United States · United States Congress · 13 September 1983
Prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages to persons under the age of 21 if the beverage has traveled in interstate commerce or if the sale or offer of sale is made in an establishment which is in or affects interstate commerce. Subjects violators to a maximum civil penalty of $5,000. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to assess such penalty by an order made on the record after opportunity for a hearing in accordance with specified law. Prescribes due process procedures for assessing such penalties. Authorizes the Secretary to compromise or modify such penalties. Authorizes judicial review for persons aggrieved by civil penalty assessments. Restricts petitions for such judicial review to a specified time period. Directs the Attorney General to recover penalties in arrears in a civil action in Federal district court. Authorizes citizens' civil actions to enjoin alleged violators of the alcoholic beverage proscription under this statute. Prescribes procedure and appropriate venue for such civil actions. Confers jurisdiction upon Federal district courts over such suits, without regard to amount in controversy or citizenship of the parties. Authorizes the court to award the plaintiff attorney's fees, court costs, and expert witness fees.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 1983
Designates the week beginning February 12, 1984, as a time to recognize the contributions of volunteers who become Big Brothers and Big Sisters to single parent youths.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 1983
States that the United States: (1) condemns the Soviet destruction of Korean Air Lines flight 7; (2) calls for an explanation from the Soviets; (3) extends its sympathies to the families who lost loved ones and supports their rights to obtain reparations from the Soviets; (4) calls on the Soviets to assist in the recovery of the remains of the victims; (5) calls for an international investigation by the International Civil Aviation Organization; (6) declares its intention to demand that the Soviets modify their air defense procedures to assure the safety of commercial airliners; (7) finds that this incident will make it difficult for the U.S. and other nations to accept the Soviets as responsible members of the international community; and (8) urges our allies and other nations to cooperate with specified demands on the Soviets.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1983
Wine Equity Act of 1983 - Requires the President to direct the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to negotiate the harmonization of tariff and nontariff barriers on wine with each designated major trading country. Requires negotiations with designated major trading countries which do not export wine to the United States in order to eliminate all tariff and nontariff trade barriers of such countries to the importation of U.S. wine. Requires the President to impose tariff and nontariff trade barriers equal or substantially equivalent to the barriers applied by a designated major trading country if such country does not provide harmonization to U.S. produced-wine with 180 days of the country's designation as a designated major trading country. Provides for removing such U.S. tariff and nontariff barriers. Requires the USTR to report to specified congressional committees at the beginning and end of each negotiation. Requires the USTR to consult with such committees to identify further tariff and nontariff barriers to and potential markets for U.S. wine. Provides for assistance for the USTR from other Federal agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1983
Amends the Federal criminal code to provide a mandatory additional prison term of five years for any person who carries or uses, during a commission of a felony, armor-piercing bullets. Requires the court to not suspend any sentence, grant probation or parole, or impose concurrent sentences.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1983
Directs the Small Business Administration to assign a break-out procurement center representative to each major procurement center to review and evaluate the procurement methods for military items and develop and implement appropriate changes based on these findings. Directs the Director of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization of the Department of Defense to assign technical advisors to assist each break-out procurement center representative. Requires each major procurement center to submit quarterly reports to the Inspector General of the Department of Defense, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, and the Comptroller General regarding the cost savings through the use of break-out procurement procedures. Authorizes the Inspector General of the Department of Defense to pay a cash award to employees of the two major procurement centers which achieve the greatest percentage of savings through the use of break-out procurement procedures. Requires the Comptroller General to report to Congress regarding break-out procurement procedures.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1983
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Reform Act - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to expand the definition of "active ingredient" to include any ingredient of a pesticide which will endanger human beings. Revises Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) information requirements for pesticide registration. Provides that waivers and variation in data requirements may be granted only if the advisability of the waiver or variation is clearly established. Requires the Administrator of EPA to make the data submitted in support of registration applications and petitions to establish tolerances publicly available. Specifies the procedures and provisions governing the joint development and sharing of defensive data as required by the Administrator to fill a data gap. Extends the application comment period from 30 to 90 days. Requires the Administrator, when registering a pesticide, to make a written determination of active and inert ingredients. Requires the Administrator to consider potential chronic health effects in determining whether a pesticide will endanger human beings. Eliminates the Administrator's authority to waive efficiency data requirements. Requires the Administrator to publish in the Federal Register a summary of the factual basis supporting registration actions. Requires, rather than allows, the Administrator to deny registrations when certain requirements are not met. Prohibits the Administrator from granting a conditional registration for a previously canceled or suspended pesticide. Requires the Administrator to make the data submitted in support of a conditional registration publicly available. Repeals provisions specifying the conditions which must be met before initiating an interim administrative review. Directs the Administrator, in all decisions pertaining to classification, to consider the potential contamination of groundwater in determining whether a pesticide should be classified for restricted use. Provides that registration of a pesticide constitutes prima facie evidence that a pesticide is in compliance only if the active ingredient has been registered after enactment of this Act or re-registered since October 21, 1972, and provided that a cancellation proceeding is not in progress and that no required studies are outstanding. Requires the Administrator to publish in the Federal Register a list of pesticide active ingredients not re-registered since September 31, 1978, in order of their priority for re-registration, and a list of active ingredients and data gaps. Requires the Administrator to issue a notice of intent to suspend a pesticide's registration if there are outstanding data gaps on the pesticide and the Administrator has failed to include the ingredient on the re-registration priority list. Provides that a registrant must conduct studies to fill data gaps and report the results of the studies to the Administrator within three years of the publication of the list and data gaps. Requires the Administrator to issue regulations specifying what tests shall be undertaken on inert ingredients. Allows information on inert ingredients to be disclosed under specified circumstances. Revises requirements for restricted use certification. Eliminates provisions that prohibit a State from requiring a written examination as part of the certification process. Prohibits the Administrator from granting an experimental use permit if the use has previously been canceled, suspended, or voluntarily withdrawn for health or environmental reasons. Requires the Administrator to revoke an experimental use permit if such permit will not yield certain registration data. Authorizes the Administrator to immediately issue a notice of intent to cancel a pesticide's registrations, or revoke tolerances, if it appears that false, misleading, or inaccurate supporting information has been submitted. Requires, rather than allows, the Administrator to issue a notice of intent to hold a hearing or cancel a pesticide's registration if it may reasonably be expected to endanger human beings (including children permitted to work in areas treated with pesticides). Restricts the scope of a hearing held to consider data not available to the Administrator either when the hearing for registration of a previously canceled use of a pesticide was terminated or upon issuance of a cancellation decision. Provides that when a use or uses of a pesticide have been canceled, suspended, or voluntarily withdrawn because of health or environmental concerns, such use or uses shall not be eligible for registration unless there are no alternatives to control new or expanding pest infestation. Authorizes the Administrator to issue commercial applicators' recordkeeping regulations. Repeals certain EPA indemnification provisions. Establishes a private right of action against any person (including the United States or any other governmental instrumentality or agency), or against the Administrator for violations under this Act. Specifies time limits and conditions for such an action. Revises the foreign government notification requirement to include cases where a pesticide's registration has been voluntarily withdrawn. Authorizes an Administrator to grant a public health danger exemption to a State or Federal agency when no other pesticide alternatives are available. Provides that such an exemption may not be issued for more than one year or renewed more than twice. Revises requirements regarding the comprehensive national plan for monitoring pesticides. Provides that the plan shall be proposed by rule not later than June 1, 1984, and be effective not later than October 1, 1984. Transfers responsibility for regulating occupational exposure to pesticides to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Authorizes States to impose or continue in effect requirements for pesticide labeling or packaging in order to enforce a prohibition on the use of a federally registered pesticide or device in the State. Eliminates the Administrator's discretion to disapprove a special local need registration that is inconsistent with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Allows a rebuttable presumption that a special local need for a pesticide does not exist if five or more States seek the same pesticide for the same local need. Revises provisions pertaining to the appointment of members of the Scientific Advisory Panel. Directs the Administrator to appoint members from specified scientific disciplines. Requires the Administrator to promulgate safe use regulations within one year. Allows States to impose enforcement provisions and regulations more stringent than required by Federal law. Allows States two years to adopt an enforcement program responsive to the new requirements and regulations established pursuant to the National Pesticide Hazard Prevention Act. Directs the Administrator to collect registration fees. Provides certain protections for employees who have commenced actions, testified, or otherwise participated in an enforcement action or complaint. Authorizes the Administrator to establish and enforce standards for indoor human exposure to pesticides. Makes certain technical and conforming amendments.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1983
Political Tax Credit Reform Act of 1983 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the income tax credit for contributions made to candidates for President, candidates for State and local offices, political action committees, and newsletter funds. Allows an income tax credit for one-half of the amount contributed to a political party and the full amount contributed to a congressional candidate. Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require any candidate or committee receiving contributions eligible for such tax credit to include in its required report the number and aggregate amount of all eligible contributions.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1983
Establishes a Commission on the Eleanor Roosevelt Centennial to encourage and coordinate Federal observance of October 11, 1984, the centennial of Eleanor Roosevelt's birth. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the National Park Service, to complete the renovation of the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site at Val-Kill in Hyde Park, New York, in FY 1984, sufficiently to open it to full public visitation. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1983
Authorizes the establishment of Transitional Industries Trade Boards. Requires each Board to: (1) investigate the competitiveness in both foreign and domestic markets of the transitional industry with respect to which it is established; (2) evaluate the trade barriers that affect the transitional industry adversely; and (3) recommend measures to the President and the Congress to increase the competitiveness of the transitional industry. Sets forth the membership and powers of the Boards. Directs the President to decide whether to follow the recommendations of the Board. Requires the recommendations of the Board to take effect if Congress passes a joint resolution disapproving a determination by the President not to provide the recommended relief. Provides for expedited consideration of such a resolution. Establishes a Transitional Industry Board with respect to the domestic automobile industry. Requires the Secretary of Commerce, through the International Trade Administration, to receive petitions for future boards from interested parties and to submit petitions to the Congress. Directs the Secretary to report annually to Congress on trade barriers. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1983
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that it should not be U.S. foreign policy to overthrow governments with which the United States disagrees politically. Urges the President to indicate U.S. support for the Contadora Group initiative by endorsing specified proposals of the Group. States that the United States should: (1) announce its willingness to pursue negotiations with all Central American nations and to stop U.S. arms shipments; (2) offer technical assistance to the Group to assist in the verification of such a freeze on arms traffic in the region; (3) stop funding guerrilla forces seeking to overthrow Nicaragua; and (4) exert diplomatic efforts to persuade other involved governments to cease activities aimed at destabilizing the existing Central American governments.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1983
Establishes the Kamehameha National Monument in Hawaii. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to provide facilities to commemorate the historical significance of the monument. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1983
Child Protection Act of 1983 - Amends the Federal criminal code dealing with the sexual exploitation of children. Increases the penalties for the sexual exploitation of children from $10,000 to $100,000 and, on a subsequent conviction from $15,000 to $200,000. Prohibits the distribution involving the sexual exploitation of minors even if the material is not found to be "obscene." Eliminates the requirement that persons distributing such material in interstate commerce do so for purposes of sale. Raises the age of a minor to include any person under the age of eighteen. Redefines "sexually explicit conduct" to exclude simulated conduct when there is little or no possibility of harm to the minor and when there is redeeming social, literary, educational, scientific or artistic value. Permits authorization for the interception of wire or oral communications in the investigation of such offenses.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1983
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of Congress, a gold medal to Margaret Truman Daniel, daughter of Harry S. Truman, in recognition of the lifetime of outstanding public service he gave to the United States. Commemorates his one hundredth birthday which will be celebrated on May 8, 1984. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 1983
Sales Representation Contractual Relations Act - Title I: General Provisions - Sets forth findings and definitions. Title II: Contracts Between Sales Representatives and Principals - Subjects a principal to an indemnification action by a sales representative where a written contract exists between them under which the sales representative solicits orders from accounts and prospective accounts for the merchandise of the principal. Enumerates items to be included in any such written contract in order to conform with this Act. Title III: Indemnification - Exempts a principal from any indemnification action brought under this Act where: (1) a contract exists between the principal and sales representative which meets the requirements of Title I; or (2) the conduct of the principal for which indemnification is sought occurred before the sales representative had solicited orders on behalf of the principal for a period of 18 months. Permits a sales representative to bring an action for indemnification against a principal in any U.S. district court or State court where the principal: (1) terminates, without good cause, a sales representative from the assignment to solicit orders; or (2) reduces the size of any geographical territory assigned, the rate of commission paid, or the number of accounts assigned to a sales representative. Sets forth a formula for the computation of the amount of indemnification a principal shall pay in such an action. Provides that in an indemnification brought under this Act, the burden of proof shall be placed on the principal to show that the termination or reduction was for good cause if the sales representative presents certain evidence.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1983
Authorizes the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate jointly to present, on behalf of the Congress, a bronze medal to families of American personnel missing or otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1983
Exchange for Understanding Act - Establishes the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe Exchange Fund in the Treasury. Authorizes appropriations for the Fund. Establishes the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe Exchange Commission. Requires the Commission to issue regulations, within 90 days, governing its operation and the use of Commission funds. Provides for Commission membership and for a Commission director and staff. Authorizes the Commission to hold hearings and to use the U.S. mails as do other U.S. agencies. Directs that interest on obligations held in the Fund be available for payments to the Commission for specified uses. Requires the Commission to use such funds to make grants to support exchanges between the United States and the Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern Europe. Sets forth the projects to which the Commission shall give priority. Grants the Commission the exclusive authority to determine the number and types of exchanges to be supported each year. Directs the Secretary of State to cooperate with the Commission to ensure that the exchanges are coordinated with the countries involved and to ensure that the participants receive appropriate briefings and information. Authorizes specified funds for the Commission's operating expenses. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to invest that portion of the Fund not required for current withdrawals in specified U.S. obligations or U.S. guaranteed obligations. Authorizes the Secretary to sell obligations acquired by the Fund and to credit the Fund with any interest on and the proceeds from such sale. Requires the Commission to submit annual reports, describing the Commission's activities, to the President and to Congress. Requires the Commission to terminate October 1, 1994. Directs all investments to be liquidated and all remaining funds to be deposited in the Treasury upon termination.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1983
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should: (1) renew the agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union on space cooperation for peaceful purposes; (2) initiate talks with the Soviet Union and other interested governments on opportunities for cooperative East-West space ventures as an alternative to an arms race in space; and (3) submit to the Congress a report detailing the provisions of such agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1983
National Economic Cooperation Act of 1983 - Amends the Employment Act of 1946 to add a new title on national economic cooperation. Establishes a National Economic Cooperation Council. Sets forth the purposes of the Council, including the requirement that the Council report annually to the President and the Congress on the state of the national economy. Requires that the general policies and administrative direction of the Council shall be controlled by a Board composed of nine members appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Sets forth the qualifications of members of the Board. Requires the principal administrative officer of the Council to be an Executive Director appointed by the Board. Requires the Council to promote the growth and vitality of the U.S. economy by: (1) collecting and analyzing relevant data concerning economic trends and market opportunities; (2) evaluating existing and alternative government and business policies in terms of their impact on the capacity of American enterprises to take advantage of those trends and opportunities; (3) recommending government and business strategies and practices which will improve that capacity; (4) developing such concensus among the branches of government, labor, and business as is necessary to implement such strategies and practices; and (5) evaluating State and local policies and practices in terms of their impact on the economy. Sets forth methods for the Council to follow in carrying out such functions. Authorizes the Council to make special reports as necessary, in addition to its annual report. Sets forth the authority of the Council to conduct hearings. Establishes within the Council a Bureau of Economic Information and a Bureau of Economic Analysis and Policy. Sets forth the duties of such Bureaus. Directs the President to designate a Special Adviser for Economic Coordination who: (1) shall be the principal official responsible for the coordination of executive branch trade and economic functions and activities; and (2) shall serve as the principal liaison official between executive branch departments and agencies and the Council. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1984 through 1989. Sets forth general administrative provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1983
Secondary Mortgage Market Equity Act - Amends the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act and the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act to set forth a formula for increasing the maximum mortgage limitation for a one- to four- family residence in certain areas where high prevailing housing sales prices have limited housing opportunities.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1983
National Acid Deposition Control Act of 1983 - Title I: Acid Deposition Control and Assistance Program - Amends the Clean Air Act to establish new requirements for acid deposition control. Sets forth direct federally mandated emission reductions and retrofit technology for the 50 fossil fuel fired electric utility generating plants which had the largest total emissions of sulfur dioxide during the calendar year 1980. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) identify each such plant which emitted sulfur dioxide during calendar year 1980 at an annual average rate equal to or exceeding three pounds per million Btu; (2) within two months after enactment of this Act, publish a list of the 50 plants which have the largest total emissions; (3) notify the owner or operator of each of the 50 plants listed; and (4) within four months after such enactment, and after notice and opportunity for comment, publish a final list of the 50 plants with the largest total emissions. Requires the owner or operator of each plant on the final list to submit to the Administrator, by January 1, 1985, a compliance schedule, including increments of progress. Directs the Administrator to approve or disapprove such schedule, within one year after submission, and after notice and opportunity for hearing. Directs the Administrator, if such schedule is not submitted by the deadline or is not approved, to promulgate a compliance schedule for such plant on January 1, 1986. Provides for modification and publication of such schedules. Requires that each compliance schedule provide that: (1) a technological system of continuous emission reduction be used for each steam generating unit in the fossil fuel fired electric utility generating plant concerned; and (2) sulfur dioxide emissions from such plant for the calendar year 1990 and each calendar year thereafter shall not exceed 1.2 pounds per million Btu heat input and ten percent of the total annual sulfur dioxide emissions during calendar year 1980 (90 percent reduction) or 0.6 pounds per million Btu and 30 percent of the total annual sulfur dioxide emissions during the calendar year 1980 (70 percent reduction). Sets forth procedures for determining plant compliance with such emission limitation. Requires that: (1) contracts be entered into for the purchase and installation of the technological systems of continuous emission reduction by January 1, 1988; (2) such systems be installed and in operation by January 1, 1990; and (3) the emission limitation be achieved for each calendar year after 1989. Directs the Administrator, from the Acid Deposition Control Fund established under this Act, to pay for 90 percent of the costs of construction and installation of the technological system of continuous emission reduction necessary for each such plant to comply with the emission limitation. Directs the Administrator, after consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, to promulgate regulations under which such payments: (1) may be made to utilities only if they will be used entirely to reduce those electric rate increases which would otherwise result from such construction and installation; and (2) shall be made at such times as will minimize rate increases. Sets forth requirements for State plans for additional emission reductions of sulfur dioxide. Directs the Administrator, within four months after the enactment of this Act, to compute a State share, for each of the 48 contiguous States, of a 10,000,000 ton reduction in annual emissions of sulfur dioxide by 1993 below that of 1980. Sets forth a formula for computation of State shares. Permits the Governors of two or more States to reallot State shares among agreeing States, if there is an equal or greater total reduction in annual emissions of sulfur dioxide through such reallotment. Sets deadlines and procedures for submission and approval of State plans for such State shares. Directs the Administrator to promulgate a State plan on January 1, 1988, if no State plan has been: (1) submitted by June 1, 1985; or (2) approved by January 1, 1988. Requires State plans for State shares to provide for emission limitations applicable to any stationary sources in the State for which the actual annual sulfur dioxide emission rates have been calculated by the Administrator for the calendar year 1980, other than a source which is one of the listed 50 electric utility plants subject to direct federally mandated emission reductions. Requires that the emission limitations for each stationary source subject to the State plan establish an allowable average annual sulfur dioxide rate at a level such that the total reduction would equal the State share, with specified credits for States in which any of the 50 listed plants are located. Permits State plans for State shares to provide for compliance with emission limitations through use of technological systems of continuous emission reduction or any other appropriate requirements. Directs the Administrator, from the Acid Deposition Control Fund (established within this Act), to pay for 90 percent of the costs of the construction and installation at an electric utility generating plant of any technological system of continuous emission reduction necessary to comply with requirements under a State plan for a State share of sulfur dioxide emission reductions. Subjects such payments to regulations relating to reduction of increases in utility rates. Establishes a trust fund in the Treasury of the United States to be known as the Acid Deposition Control Fund, consisting of amounts generated by fees imposed under this Act. Directs the Administrator to make payments from the fund first to facilities covered by direct federally mandated emission reductions and then to facilities covered by State share plan requirements. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to be the trustee of the Fund and to report to the Congress for each fiscal year ending on or after September 30, 1984, on its financial condition and the results of its operation during such fiscal year and on its expected condition and operations during the next five fiscal years. Sets forth Fund investment duties of the Secretary. Imposes, under regulations promulgated by the Administrator, a fee of one mill for each kilowatt hour of electric energy: (1) generated in the contiguous 48 States by an electric utility; and (2) imported into the contiguous 48 States. Exempts from such fee electric energy: (1) used at the electric generating facility concerned; or (2) generated by a nuclear generating facility. Makes such fee effective with respect to electric energy generated, or imported, after December 31, 1984. Makes the fee cease to apply on the earlier of: (1) December 31, 1995; or (2) the date on which all payments required under this Act have been made. Authorizes the Administrator to terminate the fee at an earlier date upon estimation that sufficient funds have been collected to fund all such required payments. Directs the Administrator to promulgate within six months after enactment of this Act regulations setting forth the time and manner required for payment of such fee and related reporting requirements. Establishes civil penalties for: (1) electric utilities (or importers of electric energy) which fail or refuse to pay such fees or to file required reports; and (2) any person who makes false or misleading statements in such required documents. Directs the Administrator to bring civil actions in such cases. Establishes additional criminal penalties for electric utilities (or importers of electric energy) which knowingly commit such violations. Makes conforming amendments. Title II: Control of Nitrogen Oxide Emissions - Directs the Administrator to revise standards of performance for new stationary sources for emissions of nitrogen oxides from electric utility steam generating units which burn bituminous or subbituminous coal and which commence construction after the enactment of this Act. Prohibits the emission of nitrogen oxides from such units at a rate which exceeds: (1) 0.30 pounds per million Btu, in the case of subbituminous coal; and (2) 0.40 pounds per million Btu, in the case of bituminous coal. Adds to provisions relating to emissions from mobile sources to set the following nitrogen oxide emission standards for model year 1986 and after truck and truck engines: (1) gross vehicle weight of 6,000 pounds or less - 1.2 grams per vehicle mile; (2) 6,000 to 8,500 pounds - 1.7 grams per vehicle mile; and (3) more than 8,500 pounds - 4.0 grams per brake horsepower-hour.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1983
Establishes the Commission on Capital Markets to evaluate the regulation of financial intermediaries by the Federal and State governments and the functioning of such intermediaries in the accumulation and allocation of capital within the United States economy. Sets forth the information to be included in such evaluation. Requires the Commission, within nine months after the initial meeting, to submit to Congress a report on the results of its evaluation. Terminates the Commission ninety days after the submission of its final report. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1983
Repeals provisions of the Energy Security Act which establish the U.S. Synthetic Fuels Corporation. Requires projects and funds transferred to the Corporation pursuant to the Supplemental Appropriations and Rescission Act, 1980 or initiated through contractural agreements by the Corporation to be transferred to the Department of Energy. Authorizes the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to terminate the affairs of the Corporation.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1983
Expresses the sense of the House that the President should convene a national, bipartisan commission to address the problems in Central America. Suggests certain requirements for the Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1983
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to exchange specified lands with the city of Los Angeles. Requires that the lands transferred to the Secretary be conveyed without cost for the purposes of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1983
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) State regulatory commissions should carefully review requests for telephone rate increases; (2) the Federal Communications Commission should ascertain the impact on telephone rates of regulatory changes and judicial decisions and should furnish the House with an estimate of the number of people who would suffer an economic hardship or be forced to discontinue telephone service as a result of such changes and decisions; and (3) specified House committees should consider legislation that will assure affordable telephone service for all the people of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1983
Water Quality Renewal Act of 1983 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (also known as the Clean Water Act) to authorize appropriations for FY 1983 through 1988 for: (1) specified research, investigation, and training programs in water pollution control; (2) State and interstate pollution control programs; (3) undergraduate programs in water quality control; (4) grants for developing waste treatment management plans for areas with substantial water quality control problems; (5) water pollution control programs in agricultural areas; (6) agreements among Government agencies providing for maximum use of existing programs for water quality control; (7) grants to States for lake pollution control; and (8) carrying out such Act generally. Increases the authorization for grants for construction of waste treatment works for FY 1984 and 1985. Authorizes appropriations for such grants for FY 1986 through 1988. Revises the timetable for compliance of all pollutants with effluent limitations. Requires as new conditions for the modification of treatment requirements with respect to the discharge of pollutants from a publicly owned treatment works that an applicant for such modification demonstrate that: (1) in the case of a treatment works serving a population of 50,000 or more, there is in effect a specified pretreatment program for toxic pollutants introduced into such works for which there is no pretreatment requirement in effect; and (2) the effluent which is discharged from such works is receiving primary treatment and meets the criteria for water quality established by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Revises the meaning of the phrase "discharge of any pollutant into marine water." Requires that a water quality standard which is revised after January 1, 1983, maintain the designated uses of the navigable waters involved in effect on such date, except that such a standard may contain a less restrictive use if the State demonstrates that: (1) the existing designated use is not attainable because of natural background or irretrievable man-induced conditions; or (2) the application of effluent limitations needed to attain the existing designated use would result in substantial and widespread adverse economic and social impact. Requires a State to revise water quality standards to preserve the quality of those waters within the State exceeding the level necessary to support the designated use contained in existing water quality standards. Requires a State to consider the need to adopt numercial criteria in addition to other water quality criteria' with respect to specified toxic pollutants whenever such State reviews a water quality standard. Requires the maintenance and protection of water the quality of which exceeds levels necessary to support the propagation of fish and wildlife and to allow recreation in and on the water, unless a State chooses, after compliance with intergovernmental coordination and public participation requirements, to allow lower water quality because of essential economic or social development for which there is no feasible alternative. Prohibits a degradation of water quality which will interfere with or injure instream water uses. Prohibits degradation in high quality waters which constitute an outstanding national resource. Requires a State to minimize the effects of development on water quality in any case where water quality degradation is permitted. Requires the Administrator to publish in the Federal Register a list of all navigable waters in each State the water quality of which is being impaired by the discharge from specific sources of toxic pollutants. Directs the Administrator to establish an individual control strategy for each listed segment of navigable waters which shall reduce the discharge of toxic pollutants from such sources so as to allow the achievement of water quality which provides for the protection and propagation of fish, shellfish, and wildlife and provides for recreation in and on the water. Increases the civil penalties for violations of requirements with respect to water quality standards under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Requires the Administrator to convene a management conference whenever the attainment or maintenance of water quality in an estuary requires the control of sources of pollution in more than one State. Provides that such a management conference shall establish and provide for the implementation of a master plan which addresses the pollution problems of the estuary involved. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to States participating in such a management conference which are equal to 55 percent of a State's cost of implementing a master plan for a fiscal year. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1984 through 1988 for such grants. Authorizes appropriations to the Administrator for FY 1984 through 1988 for: (1) administrative expenses with respect to management conferences; (2) grants for the development of master plans for estuaries; and (3) monitoring the implementation of such master plans. Prohibits the specification of a disposal site in navigable waters for the discharge of dredged or fill material unless the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, determines that the discharge of such material at such site will not have an unacceptable adverse effect on the aquatic environmental and that there is no less adverse practicable alternative to the proposed discharge. Requires that an application for a permit to discharge dredge or fill material into navigable waters at a specified disposal site be filed with the district engineer of the Corps of Engineers for the district where the discharge is to be made. Requires the district engineers to notify the Administrator, the Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce, and other appropriate Federal agency heads of any such application. Specifies the time periods within which such agencies may submit comments on such applications. Requires the district engineer to give full consideration to such comments in deciding whether to issue a permit. Requires the district engineer to notify the Administrator or the appropriate Secretary if a permit to which the Administrator or the Secretary is opposed is to be issued. Specifies the time periods within which the district engineer must publish a decision with respect to a permit application. Provides that a denial of a permit application shall be the final decision of the Secretary of the Army. Provides that a decision to issue a permit shall be the final decision of the Secretary of the Army unless the Administrator, the Secretary of the Interior, or the the Secretary of Commerce requests a review of such a decision in any case in which the Administrator or either Secretary opposed the issuance of a permit. Specifies the time periods within which the Secretary of the Army must issue a final decision following such a request. Requires the Administrator to study and report to Congress on the effects of the impoundment and discharge of waters by dams upon the quality of navigable waters.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1983
Fair Tax Act of 1983 - Title I: Reduction of Individual and Corporate Tax Rate-Subtitle A: Reduction of Rates - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reivse individual tax rates. Imposes a flat tax rate of 14 percent on the taxable income of individuals. Imposes a surtax of between 12 and 16 percent of the amount by which adjusted gross income exceeds specified levels. Imposes a flat tax rate of 30 percent on the taxable income of estates and trusts. Imposes a flat tax rate of 30 percent on the taxable income of corporations. Subtitle B: Increase in Personal Exemption for Taxpayer and Standard Deduction - Increases the personal exemption for an individual taxpayer and spouse to $1,600 and $1,800 for an individual who is a head of a household. Raises the standard deduction to $6,000 in the case of a joint return or a surviving spouse or $3,000 in the case of an individual, or a married individual filing a separate return. Subtitle C: Repeals Related to Reduction in Rates - Repeals provisions relating to: (1) tax tables for individuals; (2) minimum tax for tax preferences; (3) personal service corporations; (4) special averaging rules for lump-sum distributions; (5) accumulated corporate surplus; (6) personal holding companies; (7) income averaging; and (8) graduated corporate tax rates. Repeals the indexing of tax rates. Applies the trust throwback rules only to amounts distributed from foreign trusts. Title II: Base Broadening-Subtitle A: Credits - Repeals the general tax credit, the investment tax credit, the possessions tax credit and the income tax credits relating to: (1) the elderly and the permanently and totally disabled; (2) contributions to candidates for public office; (3) home purchases; (4) residential energy conservation; (5) producing fuel from a nonconventional source; (6) alcohol used as fuel; (7) increasing research activities; (8) employee stock ownership; and (9) clinical testing for certain drugs. Allows an income tax deduction for household and dependent care expenses necessary for employment. (Present law allows an income tax credit for such expenses.) Subtitle B: Exclusions - Repeals the partial income tax exclusion for interest and dividends. Repeals the exclusion for: (1) qualified transportation furnished by an employer; (2) cafeteria plans furnished by an employer; (3) dependent care assistance programs; (4) dividend reinvestment in public utilities; (5) payments to encourage mining for defenses purposes; (6) earned income of citizens living abroad; (7) certain allowances; (8) income from sources within the United States; and (9) income from sources within Puerto Rico. Treats as taxable income: (1) tier two railroad retirement benefits; (2) amounts paid by an employer for group-term life insurance; (3) unemployment compensation; (4) the annual increase in the the cash surrender value of life insurance policies; (5) interest on industrial development bonds and mortgage subsidy bonds; and (6) amounts contributed by an employer to accident and health plans. Provides that the transfer of a corporation's stock in satisfaction of indebtedness will be treated as having satisfied the indebtedness with money equal to the fair market value of the stock. Provides a limited exclusion from income for scholarships and fellowships. imposes the surtax on the gain from the sale of a principal residence. Amends the Merchant Marine Act to repeal the tax exemption for deposits into, and withdrawals from, a capital construction fund. Subtitle C: Deductions - Repeals the deduction for two-earner married couples, and the deduction for adoption expenses. Limits the amount of the interest deduction for individuals. Repeals the deduction for State and local personal property and sales taxes. Restricts the charitable contribution for corporations to 50 percent of the charitable contributions during the year. Increases the floor on the deduction for medical and dental expenses from five percent to 10 percent. Subtitle D: Repeal of Special Capital Gains Treatment - Repeals the alternative tax on capital gains for corporations, and the deduction for individuals for capital gains. Limits the amount of the capital loss deduction without regard to distinctions between short term and long term capital losses. Eliminates the distinction between short-term and long-term gains and losses. Title III: Capital Cost Recovery-Subtitle A: Simplified Cost Recovery Systems - Allows individuals and corporations a deduction from gross income for a percentage of the balance in a recovery account for each year. Includes in the recovery account the cost of recovery property which is depreciable property used in a trade or business or held for the production of income which is placed in sevice after December 31, 1984. Establishes six classes of recovery property and specifies a class life for each. Assigns property to each class according to the class life of the property. Sets forth rules for the calculation of the recovery percentage on the basis of the class life of the property. Allows individuals and corporations a deduction for depletable property determined as a percentage of the balance in a recovery account for each year. Establishes six classes of depletable property and assigns a class life to each. Assigns a ten year class life for oil, gas, and geothermal wells. Subtitle B: Other Changes - Repeals the income tax deductions for: (1) intangible drilling and development costs for oil, gas, and geothermal wells; (2) depreciation; (3) amortization of pollution control facilities; (4) improvements made by a leasee on a lessor's property; (5) certain depreciable assets; (6) amortization of reforestation expenditures; (7) percentage depletion; (8) development expenditures; and (9) mining and exploration expenditures. Allows a ten-year period for the amortization of construction period interest and taxes. Allows a deduction of circulation expenses for a newspaper, magazine, or other periodical ratably over a ten-year period. Excludes amounts chargeable to a capital account from such treatment. Provides for the deduction of 50 percent of tertiary injectant expenses in the taxable year and 50 percent of such expenses in the succeeding taxable year. Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions - Subtitle A: Foreign Income - Requires an individual who owns stock in a corporation which is a controlled foreign corporation to include in income a pro rata share of the corporations's earnings and profits for such year. Reduces such amount by any amount required to be included in in income by reason of the amount being foreign personal holding company income. Repeals the domestic international sales corporations (DISC) provisions for taxable years beginning after December 31, 1984. Subtitle B: Other Miscellaneous Provisions - Repeals the tax exemption for credit unions. Reduces the limit on benefits which may be paid to a participant under defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans. Repeals the cost-of-living adjustment for defined benefit plans. Continues the cost-of-living adjustment for purposes of calculating a participant's average compensation for his high three years. Requires farmers to compute their taxable income using the accrual method of accounting with the capitalization of preproduction expenses. Exempts taxpayers who do not have gross receipts exceeding $1,000,000. Requires farming syndicates to use the accrual method of accounting without regard to gross receipts. Provides that farmers who must use the accrual method cannot expense the following: (1) soil and water conservation expenditures; (2) fertilizer; and (3) expenses for clearing land. Requires the deferral of income or loss must be taken into account in determining tax liability under completed contract method of accounting. Requires that the taxpayer with adjusted gross income in excess of $100,000 must make estimated payments equal to 90 percent of current year tax. Requires the recognition of the gain or loss on distributions of property by corporations. Eliminates the special bad debt reserves of financial institutions. Title V: Effective Dates - Sets forth the effective dates of the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1983
Amends the Clean Air Act to require any State within the acid rain mitigation area to provide for the control of acid deposition in its State implementation plan. Provides that such acid rain (or precipitation) mitigation area shall be the 31 States east of a line running south from the western borders of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas. Sets deadlines for: (1) such State submission of a plan meeting acid deposition control requirements (one year after enactment of this Act); and (2) approval of such plan by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (one year and four months after such enactment). Requires that if such deadlines are not met: (1) no plan shall be promulgated by the Administrator; and (2) electric utility steam generating units on specified lists must comply, within five years of such enactment, with an emission limitation for sulfur dioxide of one and two-tenths pounds per million British thermal units (Btu) on a 30-day average. Sets forth provisions for mitigation of acid precipitation. Directs the Administrator, within 90 days after the enactment of this Act, to publish: (1) a list of the 50 electric utility steam generating units located in the acid rain mitigation area which had the highest annual emissions of sulfur dioxide for the calendar year 1980 and which are not subject to standards of performance for new stationary sources; and (2) a list of all other electric utility steam generating units located in that area which have a generating capacity of more than 100 megawatts and which are not subject to standards of performance for new stationary sources. Requires each applicable implementation plan for each State in the acid rain mitigation area to establish a statewide program for reduction of net sulfur dioxide emissions from stationary sources located in that State, which will achieve a specified reduction in the total annual sulfur dioxide emissions by 1993. Requires that such reduction equal the reduction which would result if a specified schedule of requirements were applied to each unit listed. Permits the total emissions reductions required under the State program to be achieved by application of appropriate enforceable emission reduction techniques to: (1) the listed sources; or (2) any other sources of sulfur dioxide in the acid rain mitigation area. Requires the regulated sources to conduct continuous emissions monitoring and to make the data thus obtained available to the Administrator and the public. Permits substitution of a reduction of two units by weight in emissions of oxides of nitrogen to be substituted for each unit of required reductions in emissions of sulfur dioxide under this Act. Directs the Administrator to establish an emission reduction credit program for controlled trading by States within five emission reduction credit regions within the acid rain mitigation area. Authorizes the Administrator to carry out: (1) a full-scale demonstration of limestone-injection multistage burner technology on one or more 100 to 200 megawatt utility boilers; and (2) such other research and demonstration activities relating to appropriate innovative sulfur dioxide control technologies. Directs the Administrator to report the results of such research and demonstration activities to the Congress by September 30, 1985. Authorizes appropriations to carry out such research and demonstration activities and report.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 1983
Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to eliminate provisions which: (1) permit petitions to the Secretary of Energy for prescription of rules which supersede State energy efficiency standards; and (2) provide for supersedure of State energy efficiency standards prescribed after January 1, 1978.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 1983
Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1983 - Title I: Public Water Systems - Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate recommended maximum contaminant levels and revised national primary drinking water regulations within specified time periods for: (1) each of 14 contaminants listed in 47 Federal Register 9352; (2) toxic water pollutants which are found in drinking water; and (3) other substances which may have an adverse effect on the health of persons. Sets forth requirements with respect to such contaminant levels and drinking water regulations. Requires the Administrator to list a contaminant and promulgate a revised drinking water regulation for such contaminant which requires the use of treatment techniques if such contaminant cannot be accurately enough measured in water to establish a maximum contaminant level. Authorizes the Administrator to enter into arrangements with independent scientific organizations to assist in the establishment of recommended maximum contaminant levels. Requires the Administrator to establish a program which shall require a representative sample of various public water systems to monitor for unregulated contaminants. Directs the Administrator to require the owner or operator of a public water system to give notice to persons served by it of contaminant levels of any unregulated contaminants required to be monitored. Requires the Administrator to enforce compliance with national primary drinking water regulations through civil actions or administrative orders with respect to public water systems, unless there is in effect a variance or an exemption. Revises the compliance schedules in the case of public water systems which have been granted an exemption from compliance with interim or revised national primary drinking water regulations. Permits extensions of such exemptions in certain cases. Sets forth procedural requirements with respect to administrative orders issued to enforce compliance with regulations, schedules, or other requirements under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Directs the Administrator to seek an injunction or to recover a civil penalty; or both, with respect to any person who fails to comply with such an administrative order. Prohibits any action by the Administrator, by a State, or by a court which would delay or make less stringent any requirement of a primary national drinking water standard. Permits the Administrator to commence a civil action or to issue an administrative order to enforce compliance in the case of a public water system which fails to comply with a national primary drinking water regulation beyond the thirtieth day after the date of a notice of noncompliance by the Administrator to the State having primary enforcement responsibility over such public water system. Authorizes the Administrator to provide technical assistance to small public water systems to enable them to achieve and maintain compliance with national drinking water regulations. Authorizes appropriations for such assistance for FY 1984 through 1987. Authorizes the Administrator to require, as a condition of a State exercising primary enforcement responsibility with respect to national drinking water regulations, that the State carry out technical assistance programs for small public water systems which are substantially similar to the Federal program. Provides that, in requiring a public water system to keep records with respect to the compliance with national primary drinking water regulations, the Administrator shall take into account the system size and the contaminants which are likely to be found in the system's drinking water. Sets forth criminal penalties for tampering with a public water system. Provides that notice by the owner or operator of a public water system which fails to comply with national primary drinking water regulations to the persons served by such system shall provide an explanation of such failure, the steps being taken to correct such failure, and the groups which should seek alternative water supplies until such failure is corrected. Requires each owner or operator of a public water system to also give annual notice to the persons served by it of the availability to the public of records and reports kept by such system with respect to compliance with the national primary drinking water regulations. Permits civil actions by public water systems and any other persons against any persons who are causing or contributing to the presence of a contaminant in the drinking water used by such systems or other persons if such contamination results in the water supply not meeting national primary drinking water regulations. Title II: Protection of Underground Sources of Drinking Water - Prohibits the disposal of hazardous waste by underground injection above, into, or under a formation which contains a drinking water source, unless it is established that such injection will not cause the hazardous waste to migrate into or otherwise endanger drinking water sources. Requires State underground injection programs to prohibit the disposal of brine brought to the surface in connection with oil by any means other than underground injection in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act. Defines the term "drinking water source" as underground water which supplies a public water system, is capable of supplying a public water system, or could supply a public water system if the system used technologically advanced treatment. Requires the Administrator to publish notice in the Federal Register if an area has an aquifer which furnishes or may furnish in the future a substantial part of the drinking water supply for any public water system and which would create a significant hazard to the public health if contaminated. Permits Federal financial assistance for projects which are designed not to contaminate such an aquifer. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations for State programs to prevent surface impoundments which are not subject to regulation under the Solid Waste Disposal Act from endangering drinking water sources. Permits States to apply to exercise primary enforcement responsibility. Requires the Administrator to prescribe a program for a State if no State program is approved. Permits States to submit to the Administrator plans to protect underground drinking water sources. Authorizes the Administrator to provide technical assistance and to make grants to the States to assist them in the development of such plans. Requires that Federal actions with respect to underground drinking water sources in a State be coordinated with the State protection program. Authorizes the Administrator to issue an administrative order to enforce compliance with underground injection control program requirements. Sets forth procedural requirements with respect to such administrative orders. Directs the Administrator to seek an injunction or to recover a civil penalty, or both, with respect to any person who fails to comply with such an administrative order. Prohibits any action by the Administrator, by a State, or by a court which would delay or make less stringent any requirement of an underground injection control program. Permits the Administrator to commence a civil action or to issue an administrative order to enforce compliance in the case of any person who fails to comply with underground injection control program requirements beyond the thirtieth day after the date of a notice of noncompliance by the Administrator to the State having primary enforcement responsibility for underground water sources. Title III: Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1984 through 1989 for: (1) the provision of research, technical assistance, information, and training of personnel to the States and municipalities to implement the Safe Drinking Water Act; and (2) grants to States for public water system supervision programs and underground water source protection programs. Extends indefinitely the authority of the Administrator to issue certifications of need and orders for the provision of chemicals necessary for the treatment of water.
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