United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1994
Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to extend from three years to five years the period during which Medicare select policies may be issued.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1994
Centennial of Flight Commemoration Act - Establishes the Centennial of Flight Commission to commemorate the first manned airplane flight by the Wright brothers. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 1994
Amends the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 to delay the effective date of trucking deregulation from January 1, 1995, to January 1, 1996.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: American Heritage Areas Partnership Program Title II: Designation of American Heritage Areas Title III: Studies Regarding Potential American Heritage Areas Title IV: Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Amendments Title V: Bramwell National Historic District Title VI: Southwestern Pennsylvania American Heritage Area Amendments American Heritage Areas Act of 1994 - Title I: American Heritage Areas Partnership Program - American Heritage Areas Partnership Program Act of 1994 - Establishes the American Heritage Areas Partnership Program within the Department of the Interior, consisting of such Areas designated by this Act. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) evaluate nominated Areas; (2) advise State and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and other appropriate entities as to suitable methods of recognizing and preserving thematically and geographically linked natural, historic, and cultural resources and recreational opportunities; and (3) consider any designated Heritage Area for nomination to the World Heritage List if the Area meets the nomination qualifications. Provides that an area may be designated as an American Heritage Area only by an Act of the Congress or by the means provided in title II. Conditions such designation on the Secretary of the Interior's approval of an Area feasibility study and compact. (Sec. 106) Sets forth provisions regarding compacts (relating to the objectives and management of Areas proposed for designation) and management plans (which shall present comprehensive recommendations for the conservation, funding, management, and development of such Areas). Authorizes the Secretary to provide technical and financial assistance for early actions that are important to the theme of an Area and that protect resources that would be in imminent danger of irreversible damage otherwise. (Sec. 107) Authorizes the management entities named in the compacts for American Heritage Areas to receive Federal funds in support of cooperative partnerships to prepare and implement the management plans and otherwise perform the functions contemplated in this title. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) withdrawal of the designation of an Area; (2) matching grants; (3) technical and other assistance; (4) spending Federal funds on non-federally owned property; (5) reporting requirements; (6) duties of Federal entities conducting Area activities; and (7) the lack of effect of this Act on other land use regulation. (Sec. 111) Authorizes appropriations. Specifies funding limitations. Title II: Designation of American Heritage Areas - Designates the following areas, subject to specified requirements, as part of the American Heritage Areas Partnership Program: (1) American Coal Heritage Area, West Virginia and Virginia; (2) Augusta Canal American Heritage Area, Georgia; (3) Cane River American Heritage Area, Louisiana; (4) Essex American Heritage Area, Massachusetts; (5) Hudson River Valley American Heritage Area, New York; (6) Ohio & Erie Canal American Heritage Area, Ohio; (7) Shenandoah Valley Battlefields American Heritage Area, Virginia; (8) Steel Industry American Heritage Area, Pennsylvania; (9) Vancouver American Heritage Area, Washington; and (10) Wheeling American Heritage Area, West Virginia. Title III: Studies Regarding Potential American Heritage Areas - Directs the Secretary to complete a study on the suitability and feasibility of designating the following as American Heritage Areas: (1) Ohio River corridor, from its headwaters in Pennsylvania to its confluence with the Mississippi River; (2) Fox and Lower Wisconsin River corridors, Wisconsin; (3) a corridor formed by Oconee and other specified counties, South Carolina; and (4) Tryon County, in the Mohawk Valley of New York State, and the Country of the Six Nations (Iroquois Confederacy). Title IV: Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Amendments - Amends the Act establishing the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor in Massachusetts and Rhode Island to make changes with respect to boundaries, membership and termination of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission, and plan revision and implementation. Directs the Commission to revise the Cultural Heritage and Land Management Plan and submit the revised plan to the Secretary and the Governors of Massachusetts and Rhode Island for approval. Specifies that the revision shall address any change in the boundaries of the Corridor that occurs after submission of the plan and shall include a natural resource inventory of areas or features that should be protected, restored, or managed because of the natural and cultural significance of the areas or features. (Sec. 402) Authorizes the Secretary to provide funds for projects in the Corridor that exhibit national significance or provide a wide spectrum of historic, recreational, environmental, educational, or interpretive opportunities, without regard to whether the projects are in public or private ownership. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) application procedures; and (2) funding and funding limitations. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Bramwell National Historic District - Designates the Bramwell National Historic District, West Virginia. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements with the State of West Virginia, or any political subdivision thereof, to further the purposes of the Historic District. Sets forth provisions regarding the ration of non-Federal funds and agreements regarding payments. Authorizes appropriations. Title VI: Southwestern Pennsylvania American Heritage Area Amendments - Southwestern Pennsylvania American Heritage Amendments Act - Amends the Act establishing in the Department of the Interior the Southwestern Pennsylvania Heritage Preservation Commission (the Act) to designate the Southwestern Pennsylvania American Heritage Area. Specifies that such Area shall not be considered an American Heritage Area for purposes of the American Heritage Areas Partnership Program Act of 1994 or the American Heritage Areas Partnership Program. (Sec. 604) Directs the Commission to revise: (1) the management plan developed before the date of enactment of this title to provide for limited Federal involvement; and (2) the scope and cost document developed before such date to reflect the total cost of each project proposed for approval and the Federal portion of such cost. Specifies that both the management plan and the scope and cost document shall be submitted to the Secretary for approval. Bars the Commission from making loans or grants involving Federal funds except as provided in this title. Limits specified funds available for the preservation or restoration of historic properties in an amount not to exceed $100,000 for each project so assisted. Specifies that Federal funds available under the Act with respect to projects may be made available only for projects that are consistent with the Standards and Guidelines for Historic Properties promulgated by the Secretary. Sets forth additional funding limitations. (Sec. 606) Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 607) Authorizes the Secretary to provide signs, interpretive materials, and other informational devices for a vehicular tour route known as the Path of Progress Heritage Route.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 1994
Missing Service Personnel Act of 1994 - Requires the military commander of the unit, facility, or area to which the following persons are assigned to conduct an investigation as to their whereabouts after receiving factual information that their status is uncertain: (1) military personnel who disappear during a period of war, national emergency, or hostilities; and (2) any civilian Federal employee (including an employee of a Federal contractor) who serves with or accompanies an armed force in the field during such a period. Requires such persons to be placed in a missing status and requires notification of such status to either the officer having general court-martial authority over the person (for military personnel) or the Secretary of the military department employing such person (for civilian and contractor employees). Requires such officials to be kept informed (specifies deadlines) as to all information and inquiries concerning efforts to locate such missing personnel. Requires such officials to appoint a board to conduct an inquiry into the whereabouts and status of such persons. Provides for: (1) board composition, activities, and access to information; (2) inquiry proceedings (requiring the appointment of counsel, with specified duties, to represent the missing person); (3) a board recommendation as to the official status of a person following such an inquiry; (4) board reports to the officials involved as to board conclusions (prohibiting public availability of such reports for a one-year period); (5) report review by the official; (6) a report from such official to interested persons; and (7) an additional investigation and inquiry by an additional board upon receipt of new information within one year after the date of the first official notice of a person's disappearance. Allows interested persons (family members, dependents, next of kin) to participate at the proceedings of the board during such additional inquiry. Provides for the availability of appropriate information to board personnel conducting investigations and inquiries. Provides similar procedures for the second board with respect to meetings (open to the public, with exceptions), recommendations, reports, review by the Secretary of the military department concerned, and reports to interested persons. Requires a board to be reconvened when information becomes available that would directly lead to a determination of a person's status. Requires the Secretary concerned to appoint a board to conduct an inquiry as to the status of a missing person: (1) on or about three years after the first official notice of the disappearance of such person; and (2) not later than every three years thereafter until a total of 12 years after the first official notice. Provides for: (1) the release to a board by the Secretary concerned of all personnel file information concerning missing persons; (2) the treatment of classified information; (3) penalties for the wrongful withholding of information; (4) limited circumstances under which a board may recommend that a missing person be declared officially dead; (5) the submission by the board of appropriate information if such recommendation occurs; and (6) judicial review for interested persons of a board decision to declare a person officially dead. Provides for the appointment of a board to review the status of a person previously declared dead, with board procedures similar to those described above. Requires a person previously declared dead or in a missing status who is subsequently found alive to be paid for the full time of their absence.
United States · United States Congress · 8 August 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Community Participation and Human Health Title II: State Roles Title III: Voluntary Response Title IV: Liability and Allocation Title V: Remedy Selection and Cleanup Standards Title VI: Miscellaneous Title VII: Funding Title VIII: Environmental Insurance Resolution Fund Title IX: Taxes Superfund Reform Act of 1994 - Title I: Community Participation and Human Health - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA or Superfund) to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make technical assistance grants available to any group of individuals who may be affected by the release or threatened release of hazardous substances or pollutants at any facility on the State Registry or National Priorities List (NPL). (Sec. 101) Requires the President to provide for public participation in significant phases of response activities under CERCLA. Makes all nonprivileged information available to the public throughout all phases of the response action. Directs the President to ensure that the presentation of information on risk is unbiased and informative. (Sec. 102) Requires the President to provide the opportunity for the establishment of a representative public forum, known as a Community Working Group (CWG), to achieve direct, regular, and meaningful consultation with all interested parties throughout all stages of a response action whenever: (1) the President determines such a group will be helpful; or (2) 50 citizens, or at least 20 percent of the population of a locality in which the NPL facility is located, petition for a CWG to be established. Authorizes CWGs to offer recommendations on the anticipated future use of land at an affected facility prior to the selection of a remedy. Establishes a Citizen Information and Access Office within each State to provide information regarding State Registry and NPL sites, citizens' rights, facility records and health data, public meetings, removal and remedial actions, and outreach activities. Authorizes Indian tribes to petition the Administrator to form a body equivalent to such Office. Directs the Administrator to submit a biennial Environmental Justice Study to the Congress. (Sec. 103) Requires the President, in setting priorities for taking remedial action, to: (1) group facilities together, even if they are not adjacent, and score them as a single facility where more than one facility on the State Registry results in hazardous substances exposures to the same population; (2) take into account the use of land or waterways for subsistence, religious, or cultural practices where such use results in additional exposures, in placing facilities on the NPL; (3) conduct interviews with persons affected by the facility and solicit their input in the hazard ranking system evaluation; and (4) place highest priority on facilities with releases of hazardous substances which result in actual ongoing human exposures at levels resulting in demonstrated adverse health effects as identified in specified health assessments. Authorizes the President to take into account any history of exposure to hazardous substances in the community regardless of the source of exposure, in placing facilities on the NPL. Requires the Administrator to: (1) evaluate major urban areas and other areas where environmental justice concerns may warrant special attention; and (2) identify five facilities in each EPA region that are, or should be, on the State Registry and that are likely to warrant inclusion on the NPL. Accords such facilities a priority in evaluation for NPL listing and scoring. (Sec. 109) Requires the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Administrator to develop and distribute educational materials on human health effects of hazardous substances to the public. (Sec. 110) Authorizes the ATSDR Administrator to provide grant or contract assistance to individuals who may be affected by releases or threatened releases when: (1) a public health assessment is conducted at a facility on the NPL; or (2) a release is being evaluated for inclusion on the NPL. Authorizes the ATSDR Administrator, pursuant to such grants or contracts, to provide for health services to communities affected by the release of hazardous substances. (Sec. 113) Permits the EPA Administrator to carry out a demonstration program to assist in the recruitment and training of individuals from areas affected by NPL facilities for employment in remediation activities. Encourages parties conducting response actions under CERCLA to have their contractors train minorities and other disadvantaged persons from the affected community in remediation skills. Title II: State Roles - Authorizes States, pursuant to contracts or cooperative agreements, to apply to the Administrator to take or require: (1) preremedial actions at any non-federally owned or operated facility that is not listed on the NPL; or (2) response actions at non-federally owned or operated NPL facilities or removal actions at any facility proposed for listing on the NPL. Sets forth requirements for State enforcement and allocation of liability. (Sec. 202) Prohibits funding to States for response actions, except for emergency removal actions, unless the affected State provides assurances that it will pay 15 percent of the cost of the action or funding and will assure oversight of any operation and maintenance of response actions. (Sec. 206) Directs the Administrator to study the feasibility of authorizing States to use their own laws to carry out CERCLA in lieu of the Federal program under such Act. (Sec. 207) Authorizes States to apply to the Administrator to exercise the Administrator's authorities with respect to response actions at Federal facilities. Bases approval of transfer of authorities in part on a State's hazardous waste program authorization under the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Continues the existing limitations on transfers of authority from the Administrator to any other person under provisions regarding Federal facilities. Title III: Voluntary Response - Directs the Administrator to establish a program to provide assistance to States to establish and expand voluntary response programs. (Sec. 301) Provides that no portion of a facility subject to a response action plan under a qualified State program shall be proposed for listing on the NPL so long as substantial and continual response activities are being undertaken to complete the response action in a timely fashion. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations describing circumstances in which States with qualified programs and the authority to issue permits under Federal environmental statutes may waive permit requirements with respect to approved voluntary response plans under certain conditions. Provides that performance of a voluntary response action shall not constitute an admission of liability under any Federal, State, or local law or regulation or in any private action. Title IV: Liability and Allocation - Authorizes the Administrator to issue administrative subpoenas to require the attendance and testimony of witnesses and production of information regarding response actions. Revises confidentiality requirements with respect to such information and applies confidentiality requirements to contractors. (Sec. 403) Absolves of liability for response actions a person who does not impede a response action or natural resource restoration to the extent liability is based solely on: (1) arrangement, transportation, or acceptance provisions relating to disposal or treatment of hazardous substances and such activities only involved municipal solid waste or sewage sludge possessed by the person and the person is the owner, operator, or lessee of residential property or a small business or small nonprofit organization; (2) such provisions and such activities involved fewer than 55 gallons of liquid materials (or 100 pounds of solid materials) containing hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants or such amount as the Administrator may determine; (3) ownership or operation of a vessel or facility and the person is a bona fide prospective purchaser of the facility; (4) ownership and the person acquired the facility by inheritance after disposal of the hazardous substances took place, did not contribute to the release, and exercised due care with respect to such substances; (5) ownership by a Federal, State, or local entity of a road or other right-of-way (other than railroads) over which hazardous substances are transported or on the granting of a license or a permit to conduct business; or (6) actions of a Federal agency in response to a natural disaster. Makes persons who are solely liable under arrangement, transportation, or acceptance provisions regarding disposal or treatment of hazardous substances liable for no more than ten percent of total response costs if such activities only involved municipal solid waste or sewage sludge. Applies such limitation to the aggregate liability of all persons involved. Applies such limitation only if acts or omissions giving rise to liability occurred before the date 36 months after enactment of this Act or the person asserting the limitation participates in a qualified household hazardous waste collection program. Limits the liability of persons who do not impede the performance of a response action or natural resource restoration with respect to a release to the lesser of the fair market value of a vessel or facility or the actual proceeds of the sale of the vessel or facility subject to certain conditions. Provides that a person who owns or operates real property contiguous to property on which there has been a release of a hazardous substance and that may be contaminated shall not be considered an owner or operator, for liability purposes, if such persons: (1) exercised due care with respect to such substance; (2) took precautions against foreseeable acts or omissions that resulted in the release; and (3) did not cause or contribute to the release and provides access to persons authorized to conduct response actions. Authorizes the President to issue assurances of no enforcement action to such person and grant such person protection against cost recovery and contribution actions. Grants the United States a lien, subject to certain conditions, on any facility for which the prospective purchaser is not liable for unrecovered response costs. Provides that no lien shall arise with respect to property: (1) for which the property owner preceding the first bona fide prospective purchaser is not liable or has resolved liability; or (2) where an audit required by an environmental professional gives the purchaser no reason to know of the release of hazardous substances. (Sec. 404) Directs the Administrator to calculate the EPA response action oversight costs for which potentially responsible parties (PRPs) are liable on a national basis as a percentage of total response costs incurred by PRPs (the national oversight rate). Limits the rate to ten percent of total response costs incurred by all PRPs. Provides that when the President responds at facilities on the NPL, liability for pollutants and contaminants shall be identical to that for hazardous substances only if such pollutants and contaminants: (1) constitute an imminent and substantial danger to human health; and (2) are not associated with the production or extraction of any hydrocarbon. Prohibits liability based solely on a person's construction activities at a facility if a person can demonstrate that the activities were carried out in accordance with a contract with the owner or operator and the person is a small business construction contractor. (Sec. 405) Revises contribution provisions to require an action by a PRP against another PRP for recovery of costs to be commenced within the later of: (1) three years after completion of a removal action or within six years after initiation of physical on-site construction of the remedial action; or (2) three years after the date of judgment in any action for recovery or the date of any administrative order or judicial settlement for recovery of costs or damages. (Sec. 406) Provides that a person who has resolved liability to a State or an Indian tribe in an administrative or judicially approved settlement shall not be liable for claims by persons other than the United States regarding response costs or damages addressed in the settlement. Provides the same protection for persons who have resolved liability to the United States. Includes protection against all claims that may be asserted against the settling party for recovery of costs or damages paid by another person if addressed in the settlement, except claims based on contractual indemnification. Limits the right to seek contribution from other parties where: (1) the person asserting the right has waived such right in a settlement; (2) the person from whom the contribution is sought is not liable under CERCLA; or (3) the person from whom the contribution is sought has entered into a final settlement with the United States. Makes any person who commences a contribution action liable to the person against whom the action is brought for all reasonable costs of defending against the claim if the action: (1) is barred for the reasons stated above; (2) is brought against a person who is protected from suits by reason of settlement with the United States; or (3) is brought during a specified moratorium period. (Sec. 408) Provides that response action contractors shall not be liable solely as a result of testing or implementation of alternative or innovative treatment or containment technologies with respect to a response action if use of the technology has been approved by the authorized Federal or State regulatory agency. (Sec. 409) Requires consent decrees pursuant to settlements to require the parties to attempt expeditiously to resolve disagreements concerning implementation of the remedial action informally with Federal and State agencies. Requires such decrees to contain stipulated penalties for violations in an amount of up to $25,000 per day. Waives certain conditions to expand the scope of eligibility for de minimis settlements. Authorizes the Administrator, if a PRP will be paying amounts to the President as part of a settlement for carrying out a response action, to accept ownership of a financial instrument running irrevocably to the benefit of the United States to conduct such response actions. (Sec. 411) Requires (current law authorizes) the President to offer PRPs (currently, any person) who enter into settlement agreements that are in the public interest a final covenant not to sue concerning liability to the United States for response actions or costs, provided that: (1) the settling party agrees to perform a final remedial action for the release that is the subject of the settlement; (2) the remedial action does not provide any hazardous substances will remain at the facility at concentrations above the protective concentration levels established after completion of the final action; (3) the agreement has been reached prior to the commencement of litigation against the settling party; (4) the settling party waives all contribution rights against other PRPs at the facility; (5) the settling party pays a premium that compensates for the risks of remedy failure, unanticipated increases in the cost of any uncompleted action (unless the party is performing the action), and the U.S. litigation risk with respect to persons who have not resolved liability to the United States unless the settlement covers 100 percent of U.S. response costs; and (6) the settlement is otherwise acceptable to the United States. Authorizes the President, for settlements for which covenants are unavailable, to provide any person with a covenant not to sue concerning any liability to the United States if the covenant not to sue is in the public interest. (Sec. 412) Adds the following to the list of conditions that a PRP must meet in order to be eligible for an expedited settlement: (1) liability must be based solely on provisions regarding arrangement, transportation, or acceptance of municipal solid waste or sewage sludge for treatment or disposal; and (2) the PRP must be a natural person, small business, or a municipality that has demonstrated a limited ability to pay response costs. (Sec. 413) Directs the Administrator to initiate the allocation process under this Act for each nonfederally-owned facility on the NPL that involves two or more PRPs: (1) for which the President selects a remedial action on or after February 3, 1994; and (2) for any such action selected before such date if requested by a PRP which has resolved liability to the United States with respect to the remedial action. Authorizes the Administrator to initiate such process for any facility involving two or more PRPs. Makes the allocation process inapplicable to a facility: (1) for which there has been a final settlement, decree, or order that determines all liability or allocated shares of PRPs; or (2) at which all of the PRPs are facility owners or operators. Authorizes the Administrator to initiate a single allocation process for more than one facility. Places a moratorium on the commencement or continuation of liability claims or recovery actions in connection with responses for which allocation is required until 90 days after the issuance of the allocator's report. Sets forth requirements concerning the allocation process, including those for the notification of PRPs and determinations regarding de minimis parties. Provides that de minimis parties that are potentially liable but entitled to expedited settlements shall not be subject to the allocation process unless they fail to settle with the President within 30 days of the offer. Requires the allocation parties to select an allocator from a list provided by the Administrator or from candidates proposed by the parties. Authorizes PRPs, prior to the issuance of the allocator's report, to submit a private allocation for the remedial action to the allocator. Requires the allocator to adopt such report if it meets specified conditions. Directs the allocator to conduct an allocation process culminating in the issuance of a report with a nonbinding, equitable allocation of the percentage shares of responsibility, including the orphan share, within 180 days of the issuance of the final list of parties or the date of the contract for allocation service, whichever is later. Bases allocation shares on the following factors: (1) the amount of hazardous substances contributed by each party; (2) the degree of toxicity and mobility of such substances; (3) the degree of involvement of each party in the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of such substances; (4) the degree of care exercised by the party; (5) the cooperation of the party in contributing to the response action; and (6) other factors determined by the Administrator. Sets forth components of orphan shares. Requires shares that the allocator cannot attribute to any party to be distributed among parties, including the orphan share. Authorizes the Administrator and the Attorney General to reject the allocator's report under certain conditions. Permits settling parties to seek a new allocation if there is convincing evidence that the allocator did not have certain information when the report was issued. Includes within settlements based on allocated shares: (1) a waiver of contribution rights against all PRPs for the response action as well as a waiver of rights to challenge any settlement the President enters into with any other PRP; (2) covenants not to sue; (3) a site-specific premium that compensates for the U.S. litigation risk with respect to PRPs who have not resolved liability (unless the settlement covers 100 percent of response costs); (4) contribution protection regarding matters addressed in the settlement; and (5) provisions through which the settling parties shall receive reimbursement from Superfund for response costs incurred in excess of the aggregate of their allocated share and any premia required by the settlement. Lists maximum amounts for premia authorized for litigation risk. Permits the Administrator to modify such amounts. Authorizes the United States to commence actions against liable persons who have not resolved liability following allocation. Sets forth conditions under which a party that performs work in excess of its allocated share may be reimbursed. Limits Superfund financing for reimbursements of costs incurred by parties that are attributable to orphan shares. Authorizes appropriations. Makes Federal agencies named as PRPs subject to the allocation process to the same extent as any other party. Declares that the procedures set forth in this Act shall not be construed to modify the principles of retroactive, strict, joint, and several liability. Provides that persons who are potentially liable solely as response action contractors shall not be named as allocation parties under this section. (Sec. 414) Absolves persons (other than owners or operators) who arranged for the recycling of recyclable material from liability for environmental response actions. Deems transactions involving scrap paper, plastic, glass, textiles, or rubber (other than whole tires) to be arranging for recycling if the person who arranged the transaction demonstrates that the following criteria were met: (1) the recyclable material met a commercial specification grade and a market existed for the material; (2) a substantial portion of the material was made available for use as a feedstock for the manufacture of a new saleable product; (3) the material (or product made from the material) could have been a replacement for a virgin raw material; and (4) with respect to transactions occurring 90 days after this Act's enactment, the person exercised reasonable care to determine that the facility where the material would be managed by another was in compliance with Federal, State, or local environmental laws or regulations. Deems transactions involving scrap metal to be arranging for recycling if the person who arranged the transaction demonstrates that: (1) the criteria for scrap materials were met; (2) he/she complied with applicable standards regarding activities associated with the recycling of scrap metals; and (3) the scrap metal was not melted prior to the transaction. Deems transactions involving spent lead-acid, nickel-cadmium, or other batteries to be arranging for recycling if the person involved demonstrates that: (1) the criteria for scrap materials were met; and (2) he/she complied with applicable Federal environmental standards regarding such batteries. Makes the exemptions from liability under this Act inapplicable if the person: (1) had an objectively reasonable basis to believe at the time of the recycling transaction that the recyclable material would not be recycled or would be burned as fuel or for energy recovery or incineration or that the consuming facility was not in compliance with Federal, State, or local environmental laws or regulations; (2) added hazardous substances to the material for purposes other than processing or recycling; or (3) failed to exercise reasonable care with respect to the management of the material. Makes such exemptions inapplicable if the recyclable material contained polychlorinated biphenyls in excess of 50 parts per million or any new Federal standard. Title V: Remedy Selection and Cleanup Standards - Revises provisions regarding cleanup standards to direct the Administrator to promulgate national goals to be applied at all facilities subject to remedial action under this Act. Requires such goals to be expressed as a single numerical level for chemical carcinogens and noncarcinogens. (Sec. 501) Directs the Administrator to promulgate a national risk protocol for conducting risk assessments under CERCLA. Requires the risk protocol to be used for risk assessment underlying determinations of the need for remedial action, the establishment of protective concentration levels of chemicals, and the evaluation of remedial alternatives. Requires remedial actions to: (1) comply with substantive requirements of Federal, or more stringent State, environmental or facility siting laws; (2) attain any promulgated concentration levels applicable to determining the level of cleanup for such actions; and (3) comply with any other standard under State environmental or facility siting laws that the State demonstrates is consistently applied to remedial actions. States that a goal of this Act is to restore any contaminated groundwater or surface water that may be used for drinking water to: (1) the level of any maximum contaminant level or level goal for the hazardous substance or contaminant that has been established under the Safe Drinking Water Act; and (2) a protective concentration level that attains such goal for any other hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Requires the achievement of such goal unless the President finds that such goal is technically impracticable from an engineering perspective or, under certain conditions, unreasonably costly. Requires remedial actions for contaminated groundwater (other than that used for drinking water) to attain levels appropriate to the current or anticipated use of such water. Authorizes the President to select a remedial action that does not comply with Federal and State standards subject to certain conditions. (Sec. 502) Revises general rules for remedial actions. Directs the President, in selecting a remedy, to take into account the reasonably anticipated future uses of land at a facility. Provides certain procedures for the remediation of hot spots. Requires the President to establish cost-effective generic remedies for categories of facilities. Sets forth factors to be taken into consideration with respect to selection of response actions for groundwater. (Sec. 504) Removes a condition on the President's authority to acquire property needed to conduct a response action that requires the State in which the property is located to agree to accept transfer of the property when the action is completed. (Sec. 505) Alters the criteria for the continuance of obligations for removal actions to provide that actions shall not continue after $4 million (currently, $2 million) has been obligated or two years (currently, 12 months) have elapsed from the date of initial response to a release or threatened release of hazardous substances. Requires Federal agencies, before the commencement of any non-emergency removal action, to notify the EPA and the State of the planned action and obtain, in the case of facilities listed or proposed for listing on the NPL, concurrence in the planned action from the EPA or the State. (Sec. 506) Authorizes the President, in order to respond to a release of a hazardous substance, to acquire a hazardous substance easement which limits or controls the use of land or other natural resources. Permits easements and notices of property use restrictions to be used whenever institutional controls have been selected as a component of a removal or remedial action. Makes easements enforceable in perpetuity (unless terminated pursuant to this Act) against owners of affected property or persons who acquire interest in, or rights to use, the property. Title VI: Miscellaneous - Makes a Federal agency subject to certain actions required for Federal facilities under CERCLA, with the exception of certain reporting requirements, if the agency owned or operated a facility over which it exercised no regulatory or other control over activities that resulted in a release of a hazardous substance unless: (1) no Federal agency was the primary or sole source or cause of such release; (2) the activities resulting in the release were pursuant to statutory authority and occurred prior to 1976; and (3) the persons primarily responsible for the release are financially viable and capable of performing or financing the response action. (Sec. 605) Authorizes the use of the Superfund to pay up to 50 percent of response costs incurred by a potentially liable party in taking approved actions to achieve response after employing an alternative or innovative technology that fails to achieve the required level of response. (Sec. 606) Includes trusts, estates, or persons who hold title to a vessel or facility or are otherwise affiliated with a vessel or facility in a fiduciary capacity within the definition of "owner or operator" for purposes of determining liability under CERCLA. Limits the personal obligations and liabilities of a fiduciary to the extent to which the assets of the trust or estate are sufficient to indemnify the fiduciary, subject to certain conditions. Excludes from such definition the United States, a Federal agency, or a conservator or receiver appointed by a Federal agency which acquired ownership of a facility or vessel in connection with receivership or conservatorship and forfeiture or seizure authority, provided such entity does not participate in operations that result in a release. (Sec. 608) Directs the Administrator to establish a small business Superfund assistance section within the small business ombudsman office to provide assistance and information regarding CERCLA and the allocation and settlement processes. (Sec. 611) Requires the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on EPA procedures for suspension and debarment of persons and business entities, particularly response action contractors, and to assess the feasibility and cost of creating a nationwide data base to track such persons. (Sec. 613) Directs the Administrator to publish guidelines for a model State program for the training and certification of individuals to perform Phase I Environmental Site Assessments. Establishes the Environmental Certification Board. (Sec. 615) Revises provisions regarding the application of CERCLA to Federal agencies to make such agencies subject to all Federal, State, interstate, and local requirements regarding response actions related to, or management of, hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants in the same manner as such requirements apply to nongovernmental entities. Absolves Federal employees of personal liability for civil penalties under Federal or State response laws with respect to acts or omissions within their official duties. Makes such employees subject to criminal sanctions under such laws, but exempts Federal agencies from such sanctions. (Sec. 616) Increases the authorization from Superfund for worker training and education grants. (Sec. 619) Makes States eligible for reimbursement currently available to local governments for emergency response actions. (Sec. 620) Directs the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on the feasibility of instituting a small disadvantaged business goal program for all Federal contracts under CERCLA. Title VII: Funding - Extends the authorization of appropriations to carry out specified Superfund authorities through FY 1999. Title VIII: Environmental Insurance Resolution Fund - Environmental Insurance Resolution and Equity Act of 1994 - Establishes the Environmental Insurance Resolution Fund to provide for the resolution of disputes between certain PRPs and their insurers. (Sec. 805) Authorizes the Fund to decide not to make an offer unless an eligible person has filed and is actively pursuing a claim with an insurer. (Sec. 806) Requires the Fund to make resolution offers to eligible persons equal to the applicable percentage of the lesser of the eligible costs incurred by the persons or the available coverage. Describes applicable percentages based on facility location and size, litigation venues, and State. (Sec. 807) Directs eligible persons that accept Fund resolutions to waive existing and future claims against an insurer for eligible costs. (Sec. 808) Requires the Fund to make pre- and post-resolution payments to eligible persons who accept a resolution. Treats payments made by the Fund to an eligible person as payments made by an insurer. (Sec. 809) Requires the Fund, in cases where an eligible person rejects a resolution offer, litigates a claim against an insurer, and obtains a final judgment against, or enters into a settlement with, the insurer, to reimburse the insurer for the lesser of the amount of the resolution offer or the final judgment or settlement. Authorizes the Fund, in such cases, to reimburse an insurer for unrecovered reasonable costs and legal fees if the resolution offer exceeded such final judgment or settlement. (Sec. 811) Provides that this title acts as a stay of all pending litigation regarding claims for indemnity or arising from insurance coverage for eligible costs. Bars stays of litigation ten years after this Act's enactment with respect to: (1) a person that becomes an eligible person on or after such date; and (2) an eligible person that has not filed a request for a resolution offer and has not rejected an offer before such date. (Sec. 815) Directs the President to report on: (1) the potential liability of the Fund; and (2) the number of non-NPL facilities and their average cleanup cost. (Sec. 817) Terminates the Fund's authority to: (1) accept requests for resolution ten years after this Act's enactment date; and (2) offer resolutions ten years and 180 days after such date. Title IX: Taxes - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the applicability of the environmental tax to tax years before January 1, 2001 (currently, 1996). Extends certain provisions regarding the Superfund financing rate. (Sec. 903) Requires all expenditures of the Resolution Fund to be paid out of fees and assessments imposed by the Internal Revenue Code. Exempts the Fund from Federal, State, and local taxation.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1994
Smithsonian Institution Sesquicentennial Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue five-dollar gold coins and one-dollar silver coins emblematic of the scientific, educational, and cultural significance of the Smithsonian Institution. Mandates that: (1) all but a certain portion of surcharges received from coin sales be paid by the Secretary to the Smithsonian Institution to support programming related to the 150th anniversary and general activities of the Smithsonian Institution; and (2) a certain portion of such surcharges be dedicated to supporting the operation and activities of the National Numismatic Collection at the National Museum of American History.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1994
Waives certain time limitations with respect to the posthumous award of the Congressional Medal of Honor to Doris Miller for acts of heroism while serving in the Navy during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1994
Designates August 1, 1994, as Helsinki Human Rights Day. Authorizes the President to reassert America's commitment to the Helsinki Accords and requests him to: (1) convey to all signatories of the Accords that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is a vital element of further progress in the ongoing Helsinki process; and (2) develop new proposals to advance the human rights objectives of such process to address the major problems that remain.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1994
Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Act of 1994 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of specified prostate cancer screening services and certain drug treatments for such cancer. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish fee schedules for such services. Amends Federal law to cover such screening and treatment services for veterans as a preventive health service. Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for certain public health programs related to prostate cancer research and education. Directs the Administrator of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research to: (1) conduct and support prostate cancer health services and screening and treatment procedures; and (2) provide for the development, periodic review, and updating of clinically relevant guidelines, standards of quality, performance measures, and medical review criteria.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1994
Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 1994 - Prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation by covered entities, including employing authorities of the House of Representatives, employing offices of the Senate, and instrumentalities of the Congress. Declares that: (1) this Act does not apply to the provision of employee benefits for the benefit of an employee's partner; and (2) a disparate impact does not establish a prima facie violation of this Act. Prohibits quotas and preferential treatment. Declares that this Act does not apply to: (1) religious organizations (except in their for-profit activities); (2) the armed forces; or (3) laws creating special rights or preferences for veterans. Provides for enforcement. Disallows State and Federal immunity. Allows recovery of attorney's fees. Prohibits retaliation and coercion. Requires posting notices for employees and applicants.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1994
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) June 21, 1994, is designated as Freedom Summer Remembrance Day; and (2) it reaffirms the goal of removing remaining barriers to full voter participation in this Nation.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1994
United States-China Act of 1994 - Declares that if nondiscriminatory treatment (most-favored-nation treatment) is not granted to China by reason of the enactment of a congressional disapproval resolution, such treatment shall continue to apply to goods that are produced by a person that is not a state-owned Chinese enterprise, but not apply to any goods that are produced by a state-owned Chinese enterprise. Provides that if nondiscriminatory treatment is granted to China for a 12-month period on July 3, 1994, such treatment shall not apply to: (1) any good that is produced by the People's Liberation Army or a Chinese defense industrial trading company; or (2) any nonqualified good that is produced by a state-owned Chinese enterprise. Provides that in order for such treatment to be granted to China, the Secretary of the Treasury shall consult with American businesses that have significant trade with or investment in China, to encourage them to adopt a voluntary code of conduct that: (1) follows internationally recognized human rights principles; (2) ensures the employment of Chinese citizens is not discriminatory in terms of sex, ethnic origin, or political belief; (3) ensures that no convict, forced, or indentured labor is knowingly used; (4) recognizes the rights of workers to freely organize and bargain collectively; and (5) discourages mandatory political indoctrination on business premises. Requires the Secretary to determine, and publish in the Federal Register, which persons are state-owned Chinese enterprises and Chinese defense industrial trading companies. Authorizes the President to waive any condition or prohibition imposed under this Act if he determines and reports to the Congress that its continued imposition would have a serious adverse effect on vital U.S. national security interests. Declares that if the President recommends in 1995 that the waiver of human rights and emigration requirements for nondiscriminatory treatment for China be continued, he shall state in a specified report to the Congress the extent to which China has made progress with respect to: (1) adhering to the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; (2) ceasing the exportation to the United States of products made with convict, forced, or indentured labor; (3) ceasing unfair and discriminatory trade practices which restrict and unreasonably burden American businesses; and (4) adhering to the guidelines of the Missile Technology Control Regime and the controls adopted by the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Australia Group.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1994
Newborn Infant HIV Notification Act - Requires a State, if it requires that the results of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing of an infant be reported to it (or if the State conducts an HIV test of the infant), to disclose such results to: (1) the biological mother of the infant if the mother is the legal guardian; or (2) specified State agencies if the State is the legal guardian of the infant. Directs the State, in disclosing such results (other than to State agencies), to ensure that appropriate counseling on HIV is provided to the individual.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1994
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that for purposes of issuing final guidelines under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 relating to unlawful harassment in employment, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission should exclude harassment based on religion.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1994
Designates September 16, 1994, as National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Requires the display of the National League of Families POW/MIA flag at: (1) all national cemeteries and the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial on May 30, 1994 (Memorial Day), September 16, 1994 (National POW/MIA Recognition Day), and November 11, 1994 (Veterans Day); and (2) the White House and the buildings containing the primary offices of the Secretaries of State, Defense, and Veterans Affairs and the Director of the Selective Service System on September 16, 1994 (National POW/MIA Recognition Day).
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1994
Water Resources Development Act of 1994 - Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 to require a 25 percent non-Federal share of the cost of environmental protection and restoration activities under the Act. (Sec. 6) Requires amounts recovered by the Secretary of the Army for the cleanup of hazardous or toxic substances in support of the Army Civil Works program to be credited to the appropriate Trust Fund Account from which the cost of taking such action is paid. (Sec. 7) Amends the Act to provide for the temporary protection of technology developed as a result of research and development (R&D) activities conducted by the Corps of Engineers which is likely to be subject to a cooperative R&D agreement within two years of such development. (Sec. 8) Amends the National Dam Safety Act to authorize appropriations annually (currently through FY 1992) for continuously maintaining an updated inventory of all dams located in the United States. (Sec. 9) Authorizes the Secretary, in maintaining hydroelectric power generating facilities at projects under the jurisdiction of the Army, to increase the efficiency of energy production or the capacity of such facilities, if certain conditions are met. (Sec. 10) Authorizes the Secretary to undertake surveys, plans, and studies and to prepare reports which may lead to work under existing civil works authorities or to recommendations for authorizations. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 11) Authorizes the Secretary to make lump-sum payments to non-Federal sponsors for the Federal share of operation, maintenance, replacement, and rehabilitation costs of civil works projects after completion of construction of the project or a separable element thereof, with conditions. (Sec. 12) Requires recommendation to the Congress by the Secretary that a non-Federal sponsor bear 50 percent of the cost of any proposed modification of an existing authorized project by removal of a project feature which would significantly and adversely impact the project purpose or output. (Sec. 13) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1990 to terminate the technical advisory committee established to provide to the Secretary and the Corps recommendations on reservoir monitoring and research. (Sec. 15) Amends the: (1) Act to revise a reporting requirement and to defeat a project deauthorization if funds for planning or design (currently, only construction) have been obligated within a 30-month period; and (2) Water Resources Development Act of 1988 to repeal a five-year limitation on the period during which funds must be obligated to prevent project deauthorization. (Sec. 16) Directs the Secretary to establish a goal of awarding five percent of the total amount of civil works funds obligated for Army contracts and subcontracts during FY 1994 through 2000 to small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals and to historically Black colleges and minority institutions. Outlines procurement procedures. (Sec. 17) Amends the Act to revise provisions concerning cost-sharing for dam safety work. (Sec. 18) Repeals a provision of the River and Harbor Act of 1950 providing for expenses of Corps representatives at international engineering or scientific conferences. (Sec. 19) Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts, cooperative agreements, and grants with non-Federal entities for R&D in support of Army civil works programs. (Sec. 20) Authorizes the Secretary to engage in activities in interagency or international support of problems of national significance to the United States, with conditions. (Sec. 21) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1988 to allow the Secretary to take appropriate measures if he determines that the operation of a water resource project has contributed to the degradation of the quality of the environment. (Sec. 22) Establishes in the Treasury the Army Civil Works Regulatory Program Fund for deposit of fees collected for commercial permits, environmental impact statements, and wetlands delineations. Authorizes the appropriation of the funds collected to the Secretary for administrative costs related to regulation of navigable waters and wetlands of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1994
Veterans' Persian Gulf War Benefits Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) develop and expeditiously implement a uniform case assessment protocol that will ensure thorough assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of all Persian Gulf War veterans suffering from illnesses attributed to service in the Persian Gulf theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War; (2) expedite efforts to develop case definitions or diagnoses for illnesses associated with such service; and (3) develop and implement a comprehensive outreach program to inform such veterans and their families of health-care services, including comprehensive medical evaluations, that may be available through the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Directs the Secretary to pay compensation to Persian Gulf War veterans suffering from a chronic disability resulting from an undiagnosed illness that became manifest to a degree of ten percent or more within one year after completion of active duty in the Gulf War, with exceptions. Terminates compensation payments three years after the date of enactment of this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Veterans Affairs for: (1) FY 1995 through 1997 for conducting research of the health risk and effects of service during the Gulf War and the treatment of such effects; and (2) FY 1995 for a survey of Persian Gulf veterans as to the incidence and nature of health problems occurring in such veterans and their families.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1994
Worker Rights and Labor Standards Trade Act of 1994 - Directs the President to seek the establishment of: (1) a working party within the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to examine the relationship of fundamental internationally-recognized worker rights to specified articles of the GATT; and (2) a standing committee within the World Trade Organization to perform the functions of the working group.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1994
Amends Federal employees' retirement law to declare certain reductions in annuities inapplicable to employees under 55 years of age whose separation is due to a reduction in force.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Countervailing and Antidumping Duty Amendments Title II: Intellectual Property Amendments Title III: Market Opening Measures GATT Fair Trade Enforcement Act of 1994 - Title I: Countervailing and Antidumping Duty Amendments - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to require every importer of record making an entry of merchandise to declare: (1) whether such merchandise is subject to any antidumping or countervailing duty order; and (2) whether the importer disclosed to the manufacturer of such merchandise in the country of exportation that its destination is the United States. (Sec. 101) Requires such importer with respect to merchandise subject to an antidumping duty order to disclose to the manufacturer that such merchandise has been purchased for exportation to the United States, unless at the time of purchase, the importer did not: (1) intend to export the merchandise to the United States; (2) import it for a period of at least six months from the date of purchase; and (3) regularly engage in a pattern of importation of such merchandise. Subjects importers who fail to make such disclosures to Federal prosecution. (Sec. 102) Sets forth an alternative method for determining the exporter's sales price. (Sec. 103) Directs the International Trade Commission (ITC), with respect to the award of compensation, to forward to the Commissioner of the United States Customs Service within 60 days of the issuance of an antidumping or countervailing duty order a list of petitioners and companies that support the petition with respect to the dollar value of their shipments during the last year covered by the original ITC investigation. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to establish a special compensation account composed of all antidumping or countervailing duties, including interest, that are collected under a antidumping or countervailing duty order. (Sec. 104) Declares that diversionary input dumping occurs when: (1) a manufacturer incorporates into merchandise under investigation a component which is the subject of an antidumping duty order, a finding issued under the Antidumping Act, 1921, or an international agreement or agreement to eliminate the injurious effect of imports that is entered into after an affirmative preliminary determination with respect to antidumping; and (2) such manufacturer under investigation purchased such component at a price which is less than the foreign market value. Requires the administering authority to commence an antidumping investigation whenever it has reasonable grounds to believe that: (1) diversionary input dumping is occurring; (2) it has a significant effect on the cost of producing the merchandise under investigation; and (3) subsequent to the imposition of an antidumping duty order or entry into force of an agreement relating to the components in question, U.S.-bound shipments of the merchandise under investigation have increased. Provides for extension of the period of time for preliminary determinations of diversionary input dumping by the administering authority. (Sec. 105) Requires the administering authority to decide that a competitive benefit has been bestowed when the price for the input product is lower than the price that the manufacturer of merchandise which is the subject of a countervailing duty proceeding would otherwise pay for the product in obtaining it from an unsubsidized seller (currently any seller) in an arms-length transaction. Sets forth specified factors to be considered in the determination of such price. (Sec. 106) Revises the method by which the administering authority determines the foreign market value of dumped merchandise with respect to their sale at less than the cost of production in their home market. (Sec. 107) Requires the administering authority, when determining whether imported parts or components are circumventing an antidumping or countervailing duty order or finding, and whether to include such parts or components in such order or finding, to consider, among other things, the value and sources of supply parts or components historically used in completion or assembly of the merchandise subject to such order. Authorizes the administering authority to include within the scope of such order or finding imported parts or components used in the completion or assembly of certain merchandise sold in the United States and subject to such order or finding, provided: (1) such merchandise is completed or assembled in the United States or a foreign country from parts or components supplied by the exporter or producer with respect to which such order or finding applies, from suppliers that have historically supplied the parts or components to that exporter or producer, or from any party in the exporting country supplying parts or components on behalf of such exporter or producer; (2) the difference between the value of such imported parts and components and the total value of all parts or components used in the assembly or completion operation, excluding packing, is significant; and (3) consideration of specified factors established a pattern of circumvention of such order or finding. (Sec. 108) Declares that if an antidumping duty petition alleges its petitioning members of the domestic industry account for 25 percent or more of the total production of the like product produced by it, the administering authority shall not be required to further investigate the standing of such petitioners unless a written objection to initiation is filed by a member of the domestic industry. (Sec. 109) Revises, for purposes of determining the foreign market value of imported merchandise, the method for calculating its constructed value. (Sec. 110) Revises provisions regarding the: (1) administrative review, and period of time for review, of quantitative import restriction agreements and antidumping duty or countervailing duty orders or findings; (2) revocation of such orders or findings; and (3) termination of suspended antidumping duty or countervailing duty investigations. (Sec. 111) Revises provisions regarding: (1) foreign market value determinations with respect to imported merchandise to include the effects of fluctuations in currency exchange rates; (2) sampling and averaging in determining the U.S. price or foreign market value of imported merchandise; (3) market viability as it relates to foreign market value determinations; (4) negligible imports as they affect material injury determinations; (5) captive production as it relates to defining the domestic industry; and (6) adjustments to the calculation of the exporter's sales price of merchandise. Title II: Intellectual Property Amendments - Amends the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 to revise and specify new U.S. objectives with respect to the international protection of intellectual property rights. (Sec. 202) Prohibits the President from negotiating any new free trade agreement with a foreign country, unless such country: (1) has substantially implemented the Uruguay Round Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS); and (2) expresses willingness to negotiate an agreement with the United States to provide intellectual property protection equivalent to that set forth in the Model Intellectual Property Agreement. Requires the President to amend existing free trade agreements to provide greater protection of such rights. Prohibits fast track procedures from applying to any implementing legislation of a free trade agreement if the above-mentioned requirements are not met. (Sec. 203) Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to require the United States Trade Representative (USTR), among other things, to identify those foreign countries that deny non-discriminatory market access opportunities for U.S. persons, including access related to any exploitation or enjoyment of commercial benefits from exercising rights in protected works, fixations, or products embodying protected works. Sets forth additional factors the USTR must take into account in identifying a priority foreign country. Revises provisions regarding a foreign country's denial of: (1) adequate protection of intellectual property rights; and (2) fair market access. Specifies when a foreign country denies non-discriminatory market access opportunities for U.S. persons in respect of establishing business operations or any use, benefit, or exploitation of protected works, fixations, or products embodying protected rights. (Sec. 204) Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to make it unlawful for an owner, distributor, or consignee to sell articles, including semiconductor chip products, in the United States that: (1) infringe a valid U.S. patent or copyright; (2) are made or mined by means of a process covered by a valid U.S. patent; (3) infringe a valid U.S. trademark; and (4) infringe a mask work. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to investigate any violations committed under this Act. Sets forth civil penalties. (Sec. 205) Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to prohibit the President, one year after the effective date of the Uruguay Round Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization, from designating any country a beneficiary developing country if it has not implemented the TRIPS. Authorizes the President to designate: (1) a least developed country a beneficiary developing country for four additional years; and (2) a non-least developed country certified to the Congress to be making significant progress toward implementation of TRIPS a beneficiary developing country for one additional year. (Sec. 206) Requires the USTR to: (1) maintain a Model Intellectual Property Agreement that embodies provisions for intellectual property protection that strengthen the standards contained in TRIPS and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); and (2) review periodically the Model Intellectual Property Agreement to ensure it reflects new developments in intellectual property protection and new technologies. (Sec. 207) Requires the Secretary of State to instruct all heads of U.S. diplomatic missions abroad to include intellectual property protection as a priority objective of the mission. (Sec. 208) Requires the USTR to develop a procedure to ensure the exchange of information between interested U.S. private sector representatives and the USTR in preparation for international intellectual property-related dispute settlement proceedings to which the United States is a party. (Sec. 209) Authorizes the President to undertake specified actions with respect to developing countries to encourage them to improve their protection of intellectual property. (Sec. 210) Urges the USTR to negotiate with foreign countries the implementation of the border enforcement provisions against the importation of infringing goods enumerated in TRIPS, and if warranted, require those countries that chronically violate intellectual property rights to establish an export control monitoring system. Title III: Market Opening Measures - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize the President to impose civil penalties on foreign or domestic persons that engage in restrictive business practices, including price-fixing, bid-rigging, joint restraint of output, market allocation, boycotts, tying arrangements, or similar activities, when such practices foreclose U.S. exports or burden or restrict U.S. foreign commerce. Authorizes the President to negotiate settlement agreements with parties or governments which result in the elimination of: (1) the practice under investigation; or (2) the restriction on U.S. exports or the burden or restriction on U.S. commerce. Provides for the imposition of civil penalties. (Sec. 302) Authorizes the President to take trade action with respect to any area pertinent to relations with a foreign country that is that target of such action, including but not limited to, trade in any goods or services. Declares unreasonable any act, policy, or practice which denies fair and equitable provision of adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights, notwithstanding that the foreign country may have implemented TRIPS or any other bilateral, regional, or multilateral agreement with respect to intellectual property protection. Requires the USTR to initiate an investigation whenever a petition alleges that: (1) a foreign country fails to provide adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights; and (2) acts, policies, or practices of the country either deny benefits to the United States under a trade agreement, or burden or restrict U.S. commerce. (Sec. 303) Expresses the sense of the Congress that every effort be taken to conclude the Multilateral Steel Agreement (MSA) before implementation of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Declares that a principal U.S. negotiating objective in the MSA shall be to obtain rules ensuring the elimination of all injurious subsidies. Requires, prior to implementation of GATT, that U.S. negotiators consider the potential impact the elimination of tariffs on specialty steel products would have on the specialty steel industry absent a successful conclusion of the MSA.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
United States Botanic Garden Commemorative Coin Act of 1995 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) issue one-dollar silver coins to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the founding of the United States Botanic Garden; and (2) pay all surcharges received from such coin sales to the National Fund for the United States Botanic Garden.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1994
Establishes the Congressional Office for Public Opinion Research and Assessment to set out research priorities and methods for choosing research topics. Requires the Board of the Office to establish an Advisory Council to advise the Board on research priorities and methods which are the most promising and cost effective to pursue and to keep itself informed on the state-of-the-art of opinion research (including such developments as interactive television, electronic fora and town meetings, computer network conferencing, and all methods for enhancing democracy in this country). Requires the Director of the Office to set up an expert, ad hoc panel for each survey to assist in design and analysis. Requires a report to be prepared at the conclusion of each survey including a master questionnaire containing the questions as asked, with frequencies or percentage responses and an analysis prepared by the advisory panel with the assistance of in-house or contractor personnel. Requires the survey, along with its data, to be made public to the news media and to organizations and individuals specializing in public policy or opinion. Makes FY 1994 appropriations for the Office. Rescinds specified appropriations earmarked for official mail costs in the Senate and for such costs, salaries, and expenses earmarked for the House of Representatives for FY 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1994
Protection from Sexual Predators Act of 1994 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that States should: (1) more seriously consider the relatively high recidivism rate of sexual offenders when deciding whether to plea bargain with first-time sexual offenders and whether to grant parole to sexual offenders; and (2) review their treatment and parole supervision programs for sexual offenders to assure that such programs are fulfilling their goals. Amends the Federal criminal code to provide that whoever violates provisions regarding aggravated sexual abuse (or engages in conduct in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce that would be a violation of such provisions if the offense had occurred in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States) after previously having been convicted of another State or Federal sexual abuse offense (or conduct which would have been such an offense if the offense had occurred in such jurisdiction) shall be imprisoned for life. Directs the Attorney General to establish guidelines for State programs requiring: (1) any person who is convicted of a sex offense to register and keep up to date a current address with a designated State law enforcement agency (LEA) for ten years after being released from prison or placed on parole, supervised release, or probation; and (2) each State to provide information obtained about the registered person to the Attorney General on a prompt and regular basis and in a uniform format. Requires the Attorney General to: (1) maintain on-line availability of information obtained under this Act for use by authorized LEAs in carrying out their functions; and (2) provide for the privacy of such information. Directs each State to implement the registration provisions within three years. Makes States not in compliance after such time subject to a reduction of funds under title I (drug control and system improvement grants) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. Requires the National Institute of Justice to carry out a study of persistent sexual predators and to report to the Congress and the President.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1994
Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Act of 1994 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit, and establish penalties for: (1) employing or inducing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing any visual depiction of such conduct, intending that such depiction will be imported into the United States or into waters within 12 miles of the coast of the United States; and (2) knowingly receiving, transporting, distributing, selling, or possessing with intent to transport, sell, or distribute such depiction, with such intent. Repeals the caps on fines for sexual exploitation of children. Subjects individuals who violate prohibitions against sexual exploitation of children (as under current law) or sexual abuse to a fine or imprisonment for up to ten years, or both, and a fine or from five to 15 years, or both, if such individual has a prior conviction of sexual abuse. Sets forth: (1) analogous provisions with respect to certain activities relating to material involving the sexual exploitation of children (as under current law) or sexual exploitation of minors; and (2) penalties for conspiring and attempting to violate such provisions. Makes violation of this Act a predicate offense to a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute. Sets penalties for travel in interstate commerce with intent to engage in a sexual act with a person under age 18. Expresses the sense of the Congress that each State that has not yet done so should enact legislation prohibiting the production, distribution, receipt, or simple possession of materials depicting a person under age 18 engaging in sexually explicit conduct and providing for a maximum imprisonment of at least one year and the forfeiture of assets used in the commission or support of, or gained from, such offenses.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Research and Related Programs Title II: Construction Grants Title III: Standards and Enforcement Title IV: Permits and Licenses Title V: General Provisions Title VI: State Water Pollution Control Revolving Funds Title VII: Miscellaneous Provisions Water Quality Act of 1994 - Title I: Research and Related Programs - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (the Clean Water Act or CWA) to add national goal and policy provisions with respect to water quality programs. Title II: Construction Grants - Removes limitations on the use of grants for the construction of publicly owned treatment works and authorizes the use of such grants for purposes for which grants may be made under nonpoint source management and groundwater quality programs. (Sec. 201) Requires grant applicants to demonstrate, along with other existing requirements, that water use efficiency options have been studied and evaluated and, if cost-effective implemented. (Sec. 202) Prohibits the approval of a grant for a treatment works unless the applicant has adopted a system of charges that will recover the costs of operation and maintenance (O&M) of treatment works within the jurisdiction. (Current provisions require the applicant to insure adequate construction and O&M.) (Sec. 205) Requires value engineering reviews to be conducted for any treatment works construction projected in excess of $25 million (currently, $10 million). (Sec. 206) Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to make grants under title II of the CWA for the construction of treatment works to specified cities and counties. Title III: Standards and Enforcement - Revises provisions concerning the use of innovative technology to comply with effluent reduction requirements to authorize the Administrator, if a facility achieves reductions with an innovative system that has the potential for reducing the release of pollutants to other media, to extend the date of compliance for such facility for up to three (currently, two) years if the system has industry-wide application potential. (Sec. 302) Directs States to develop antidegradation policies. Requires the Administrator to publish guidance for States to assist in the designation and protection of outstanding national resource waters. (Sec. 303) Authorizes the Administrator to issue regulations to prohibit or restrict the use of mixing zones with respect to chemicals which are persistent, acutely toxic, or bioaccumulative and pose a sufficient health or environmental risk. (Sec. 304) Requires the Administrator to publish guidance for the States on development and adoption of water quality standards applicable to arid areas. (Sec.305) Directs the Administrator to publish regulations providing guidance for effluent limitations for discharges into the ground or groundwater that are subject to permit requirements for groundwater discharges. (Sec. 307) Requires the Administrator to allow States to use a specified amount of funds to carry out citizen water quality monitoring programs. (Sec. 308) Directs the Administrator, in publishing any revised list of toxic pollutants subject to effluent limitations, to take into account the bioaccumulation potential of, and magnitude and risk of exposure to, a pollutant. Requires effluent standards to take such factors into account as well. Authorizes any person to petition the Administrator to limit or prohibit discharges of toxic pollutants or classes of such pollutants which contribute to water quality impairment. Provides that if the Administrator issues chemical-specific numeric water quality criteria for toxic pollutants and a State has not adopted water quality standards for navigable waters within three years of the issuance of such criteria, the criteria shall be: (1) treated as adopted by the State as a water quality standard for purposes of Federal and State law; and (2) applied consistent with designated uses if the State has designated uses for such waters. Requires the Administrator to develop additional criteria for water quality with respect to pollutants entering navigable waters with an emphasis on pollutants entering such waters from nonpoint sources. Authorizes the Administrator to develop and issue guidance that States may use in: (1) issuing fish consumption advisories and scientific protocols for testing contamination levels of fish; (2) developing a monitoring program for contaminants in fish and shellfish; and (3) monitoring water quality at beaches and issuing health advisories with respect to beaches. Directs the National Academy of Sciences to study and report to the Congress on the current scientific knowledge of chemicals which are present in U.S. waters and for which there is evidence that exposure to such chemicals may result in endocrine, immune, or nervous system or developmental health effects in human, fish, or wildlife. (Sec. 309) Revises Federal enforcement and penalty provisions. (Sec.310) Revises provisions regarding water pollution control at Federal facilities to waive the sovereign immunity of the United States with respect to any requirement, administrative authority, or sanctions that may be imposed for violations. Provides that Federal employees may be subject to criminal sanctions but exempts Federal agencies from such sanctions. Authorizes the Administrator to commence administrative enforcement actions against Federal agencies under this Act. Includes Federal agencies in the definition of "person." (Sec. 311) Includes within the required elements of nonpoint source management programs: (1) a description of monitoring and assessment of program effectiveness; (2) a description of program measures that will apply to land owners and a description of land owners, activities, or areas exempt from such measures; (3) an identification of activities for which land owners will be required to implement site-specific management plans; (4) an identification of methods to inform landowners of sources of assistance for developing such plans; (5) designation of watersheds or other areas for which best management practices will be undertaken; (6) a schedule for addressing nonpoint sources of pollution; and (7) an identification of activities on Federal lands that are inconsistent with such programs. Requires the Administrator to prepare nonpoint source management plans for States that fail to do so or whose plans are not approved. Extends the authorization of appropriations for grants for assessment reports, nonpoint source management programs, and groundwater protection programs through FY 2000. Directs the Administrator to publish guidance to identify best management practices and measures which may be undertaken under such management programs. (Sec. 313) Requires the Administrator to establish a schedule under which major nonmunicipal dischargers of pollutants and significant industrial users are required to submit pollution prevention or reduction plans. Directs the Administrator to report to the Congress on innovative and alternative technologies which are available for preventing and reducing pollution of navigable waters. Requires each publicly owned treatment works that is required to develop a pretreatment program and each federally owned treatment works to develop toxic reduction action plans. Directs the Administrator to publish guidance on such plans and on providing technical assistance to small communities to assist them in reducing the introduction of toxic pollutants and hazardous wastes into treatment works. Makes such plans a precondition for issuance or renewal of a national pollutant discharge elimination system permit for a treatment works that is required to have a pretreatment program. (Sec. 314) Authorizes States to submit watershed management programs to the Administrator for approval. Permits States implementing approved watershed management programs to transfer funds for various water pollution control programs between programs (thus, allowing States to use funds for one program for another program). Authorizes the Administrator, in any year in which a State is implementing such a program, to extend the terms of permits for discharges into watersheds or point source discharges into State waters, subject to certain conditions. Title IV: Permits and Licenses - Revises stormwater discharge permitting provisions. (Sec. 402) Makes stormwater discharges that are composed entirely of stormwater subject to requirements for nonpoint source management programs. Adds to the list of discharges for which permits are required: (1) a discharge associated with any industrial activity that is subject to regulation by a State or local stormwater program and is from a construction activity which disturbs fewer than five acres of total land area and is not part of a larger common plan of development or sale; and (2) a discharge from a municipal separate storm sewer system serving an urbanized area with a population between 50,000 and 100,000. Establishes additional requirements for permits for municipal separate storm sewer systems, including that they: (1) require reasonable progress toward attainment of water quality standards as expeditiously as possible, but by no later than December 31, 2009; and (2) have additional requirements for the control of discharges to attain or maintain such standards if they are renewed after this Act's enactment. Authorizes the issuance of general or group permits for any discharges, other than those from municipal separate storm sewer systems, if the discharges are similar in nature and application of similar management measures will reduce pollution occurring from such discharges. Prohibits the Administrator from requiring, as a permit condition, compliance with a numeric effluent limitation or an applicable water quality standard before December 31, 2009, except to implement management measures under regulations for municipal separate storm sewer systems. Sets forth requirements for regulations for permits for urbanized and municipal separate storm water discharges. (Sec. 403) Subjects existing permits for discharges from municipal combined sewer systems resulting from wet weather overflows to this Act's requirements. Directs the Administrator to issue regulations to require permits for such discharges that provide for: (1) technology-based controls for such overflows and set forth a compliance schedule for a long-term control plan; and (2) reasonable progress toward attainment of water quality standards by no later than December 31, 2009. Prohibits such permits from requiring compliance with a numeric effluent limitation or water quality standard before such date. (Sec. 404) Treats a discharge of a pollutant into groundwater as a discharge into navigable waters if: (1) there is a reasonably foreseeable and demonstrable direct hydrologic connection between the ground and surface waters in the proximity of the discharge; (2) a greater than de minimis quantity of the pollutant is able to reach surface waters; and (3) no other Federal law directly addresses the activity resulting in the discharge. Bars penalties for such a discharge unless the person should have known that there is a direct hydrologic connection between the ground and surface waters in the proximity of the discharge. (Sec. 405) Requires the Administrator to issue guidance on the beneficial use of sewage sludge. Title V: General Provisions - Requires a CWA cost and needs estimate to be submitted quadrennially (currently, biennially) to the Congress. (Sec. 504) Reauthorizes the CWA through FY 2000. (Sec. 505) Requires the Administrator to make grants to Indian tribes to pay the full cost of sewage treatment and nonpoint source management projects. Increases amounts to be reserved for Indian tribes for such projects. Permits State water pollution control revolving funds (SRFs) to be used for assistance to Indian tribes. Title VI: State Water Pollution Control Revolving Funds - Authorizes SRFs to be used for water use efficiency measures whose principal purpose is improving or protecting water quality. (Sec. 602) Requires the Administrator to establish simplified procedures for small communities to obtain assistance from SRFs. (Sec.603) Provides for an extended repayment period for loans made from SRFs for service areas in which the average annual residential sewage treatment charge, after completion of a project, will be greater than 1.25 percent of the median family income for such area. Authorizes negative interest rates for such loans. Permits SRFs to be used to provide technical and planning assistance to small communities. (Sec. 605) Extends the authorization of appropriations for the SRF program through FY 2000. Title VII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Authorizes the Administrator to provide financial assistance to States for planning, design, and construction of international wastewater treatment works in the vicinity of the U.S.-Mexican border. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 702) Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to States along such border to provide assistance for planning, design, and construction of treatment works to provide wastewater service to colonias. Makes funds appropriated before this Act's enactment available for such purposes. (Sec. 703) Requires the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on pollutants to navigable waters which originate from mobile sources and impair or threaten water quality and to submit recommendations for reducing pollution from such sources.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
Designates March 23, 1994, the 92d birthday of the Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (leader of the worldwide Lubavitch movement), as Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
Honors James Norman Hall for his outstanding contributions to the United States, France, Tahiti, and the South Pacific. Requests the President to provide for the presentation of a copy of this concurrent resolution to the President of Tahiti Nui (French Polynesia) to be publicly displayed at the James Norman Hall Museum in Tahiti.
![Official portrait of Rep. Applegate, Douglas [D-OH-18]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/a000214_200.jpg)