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 es-
tablish a task force for reviewing the connectivity and 
technology needs of precision agriculture in the United 
States. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Precision Agriculture 
Connectivity Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Precision agriculture technologies and prac-
tices allow farmers to significantly increase crop 
yields, eliminate overlap in operations, and reduce 
inputs such as seed, fertilizer, pesticides, water, and 
fuel. 
(2) These technologies allow farmers to collect 
data in real time about their fields, automate field 
management, and maximize resources. 
(3) Studies estimate that precision agriculture 
technologies can reduce agricultural operation costs 
by up to 25 dollars per acre and increase farm yields 
by up to 70 percent by 2050. 
(4) The critical cost savings and productivity 
benefits of precision agriculture cannot be realized 
without the availability of reliable broadband Inter-
net access service delivered to the agricultural land 
of the United States. 
(5) The deployment of broadband Internet ac-
cess service to unserved agricultural land is critical 
to the United States economy and to the continued 
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leadership of the United States in global food pro-
duction. 
(6) Despite the growing demand for broadband 
Internet 
access 
service 
on 
agricultural 
land, 
broadband Internet access service is not consistently 
available where needed for agricultural operations. 
(7) The Federal Communications Commission 
has an important role to play in the deployment of 
broadband Internet access service on unserved agri-
cultural land to promote precision agriculture. 
SEC. 3. TASK FORCE. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
(1) the term ‘‘broadband Internet access serv-
ice’’— 
(A) means a mass-market retail service by 
wire or radio that provides the capability to 
transmit data to and receive data from all or 
substantially all Internet endpoints, including 
any capabilities that are incidental to and en-
able the operation of the communications serv-
ice, but excluding dial-up Internet access serv-
ice; and 
(B) also encompasses any service that the 
Commission finds to be providing a functional 
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equivalent of the service described in subpara-
graph (A); 
(2) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 
Communications Commission; 
(3) the term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart-
ment of Agriculture; 
(4) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 
of Agriculture; and 
(5) the term ‘‘Task Force’’ means the Task 
Force for Reviewing the Connectivity and Tech-
nology Needs of Precision Agriculture in the United 
States established under subsection (b). 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 
establish the Task Force for Reviewing the Connectivity 
and Technology Needs of Precision Agriculture in the 
United States. 
(c) DUTIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall con-
sult with the Secretary, or a designee of the Sec-
retary, and collaborate with public and private 
stakeholders in the agriculture and technology fields 
to— 
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(A) identify and measure current gaps in 
the availability of broadband Internet access 
service on agricultural land; 
(B) develop policy recommendations to 
promote the rapid, expanded deployment of 
broadband Internet access service on unserved 
agricultural land, with a goal of achieving reli-
able capabilities on 95 percent of agricultural 
land in the United States by 2025; 
(C) promote effective policy and regulatory 
solutions that encourage the adoption of 
broadband Internet access service on farms and 
ranches and promote precision agriculture; 
(D) recommend specific new rules or 
amendments to existing rules of the Commis-
sion that the Commission should issue to 
achieve the goals and purposes of the policy rec-
ommendations described in subparagraph (B); 
(E) recommend specific steps that the 
Commission should take to obtain reliable and 
standardized data measurements of the avail-
ability of broadband Internet access service as 
may be necessary to target funding support, 
from future programs of the Commission dedi-
cated to the deployment of broadband Internet 
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access service, to unserved agricultural land in 
need of broadband Internet access service; and 
(F) recommend specific steps that the 
Commission should consider to ensure that the 
expertise of the Secretary and available farm 
data are reflected in future programs of the 
Commission dedicated to the infrastructure de-
ployment of broadband Internet access service 
and to direct available funding to unserved ag-
ricultural land where needed. 
(2) NO DUPLICATE DATA REPORTING.—In per-
forming the duties of the Commission under para-
graph (1), the Commission shall ensure that no pro-
vider of broadband Internet access service is re-
quired to report data to the Commission that is, on 
the day before the date of enactment of this Act, re-
quired to be reported by the provider of broadband 
Internet access service. 
(3) HOLD
HARMLESS.—The Task Force and 
the Commission shall not interpret the phrase ‘‘fu-
ture programs of the Commission’’, as used in sub-
paragraphs (E) and (F) of paragraph (1), to include 
the universal service programs of the Commission 
established under section 254 of the Communica-
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254). 
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(4) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary, or a des-
ignee of the Secretary, shall explain and make avail-
able to the Task Force the expertise, data mapping 
information, and resources of the Department that 
the Department uses to identify cropland, ranchland, 
and other areas with agricultural operations that 
may be helpful in developing the recommendations 
required under paragraph (1). 
(5) LIST OF AVAILABLE FEDERAL PROGRAMS 
AND RESOURCES.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary and 
the Commission shall jointly submit to the Task 
Force a list of all Federal programs or resources 
available for the expansion of broadband Internet ac-
cess service on unserved agricultural land to assist 
the Task Force in carrying out the duties of the 
Task Force. 
(d) MEMBERSHIP.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall be— 
(A) composed of not more than 15 voting 
members who shall— 
(i) be selected by the Chairman of the 
Commission, in consultation with the Sec-
retary; and 
(ii) include— 
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(I) agricultural producers rep-
resenting diverse geographic regions 
and farm sizes, including owners and 
operators of farms of less than 100 
acres; 
(II) an agricultural producer rep-
resenting tribal agriculture; 
(III) Internet service providers, 
including regional or rural fixed and 
mobile broadband Internet access 
service providers and telecommuni-
cations infrastructure providers; 
(IV) representatives from the 
electric cooperative industry; 
(V) representatives from the sat-
ellite industry; 
(VI) representatives from preci-
sion agriculture equipment manufac-
turers, including drone manufactur-
ers, manufacturers of autonomous ag-
ricultural machinery, and manufactur-
ers of farming robotics technologies; 
(VII) representatives from State 
and local governments; and 
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(VIII) representatives with rel-
evant expertise in broadband network 
data collection, geospatial analysis, 
and coverage mapping; and 
(B) fairly balanced in terms of tech-
nologies, points of view, and fields represented 
on the Task Force. 
(2) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—A member of the Task 
Force appointed under paragraph (1)(A) shall 
serve for a single term of 2 years. 
(B) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Task 
Force— 
(i) shall not affect the powers of the 
Task Force; and 
(ii) shall be filled in the same manner 
as the original appointment. 
(3) EX-OFFICIO MEMBER.—The Secretary, or a 
designee of the Secretary, shall serve as an ex-offi-
cio, nonvoting member of the Task Force. 
(e) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
on which the Commission establishes the Task Force, and 
annually thereafter, the Task Force shall submit to the 
Chairman of the Commission a report, which shall be 
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made public not later than 30 days after the date on which 
the Chairman receives the report, that details— 
(1) the status of fixed and mobile broadband 
Internet access service coverage of agricultural land; 
(2) the projected future connectivity needs of 
agricultural operations, farmers, and ranchers; and 
(3) the steps being taken to accurately measure 
the availability of broadband Internet access service 
on agricultural land and the limitations of current, 
as of the date of the report, measurement processes. 
(f) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall renew the 
Task Force every 2 years until the Task Force terminates 
on January 1, 2025. 
SEC. 4. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 
No additional funds are authorized to be appro-
priated to carry out this Act. This Act shall be carried 
out using amounts otherwise authorized. 
Passed the House of Representatives July 23, 2018. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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