[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 352 Considered and Passed Senate (CPS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 352

                  To postpone the DTV transition date.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 29, 2009

Mr. Rockefeller (for himself, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr. Kerry, Ms. Klobuchar, 
Mr. Pryor, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Harkin, 
  and Mr. Casey) introduced the following bill; which was read twice, 
              considered, read the third time, and passed

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
                  To postpone the DTV transition date.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``DTV Delay Act''.

SEC. 2. POSTPONEMENT OF DTV TRANSITION DATE.

    (a) In General.--Section 3002(b) of the Digital Television 
Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 (47 U.S.C. 309 note) is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``February 18, 2009;'' in paragraph (1) and 
        inserting ``June 13, 2009;''; and
            (2) by striking ``February 18, 2009,'' in paragraph (2) and 
        inserting ``that date''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 3008(a)(1) of that Act (47 U.S.C. 309 note) is 
        amended by striking ``February 17, 2009.'' and inserting ``June 
        12, 2009.''.
            (2) Section 309(j)(14)(A) of the Communications Act of 1934 
        (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(14)(A)) is amended by striking ``February 17, 
        2009.'' and inserting ``June 12, 2009.''.
            (3) Section 337(e)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 
        U.S.C. 337(e)(1)) is amended by striking ``February 17, 2009.'' 
        and inserting ``June 12, 2009.''.
    (c) License Terms.--
            (1) Extension.--The Federal Communications Commission shall 
        extend the terms of the licenses for the recovered spectrum, 
        including the license period and construction requirements 
        associated with those licenses, for a 116-day period.
            (2) Definition.--In this subsection, the term ``recovered 
        spectrum'' means--
                    (A) the recovered analog spectrum, as such term is 
                defined in section 309(j)(15)(C)(vi) of the 
                Communications Act of 1934; and
                    (B) the spectrum excluded from the definition of 
                recovered analog spectrum by subclauses (I) and (II) of 
                such section.

SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF DIGITAL-TO-ANALOG CONVERTER BOX PROGRAM.

    (a) Extension of Coupon Program.--Section 3005(c)(1)(A) of the 
Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 (47 U.S.C. 
309 note) is amended by striking ``March 31, 2009,'' and inserting 
``July 31, 2009,''.
    (b) Treatment of Expired Coupons.--Section 3005(c)(1) of the 
Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 (47 U.S.C. 
309 note) is amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) Expired coupons.--The Assistant Secretary may 
                issue to a household, upon request by the household, 
                one replacement coupon for each coupon that was issued 
                to such household and that expired without being 
                redeemed.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 3005(c)(1)(A) of the Digital 
Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 (47 U.S.C. 309 
note) is amended by striking ``receives, via the United States Postal 
Service,'' and inserting ``redeems''.
    (d) Condition of Modifications.--The amendments made by this 
section shall not take effect until the enactment of additional budget 
authority after the date of enactment of this Act to carry out the 
analog-to-digital converter box program under section 3005 of the 
Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005.

SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION.

    (a) Permissive Early Termination Under Existing Requirements.--
Nothing in this Act is intended to prevent a licensee of a television 
broadcast station from terminating the broadcasting of such station's 
analog television signal (and continuing to broadcast exclusively in 
the digital television service) prior to the date established by law 
under section 3002(b) of the Digital Television Transition and Public 
Safety Act of 2005 for termination of all licenses for full-power 
television stations in the analog television service (as amended by 
section 2 of this Act) so long as such prior termination is conducted 
in accordance with the Federal Communications Commission's requirements 
in effect on the date of enactment of this Act, including the flexible 
procedures established in the Matter of Third Periodic Review of the 
Commission's Rules and Policies Affecting the Conversion to Digital 
Television (FCC 07-228, MB Docket No. 07-91, released December 31, 
2007).
    (b) Public Safety Radio Services.--Nothing in this Act, or the 
amendments made by this Act, shall prevent a public safety service 
licensee from commencing operations consistent with the terms of its 
license on spectrum recovered as a result of the voluntary cessation of 
broadcasting in the analog or digital television service pursuant to 
subsection (a). Any such public safety use shall be subject to the 
relevant Federal Communications Commission rules and regulations in 
effect on the date of enactment of this Act, including section 90.545 
of the Commission's rules (47 C.F.R. Sec.  90.545).
    (c) Expedited Rulemaking.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, the Federal Communications Commission and the National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration shall, not later than 
30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, each adopt or revise 
its rules, regulations, or orders or take such other actions as may be 
necessary or appropriate to implement the provisions, and carry out the 
purposes, of this Act and the amendments made by this Act.

SEC. 5. EXTENSION OF COMMISSION AUCTION AUTHORITY.

    Section 309(j)(11) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
309(j)(11)) is amended by striking ``2011.'' and inserting ``2012.''.
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