House Commerce Leads Look to March Moves on Satellite Legislation

"I hope" House Communications "can have a markup" of the five bills the subpanel examined Wednesday "when we get back" from an upcoming recess the week of Feb. 20, perhaps "sometime in March," Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, said in an interview. "I don't foresee any issues that we'd have to address through major changes" to the measures. There may be some minor amendments, but "I think everyone on both sides" of the aisle on House Communications "have been really happy with" how work on the bills has proceeded, he said: "They've really been bipartisan bills."

“Now is the time to act and plow the hard ground” to update the FCC’s satellite licensing apparatus, said House Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. “We heard repeatedly” during a House Communications hearing last week on satellite policy (see 2302020001) “about the need for our government to move quickly to stay relevant. In order for U.S. companies to compete globally, they must move first. They must be incentivized to design their systems to better serve the unconnected, whether in America, or in developing countries that the Chinese Communist Party seeks to dominate.”

Rodgers later pressed FCC Deputy Associate General Counsel-Agenda Review William Richardson on whether she needs to include a “specific grant of statutory authority” in the SAT Streamlining Act “help the FCC defend its actions in court on satellite rules.” A Rodgers-led revised draft of the bill, previously filed in December (see 2212090064), would require the FCC to issue “specific performance requirements” for satellite licensees to meet on space safety and orbital debris. It would also require the commission to set a 180-day shot clock to limit the timeline for reaching decisions on license applications. “The more authority Congress grants us, specific or general, the better,” but the FCC believes it already has sufficient authority under Communications Act Title III, Richardson said.

“Time is certainly of the essence” in lawmakers’ bid to ensure the U.S. “leads the rest of world in the satellite communications industry,” said Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., the SAT Streamlining Act's lead Democratic sponsor. “This legislation will strengthen the competitiveness of the United States’ satellite industry, which is imperative given other countries, including our foreign adversaries, are making aggressive moves to dominate the industry.”

“While I appreciate” the FCC’s order to revamp the International Bureau into a Space Bureau and an Office of International Affairs (see 2301090062), the commission’s current licensing process, including its “processing rounds system” framework, “takes too long regardless of” staff resources, Latta said. Richardson noted the commission is eyeing fixes to the processing framework in a series of “pending rulemakings,” including a December space application review process streamlining NPRM that has comments due March 3 (see 2301130027).

House Communications ranking member Doris Matsui, D-Calif., said she believes “we’re on the right track” with the revised SAT Streamlining Act language but emphasized the current version is “still a discussion draft. I look forward to working toward a consensus, bipartisan introduction” of the measure “as ongoing feedback from the FCC and industry is considered.” It’s “important this committee and the FCC are working hand in glove to advance complementary rather than conflicting” satellite policies, she said.

All five satellite measures “hold the potential to boost innovation, cut red tape and increase security in the satellite ecosystem,” Matsui said. She’s “glad to see progress” on HR-675’s language, which would bar the FCC from granting satellite licenses to any entity it identifies as a national security risk under the 2020 Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act. “I’m glad to see these restrictions being implemented in other industries,” but “it’s imperative that the FCC constantly reevaluate and update” its covered entities list, she said.

Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fla., touted his HR-682, which would require the FCC to streamline the authorization process for commercial launches’ access to spectrum. The agency’s current authorization framework is “cumbersome ... because there hasn’t been enough direction by Congress. We know we need to cut the red tape to boost space innovation,” Soto said. The bill would ensure FCC actions aimed at expanding commercial space industry access to spectrum, including its 2021 allocation of the 2200-2290 MHz band, “can’t go back and forth based on who’s on the FCC,” he said: “We need to secure spectrum specifically and permanently for space flight.”

Latta highlighted his PASC Act draft, which would require the FCC to review and potentially institute changes to satellite rules to promote precision agriculture. The FCC’s Precision Agriculture Connectivity Task Force’s recommendations thus far largely “do not address the role satellites can play in providing broadband or earth observation services,” he said.

Latta and Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, cited Johnson’s draft Alert Parity Act, which would require the FCC to issue rules allowing satellite direct-to-cell service providers and others to apply to access spectrum to fill in wireless coverage gaps in unserved areas specifically to provide connectivity for emergency services. “Enabling 911 calls and texts and emergency alerts in remote and unserved areas is not only common sense; it’s a lifesaving necessity,” Johnson said: “I believe we have a responsibility” to ensure residents in unserved areas have access to “technology that will enable” them to “reach emergency assistance.”