There is established on the books of the Treasury a separate fund to be known as the “Spectrum Relocation Fund” (in this section referred to as the “Fund”), which shall be administered by the Office of Management and Budget (in this section referred to as “OMB”), in consultation with the NTIA.
The Fund shall be credited with the amounts specified in section 309(j)(8)(D) of this title.
The amounts in the Fund from auctions of eligible frequencies are authorized to be used to pay relocation or sharing costs of an eligible Federal entity incurring such costs with respect to relocation from or sharing of those frequencies.
There are hereby appropriated from the Fund such sums as are required to pay the relocation or sharing costs specified in subsection (c).
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 923(g)(3)(A)(iii) of this title.
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.
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).
Notwithstanding subsections (c) through (e), after February 22, 2012, there are appropriated from the Fund and available to the Director of OMB for use in accordance with paragraph (2) not more than 10 percent of the amounts deposited in the Fund from auctions occurring after such date of licenses for the use of spectrum vacated by eligible Federal entities.
The Director of OMB, in consultation with the NTIA, may use amounts made available under paragraph (1) to make payments to eligible Federal entities that are implementing a transition plan submitted under section 923(h)(1) of this title in order to encourage such entities to complete the implementation more quickly, thereby encouraging timely access to the eligible frequencies that are being reallocated for exclusive non-Federal use or shared use.
The Director of OMB may use amounts made available under paragraph (1) to make payments requested by Federal entities for research and development, engineering studies, economic analyses, activities with respect to systems, or other planning activities intended to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the spectrum use of Federal entities in order to make available frequencies described in subparagraph (C) for reallocation for non-Federal use or shared Federal and non-Federal use, or a combination thereof, and for auction in accordance with such reallocation.
Not later than 120 days after a Federal entity submits a plan under subparagraph (D)(i)(I) to the Technical Panel established under section 923(h)(3) of this title, the Technical Panel shall approve or disapprove such plan.
In determining whether to make payments under subsections (f) and (g), the Director of OMB shall, to the extent practicable, prioritize payments under subsection (g).