H.R. 1455 — Institute for Telecommunication Sciences Codification Act

This section establishes the short title of the Act as the “Institute for Telecommunication Sciences Codification Act” or the “ITS Codification Act.”

This section establishes the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA’s) test center and primary federal laboratory for spectrum research, including radio frequency emissions studies, spectrum propagation analysis, spectrum-sharing tests, interference-tolerance improvements for Federal systems, and other activities the Assistant Secretary determines necessary. It authorizes the Assistant Secretary to delegate to ITS any functions assigned under section 103(b)(1) of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act and to enter into agreements under 15 U.S.C. 3710 and 3710a, 31 U.S.C. 1535, 35 U.S.C. 207 and 209, section 103(b)(2) and section 113(g) of that Act, the first undesignated section of Public Law 91-412, and any other Federal statute. It defines “Federal spectrum” as frequencies assigned on a primary basis to a Federal entity. It also directs the Assistant Secretary, acting through ITS, to establish an emergency communication and tracking technologies initiative to support technologies used to locate trapped individuals in confined spaces and other shielded environments, such as underground mines, high-rise buildings, and collapsed structures, and to work with private-sector entities and appropriate Federal agencies to perform a needs assessment and develop technical specifications and conformance architecture for those technologies. The section requires a public report on the needs assessment not later than 18 months after enactment.