[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 126 (Monday, July 1, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 54402-54403]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14196]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 2

[ET Docket No. 24-121, DA 24-396; FR ID 227746]


Expanded Federal Use of the Non-Federal FSS and MSS Bands

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Office of Engineering and Technology 
opens a new docket and seeks comment on ways to potentially expand 
Federal access to non-Federal, including commercial, satellite 
services.

DATES: Interested parties may file comments on or before July 31, 2024; 
and reply comments on or before August 30, 2024. All filings must refer 
to ET Docket No. 24-121.

ADDRESSES: Pursuant to sections 1.415 and 1.419 of the Commission's 
rules, 47 CFR 1.415, 1.419, interested parties may file comments on or 
before the dates provided in the DATES section of this Proposed Rule. 
Comments may be filed using the Commission's Electronic Comment Filing 
System (ECFS). You may submit comments, identified by ET Docket No. 24-
121 and referencing this public notice, by any of the following 
methods:
     Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically 
using the internet by accessing the ECFS: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/.
     Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must 
file an original and one copy of each filing.
     Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by 
commercial overnight courier, or by First-Class or overnight U.S. 
Postal Service mail. All filings must be addressed to the Commission's 
Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.
     All hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings 
for the Commission's Secretary are accepted between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 
p.m. at 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701. All hand 
deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any 
envelopes and boxes must be disposed of before entering the building.
     Commercial overnight deliveries (other than U.S. Postal 
Service Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9050 Junction 
Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701.
     U.S. Postal Service First-Class, Express, and Priority 
mail must be addressed to Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, 
45 L Street NE, Washington, DC 20554.
     People with Disabilities: Contact the Commission to 
request reasonable accommodations (accessible format documents, sign 
language interpreters, CART, etc.) by email: [email protected] or phone: 
202-418-0530 or TTY: 202-418-0432.
     Availability of Documents: Comments and ex parte 
submissions will be available via ECFS. Documents will be available 
electronically in ASCII, Microsoft Word, and/or Adobe Acrobat.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nicholas Oros of the Office of 
Engineering and Technology, at [email protected] or 202-418-0636.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Office of 
Engineering and Technology's Public Notice in ET Docket No. 24-121, DA 
24-396, released April 26, 2024. The full text of this document is 
available for public inspection at the following internet address: 
https://www.fcc.gov/document/oet-seeks-comment-expanded-federal-use-non-federal-bands.
    Initial Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis. The 2013 NPRM (FCC 13-
65, 78 FR 39200) and 2021 FNPRM (FCC 21-44, 86 FR 30860) included 
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analyses (IRFA) pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
603, exploring the potential impact on small entities of the 
Commission's proposals. The Office of Engineering and Technology invite 
parties to file comments on the IRFAs in light of this request for 
supplemental comments.
    Paperwork Reduction Act Analysis. This document does not contain 
any new or modified information collection requirements subject to the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. Thus, it does not 
contain any new or modified information collection burden for small 
business concerns with fewer than 25 employees, pursuant to the Small 
Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public Law 107-198, see 44 
U.S.C. 3506(c)(4).

[[Page 54403]]

    Ex Parte Presentations. The Commission has treated this proceeding 
as a ``permit-but-disclose'' proceeding in accordance with the 
Commission's ex parte rules. Persons making ex parte presentations must 
file a copy of any written presentation or a memorandum summarizing any 
oral presentation within two business days after the presentation 
(unless a different deadline applicable to the Sunshine period 
applies). Persons making oral ex parte presentations are reminded that 
memoranda summarizing the presentation must (1) list all persons 
attending or otherwise participating in the meeting at which the ex 
parte presentation was made, and (2) summarize all data presented and 
arguments made during the presentation. If the presentation consisted 
in whole or in part of the presentation of data or arguments already 
reflected in the presenter's written comments, memoranda or other 
filings in the proceeding, the presenter may provide citations to such 
data or arguments in his or her prior comments, memoranda, or other 
filings (specifying the relevant page and/or paragraph numbers where 
such data or arguments can be found) in lieu of summarizing them in the 
memorandum. Documents shown or given to Commission staff during ex 
parte meetings are deemed to be written ex parte presentations and must 
be filed consistent with rule 1.1206(b). In proceedings governed by 
rule 1.49(f) or for which the Commission has made available a method of 
electronic filing, written ex parte presentations and memoranda 
summarizing oral ex parte presentations, and all attachments thereto, 
must be filed through the electronic comment filing system available 
for that proceeding, and must be filed in their native format (e.g., 
.doc, .xml, .ppt, searchable .pdf). Participants in this proceeding 
should familiarize themselves with the Commission's ex parte rules.
    Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act: The Providing 
Accountability Through Transparency Act, Public Law 118-9, requires 
each agency, in providing notice of a rulemaking, to post online a 
brief plain-language summary of the proposed rule. The required summary 
of this Public Notice is available at https://www.fcc.gov/proposedrulemakings.

Synopsis

    The Office of Engineering and Technology invites interested parties 
to supplement the record with additional comments in this new docket, 
ET Docket No. 24-121, on possible mechanisms to expand Federal use of 
the bands used by commercial satellite networks that are not currently 
allocated for the Federal fixed satellite service (FSS) and mobile 
satellite service (MSS). Consistent with the Commission's direction to 
OET in the 2023 Second Report and Order (FCC 23-76, adopted Sept. 21, 
2023), the record compiled in response to this Public Notice will be 
considered in conjunction with the existing record on this issue 
compiled in ET Docket No. 13-115 and RM-11341, which the Office of 
Engineering and Technology incorporates herein by reference. In 
particular, the Office of Engineering and Technology invites commenters 
to supplement the record on possible approaches to providing Federal 
earth stations with interference protection when those earth stations 
are communicating with commercial satellites in bands that are not 
allocated for Federal FSS and MSS. As noted above, the 2013 NPRM (FCC 
13-65, 78 FR 39200) proposed to add a co-primary Federal FSS or MSS 
allocation to several bands together with an allocation table footnote 
that limits primary Federal use of the bands to earth stations 
communicating with non-Federal space stations. The 2013 NPRM 
alternatively proposed to add a footnote to the Allocation Table 
outlining circumstances under which Federal earth stations operating 
with non-Federal space stations would be entitled to interference 
protection. The Office of Engineering and Technology seeks renewed 
comment on these proposals. The Office of Engineering and Technology 
also seeks comment on whether there should be any additional 
modifications to the Allocation Table in connection with either 
proposal.
    The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) suggested an alternative 
to the 2013 NPRM's two proposals for providing Federal earth stations 
with interference protected access to spectrum bands that lack a 
Federal FSS and MSS allocation. SIA proposed that FSS and MSS 
allocations be added to the Federal portion of the Allocation Table for 
these bands along with an indication that the Federal allocation is 
limited to earth stations only. In addition, SIA proposed adding a 
footnote to the Allocation Table for these bands indicating that the 
Commission has exclusive regulatory jurisdiction over the co-primary 
allocations and that NTIA is responsible for assignments for Federal 
earth stations authorized to operate in the bands pursuant to the 
Commission's Part 25 rules. The Office of Engineering and Technology 
invites commenters to address SIA's proposal as well as any alternative 
approaches that could be used to provide Federal earth stations with 
interference-protected access to commercial satellite services. 
Finally, the Office of Engineering and Technology seeks comment on 
whether implementing any of these proposals might inhibit future 
repurposing of these bands or expansion of non-Federal operations and, 
if so, any approaches that might avoid such inhibition.
    As the 2021 FNPRM (FCC 21-44, 86 FR 30860) recognized, the spectral 
landscape in non-Federal FSS and MSS allocations has significantly 
changed since the 2013 NPRM. As a result, the Office of Engineering and 
Technology seeks to refresh the record on which FSS and MSS frequency 
bands that are not allocated for Federal FSS and MSS might meet the 
needs of Federal agencies for communications with non-Federal 
satellites. As the Commission first noted in 2013, providing Federal 
earth stations with interference protection may require that new non-
Federal stations, whether satellite earth stations or terrestrial 
stations, be coordinated with existing Federal earth stations in the 
FSS and MSS frequency bands to which any new rules would apply. This 
coordination may require additional effort by non-Federal station 
applicants and could restrict the locations and operating parameters of 
new non-Federal stations. Does any future impact on non-Federal 
operations outweigh the benefits of expanding Federal users' access to 
these bands? The 2013 NPRM proposed to implement agreed-upon procedures 
that would be followed by the Commission and NTIA to ensure parity 
between Federal and non-Federal earth stations that are similar to the 
procedures currently used by the Commission to coordinate new non-
Federal earth stations. Would the procedures discussed in the 2013 NPRM 
be appropriate for coordination between Federal earth stations and non-
Federal stations?

Federal Communications Commission.
Ronald T. Repasi,
Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology.
[FR Doc. 2024-14196 Filed 6-28-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P