IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4881 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 24, 2018 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

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. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Precision Agriculture 

3 Connectivity Act of 2018’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Precision agriculture technologies and prac7 tices allow farmers to significantly increase crop 

8 yields, eliminate overlap in operations, and reduce 

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

10 fuel. 

11 (2) These technologies allow farmers to collect 

12 data in real time about their fields, automate field 

13 management, and maximize resources. 

14 (3) Studies estimate that precision agriculture 

15 technologies can reduce agricultural operation costs 

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

17 by up to 70 percent by 2050. 

18 (4) The critical cost savings and productivity 

19 benefits of precision agriculture cannot be realized 

20 without the availability of reliable broadband Inter21 net access service delivered to the agricultural land 

22 of the United States. 

23 (5) The deployment of broadband Internet ac24 cess service to unserved agricultural land is critical 

25 to the United States economy and to the continued 


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1 leadership of the United States in global food pro2 duction. 

3 (6) Despite the growing demand for broadband 

4 Internet access service on agricultural land, 

5 broadband Internet access service is not consistently 

6 available where needed for agricultural operations. 

7 (7) The Federal Communications Commission 

8 has an important role to play in the deployment of 

9 broadband Internet access service on unserved agri10 cultural land to promote precision agriculture. 

11 SEC. 3. TASK FORCE. 

12 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

13 (1) the term ‘‘broadband Internet access serv14 ice’’— 

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

16 wire or radio that provides the capability to 

17 transmit data to and receive data from all or 

18 substantially all Internet endpoints, including 

19 any capabilities that are incidental to and en20 able the operation of the communications serv21 ice, but excluding dial-up Internet access serv22 ice; and 

23 (B) also encompasses any service that the 

24 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 

8 of Agriculture; and 

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

10 Force for Reviewing the Connectivity and Tech11 nology Needs of Precision Agriculture in the United 

12 States established under subsection (b). 

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

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

15 establish the Task Force for Reviewing the Connectivity 

16 and Technology Needs of Precision Agriculture in the 

17 United States. 

18 (c) DUTIES.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall con20 sult with the Secretary, or a designee of the Sec21 retary, and collaborate with public and private 

22 stakeholders in the agriculture and technology fields 

23 to— 


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1 (A) identify and measure current gaps in 

2 the availability of broadband Internet access 

3 service on agricultural land; 

4 (B) develop policy recommendations to 

5 promote the rapid, expanded deployment of 

6 broadband Internet access service on unserved 

7 agricultural land, with a goal of achieving reli8 able capabilities on 95 percent of agricultural 

9 land in the United States by 2025; 

10 (C) promote effective policy and regulatory 

11 solutions that encourage the adoption of 

12 broadband Internet access service on farms and 

13 ranches and promote precision agriculture; 

14 (D) recommend specific new rules or 

15 amendments to existing rules of the Commis16 sion that the Commission should issue to 

17 achieve the goals and purposes of the policy rec18 ommendations described in subparagraph (B); 

19 (E) recommend specific steps that the 

20 Commission should take to obtain reliable and 

21 standardized data measurements of the avail22 ability of broadband Internet access service as 

23 may be necessary to target funding support, 

24 from future programs of the Commission dedi25 cated to the deployment of broadband Internet 


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1 access service, to unserved agricultural land in 

2 need of broadband Internet access service; and 

3 (F) recommend specific steps that the 

4 Commission should consider to ensure that the 

5 expertise of the Secretary and available farm 

6 data are reflected in future programs of the 

7 Commission dedicated to the infrastructure de8 ployment of broadband Internet access service 

9 and to direct available funding to unserved ag10 ricultural land where needed. 

11 (2) NO DUPLICATE DATA REPORTING.—In per12 forming the duties of the Commission under para13 graph (1), the Commission shall ensure that no pro14 vider of broadband Internet access service is re15 quired to report data to the Commission that is, on 

16 the day before the date of enactment of this Act, re17 quired to be reported by the provider of broadband 

18 Internet access service. 

19 (3) HOLD HARMLESS.—The Task Force and 

20 the Commission shall not interpret the phrase ‘‘fu21 ture programs of the Commission’’, as used in sub22 paragraphs (E) and (F) of paragraph (1), to include 

23 the universal service programs of the Commission 

24 established under section 254 of the Communica25 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254). 


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1 (4) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary, or a des2 ignee of the Secretary, shall explain and make avail3 able to the Task Force the expertise, data mapping 

4 information, and resources of the Department that 

5 the Department uses to identify cropland, ranchland, 

6 and other areas with agricultural operations that 

7 may be helpful in developing the recommendations 

8 required under paragraph (1). 

9 (5) LIST OF AVAILABLE FEDERAL PROGRAMS

10 AND RESOURCES.—Not later than 180 days after 

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

12 the Commission shall jointly submit to the Task 

13 Force a list of all Federal programs or resources 

14 available for the expansion of broadband Internet ac15 cess service on unserved agricultural land to assist 

16 the Task Force in carrying out the duties of the 

17 Task Force. 

18 (d) MEMBERSHIP.— 

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

20 (A) composed of not more than 15 voting 

21 members who shall— 

22 (i) be selected by the Chairman of the 

23 Commission, in consultation with the Sec24 retary; and 

25 (ii) include— 


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1 (I) agricultural producers rep2 resenting diverse geographic regions 

3 and farm sizes, including owners and 

4 operators of farms of less than 100 

5 acres; 

6 (II) an agricultural producer rep7 resenting tribal agriculture; 

8 (III) Internet service providers, 

9 including regional or rural fixed and 

10 mobile broadband Internet access 

11 service providers and telecommuni12 cations infrastructure providers; 

13 (IV) representatives from the 

14 electric cooperative industry; 

15 (V) representatives from the sat16 ellite industry; 

17 (VI) representatives from preci18 sion agriculture equipment manufac19 turers, including drone manufactur20 ers, manufacturers of autonomous ag21 ricultural machinery, and manufactur22 ers of farming robotics technologies; 

23 (VII) representatives from State 

24 and local governments; and 


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1 (VIII) representatives with rel2 evant expertise in broadband network 

3 data collection, geospatial analysis, 

4 and coverage mapping; and 

5 (B) fairly balanced in terms of tech6 nologies, points of view, and fields represented 

7 on the Task Force. 

8 (2) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.— 

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

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

11 serve for a single term of 2 years. 

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

13 Force— 

14 (i) shall not affect the powers of the 

15 Task Force; and 

16 (ii) shall be filled in the same manner 

17 as the original appointment. 

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

19 designee of the Secretary, shall serve as an ex-offi20 cio, nonvoting member of the Task Force. 

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

22 on which the Commission establishes the Task Force, and 

23 annually thereafter, the Task Force shall submit to the 

24 Chairman of the Commission a report, which shall be 


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1 made public not later than 30 days after the date on which 

2 the Chairman receives the report, that details— 

3 (1) the status of fixed and mobile broadband 

4 Internet access service coverage of agricultural land; 

5 (2) the projected future connectivity needs of 

6 agricultural operations, farmers, and ranchers; and 

7 (3) the steps being taken to accurately measure 

8 the availability of broadband Internet access service 

9 on agricultural land and the limitations of current, 

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

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

12 Task Force every 2 years until the Task Force terminates 

13 on January 1, 2025. 

14 SEC. 4. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 

15 No additional funds are authorized to be appro16 priated to carry out this Act. This Act shall be carried 

17 out using amounts otherwise authorized. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 23, 2018. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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