I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7110 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide for prize competitions 

relating to specialty crop mechanization, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 30, 2018 

Mr. PANETTA (for himself and Mr. VALADAO) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide for prize 

competitions relating to specialty crop mechanization, 

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 ‘‘Specialty Crop Mecha5 nization Prize Challenge of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SPECIALTY CROP MECHANIZATION CHALLENGES. 

7 (a) AUTHORITY.—Not later than 180 days after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture 

9 shall establish a program to be known as ‘‘Specialty Crop 

10 Mechanization Challenges’’ for carrying out prize competiVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:16 Oct 30, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7110.IH H7110

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1 tions described under subsection (c) pursuant to section 

2 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 

3 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719) relating to the mechanization of 

4 specialty crop production. 

5 (b) PRIZE COMMITTEES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall assem7 ble a prize committee with respect to each prize 

8 competition that shall define the scope and detail of, 

9 and provide the requirements for, the prize competi10 tions under this section. Such committee shall be 

11 composed of— 

12 (A) representatives of the specialty crop in13 dustry, with at least a plurality of committee 

14 members from sectors of the specialty crop in15 dustry that are labor-intensive and lack ade16 quate mechanization technology; 

17 (B) members from the Federal agency, de18 partment, or office that most appropriately cor19 responds with the topic of the prize competi20 tion; and 

21 (C) representatives of any other entities, as 

22 determined appropriate by the Secretary, in23 cluding State and local governments and insti24 tutions of higher education. 


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1 (2) INCENTIVE FOR PRIZE COMPETITION.—The 

2 prize committee for each prize competition shall de3 termine the incentive for the prize competition. In 

4 determining the incentive, the committee shall con5 sider— 

6 (A) a cash prize; 

7 (B) access to Government facilities, a coop8 erative research and development agreement, or 

9 other method; and 

10 (C) any other incentive provided for by 

11 law. 

12 (3) JUDGING CRITERIA.—The prize committee 

13 for each prize competition shall establish judging cri14 teria for the competition that shall include, at a min15 imum— 

16 (A) potential for the solution to become a 

17 commercial product or service to further the 

18 public good; 

19 (B) consideration of how likely the solution 

20 is to lead to subsequent research, development, 

21 or manufacturing in the United States; 

22 (C) the degree to which the solution will 

23 alleviate stresses on the agricultural workforce 

24 and allow them to work more efficiently; 


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1 (D) the degree to which the solution will 

2 alleviate burdens on agricultural producers, 

3 shippers, and packers facing labor shortages; 

4 and 

5 (E) the degree to which the solution will 

6 reduce losses of fresh fruit and vegetables due 

7 to lack of available workers to manage and har8 vest crops. 

9 (4) CONSIDERATION.—In carrying out this sec10 tion, the committee shall take into consideration the 

11 best practices provided for in the challenges and 

12 prizes toolkit made publicly available on December 

13 15, 2016, by the General Services Administration. 

14 (c) PRIZE COMPETITIONS.—In carrying out the pro15 gram, the Secretary shall provide for prize competitions, 

16 including at least one prize competition on each of the fol17 lowing: 

18 (1) PLANTING.—Solutions to automate or al19 leviate stresses on the workforce during the planting 

20 of specialty crops including, but not limited to, the 

21 planting of seeds, seedlings, and plants being trans22 ferred from nurseries or greenhouses to the field. 

23 (2) CROP MANAGEMENT.—Solutions to auto24 mate or alleviate stresses on the workforce when 

25 conducting tasks associated with the management of 


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1 specialty crops including, but not limited to, weed2 ing, pest management, and the application of crop 

3 protectants. 

4 (3) HARVESTING.—Solutions to automate or al5 leviate stresses on the workforce related to the har6 vesting of specialty crops. 

7 (4) PACKAGING.—Solutions to automate or al8 leviate stresses on the workforce when processing 

9 and preparing specialty crops for distribution. 

10 (d) ACCEPTANCE OF FUNDS.—In addition to such 

11 sums as may be appropriated or otherwise made available 

12 to the Secretary to award prizes under this section, the 

13 Secretary may accept funds from other Federal agencies, 

14 private sector entities, institutions of higher education, 

15 and State and local governments to award prizes under 

16 this section. The Secretary may not give any special con17 sideration relating to the selection of awards under the 

18 prize competition to any private sector entity or individual 

19 in return for a donation to the Secretary or prize com20 mittee. 

21 (e) ELIGIBILITY.—Notwithstanding section 24(g)(3) 

22 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 

23 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719(g)(3)), for a group to be eligible 

24 for an award under this section, at least one member of 


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1 such group shall be a citizen or permanent resident of the 

2 United States. 

3 (f) COMPLETION OF PRIZE COMPETITIONS.—The 

4 prize competitions carried out under this section shall be 

5 completed not later than the date that is 5 years after 

6 the program is established under subsection (a). 

7 (g) GAO REPORT.—Not later than the date of com8 pletion under subsection (f), the Comptroller General of 

9 the United States shall submit to Congress a report on 

10 the impact and the effectiveness of the program carried 

11 out under this section. 

12 (h) SPECIALTY CROP DEFINED.—In this section, the 

13 term ‘‘specialty crop’’ has the meaning given the term in 

14 section 3(1) of the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act 

15 of 2004 (7 U.S.C. 1621 note). 

16 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

17 authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 to carry out 

18 this Act, to remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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