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112TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION

S. ll

To require a radio spectrum inventory of bands managed by the Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications & Information Administration.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
llllllllll Ms. SNOWE (for herself and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on llllllllll

A BILL
To require a radio spectrum inventory of bands managed by the Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications & Information Administration. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-

2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 4
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Radio Spectrum Inven-

5 tory Act of 2012’’. 6 7
SEC. 2. SPECTRUM INVENTORY.

(a) AMENDMENT

TO

COMMUNICATIONS ACT.—Part

8 I of title III of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 

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2 1 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 2 following: 3 4
‘‘SEC. 343. SPECTRUM INVENTORY.

‘‘(a) RADIO SPECTRUM INVENTORY.—Not later than

5 1 year after the date of enactment of the Radio Spectrum 6 Inventory Act of 2012, and biennially thereafter, the Com7 mission, in consultation with the NTIA and the Office of 8 Science and Technology Policy, shall carry out the fol9 lowing activities: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ‘‘(1) REPORT.—Prepare a report that includes an inventory of each radio spectrum band, from 300 Megahertz to 6.5 Gigahertz, at a minimum, managed by each such agency. Except as provided in subsection (b), the report shall include— ‘‘(A) the licensee or Federal Government user authorized in the band; ‘‘(B) the total spectrum authorized for each licensee or Federal Government user (in percentage terms and in sum) in the band; ‘‘(C) the approximate number of transmitters, end-user terminals, or receivers, excluding unintended radiators, that have been deployed or authorized, for each licensee or Federal Government user, in the band; and ‘‘(D) if such information is available— 

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3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ‘‘(i) the type of transmitters, end-user terminals, or receivers, excluding unintended radiators, operating in the band and whether they are space-, air-, or ground-based; ‘‘(ii) the type of transmitters, enduser terminals, or receivers, excluding unintended radiators, authorized to operate in the band and whether they are space-, air-, or ground-based; ‘‘(iii) contour maps or other information that illustrate the coverage area, receiver performance, and other parameters relevant to an assessment of the availability of spectrum in each band; ‘‘(iv) the approximate geo-location of base stations or fixed transmitters; ‘‘(v) the approximate extent of use, by geography, of each band of frequencies, such as the amount and percentage of time of use, number of end-users, or other measures as appropriate to the particular band; ‘‘(vi) the activities, capabilities, functions, or missions supported by the trans- 

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4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 and ‘‘(B) provide to the NTIA— mitters, end-user terminals, or receivers; and ‘‘(vii) the types of unlicensed devices authorized to operate in the band. ‘‘(2) PUBLIC
ACCESS.—Create

a centralized

portal or website utilizing data from the Commission and the NTIA to make a centralized inventory of the bands of each agency available to the public via an Internet-accessible and searchable website. ‘‘(3) UPDATES.—Make all reasonable efforts to maintain and update the information required under paragraph (2) no less frequently than quarterly to reflect, at a minimum, any transfer or auction of licenses or change in allocation, assignment, or authorization. ‘‘(b) NATIONAL SECURITY; CLASSIFIED INFORMATION.—

‘‘(1) IN

GENERAL.—If

the head of a Federal

agency determines that disclosure of information required by subsection (a) would be harmful to the national security of the United States, the agency shall— ‘‘(A) notify the NTIA of its determination; 

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5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 and ‘‘(B) provide to the NTIA— ‘‘(i) the information required by subsection (a)(1) that is not classified; ‘‘(ii) to the maximum extent practicable, a summary description of the information that is classified; and ‘‘(i) the other publicly releasable information required by subsection (a); ‘‘(ii) to the maximum extent practicable, a summary description of the information with respect to which the determination was made; and ‘‘(iii) an annex containing the information with respect to which the determination was made. ‘‘(2) CLASSIFIED
INFORMATION.—If

the head

of a Federal agency determines that any information required by subsection (a) is classified in accordance with Executive Order 13526 of December 29, 2009, or any successor Executive Order establishing or modifying the uniform system for classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying national security information, the agency shall— ‘‘(A) notify the NTIA of its determination; 

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6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ‘‘(iii) an annex containing the information that is classified. ‘‘(3) ANNEX
RESTRICTION.—The

NTIA shall

make an annex described in paragraph (1)(B)(iii) or (2)(B)(iii) available to the Commission. Neither the NTIA nor the Commission may make any such annex available to the public pursuant to subsection (a)(2) or to any unauthorized person through any other means. ‘‘(c) PUBLIC SAFETY NONDISCLOSURE.— ‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—If

a licensee of non-Federal

spectrum determines that public disclosure of certain information held by that licensee and required to be included in the report under subsection (a) would reveal information for which public disclosure would be detrimental to public safety, or that the licensee is otherwise prohibited by law from disclosing, the licensee may petition the Commission for a partial or total exemption from inclusion on the centralized portal or website under subsection (a)(2) and in the reports required under subsection (d). ‘‘(2) BURDEN.—A licensee seeking an exemption under this subsection bears the burden of justifying the exemption and shall provide clear and convincing evidence to support the requested exemption. 

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7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION
REQUIRED.—If

the Com-

mission grants an exemption under this subsection, the licensee shall provide to the Commission— ‘‘(A) the publicly releasable information required by subsection (a)(1) for the inventory; ‘‘(B) to the maximum extent practicable, a summary description, suitable for public release, of the information for which public disclosure would be detrimental to public safety or that the licensee is prohibited by law from disclosing; and ‘‘(C) an annex, under appropriate cover, containing the information that the Commission has determined should be withheld from public disclosure. ‘‘(d) INFORMING THE CONGRESS.— ‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Except

as provided in para-

graph (3), the NTIA and the Commission shall submit each report required by subsection (a)(1) to the appropriate Congressional committees. ‘‘(2) NONDISCLOSURE
OF ANNEXES.—Each

such report shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include one or more annexes as provided for by subsections (b)(1)(B)(iii), (b)(2)(B)(iii), and (c)(3)(C). No Congressional committee may make 

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8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 any such annex available to the public or to any unauthorized person. ‘‘(3) CLASSIFIED
ANNEXES.—If

a report in-

cludes a classified annex as provided for by subsection (b)(2)(B)(iii), the NTIA and the Commission shall— ‘‘(A) submit the classified annex only to the appropriate Congressional committees with primary oversight jurisdiction for the user agencies or licensees concerned; and ‘‘(B) provide notice of the submission to the other appropriate Congressional committees. ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE
TEES.—The CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT-

term ‘appropriate Congressional com-

mittees’ means the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, and any other congressional committee with primary oversight jurisdiction for the user agencies or licensees concerned. ‘‘(2) NTIA.—The term ‘NTIA’ means the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.’’. 

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9 1 (b) PROGRESS REPORT.—Not later than 180 days

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 3 and the National Telecommunications and Information 4 Administration shall provide an update as to the status 5 of the inventory and report required by section 343(a) of 6 the Communications Act of 1934, as added by subsection 7 (a) of this Act, to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 8 Science, and Transportation and the House of Represent9 atives Committee on Energy and Commerce.