II 110th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1629 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES June 14, 2007 Mr. Pryor introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To request a study by the Federal Communications Commission on the interference caused by broadband Internet transmission over power lines.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Emergency Amateur Radio Interference Protection Act of 2007.

2.

Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)More than 650,000 radio amateurs in the United States are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission. (2)Among the basic purposes of the Amateur Radio and Amateur Satellite Services are to provide voluntary, noncommercial radio service, particularly emergency communications. (3)Emergency communications services by volunteer amateur radio operators have consistently and reliably been provided before, during, and after floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, forest fires, earthquakes, blizzards, train accidents, chemical spills, terrorist attacks, and other disasters. (4)There is a compelling Federal Government interest to promote the deployment of Broadband over Power Line (BPL) systems that deliver energy efficient, secure, and reliable services to underserved areas of the United States. (5)It is the policy of the United States to seek mutually beneficial standards established by the Federal Communications Commission that promote the deployment of competitive BPL systems that do not cause harmful interference to public safety services and other licensed radio services.

3.

Comprehensive BPL service study leading to improved rules to prevent interference

(a)

Authority

Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall conduct, and submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, a report on a study of the interference potential of systems for the transmission of broadband Internet services over power lines (in this Act referred to as BPL service). (b)

Required Subjects of Study

The study required by this section shall examine the following: (1)The variation of field strength of BPL service signals with distance from overhead power lines, and a technical justification for the use of any particular distance extrapolation factor. (2)The depth of adaptive, or notch, filtering for attenuating normally permitted BPL service radiated emission levels that would be necessary and sufficient to protect the reliability of mobile radio communications. (3)A technical justification for the permitted, radiated emission levels of BPL signals relative to ambient levels of man-made noise from other sources. (4)Options for new or improved rules related to the transmission of BPL service that, if implemented, may prevent harmful interference to public safety and other radio communications systems.