I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4902 

To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to 

establish the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Terra, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 29, 2019 

Mrs. AXNE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization 

Act of 1994 to establish the Advanced Research Projects 

Agency–Terra, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘ARPA–Terra Act of 

5 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY–TERRA. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of the Department of 

8 Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6911 

9 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 224B. ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY– 

2 TERRA. 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) ARPA–TERRA.—The term ‘ARPA–Terra’ 

5 means the Advanced Research Projects Agency– 

6 Terra established by subsection (b). 

7 ‘‘(2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 

8 the Director of ARPA–Terra appointed under sub9 section (d). 

10 ‘‘(3) FUND.—The term ‘Fund’ means the Agri11 culture Transformation Acceleration Fund estab12 lished under subsection (l)(1). 

13 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Ad14 vanced Research Projects Agency–Terra in the Depart15 ment— 

16 ‘‘(1) to overcome the long-term and high-risk 

17 technological barriers in the development of agricul18 tural technologies that enhance export competitive19 ness, environmental sustainability, and resilience to 

20 extreme weather and infectious disease; and 

21 ‘‘(2) to ensure that the United States maintains 

22 a technological lead in developing and deploying ad23 vanced agricultural technologies that increase eco24 nomic opportunities for farmers, ranchers, and rural 

25 communities. 


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1 ‘‘(c) MEANS.—To achieve the goals described in sub2 section (b), ARPA–Terra shall carry out agriculture tech3 nology projects that— 

4 ‘‘(1) identify and promote revolutionary ad5 vances in fundamental sciences; 

6 ‘‘(2) translate scientific discoveries and cutting7 edge inventions into technological innovations; and 

8 ‘‘(3) accelerate transformational technological 

9 advances in areas that, due to technical and finan10 cial uncertainty, industry is not likely to undertake 

11 without Federal assistance. 

12 ‘‘(d) DIRECTOR.— 

13 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.—There shall be in the De14 partment a Director of ARPA–Terra, who shall be 

15 appointed by the President, by and with the advice 

16 and consent of the Senate. 

17 ‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Director shall be 

18 an individual who, by reason of professional back19 ground and experience, is especially qualified to ad20 vise the Secretary on, and manage research pro21 grams addressing, matters pertaining to long-term 

22 and high-risk technological barriers to the develop23 ment of agricultural technologies. 

24 ‘‘(3) RELATIONSHIP TO SECRETARY.—The Di25 rector shall report to the Secretary. 


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1 ‘‘(4) RELATIONSHIP TO CHIEF SCIENTIST.—In 

2 carrying out the responsibilities of the Director, the 

3 Director shall coordinate with the Chief Scientist to 

4 identify relevant scientific priorities and future 

5 trends relating to agricultural technologies. 

6 ‘‘(5) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PROGRAMS.— 

7 No other programs within the Department shall re8 port to the Director. 

9 ‘‘(e) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of the 

10 Director shall include— 

11 ‘‘(1) approving all new programs within ARPA– 

12 Terra; 

13 ‘‘(2) developing funding criteria and assessing 

14 the success of programs through the establishment 

15 of technical milestones; 

16 ‘‘(3) administering the Fund through awards to 

17 institutions of higher education, companies, research 

18 foundations, trade and industry research collabora19 tions, or consortia of those entities, which may in20 clude land-grant institutions, federally funded re21 search and development centers, research stations, 

22 and research laboratories, to achieve the goals de23 scribed in subsection (b) through targeted accelera24 tion of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) novel early-stage research with pos2 sible technology applications; 

3 ‘‘(B) development of techniques, processes, 

4 and technologies, and related testing and eval5 uation; 

6 ‘‘(C) research and development of manu7 facturing processes for novel technologies; and 

8 ‘‘(D) coordination with nongovernmental 

9 entities for demonstration of technologies and 

10 research applications to facilitate technology 

11 transfer; 

12 ‘‘(4) terminating programs carried out under 

13 this section that are not achieving the goals of the 

14 programs; and 

15 ‘‘(5) to the maximum extent practicable, ensur16 ing that the Fund supports research that reflects di17 versity with respect to region, water quantity, and 

18 agricultural practice. 

19 ‘‘(f) PERSONNEL.— 

20 ‘‘(1) PROGRAM MANAGERS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall 

22 designate employees to serve as program man23 agers for each of the programs established by 

24 the Director pursuant to subsection (e). 


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1 ‘‘(B) RESPONSIBILITIES.—A program 

2 manager of a program shall be responsible 

3 for— 

4 ‘‘(i) establishing research and develop5 ment goals for the program, including 

6 through the convening of workshops and 

7 conferring with outside experts, and publi8 cizing the goals of the program to the pub9 lic and private sectors; 

10 ‘‘(ii) soliciting applications for specific 

11 areas of particular promise, especially 

12 areas that the private sector or the Federal 

13 Government are not likely to undertake 

14 alone; 

15 ‘‘(iii) building research collaborations 

16 for carrying out the program; 

17 ‘‘(iv) selecting on the basis of merit, 

18 after soliciting advice under subsection (j) 

19 as appropriate, each of the projects to be 

20 supported under the program after consid21 ering— 

22 ‘‘(I) the novelty and scientific 

23 and technical merit of the proposed 

24 projects; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the demonstrated capabili2 ties of the applicants to successfully 

3 carry out the proposed project; 

4 ‘‘(III) the consideration by the 

5 applicant of future commercial appli6 cations of the project, including the 

7 feasibility of partnering with 1 or 

8 more commercial entities; and 

9 ‘‘(IV) any other criteria that the 

10 Director determines to be appropriate; 

11 ‘‘(v) preparing technologies for an 

12 eventual transfer from lab to market; 

13 ‘‘(vi) monitoring the progress of 

14 projects supported under the program; and 

15 ‘‘(vii) recommending program restruc16 ture or termination of research partner17 ships or whole projects. 

18 ‘‘(C) TERM.—The term of a program man19 ager— 

20 ‘‘(i) shall be 4 years; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) may be renewed by the Director. 

22 ‘‘(2) HIRING AND MANAGEMENT.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall 

24 have the authority— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to make appointments of sci2 entific, engineering, and professional per3 sonnel without regard to the civil service 

4 laws; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) to fix the compensation of per6 sonnel described in clause (i) at a rate to 

7 be determined by the Director. 

8 ‘‘(B) PRIVATE RECRUITING FIRMS.—The 

9 Secretary or the Director may contract with 

10 private recruiting firms for the hiring of quali11 fied technical staff to carry out this section. 

12 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL STAFF.—The Director 

13 may use all existing authorities of the Secretary 

14 to hire administrative, financial, and clerical 

15 staff as necessary to carry out this section. 

16 ‘‘(g) REPORTS AND ROADMAPS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—As part of the annual 

18 budget request submitted to Congress under section 

19 1105 of title 31, United States Code, the Director 

20 shall provide to the appropriate committees of Con21 gress a report that describes projects supported by 

22 ARPA–Terra during the previous fiscal year. 

23 ‘‘(2) STRATEGIC VISION ROADMAP.—Not later 

24 than October 1, 2020, and October 1, 2023, the Di25 rector shall provide to the appropriate committees of 


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1 Congress a roadmap that describes the strategic vi2 sion that ARPA–Terra will use to guide the choices 

3 of ARPA–Terra for future technology investments 

4 over the following 3 fiscal years. 

5 ‘‘(h) COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum extent 

7 practicable, the Director shall ensure that the activi8 ties of ARPA–Terra are coordinated with, and do 

9 not duplicate the efforts of, programs and labora10 tories within the Department and other relevant re11 search agencies. 

12 ‘‘(2) TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER COORDINATOR.— 

13 To the extent appropriate, the Director may coordi14 nate technology transfer efforts— 

15 ‘‘(A) with the Department; and 

16 ‘‘(B) to increase the transfer of tech17 nologies to market, with outside entities, includ18 ing the Foundation for Food and Agricultural 

19 Research. 

20 ‘‘(3) LESSONS LEARNED.—In developing 

21 ARPA–Terra, the Director shall build on lessons 

22 learned from the Agriculture Advanced Research 

23 and Development Authority pilot program estab24 lished under section 1473H of the National AgriculVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:51 Nov 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4902.IH H4902

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1 tural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act 

2 of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3319k). 

3 ‘‘(i) FEDERAL DEMONSTRATION OF TECH4 NOLOGIES.—The Secretary shall make available to pur5 chasing and procurement programs of Federal agencies in6 formation regarding the potential to demonstrate tech7 nologies resulting from activities funded through ARPA– 

8 Terra. 

9 ‘‘(j) ADVICE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) ADVISORY COMMITTEES.—The Director 

11 may seek advice on any aspect of ARPA–Terra 

12 from— 

13 ‘‘(A) an existing Department advisory com14 mittee; and 

15 ‘‘(B) a new advisory committee organized 

16 to support the programs of ARPA–Terra and to 

17 provide advice and assistance on— 

18 ‘‘(i) specific program tasks, including 

19 transfer from lab to market; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) overall direction of ARPA–Terra. 

21 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF ADVICE.—In 

22 carrying out this section, the Director may seek ad23 vice and review from— 

24 ‘‘(A) the President’s Council of Advisors 

25 on Science and Technology; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the Foundation for Food and Agri2 culture Research; 

3 ‘‘(C) the Advanced Research Projects 

4 Agency–Energy; 

5 ‘‘(D) the Defense Advanced Research 

6 Projects Agency; and 

7 ‘‘(E) any professional or scientific organi8 zation, or individual agricultural practitioner, 

9 with expertise in specific processes or tech10 nologies under development by ARPA–Terra. 

11 ‘‘(k) EXISTING AUTHORITIES.—The authority under 

12 this section— 

13 ‘‘(1) is in addition to existing authorities of the 

14 Secretary; and 

15 ‘‘(2) does not supersede or modify any existing 

16 authorities. 

17 ‘‘(l) FUNDING.— 

18 ‘‘(1) FUND.—There is established in the Treas19 ury of the United States a fund, to be known as the 

20 ‘Agriculture Transformation Acceleration Fund’, 

21 which shall be administered by the Director for the 

22 purposes of carrying out this section. 

23 ‘‘(2) SEPARATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIA24 TION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) BUDGET REQUEST.—The budget re2 quest for ARPA–Terra shall be separate from 

3 the rest of the budget request of the Depart4 ment. 

5 ‘‘(B) APPROPRIATIONS.—Appropriations to 

6 the Fund shall be separate and distinct from 

7 the rest of the appropriations for the Depart8 ment.’’. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

10 (1) The first section 225 of the Department of 

11 Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (relating to 

12 Food Access Liaison) (7 U.S.C. 6925) is redesig13 nated as section 224A. 

14 (2) Section 296(b) of the Department of Agri15 culture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 

16 7014(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(11) The authority of the Secretary to estab19 lish in the Department the Advanced Research 

20 Projects Agency–Terra under section 224B.’’. 

Æ 


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