Advancing IoT for Precision Agriculture Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1395 To promote scientific research and development opportunities for connected technologies that advance precision agriculture capabilities. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 27, 2021 Mrs. FISCHER (for herself and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To promote scientific research and development opportunities for connected technologies that advance precision agri- culture capabilities. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Advancing IoT for Pre- 4 cision Agriculture Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 6 It is the purpose of this Act to promote scientific re- 7 search and development opportunities for connected tech- 8 nologies that advance precision agriculture capabilities. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:31 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1395.IS S1395 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1395 IS SEC. 3. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION DIRECTIVE ON 1 AGRICULTURAL SENSOR RESEARCH. 2 In awarding grants under its sensor systems and 3 networked systems programs, the Director of the National 4 Science Foundation shall include in consideration of port- 5 folio balance research and development on sensor connec- 6 tivity in environments of intermittent connectivity and 7 intermittent computation— 8 (1) to improve the reliable use of advance sens- 9 ing systems in rural and agricultural areas; and 10 (2) that considers— 11 (A) direct gateway access for locally stored 12 data; 13 (B) attenuation of signal transmission; 14 (C) loss of signal transmission; and 15 (D) at-scale performance for wireless 16 power. 17 SEC. 4. UPDATING CONSIDERATIONS FOR PRECISION AGRI- 18 CULTURE TECHNOLOGY WITHIN THE NSF AD- 19 VANCED TECHNICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM. 20 Section 3 of the Scientific and Advanced-Technology 21 Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 1862i) is amended— 22 (1) in subsection (d)(2)— 23 (A) in subparagraph (D), by striking 24 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:31 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1395.IS S1395 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1395 IS (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking the 1 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 2 (C) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(F) applications that incorporate distance 4 learning tools and approaches.’’; 5 (2) in subsection (e)(3)— 6 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking 7 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 8 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 9 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(E) applications that incorporate distance 12 learning tools and approaches.’’; and 13 (3) in subsection (j)(1), by inserting ‘‘agricul- 14 tural,’’ after ‘‘commercial,’’. 15 SEC. 5. GAO REVIEW. 16 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment 17 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 18 shall provide— 19 (1) a technology assessment of precision agri- 20 culture technologies, such as the existing use of— 21 (A) sensors, scanners, radio-frequency 22 identification, and related technologies that can 23 monitor soil properties, irrigation conditions, 24 and plant physiology; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:31 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1395.IS S1395 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1395 IS (B) sensors, scanners, radio-frequency 1 identification, and related technologies that can 2 monitor livestock activity and health; 3 (C) network connectivity and wireless com- 4 munications that can securely support digital 5 agriculture technologies in rural and remote 6 areas; 7 (D) aerial imagery generated by satellites 8 or unmanned aerial vehicles; 9 (E) ground-based robotics; 10 (F) control systems design and connectiv- 11 ity, such as smart irrigation control systems; 12 and 13 (G) data management software and ad- 14 vanced analytics that can assist decision mak- 15 ing and improve agricultural outcomes; and 16 (2) a review of Federal programs that provide 17 support for precision agriculture research, develop- 18 ment, adoption, education, or training, in existence 19 on the date of enactment of this Act. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:31 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1395.IS S1395 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS