1.This Act may be cited as the
Next Generation Public Safety Device
Act of 2010
.
2.Public safety
RoIP device development competition
(a)The Assistant Secretary, in coordination
with the Commission, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, and the Director of the Office of Emergency Communications in the
Department of Homeland Security, shall conduct a competition to award grants to
eligible entities for the development of nonstationary radio over Internet
protocol devices that support mission-critical broadband voice and data
communications of public safety personnel.
(b)
(1)The Assistant Secretary shall establish a
working group composed of—
(A)a representative of the Commission, the
Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the
Director of the Office of Emergency Communications in the Department of
Homeland Security; and
(B)such other public
or private stakeholders with technical expertise in the development of
emergency communications devices as the representative of the Commission
considers appropriate.
(2)The working group shall provide the
Assistant Secretary with advice and technical assistance in conducting the
competition under this section.
(3)The Assistant Secretary shall provide the working group
with the administrative, professional, and technical support required by the
working group to carry out its duties.
(4)The
working group shall terminate not later than the earlier of—
(A)the date that is
15 days after the date of the submission by the Comptroller General of the
United States of the report required by subsection (e)(3); or
(B)the date that is 6
years after the date of the enactment of this section.
(c)
(1)The Assistant Secretary, in coordination with the working
group, shall establish requirements for RoIP devices developed, in whole or in
part, using a grant under this section.
(2)The
requirements established under paragraph (1) shall include—
(A)an identification
of specific communication needs of public safety personnel and any
corresponding characteristics or capabilities of the devices for meeting such
needs; and
(B)such
characteristics and capabilities of the devices as will ensure—
(i)delivery of
communications in a real-time manner;
(ii)reliability of
the delivery of communications under adverse conditions;
(iii)sufficient
clarity of transmission to permit public safety personnel to easily comprehend
the content of communications; and
(iv)full
interoperability among different types and brands of RoIP devices used by
public safety personnel.
(d)
(1)The Assistant
Secretary shall establish a 3-stage process for awarding grants to eligible
entities under this section.
(2)The Secretary may only award a grant in a stage to an
eligible entity that—
(A)submits a bid meeting the specifications
developed under paragraph (3) for such stage;
(B)provides the
Assistant Secretary with an assurance that the eligible entity will use grant
funds to develop a RoIP device in accordance with the specifications included
in such bid;
(C)in the case of a
grant in stage 1 or 2 for the development of a device, provides the Assistant
Secretary with an assurance that the eligible entity will submit in good faith
a bid for a grant in stage 2 or 3, respectively, for the development of such
device; and
(D)in the case of a
grant in stage 2 or 3 for the development of a device, has received a grant in
stage 1 or 2, respectively, for the development of such device.
(3)Bid
specifications for each stage
(A)The Assistant
Secretary shall develop specifications for bids submitted for grants in each
stage and shall ensure that such specifications are—
(i)based on the
requirements established under subsection (c)(1); and
(ii)provide for
reasonable progress from stage to stage toward the commercial production of
RoIP devices that meet such requirements by eligible entities receiving grants
in stage 3.
(B)Specifications
for stage 1The specifications for stage-1 bids shall include a
requirement that the eligible entity provide the Assistant Secretary with an
assurance that the eligible entity will use grant funds to develop the
prototype referred to in subparagraph (C)(i) for submission with the stage-2
bid of the entity.
(C)Specifications
for stage 2The specifications for stage-2 bids shall include the
following:
(i)A
requirement that the eligible entity submit a prototype of the device being
developed.
(ii)A requirement that the eligible entity
provide the Assistant Secretary with an assurance that the eligible entity will
use grant funds to develop the plan referred to in subparagraph (D)(i) for
submission with the stage-3 bid of the entity and to prepare to commercially
produce the device in accordance with the plan.
(iii)A
requirement that the eligible entity submit such information as the Assistant
Secretary may require regarding the capability of the eligible entity to
commercially produce, distribute, and market the device.
(D)Specifications
for stage 3The
specifications for stage-3 bids shall include the following:
(i)A requirement that the eligible entity
submit a plan for the commercial production of the device by the entity that
demonstrates that the device, as produced, will meet the requirements
established under subsection (c)(1).
(ii)A
requirement that the eligible entity provide the Assistant Secretary with an
assurance that the eligible entity will—
(I)use grant funds to
commercially produce the device in accordance with the plan submitted under
clause (i); and
(II)apply for award
of the label under section 3.
(iii)A
requirement that the eligible entity submit such information as the Assistant
Secretary may require regarding the capability of the eligible entity to
commercially produce, distribute, and market the device.
(4)Additional
factors for considerationIn making a grant under this section,
the Assistant Secretary shall consider, in addition to the requirements
established under subsection (c)(1) and the bid specifications established
under paragraph (3) for the stage involved, the following factors:
(A)The extent to
which the grant will encourage competition in the market for the device being
developed.
(B)The estimated cost
at which public safety personnel will be able to purchase such device.
(C)The potential
contribution to public safety of such device.
(D)Whether such
device is capable of utilizing, in addition to the portions of the
electromagnetic spectrum listed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 4(8),
the following portions of the spectrum:
(i)Public Safety Broadband License, Guard Band
(the electromagnetic spectrum between 768 and 769 megahertz, inclusive, and
between 798 and 799 megahertz, inclusive).
(ii)Public Safety, Narrowband Network (the
electromagnetic spectrum between 769 and 775 megahertz, inclusive, and between
799 and 805 megahertz, inclusive).
(E)Such other factors
as the Assistant Secretary considers appropriate to promote the public
interest.
(5)In making a grant under this section, the
Assistant Secretary shall give priority to bids for the development of devices
that are interoperable across—
(A)multiple
commercial bands of the electromagnetic spectrum; and
(B)multiple
communications profiles.
(6)The Assistant Secretary shall structure the
timing of each stage as the Assistant Secretary considers appropriate, but the
Assistant Secretary shall release the solicitation for stage-1 bids not later
than 8 months after the date of the enactment of this section and shall ensure
that all grants in stage 3 have been awarded not later than 4 years after the
date of the award of the 1st grant in stage 1.
(7)Number and
amount of grants
(A)
(i)1
grant per device per stageThe Assistant Secretary may not award more
than 1 grant per device per stage.
(ii)The Assistant
Secretary shall award not fewer than 4 and not more than 7 grants in stage
3.
(B)
(i)A grant for the
development of a device may not exceed $4,000,000 per stage.
(ii)The Assistant
Secretary may not award more than a total of $8,000,000 in all 3 stages for the
development of a single device.
(8)Consultation
with working groupThe Assistant Secretary shall consult with the
working group in carrying out this subsection.
(e)
(1)The Comptroller General of the United States shall
conduct an audit of the competition conducted under this section.
(2)In conducting such audit, the Comptroller General
shall evaluate the following:
(A)The extent to which grants under this
section were awarded on the basis of the merits of the bids submitted,
including whether the requirements established under subsection (c)(1) were
sufficient to ensure that the devices developed with such grants adequately
support mission-critical broadband voice and data communications of public
safety personnel.
(B)The extent to
which the grants encouraged competition in the market for the devices.
(C)The effect of the grants on the cost at
which public safety personnel are able to purchase the devices.
(D)The contribution
to public safety of the devices.
(E)Such other factors
as the Comptroller General considers appropriate.
(3)Not later than 5 years after the date of the enactment
of this section, the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a report on
the findings of such audit.
3.
(a)The Commission shall
establish a voluntary labeling program to identify nonstationary RoIP devices
that meet such criteria as the Commission considers appropriate for the support
of mission-critical broadband voice and data communications of public safety
personnel.
(b)Under such program, the
Commission shall determine a name and design for a label (in this section
referred to as the label
) for any RoIP device that meets the
criteria described in subsection (a) and shall take the necessary steps to
register the label as a mark under the Act entitled An Act to provide
for the registration and protection of trademarks used in commerce, to carry
out the provisions of certain international conventions, and for other
purposes
, approved March 17, 1946 (commonly referred to as the
Trademark Act of 1946; 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.).
(c)
(1)Under the program, the Commission shall
establish a process under which an entity manufacturing, marketing, or selling
a RoIP device may apply for the award of the label for such device.
(2)Upon application for a device under
paragraph (1), the Commission shall award the label to such device if the
Commission determines that the device meets the criteria described in
subsection (a).
(3)An entity manufacturing, marketing, or
selling a RoIP device awarded the label may display the label and otherwise
indicate that the device has been awarded the label on the device and in or on
any materials accompanying the device or any advertising with respect to the
device.
(d)The Commission shall periodically review the criteria
described in subsection (a) and revise the criteria as the Commission considers
appropriate.
(e)Annual
compliance certification
(1)An entity displaying or otherwise indicating that a RoIP
device has been awarded the label shall annually certify to the Commission that
the device continues to meet the criteria described in subsection (a),
including any revisions to the criteria since the label was awarded.
(2)Withdrawal of
award of labelThe Commission shall withdraw the award of the
label with respect to a device if—
(A)for a year, a certification required by
paragraph (1) for the device is not submitted by any of the entities required
to submit such certification; or
(B)the Commission otherwise finds that the
device no longer meets the criteria described in subsection (a), including any
revisions to the criteria since the label was awarded.
(f)The Commission may promulgate regulations
to promote the effective use of the label and to prevent the misuse of the
label.
(g)The Commission shall maintain an electronic database of
the devices for which the award of the label is in effect and shall make such
database publicly available on an appropriate Internet website.
4.In this Act:
(1)The term
Assistant Secretary means the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Communications and Information.
(2)The term broadband has the
same meaning as under the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program
established under section 6001 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009 (47 U.S.C. 1305).
(3)The
term Commission means the Federal Communications
Commission.
(4)The term communications profile means a
configuration of technology or equipment that supports broadband communications
by radio through the public switched telephone network, the Internet, or any
other public network. The radio-air interface configuration used by a
particular communications profile is part of such profile and is one of the
characteristics that distinguishes such profile from a different communications
profile. A communications profile can be implemented using radio equipment
designed to support specific, fixed profiles or radio equipment capable of
supporting an indefinite number of profiles through software programming
changes.
(5)The term eligible entity means an entity that
submits a bid for a grant under section 2.
(6)The
term mission-critical, used with respect to communications between
2 or more public safety personnel, means that, in order for such personnel to
protect life or property or the safety of such personnel, such communications
must be delivered in a real-time manner and with sufficient quality and clarity
for easy comprehension by such personnel, regardless of the conditions under
which the communications are sent or received.
(7)The term public safety personnel means any
Federal, State, or local law enforcement officer, firefighter, or provider of
emergency medical services or communications center personnel.
(8)Radio over
Internet protocol device or RoIP deviceThe term radio over Internet protocol
device or RoIP device means a device that is capable of
passing audio and other control functions of a radio system across an Internet
protocol-enabled network utilizing, at a minimum, the following portions of the
electromagnetic spectrum:
(A)D Block (the electromagnetic spectrum
between 758 and 763 megahertz, inclusive, and between 788 and 793 megahertz,
inclusive).
(B)Public Safety Broadband Network (the
electromagnetic spectrum between 763 and 768 megahertz, inclusive, and between
793 and 798 megahertz, inclusive).
5.
(a)Public Safety
Communications Devices Fund
(1)There
is established in the Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as the
Public Safety Communications Devices Fund.
(2)The Assistant Secretary and the Commission
shall use the funds deposited in the Public Safety Communications Devices Fund
to carry out sections 2 and 3, respectively. Of such funds, $1,000,000 in
fiscal year 2011 and $333,000 in each of the fiscal years 2012 through 2014
shall be available to the Assistant Secretary for administration of the grant
program established under section 2. If the Assistant Secretary does not use
the full amount available for administration in a fiscal year, the remainder of
such amount shall be available to the Assistant Secretary for administration of
the grant program in any fiscal year prior to fiscal year 2016.
(3)
(A)The Assistant
Secretary and the Commission may borrow from the general fund of the Treasury
beginning on October 1, 2010, such sums as may be necessary, but not to exceed
a total of $70,000,000, to implement sections 2 and 3, respectively.
(B)The Secretary of the Treasury shall
reimburse the general fund of the Treasury, without interest, for any amounts
borrowed under subparagraph (A) as funds are deposited into the Public Safety
Communications Devices Fund, but in no case later than September 30,
2015.
(b)Notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) and (D)
of paragraph (8) of section 309(j) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
309(j)), the Secretary of the Treasury shall—
(1)deposit in the
Public Safety Communications Devices Fund $70,000,000 of the proceeds
(including deposits and upfront payments from successful bidders) from the
auction of spectrum under such section during the period beginning on October
1, 2012, and ending on September 30, 2015; and
(2)make the funds
deposited under paragraph (1) available to the Assistant Secretary and the
Commission without further appropriation.
(c)The Secretary of
the Treasury shall transfer to the general fund of the Treasury any funds
remaining in the Public Safety Communications Devices Fund after September 30,
2015.
(d)Extension of
auction authoritySection
309(j)(11) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)(11)) is amended
by striking 2012
and inserting 2015
.