 (A) with respect to the implementation of 8 the modernization plan of the Department of 9 Defense, the Committee on Armed Services of 10 the Senate and the Committee on Armed Serv- 11 ices of the House of Representatives; and 12 (B) with respect to the implementation of 13 the modernization plans of all covered agencies, 14 including the Department of Defense, the Com- 15 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor- 16 tation of the Senate and the Committee on En- 17 ergy and Commerce of the House of Represent- 18 atives; and 19 (4) provide regular briefings to— 20 (A) with respect to the application of this 21 section to the Department of Defense, the Com- 22 mittee on Armed Services of the Senate and the 23 Committee on Armed Services of the House of 24 Representatives; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7310.RFS H7310 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 HR 7310 RFS (B) with respect to the application of this 1 section to all covered agencies, including the 2 Department of Defense, the Committee on 3 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 4 Senate and the Committee on Energy and Com- 5 merce of the House of Representatives. 6 Passed the House of Representatives November 17, 2020. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Nov 19, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7310.RFS H7310 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS