I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5604 

To require original equipment manufacturers to make available certain documentation, parts, software, and tools with respect to electronics-enabled 

implements of agriculture, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023 

Ms. PEREZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To require original equipment manufacturers to make available certain documentation, parts, software, and tools 

with respect to electronics-enabled implements of agriculture, 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 ‘‘Agricultural Right to 

5 Repair Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) AUTHORIZED REPAIR PROVIDER.—The term 

2 ‘‘authorized repair provider’’— 

3 (A) means, with respect to farm equipment 

4 of an original equipment manufacturer, a per5 son that has an arrangement with an OEM 

6 under which the OEM grants such person a li7 cense to use a trade name, service mark, or 

8 other proprietary identifier for the purposes of 

9 offering diagnosis, maintenance, or repair serv10 ices for the farm equipment on behalf of such 

11 person or the OEM; and 

12 (B) includes, with respect to farm equip13 ment, an OEM who offers diagnosis, mainte14 nance, or repair services for the farm equip15 ment that the OEM manufactures or offers for 

16 sale. 

17 (2) COMMONLY AVAILABLE.—The term ‘‘com18 monly available’’ means any item that is commer19 cially available for purchase from more than a single 

20 seller and is not solely made available by an OEM 

21 for use on such OEM’s products. 

22 (3) DOCUMENTATION.—The term ‘‘documenta23 tion’’ means any manual, diagram, reporting output, 

24 service code description, schematic, library of diag25 nosed issues, software bill of material, or other guidVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Sep 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5604.IH H5604

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1 ance or information used in effecting the services of 

2 diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of farm equipment. 

3 (4) FARM EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘‘farm equip4 ment’’ means equipment that is designed primarily 

5 for use in a farm operation, including any combine, 

6 tractor, sprayer, implement, or attachment, includ7 ing attachments and repair parts thereof used in the 

8 planting, cultivating, irrigating, harvesting, or 

9 ranching of agricultural products, excluding self-pro10 pelled machines designed primarily for the transpor11 tation of persons or property on a street or highway. 

12 (5) FARM EQUIPMENT DATA.—The term ‘‘farm 

13 equipment data’’ means transmitted or compiled in14 formation arising from the operation of farm equip15 ment or any part of farm equipment. 

16 (6) EMBEDDED SOFTWARE.—The term ‘‘em17 bedded software’’ means a programmable instruction 

18 provided on firmware delivered with farm equipment. 

19 (7) FAIR AND REASONABLE TERMS.—The term 

20 ‘‘fair and reasonable terms’’ means a part, tool, soft21 ware, or documentation is made available either di22 rectly from an OEM or through an authorized repair 

23 provider and, with respect to a part, tool, software, 

24 or documentation, the following: 

25 (A) PARTS.—For parts, the following: 


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1 (i) COSTS.—Costs that are fair to 

2 both parties, considering the agreed-upon 

3 conditions, promised quality, and timeli4 ness of delivery. 

5 (ii) TERMS.—Terms that— 

6 (I) do not impose on an owner or 

7 an independent repair provider any 

8 substantial obligation to use or any 

9 restriction on the use of the part to 

10 diagnose, maintain, or repair farm 

11 equipment sold, leased, or otherwise 

12 supplied by the manufacturer, includ13 ing a condition that the owner or 

14 independent repair provider become 

15 an authorized repair provider of the 

16 manufacturer, or a requirement that a 

17 part be registered, paired with, or ap18 proved by the manufacturer or an au19 thorized repair provider before such 

20 part is operational; and 

21 (II) prohibit a manufacturer 

22 from imposing any additional cost or 

23 burden that is not reasonably nec24 essary or is designed to be an impediVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Sep 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5604.IH H5604

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1 ment on the owner or independent re2 pair provider. 

3 (B) TOOLS.—For tools, the following: 

4 (i) COSTS FOR FARMERS.—No charge 

5 for the tool, except for a case in which a 

6 tool is requested in physical form, a charge 

7 may be included for the reasonable actual 

8 costs of preparing and sending the tool. 

9 (ii) COSTS FOR INDEPENDENT REPAIR

10 PROVIDERS.—Costs that are equivalent to 

11 the lowest actual cost for which the manu12 facturer offers the tool to an authorized re13 pair provider, including any discount, re14 bate, or other financial incentive offered to 

15 an authorized repair provider. 

16 (iii) TERMS.—Terms that— 

17 (I) are equivalent to the most fa18 vorable terms under which a manufac19 turer offers the tools to an authorized 

20 repair provider, including the methods 

21 and timeliness of delivery of the tools; 

22 (II) do not impose on an owner 

23 or an independent repair provider any 

24 substantial obligation to use or any 

25 restriction on the use of the tool to diVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Sep 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5604.IH H5604

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1 agnose, maintain, or repair farm 

2 equipment sold, leased, or otherwise 

3 supplied by the manufacturer, includ4 ing a condition that the owner or 

5 independent repair provider become 

6 an authorized repair provider of the 

7 manufacturer, that the owner or inde8 pendent repair provider have internet 

9 access to use the tool, or a require10 ment that a tool be registered, paired 

11 with, or approved by the manufac12 turer or an authorized repair provider 

13 before such part or tool is operational; 

14 and 

15 (III) prohibit a manufacturer 

16 from imposing any additional cost or 

17 burden that is not reasonably nec18 essary or is designed to be an impedi19 ment on the owner or independent re20 pair provider. 

21 (C) DOCUMENTATION.—For documenta22 tion the following: 

23 (i) COSTS.—No charge for the docu24 mentation, except for a case in which docu25 mentation is requested in physical printed 


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1 form, a charge may be included for the 

2 reasonable actual costs of preparing and 

3 sending the copy. 

4 (ii) TERMS.—Terms that are equiva5 lent to the most favorable terms under 

6 which a manufacturer offers the docu7 mentation to an authorized repair provider, 

8 including the methods and timeliness of 

9 delivery of the part, tool, software, or doc10 umentation. 

11 (8) FIRMWARE.—The term ‘‘firmware’’ means a 

12 software program or set of instructions programmed 

13 on farm equipment, or on a part for such equip14 ment, to allow the equipment or part to commu15 nicate within a networked product or system or with 

16 other computer hardware, including any relevant 

17 patch or fix made by the OEM of such equipment 

18 or part. 

19 (9) INDEPENDENT REPAIR PROVIDER.—The 

20 term ‘‘independent repair provider’’ means, with re21 spect to farm equipment, a person who— 

22 (A) is not an authorized repair provider of 

23 the farm equipment; and 

24 (B) provides diagnosis, maintenance, or re25 pair services for the farm equipment. 


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1 (10) ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER; 

2 OEM.—The term ‘‘original equipment manufacturer’’ 

3 or ‘‘OEM’’ means any person that manufactures 

4 farm equipment and sells, leases, or otherwise sup5 plies such implement to any other person. 

6 (11) OWNER.—The term ‘‘owner’’ means any 

7 person that owns or leases farm equipment other 

8 than the OEM of such farm equipment. 

9 (12) PART.—The term ‘‘part’’ means any com10 ponent or subcomponent of farm equipment that is 

11 sold, supplied, or otherwise made available by an 

12 OEM for purposes of maintaining, repairing, or di13 agnosing such farm equipment. 

14 (13) SOFTWARE BILL OF MATERIAL.—The term 

15 ‘‘software bill of material’’ means a formal record 

16 containing the details and supply chain relationships 

17 of various components used in building software. 

18 (14) TOOL.—The term ‘‘tool’’ means any soft19 ware program (including any software update), 

20 hardware implement, or other apparatus used for re21 pair-related diagnostic testing, maintenance, or re22 pair of farm equipment, including software or any 

23 other mechanism that provisions the implement, pro24 grams the implement, pairs a new part, calibrates 

25 functionality, or performs any other function reVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Sep 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5604.IH H5604

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1 quired to bring the implement back to fully func2 tional condition. 

3 (15) TRADE SECRET.—The term ‘‘trade secret’’ 

4 has the meaning given such term in section 1839 of 

5 title 18, United States Code. 

6 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR OEMS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—An original equipment manufac8 turer shall make available, on fair and reasonable terms— 

9 (1) to any owner or independent repair pro10 vider, any documentation, part, software, firmware, 

11 or tool intended for use in order to diagnose, main12 tain, or repair farm equipment; and 

13 (2) to the owner or with the authorization of 

14 the owner to an independent repair provider, any 

15 farm equipment data generated by the farm equip16 ment of the owner. 

17 (b) DISABLING SECURITY FUNCTIONS.—An OEM 

18 shall make available to any owner or independent repair 

19 provider, on fair and reasonable terms, any documenta20 tion, part, software, or tool required to disable or enable 

21 an electronic security lock or other security-related func22 tion of farm equipment. 

23 (c) INTERACTION WITH COPYRIGHT LAWS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

25 1201(a) of title 17, United States Code, a person 


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1 may circumvent a technological measure that effec2 tively controls access to a work protected under such 

3 title in connection with an activity protected under 

4 this Act if the purpose of such circumvention is to— 

5 (A) diagnose, maintain, upgrade, repro6 gram, or repair farm equipment; 

7 (B) enable interoperability with any com8 puter program or device used in farm equip9 ment; 

10 (C) conduct security research relating to 

11 farm equipment; or 

12 (D) enable non-infringing modification of 

13 any computer program or device used in farm 

14 equipment. 

15 (2) ACCESS TO TOOLS.—Notwithstanding sec16 tion 1201(a) of title 17, United States Code, a per17 son may manufacture, import, offer to the public, 

18 provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, prod19 uct, service, device, component, or part thereof that 

20 is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of 

21 or use in circumventing a technological measure that 

22 effectively controls access to a work protected under 

23 such title for the purposes described in paragraph 

24 (1). 

25 (d) ENSURING COMMON AVAILABILITY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any provi2 sion of title 17 or 35, United States Code, at such 

3 time as an OEM stops offering any documentation, 

4 part, software, or tool to any authorized repair pro5 vider, any copyright or patent held by the OEM with 

6 respect to such documentation, part, software, or 

7 tool shall be placed in the public domain. 

8 (2) REPLACEMENT.—An OEM shall ensure 

9 that any part required by the OEM’s farm equip10 ment can be replaced without causing damage to the 

11 equipment using— 

12 (A) a commonly available tool; or 

13 (B) a tool that is not commonly available 

14 that is made available to owners or independent 

15 repair providers by the OEM on fair and rea16 sonable terms. 

17 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 

18 (a) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRACTICES.— 

19 A violation of section 3 or a regulation promulgated under 

20 this Act shall be treated as a violation of a rule defining 

21 an unfair or deceptive act or practice under section 

22 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 

23 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

24 (b) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall en2 force this Act and any regulations promulgated 

3 under this Act in the same manner, by the same 

4 means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and 

5 duties as though all applicable terms and provisions 

6 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 

7 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of 

8 this Act. 

9 (2) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any person 

10 who violates section 3 or a regulation promulgated 

11 under this Act shall be subject to the penalties and 

12 entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in 

13 the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et 

14 seq.). 

15 (3) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in this 

16 Act shall be construed to limit the authority of the 

17 Commission under any other provision of law. 

18 SEC. 5. RULEMAKING. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall promulgate 

20 rules as may be necessary to carry out this Act in accord21 ance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code. 

22 (b) CLEAN AIR ACT.—The Commission shall promul23 gate rules that are consistent with the Clean Air Act (42 

24 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) and any related regulation, including 


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1 section 1068.101(b)(1) of title 40, Code of Federal Regu2 lations, and section 1068.101(b)(6) of such title. 

3 SEC. 6. LIMITATIONS. 

4 Nothing in this Act may be construed— 

5 (1) to require an OEM to divulge trade secrets 

6 to an owner or an independent service provider, ex7 cept as necessary to provide access to any necessary 

8 repair material or process on fair and reasonable 

9 terms; 

10 (2) to alter the terms of an agreement between 

11 an OEM and an authorized repair provider, except 

12 with respect to any provision of such an agreement 

13 that would limit the obligations of an OEM under 

14 this Act; 

15 (3) to require an authorized repair provider to 

16 make any documentation, part, or tool for farm 

17 equipment made by an OEM with which the author18 ized repair provider does not have an arrangement 

19 described in section 2(1); 

20 (4) to require an OEM to provide any part or 

21 equipment solely used in the development of their 

22 products; or 

23 (5) to allow— 


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1 (A) any modification that permanently de2 activates a safety notification system when farm 

3 equipment is being repaired; 

4 (B) access to any function of a tool that 

5 enables the owner or independent repair pro6 vider to change the settings of farm equipment 

7 so as to bring the equipment permanently out 

8 of compliance with any applicable safety or 

9 emissions laws; 

10 (C) the evasion of emissions laws or copy11 right laws; or 

12 (D) any other illegal modification activi13 ties. 

Æ 


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