115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2343 

AN ACT 

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. 

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’’ has the meaning given the term in section 8.2 

15 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any suc16 cessor regulation; 

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

18 Communications Commission; 

19 (3) the term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart20 ment of Agriculture; 

21 (4) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

22 of Agriculture; and 

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

24 Force for Reviewing the Connectivity and Tech-
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1 nology Needs of Precision Agriculture in the United 

2 States established under subsection (b). 

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

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

5 establish the Task Force for Reviewing the Connectivity 

6 and Technology Needs of Precision Agriculture in the 

7 United States. 

8 (c) DUTIES.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall con10 sult with the Secretary, or a designee of the Sec11 retary, and collaborate with public and private 

12 stakeholders in the agriculture and technology fields 

13 to— 

14 (A) identify and measure current gaps in 

15 the availability of broadband Internet access 

16 service on agricultural land; 

17 (B) develop policy recommendations to 

18 promote the rapid, expanded deployment of 

19 broadband Internet access service on unserved 

20 agricultural land, with a goal of achieving reli21 able capabilities on 95 percent of agricultural 

22 land in the United States by 2025; 

23 (C) promote effective policy and regulatory 

24 solutions that encourage the adoption of 
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1 broadband Internet access service on farms and 

2 ranches and promote precision agriculture; 

3 (D) recommend specific new rules or 

4 amendments to existing rules of the Commis5 sion that the Commission should issue to 

6 achieve the goals and purposes of the policy rec7 ommendations described in subparagraph (B); 

8 (E) recommend specific steps that the 

9 Commission should take to obtain reliable and 

10 standardized data measurements of the avail11 ability of broadband Internet access service as 

12 may be necessary to target funding support, 

13 from future programs of the Commission dedi14 cated to the deployment of broadband Internet 

15 access service, to unserved agricultural land in 

16 need of broadband Internet access service; and 

17 (F) recommend specific steps that the 

18 Commission should consider to ensure that the 

19 expertise of the Secretary and available farm 

20 data are reflected in future programs of the 

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

23 and to direct available funding to unserved ag24 ricultural land where needed. 
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1 (2) NO DUPLICATE DATA REPORTING.—In per2 forming the duties of the Commission under para3 graph (1), the Commission shall ensure that no pro4 vider of broadband Internet access service is re5 quired to report data to the Commission that is, on 

6 the day before the date of enactment of this Act, re7 quired to be reported by the provider of broadband 

8 Internet access service. 

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

10 the Commission shall not interpret the phrase ‘‘fu11 ture programs of the Commission’’, as used in sub12 paragraphs (E) and (F) of paragraph (1), to include 

13 the universal service programs of the Commission 

14 established under section 254 of the Communica15 tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254). 

16 (4) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary, or a des17 ignee of the Secretary, shall explain and make avail18 able to the Task Force the expertise, data mapping 

19 information, and resources of the Department that 

20 the Department uses to identify cropland, ranchland, 

21 and other areas with agricultural operations that 

22 may be helpful in developing the recommendations 

23 required under paragraph (1). 

24 (5) LIST OF AVAILABLE FEDERAL PROGRAMS

25 AND RESOURCES.—Not later than 180 days after 
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1 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary and 

2 the Commission shall jointly submit to the Task 

3 Force a list of all Federal programs or resources 

4 available for the expansion of broadband Internet ac5 cess service on unserved agricultural land to assist 

6 the Task Force in carrying out the duties of the 

7 Task Force. 

8 (d) MEMBERSHIP.— 

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

10 (A) composed of not more than 15 voting 

11 members who shall— 

12 (i) be selected by the Chairman of the 

13 Commission; and 

14 (ii) include— 

15 (I) agricultural producers rep16 resenting diverse geographic regions 

17 and farm sizes, including owners and 

18 operators of farms of less than 100 

19 acres; 

20 (II) an agricultural producer rep21 resenting tribal agriculture; 

22 (III) Internet service providers, 

23 including regional or rural fixed and 

24 mobile broadband Internet access 
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1 service providers and telecommuni2 cations infrastructure providers; 

3 (IV) representatives from the 

4 electric cooperative industry; 

5 (V) representatives from the sat6 ellite industry; 

7 (VI) representatives from preci8 sion agriculture equipment manufac9 turers, including drone manufactur10 ers, manufacturers of autonomous ag11 ricultural machinery, and manufactur12 ers of farming robotics technologies; 

13 and 

14 (VII) representatives from State 

15 and local governments; and 

16 (B) fairly balanced in terms of tech17 nologies, points of view, and fields represented 

18 on the Task Force. 

19 (2) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—A member of the Com21 mittee appointed under paragraph (1)(A) shall 

22 serve for a single term of 2 years. 

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

24 Force— 
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1 (i) shall not affect the powers of the 

2 Task Force; and 

3 (ii) shall be filled in the same manner 

4 as the original appointment. 

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

6 designee of the Secretary, shall serve as an ex-offi7 cio, nonvoting member of the Task Force. 

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

9 on which the Commission establishes the Task Force, and 

10 annually thereafter, the Task Force shall submit to the 

11 Chairman of the Commission a report, which shall be 

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

13 the Chairman receives the report, that details— 

14 (1) the status of fixed and mobile broadband 

15 Internet access service coverage of agricultural land; 

16 (2) the projected future connectivity needs of 

17 agricultural operations, farmers, and ranchers; and 

18 (3) the steps being taken to accurately measure 

19 the availability of broadband Internet access service 

20 on agricultural land and the limitations of current, 

21 as of the date of the report, measurement processes. 
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1 (f) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall renew the 

2 Task Force every 2 years until the Task Force terminates 

3 on January 1, 2025. 

Passed the Senate December 6, 2018. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2343 

AN ACT 

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