United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2020
Cultivating Organic Matter through the Promotion Of Sustainable Techniques Act or the COMPOST Act This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to issue regulations that designate composting as a conservation practice and a conservation activity . USDA must also issue regulations for determining whether a community is nearby for purposes of ensuring that bringing organic waste from the community to the farm to produce compost results in a net reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 2020
Aviation-Impacted Communities Act This bill addresses noise mitigation for aviation-impacted communities. (An aviation-impacted community is a community that is located not more than one mile from any point at which a commercial or cargo jet route is 3,000 feet or less above ground level.) Specifically, the bill expands Airport Improvement Program noise mitigation program funding for aviation-impacted communities that are not currently within the 65 day-night average sound level (DNL) standard; requires the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study that summarizes the relevant literature and studies done on aviation impacts worldwide and focuses on large hub commercial airports and surrounding communities, including communities currently outside of the 65 DNL contour; directs the FAA to conduct outreach to aviation-impacted communities to inform them of the opportunity to be a designated community; requires the FAA to devise an action plan that alleviates or addresses the concerns of a designated community; and provides grants for necessary noise mitigation in a designated community for residences, hospitals, nursing homes, adult or child day care centers, schools, and places of worship.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2020
Environmental Justice For All Act This bill establishes several environmental justice requirements, advisory bodies, and programs to address the disproportionate adverse human health or environmental effects of federal laws or programs on communities of color, low-income communities, or tribal and indigenous communities. Specifically, the bill prohibits disparate impacts on the basis of race, color, or national origin as discrimination. Aggrieved persons may seek legal remedy when faced with such discrimination. In addition, the bill directs agencies to follow certain requirements concerning environmental justice. For example, agencies must prepare community impact reports that assess the potential impacts of their actions on environmental justice communities under certain circumstances. Further, it creates a variety of advisory bodies and positions, such as the Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice Compliance and Enforcement. Among other things, the group must issue an environmental justice strategy. It also establishes requirements and programs concerning chemicals or toxic ingredients in certain products. For example, the bill (1) requires certain products (e.g., cosmetics) to include a list of ingredients or warnings; and (2) provides grants for research on designing safer alternatives to chemicals in certain consumer, cleaning, toy, or baby products that have an inherent toxicity or that are associated with chronic adverse health effects. Finally, it creates a variety of funding programs, such as a grant program to enhance access to park and recreational opportunities in an urban areas.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 2020
Major Richard Star Act This bill provides that a combat-disabled uniformed services retiree with fewer than 20 years of creditable service may concurrently receive, without reduction veterans' disability compensation, and retired pay or combat-related special compensation.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2020
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4150 Chicago Avenue in Riverside, California, as the "Woodie Rucker-Hughes Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 2020
National Evaluation of Aviation and Aerospace Solutions to Climate Change Act of 2020 This bill directs the Department of Transportation to seek to enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine under which it must conduct a study on climate change mitigation efforts related to the civil aviation and aerospace industries, including developing and applying an appropriate indicator for assessing the effectiveness of such efforts.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 2020
California's Land Preservation and Protection Act This bill delays hydraulic fracturing of oil or gas resources on certain federal lands in California. On December 12, 2019, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published a record of decision for the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the BLM Bakersfield Field Office. This bill nullifies the EIS until the BLM completes and circulates for public comment a new EIS. The new EIS must consider the environmental effects of all oil or gas development in the planning area. After the new EIS is published, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must review and publish comments regarding the EIS. If the EPA identifies significant environmental impacts or determines that there is insufficient information to assess the environmental impacts of all oil or gas development in the planning area, then the BLM must consult with the EPA before proceeding with federal oil or gas leasing in the planning area.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2020
Safe Routes to School Expansion Act This bill expands eligibility under the Highway Safety Improvement Program to include certain safety projects related to safe routes to school infrastructure improvements such as sidewalks, crosswalks, signage, bus stop shelters or protected waiting areas. The bill increases the federal share for the Department of Transportation to fund improvements for pedestrian or bicyclist safety, safety of people with disabilities, and safe routes to school infrastructure.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 2020
Leave No Americans Behind Act of 2020 This bill eliminates the loan repatriation program, which requires persons who need to be evacuated from foreign countries during situations such as war or natural disasters to reimburse the U.S. government for certain evacuation costs.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2020
Decrease Noise Levels Act This bill directs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to revise its regulations to decrease the threshold for the day-night average sound level that constitutes significant noise from 65 decibels to 60 decibels, and adjust relative ranges of day-night average sound level accordingly. Additionally, the FAA must ensure that its community outreach related to aviation day-night average sound levels contains the results of its evaluation of alternative metrics to the current average day-night level standard, and create a publicly available report that outlines a strategy to reduce the maximum day-night average sound level in all residential areas to 55 decibels within 10 years.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2020
Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Program Reform Act This bill expands the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Incentive Program of the Department of Energy. The Government Accountability Office must conduct a study on the barriers to the application for, and issuance of, direct loans under the program, including potential changes to reduce such barriers in order to increase the number of loans.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 2020
Agriculture Resilience Act This bill addresses national greenhouse gas emission reduction efforts in the U.S. agriculture sector, including a national goal to achieve net-zero emissions by the year 2040. Among other things, the bill expands the purposes of federally supported agricultural research, extension, and education to include accelerating the ability of agriculture and the food system of the United States to first achieve net zero carbon emissions and then go further to be carbon positive by removing additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a national network of regional hubs for risk adaptation and mitigation to climate change; creates a soil health grant program for state and tribal governments; revises the agricultural conservation easement program to require owners that receive cost-share assistance to have a conservation plan in place that addresses applicable resource concerns for the land subject to the easement, including soil health and greenhouse gas emissions reduction; establishes an alternative manure management program to support non-digester dairy and livestock methane management strategies to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to maximize environmental benefits; directs USDA to study dual-use renewable energy systems, including an assessment on the compatibility of different species of livestock and crop types with dual-use renewable energy system designs; and provides competitive grants and technical assistance for local educational agencies to implement food waste measurement and reporting, prevention, education, and reduction projects.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 2020
Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2020 This bill sets forth requirements related to waste and recycling collection systems for a variety of products and materials, including plastics. The bill makes certain producers of products (e.g., packaging, paper, single-use products, beverage containers, or food service products) fiscally responsible for collecting, managing, and recycling or composting the products after consumer use. In addition, the bill establishes (1) minimum percentages of products that must be reused, recycled, or composted; and (2) an increasing percentage of recycled content that must be contained in beverage containers. Beginning on January 1, 2022, the bill phases out a variety of single-use products, such as plastic utensils. The bill also sets forth provisions to encourage the reduction of single-use products, including by establishing programs to refund consumers for returning beverage containers and by establishing a tax on carryout bags. The bill creates a temporary moratorium on new or expanded permits for facilities that manufacture plastics until regulations are updated to address pollution from the facilities. The Environmental Protection Agency must publish guidelines for a national standardized labeling system for recycling and composting receptacles. Producers must include labels on their products that are easy to read and indicate whether the products are recyclable, compostable, or reusable. Finally, the bill establishes limitations on the export of plastic waste to other countries.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2020
America's Red Rock Wilderness Act This bill designates specified lands in the following areas of Utah as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System: (1) Great Basin, (2) Grand Staircase-Escalante, (3) Moab-La Sal Canyons, (4) Henry Mountains, (5) Glen Canyon, (6) San Juan-Anasazi, (7) Canyonlands Basin, (8) San Rafael Swell, and (9) Book Cliffs and Uinta Basin. The bill sets forth administrative requirements for (1) the exchange of state-owned lands within such areas, (2) federal reservation of water rights, (3) measurement of setbacks for roads with adjacent wilderness, (4) authorized livestock grazing, and (5) withdrawal of such lands from disposition under certain public land laws.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 2020
This resolution urges the federal government to establish a goal of conserving at least 30% of the land and 30% of the ocean within its territory by 2030.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 2020
Supporting Young Language Learners' Access to Bilingual Education Act of 2020 or the SYLLABLE Act This bill authorizes the Department of Education to award up to five grants to partnerships of local educational agencies, early childhood education programs, and technical assistance entities for the implementation of dual language immersion programs designed to enhance and assess the biliteracy and bilingualism skills of low-income children, including English learners and minority children, in high-need schools from preschool through grade five.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2020
This resolution condemns Iran's state-sponsored persecution of its Baha'i minority and its continued violation of the international covenants on human rights. Further, it calls on Iran to immediately release all imprisoned or detained Baha'is, and it urges the President and the Department of State to impose sanctions on Iranian officials and others who are responsible for serious human rights abuses, including abuses against Iran's Baha'i community.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 2020
Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act This bill authorizes the voluntary waiver of permits or leases for grazing on federal lands in the 16 western states (i.e., Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming) managed by the Department of Agriculture or the Department of the Interior. If a permit or lease is waived by a permittee or lessee with the intention of permanently ending livestock grazing, the appropriate department must accept and terminate, on a first-come, first-served basis, the permit or lease; refrain from issuing any new grazing permit or lease within the grazing allotment covered by the permit or lease; and ensure a permanent end to livestock grazing on the allotment covered by the permit or lease. If an allotment covered by a waiver is also covered by another permit or lease that is not waived, the department must reduce the level of commercial livestock grazing on the allotment to reflect the waiver. The departments must not accept more than (1) 100 grazing permits and leases per year, in the aggregate for all of the 16 western states; and (2) 25 grazing permits for land located in whole or in part in any individual state.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2020
Nationwide Right To Unionize Act This bill provides authorization for labor agreements to require membership in a labor organization as a condition of employment regardless of state law (thus preempting state laws that prohibit such agreements).
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 2020
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1 League in Irvine, California, as the "Tuskegee Airman Lieutenant Colonel Robert J. Friend Memorial Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2020
Veterans' Acute Crisis Care for Emergent Suicide Symptoms Act of 2020 or the Veterans' ACCESS Act of 2020 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to furnish emergent mental health care (i.e., emergency stabilization care) to eligible individuals in certain situations at VA or non-VA facilities. Specifically, the VA must furnish care if an individual seeks it (1) in an emergency situation, or (2) pursuant to a recommendation from the Veterans Crisis Line or licensed health care professional. Eligible individuals under the bill include veterans, persons enrolled in the VA health care system, and individuals who (1) were discharged or released from service under a condition other than honorable, (2) are not enrolled in the VA health care system, and (3) served for a period of more than 90 cumulative days. For individuals receiving care, the VA must ensure the Veterans Crisis Line notifies the Suicide Prevention Coordinator and the Office of Community Care. The VA must also determine the eligibility of the individuals for other VA programs and benefits and make referrals for follow-on care. The VA may not charge an eligible individual for emergent mental health care and shall provide reimbursement to individuals who receive care at a non-VA facility. The bill also expands eligibility for mental and behavioral health care for certain veterans who were discharged or released from service under a condition that is other than honorable and served in the Armed Forces for a period of more than 90 cumulative days.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 2020
Every Veteran Counts Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct a national survey of veterans in a manner to include a statistically valid sample of veterans by specified demographic information, including gender identity and age. The survey shall also include specified groups of veterans, such as World War II veterans and Korean conflict era veterans. The VA shall report on the results of the survey and publish such report on a publicly accessible VA website.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2020
This resolution commemorates the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp and honors survivors of the Holocaust, as well as members of the Allied forces who liberated Auschwitz. The resolution urges the United States to improve efforts to combat anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry and intolerance.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 2020
Green Federal Fleet Act This bill requires passenger vehicles that are purchased or leased from a nonfederal entity by a federal agency to be zero-emission vehicles. This requirement does not apply to tactical vehicles or in circumstances where a zero-emission vehicle is not technically feasible.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2020
This resolution expresses support for Australia, as well as greater collaboration between the United States and Australia to promote wildfire mitigation and prevention.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 2020
Active Transportation for Public Lands Act This bill directs the Department of Transportation to set aside at least 5% of authorized funds for federal and tribal transportation facilities to carry out certain active transportation projects under the federal lands transportation program and federal lands access program.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2020
Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2020 This bill establishes new requirements to expand the availability of information on domestic terrorism, as well as the relationship between domestic terrorism and hate crimes. It authorizes domestic terrorism components within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to monitor, analyze, investigate, and prosecute domestic terrorism. The domestic terrorism components of DHS, DOJ, and the FBI must jointly report on domestic terrorism, including white-supremacist-related incidents or attempted incidents. DHS, DOJ, and the FBI must review the anti-terrorism training and resource programs of their agencies that are provided to federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies. It creates an interagency task force to analyze and combat white supremacist and neo-Nazi infiltration of the uniformed services and federal law enforcement agencies. Finally, it directs the FBI to assign a special agent or hate crimes liaison to each field office to investigate hate crimes incidents with a nexus to domestic terrorism.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 2020
This resolution encourages the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to maintain and strengthen requirements that keep waterways clean. It also encourages the EPA to end or reverse administrative actions that weaken requirements protecting the nation's waters.
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 2020
Blue Carbon for Our Planet Act This bill establishes the Interagency Working Group on Coastal Blue Carbon to (1) assess the impediments to the protection and restoration of coastal blue carbon ecosystems, and (2) establish national protection and restoration priorities regarding these areas. Coastal blue carbon ecosystems are vegetated coastal habitats and include mangroves, tidal marshes, and other tidal or salt water wetland that have the ability to sequester and store carbon.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 2020
Reproductive Health Information for Veterans Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide abortion counseling to a veteran who has an unwanted pregnancy.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2020
Women Veterans Transitional Residence Utilizing Support and Treatment Act or the Women Veterans TRUST Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct a nationwide analysis of the need for women-specific VA programs that treat and rehabilitate women veterans with drug and alcohol dependency. Based on the findings of the analysis, the VA must implement a women-specific pilot program to treat and rehabilitate women veterans with drug and alcohol dependency.
United States · United States Congress · 8 January 2020
This concurrent resolution directs the President to terminate the use of U.S. Armed Forces in hostilities against Iran unless (1) Congress has declared war or specifically authorized such use in statute, or (2) such use is necessary and appropriate to defend against an imminent armed attack upon the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2020
No War Against Iran Act This bill prohibits the obligation or expenditure of federal funds for any use of military force in or against Iran unless Congress has either declared war or enacted specific statutory authorization for such use. An exception is made for a presidential exercise of power to introduce Armed Forces into hostilities (or situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated) when there is a national emergency created by an attack upon the United States. The bill further states that no prior authorizations of military force (e.g., against Iraq) may be construed to authorize the use of military force against Iran.
United States · United States Congress · 23 December 2019
Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act of 2019 This bill indefinitely extends Medicare coverage of immunosuppressive drugs for kidney transplant recipients for individuals who do not have other coverage. Under current law, Medicare coverage is limited to 36 months following a transplant.
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2019
This resolution recognizes and honors Smokey Bear's 75 years of service to the United States. The resolution also expresses support for Smokey Bear's commitment to preventing unwanted human-caused wildfires and promoting forest health. Finally, the resolution encourages the Forest Service, the National Association of State Foresters, and the Ad Council to explore ways Smokey Bear's message can be modernized to reflect current science and differentiate between unwanted human-caused wildfires and beneficial natural and prescribed fires.
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2019
This bill makes licensed hydroelectric dams with authorized installed capacity of less than 1500 kilowatts eligible for a program that provides grants for the rehabilitation of high hazard potential dams.
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 2019
Catastrophe Loss Mitigation Incentive and Tax Parity Act of 2019 This bill excludes from gross income, for income tax purposes, any qualified catastrophe mitigation payment made under a state-based catastrophe loss mitigation program. A qualified catastrophe mitigation payment means any amount received for making improvements to an individual's residence for the sole purpose of reducing the damage that would be done to such residence by a windstorm, earthquake, or wildfire.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2019
End Valley Fever Now Act This bill provides various supports to address the occurrence of valley fever, which is an infection caused by the fungus Coccidioides that is commonly found in the southwestern United States as well as parts of Mexico, Central America, and South America.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 2019
Recognizing the Protection of Motorsports Act of 2019 or the RPM Act of 2019 This bill authorizes the modification of a vehicle's air emission controls for vehicles that are not legal for operation on a street or highway and are used solely for competition.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2019
Promoting Aviation Regulations for Technical Training (PARTT) 147 Act of 2019 This bill directs the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to establish requirements for issuing aviation maintenance technician school certificates and associated ratings. Among other requirements, the bill sets forth application requirements for a certificate to operate an aviation maintenance technician school, including that applications must include a description of the manner in which the school's curriculum will ensure students are capable of attaining a mechanic certificate and associated ratings; establishes facility and instructor requirements for each school; directs each school to establish and maintain a quality control system that provides procedures for recordkeeping, assessment, issuing credit for experience, issuing of final course grades, ensuring sufficient number of instructors, granting of graduation documentation, and corrective action for addressing deficiencies; and requires schools to maintain a pass rate of at least 70% for students who take the written, oral, or practical (or any combination thereof) FAA mechanic tests.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2019
Small Passenger Vessel Safety Act of 2019 This bill applies U.S. Coast Guard regulations regarding safety management systems to small passenger vessels and requires the Coast Guard to prescribe additional regulations to secure the safety of individuals and property on board certain small passenger vessels. The regulations prescribed must include requirements for the addition of interconnected fire detection, protection, and suppression equipment, including fire extinguishers, in all areas to which passengers have access, including dining areas, sleeping quarters, and lounges; fire detection, protection, and suppression systems in unmanned areas with machinery or areas with other potential heat sources; fire detection, suppression, and control in all areas to which passengers have access, including dining areas, sleeping quarters, and lounges; all such vessels to have not less than two avenues of escape from all general areas accessible to passengers; marine firefighting training programs to improve crew member training and proficiency; and the handling, storage, and operation of flammable items, such as lithium ion batteries.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 2019
This resolution recognizes the fourth anniversary of the adoption of the Paris Agreement, an international agreement to keep global temperature from rising 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels, and recommends that the United States remain a signatory to the global warming agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 2019
Locality Pay Equity Act of 2019 This bill (1) prohibits the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) from defining more than one local wage area for prevailing rate employees within a pay locality, except with respect to the pay locality designated as Rest of United States ; and (2) requires the OPM to ensure that this bill shall not have the effect of reducing the rate of basic pay for an individual serving as a prevailing rate employee.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 2019
Affordable American-made Automobile Act This bill expands the tax credit for electric drive motor vehicles to include new and used battery electric motor vehicles. It reinstates and extends through 2030 the tax credit for alternative fuel vehicle refueling property and eliminates the limitation on such credit. The bill also makes the refueling credit applicable to electric vehicle charging stations. The bill allows the use of private activity bonds to finance a qualified battery electric motor vehicle manufacturing facility or a qualified electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility.
United States · United States Congress · 5 December 2019
Accessible Instructional Materials in Higher Education Act or the AIM HIGH Act This bill creates a commission to develop voluntary guidelines for postsecondary electronic instruction materials and related technologies. Specifically, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President pro tempore of the Senate, and the Secretary of Education must establish an independent commission to (1) develop and issue voluntary accessibility guidelines for postsecondary electronic instructional materials and related technologies, (2) develop a model framework for pilot testing such materials and technologies, and (3) produce an annotated list of information technology standards. The Department of Education must review and, as appropriate, update the voluntary guidelines, pilot testing framework, and information technology standards every five years.
United States · United States Congress · 5 December 2019
This resolution expresses disapproval for the President's notification to the United Nations of his intent to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement and commends the entities that have expressed their support for the Paris Agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 4 December 2019
Continuity for Operators with Necessary Training Required for ATC Contract Towers Act of 2019 or the CONTRACT Act of 2019 This bill exempts certain air traffic controllers from a required reduction in their retirement annuity payment on account of earnings from certain work performed while entitled to such annuity. Under current law, retired Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers receive an annuity payment during the period between the mandatory retirement age of 56 and the social security minimum age of 62. Such annuity payment is required to be reduced by a certain percentage of any excess earnings during this period. The bill exempts from such reduction in annuity payments an air traffic controller who participates in the Air Traffic Control Contract Program (a public-private partnership for air traffic control services) following mandatory retirement.
![Official portrait of Rep. Brownley, Julia [D-CA-26]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/68000188f22eaf56065817e8_200.jpg)