[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 160 (Monday, August 19, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50396-50399]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-20149]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

[Docket Number: 130809701-3701-01]
RIN 0660-XC006


Common Format for Federal Entity Transition Plans

AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Inquiry.

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SUMMARY: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
(NTIA) issues this Notice of Inquiry (NOI) to seek public input on a 
common format for transition plans to be developed by federal entities 
to facilitate the relocation of, and spectrum sharing with, U.S. 
Government stations in spectrum bands reallocated from federal use to 
non-federal use, or to shared use, and auctioned by the Federal 
Communications Commission (FCC). Pursuant to Section 923(h)(1) of Title 
47 of the U.S. Code, NTIA will specify, after public input, a common 
format for all affected federal entities to follow in preparing 
transition plans for the eligible frequencies in the 1695-1710 MHz and 
1755-1780 MHz bands.

DATES: Submit comments on or before September 18, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by email to 
[email protected]. Comments submitted should be machine 
searchable and should not be copy-protected. Comments also may be 
submitted by mail to: National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Room 4623, Washington, DC 20230, Attn: Gary Patrick, Office of 
Spectrum Management. Each commenter should include the name of the 
person or organization filing the comment as well as a page number on 
each page of the submission. Paper submissions should also include a CD 
or DVD with an electronic version of the document, which should be 
labeled with the name and organizational affiliation of the filer. All 
email messages and comments received are a part of the public record in 
this docket and will be posted to NTIA's Web site (http://www.ntia.doc.gov). All personally identifiable information (e.g., name, 
address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly 
accessible. Do not submit confidential business information or 
otherwise sensitive or protected information. Comments should not 
exceed 15 double-spaced pages.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gary Patrick, Office of Spectrum 
Management, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Room 4623, 
Washington, DC 20230; (202) 482-3650; or [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On February 22, 2012, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation 
Act of 2012 (Tax Relief Act) amended the NTIA Organization Act to 
expand the types of costs for which federal agencies can be reimbursed 
from the Spectrum Relocation Fund (SRF), which the Commercial Spectrum 
Enhancement Act (CSEA) originally established in 2004.\1\ Among other 
things, the changes made by the Tax Relief Act now permit federal 
agencies to receive SRF funds for relocation and spectrum sharing costs 
associated with engineering, equipment, software, site acquisition, and 
construction; research, engineering studies, and economic analyses; 
planning for and managing relocations or sharing arrangements with 
auction winners; and costs associated with the

[[Page 50397]]

accelerated replacement of systems and equipment, if necessary to 
ensure the timely relocation or accommodation of sharing.\2\ Other 
modifications to the CSEA were aimed at facilitating better 
transparency, coordination, and predictability for bidders in FCC 
spectrum auctions and the ultimate winners of those auctions.
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    \1\ See Public Law 112-96, Title VI, Subtitle G, Sec. Sec.  
6701-6703, 126 Stat. 245-255 (Feb. 22, 2012) (amending, among other 
provisions, sections 113(g)-(i) and 118 of the NTIA Organization 
Act, codified at 47 U.S.C. 923(g)-(i) and 928); see also CSEA, 
Public Law 108-494, Title II, Sec. Sec.  201-209, 118 Stat. 3986 
(Dec. 23, 2004).
    \2\ See 47 U.S.C. 923(g)(3) (defining ``relocation or sharing 
costs'').
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    These changes to the CSEA require each federal entity using 
eligible frequencies to submit a transition plan to NTIA and a new 
Technical Panel established by the Tax Relief Act.\3\ The statute also 
requires NTIA to ``specify, after public input, a common format for all 
Federal entities to follow in preparing transition plans . . . .'' \4\ 
Each federal entity's transition plan must contain basic operational 
and technical data, including: (1) The current use by the federal 
entity of the eligible frequencies to be auctioned; (2) the geographic 
location of the federal entity's facilities or systems; and (3) the 
frequency bands used by such facilities or systems.\5\
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    \3\ Id. at Sec.  923(h)(1).
    \4\ Id.
    \5\ See id. at Sec.  923(h)(2)(A)-(C).
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    The plan must also set forth the ``steps to be taken by the Federal 
entity to relocate its spectrum use from such frequencies or to share 
such frequencies, including timelines for specific geographic locations 
in sufficient detail to indicate when use of such frequencies at such 
locations will be discontinued by the Federal entity or shared between 
the Federal entity and non-Federal users.'' \6\ The plan will include 
the contact information for the person from the agency who is 
responsible for relocation or sharing efforts and who is authorized to 
meet and negotiate with non-federal users regarding the transition.\7\
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    \6\ Id. at Sec.  923(h)(2)(D).
    \7\ See id. at Sec.  923(h)(2)(F). Although this statutory 
provision only requires the ``name'' of responsible officer or 
employee of the Federal entity, NTIA will request that agencies 
include additional contact information in their plans. See, e.g., 
Annex O at Sec.  O.4.3.2.
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    Each transition plan must describe the federal entity's specific 
plans and timelines for using funds received from the SRF as well as 
for procuring, testing and deploying new equipment, and hiring contract 
personnel, if needed, and for covering the broad range of other 
relocation or sharing costs to be incurred to achieve ``comparable 
capability of systems as before the relocation or sharing 
arrangement.'' \8\ The plan must also identify any factor that could 
``hinder fulfillment of the transition plan,'' \9\ such as the extent 
to which any classified information will affect ``the implementation of 
the relocation or sharing arrangement.'' \10\
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    \8\ 47 U.S.C. 923(h)(2)(G), (g)(3). Under the statute, 
``comparable capability of systems'' may be achieved by several 
means, including but not limited to: (1) Relocation of a federal 
station to a new frequency assignment or to a different geographic 
location; (2) modification of equipment to mitigate interference or 
use less spectrum to enable spectrum sharing among federal entities; 
and (3) utilizing ``alternative technology'' and ``state-of-the-art 
replacement systems intended to meet comparable operational scope, 
which may include incidental increases in functionality.'' Id. at 
Sec.  923(g)(3)(B).
    \9\ See id. at Sec.  923(h)(2)(H).
    \10\ Id. at Sec.  923(h)(7)(A).
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    The transition plan of a federal entity that seeks payments for 
pre-auction costs must also provide: (1) For sharing, coordination, and 
reasonable accommodations for the use of eligible frequencies by non-
federal users during the period that the federal entity is relocating 
its spectrum uses; (2) for non-federal users to use eligible 
frequencies during this transition period in geographic areas where an 
eligible federal entity does not use such frequencies; (3) that the 
eligible federal entity will, during the transition period, make itself 
available for negotiation and discussion with non-federal users; and 
(4) that the eligible federal entity will assist the non-federal user 
during the transition period by making available relevant classified 
information to those with appropriate security clearances and a need to 
know.\11\
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    \11\ Id. at Sec.  928(d)(3)(B)(ii). The ``transition period'' 
under this provision refers to the period that the federal entity is 
``relocating its spectrum uses.'' Id. The authorized pre-auction 
costs include research, engineering studies, economic analyses or 
other planning expenses. Id. at 923(g)(3)(A)(iii). See also Office 
of Management and Budget, ``Guidance for Agencies on Transfers from 
the Spectrum Relocation Fund for Certain Pre-Auction Costs,'' M-13-
01 (Nov. 20, 2012), available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2013/m-13-01.pdf.
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    The CSEA requires the FCC to notify NTIA at least 18 months before 
the start of an auction of eligible frequencies.\12\ On March 20, 2013, 
the Chairman of the FCC notified NTIA that it ``plans to commence the 
auction of licenses in the 1695-1710 MHz band and the 1755-1780 MHz 
band as early as September 2014.'' \13\ On July 23, 2012, the FCC 
released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes rules for 
reallocating and auctioning the 1695-1710 and 1755-1780 MHz bands, 
among others, making this spectrum available for additional Advanced 
Wireless Services (AWS-3).\14\
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    \12\ See 47 U.S.C. 923(g)(4).
    \13\ Letter from Julius Genachowski, Chairman, FCC, to Lawrence 
E. Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and 
Information, U.S. Department of Commerce (Mar. 20, 2013), available 
at http://go.usa.gov/2VR5; see also Letter from Lawrence E. 
Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, to Julius Genachowski, Chairman, FCC 
(Apr. 19, 2013), available at http://go.usa.gov/ThUY.
    \14\ 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 (AWS-3 NPRM), GN Docket No. 13-185, FCC 13-102, 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, (rel. Jul. 23, 2013), available at 
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-13-102A1.pdf.
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    The Tax Relief Act's changes to the CSEA provide that each federal 
entity must submit its transition plan to NTIA and the Technical Panel 
no later than 240 days prior to the auction start date.\15\ 
Accordingly, NTIA has notified the federal agencies that they should 
plan for a September 20, 2014, auction start date for these two bands 
of eligible frequencies, which means that each affected agency must 
formally submit to NTIA and the Technical Panel a complete transition 
plan no later than January 23, 2014. Then, the Technical Panel will 
submit to NTIA and to the federal entity a report on the sufficiency of 
the transition plan within 30 days after the submission of the 
plan.\16\ NTIA must make the transition plans, with the exception of 
classified or other sensitive information, publicly available on its 
Web site no later than 120 days before the start date of the 
auction.\17\
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    \15\ See 47 U.S.C. 923(h)(1).
    \16\ See id. at Sec.  923(h)(4)(A); see also NTIA, Relocation of 
and Spectrum Sharing by Federal Government Stations--Technical Panel 
and Dispute Resolution Boards, Final Rule, 78 FR 5310 (Jan. 25, 
2013) (to be codified at 47 CFR Part 301), available at http://go.usa.gov/jRHB (Technical Panel Rules). If the Technical Panel 
finds that a federal entity's plan is ``insufficient,'' the 
Technical Panel informs the affected federal entity and such entity 
has up to 90 days to submit a revised plan to NTIA and the Technical 
Panel. The panel would then have 30 days during which to determine 
whether the revised plan is sufficient. See Technical Panel Rules at 
Sec.  301.120, 78 FR 5316-17.
    \17\ See 47 U.S.C. 923(h)(5).
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Request for Comments

    NTIA requests public input on the common format for all federal 
entities to follow in preparing transition plans for the eligible 
frequencies in the 1695-1710 MHz and 1755-1780 MHz bands. In 
anticipation of the FCC's auction of these two bands, NTIA will require 
affected federal entities to prepare their transition plans following a 
common format that is substantially similar to the one set forth in the 
Appendix to Annex O of the NTIA Manual of Regulations and Procedures 
for Federal Radio Frequency Management (NTIA Manual).\18\ Annex O of 
the NTIA

[[Page 50398]]

Manual contains information, policies, and procedures applicable to 
federal agencies that are preparing and implementing transition 
plans.\19\ The Appendix to Annex O specifies a generic, common format 
for all federal entities to follow in preparing transition plans.
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    \18\ The NTIA Manual governs the federal agencies' use of the 
radio frequency spectrum and specifies NTIA's regulation thereof 
pursuant to the NTIA Organization Act, as amended. See generally 47 
CFR 300.1 (2012). The May 2013 edition of NTIA Manual is available 
online at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/redbook/redbook.html. It 
will become effective on the date that it is incorporated by 
reference in 47 CFR 300.1 by publication of a Final Rule in the 
Federal Register.
    \19\ Annex O is available at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/redbook/2013/O_13.pdf; see also Technical Panel Rules 
at Sec.  301.10, 78 FR 5315 (cross-referencing Annex O).
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    NTIA will provide the affected agencies standard spreadsheet 
templates for completing their transition plans. NTIA may also offer a 
tool for on-line upload of data and submission of plans that would 
contain the same or similar data elements and fields as set forth in 
the Appendix to Annex O. Section O.4.3 of Annex O describes each part 
of the generic transition plan common format and the Appendix to Annex 
O provides specific instructions and sample spreadsheets for 
identifying and submitting the requested information.\20\
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    \20\ Annex O at Sec.  O.4.3.
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    Based on the comments received in response to this NOI and other 
relevant information, NTIA may, in its discretion, provide additional 
instructions and guidance to the agencies in connection with the 
specific eligible frequencies and may develop, if necessary, auction- 
or band-specific templates.\21\ For example, the geographic service 
areas that enclose the federal systems' transmitters and receivers 
encumbering the eligible frequencies will be identified in auction-
specific guidance and will be related to the specific service areas to 
be auctioned and licensed by the FCC.\22\ NTIA notes that the FCC's 
AWS-3 NPRM proposes to assign licenses in the 1695-1710 MHz and 1755-
1780 MHz bands by competitive bidding, offering five megahertz blocks 
that can be aggregated using Economic Areas (EAs) as the area for 
geographic licensing.\23\ NTIA seeks input on whether the information 
on geographic areas based on EAs would adequately address the 
requirement in 47 U.S.C. 923(h)(2)(D) that each transition plan set 
forth the ``steps to be taken by the federal entity to relocate its 
spectrum use from such frequencies or to share such frequencies, 
including timelines for specific geographic locations in sufficient 
detail to indicate when use of such frequencies at such locations will 
be discontinued by the federal entity or shared between the federal 
entity and non-federal users.'' \24\
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    \21\ See id. at Sec. Sec.  O.1.2, ] 2; O.4, n.9; O.4.3; see also 
47 U.S.C. 923(g)(6) (requiring NTIA to ``take such actions as 
necessary to ensure the timely relocation of federal entities' 
spectrum-related operations from [eligible] frequencies . . . to 
frequencies or facilities of comparable capability and to ensure the 
timely implementation of arrangements for the sharing of [eligible] 
frequencies'').
    \22\ See Annex O, Appendix at pp. O-20, O-21 (instructions for 
Tab C, items 10, 13; Tab D).
    \23\ See AWS-3 NPRM at ]] 3, 52.
    \24\ 47 U.S.C. 923(h)(2)(D); see also Annex O at Sec. Sec.  
O.4.2.3, O.4.3.4. The transition timeline in Tab D of the Appendix 
to Annex O is based on the number of months following the start of 
the transition period. While NTIA will define the start of the 
transition period reference date in subsequent guidance to the 
agencies, it will consider the award of licenses by the FCC as the 
default reference event to use when determining transition 
timelines. NTIA may, however, specify an alternate event (e.g., 
release of SRF funds), if necessary.
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    With regard to the transition timelines called for in the above-
referenced statutory provision, NTIA plans to instruct the affected 
agencies to follow the recommendations made by the Commerce Spectrum 
Management Advisory Committee (CSMAC) regarding the prioritization of 
EAs for the transition of federal systems in the eligible 
frequencies.\25\ As the CSMAC report notes, the industry members of the 
working group would prefer that federal relocation efforts be based on 
the suggested EA rankings. However, the report also acknowledges that 
affected agencies will need to establish timelines for clearing based 
on their operational requirements and in some cases, operational needs 
may require clearing larger geographic areas. Accordingly, while this 
prioritized list of EAs will serve as an input for consideration as the 
agencies develop their transition plans, NTIA also seeks comment on 
whether the common format will adequately capture and reveal this 
transition timeline information in sufficient detail.\26\
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    \25\ See CSMAC, ``1755-1850 MHz Law Enforcement Surveillance, 
Explosive Ordnance Disposal, and other short distance links,'' Final 
Report of Working Group 2 (Jan. 2013), available at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/csmac_wg-2_final_report_jan-4-2012.pdf.
    \26\ See also AWS-3 NPRM at ] 74.
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    NTIA has received, and expects to receive, additional 
recommendations from the CSMAC in the near future regarding the content 
of agency transition plans for the eligible frequencies.\27\ Based on 
the nature of those forthcoming recommendations, NTIA seeks further 
input on what, if any, modifications or additional instructions would 
be necessary to reflect, for example, protection zones in which AWS-3 
operations would be coordinated pursuant to applicable regulatory 
sharing criteria.
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    \27\ See, e.g., CSMAC, ``1695-1710 MHz Meteorological-
Satellite,'' Final Report of Working Group 1, Rev. 1 (Jul. 23, 
2013), available at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/wg1_report_07232013.pdf.
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    As noted above, NTIA must make the agency transition plans, with 
the exception of classified or other sensitive information, publicly 
available on its Web site no later than 120 days before the auction 
start date.\28\ Section O.7 of Annex O sets forth regulations to ensure 
that the information contained in publicly released transition plans, 
and updates thereto, do not contain classified information or other 
sensitive information. In addition, NTIA will publish only those 
transition plans that have been found to be sufficient by the Technical 
Panel as well as any updates to such plans.\29\ Pursuant to 47 U.S.C. 
923(h), each transition plan must also identify factors that could 
hinder fulfillment of the transition plan by the federal entity, 
including the extent to which any classified information will affect 
the implementation of the relocation or sharing arrangement.\30\ NTIA 
seeks input on how such risk factors should be disclosed and explained 
in the transition plans.
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    \28\ See 47 U.S.C. 923(h)(5), (6).
    \29\ See Annex O at Sec. Sec.  O.3.7, O.3.8.
    \30\ See 47 U.S.C. 923(h)(2)(H), (7)(A)(ii); see also Annex O at 
Sec.  O.4.3.8, Appendix at p. O-22, O-30 (Tab H).
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    Section O.3.7 of Annex O provides that NTIA will determine for each 
auction the file formats in which it will publish the transitions 
plans. For the auction of the eligible frequencies in the 1695-1710 MHz 
and 1755-1780 MHz bands, NTIA will collect data and information through 
standard spreadsheet files (e.g., Microsoft Excel) or via an online 
transition plan builder tool with a standardized back-end database 
(e.g., SQL database supporting XML data). Under either scenario, NTIA 
plans to publish the transition plans in an open format that enables 
interested stakeholders, to the extent practicable and subject to 
appropriate restrictions and authentication, to retrieve, download, and 
search the publicly available information. Pursuant to applicable 
federal guidelines, this open format will be platform independent, 
machine readable, and available to the public without restrictions that 
would impede the re-use of that information.\31\ NTIA seeks input on 
this approach.
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    \31\ See Office of Management and Budget, Open Government 
Directive, M-10-06 (Dec. 8, 2009), available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/memoranda_2010/m10-06.pdf.


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    Dated: August 14, 2013.
Karl B. Nebbia,
Associate Administrator, Office of Spectrum Management.
[FR Doc. 2013-20149 Filed 8-16-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-60-P