ITS Codification Act

This bill amends the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act to formally establish the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) as a federal test center and to create an initiative for emergency communication and tracking technologies.

Sec. 2, Institute for Telecommunication Sciences: The Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information must operate a test center called the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS). ITS will serve as a federal laboratory to study radio frequency emissions and interference, spectrum propagation, technologies for sharing electromagnetic spectrum between federal and non-federal users, interference tolerance of federal systems, and access to federal spectrum by non-federal users. The Assistant Secretary may also delegate additional communications functions to ITS. To carry out these functions, the Assistant Secretary, acting through ITS, may enter into agreements under specified existing laws.

Sec. 2, Emergency Communication and Tracking Technologies Initiative: The Assistant Secretary, acting through ITS, must establish an initiative to support the development of emergency communication and tracking technologies for locating trapped individuals in confined spaces (like underground mines) or shielded environments (like high-rise buildings or collapsed structures) where conventional radio communication is limited. The initiative requires working with private sector entities and federal agencies to perform a needs assessment and support the development of technical specifications and conformance architecture. Within 18 months of enactment, the Assistant Secretary must submit a report to Congress on the needs assessment and make it publicly available.