PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Mar 26, 2015
Federal Spectrum Incentive Act of 2015
Amends the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act to allow federal entities that utilize government station licenses to participate in the incentive auction program under which licensees of electromagnetic spectrum voluntarily relinquish their spectrum rights in order for such spectrum to be auctioned for a repurposed commercial use in exchange for a percentage of the auction proceeds.
Permits such federal entities, instead of being reimbursed for the costs of sharing frequencies with nonfederal users or relocating to other frequencies as provided for under current law, to receive a percentage of the proceeds from spectrum it relinquishes for auction by electing to: (1) discontinue operations on eligible frequencies without relocating to other frequencies, or (2) relocate operations to frequencies assigned to another federal entity in order for such entities to share frequencies.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Establishes in the Treasury a Federal Spectrum Incentive Fund to be administered by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in consultation with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
Requires 1% of the proceeds from such auctions to be deposited in such Fund and the remainder to be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury for the sole purpose of deficit reduction.
Directs OMB to transfer from the Fund to a federal entity a specified amount attributable to the auction of frequencies vacated by such entity. Permits federal entities to use such amounts for: (1) any purposes permitted under the terms and conditions of an appropriations account for which budgetary resources were canceled for a fiscal year under a sequestration order under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, provided that the amount used does not exceed the amount by which the account was reduced under the sequestration order for such fiscal year; or (2) a transfer of amounts to an incumbent federal entity for such purposes when the federal entity relinquishing spectrum relocates its operations to frequencies assigned to another federal entity in order to share frequencies.
People & committees
Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] · D–MA
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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