On March 25, Rep. Jane Harman (Calif.) and Rep. Curt Weldon (Pa.) reintroduced the Homeland Emergency Response Operations Act (H.R. 1425). The legislation is intended to ensure the nation’s first responders have greater access to shared broadcast frequencies for interoperable radio communications.

Radio frequency spectrum is a limited resource used by all forms of wireless communications, including cellular phones, pagers, and radio and television broadcast. Because of the scarcity of unused spectrum, first responders are not able to fully utilize interoperable communications equipment that would let them communicate with each other. In 1997, Congress set a deadline of Dec. 31, 2006, for the Federal Communications Commission to provide public safety agencies sole access to the broadcast spectrum. Congress conditioned transfer to public safety agencies on digital television rollout reaching 85% of American households. At present, only 1% of households have digital television. The HERO Act will remove this threshold requirement.