I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4902 
To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to 
establish the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Terra, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 29, 2019 
Mrs. AXNE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Agriculture 
A BILL 
To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization 
Act of 1994 to establish the Advanced Research Projects 
Agency–Terra, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘ARPA–Terra Act of 
2019’’. 
SEC. 2. ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY–TERRA. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of the Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 6911 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 224B. ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY– 
TERRA. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ARPA–TERRA.—The term ‘ARPA–Terra’ 
means the Advanced Research Projects Agency– 
Terra established by subsection (b). 
‘‘(2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 
the Director of ARPA–Terra appointed under sub-
section (d). 
‘‘(3) FUND.—The term ‘Fund’ means the Agri-
culture Transformation Acceleration Fund estab-
lished under subsection (l)(1). 
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Ad-
vanced Research Projects Agency–Terra in the Depart-
ment— 
‘‘(1) to overcome the long-term and high-risk 
technological barriers in the development of agricul-
tural technologies that enhance export competitive-
ness, environmental sustainability, and resilience to 
extreme weather and infectious disease; and 
‘‘(2) to ensure that the United States maintains 
a technological lead in developing and deploying ad-
vanced agricultural technologies that increase eco-
nomic opportunities for farmers, ranchers, and rural 
communities. 
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‘‘(c) MEANS.—To achieve the goals described in sub-
section (b), ARPA–Terra shall carry out agriculture tech-
nology projects that— 
‘‘(1) identify and promote revolutionary ad-
vances in fundamental sciences; 
‘‘(2) translate scientific discoveries and cutting- 
edge inventions into technological innovations; and 
‘‘(3) accelerate transformational technological 
advances in areas that, due to technical and finan-
cial uncertainty, industry is not likely to undertake 
without Federal assistance. 
‘‘(d) DIRECTOR.— 
‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.—There shall be in the De-
partment a Director of ARPA–Terra, who shall be 
appointed by the President, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate. 
‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Director shall be 
an individual who, by reason of professional back-
ground and experience, is especially qualified to ad-
vise the Secretary on, and manage research pro-
grams addressing, matters pertaining to long-term 
and high-risk technological barriers to the develop-
ment of agricultural technologies. 
‘‘(3) RELATIONSHIP TO SECRETARY.—The Di-
rector shall report to the Secretary. 
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‘‘(4) RELATIONSHIP TO CHIEF SCIENTIST.—In 
carrying out the responsibilities of the Director, the 
Director shall coordinate with the Chief Scientist to 
identify relevant scientific priorities and future 
trends relating to agricultural technologies. 
‘‘(5) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PROGRAMS.— 
No other programs within the Department shall re-
port to the Director. 
‘‘(e) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of the 
Director shall include— 
‘‘(1) approving all new programs within ARPA– 
Terra; 
‘‘(2) developing funding criteria and assessing 
the success of programs through the establishment 
of technical milestones; 
‘‘(3) administering the Fund through awards to 
institutions of higher education, companies, research 
foundations, trade and industry research collabora-
tions, or consortia of those entities, which may in-
clude land-grant institutions, federally funded re-
search and development centers, research stations, 
and research laboratories, to achieve the goals de-
scribed in subsection (b) through targeted accelera-
tion of— 
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‘‘(A) novel early-stage research with pos-
sible technology applications; 
‘‘(B) development of techniques, processes, 
and technologies, and related testing and eval-
uation; 
‘‘(C) research and development of manu-
facturing processes for novel technologies; and 
‘‘(D) coordination with nongovernmental 
entities for demonstration of technologies and 
research applications to facilitate technology 
transfer; 
‘‘(4) terminating programs carried out under 
this section that are not achieving the goals of the 
programs; and 
‘‘(5) to the maximum extent practicable, ensur-
ing that the Fund supports research that reflects di-
versity with respect to region, water quantity, and 
agricultural practice. 
‘‘(f) PERSONNEL.— 
‘‘(1) PROGRAM MANAGERS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Director shall 
designate employees to serve as program man-
agers for each of the programs established by 
the Director pursuant to subsection (e). 
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‘‘(B) 
RESPONSIBILITIES.—A 
program 
manager of a program shall be responsible 
for— 
‘‘(i) establishing research and develop-
ment goals for the program, including 
through the convening of workshops and 
conferring with outside experts, and publi-
cizing the goals of the program to the pub-
lic and private sectors; 
‘‘(ii) soliciting applications for specific 
areas of particular promise, especially 
areas that the private sector or the Federal 
Government are not likely to undertake 
alone; 
‘‘(iii) building research collaborations 
for carrying out the program; 
‘‘(iv) selecting on the basis of merit, 
after soliciting advice under subsection (j) 
as appropriate, each of the projects to be 
supported under the program after consid-
ering— 
‘‘(I) the novelty and scientific 
and technical merit of the proposed 
projects; 
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‘‘(II) the demonstrated capabili-
ties of the applicants to successfully 
carry out the proposed project; 
‘‘(III) the consideration by the 
applicant of future commercial appli-
cations of the project, including the 
feasibility of partnering with 1 or 
more commercial entities; and 
‘‘(IV) any other criteria that the 
Director determines to be appropriate; 
‘‘(v) preparing technologies for an 
eventual transfer from lab to market; 
‘‘(vi) monitoring the progress of 
projects supported under the program; and 
‘‘(vii) recommending program restruc-
ture or termination of research partner-
ships or whole projects. 
‘‘(C) TERM.—The term of a program man-
ager— 
‘‘(i) shall be 4 years; and 
‘‘(ii) may be renewed by the Director. 
‘‘(2) HIRING AND MANAGEMENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Director shall 
have the authority— 
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‘‘(i) to make appointments of sci-
entific, engineering, and professional per-
sonnel without regard to the civil service 
laws; and 
‘‘(ii) to fix the compensation of per-
sonnel described in clause (i) at a rate to 
be determined by the Director. 
‘‘(B) PRIVATE
RECRUITING
FIRMS.—The 
Secretary or the Director may contract with 
private recruiting firms for the hiring of quali-
fied technical staff to carry out this section. 
‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL
STAFF.—The Director 
may use all existing authorities of the Secretary 
to hire administrative, financial, and clerical 
staff as necessary to carry out this section. 
‘‘(g) REPORTS AND ROADMAPS.— 
‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—As part of the annual 
budget request submitted to Congress under section 
1105 of title 31, United States Code, the Director 
shall provide to the appropriate committees of Con-
gress a report that describes projects supported by 
ARPA–Terra during the previous fiscal year. 
‘‘(2) STRATEGIC VISION ROADMAP.—Not later 
than October 1, 2020, and October 1, 2023, the Di-
rector shall provide to the appropriate committees of 
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Congress a roadmap that describes the strategic vi-
sion that ARPA–Terra will use to guide the choices 
of ARPA–Terra for future technology investments 
over the following 3 fiscal years. 
‘‘(h) COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—To the maximum extent 
practicable, the Director shall ensure that the activi-
ties of ARPA–Terra are coordinated with, and do 
not duplicate the efforts of, programs and labora-
tories within the Department and other relevant re-
search agencies. 
‘‘(2) TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER COORDINATOR.— 
To the extent appropriate, the Director may coordi-
nate technology transfer efforts— 
‘‘(A) with the Department; and 
‘‘(B) to increase the transfer of tech-
nologies to market, with outside entities, includ-
ing the Foundation for Food and Agricultural 
Research. 
‘‘(3) 
LESSONS
LEARNED.—In 
developing 
ARPA–Terra, the Director shall build on lessons 
learned from the Agriculture Advanced Research 
and Development Authority pilot program estab-
lished under section 1473H of the National Agricul-
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tural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act 
of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3319k). 
‘‘(i) 
FEDERAL
DEMONSTRATION
OF
TECH-
NOLOGIES.—The Secretary shall make available to pur-
chasing and procurement programs of Federal agencies in-
formation regarding the potential to demonstrate tech-
nologies resulting from activities funded through ARPA– 
Terra. 
‘‘(j) ADVICE.— 
‘‘(1) ADVISORY
COMMITTEES.—The Director 
may seek advice on any aspect of ARPA–Terra 
from— 
‘‘(A) an existing Department advisory com-
mittee; and 
‘‘(B) a new advisory committee organized 
to support the programs of ARPA–Terra and to 
provide advice and assistance on— 
‘‘(i) specific program tasks, including 
transfer from lab to market; or 
‘‘(ii) overall direction of ARPA–Terra. 
‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL
SOURCES
OF
ADVICE.—In 
carrying out this section, the Director may seek ad-
vice and review from— 
‘‘(A) the President’s Council of Advisors 
on Science and Technology; 
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‘‘(B) the Foundation for Food and Agri-
culture Research; 
‘‘(C) the Advanced Research Projects 
Agency–Energy; 
‘‘(D) the Defense Advanced Research 
Projects Agency; and 
‘‘(E) any professional or scientific organi-
zation, or individual agricultural practitioner, 
with expertise in specific processes or tech-
nologies under development by ARPA–Terra. 
‘‘(k) EXISTING AUTHORITIES.—The authority under 
this section— 
‘‘(1) is in addition to existing authorities of the 
Secretary; and 
‘‘(2) does not supersede or modify any existing 
authorities. 
‘‘(l) FUNDING.— 
‘‘(1) FUND.—There is established in the Treas-
ury of the United States a fund, to be known as the 
‘Agriculture Transformation Acceleration Fund’, 
which shall be administered by the Director for the 
purposes of carrying out this section. 
‘‘(2) SEPARATE
BUDGET
AND
APPROPRIA-
TION.— 
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‘‘(A) BUDGET REQUEST.—The budget re-
quest for ARPA–Terra shall be separate from 
the rest of the budget request of the Depart-
ment. 
‘‘(B) APPROPRIATIONS.—Appropriations to 
the Fund shall be separate and distinct from 
the rest of the appropriations for the Depart-
ment.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) The first section 225 of the Department of 
Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 (relating to 
Food Access Liaison) (7 U.S.C. 6925) is redesig-
nated as section 224A. 
(2) Section 296(b) of the Department of Agri-
culture Reorganization Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 
7014(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(11) The authority of the Secretary to estab-
lish in the Department the Advanced Research 
Projects Agency–Terra under section 224B.’’. 
Æ 
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