Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act of 2023

IB Union Calendar No. 526 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3565 [Report No. 118–629, Part I] To authorize the Federal Communications Commission to use a system of competitive bidding to grant a license or a permit for use of electro- magnetic spectrum and to direct proceeds from such a system of competi- tive bidding for communications and technology initiatives, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 22, 2023 Mrs. RODGERS of Washington (for herself and Mr. PALLONE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com- merce, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned AUGUST 13, 2024 Additional sponsors: Mrs. LESKO, Mr. THANEDAR, and Mr. NICKEL AUGUST 13, 2024 Reported from the Committee on Energy and Commerce with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] AUGUST 13, 2024 Committee on Armed Services discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 22, 2023] VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Aug 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3565.RH H3565 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3565 RH A BILL To authorize the Federal Communications Commission to use a system of competitive bidding to grant a license or a permit for use of electromagnetic spectrum and to direct proceeds from such a system of competitive bidding for communications and technology initiatives, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Aug 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3565.RH H3565 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3565 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act of 2023’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—SPECTRUM INNOVATION Sec. 101. Spectrum auctions and innovation. TITLE II—SECURE AND TRUSTED COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM Sec. 201. Increase in limitation on expenditure. TITLE III—NEXT GENERATION 9–1–1 Sec. 301. Further deployment and coordination of Next Generation 9–1–1. TITLE IV—INCUMBENT INFORMING CAPABILITY Sec. 401. Incumbent informing capability. TITLE V—REAUTHORIZATION OF FCC AUCTION AUTHORITY Sec. 501. Reauthorization of FCC auction authority. TITLE VI—SPECTRUM AUCTION TRUST FUND Sec. 601. Deposit of proceeds. Sec. 602. Spectrum Auction Trust Fund. TITLE VII—CREATION OF A SPECTRUM PIPELINE Sec. 701. Creation of a spectrum pipeline. TITLE VIII—IMPROVING SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT Sec. 801. Improving spectrum management. TITLE IX—MINORITY SERVING INSTITUTIONS PROGRAM Sec. 901. Definitions. Sec. 902. Program. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Aug 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6213 E:\BILLS\H3565.RH H3565 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3565 RH TITLE I—SPECTRUM 1 INNOVATION 2 SEC. 101. SPECTRUM AUCTIONS AND INNOVATION. 3 (a) 3.1–3.45 GHZ BAND.— 4 (1) DEFINITIONS.—Section 90008(a) of the In- 5 frastructure Investment and Jobs Act (47 U.S.C. 921 6 note) is amended— 7 (A) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 8 paragraph (4); 9 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol- 10 lowing: 11 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL ENTITY.—The term ‘Federal enti- 12 ty’ has the meaning given such term in section 113(l) 13 of the National Telecommunications and Information 14 Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 15 923(l)).’’; and 16 (C) by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(5) RELOCATION OR SHARING COSTS.—The 18 term ‘relocation or sharing costs’ has the meaning 19 given such term in section 113(g)(3) of the National 20 Telecommunications and Information Administration 21 Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(g)(3)). 22 ‘‘(6) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘Assist- 23 ant Secretary’ means the Assistant Secretary of Com- 24 merce for Communications and Information.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Aug 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3565.RH H3565 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3565 RH (2) PROMOTING WIRELESS INNOVATION.—Section 1 90008(b) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs 2 Act (47 U.S.C. 921 note) is amended— 3 (A) in paragraph (1)— 4 (i) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking 5 ‘‘for shared Federal and non-Federal com- 6 mercial licensed use; and’’ and inserting 7 ‘‘for non-Federal use, shared Federal and 8 non-Federal use, or a combination thereof; 9 and’’; 10 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 11 (I) by striking ‘‘Section’’ and in- 12 serting the following: 13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Section’’; 14 (II) in clause (i), as so des- 15 ignated, by striking ‘‘the payment re- 16 quired under subparagraph (A)’’ and 17 inserting ‘‘payments made under sub- 18 paragraph (A) before the date of the 19 enactment of the Spectrum Auction Re- 20 authorization Act of 2023’’; and 21 (III) by adding at the end the fol- 22 lowing: 23 ‘‘(ii) ACCOUNTING PLAN.—The Sec- 24 retary of Defense shall submit a report to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Aug 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3565.RH H3565 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3565 RH the Secretary of Commerce and the Director 1 of the Office of Management and Budget not 2 later than 90 days after the date of the en- 3 actment of the Spectrum Auction Reauthor- 4 ization Act of 2023, in accordance with sec- 5 tion 118(g)(2)(D)(i)(I) of the National Tele- 6 communications and Information Adminis- 7 tration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 8 928(g)(2)(D)(i)(I)), describing the activities 9 for which the Department of Defense has 10 used, is using, and will use payments made 11 under subparagraph (A) before the date of 12 the enactment of the Spectrum Auction Re- 13 authorization Act of 2023. The Secretary of 14 Commerce, acting through the Assistant 15 Secretary, and the Director of the Office of 16 Management and Budget shall continuously 17 review and provide an accounting of the ac- 18 tivities carried out using the payments 19 made under subparagraph (A).’’; 20 (iii) by amending subparagraph (C) to 21 read as follows: 22 ‘‘(C) REPORT TO SECRETARY OF COM- 23 MERCE.—For purposes of paragraph (2)(A), the 24 Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Aug 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3565.RH H3565 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3565 RH heads of other relevant Federal agencies who re- 1 ceive funds under subparagraph (D) of this 2 paragraph, shall, not later than September 30, 3 2023, report to the Secretary of Commerce the 4 findings of the planning activities described in 5 subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, and detail 6 frequencies in the covered band for identification 7 by the Secretary of Commerce under paragraph 8 (2).’’; and 9 (iv) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(D) ADDITIONAL PAYMENTS.— 11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Federal entities 12 with operations in the covered band that 13 did not receive a payment under subpara- 14 graph (A) and that the Assistant Secretary 15 determines might be affected by reallocation 16 of the covered band may request a payment 17 under section 118(g)(2)(A) of the National 18 Telecommunications and Information Ad- 19 ministration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 20 928(g)(2)(A)) in order to make available the 21 entire covered band for non-Federal use, 22 shared Federal and non-Federal use, or a 23 combination thereof. Total awards under 24 this clause shall not exceed $25,000,000. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Aug 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3565.RH H3565 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3565 RH ‘‘(ii) EXEMPTIONS.—Subparagraphs 1 (C)(ii) and (D)(ii) of section 118(g)(2) of 2 the National Telecommunications and In- 3 formation Administration Organization Act 4 (47 U.S.C. 928(g)(2)) shall not apply with 5 respect to a payment made under clause (i). 6 ‘‘(E) COOPERATION.—The Assistant Sec- 7 retary and the Department of Defense Chief In- 8 formation Officer will serve as co-chairs of the 9 Partnering to Advance Trusted and Holistic 10 Spectrum Solutions (PATHSS) Task Group.’’; 11 (B) by amending paragraph (2) to read as 12 follows: 13 ‘‘(2) IDENTIFICATION.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than June 15, 15 2025, informed by the report required under 16 paragraph (1)(C), the Secretary of Commerce, in 17 consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the 18 Director of the Office of Science and Technology 19 Policy, and the Commission, shall submit to the 20 President, the Commission, and the relevant con- 21 gressional committees a report that identifies 350 22 megahertz of frequencies in the covered band for 23 non-Federal use, shared Federal and non-Federal 24 use, or a combination thereof. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Aug 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3565.RH H3565 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3565 RH ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION IN CASE OF RISK TO 1 NATIONAL SECURITY.—If the Secretary of De- 2 fense believes reallocation of the frequencies iden- 3 tified by the Secretary of Commerce under sub- 4 paragraph (A) poses an unacceptable risk to the 5 national security of the United States, the Sec- 6 retary of Defense shall inform the President, as 7 the Commander in Chief under Article II, Sec- 8 tion 2 of the United States Constitution, and the 9 President shall make a final determination re- 10 garding which frequencies could feasibly be re- 11 allocated for the purposes of that subpara- 12 graph.’’; 13 (C) by amending paragraph (3) to read as 14 follows: 15 ‘‘(3) AUCTION.— 16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 17 15, 2028, the Commission, in coordination with 18 the Assistant Secretary, shall commence a system 19 of competitive bidding under section 309(j) of the 20 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)), 21 in accordance with paragraph (2) of this sub- 22 section, of the frequencies identified under such 23 paragraph as suitable for a system of competi- 24 tive bidding. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Aug 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3565.RH H3565 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 3565 RH ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION.—No entity that pro- 1 duces or provides any covered communications 2 equipment or service (as defined in section 9 of 3 the Secure and Trusted Communications Net- 4 works Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 1608)), or any af- 5 filiate (as defined in section 3 of the Commu- 6 nications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153)) of such 7 an entity, may participate in the system of com- 8 petitive bidding required by subparagraph (A). 9 ‘‘(C) SCOPE.—The Commission may not in- 10 clude in the system of competitive bidding re- 11 quired by subparagraph (A) any frequencies that 12 are not in the covered band.’’; and 13 (D) by amending paragraph (4) to read as 14 follows: 15 ‘‘(4) MODIFICATION OR WITHDRAWAL OF FED- 16 ERAL ENTITY LICENSES.— 17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President, acting 18 through the Assistant Secretary, shall— 19 ‘‘(i) begin the process of modifying or 20 withdrawing any assignment to a Federal 21 Government station of the frequencies iden- 22 tified under paragraph (2) to accommodate 23 non-Federal use, shared Federal and non- 24 Federal use, or a combination thereof in ac- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Aug 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3565.RH H3565 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 3565 RH cordance with that paragraph not later 1 than December 15, 2027; and 2 ‘‘(ii) not later than 30 days after com- 3 pleting any necessary withdrawal or modi- 4 fication under clause (i), notify the Com- 5 mission that the withdrawal or modifica- 6 tion is complete. 7 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.—The President may not 8 modify or withdraw any assignment to a Fed- 9 eral Government station as described in subpara- 10 graph (A)— 11 ‘‘(i) unless the President determines 12 that such modification or withdrawal will 13 not pose an unacceptable risk to the na- 14 tional security of the United States; and 15 ‘‘(ii) before November 30, 2024.’’. 16 (b) FCC AUCTION AUTHORITY.— 17 (1) TERMINATION.—Section 309(j)(11) of the 18 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(11)) 19 is amended by striking ‘‘except that’’ and all that fol- 20 lows and inserting ‘‘except that with respect to the 21 electromagnetic spectrum identified as suitable for a 22 system of competitive bidding under section 23 90008(b)(2) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Aug 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3565.RH H3565 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 3565 RH Act (47 U.S.C. 921 note), such authority shall expire 1 on the date that is 7 years after November 15, 2021.’’. 2 (2) SPECTRUM PIPELINE ACT OF 2015.—Section 3 1004 of the Spectrum Pipeline Act of 2015 (Public 4 Law 114–74; 129 Stat. 621; 47 U.S.C. 921 note) is 5 amended— 6 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘2022’’ 7 and inserting ‘‘2024’’; 8 (B) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘2022’’ 9 and inserting ‘‘2024’’; and 10 (C) in subsection (c)(1)(B), by striking 11 ‘‘2024’’ and inserting ‘‘2026’’. 12 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section 13 or the amendments made by this section shall be construed 14 to alter or impede the activities authorized to be conducted 15 using the payment required by section 90008(b)(1)(A) of 16 the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 17 117–58; 135 Stat. 1348; 47 U.S.C. 921 note), as such sec- 18 tion was in effect on the day before the date of the enactment 19 of this Act, if the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Com- 20 munications and Information determines that such activi- 21 ties are conducted in accordance with section 90008 of the 22 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, as amended by this 23 section. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to af- 24 fect any requirement under section 1062(b) of the National 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Aug 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3565.RH H3565 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 13 •HR 3565 RH Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000 (47 U.S.C. 1 921 note; Public Law 106–65). 2 (d) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section, or any 3 amendment made by this sectio [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]