[Senate Report 115-4]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


							Calendar No. 17


115th Congress }					{ REPORT
 1st Session   }                  SENATE                { 115-4
_______________________________________________________________________

 MAKING OPPORTUNITIES FOR BROADBAND INVESTMENT AND LIMITING EXCESSIVE 
                 AND NEEDLESS OBSTACLES TO WIRELESS ACT

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

           COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

                                   on

                                 S. 19

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


                 March 21, 2017.--Ordered to be printed
                 
                               ___________
                               
                               
                      U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                             WASHINGTON : 2017
________________________________________________________________________                             
     
       
       SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
                     one hundred fifteenth congress
                             first session

                   JOHN THUNE, South Dakota, Chairman
 ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi         BILL NELSON, Florida
 ROY BLUNT, Missouri                  MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
 TED CRUZ, Texas                      AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
 DEB FISCHER, Nebraska                RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
 JERRY MORAN, Kansas                  BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
 DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska                 ED MARKEY, Massachusetts
 DEAN HELLER, Nevada                  CORY BOOKER, New Jersey
 JIM INHOFE, Oklahoma                 TOM UDALL, New Mexico
 MIKE LEE, Utah                       GARY PETERS, Michigan
 RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin               TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
 SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West           TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
    Virginia
 CORY GARDNER, Colorado               MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire
 TODD YOUNG, Indiana                  CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
                       Nick Rossi, Staff Director
                 Adrian Arnakis, Deputy Staff Director
                    Jason Van Beek, General Counsel
                 Kim Lipsky, Democratic Staff Director
           Christopher Day, Democratic Deputy Staff Director
___________________________________________________________________________           
                                                       Calendar No. 17
                                                       
                                                       
115th Congress }                            		{ Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session   }                                        { 115-4

======================================================================
 
 MAKING OPPORTUNITIES FOR BROADBAND INVESTMENT AND LIMITING EXCESSIVE 
                 AND NEEDLESS OBSTACLES TO WIRELESS ACT

                                _______
                                

                 March 21, 2017.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. Thune, from the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                          [To accompany S. 19]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to 
which was referred the bill (S. 19) to provide opportunities 
for broadband investment, and for other purposes, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an 
amendment (in the nature of a substitute) and recommends that 
the bill (as amended) do pass.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purpose of S. 19, the Making Opportunities for 
Broadband Investment and Limiting Excessive and Needless 
Obstacles to Wireless Act (MOBILE NOW Act), is to help secure 
continued U.S. mobile and fixed broadband leadership by 
ensuring additional licensed and unlicensed spectrum are made 
available for wireless broadband use, by reducing barriers to 
investment and innovation, and by facilitating deployment of 
broadband services, especially in rural areas, and for other 
purposes.

                          Background and Needs

    ``High-speed broadband enables Americans to use the 
Internet in new ways, expands access to health services and 
education, increases the productivity of businesses, and drives 
innovation throughout the digital ecosystem.''\1\ Wireless 
services and connectivity have transformed American daily life 
- changing everything from the way we work to the way we relax 
- and have become an essential part of the Nation's 
infrastructure. Last year 198.5 million people in the United 
States owned smartphones,\2\ and smartphones comprised at least 
77 percent of the traffic on wireless networks.\3\ Americans 
access the Internet on mobile devices more often than on 
computers,\4\ and the number of American adults who rely solely 
on their smartphones for Internet access at home is increasing 
- as of 2015, 13 percent of adults were ``smartphone-only,'' 
with no home broadband subscription.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\President Barack Obama, ``Presidential Memorandum-Expanding 
Broadband Deployment and Adoption by Addressing Regulatory Barriers and 
Encouraging Investment and Training,'' March 23, 2015, at https://
obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/03/23/presidential-
memorandum-expanding-broadband-deployment-and-adoption-addr.
    \2\``comScore Reports January 2016 U.S. Smartphone Subscriber 
Market Share,'' comScore, March 4, 2016, at http://www.comscore.com/
Insights/Rankings/comScore-Reports-January-2016-US-Smartphone-
Subscriber-Market-Share.
    \3\INFOGRAPHIC: Smartphones Comprise 77 Percent of Traffic on 
Wireless Networks, Cellular Telecommunications Information Agency 
(CTIA), June 26, 2015, at http://www.ctia.org/resource-library/facts-
and-infographics/archive/infographic-smartphones-comprise-77-percent-
of-traffic-on-wireless-networks; see also VNI Mobile Forecast 
Highlights, 2015-2020, Cisco, at http://www.cisco.com/assets/sol/sp/
vni/forecast_highlights_mobile/index.html.
    \4\Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Bayers (KPCB), ``KPCB  Internet 
Trends 2015,'' May 27, 2015, at http://www.kpcb.com/file/kpcb-internet-
trends-2015.
    \5\John Horrigan and Maeve Duggan, Home Broadband 2015, Pew 
Research Center Dec. 21, 2015, at http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/12/
21/1-home-broadband-adoption-modest-decline-from-2013-to-2015/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    As President Obama noted in 2010, ``America's future 
competitiveness and global technology leadership depend, in 
part, upon the availability of additional spectrum. The world 
is going wireless, and we must not fall behind.''\6\ In 
particular, next-generation gigabit wireless networks, 
including fifth generation (5G) mobile technologies, ``will be 
a revolutionary leap forward in wireless capability that will 
reshape the world around us and fundamentally change how we 
interact with that world.''\7\ The benefits of leading the 
world in the development of a gigabit wireless future can only 
be secured if the country acts now to identify the spectrum and 
facilitate the deployment of the infrastructure on which 
technologies like 5G will depend; the higher frequencies on 
which 5G and other gigabit wireless systems will in part be 
deployed will require increased spectral efficiency and much 
greater density of cell deployment than current cell 
technology.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\Unleashing the Wireless Broadband Revolution, Presidential 
Memorandum, June 28, 2010, 75 FR 38387.
    \7\Remarks of Chairman John Thune, February 9, 2016, at http://
www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/speeches?ID=016478D3-0C39-
4D7C-B65E-CE422C335E4.
    \8\See, e.g., Use of Spectrum Bands Above 24 GHz for Mobile Radio 
Services, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 
31 FCC Received (Rcd.) 8014, 8053, FCC 16-89, para. 96.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In addition to facilitating the way that most Americans 
communicate, wireless spectrum is a major economic driver. 
Spectrum licensed to U.S. wireless carriers generates more than 
$400 billion annually in economic activity, and wireless 
technologies also enable other sectors of the economy; for 
instance, mobile entertainment generated an estimated $9 
billion in revenues in 2014, and it has been estimated that the 
U.S. telehealth market will grow from $240 million in revenues 
in 2013 to $1.9 billion by 2018.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \9\Coleman Bazelon and Giulia McHenry, Mobile Broadband Spectrum: A 
Vital Resource for the U.S. Economy, The Brattle Group, 2, May 11, 
2015, at http://www.ctia.org/docs/default-source/default-document-
library/brattle_spectrum_051115.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Despite extraordinary innovation and investment in wired 
and wireless broadband, an estimated $1.5 trillion since 
1996,\10\ the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or 
Commission) has found that advanced telecommunications 
capability is not being deployed to all Americans in a 
reasonable and timely fashion and that there is ``a significant 
disparity of access to advanced telecommunications capability 
across America with more than 39 percent of Americans living in 
rural areas lacking access to advanced telecommunications 
capability, as compared to 4 percent of Americans living in 
urban areas, and approximately 41 percent of Americans living 
on tribal lands lacking access to advanced telecommunications 
capability.''\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\U.S. Telecom, ``Broadband Investment,'' at https://
www.ustelecom.org/broadband-industry/broadband-industry-stats/
investment.
    \11\Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 16-6, paragraph 4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    On June 28, 2010, President Obama issued a Presidential 
Memorandum establishing a goal of making a total of 500 
megahertz of spectrum available by 2020 for both mobile and 
fixed wireless broadband use,\12\ and Congress has already 
taken several steps consistent with that goal. In sections 6401 
and 6403 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 
2012, Congress did the following: (i) directed the Commission 
and the National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration (NTIA) to identify, reallocate, auction, and 
license certain spectrum for commercial Advanced Wireless 
Services use;\13\ and (ii) directed the Commission to conduct 
an incentive auction of broadcast television spectrum in which 
broadcast television licensees could voluntarily relinquish 
their spectrum usage rights in order to permit the assignment 
by auction of new flexible-use licenses.\14\ Further, in the 
Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, Congress directed the NTIA and 
the Commission to identify, reallocate from Federal use to non-
Federal or shared Federal and non-Federal use, and auction 30 
megahertz of spectrum.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \12\President Barack Obama, ``Presidential Memorandum-Unleashing 
the Wireless Broadband Revolution,'' Presidential Memorandum, June 28, 
2010, at https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/
presidential-memorandum-unleashing-wireless-broadband-revolution.
    \13\Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, Pub. L. 
No. 112-96, 126 Stat. 156, 222 (2012) (47 U.S.C. Sec. 1451).
    \14\Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, Pub. L. 
No. 112-96, 126 Stat. 156, 225 (2012) (47 U.S.C. Sec. 1452).
    \15\Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, Pub. L. 114-974, 129 Stat. 585, 
Sec. Sec.  1001-1008.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    However, more spectrum is needed to meet the 500 megahertz 
goal set forth by the previous President and the expanding 
requirements of our wireless ecosystem. Increasing use of data-
intensive applications, such as video and Internet access, has 
created additional demand for carrier networks, and this demand 
for spectrum is already outpacing availability. Cisco reports 
that, between 2015 and 2020, U.S. mobile data traffic will grow 
six-fold, twice as fast as U.S. fixed IP traffic, and the 
number of connected devices in personal, household, or 
commercial settings will nearly double.\16\ Even taking into 
account the spectrum the Commission is newly making available, 
the United States is facing a significant projected spectrum 
deficit. To meet America's demand for mobile broadband, the 
wireless industry will need more than 350 megahertz of new 
licensed spectrum alone by 2019.\17\ The MOBILE NOW Act would 
build upon Congress' past efforts by ensuring that additional 
capacity is available to meet Americans' needs and to allow the 
wireless sector to continue to be a critical economic stimulant 
for the entire economy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \16\Cisco Visual Networking Index Mobile Forecast (2015-2020),  
United States - 2020 Forecast Highlights, at http://www.cisco.com/c/
dam/m/en_us/solutions/service-provider/vni-forecast-highlights/pdf/
United_States_2020_Forecast_Highlights.pdf.
    \17\Coleman Bazelon and Giulia McHenry, Substantial Licensed 
Spectrum Deficit (2015-2019): Updating the FCC's Mobile Data Demand 
Projections, The Brattle Group, 1, May 11, 2015, at http://
www.brattle.com/system/news/pdfs/000/000/891/original/
Substantial_Licensed_Spectrum_Deficit_(2015-2019)_-
_Updating_the_FCC's_Mobile_Data_Demand_Projections.pdf?1435613076.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Moreover, a thriving wireless broadband environment 
requires both licensed and unlicensed spectrum. Deploying a 
wireless network is a lengthy, resource-intensive process, and 
licensed spectrum helps guarantee reliable service and 
encourages greater investment and technical innovation by 
providing carriers with needed certainty. Similarly, unlicensed 
spectrum guarantees industries and entrepreneurs the spectrum 
they need for the advancement of unlicensed services and 
technologies. Both are necessary to support the growing 
wireless ecosystem, and the MOBILE NOW Act would require that 
the Commission will satisfy requirements for both. 
Specifically, the MOBILE NOW Act would require the Commission 
to designate at least 100 megahertz of the newly available 
spectrum for licensed use and at least 100 megahertz for 
unlicensed use.
    The time to act is now. It can take years to identify 
spectrum that can be made available for commercial use, 
allocate the spectrum, create service rules, develop auction 
rules for spectrum to be auctioned, conduct an auction, and 
relocate incumbent operations, all before beginning to deploy 
the networks providing service to American consumers. The NTIA 
estimated that it would take 10 years and cost $18 billion to 
clear and repurpose 95 megahertz of spectrum in the 1755 to 
1850 megahertz band.\18\ Much of this process must be 
undertaken before industry can have the reasonable certainty 
that is necessary to undertake massive investment in new 
technology. A case in point: as noted above, Congress in 2012 
authorized the Commission to conduct an incentive auction of 
broadcast television spectrum in which broadcast television 
licensees could voluntarily relinquish their spectrum usage 
rights in order to permit the assignment by auction of new 
flexible-use licenses. The Commission did not have final rules 
for the admittedly complex auction of that spectrum until July 
2015, and as of the date of this bill's committee 
consideration, the Commission had not yet completed the auction 
of the spectrum or begun the 39-month transition and spectrum 
repacking process to make the spectrum available for flexible 
use.\19\
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    \18\U.S. Department of Commerce, An Assessment of the Viability of 
Accommodating Wireless Broadband in the 1755 - 1850 MHz Band, March, 
2012, at iv, at https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/
ntia_1755_1850_mhz_report_march2012.pdf.
    \19\See Transition Broadcasters After the Auctions, at https://
www.fcc.gov/about-fcc/fcc-initiatives/incentive-auctions/post-auction-
transition.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In order to facilitate deployment of both fixed and mobile 
networks, the MOBILE NOW Act would address a number of barriers 
to deployment. At the Committee's October 7, 2015, hearing on 
``Removing Barriers to Wireless Broadband Deployment,'' 
witnesses identified a number of steps Congress could take to 
enable faster and more efficient deployment of advanced 
telecommunications services. Noting ``[t]he myriad of processes 
and procedures among different [F]ederal agencies often poses 
insurmountable obstacles to siting wireless infrastructure on 
[F]ederal property,''\20\ witnesses recommended requiring 
agencies to do the following: use master templates;\21\ 
streamline disparate agency processes;\22\ establish a shot-
clock for Federal agency consideration of leases;\23\ establish 
``dig-once'' procedures to reduce the cost and disruption of 
deployments;\24\ and establish a database of key information 
regarding Federal properties, with appropriate protections for 
national security.\25\ The MOBILE NOW Act would address each of 
these matters.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \20\Testimony of Hon. Jonathan S. Adelstein, President & CEO, PCIA 
- The Wireless Infrastructure Association, Senate Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation, ``Removing Barriers to Wireless 
Broadband Deployment,'' October 7, 2015, at https://
www.commerce.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/776a69e3-5891-476f-85fb-
945ba3ed518a/56E37595DFA44623573E920E7E04A421.adelstein-qfr-
responses.pdf.
    \21\Testimony of Mr. Douglas Kinkopf, Associate Administrator, 
Office of Telecommunications and Information Applications, National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Senate 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, ``Removing Barriers 
to Wireless Broadband Deployment,'' October 7, 2015, at https://
www.commerce.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/776a69e3-5891-476f-85fb-
945ba3ed518a/56E37595DFA44623573E920E7E04A421.adelstein-qfr-
responses.pdf.
    \22\Testimony of Mr. Bruce Morrison, Vice President, Operations and 
Network Build, Region North America, Ericsson, Senate Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation, ``Removing Barriers to Wireless 
Broadband Deployment,'' October 7, 2015, at http://
www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/hearings?ID=D7B621C5-BEB5-
418D-B814-AEBFF10FFC.
    \23\Ibid. See also Testimony of Hon. Gary Resnick, Mayor of Wilton 
Manors, Florida, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation, ``Removing Barriers to Wireless Broadband Deployment,'' 
October 7, 2015, at http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/
hearings?ID=D7B621C5-BEB5-418D-B814-AEBFF10FFC21.
    \24\Testimony of Hon. Jonathan S. Adelstein, President & CEO, PCIA 
- The Wireless Infrastructure Association, Senate Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation, ``Removing Barriers to Wireless 
Broadband Deployment,'' October 7, 2015, at http://
www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/hearings?ID=D7B621C5-BEB5-
418D-B814-AEBFF10FFC21.
    \25\Testimony of Mr. Douglas Kinkopf, Associate Administrator, 
Office of Telecommunications and Information Applications, NTIA, Senate 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, ``Removing Barriers 
to Wireless Broadband Deployment,'' October 7, 2015, at http://
www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/hearings?ID=D7B621C5-BEB5-
418D-B814-AEBFF10FFC21.
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    The MOBILE NOW Act is an essential first step in making 
more spectrum available and promoting more deployment of 
broadband infrastructure, both of which are necessary to secure 
American leadership for the next generation of communications 
technologies like 5G and other gigabit wireless services.

                         Summary of Provisions

    To facilitate deployment of advanced telecommunications 
capability, the MOBILE NOW Act would make more spectrum 
available for fixed and mobile broadband and would facilitate 
deployment of the infrastructure essential for the future of 
advanced telecommunications capability.
    The MOBILE NOW Act would do the following, among other 
things:

   Require that 255 megahertz of spectrum be made 
available for fixed and mobile wireless broadband use by 2020. 
At least 100 megahertz would be available on an unlicensed 
basis, and at least 100 megahertz on an exclusive, licensed 
basis.
   Direct the NTIA to study the impact of allowing 
fixed or mobile operations in certain spectrum bands with 
existing Federal users, and subsequently direct the FCC to 
publish a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding service rules 
for mobile or fixed wireless operation in those bands, if 
feasible, and in additional bands.
   Require the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to 
evaluate and report to Congress on the feasibility of allowing 
commercial wireless services in the spectrum band between 3100 
and 3500 megahertz, and require the Commission to do the same 
regarding the spectrum band between 3700 to 4200 megahertz.
   Streamline the process of applying for easements, 
rights of way, and leases for federally-managed property.
   Establish a National Broadband Facilities Asset 
Database of Federal property, and make the database available 
to entities that construct or operate communications 
facilities. States would be encouraged to include State 
information in the database as well.
   Direct the Secretary to prepare a report of 
legislative and regulatory proposals, including use of the 
auction proceeds, to provide incentives to Federal entities to 
relinquish or share spectrum with Federal and non-Federal 
users.
   Require the FCC to study the best means of providing 
Federal entities intermittent access to non-Federal spectrum, 
for example during emergencies.
   Require the FCC to adopt rules regarding unlicensed 
operations in designated guard bands.
   Require the FCC to conduct a rulemaking regarding 
the partitioning and disaggregation of spectrum licenses, and 
other measures to promote availability of advanced 
telecommunications services in rural areas.
   Require the FCC to develop a national plan for 
making additional radio frequency bands available for 
unlicensed operations.

                          Legislative History

    S. 19, the MOBILE NOW Act was introduced on January 3, 
2017, by Senator Thune and Senator Nelson and was referred to 
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
Senate. On January 24, 2017, the Committee met in open 
Executive Session and, by voice vote, ordered S. 19 to be 
reported favorably with an amendment (in the nature of a 
substitute). A substitute amendment was offered by Senators 
Thune and Nelson with an amendment by Senator Heller to require 
that specified NTIA recommendations related to a report 
required by the underlying bill include a recommendation on 
policies that would prioritize or streamline a permit for 
construction in a previously-disturbed right-of-way.
    The bill as amended is substantially similar to legislation 
previously reported favorably by the Committee, S. 2555, in the 
114th Congress. On March 3, 2016, the Committee held an 
Executive Session during which S. 2555 was approved 
unanimously, by voice vote, and was ordered to be favorably 
reported with an amendment (in the nature of a substitute).
    On July 29, 2015, the Committee held a hearing on 
``Wireless Broadband and the Future of Spectrum Policy,'' 
during which the Committee received testimony regarding the 
need to provide incentives to free more spectrum for commercial 
use and the need to assess the suitability of millimeter wave 
spectrum. On October 7, 2015, the Committee held a hearing on 
``Removing Barriers to Wireless Broadband Deployment,'' during 
which the Committee received testimony regarding the importance 
of fixed and mobile wireless service to the U.S. economy, the 
need for additional spectrum to meet consumer demand, the need 
to streamline the process for deploying and densifying wireless 
networks, the technology gap facing rural America, and the role 
of local governments in deployment of wireless infrastructure.

                            Estimated Costs

    In accordance with paragraph 11(a) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate and section 403 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee provides the 
following cost estimate, prepared by the Congressional Budget 
Office:

S. 19--Making Opportunities for Broadband Investment and Limiting 
        Excessive and Needless Obstacles to Wireless Act

    Summary: S. 19 would authorize federal agencies to 
implement various programs and measures related to management 
of the electromagnetic spectrum. It would direct federal 
agencies to prepare reports, develop information for firms that 
provide telecommunications services, award prizes for advanced 
technologies, and ensure that certain radio frequencies are 
made available for commercial uses.
    CBO estimates that enacting S. 19 would increase net direct 
spending by $141 million over the 2018-2027 period, primarily 
as a result of provisions that would accelerate spending 
related to making federal spectrum available for commercial 
use. CBO also estimates that implementing the bill would cost 
$88 million over the 2018-2022 period, subject to the 
appropriation of the necessary amounts, mainly to develop new 
data systems and carry out spectrum management activities.
    Because enacting the bill would affect direct spending, 
pay-as-you-go procedures apply. Enacting S. 19 would not affect 
revenues.
    CBO estimates that enacting the legislation would not 
increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits by more than 
$5 billion in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods 
beginning in 2028.
    S. 19 would impose intergovernmental mandates as defined in 
the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act (UMRA) by preempting state and 
local tax laws related to wireless telecommunication services 
and by preempting the jurisdiction of state and local courts in 
some cases. CBO estimates that the costs of the mandates, 
mostly in the form of foregone revenue to state and local 
governments, would not exceed the threshold established in UMRA 
($78 million in 2017, adjusted annually for inflation).
    If the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) increases 
annual fee collections to offset the costs of implementing the 
bill, doing so would increase the cost of an existing private-
sector mandate on some commercial entities regulated by the 
agency. Based on information from the FCC, CBO estimates that 
the incremental cost of the mandate would be small, and fall 
well below the annual threshold established in UMRA for 
private-sector mandates ($156 million in 2017, adjusted 
annually for inflation).
    Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated 
budgetary effect of S. 19 is shown in the following table. The 
costs of this legislation fall within several budget functions, 
including 370 (commerce and housing credit) and 800 (general 
government).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                  By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     2018    2019    2020    2021    2022    2023    2024    2025    2026    2027   2018-2022  2018-2027
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              INCREASES IN DIRECT SPENDING
 
Estimated Budget Authority........................       8       8       8      11       8       4       2      57      35       0        66        141
Estimated Outlays.................................       8       8       8      11       8       4       2      57      35       0        43        141
 
                                                     INCREASES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION
 
Estimated Authorization Level.....................       8      29      25      24      23       3       3       4       4       4       109        127
Estimated Outlays.................................       7      13      20      25      23      18       9       4       4       4        88        127
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that the 
bill will be enacted near the end of fiscal year 2017 and that 
the estimated amounts will be appropriated each year. Outlay 
estimates are based on historical spending patterns for the 
affected programs.

Direct Spending

    CBO estimates that enacting S. 19 would increase direct 
spending by $141 million over the 2018-2027 period, primarily 
as a result of provisions that would accelerate spending from 
the Spectrum Relocation Fund (SRF). Most of those costs would 
be offset by lower spending after 2027.
    Spectrum Relocation Fund. Current law authorizes federal 
agencies to spend a portion of the proceeds from spectrum 
auctions, without further appropriation, to cover the costs 
they incur to make federal frequencies available for new 
commercial uses. Under current law, such spending cannot begin 
until after the FCC awards licenses to the winning bidders and 
deposits the proceeds into the SRF. S. 19 would authorize the 
Office of Management and Budget to borrow funds from the 
Treasury immediately after an auction closes and to deposit 
those amounts in the SRF. Making SRF funds available 
immediately following the end of a spectrum auction would 
accelerate spending from the fund. Because major relocation 
efforts typically take several years to complete, CBO estimates 
that enacting this provision would shift some outlays that 
otherwise would have occurred after 2027 into the 2018-2027 
period. On balance, CBO estimates that this shift in the timing 
of outlays would increase net direct spending by $97 million 
over the 2018-2027 period, primarily reflecting faster spending 
for costs associated with an auction that is expected to be 
completed in 2025.
    S. 19 also would allow agencies to spend SRF funds sooner 
to plan for relocation efforts. Agencies currently may spend a 
portion of the funds in the SRF to develop relocation plans for 
auctions that are expected to occur within five years; this 
bill would authorize that spending to occur for auctions that 
may be scheduled within eight years. Based on an analysis of 
information from agencies involved in relocation efforts, CBO 
estimates that this change would increase net direct spending 
by about $20 million over the 2018-2027 period and reduce 
outlays by corresponding amounts after 2027.
    Fees for telecommunications leases. Under current law, fees 
that agencies charge to grant easements and rights-of-way for 
siting communications facilities on federal property may only 
cover the agencies' direct costs related to granting such 
easements and rights-of-way. Furthermore, those fees may not be 
spent without further appropriation. S. 19 would apply those 
same conditions to leases that are issued for siting private 
communication facilities on federal property.
    The budgetary effects of applying those restrictions to 
leases would depend on the disposition of leasing proceeds 
under current law. For example, some agencies are allowed to 
spend the income from communications leases without further 
appropriation. CBO expects that reducing the amount collected 
in those instances would have no net effect on direct spending 
(because the loss of receipts would be offset by lower 
spending) but would increase costs needing to be covered by 
appropriations. By contrast, reducing fees that currently 
cannot be spent without further appropriation would reduce the 
amount of income that otherwise would have been deposited in 
the Treasury as offsetting receipts (which are recorded in the 
budget as reductions in direct spending).
    CBO estimates that enacting this provision would primarily 
affect leasing fees deposited in the Federal Buildings Fund 
(FBF) by the General Services Administration (GSA), which may 
be spent only as provided in appropriation acts. According to 
GSA, the agency deposited $2 million and $3 million from 
communications leases into the FBF in 2014 and 2015, 
respectively. Based on an analysis of the value of fees charged 
for cost recovery by other agencies for granting 
telecommunications rights-of-ways and easements, CBO estimates 
that proceeds from GSA's new and renewed leases would be at 
least 90 percent lower than the market-based fees for leases 
collected under current law. In addition, CBO anticipates that 
such fees would be paid once, at the time of application, 
whereas leasing fees are paid annually over the life of the 
lease, which may be in effect for up to 20 years. On balance, 
CBO estimates that implementing this change would reduce net 
offsetting receipts (which increase direct spending) by $24 
million over the 2018-2027 period.
    Other provisions. CBO estimates that other provisions in 
the bill would have no significant net effect on direct 
spending. For example, S. 19 would direct the FCC and NTIA to 
make 255 megaherz of spectrum available for new commercial uses 
by 2020 on a licensed and unlicensed basis. CBO estimates that 
those requirements would have no significant net effect on 
projected proceeds from the FCC's auctions because CBO 
anticipates that the FCC would auction licenses to use similar 
amounts of spectrum under its existing auction authority.

Spending subject to appropriation

    CBO estimates that implementing S. 19 would cost $88 
million over the 2018-2022 period, assuming appropriation of 
the necessary amounts. That estimate is net of fees that would 
be collected by the FCC to offset the agency's administrative 
costs under the bill.
    Database of Federal property for telecommunications uses. 
Under S. 19, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) 
would be required to establish a single database of information 
about federal real property that could be used as sites for 
telecommunications equipment owned and operated by nonfederal 
entities. Subject to certain restrictions, the database would 
be available to firms that construct or operate such facilities 
as well as to firms that provide communication services. The 
bill would direct OSTP to include any data provided voluntarily 
by state of local governments related to the availability of 
real property under their purview that could be used as sites 
for such equipment.
    The federal government currently maintains extensive 
information on its real property holdings--which include nearly 
39 million acres of land and more than 275,000 buildings--but 
those databases do not indicate whether those properties would 
be appropriate sites for telecommunications equipment. CBO 
anticipates that more than 20 federal agencies would need to 
review the suitability of their property holdings for this 
purpose, which may involve assessing environmental and historic 
features as well as considering national security and public 
safety.
    The cost to prepare such an inventory would vary 
significantly depending on the level of detail included. Based 
on an analysis of information from affected agencies and the 
cost of creating other federal databases, CBO estimates that 
preparing this data would cost those federal agencies $58 
million over the 2018-2022 period, an average of about $4 
million per agency over a four year period. In addition, CBO 
estimates that creating and maintaining the database would cost 
about $3 million annually. Thus, CBO estimates that the cost of 
implementing this effort would total $74 million over the 2018-
2022 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. 
Those costs could be higher if OSTP integrates information from 
state and local governments; alternatively, costs could be 
lower if agencies do less analysis of the suitability of 
specific properties for private communications equipment.
    Spectrum management. S. 19 would direct the National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and 
the FCC to conduct various studies and regulatory proceedings 
related to radio frequencies that may become available in the 
future for new uses. For example, the bill would require NTIA 
to study whether certain spectrum bands currently used by 
federal agencies could be used by nonfederal entities. 
Following that report, the FCC would need to undertake a 
rulemaking process on the possibility of reallocating those and 
other frequencies for new commercial uses. In addition, both 
agencies would be required to assist OSTP in developing the 
database of federal property and to develop plans for making 
spectrum available on either a licensed or an unlicensed 
basis.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\The FCC awards most licenses to use the electromagnetic spectrum 
through competitive auctions. Those licenses give entities an exclusive 
right to use specific frequencies, subject to certain conditions. 
Spectrum made available on an unlicensed basis usually is available to 
any user, subject to restrictions aimed at preventing interference with 
other users.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Based on an analysis of information from those agencies, 
CBO estimates that the spectrum management activities required 
by the bill would cost the NTIA $8 million over the 2018-2022 
period. Implementing the bill also would cost the FCC $6 
million over the 2018-2022 period. However, under current law 
the FCC is authorized to collect fees sufficient to offset the 
cost of its regulatory activities each year; therefore, CB0 
estimates that the net effect on discretionary spending for 
those activities would be negligible, assuming appropriation 
actions consistent with that authority.
    Technology prize. S. 19 would establish a prize competition 
aimed at spurring the commercialization of more efficient and 
cost-effective technologies for using the electromagnetic 
spectrum. The competition would be administered by the 
Secretary of Commerce in collaboration with other federal 
agencies. The bill would authorize the appropriation of $5 
million for prize awards and such sums as may be necessary to 
administer the program. Based on the historical costs of 
administering other federal prize competitions, CBO estimates 
that implementing this program would cost a total of $6 
million, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts.
    Pay-As-You-Go considerations: The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go 
Act of 2010 establishes budget-reporting and enforcement 
procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or 
revenues. The net changes in outlays that are subject to those 
pay-as-you-go procedures are shown in the following table.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                              By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             2017    2018    2019    2020    2021    2022    2023    2024    2025    2026    2027   2017-2022  2017-2027
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               NET INCREASE IN THE DEFICIT
 
Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Impact............       0       8       8       8      11       8       4       2      57      35       0        43        141
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Increase in long-term direct spending and deficits: CBO 
estimates that enacting the legislation would not increase net 
direct spending or on-budget deficits by more than $5 billion 
in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 
2028.
    Estimated impact on state, local, and tribal governments: 
S. 19 would impose intergovernmental mandates as defined in 
UMRA by preempting state and local tax laws related to wireless 
telecommunication services. The language of section 20 is 
circular in nature and consequently it is difficult to clearly 
determine when state or local taxing authority would be allowed 
and when it would be preempted. For the purposes of this 
estimate, CBO has assumed that the bill would prohibit state 
and local governments from collecting taxes on 
telecommunication services that are bundled with prepaid phones 
(or sold subsequently to reload wireless minutes) unless those 
taxes are levied on the retail seller of the prepaid phone or 
minutes. For instance, a state could not collect taxes from the 
company that provides minutes for a prepaid phone if those 
minutes are sold by a separate retailer that does not provide 
the minutes directly to the user; instead, the state would need 
to collect the tax from the retailer.
    Most states that levy telecommunications taxes on the sale 
of prepaid phones or minutes collect the taxes from retailers. 
CBO could identify only two states with laws that would allow 
taxes to be collected for prepaid wireless minutes from 
telecommunication providers that did not sell the phones 
directly. The revenues those states collect from such 
transactions total about $7.5 million annually. While such 
taxes would clearly be prohibited by section 20, the language 
in the bill is written generally and is not explicitly limited 
to the taxation of telecommunication services associated with 
prepaid phones. Even so, CBO could identify no other likely 
case in which section 20 would prohibit the collection of state 
taxes. Consequently, CBO estimates that the cost to state and 
local governments in the form of forgone revenues would fall 
well below the threshold established in UMRA ($78 million in 
2017, adjusted annually for inflation). The bill also would 
preempt the authority of state and local courts to assert 
jurisdiction in cases that involve such taxation. That 
preemption also would be a mandate as defined in UMRA, but it 
would impose no significant costs in and of itself.
    Finally, the bill would require states that receive federal 
highway aid to meet new requirements to facilitate the 
installation of broadband infrastructure. Such requirements 
would be conditions of assistance and thus not 
intergovernmental mandates as defined in UMRA.
    Estimated impact on the private sector: If the FCC 
increases annual fee collections to offset the costs of 
implementing the bill, doing so would increase the cost of an 
existing private-sector mandate on some commercial entities 
regulated by the agency. The FCC is authorized to collect fees 
sufficient to offset its regulatory costs each year, subject to 
its annual appropriation. Based on information from the FCC, 
CBO estimates that the incremental cost of the mandate would be 
small--no more than about $6 million over the 2017-2021 
period--and fall well below the annual threshold established in 
UMRA for private-sector mandates ($156 million in 2017, 
adjusted annually for inflation).
    Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Stephen Rabent (FCC, 
NTIA) and Kathleen Gramp (spectrum relocation); Impact on 
State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Rachel Austin; Impact on 
the Private Sector: Logan Smith.
    Estimate approved by: H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                           Regulatory Impact

    In accordance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides the 
following evaluation of the regulatory impact of the 
legislation, as reported:

                       number of persons covered

    States and local jurisdictions would be covered by the 
bill's provision dealing with the collection of taxes, fees, or 
surcharges related to wireless telecommunications services. 
Otherwise, the number of persons covered by this legislation 
would be consistent with current levels.

                            economic impact

    The legislation would promote more efficient use of 
spectrum and the efficient deployment of fixed and mobile 
broadband throughout the United States, allowing the Nation to 
extend its technology leadership to the next generation of 
communications technology and extending to more Americans the 
benefits of advanced telecommunications capability. The 
legislation would remove barriers to deployment of broadband 
communications networks and maximize the value of America's 
spectrum resources for the American consumer in a sector that 
generates hundreds of billions of dollars of economic activity 
annually and is responsible for an estimated $1.5 trillion in 
network investment since 1996.

                                privacy

    The bill would not have any adverse impact on the personal 
privacy of individuals.

                               paperwork

    The Committee does not anticipate a major increase in 
paperwork burdens resulting from the passage of this 
legislation.

                   Congressionally Directed Spending

    In accordance with paragraph 4(b) of rule XLIV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee provides the 
following identification of congressionally directed spending 
items contained in the bill, as reported:

                      Section-by-Section Analysis


Section 1. Short title; table of contents.

    This section would provide that the short title of the bill 
would be ``Making Opportunities for Broadband Investment and 
Limiting Excessive and Needless Obstacles to Wireless Act'' or 
the ``MOBILE NOW Act.'' This section would further provide a 
table of contents for the bill.

Section 2. Definitions.

    This section would provide definitions for various terms 
used throughout the bill.

Section 3. Making 500 megahertz available.

    Section 3(a)(1) would direct the Secretary, through the 
NTIA, and the Commission to make at least 255 additional 
megahertz of Federal and non-Federal spectrum below the 
frequency of 6000 megahertz available for mobile and fixed 
wireless broadband use by December 31, 2020.
    By directing the NTIA and the Commission to make spectrum 
available below 6000 megahertz, the Committee recognizes that 
technology in those bands is currently the most mature for 
mobile and fixed deployment and can best be used to meet 
immediate and medium-term requirements. Lower band spectrum, 
below 3000 megahertz, is particularly valuable for licensed 
mobile wireless use because of its propagation characteristics 
and proximity to other spectrum already being used in licensed 
commercial mobile networks. The NTIA and the Commission should 
prioritize that spectrum for mobile wireless use and designate 
higher band spectrum for shared unlicensed use.
    Section 3(a)(2) would provide additional direction to the 
Commission on how the 255 megahertz of spectrum under section 
3(a)(1) should be made available. In particular, section 
3(a)(2)(A) would specify that the Commission must make at least 
100 megahertz available on an unlicensed basis. Section 
3(a)(2)(B) would require the Commission to make 100 megahertz 
of spectrum available on an exclusive, licensed basis for 
commercial mobile use, pursuant to the Commission's authority 
to implement such licensing in a flexible manner, and subject 
to potential continued use of such spectrum by incumbent 
Federal entities in designated geographic areas indefinitely or 
for such length of time stipulated in transition plans approved 
by the Technical Panel under section 113(h) of the National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization 
Act (47 U.S.C. 923(h)) for those incumbent entities to be 
relocated to alternate spectrum. The section would leave to the 
Commission's discretion, based on its assessment of needs, the 
designation of the remaining 55 megahertz of spectrum that this 
section would require the Commission and the Secretary to make 
available.
    The Committee intends that the 100 megahertz of unlicensed 
spectrum referenced in section 3(a)(2)(A) be available for 
shared use by non-Federal and Federal users. Unlicensed 
spectrum can be deployed on a shared basis and can accommodate 
the type of use contemplated by that section.
    By stating that 100 megahertz of spectrum must be made 
available for exclusive, licensed use, the Committee intends 
that this spectrum not be generally shared between non-Federal 
and Federal users. Nevertheless, the Committee recognizes the 
great success that has been achieved by Federal entities 
cooperating with winners of the AWS-3 auction. AWS-3 licensees 
must protect Federal entities in that spectrum, and the 
Commission has required AWS-3 licensees and Federal entities to 
work together to share information about their systems, agree 
to appropriate interference methodologies, and communicate 
results so as to facilitate commercial use of the band. The 
Commission and the NTIA have jointly issued guidance for 
licensees and Federal entities regarding the coordination 
process.\26\ Accordingly, section 3(a)(2)(B)(ii) would allow 
the Commission to replicate the AWS-3 success by allowing 
incumbent Federal licensees in the 100 megahertz of spectrum 
available for exclusive, licensed commercial use to continue to 
operate indefinitely or for as long as specified in the 
Transition Plan a Federal entity submits in connection with the 
auction of that spectrum. While that section would recognize 
the Commission's ability to license exclusive spectrum for 
commercial use while retaining incumbent Federal operations, 
the Committee encourages the Secretary and the Commission to, 
as it has in the AWS-3 spectrum, plan for the ultimate 
relocation of incumbent Federal operations out of spectrum that 
has been designated for licensed, exclusive use. Similarly, the 
Secretary and the Commission should ensure that the designated 
geographic areas in which incumbent Federal users may continue 
to operate permit the maximum use possible of the spectrum by 
licensed, exclusive users.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \26\FCC, NTIA;  The Federal Communications Commission and the 
National Telecommunications and Information Administration: 
Coordination Procedures in the 1675-1710 MHz and 1755-1780 MHz Bands, 
Public Notice, GN Docket No. 13-185, 10-11 (rel. Jul. 18, 2014).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    By stating that the spectrum specified in section 
3(a)(2)(B) should be licensed in a flexible manner, the 
Committee intends that the Commission permit licensees to offer 
services of their choice, fixed or mobile, consistent with the 
Commission's Table of Allocations under the regulatory scheme, 
common carrier or non-common carrier, appropriate to those 
services. This flexibility is consistent with the Commission's 
recent approach to licensing mobile wireless spectrum.
    The remaining 55 megahertz of spectrum may be available for 
either licensed exclusive use or shared use, whether on a 
licensed or unlicensed basis.
    Under section 3(a)(3), the Commission and the Secretary 
would not be permitted to consider the following spectrum in 
determining which frequencies to make available: (i) the 
frequencies between 1695 and 1710 megahertz; (ii) the 
frequencies between 1755 and 1780 megahertz; (iii) the 
frequencies between 2155 and 2180 megahertz; (iv) the 
frequencies between 3550 and 3700 megahertz; and (v) any 
spectrum that the Commission determines had more than de 
minimis mobile or fixed wireless broadband operations within 
the band on the day before the date of enactment of this Act.
    The Commission has taken steps in recent years to make more 
spectrum available for mobile use. The spectrum specified in 
section 3(a)(3) has either already been auctioned or the 
Commission has already taken steps to permit its use.\27\ Thus, 
to ensure that the Commission and NTIA make available new 
frequencies, section 3(a)(3) prevents the Commission and the 
NTIA from considering the spectrum specified above. In 
addition, section 3(a)(3)(E) clarifies that even where spectrum 
is not listed in section 3(a)(3)(A)-(D), if the Commission has 
already permitted the use of that spectrum, it should not be 
counted toward the 255 megahertz requirement imposed by this 
section.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \27\ See Amendment of the Commission's Rules with Regard to 
Commercial Operations in the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz, and 2155-
2180 MHz Bands, Report and Order, 29 FCC Rcd. 4610, para. 1, 2014, 
(providing for the auction of spectrum in the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 
MHz, and 2155-2180 MHz bands - the Advanced Wireless Service, or ``AWS-
3,'' bands); Amendment of the Commission's Rules with Regard to 
Commercial Operations in the 3550-3650 MHz Band, Report and Order, 30 
FCC Rcd. 3959, para.para. 63-64, 72, 2015, (establishing the Citizens 
Broadband Radio Service in the frequencies between 3550 and 3700 
megahertz; providing that a maximum of 70 megahertz of this spectrum 
will be available on a licensed basis with the licenses assigned via 
auction, and the remainder will be available on a license-by-rule 
basis; and providing that where the licensed portion of this spectrum 
is not being used by licensees, other parties may operate 
opportunistically on the spectrum on a license-by-rule basis).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Section 3(a)(4) would require that the NTIA, in evaluating 
frequencies for possible reallocation for exclusive non-Federal 
use or shared use, give priority to options involving 
reallocation of the band for exclusive non-Federal use and to 
choose options involving shared use only when it determines, in 
consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB), that relocation of a Federal entity from the band 
is not feasible because of technical or cost constraints. In 
addition, if the NTIA determines that relocation of a Federal 
entity from the band is not feasible, the NTIA must notify the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
Representatives of its determination, including the specific 
technical or cost constraints on which the determination is 
based.
    Section 3(a)(4) would require that the NTIA prioritize 
relocation over sharing in all instances where relocating 
incumbent Federal operations is not too costly and is 
technically feasible by extending Section 113(j) of the 
National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 923(j)) to the NTIA's evaluation of 
spectrum pursuant to S. 19.
    Section 3(a)(5) would direct the Secretary and the 
Commission to consider the following in determining which 
frequencies to make available: (i) the need to preserve 
critical existing and planned Federal Government capabilities; 
(ii) the impact on existing State, local, and tribal government 
capabilities; (iii) the international implications; (iv) the 
need for appropriate enforcement mechanisms and authorities; 
and (v) the importance of the deployment of wireless broadband 
services in rural areas of the United States.
    Section 3(a)(5) would encourage the Commission and the NTIA 
to select frequencies that will help increase broadband 
deployment in rural areas, which may be less likely to have 
access to high speed Internet. Section 3(a)(5) would further 
stress that the Commission and the NTIA should consider the 
international implications of any possible selected frequencies 
- international harmonization is ideal, as harmonized band 
plans will minimize interference along the U.S. borders, 
facilitate international roaming, and reduce development and 
equipment costs. While international regulatory bodies may take 
years to consider spectrum that may be best used for mobile 
wireless services, the Commission and the NTIA need not wait 
for those efforts to be complete. Instead, to preserve the U.S. 
leadership position in the wireless industry, the Commission 
and the NTIA should act in advance of international 
designations where appropriate.
    Section 3(b) would state that the section does not do the 
following: (i) impair or otherwise affect the functions of the 
Director of the OMB relating to budgetary, administrative, or 
legislative proposals; (ii) require the disclosure of 
classified information, law enforcement sensitive information, 
or other information that must be protected in the interest of 
national security; or (iii) affect any existing requirement 
under section 156 of the National Telecommunications and 
Information Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 921 
note), or any other relevant statutory requirement applicable 
to the reallocation of Federal spectrum.

Section 4. Millimeter wave spectrum.

    This section would direct the NTIA, in consultation with 
the Commission, to conduct an assessment evaluating the 
feasibility of allowing mobile or fixed terrestrial wireless 
operations, including for broadband, in six specified bands 
between the frequencies of 24 GHz and 86 GHz. This assessment 
would consider the impact of allowing such services on Federal 
entities and operations in the identified bands.
    This section would further direct the FCC to publish a 
notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) within 2 years of 
enactment to consider service rules authorizing mobile or fixed 
terrestrial wireless operations in these millimeter wave 
spectrum bands. The NPRM would cover any Federal bands 
identified in the NTIA assessment as being feasible for 
terrestrial wireless operations along with the bands between 
the frequencies of 24 GHz and 86 GHz that do not contain 
Federal allocations.

Section 5. 3 Gigahertz spectrum.

    This section would direct the Department of Commerce to 
submit a report to the President and to Congress within 18 
months of enactment evaluating the feasibility of allowing 
commercial wireless services, licensed or unlicensed, to share 
the use of the frequencies between 3100 megahertz and 3550 
megahertz. This section would further direct the FCC to submit 
a report to the President and to Congress, within 18 months of 
enactment, evaluating the feasibility of allowing commercial 
wireless services, licensed or unlicensed, to share the use of 
the frequencies between 3700 megahertz and 4200 megahertz.
    Both reports would be required to include an assessment of 
the impacts such sharing may have on the incumbent Federal and 
non-Federal operations in the relevant bands (along with 
criteria that can protect such operations from harmful 
interference), and an identification of which frequencies in 
those bands may be most suitable for sharing with commercial 
services, if such sharing is determined to be feasible.

Section 6. Communications facilities deployment on Federal property.

    This section would amend section 6409 of the Middle Class 
Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455) to 
require executive agencies to use applications developed by the 
General Services Administration (GSA) for easements, rights-of-
way, and lease requests and GSA-developed master contracts for 
placement of communications facility installations on Federal 
property. The section would specify that fees for leases be 
based on direct cost recovery, as they already are for 
easements and rights-of-way. Review of any application 
submitted under this section would have to occur within 270 
days. This section would further require a Federal agency to 
provide any applicant for a Federal easement, right-of-way, or 
lease with the following: a written denial of the application, 
if applicable; a written explanation of any delay longer than 5 
months; and a point of contact within the agency. This section 
also would expand the types of infrastructure covered by 
section 6409 to further facilitate the deployment of wireless, 
wireline, licensed, and unlicensed communications services.
    Subsection (c) of this section would require the NTIA, in 
coordination with other agencies, to develop within 2 years of 
enactment recommendations to streamline the process for 
considering applications, including procedures for tracking and 
expediting decisions on applications, and for prioritizing or 
streamlining permits for construction in a previously-disturbed 
right-of-way.

Section 7. Broadband infrastructure deployment.

    This section would establish procedures to facilitate the 
use of rights-of-way on Federal-aid highways to accommodate 
broadband infrastructure and to improve broadband connectivity 
to rural communities and broadband services in urban areas. The 
section would require the Secretary of Transportation to ensure 
that each State that receives funds under chapter 1 of title 23 
of the United States Code meets requirements for broadband 
consultation, including identifying a broadband utility 
coordinator responsible for coordinating broadband 
infrastructure rights-of-way needs, and establishing a process 
for registering broadband infrastructure entities that seek to 
be included in broadband infrastructure right-of-way 
coordination efforts within the State. The section also would 
require the Secretary of Transportation to ensure that those 
States coordinate broadband infrastructure right-of-way efforts 
with statewide telecommunications and broadband plans, and with 
State and local transportation and land use plans, and include 
in their State broadband infrastructure coordination plans 
strategies to minimize repeated excavations that involve the 
installation of broadband infrastructure in a right-of-way. The 
section would require State departments of transportation to 
take appropriate measures to ensure that existing broadband 
infrastructure entities are not disadvantaged compared to other 
broadband infrastructure entities, with respect to the program. 
This section would apply only to activities for which Federal 
obligations or expenditures are initially approved on or after 
the date of enactment of the Act.

Section 8. National broadband facilities asset database.

    This section would require the Office of Science and 
Technology Policy (OSTP), in consultation with the FCC, NTIA, 
GSA, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and OMB, 
to establish and operate a database, not later than June 30, 
2018, of Federal property capable of supporting the 
installation of communications facilities. Federal agencies 
would be required to provide OSTP with information for 
inclusion in the database on covered property owned, leased, or 
otherwise managed by the agency. This requirement would apply 
only to Federal agencies. This section would require a process 
for withholding data from the database to protect national 
security and public safety. This section would further require 
OSTP to report to Congress on progress in establishing the 
database within 180 days of enactment, then annually thereafter 
until the database is fully operational. State governments 
would be able to provide information on covered property owned, 
leased, or otherwise managed by the State for inclusion in the 
database, but would not be required to do so. Within 1 year of 
enactment, the Director of OSTP would be required to prepare 
and to submit to the relevant committees in the Senate and the 
House of Representatives a report on ways to incentivize State 
and local governments to provide information for inclusion in 
the database. Within 2 years from the establishment of the 
database, the Director of OSTP would be required to provide an 
update on that report and provide recommendations on ways to 
further incentivize State and local governments to provide 
information.

Section 9. Reallocation incentives.

    This section would direct the Department of Commerce to 
submit within 18 months of enactment a report to Congress on 
legislative or regulatory proposals to incentivize Federal 
entities to relinquish or share their spectrum for commercial 
wireless broadband services. This report also would evaluate 
allowing the winners of spectrum auctions involving spectrum 
being reallocated from Federal use to pay Federal entities to 
accelerate the post-auction relocation and transition process.

Section 10. Bidirectional sharing study.

    This section would direct the FCC to conduct a 
bidirectional sharing study to determine the best means of 
providing Federal entities flexible access to non-Federal 
spectrum on a shared basis. This study would be submitted to 
Congress along with any recommendations for legislation or 
proposed regulations.

Section 11. Unlicensed services in guard bands.

    This section would require the FCC to allow unlicensed use 
in the guard bands of any auctioned spectrum bands, as long as 
doing so is feasible and would not cause harmful interference 
to a licensed service or a Federal service operating in the 
guard band or in an adjacent band.

Section 12. Pre-auction funding.

    This section would allow Federal agencies to receive pre-
auction funding for potential auctions that are likely to occur 
within 8 years, rather than the current statutory window of 5 
years.

Section 13. Immediate transfer of funds.

    This section would accelerate the relocation of Federal 
entities by allowing existing Spectrum Relocation Fund balances 
to be transferred to agencies for transition efforts 
immediately upon completion of an auction, rather than after 
the actual receipt by the fund of auction proceeds.

Section 14. Amendment to the Spectrum Pipeline Act of 2015.

    This section would amend section 1008 of the Spectrum 
Pipeline Act (Public Law 114-74; 129 State. 584) to require 
public comment for that section's reports.

Section 15. GAO assessment of unlicensed spectrum and wi-fi use
             in low- income neighborhoods.

    This section would direct the Comptroller General of the 
United States to conduct a study to evaluate availability of 
broadband Internet access using unlicensed spectrum and 
wireless networks in low income neighborhoods, in particular 
for elementary and secondary school-age children in such 
neighborhoods. The Comptroller General also would be directed 
to evaluate barriers to deployment and use of such networks; 
incentives, policies, or requirements that would increase the 
availability of unlicensed spectrum and related technologies in 
low-income neighborhoods; and how to encourage home broadband 
adoption by households with elementary and secondary school-age 
children that are in low-income neighborhoods. The section 
would require the Comptroller General to issue a report, not 
later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 
summarizing the findings of the study and making 
recommendations with respect to potential incentives, policies, 
and requirements that could help overcome barriers to the 
availability unlicensed spectrum and related technologies in 
low-income neighborhoods and the adoption of broadband by 
households with elementary and secondary school-age children 
that are in low-income neighborhoods.

Section 16. Rulemaking related to partitioning or disaggregating 
        licenses.

    This section would direct the FCC, not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, to initiate a 
rulemaking proceeding to assess whether to establish a program, 
or modify existing programs, under which a licensee that 
receives a license for the exclusive use of spectrum in a 
specific geographic area under section 301 of the 
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 301) may partition or 
disaggregate the license by sale or long-term lease to provide 
services consistent with the license while also making unused 
spectrum available to eligible small carriers or carriers 
serving rural areas if the Commission finds such a program 
would promote the availability of advanced telecommunications 
services in rural areas or spectrum availability for eligible 
small carriers.
    The section would direct the Commission to consider whether 
reduced performance requirements with respect to spectrum 
obtained through such program would facilitate deployment of 
advanced telecommunications services in the areas covered by 
the program; what conditions would be needed on transfers of 
spectrum under such a program to allow eligible small carriers 
that obtain spectrum under the program to build out the 
spectrum in a reasonable period of time; what incentives would 
be appropriate to encourage licensees to lease or sell 
spectrum, including extending a license term or modifying 
performance requirements of the license relating to the leased 
or sold spectrum; and any other incentives considered by the 
Commission that would further the goals of this section.
    The section would direct that if a party fails to meet any 
build out requirements set by the Commission for any spectrum 
sold or leased under this section, the right to the spectrum 
would be forfeited to the Commission unless the Commission 
found that there was good cause for the failure to meet those 
requirements. The section would allow the Commission to offer 
licensees incentives or reduced performance requirements under 
this section only if the Commission found that doing so would 
likely result in increased availability of advanced 
telecommunications services in a rural area.

Section 17. Unlicensed spectrum policy.

    This section would direct the FCC to make available on an 
unlicensed basis spectrum sufficient to meet demand for 
unlicensed wireless broadband operations if, after taking into 
account the future needs of other spectrum users, doing so 
would be reasonable and in the public interest. The section 
would require the Commission to take action to implement these 
efforts within 18 months after the date of enactment of this 
Act.

Section 18. National plan for unlicensed spectrum.

    This section would require the FCC, not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, to develop, in 
consultation with the NTIA, a national plan for making 
additional radio frequency bands available for unlicensed 
operations. The section would require the national plan to 
identify an approach that ensures that consumers have access to 
additional spectrum to conduct unlicensed operation in a range 
of radio frequencies to meet consumer demand. The section would 
recommend specific actions by the Commission and the NTIA to 
permit unlicensed operation in additional radio frequency 
ranges. Those frequency ranges would be ones that the 
Commission finds are consistent with an unlicensed spectrum 
policy established pursuant to section 17 of this Act; that 
would expand opportunities for unlicensed operations in a 
spectrum band or that would otherwise improve spectrum use and 
intensity of use of bands where unlicensed operations are 
already permitted; that would not cause harmful interference to 
Federal or non-Federal users of such bands; and that would not 
significantly impact homeland security or national security 
communications. This section also would require the Commission, 
in consultation with the NTIA, to examine additional ways, with 
respect to existing and planned databases or spectrum access 
systems designed to promote spectrum sharing and access to 
spectrum for unlicensed operations, to improve accuracy and 
efficacy; reduce burdens on consumers, manufacturers, and 
service providers; and to protect sensitive Government 
information.
    To be included as part of the plan developed under this 
section, the NTIA would be required to share with the 
Commission recommendations about how to reform the Spectrum 
Relocation Fund to address costs incurred by Federal entities 
related to sharing radio frequency bands with radio 
technologies conducting unlicensed operations and to ensure 
that the Fund has sufficient funds to cover the costs 
associated with such sharing and other expenditures allowed of 
the fund under section 118 of the National Telecommunications 
and Information Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 
928).
    The section would require the Commission to submit a report 
that describes the plan developed under this section, including 
any recommendations for legislative change, and to make the 
report publicly available on the Commission's website.

Section 19. Spectrum challenge prize.

    This section would require that the Secretary of Commerce, 
in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for 
Communications and Information and the Under Secretary of 
Commerce for Standards and Technology, subject to availability 
of funds for prize competitions under this section, conduct 
prize competitions to dramatically accelerate the development 
and commercialization of technology that improves spectrum 
efficiency and is capable of cost-effective deployment, and 
define a measurable set of performance goals for participants 
in the prize competitions to demonstrate their solutions on a 
level playing field while making a significant advancement over 
the current state of the art. The section would allow the 
Secretary to enter into a grant, contract, cooperative 
agreement, or other agreement with a private sector for-profit 
or nonprofit entity to administer the prize competitions; to 
invite the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the FCC, 
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National 
Science Foundation, or any other Federal agency to provide 
advice and assistance in the design or administration of the 
prize competitions; and to award not more than $5 million in 
the aggregate to the winner or winners of the prize 
competitions. The FCC would be required to publish a technical 
paper on spectrum efficiency, providing criteria that may be 
used for the design of the prize competitions, not later than 
180 days after the date on which funds for prize competitions 
are made available pursuant to this section. The section would 
authorize the appropriation of such sums as may be necessary to 
carry out this section.

Section 20. Wireless telecommunications tax and fee collection 
        fairness.

    Without affecting the right of a State or local 
jurisdiction to require the collection of any tax, fee, or 
surcharge in connection with a specified financial transaction, 
this section would prevent a State or local jurisdiction from 
requiring a person to collect from, or remit on behalf of, any 
other person a State or local tax, fee, or surcharge imposed on 
a purchaser or user with respect to the purchase or use of any 
wireless telecommunications service within the State unless the 
collection or remittance is in connection with a financial 
transaction between the person that the State or local 
jurisdiction requires to collect or remit the tax, fee, or 
surcharge and the purchaser or user of the wireless 
telecommunications service. The section would permit any person 
aggrieved by the requirement of collecting or remitting on 
behalf of any other person such a fee in violation of this 
section to bring a civil action in an appropriate United States 
district court for equitable relief. Notwithstanding section 
1341 of title 28 of the United States Code, or the constitution 
or laws of any State, the section would give the district 
courts of the United States jurisdiction, without regard to the 
amount in controversy or citizenship of the parties, to grant 
such mandatory or prohibitive injunctive relief, interim 
equitable relief, and declaratory judgments as may be necessary 
to prevent, restrain, or terminate acts in violation of the 
section's prohibition on the requirement of collection or 
remittance of fees.

Section 21. Rules of construction.

    This section would provide that each range of frequencies 
described in the bill shall be construed as being inclusive of 
the upper and lower frequencies in the range. This section 
would further provide that nothing in the bill shall affect any 
requirements under section 156 of the National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization 
Act (47 U.S.C. 921 note), as added by the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000.

Section 22. Relationship to Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation 
        Act of 2012.

    This section would provide that nothing in the bill shall 
limit, restrict, or circumvent the implementation of the public 
safety network known as FirstNet.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
material is printed in italic, existing law in which no change 
is proposed is shown in roman):

          MIDDLE CLASS TAX RELIEF AND JOB CREATION ACT OF 2013


                   [Public Law 112-96; 126 Stat. 156]

SEC. 6409. WIRELESS FACILITIES DEPLOYMENT.

                            [47 U.S.C. 1455]

  (a) Facility Modifications.--
          (1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 704 of the 
        Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-104) or 
        any other provision of law, a State or local government 
        may not deny, and shall approve, any eligible 
        facilities request for a modification of an existing 
        wireless tower or base station that does not 
        substantially change the physical dimensions of such 
        tower or base station.
          (2) Eligible facilities request.--For purposes of 
        this subsection, the term ``eligible facilities 
        request'' means any request for modification of an 
        existing wireless tower or base station that involves--
                  (A) collocation of new transmission 
                equipment;
                  (B) removal of transmission equipment; or
                  (C) replacement of transmission equipment.
          (3) Applicability of environmental laws.--Nothing in 
        paragraph (1) shall be construed to relieve the 
        Commission from the requirements of the National 
        Historic Preservation Act or the National Environmental 
        Policy Act of 1969.
  [(b) Federal Easements and Rights-of-way.--
          [(1) Grant.--If an executive agency, a State, a 
        political subdivision or agency of a State, or a 
        person, firm, or organization applies for the grant of 
        an easement or right-of-way to, in, over, or on a 
        building or other property owned by the Federal 
        Government for the right to install, construct, and 
        maintain wireless service antenna structures and 
        equipment and backhaul transmission equipment, the 
        executive agency having control of the building or 
        other property may grant to the applicant, on behalf of 
        the Federal Government, an easement or right-of-way to 
        perform such installation, construction, and 
        maintenance.
          [(2) Application.--The Administrator of General 
        Services shall develop a common form for applications 
        for easements and rights-of-way under paragraph (1) for 
        all executive agencies that shall be used by applicants 
        with respect to the buildings or other property of each 
        such agency.
          [(3) Fee.--
                  [(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of law, the Administrator of General 
                Services shall establish a fee for the grant of 
                an easement or right-of-way pursuant to 
                paragraph (1) that is based on direct cost 
                recovery.
                  [(B) Exceptions.--The Administrator of 
                General Services may establish exceptions to 
                the fee amount required under subparagraph 
                (A)--
                          [(i) in consideration of the public 
                        benefit provided by a grant of an 
                        easement or right-of-way; and
                          [(ii) in the interest of expanding 
                        wireless and broadband coverage.
          [(4) Use of fees collected.--Any fee amounts 
        collected by an executive agency pursuant to paragraph 
        (3) may be made available, as provided in 
        appropriations Acts, to such agency to cover the costs 
        of granting the easement or right-of-way.
  [(c) Master Contracts for Wireless Facility Sitings.--
          [(1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 704 of the 
        Telecommunications Act of 1996 or any other provision 
        of law, and not later than 60 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of General 
        Services shall--
                  [(A) develop 1 or more master contracts that 
                shall govern the placement of wireless service 
                antenna structures on buildings and other 
                property owned by the Federal Government; and
                  [(B) in developing the master contract or 
                contracts, standardize the treatment of the 
                placement of wireless service antenna 
                structures on building rooftops or facades, the 
                placement of wireless service antenna equipment 
                on rooftops or inside buildings, the technology 
                used in connection with wireless service 
                antenna structures or equipment placed on 
                Federal buildings and other property, and any 
                other key issues the Administrator of General 
                Services considers appropriate.
          [(2) Applicability.--The master contract or contracts 
        developed by the Administrator of General Services 
        under paragraph (1) shall apply to all publicly 
        accessible buildings and other property owned by the 
        Federal Government, unless the Administrator of General 
        Services decides that issues with respect to the siting 
        of a wireless service antenna structure on a specific 
        building or other property warrant nonstandard 
        treatment of such building or other property.
          [(3) Application.--The Administrator of General 
        Services shall develop a common form or set of forms 
        for wireless service antenna structure siting 
        applications under this subsection for all executive 
        agencies that shall be used by applicants with respect 
        to the buildings and other property of each such 
        agency.
  [(d) Executive Agency Defined.--In this section, the term 
``executive agency'' has the meaning given such term in section 
102 of title 40, United States Code.]\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\An application for an easement, right-of-way, or lease that was 
made or granted under section 6409 of the Middle Class Tax Relief and 
Job Creation Act of 2012 (47 U.S.C. 1455) before the effective date of 
this Act would continue, subject to that section as in effect on the 
day before such effective date.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  (b) Federal Easements, Rights-of-Way, and Leases.--
          (1) Grant.--If an executive agency, a State, a 
        political subdivision or agency of a State, or a 
        person, firm, or organization applies for the grant of 
        an easement, right-of-way, or lease to, in, over, or on 
        a building or other property owned by the Federal 
        Government for the right to install, construct, modify, 
        or maintain a communications facility installation, the 
        executive agency having control of the building or 
        other property may grant to the applicant, on behalf of 
        the Federal Government, subject to paragraph (5), an 
        easement, right-of-way, or lease to perform such 
        installation, construction, modification, or 
        maintenance.
          (2) Application.--
                  (A) In general.--The Administrator of General 
                Services shall develop a common form for 
                applications for easements, rights-of-way, and 
                leases under paragraph (1) for all executive 
                agencies that, except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), shall be used by all 
                executive agencies and applicants with respect 
                to the buildings or other property of each such 
                agency.
                  (B) Exception.--The requirement under 
                subparagraph (A) for an executive agency to use 
                the common form developed by the Administrator 
                of General Services shall not apply to an 
                executive agency if the head of an executive 
                agency notifies the Administrator that the 
                executive agency uses a substantially similar 
                application.
          (3) Fee.--
                  (A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of law, the Administrator of General 
                Services shall establish a fee for the grant of 
                an easement, right-of-way, or lease pursuant to 
                paragraph (1) that is based on direct cost 
                recovery.
                  (B) Exceptions.--The Administrator of General 
                Services may establish exceptions to the fee 
                amount required under subparagraph (A)--
                          (i) in consideration of the public 
                        benefit provided by a grant of an 
                        easement, right-of-way, or lease; and
                          (ii) in the interest of expanding 
                        wireless and broadband coverage.
          (4) Use of fees collected.--Any fee amounts collected 
        by an executive agency pursuant to paragraph (3) may be 
        made available, as provided in appropriations Acts, to 
        such agency to cover the costs of granting the 
        easement, right-of-way, or lease.
          (5) Timely consideration of applications.--
                  (A) In general.--Not later than 270 days 
                after the date on which an executive agency 
                receives a duly filed application for an 
                easement, right-of-way, or lease under this 
                subsection, the executive agency shall--
                          (i) grant or deny, on behalf of the 
                        Federal Government, the application; 
                        and
                          (ii) notify the applicant of the 
                        grant or denial.
                  (B) Explanation of denial.--If an executive 
                agency denies an application under subparagraph 
                (A), the executive agency shall notify the 
                applicant in writing, including a clear 
                statement of the reasons for the denial.
                  (C) Applicability of environmental laws.--
                Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to 
                relieve an executive agency of the requirements 
                of division A of subtitle III of title 54, 
                United States Code, or the National 
                Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 
                4321 et seq.).
                  (D) Point of contact.--Upon receiving an 
                application under subparagraph (A), an 
                executive agency shall designate one or more 
                appropriate individuals within the executive 
                agency to act as a point of contact with the 
                applicant.
  (c) Master Contracts for Communications Facility Installation 
Sitings.--
          (1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 704 of the 
        Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-104; 110 
        Stat. 151) or any other provision of law, the 
        Administrator of General Services shall--
                  (A) develop one or more master contracts that 
                shall govern the placement of communications 
                facility installations on buildings and other 
                property owned by the Federal Government; and
                  (B) in developing the master contract or 
                contracts, standardize the treatment of the 
                placement of communications facility 
                installations on building rooftops or facades, 
                the placement of communications facility 
                installations on rooftops or inside buildings, 
                the technology used in connection with 
                communications facility installations placed on 
                Federal buildings and other property, and any 
                other key issues the Administrator of General 
                Services considers appropriate.
          (2) Applicability.--The master contract or contracts 
        developed by the Administrator of General Services 
        under paragraph (1) shall apply to all publicly 
        accessible buildings and other property owned by the 
        Federal Government, unless the Administrator of General 
        Services decides that issues with respect to the siting 
        of a communications facility installation on a specific 
        building or other property warrant nonstandard 
        treatment of such building or other property.
          (3) Application.--
                  (A) In general.--The Administrator of General 
                Services shall develop a common form or set of 
                forms for communications facility installation 
                siting applications that, except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), shall be used by all 
                executive agencies and applicants with respect 
                to the buildings and other property of each 
                such agency.
                  (B) Exception.--The requirement under 
                subparagraph (A) for an executive agency to use 
                the common form or set of forms developed by 
                the Administrator of General Services shall not 
                apply to an executive agency if the head of the 
                executive agency notifies the Administrator 
                that the executive agency uses a substantially 
                similar application.
  (d) Definitions.--In this section:
          (1) Communications facility installation.--The term 
        ``communications facility installation'' includes--
                  (A) any infrastructure, including any 
                transmitting device, tower, or support 
                structure, and any equipment, switches, wiring, 
                cabling, power sources, shelters, or cabinets, 
                associated with the licensed or permitted 
                unlicensed wireless or wireline transmission of 
                writings, signs, signals, data, images, 
                pictures, and sounds of all kinds; and
                  (B) any antenna or apparatus that--
                          (i) is designed for the purpose of 
                        emitting radio frequency;
                          (ii) is designed to be operated, or 
                        is operating, from a fixed location 
                        pursuant to authorization by the 
                        Commission or is using duly authorized 
                        devices that do not require individual 
                        licenses; and
                          (iii) is added to a tower, building, 
                        or other structure.
          (2) Executive agency.--The term ``executive agency'' 
        has the meaning given such term in section 102 of title 
        40, United States Code.

NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION ORGANIZATION 
                                  ACT


                        [47 U.S.C. 901 et seq.]

SEC. 118. SPECTRUM RELOCATION FUND.

[47 U.S.C. 928]

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


  (d) Fund Availability.--
          (1) Appropriation.--There are hereby appropriated 
        from the Fund such sums as are required to pay the 
        relocation or sharing costs specified in subsection 
        (c).
          (2) Transfer conditions.--None of the funds provided 
        under this subsection may be transferred to any 
        eligible Federal entity--
                  (A) unless the eligible Federal entity has 
                submitted a transition plan to the NTIA as 
                required by paragraph (1) of section 113(h), 
                the Technical Panel has found such plan 
                sufficient under paragraph (4) of such section, 
                and the NTIA has made available such plan on 
                its website as required by paragraph (5) of 
                such section;
                  (B) unless the Director of OMB has 
                determined, in consultation with the NTIA, the 
                appropriateness of such costs and the timeline 
                for relocation or sharing; and
                  (C) until 30 days after the Director of OMB 
                has submitted to the Committees on 
                Appropriations and Energy and Commerce of the 
                House of Representatives for approval, to the 
                Committees on Appropriations and Commerce, 
                Science, and Transportation of the Senate for 
                approval, and to the Comptroller General a 
                detailed plan describing specifically how the 
                sums transferred from the Fund will be used to 
                pay relocation or sharing costs in accordance 
                with such subsection and the timeline for such 
                relocation or sharing.
          Unless disapproved within 30 days, the amounts in the 
        Fund shall be available immediately. If the plan is 
        disapproved, the Director may resubmit a revised plan.
          (3) Transfers for pre-auction costs.--
                  (A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), 
                the Director of OMB may transfer to an eligible 
                Federal entity, at any time (including prior to 
                a scheduled auction), such sums as may be 
                available in the Fund to pay relocation or 
                sharing costs related to pre-auction estimates 
                or research, as such costs are described in 
                section 113(g)(3)(A)(iii).
                  (B) Notification.--No funds may be 
                transferred pursuant to subparagraph (A) 
                unless--
                          (i) the notification provided under 
                        paragraph (2)(C) includes a 
                        certification from the Director of OMB 
                        that--
                                  (I) funds transferred before 
                                an auction will likely allow 
                                for timely implementation of 
                                relocation or sharing, thereby 
                                increasing net expected auction 
                                proceeds by an amount not less 
                                than the time value of the 
                                amount of funds transferred; 
                                and
                                  (II) the auction is intended 
                                to occur not later than [5 
                                years] 8 years after transfer 
                                of funds; and
                          (ii) the transition plan submitted by 
                        the eligible Federal entity under 
                        section 113(h)(1) provides--
                                  (I) to the fullest extent 
                                possible, for sharing and 
                                coordination of eligible 
                                frequencies with non-Federal 
                                users, including reasonable 
                                accommodation by the eligible 
                                Federal entity for the use of 
                                eligible frequencies by non-
                                Federal users during the period 
                                that the entity is relocating 
                                its spectrum uses (in this 
                                clause referred to as the 
                                'transition period');
                                  (II) for non-Federal users to 
                                be able to use eligible 
                                frequencies during the 
                                transition period in geographic 
                                areas where the eligible 
                                Federal entity does not use 
                                such frequencies;
                                  (III) that the eligible 
                                Federal entity will, during the 
                                transition period, make itself 
                                available for negotiation and 
                                discussion with non-Federal 
                                users not later than 30 days 
                                after a written request 
                                therefor; and
                                  (IV) that the eligible 
                                Federal entity will, during the 
                                transition period, make 
                                available to a non-Federal user 
                                with appropriate security 
                                clearances any classified 
                                information (as defined in 
                                section 798(b) of title 18, 
                                United States Code) regarding 
                                the relocation process, on a 
                                need-to-know basis, to assist 
                                the non-Federal user in the 
                                relocation process with such 
                                eligible Federal entity or 
                                other eligible Federal 
                                entities.
                  (C) Applicability to certain costs.--
                          (i) In general.--The Director of OMB 
                        may transfer under subparagraph (A) not 
                        more than $10,000,000 for costs 
                        incurred after June 28, 2010, but 
                        before the date of the enactment of the 
                        Middle Class Tax Relief and Job 
                        Creation Act of 2012.
                          (ii) Supplement not supplant.--Any 
                        amounts transferred by the Director of 
                        OMB pursuant to clause (i) shall be in 
                        addition to any amounts that the 
                        Director of OMB may transfer for costs 
                        incurred on or after the date of the 
                        enactment of the Middle Class Tax 
                        Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012.
          (4) Reversion of unused funds.--Any amounts in the 
        Fund that are remaining after the payment of the 
        relocation or sharing costs that are payable from the 
        Fund shall revert to and be deposited in the general 
        fund of the Treasury, for the sole purpose of deficit 
        reduction, not later than 8 years after the date of the 
        deposit of such proceeds to the Fund, unless within 60 
        days in advance of the reversion of such funds, the 
        Director of OMB, in consultation with the NTIA, 
        notifies the congressional committees described in 
        paragraph (2)(C) that such funds are needed to complete 
        or to implement current or future relocation or sharing 
        arrangements.
  (e) Transfer to Eligible Federal Entities.--
          (1) Transfer.--
                  (A) Amounts made available pursuant to 
                subsection (d) shall be transferred to eligible 
                Federal entities, as defined in section 
                113(g)(1) of this Act.
                  (B) An eligible Federal entity may receive 
                more than one such transfer, but if the sum of 
                the subsequent transfer or transfers exceeds 10 
                percent of the original transfer--
                          (i) such subsequent transfers are 
                        subject to prior approval by the 
                        Director of OMB as required by 
                        subsection (d)(2)(B);
                          (ii) the notice to the committees 
                        containing the plan required by 
                        subsection (d)(2)(C) shall be not less 
                        than 45 days prior to the date of the 
                        transfer that causes such excess above 
                        10 percent; and
                          (iii) such notice shall include, in 
                        addition to such plan, an explanation 
                        of need for such subsequent transfer or 
                        transfers.
                  (C) Such transferred amounts shall be 
                credited to the appropriations account of the 
                eligible Federal entity which has incurred, or 
                will incur, such costs, and shall, subject to 
                paragraph (2), remain available until expended.
                  (D) At the request of an eligible Federal 
                entity, the Director of the Office of 
                Management and Budget (in this subsection 
                referred to as ``OMB'') may transfer the amount 
                under subparagraph (A) immediately--
                          (i) after the frequencies are 
                        reallocated by competitive bidding 
                        under section 309(j) of the 
                        Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 
                        309(j)); or
                          (ii) in the case of an incumbent 
                        Federal entity that is incurring 
                        relocation or sharing costs to 
                        accommodate sharing spectrum 
                        frequencies with another Federal 
                        entity, after the frequencies from 
                        which the other eligible Federal entity 
                        is relocating are reallocated by 
                        competitive bidding under section 
                        309(j) of the Communications Act of 
                        1934 (47 U.S.C. 309(j)), without regard 
                        to the availability of such sums in the 
                        Fund.
                  (E) Prior to the deposit of proceeds into the 
                Fund from an auction, the Director of OMB may 
                borrow from the Treasury the amount under 
                subparagraph (A) for a transfer under 
                subparagraph (D). The Treasury shall 
                immediately be reimbursed, without interest, 
                from funds deposited into the Fund.
          (2) Retransfer to fund.--An eligible Federal entity 
        that has received such amounts shall report its 
        expenditures to OMB and shall transfer any amounts in 
        excess of actual relocation or sharing costs back to 
        the Fund immediately after the NTIA has notified the 
        Commission that the relocation of the entity or 
        implementation of the sharing arrangement by the entity 
        is complete, or has determined that such entity has 
        unreasonably failed to complete such relocation or the 
        implementation of such arrangement in accordance with 
        the timeline required by subsection (d)(2)(B).

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                     SPECTRUM PIPELINE ACT OF 2015


                   [Public Law 114-74; 129 Stat.584]

SEC. 1008. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

  Not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Commission, after notice and an opportunity for 
public comment, shall submit to Congress--
          (1) a report containing an analysis of the results of 
        the rules changes relating to the frequencies between 
        3550 megahertz and 3650 megahertz; and
          (2) a report containing an analysis of proposals to 
        promote and identify additional spectrum bands that can 
        be shared between incumbent uses and new licensed, and 
        unlicensed services under such rules and identification 
        of at least 1 gigahertz between 6 gigahertz and 57 GHz 
        for such use.

                                  [all]