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Union Calendar No. 647 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4881 

[Report No. 115–837] 

To require the Federal Communications Commission to establish a task force 

for meeting the connectivity and technology needs of precision agriculture 

in the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 25, 2018 

Mr. LATTA (for himself and Mr. LOEBSACK) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

JULY 18, 2018 

Additional sponsors: Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, Mr. BLUM, Mr. 

CRAMER, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. YOUNG of Iowa, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. GRIFFITH, and Mr. WALDEN

JULY 18, 2018 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 25, 2018] 


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A BILL 

To require the Federal Communications Commission to establish a task force for meeting the connectivity and 

technology needs of precision agriculture in the United 

States. 


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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 ‘‘Precision Agriculture 

5 Connectivity Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Precision agriculture technologies and prac9 tices allow farmers to significantly increase crop 

10 yields, eliminate overlap in operations, and reduce 

11 inputs such as seed, fertilizer, pesticides, water, and 

12 fuel. 

13 (2) These technologies allow farmers to collect 

14 data in real time about their fields, automate field 

15 management, and maximize resources. 

16 (3) Studies estimate that precision agriculture 

17 technologies can reduce agricultural operation costs 

18 by up to 25 dollars per acre and increase farm yields 

19 by up to 70 percent by 2050. 

20 (4) The critical cost savings and productivity 

21 benefits of precision agriculture cannot be realized 

22 without the availability of reliable broadband Internet 

23 access service delivered to the agricultural land of the 

24 United States. 


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1 (5) The deployment of broadband Internet access 

2 service to unserved agricultural land is critical to the 

3 United States economy and to the continued leader4 ship of the United States in global food production. 

5 (6) Despite the growing demand for broadband 

6 Internet access service on agricultural land, 

7 broadband Internet access service is not consistently 

8 available where needed for agricultural operations. 

9 (7) The Federal Communications Commission 

10 has an important role to play in the deployment of 

11 broadband Internet access service on unserved agricul12 tural land to promote precision agriculture. 

13 SEC. 3. TASK FORCE. 

14 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

15 (1) the term ‘‘broadband Internet access serv16 ice’’— 

17 (A) means a mass-market retail service by 

18 wire or radio that provides the capability to 

19 transmit data to and receive data from all or 

20 substantially all Internet endpoints, including 

21 any capabilities that are incidental to and en22 able the operation of the communications service, 

23 but excluding dial-up Internet access service; and 

24 (B) also encompasses any service that the 

25 Commission finds to be providing a functional 


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1 equivalent of the service described in subpara2 graph (A); 

3 (2) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 

4 Communications Commission; 

5 (3) the term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart6 ment of Agriculture; 

7 (4) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of 

8 Agriculture; and 

9 (5) the term ‘‘Task Force’’ means the Task Force 

10 for Reviewing the Connectivity and Technology Needs 

11 of Precision Agriculture in the United States estab12 lished under subsection (b). 

13 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall establish 

15 the Task Force for Reviewing the Connectivity and Tech16 nology Needs of Precision Agriculture in the United States. 

17 (c) DUTIES.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall consult 

19 with the Secretary, or a designee of the Secretary, and 

20 collaborate with public and private stakeholders in 

21 the agriculture and technology fields to— 

22 (A) identify and measure current gaps in 

23 the availability of broadband Internet access 

24 service on agricultural land; 


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1 (B) develop policy recommendations to pro2 mote the rapid, expanded deployment of 

3 broadband Internet access service on unserved 

4 agricultural land, with a goal of achieving reli5 able capabilities on 95 percent of agricultural 

6 land in the United States by 2025; 

7 (C) promote effective policy and regulatory 

8 solutions that encourage the adoption of 

9 broadband Internet access service on farms and 

10 ranches and promote precision agriculture; 

11 (D) recommend specific new rules or 

12 amendments to existing rules of the Commission 

13 that the Commission should issue to achieve the 

14 goals and purposes of the policy recommenda15 tions described in subparagraph (B); 

16 (E) recommend specific steps that the Com17 mission should take to obtain reliable and stand18 ardized data measurements of the availability of 

19 broadband Internet access service as may be nec20 essary to target funding support, from future 

21 programs of the Commission dedicated to the de22 ployment of broadband Internet access service, to 

23 unserved agricultural land in need of broadband 

24 Internet access service; and 


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1 (F) recommend specific steps that the Com2 mission should consider to ensure that the exper3 tise of the Secretary and available farm data are 

4 reflected in future programs of the Commission 

5 dedicated to the infrastructure deployment of 

6 broadband Internet access service and to direct 

7 available funding to unserved agricultural land 

8 where needed. 

9 (2) NO DUPLICATE DATA REPORTING.—In per10 forming the duties of the Commission under para11 graph (1), the Commission shall ensure that no pro12 vider of broadband Internet access service is required 

13 to report data to the Commission that is, on the day 

14 before the date of enactment of this Act, required to 

15 be reported by the provider of broadband Internet ac16 cess service. 

17 (3) HOLD HARMLESS.—The Task Force and the 

18 Commission shall not interpret the phrase ‘‘future 

19 programs of the Commission’’, as used in subpara20 graphs (E) and (F) of paragraph (1), to include the 

21 universal service programs of the Commission estab22 lished under section 254 of the Communications Act 

23 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254). 

24 (4) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary, or a des25 ignee of the Secretary, shall explain and make availVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 19, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4881.RH H4881

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1 able to the Task Force the expertise, data mapping 

2 information, and resources of the Department that the 

3 Department uses to identify cropland, ranchland, and 

4 other areas with agricultural operations that may be 

5 helpful in developing the recommendations required 

6 under paragraph (1). 

7 (5) LIST OF AVAILABLE FEDERAL PROGRAMS

8 AND RESOURCES.—Not later than 180 days after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary and the 

10 Commission shall jointly submit to the Task Force a 

11 list of all Federal programs or resources available for 

12 the expansion of broadband Internet access service on 

13 unserved agricultural land to assist the Task Force in 

14 carrying out the duties of the Task Force. 

15 (d) MEMBERSHIP.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall be— 

17 (A) composed of not more than 15 voting 

18 members who shall— 

19 (i) be selected by the Chairman of the 

20 Commission, in consultation with the Sec21 retary; and 

22 (ii) include— 

23 (I) agricultural producers rep24 resenting diverse geographic regions 

25 and farm sizes, including owners and 


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1 operators of farms of less than 100 

2 acres; 

3 (II) an agricultural producer rep4 resenting tribal agriculture; 

5 (III) Internet service providers, 

6 including regional or rural fixed and 

7 mobile broadband Internet access serv8 ice providers and telecommunications 

9 infrastructure providers; 

10 (IV) representatives from the elec11 tric cooperative industry; 

12 (V) representatives from the sat13 ellite industry; 

14 (VI) representatives from preci15 sion agriculture equipment manufac16 turers, including drone manufacturers, 

17 manufacturers of autonomous agricul18 tural machinery, and manufacturers of 

19 farming robotics technologies; 

20 (VII) representatives from State 

21 and local governments; and 

22 (VIII) representatives with rel23 evant expertise in broadband network 

24 data collection, geospatial analysis, 

25 and coverage mapping; and 


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1 (B) fairly balanced in terms of technologies, 

2 points of view, and fields represented on the Task 

3 Force. 

4 (2) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—A member of the Task 

6 Force appointed under paragraph (1)(A) shall 

7 serve for a single term of 2 years. 

8 (B) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Task 

9 Force— 

10 (i) shall not affect the powers of the 

11 Task Force; and 

12 (ii) shall be filled in the same manner 

13 as the original appointment. 

14 (3) EX-OFFICIO MEMBER.—The Secretary, or a 

15 designee of the Secretary, shall serve as an ex-officio, 

16 nonvoting member of the Task Force. 

17 (e) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

18 on which the Commission establishes the Task Force, and 

19 annually thereafter, the Task Force shall submit to the 

20 Chairman of the Commission a report, which shall be made 

21 public not later than 30 days after the date on which the 

22 Chairman receives the report, that details— 

23 (1) the status of fixed and mobile broadband 

24 Internet access service coverage of agricultural land; 


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1 (2) the projected future connectivity needs of ag2 ricultural operations, farmers, and ranchers; and 

3 (3) the steps being taken to accurately measure 

4 the availability of broadband Internet access service 

5 on agricultural land and the limitations of current, 

6 as of the date of the report, measurement processes. 

7 (f) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall renew the 

8 Task Force every 2 years until the Task Force terminates 

9 on January 1, 2025. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to require the 

Federal Communications Commission to establish a task 

force for reviewing the connectivity and technology needs 

of precision agriculture in the United States.’’. 


dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 647 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4881 

[Report No. 115–837] 

A BILL 

To require the Federal Communications Commisagriculture in the United States. connectivity and technology needs of precision sion to establish a task force for meeting the 

JULY 18, 2018 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 

dered to be printed of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and orVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 19, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H4881.RH H4881

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