United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1991
Calls upon the President, as part of the Uruguay Round General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) talks, to initiate negotiations to make GATT compatible with the Marine Mammal Protection Act and other U.S. health, safety, labor, and environmental laws, including laws to protect the environment outside of the United States. Declares that the Congress will not approve legislation to implement any trade agreement (including the Uruguay Round of the GATT and the U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Agreement) that jeopardizes such laws, including the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Clean Air Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1991
Second National Blue Ribbon Commission to Eliminate Waste in Government Act - Establishes the Second National Blue Ribbon Commission to Eliminate Waste in Government to: (1) conduct a private sector survey on management and cost control in the Federal Government; (2) review executive agency operations and existing General Accounting Office, Congressional Budget Office, Inspector General Reports, and other existing governmental and nongovernmental recommendations for reducing waste; and (3) submit to the President and the Congress a list of those recommendations with estimated savings that the Commission determines are most significant and recommendations for improving the budget process, management, and reducing waste and costs in the Government. Requires the Commission to identify, address, and to report to the President and the Congress on: (1) opportunities for increased efficiency and reduced costs in the Government that can be realized by executive action or legislation; (2) areas in the Government where managerial accountability can be enhanced and administrative control can be improved; (3) specific Federal programs that have accomplished their objectives and ought to be terminated; (4) specific Federal program services that could be provided at a lower cost by the private sector; (5) specific reforms of the budget process that would yield savings, increase accountability and efficiency, and enhance public confidence in the budget process; (6) specific areas in the Government where further study can be justified by potential savings; and (7) specific recommendations for legislative and administrative actions. Requires the Commission to be funded, staffed, and equipped, to the extent practicable and permitted by law, by the private sector without cost to the Government.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1991
Divides the Central Judicial District of California into three divisions: (1) the Eastern Division comprising the counties of Riverside and San Bernardino, the court for which shall be held in the city of Riverside, the city of San Bernardino, or within five miles from the boundary of either city; (2) the Western Division comprising the counties of Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura, the court for which shall be held at Los Angeles; and (3) the Southern District comprising Orange County, the court for which shall be held at Santa Ana.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1991
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) there is a need for the development of a comprehensive, coordinated strategy to encourage investment in human and material resources, to harness our inventive genius to the marketplace, to secure the education and training of a competitive citizenry and workforce, and to stimulate cooperative efforts between the private and public sectors at all levels of business, education, and government; and (2) such a strategy will help the United States achieve its goal of being the strongest Nation on Earth economically and militarily, so that it remains the greatest Nation in support of human dignity, freedom, and democratic ideals.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 1991
Amends the Federal judicial code to provide for the establishment of an additional place of holding court in the Central Judicial District of California within five miles of either Riverside or San Bernadino, California.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 1991
Divides the Central Judicial District of California into three divisions: (1) the Eastern Division comprising the counties of Riverside and San Bernardino, the court for which shall be held in the city of Riverside, the city of San Bernardino, or within five miles from the boundary of either city; (2) the Western Division comprising the counties of Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura, the court for which shall be held at Los Angeles; and (3) the Southern District comprising Orange County, the court for which shall be held at Santa Ana.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 1991
Sets forth U.S. policy on assistance to El Salvador. Permits funds made available for military assistance for El Salvador for FY 1992 in excess of $21,000,000 to be obligated only with the prior notification of specified congressional committees. Authorizes the transfer of such funds to the Demobilization and Transition Fund for El Salvador established under the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1991. Makes such funds available only for costs of the demobilization, retraining, relocation, and reemployment in civilian pursuits of former combatants in the conflict in El Salvador. Permits the obligation of amounts in the Fund only if the President, prior to obligation of funds, notifies: (1) specified congressional committees; and (2) the Congress that the El Salvadoran Government and representatives of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) have reached a permanent settlement of the conflict. Prohibits any U.S. assistance to El Salvador if the head of the El Salvadoran Government is deposed by military coup or decree. Resumes such assistance only pursuant to a law enacted by the Congress. Permits the delivery of military assistance to the armed forces of El Salvador only with the prior approval of the elected president of El Salvador.
United States · United States Congress · 13 November 1991
Directs the Secretary of Transportation to designate the pesticide metam sodium as a hazardous substance to be regulated when transported by overland carriers. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to designate metam sodium as a hazardous substance.
United States · United States Congress · 12 November 1991
Justice for Wards Cove Workers Act - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1991 to remove a provision excluding from application of the Act any disparate impact case filed before March 1, 1975, and decided after October 30, 1983. (Wards Cove Packing Co. Inc. v. Atonio, 1989, held that, in cases brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the burden is on the plaintiff to prove an employer had no business necessity for a practice with discriminatory effects.)
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Pesticide Safety Improvement Act of 1991 - Title I: Pesticide Safety - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to revise specified definitions of such Act. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, at any time he has information with respect to the dietary risk of an active ingredient, to: (1) reassess associated tolerances and exemptions from tolerances issued under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA); (2) determine whether such tolerances or exemptions meet the requirements of such Act and whether additional tolerances or exemptions should be issued; and (3) take specified administrative actions. Authorizes (currently, requires) the Administrator to cancel pesticide registrations after five years unless the registrant requests a continuance. Permits the continued sale and use of pesticides with suspended registrations if they will not have unreasonable adverse environmental effects. Authorizes the Administrator to issue a final order to ensure that: (1) a pesticide or other materials required to be submitted to the Administrator comply with FIFRA requirements; and (2) the pesticide will not generally cause unreasonable adverse environmental effects. Permits final orders to: (1) cancel the registration of a pesticide (or the registrations of a group of pesticides containing a common active or inert ingredient) and prohibit the future registration of such pesticide; (2) prescribe composition, packaging, labeling, and registration requirements for pesticides and provide for the cancellation or modification of pesticides not meeting requirements; and (3) classify a pesticide for restricted use or change the classification of a pesticide. Authorizes the Administrator to initiate a proceeding with respect to the cancellation or modification of a pesticide registration if there are concerns that such pesticide may cause unreasonable adverse effects on man or the environment. Directs the Administrator, before issuing a proposed order to cancel or change the classification of a pesticide, to consult with the Secretary of Agriculture and, if the order is based upon potential adverse effects to human health, the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Requires the Administrator to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Secretaries with respect to consultation on orders to cancel, suspend, or modify a registration. Exempts specified proceedings and proposed orders from a requirement that the Administrator first determine that there are concerns that a pesticide causes adverse health or environmental effects. Directs the Administrator to establish an administrative record for each cancellation or modification proceeding. Sets forth provisions concerning proposed order requirements, public notice and comment on orders, review by the Secretaries and the Scientific Advisory Panel, informal hearings, and final orders. Permits the Administrator to issue an order to allow the continued sale or use of existing stocks of canceled pesticides. Permits affected registrants to: (1) apply for amendments to a registration to make it comply with an order; or (2) request voluntary cancellation of the registration. Authorizes interested persons to petition for the issuance, modification, or revocation of final orders. Sets forth judicial and public administrative review procedures. Authorizes the Administrator, if determined that the use of a pesticide may result in an imminent hazard, to issue an order suspending registration of the pesticide. Makes such order effective upon publication in the Federal Register or upon receipt by the registrant, whichever occurs first. Provides for the expiration of such order 180 days after the effective date, unless the Administrator publishes a proposed cancellation order for the pesticide. Requires the Administrator to notify the Secretaries prior to issuing a suspension order. Authorizes the continued sale or use of existing stocks of suspended pesticides. Sets forth provisions concerning the duration of the suspension and petitions for reconsiderations of suspensions. Makes orders and denials of reconsiderations subject to judicial review. Sets forth information to be considered by the Administrator in determining whether a risk is imminent. Requires registrants of pesticide products registered before November 1, 1984, to submit updated registration information to the Administrator by the later of: (1) 20 years after the first pesticide product was registered; or (2) 10 years after the date on which the Administrator determines that such products are eligible for reregistration. Directs registrants of pesticide products registered after October 31, 1984, to submit such information 10 years after the first product was registered and every ten years thereafter. Provides for extensions of such deadlines under specified conditions. Authorizes the Administrator to issue suspension orders for failures to comply with submission deadlines. Permits cancellations of registrations remaining suspended for more than three years. Authorizes the Administrator to assess fees from registrants for the periodic review of such registrations. Permits the Administrator to cancel registrations for failures to pay fees. Authorizes the Administrator to require pesticide importers, exporters, commercial applicators, and dealers, applicants or holders of experimental use permits, owners and operators of pesticide testing facilities, and any other pesticide holders subject to FIFRA requirements to maintain and make available specified records. Requires pesticide dealers to maintain records for at least three years after the distribution or sale of a pesticide. Exempts the following records from such requirement: (1) financial, pricing, or sales data other than shipment data; (2) personnel data, except for data concerning pesticide exposure effects; or (3) specified research or test data. Revises provisions concerning inspections and warrants to conduct such inspections. Requires the Administrator, upon the request of a State, to disclose any information acquired under FIFRA to the State if the State assures that: (1) the submitter of confidential business information will receive no less protection with respect to the disclosure or use of the information by the State than is provided by FIFRA; and (2) the State's law allows the submitter to recover just compensation against the State for losses resulting from the disclosure or use of such information by the State. Deletes provisions exempting private pesticide applicators from recordkeeping and reporting requirements and from taking examinations to establish competency in the use of pesticides. Makes it a violation of FIFRA for any person to use a pesticide as a commercial applicator unless such person is a certified commercial applicator or a registered commercial applicator under the supervision of a certified applicator. Sets forth requirements for certified and commercial applicators. Requires a restricted use pesticide to be considered to have been applied by, or under the direct supervision of, a certified private applicator only if the pesticide is applied by a person who is a certified private applicator or a private applicator under the supervision of a certified applicator. Sets forth requirements for certified and supervised applicators. Requires certified and registered commercial applicators to undergo refresher training and to be recertified or reregistered at least every five years. Sets forth minimum recertification and reregistration requirements. Directs the Administrator to develop training material for the application of pesticides, including material concerning the detection of pesticide poisoning, emergency medical treatment, hazards posed by pesticides to public health and the environment, and the requirements of laws, regulations, and labeling. Provides for periodic updates of such material. Requires the Administrator to establish minimum standards for trainers and training programs with respect to commercial and private applicators. Directs the Administrator to prescribe programs for States whose programs fail to comply with such standards. Provides that privately-administered programs shall be at least as stringent as Federal or State programs. Requires Federal and State field personnel responsible for on-site inspections of pesticide use to have training which, at a minimum, includes the required training material subjects issued by the Administrator. Revises provisions concerning unlawful acts. Increases and expands the scope of civil and criminal penalties for FIFRA violations. Prescribes penalties for violations involving knowing endangerment. Revises provisions concerning State authority to regulate pesticides to authorize a State to regulate the sale or use of any federally registered pesticide or device in the State if the Administrator approves the State plan for regulation and if such regulation does not permit any sale or use prohibited by FIFRA. Sets forth requirements for State plans, as well as for plans for regulation by political subdivisions of States. Directs the Administrator to identify crop-pest combinations that appear vulnerable to excessive losses because of pest resistance or because of the potential loss of existing pest control options and the chemical, biological, and alternative control measures available to control such pests. Directs the Secretary to furnish to the Administrator on an ongoing basis information on: (1) the food consumption patterns of consumers and major identifiable subgroups of food consumers in the United States; and (2) the use of pesticides in commercial-scale agricultural production and in the storage, transportation, and processing of food. Requires the Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to furnish to the Administrator on an ongoing basis information on the representative actual levels of pesticide residues on food items. Provides that such information shall ensure that information on the approximate actual level of human dietary exposure to pesticides is readily available to the Administrator. Directs the Administrator to establish a program for the storage, management, retrieval, and utilization of such information and to use such information in making decisions under FIFRA and FDCA. Requires the Administrator to assume, if information regarding actual use and residue levels has not been made available, that a pesticide results in dietary residues on food at the highest level permitted under a FDCA tolerance or reasonably feasible under a FDCA exemption. Authorizes appropriations. Revises provisions concerning voluntary cancellations of registrations by registrants. Directs the Administrator, prior to publication of a cancellation request in the Federal Register, to notify the Secretary of Agriculture of: (1) the chemicals and pesticide uses that may be affected; (2) the available biological, cultural, integrated pest management, and alternative chemical control options; and (3) the extent of the acreage and geographic distribution of the acreage of the crop affected by the target pest controlled by the pesticide use subject to cancellation and regions where the crop is currently grown without significant problems for such pest. Authorizes any person to petition the Administrator to delay cancellation of a minor agricultural use registration for up to three years. Sets forth petition requirements and approval procedures. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, for each minor use registration for which a delay in cancellation has been granted, to require the Assistant Secretary for Science and Education to research alternative pest control methods. Requires the Secretary to report annually to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees on alternative pest control methods. Directs the Administrator to report annually to such committees on efforts to expedite the registration of biological alternatives to conventional pesticides. Directs the Secretary to establish a minor use registration support program within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Science and Education. Requires the Assistant Secretary to seek registrations for agricultural minor uses, gather data to support existing registrations for minor uses, seek tolerances and tolerance exemptions, and gather data to support new tolerances and the maintenance of existing tolerances for minor uses. Authorizes appropriations. Permits the Administrator to waive fees for minor use registrations or reregistrations, except for fees required by persons petitioning for delays in cancellations. Directs the Administrator to require residue data to support tolerances only for those geographical areas where the registration of any product allows the use. Authorizes the Administrator to require additional residue data if the registrant wishes to expand the geographical area where the product may be used. Makes technical amendments to administrative provisions concerning registrations and judicial review. Title II: Tolerances and Exemptions for Pesticide Chemical Residues - Amends the FDCA to provide that pesticide residues in or on a raw agricultural commodity or processed food do not make the food adulterated. Revises provisions concerning adulterated food. Deems pesticide chemical residues in or on a food to be unsafe unless a tolerance, or exemption to a tolerance, is in effect with respect to the chemical residue and the concentration of the residue is in the limits of the tolerance. Provides that: (1) pesticide chemical residues in or on processed foods without separate tolerances shall not be considered unsafe so long as the residue level is within the tolerance limit for the raw agricultural commodity from which the food was made; and (2) residues in or on processed foods made from raw agricultural commodities for which a residue exemption is in effect shall not be considered unsafe. Provides that residues of degradation products of precursor substances that are pesticide chemicals shall not be considered unsafe if: (1) the combined residues of the precursor substance and the degradation products are within the level of the tolerance for the precursor substance; or (2) an exemption is in effect for the precursor substance and the tolerance or exemption does not state that it applies solely to the precursor chemical. Authorizes the Administrator to establish, modify, or revoke a tolerance or exemption from a tolerance for a pesticide chemical residue. Prohibits a tolerance from being established at a level higher than a level that the Administrator determines will protect public health. Requires the Administrator to modify or revoke such higher tolerances. Provides that a tolerance will protect the public health if the dietary risk posed to food consumers is not greater than negligible. Establishes thresholds for negligible risks with respect to adverse health risks. Authorizes the Administrator to establish a tolerance for a residue that results in a greater than negligible risk if: (1) use of the pesticide producing the residue protects humans or the environment from adverse effects that would result in greater risks than the dietary risk from the chemical; (2) use of the chemical avoids risks to humans or the environment that would result from the use of an alternative pesticide chemical on the same food and the Administrator has taken action to remove the alternative pesticide chemical under FIFRA and has initiated a tolerance revocation action for the chemical; or (3) the unavailability of the chemical would reduce the availability to food consumers of an adequate and economical domestic supply of the food and the adverse economic or health effects to consumers would outweigh the dietary risk from the residue. Prohibits such tolerances from being issued, or revocations of such tolerances from being denied, unless: (1) the Administrator has assessed the extent to which efforts are being made to develop alternative methods of pest control or alternative pesticide chemicals for use on the food or commodity that would meet risk exposure requirements; (2) the tolerance is limited to a period of five years; and (3) the Administrator has proposed the issuance or denial in accordance with specified administrative requirements. Prohibits a tolerance from being established unless there is a practical method for detecting and measuring the levels of the pesticide residue in or on the food. Permits exemptions to tolerances to be made only if the Administrator determines that a tolerance is not needed to protect the public health. Permits persons to petition for the establishment, modification, or revocation of a tolerance or exemption. Sets forth petitioning procedures and judicial review provisions. Entitles tolerance or exemption information submitted to the Administrator under FDCA and registration information submitted under FIFRA to confidential treatment, with specified exceptions. Requires the Administrator to revoke or suspend tolerances consistent with, and following, the cancellation or suspension of a pesticide's registration under FIFRA. Permits delays of the effective dates of a modification or revocation of a tolerance, subject to certain conditions. Requires the Administrator to collect fees for functions regarding the establishment, modification, or revocation of tolerances and exemptions. Prohibits States or political subdivisions from enforcing any limit on a pesticide residue unless the limit is identical to the Federal tolerance or exemption for the residue. Authorizes the Administrator to grant States the authority to establish more stringent residue limits if such limits are warranted by special local circumstances. Permits the Administrator to treat such authority as a petition to modify or revoke a tolerance. Authorizes appropriations for increased monitoring by the Secretary of Health and Human Services of pesticide residues in imported and domestic foods. Title III: Adulterated Poultry Products - Amends the Poultry Products Inspection Act to make a conforming amendment to provide that pesticide residues in or on raw agricultural commodities or processed foods do not make the food adulterated. Deems commodities or processed foods containing residues that are unsafe under FDCA standards to be adulterated. Title IV: Adulterated Meat and Meat Products - Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to make amendments parallel to those made to the Poultry Products Inspection Act. Title V: Adulterated Eggs and Egg Products - Amends the Egg Products Inspection Act to make amendments parallel to those made to the Poultry Products Inspection Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should award the Presidential Unit Citation to the U.S.S. Nevada's crew for their heroism and gallantry during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 1991
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1991 - Title I: National Ocean Service - Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Commerce for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for: (1) mapping, charting, and geodesy; (2) observation and assessment; and (3) ocean and coastal management. Prohibits funds under this Act from being used to conduct analyses of samples collected under the National Status and Trends Program until completion of a specified water circulation model for Long Island Sound. Earmarks observation and assessment funds for such a model. Title II: National Marine Fisheries Service - Amends the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Fisheries Program Authorization Act to authorize appropriations to the Department of Commerce for the National Marine Fisheries Service for: (1) information collection and analysis; (2) conservation and management; and (3) State and industry assistance. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into agreements with, and provide financial assistance to, State, marine fisheries commissions, regional fishery management councils, and academic institutions for research on marine animals, endangered species, and fisheries conservation and management. Mandates a study in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and a report to specified congressional committees on the effects of feeding of noncaptive dolphins by human beings. Requires establishment in NOAA of the National Shellfish Indicator Study Project to conduct research on pathogenic indicators of contamination of shellfish growing areas, to be conducted in accordance with a specified existing cooperative agreement between NOAA and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to release certain previously-appropriated funds for shellfish water standards research. Authorizes appropriations. Mandates a comprehensive economic study and a report to the Congress to provide baseline information to guide policy decisions on the future of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic shrimp fishery. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Oceanic and Atmospheric Research - Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for NOAA for: (1) climate and air quality research; and (2) atmospheric research. Requires the Office of the Chief Scientist of NOAA to submit to the Congress a plan for implementation of a nationwide climate services system and applied climatology program. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for NOAA for ocean and Great Lakes research. Authorizes appropriations to the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OOAR) of NOAA for the Cooperative Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for the OOAR for a large lakes research plan. Title IV: National Weather Service - Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) for operations and research. Mandates establishment of: (1) an advisory committee on Atlantic tropical cyclone research and reconnaissance; and (2) a five-year program for data collection, research, and analysis on such cyclones; and (3) a management plan for the five-year program. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for the NWS for public warning and forecast systems, including systems acquisition. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary to complete the acquisition and deployment of the Next Generation Weather Radar system and the Automated Surface Observing Systems. Directs the Secretary to provide at least one NWS liaison officer for each area receiving such public institution liaison and community preparedness services, as of the date of enactment of this Act, from a Weather Service Office (WSO), a Weather Service Meteorological Observatory (WSMO), or an Agricultural Weather Service Center (AWSC). Requires such officer to be provided for at least two years after the WSO, WSMO, or AWSC is closed, consolidated, automated, or relocated. Directs the Secretary to provide such areas with sufficient personnel to ensure that modernization and restructuring of the NWS do not result in degradation in public institution liaison and community preparedness of such areas. Requires the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to identify areas for which there is significant doubt that the Secretary will be able to make a certification that such actions regarding a WSO or a Weather Service Forecast Office will not result in degradation of weather services to the affected area. Requires the Comptroller General to report to specified congressional committees regarding any areas certified by the Secretary which are listed by the NAS as significantly doubtful of certification. Amends the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1989 to add removal of any NWS radar to the list of actions requiring such certification by the Secretary. Modifies the required contents of the certification and associated procedure. Title V: National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service - Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for NOAA for: (1) satellite observing systems; and (2) completion of the procurement of specified Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites and Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites and the launching and supporting ground systems for each; and (3) data and information services. Amends the Land Remote-Sensing Commercialization Act of 1984 to mandate that any license issued under specified provisions of that Act specify that the licensee shall promptly make available all unenhanced data which the Secretary of the Interior (currently, the Secretary of Commerce) may request under specified provisions of the Act relating to archiving of data. Amends provisions of the Act relating to archiving in order to transfer from the Secretary of Commerce to the Secretary of the Interior responsibility for: (1) providing for long-term storage, maintenance, and upgrading of the basic, global, land remote-sensing data set; (2) requesting data needed for the basic data set from a system operator; (3) making data which is in the public domain available to requesting parties; and (4) using existing Government facilities, to the extent practicable, to carry out these functions. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to consult with the Secretary of Commerce to ensure that archiving activities are consistent with the terms and conditions of any contract, agreement, or license under specified provisions of the Act. Title VI: Buy America Provisions - Sets forth Buy American provisions regarding any contract or subcontract made with funds authorized under this Act for articles, materials, or supplies. Declares ineligible for any contract or subcontract from NOAA any person determined by a court or Federal agency to have affixed a fraudulent "Made in America" label to any product. Authorizes awarding to a domestic firm a contract under this Act for goods that, under competitive procedures, would be awarded to a foreign firm, if certain circumstances exist. Title VII: Tropical Cyclone Research Program - Tropical Cyclone Research Act of 1991. Directs the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Commerce to establish a five-year joint program, which expands on the plan established in provisions of this Act relating to Atlantic tropical cyclones, for collecting operational and reconnaissance data, conducting research, and analyzing data on tropical cyclones to assist the forecast and warning program and increase the understanding of the causes and behavior of tropical cyclones. Sets forth the responsibilities of each Secretary. Directs those Secretaries to jointly develop and submit to the Congress management plans for: (1) the program established by this Act; and (2) continued tropical cyclone surveillance and reconnaissance which will adequately protect the citizens of U.S. coastal areas. Mandates that the management plan and program: (1) provide for a minimum of the same level and quality of protection as the current tropical cyclone surveillance and reconnaissance program; and (2) in no way allow any reduction in the level, quality, timeliness, sustainability, and area of served of both the existing principal and back-up severe storm reconnaissance and tracking systems. Title VIII: Program Support - Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for NOAA for: (1) executive direction and administrative activities; (2) acquisition, construction, maintenance, and operation of facilities; (3) marine services; and (4) reactivation and operation of a specified research vessel. Directs the Secretary to acquire space from the Administrator of General Services that meets the long-term needs of NOAA on Near Island in Kodiak, Alaska, provided the annual lease costs do not exceed a specified amount. Prohibits deactivation of any NOAA research vessel until an equivalent replacement is operational. Prohibits construction of any NOAA vessel or its major components in a foreign shipyard. Prohibits NOAA vessels homeported in the United States from being overhauled, repaired, or maintained in a foreign shipyard, except for voyage repairs. Directs the Secretary to consult with the Oceanographer of the Navy regarding interoperability of NOAA vessels with Navy vessels. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for modernization of the NOAA fleet. Mandates submission to the Congress of a detailed fleet replacement and modernization plan. Authorizes the Secretary to acquire NOAA vessels by purchase, lease, lease-purchase, or otherwise, under one or more multi-year contracts. Imposes requirements and conditions on such contracts. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for NOAA for aircraft services. Title IX: Miscellaneous Provisions - Requires notice to specified congressional committees: (1) before the Secretary may carry out a major reorganization of, or reprogram over a specified amount of funds appropriated for, any NOAA program or activity; and (2) annually regarding any new NOAA program or activity. Requires the Comptroller General to submit to the Congress an audit of: (1) natural resource damage assessment and restoration activities of NOAA under specified Acts; and (2) the Damage Assessment and Restoration Revolving Fund. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress on a two-year budget cycle for NOAA. Freezes the price of nautical charts or other nautical products produced or published by NOAA. Mandates a report to the Congress by the Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences of the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology regarding: (1) the most urgent current needs of oceanographic researchers for remote sensing capabilities and remotely sensed data; and (2) the major goals of satellite oceanography for the next ten years. Directs the Secretary to submit to specified congressional committees a report on how current and planned Federal satellite capabilities can aid in the enforcement of Federal fisheries laws and international fisheries conservation programs. Establishes in NOAA a Cooperative Institute of Fisheries Oceanography in partnership with Duke University and the Consolidated University of North Carolina. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to acquire space from the Administrator of General Services in the area of Newport News-Norfolk, Virginia, for consolidating and meeting the long-term space needs of NOAA in a cost-effective manner. Authorizes exchange of Department of Commerce real property for other real property in the area. Directs the Secretary to complete and make publicly available a manual describing requirements for recipients of NOAA financial assistance. Prohibits, after enactment of this Act, subjecting such assistance to review by the Financial Assistance Review Board. Sets forth procedures applicable to nondiscretionary assistance programs. Declares that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, financial assistance provided under a program for which the recipient is specified by statute to be, or has customarily been, a State or an interstate fishery commission may be provided on a sole-source basis. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for implementing the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990. Prohibits using amounts appropriated under this Act for activities authorized separately under the Deep Seabed Hard Minerals Resources Act. Repeals the National Ocean Pollution Planning Act of 1978. Authorizes the Secretary to make a grant of a specified amount to a qualified institution to develop and promote innovative post-secondary education and research in seafood business management and vessel operations. Establishes in NOAA the Chesapeake Bay Estuarine Resources Office. Earmarks funds for the establishment of the Office. Requires, notwithstanding any other provision of law, that amounts received by the United States (after enactment of this Act or with respect to the grounding of the Exxon Valdez) as reimbursement of expenses related to oil or hazardous substance spills response activities conducted by NOAA: (1) be deposited in NOAA's Damage Assessment and Restoration Revolving Fund; (2) be available for use in accordance with the law under which the activities are conducted; and (3) not be considered to be an augmentation of appropriations. Requires reversion to the Humbolt Bay Harbor Recreation and Conservation District of certain property on Woodley Island in Eureka, California, acquired from that District and determined to be excess property.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 1991
National Wildlife Refuge System Management and Policy Act of 1991 - Amends the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 to prohibit the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) from initiating or permitting a new use of a refuge or expanding, renewing, or extending an existing use unless it is determined that it is compatible with the purposes of the System and the refuge. Allows existing uses of such refuge system lands that have been determined to be compatible under this Act, or the Refuge Recreation Act, to continue under specified conditions. Ceases such use and revokes permits for it within five years after the enactment of this Act unless the Secretary determines that such use is compatible. Directs the Secretary, Acting through the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to establish and maintain a formal process for governing determinations of whether an existing or proposed new use in a refuge is compatible or incompatible with the purposes of the System and the refuge. Sets forth requirements for such determinations. Requires the head of each Federal agency that has, with respect to a refuge, an equivalent or secondary jurisdiction with the Department of the Interior, or conducts activities within any refuge to ensure that any actions authorized, funded, or carried out in whole or in part by such agency will not impair the resources of the refuge or be incompatible with the purposes of either the System or refuge, unless such action is specifically authorized by law or necessary for national security. Directs the Secretary to: (1) prepare by September 30, 1994, and revise not less that every ten years thereafter, a comprehensive plan for the System; and (2) prepare and revise at least every 15 years, a comprehensive conservation plan for each refuge or ecologically related complex of refuges in the System, except those in Alaska. Authorizes appropriations. Grants the Secretary emergency power to suspend any activity in any range in the National Wildlife Refuge System if such activity constitutes an imminent danger to the health and safety of any wildlife population, refuge, or to public health and safety.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 1991
Membrane Processes Research Act of 1992 - Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation to establish, through grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, or direct research, a basic research program on the treatment of contaminated water through membranes and membrane processes. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1991
Clean Water Act Research Amendments of 1991 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to revise the authorized activities of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency with respect to water pollution control and investigations. Establishes a National Water Quality Research Committee to advise the Administrator on research activities. Requires the Committee to report annually to the Congress on: (1) research conducted in the preceding year; (2) highest priority research needs for the following five-year period; (3) planned research activities; and (4) opportunities to coordinate Federal and State research. Establishes a Water Quality Monitoring Council to ensure the coordination of Federal and State surface and groundwater quality monitoring programs. Directs the Administrator to conduct a program of research and development of methods for the control of nonpoint sources of pollution. Requires the Administrator to: (1) conduct a national survey of data regarding bottom sediment contamination; and (2) conduct a program of research and development of methods for improved remediation and control of pollution problems resulting from contaminated sediments. Directs the Administrator to conduct a program of research and investigation concerning groundwater quality. Requires the Administrator to: (1) conduct a program of research and development to improve understanding of the status and trends of ecosystems and to develop improved predictive models upon which to base standardized protocols; and (2) issue protocols based on such program for use by States in conducting water quality assessments. Requires protocols to include requirements for monitoring rivers, streams, estuaries, coastal waters, and lakes. Directs the Administrator to conduct a research technology development and demonstration program to identify and demonstrate cost-effective preventive measures for sources of pollution in complex watersheds having a mix of land use types. Requires the Adminstrator to conduct a basic research, development, and demonstration program for wetlands. Revises provisions concerning grants for research and development to require the Administrator to establish a program to demonstrate practices for the prevention and control of industrial and municipal sources of water pollution. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants or enter into contracts with persons to demonstrate such practices. Sets forth conditions for the receipt of such assistance. Requires the Administrator to publish annual solicitations for proposals to demonstrate practices which may be effective in controlling sources of water pollution. Sets forth application and approval procedures. Limits the amount of Federal funding for projects. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1991
Nuclear Testing Moratorium Act - Prohibits the Secretary of Energy from conducting any explosive nuclear weapons test during the one-year period following the enactment of this Act unless the President certifies to the Congress that the Soviet Union has conducted such a test during such period.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1991
National Land Remote-Sensing Policy Act of 1991 - Amends the Land Remote-Sensing Commercialization Act of 1984 to establish a Landsat Joint Program Office (JPO) to manage the Landsat satellite system (in lieu of management by the Department of Commerce). Requires the major funding and management responsibilities for the JPO to be shared equally between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Defense, with responsibilities for other agencies and departments as designated by the President. Requires the JPO to seek public comment at least once annually and make biennial reports to the Congress and the President. Establishes a 120-day expedited process for the procurement of a successor to Landsat 6 (Landsat 7), and the right to market and distribute successor data. Sets forth an alternative competitive process, if necessary. Requires the re-negotiation of the contract for Landsat 6 for certain modifications with respect to pricing, distribution, acquisition, and access of Landsat 1 through 6 unenhanced data. Requires a report to the Congress if agreement is not reached within 120 days of enactment of this Act. Restricts the transfer of responsibilities of the Secretary of Commerce to the JPO until the launch of Landsat 6 satellite or as otherwise agreed. Repeals provisions concerning commercialization of the Landsat system. Revises provisions concerning the licensing of private remote-sensing space systems. Repeals the specific authority of agencies other than NASA to conduct research and development on space remote-sensing. Requires all unenhanced data gathered by the Federal Government to be made available to nonprofit entities at the marginal cost of acquisition, reproduction, and transmission, if the Federal agency that gathers the data determines that it will not be used for any commercial purpose. Directs the President to establish a five-year technology demonstration program to promote the development and demonstration of advanced land remote-sensing component, sensors, and system designs. Allows such program to be carried out in part with private sector funding. Requires the JPO to have a coordinating role in the program. Requires a report to the Congress on program progress. Requires an assessment of options for a successor land remote-sensing system to Landsat 7 with respect to: (1) private sector funding and management; (2) an international consortium for funding and management; (3) Federal funding and management; and (4) a cooperative effort between the Federal Government and the private sector. Expresses a preference for a private sector system. Revises provisions concerning the nondiscriminatory availability of unenhanced data to provide that such data shall be made available to all users without preference, bias, or any other special arrangement regarding delivery, format, pricing, or technical considerations which would favor one customer or class of customers over another. Provides an exception for nonprofit entities. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to develop enforcement procedures to prevent nonprofit entities from using data for commercial purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should: (1) encourage the Contracting Parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to support the world environment and world wildlife by discouraging trade in goods and services harmful to them; and (2) oppose any GATT action which impinges on the ability of the United States to protect them.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Family Preservation Act of 1991 - Title I: Child Welfare Services - Amends part B (Child Welfare Services) of title IV of the Social Security Act to convert the Child Welfare program from an authorization to a capped entitlement program. Requires maintenance of State effort under such program. Sets forth a new formula for allotments to States under such program. Repeals provisions for incentive payments to States which maintain a foster care inventory, information system, and case review system, but requires States to provide such protections and other services designed to keep families together or reunify them, or to place children for adoption, with a legal guardian, or in some other planned, permanent living arrangement. Requires States to submit the following types of reports on child welfare services and expenditures: (1) pre-expenditure reports; (2) post-expenditure reports; and (3) comparative financial contributions reports. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to annually transmit to specified congressional committees a summary of the information contained in such comparative financial contributions reports. Requires such information to be made available to the public. Reserves funds for entitlement grants to States to plan for and provide child welfare services designed to strengthen and preserve families. Requires use of part of such funds to develop or expand specialized child welfare services programs for families in crisis due to substance abuse that: (1) emphasize comprehensive services geared to the whole family; and (2) support or expand availability of programs for pregnant women and programs that allow mothers (and other caretaker relatives) to reside with their children while receiving services or treatment. Requires uses of the remaining part of such funds to develop or expand: (1) service programs to help children, where appropriate, return to families from which they have been removed, or be placed for adoption, with a legal guardian, or in some other planned, permanent living arrangement; (2) preplacement preventive services programs to help children at risk of foster care placement to remain with their families; or (3) service programs for follow-up care for families to whom a child has been returned after a foster care placement. Reserves funds for grants to State court systems to assess and improve procedures in child welfare cases, in carrying out the Child Welfare Services program and part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act. Sets forth application requirements and formulas for determining the amount of such grants for FY 1993 through 1997. Directs the Secretary of HHS to submit interim and final reports to the Congress on the information obtained from assessments conducted with such grants and the impact of such grant programs on State court procedures and functions. Requires each State to periodically compile a detailed directory of programs designed to keep families together or reunify them or place children permanently, identifying which of such programs provides specialized child welfare services to families in crisis due to substance abuse. Requires States to report on measures taken to comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act. Title II: Foster Care and Adoption Assistance - Amends title IV (Grants to States for Aid and Services to Needy Families with Children and for Child Welfare Services) of the Social Security Act to add a new part C, Comprehensive Service Projects, to grant States flexibility and resources to develop comprehensive and coordinated services designed to: (1) preserve and strengthen families with children at risk of placement outside their homes; (2) reunite children with their families expeditiously if an out-of-home placement is found to be necessary; and (3) place children in adoptive homes or other permanent arrangements in a timely fashion if reunification with their families is not appropriate. Permits any State to apply to the Secretary of HHS for permission to: (1) conduct a comprehensive service project in a selected area or areas; and (2) suspend certain child welfare services and foster care and adoption assistance requirements with respect to State activities in such area or areas during the project. Sets forth application requirements and administrative provisions for such projects. Prohibits the Secretary of HHS from requiring as a condition of approval of a project application: (1) the State to select any area or areas in which to conduct the project; or (2) the project to comply with any requirements not specified in the project authorization. Sets forth those requirements with which such a project must comply. Provides for determining the expenses for which a State might properly seek reimbursement, for purposes of calculating such grant amount. Authorizes the Secretary of HHS to increase such grant amount, to the extent appropriate, by taking specified factors into account. Sets forth requirements for notification to States of grant amounts, and for grant payments in equal quarterly installments. Prohibits a State from carrying out such a project in a manner that impairs the entitlement of any child to: (1) the foster care benefits he or she would have received if the Secretary had approved the State plan for the fiscal year and had not authorized the State to conduct such a project; or (2) any other benefit to which the child is legally entitled. Deems a State to have in effect an approved foster care and adoption assistance plan during the period in which it conducts such a project for purposes of State plan requirements under part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of title IV of the Social Security Act. Requires States to report annually on funds expended under such projects to the Secretary of HHS and the Advisory Commission on Children and Families. Provides for administrative remedies for unsuccessful projects. Provides for project termination. Requires a State to discontinue the project at the end of a fiscal year: (1) if it has notified the Secretary that it intends to do so; or (2) if the Secretary has determined for the fiscal year that the State is not conducting the project in accordance with requirements and is not making satisfactory progress toward achieving the State plans, and the Secretary does not plan to pursue an administrative remedy with respect to the project. Makes abandoned children entering foster care eligible for foster care maintenance payments. Makes the adoptive parents of any such child with respect to whom foster care maintenance payments may be made eligible for adoption assistance payments. Makes technical revisions in the foster care maintenance payments program and the adoption assistance program to expand the removal from home requirement to include removal from legal custody. Provides for retroactive application of such new requirement under the adoption assistance program. Makes children whose adoption has been set aside by a court eligible for foster care maintenance payments. Makes the adoptive parents of any such child with respect to whom foster care maintenance payments may be made eligible for adoption assistance payments. Establishes a respite care program for foster parents with children who have special needs. Limits the expenses eligible for reimbursement under such program. Expands the definition of children with special needs, for purposes of the adoption assistance program, to include: (1) those children for whom information is known and available about their genetic or social history indicating a high risk of medical conditions or physical, mental or emotional handicaps (which makes it reasonable to conclude they cannot be placed for adoption without providing part E adoption assistance or Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) medical assistance; and (2) those children that have been adopted, that were under the care and responsibility of the State agency responsible for administering the State's part E programs prior to being adopted, and that have a mental, physical, or emotional handicap that either existed before the adoption but was not diagnosed until afterwards or first manifests itself after the adoption but is congenital or was caused beforehand. Includes relatives (as well as foster parents) who are prospective adoptive parents and with whom the child has significant emotional ties while in their care for purposes of an exception to the requirement that an effort be made to place special needs children with appropriate adoptive parents without providing adoption assistance or Medicaid assistance. Requires each State to submit to the Secretary of HHS the factors and conditions it uses to identify children with special needs, for purposes of the adoption assistance program, and any modifications to such factors and conditions. Directs the Secretary of HHS to establish an Advisory Committee on Foster Care Placement to study and report to the Secretary and the Congress on the implementation of specified requirements, under State plans for foster care and adoption assistance, that reasonable efforts be made: (1) prior to placement of a child in a foster home, to prevent or eliminate the need for removal of the child from the child's home; and (2) to make it possible for the child to return to the child's home. Provides Federal coverage of 90 percent of State costs in developing and installing statewide mechanized data collection and information retrieval systems which: (1) the Secretary determines are likely to enhance the administration of such programs; (2) are capable of interfacing with the State data collection system for information on child abuse and neglect; and (3) meet other specified requirements. Covers 50 percent of State costs for operation of such systems. Provides that all State expenditures for development, installation, and operation of such systems shall be treated as necessary for proper and efficient administration of the State plan, without regard to whether the systems may be used with respect to foster or adoptive children other than those on behalf of whom payments may be made for foster care maintenance or adoption assistance. Reduces, after three years, from 90 to 50 percent the Federal matching payment for development and installation of such systems. Defers a deadline for implementation of automated systems until one year after certain regulations are promulgated. Directs the Secretary to establish a work group, including representatives of specified organizations, to advise on planning and implementation of the system to be used for collection of data relating to adoption and foster care in the United States. Requires the State plan to provide for: (1) a triennial review of the amounts paid as foster care maintenance payments and adoption assistance to assure their continuing appropriateness; and (2) a report to the Secretary of HHS on the results. Requires that the dispositional hearing to determine the final status of a foster child: (1) occur within 12 months of his or her original placement, rather than the current 18 months; (2) determine and document the measures needed to enhance the likelihood of making the child legally eligible for adoption and of finding an adoptive home for the child, if the hearing determines that the child should be placed for adoption, and the specific measures which have been or need to be taken to make an adoptive placement or a finding that placement of the child in an adoptive family would be inappropriate, if the child is legally eligible for adoption. Revises the time frame for judicial determinations on voluntary placements. Sets forth case plan requirements for placement of children in out-of-State foster care, including a finding that the child needs services not available in the State. Requires annual review, with the child present, of the status of children in out-of-State foster care placements. Requires States to collect data on the numbers of children in out-of-State foster care placements. Requires a State, in order to receive payments for expenditures after FY 1994 for foster care maintenance payments made with respect to children placed in foster care outside the State, to conduct and submit a study to the Secretary of HHS, by the end of such fiscal year, identifying the number and common characteristics of such children and the reason why they were not placed in foster care in the State. Sets forth provisions with respect to the treatment of assets of youth participating in the independent living program. Eliminates the ceilings on Federal foster care payments to States and the States' authority to transfer unused foster care funds to the Child Welfare Services program. Directs the Secretary of HHS to: (1) establish an advisory committee; and (2) issue final regulations for training of staff of agencies responsible for administering foster care and adoption assistance programs and for training of foster and adoptive parents. Requires such committee to include representatives of public agencies and nonprofit organizations with an interest in child welfare. Directs the Secretary to annually publish information, on a State-by-State basis, on expenditures for, and the operation of, the Child Welfare Services program, the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program, and Comprehensive Service Projects. Amends title IV of the Social Security Act to add a new part G, Child Welfare Review System. Directs the Secretary of HHS to establish such system to: (1) review each State child welfare program to assess whether the requirements of such Act are being carried out; (2) impose financial penalties in cases of substantial failure to comply; and (3) provide technical assistance to any such program. Requires the Secretary to complete such a review for each State program not less frequently than once every three years. Sets forth provisions relating to effects of noncompliance, suspension and recision of financial penalties, and administrative and judicial review. Requires that all State child welfare programs be reviewed at least once by the end of FY 1997. Prohibits the Secretary from reducing or withholding any payment or seeking any repayment from any State under part B or E by reason of a determination made in connection with specified reviews or audits for certain periods. Prohibits suspension of payments with respect to any claim for reimbursement 30 days after the Secretary of HHS receives the quarterly statement of expenditures that contains the report of the claim. Provides that within ten months after the Secretary takes any action to suspend payment with respect to such a claim, the Secretary shall: (1) determine the allowability of the claim; or (2) if unable to make such a determination, make payment with respect to the claim, subject to a later determination of allowability. Title III: Emergency Assistance - Amends the AFDC program to require States to provide emergency assistance to needy families with children, including services designed to prevent homelessness. Title IV: Social Services Block Grant - Amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) of the Social Security Act to authorize increased appropriations at specified levels under such program for FY 1993 through 1996 and at levels indexed to increases in the Consumer Price Index thereafter. Provides for the allocation to tribal organizations of program funds otherwise allotted to the State in which the Indians represented by such organization reside. Title V: Research, Demonstration, and Evaluation Activities - Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI (General Provisions and Professional Standards Review) of the Social Security Act to require the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) to establish an Advisory Commission on Children and Families (the Commission). Requires the Commission to collect and assess specified types of information in order to identify cost-effective approaches to protect and enhance the physical, mental, emotional, and financial well-being of children and their families. Directs OTA to report annually to the Congress on the Commission and its assessment. Requires the Commission to conduct, through contracts with independent research organizations, the following research and evaluation projects: (1) an evaluation of child welfare service programs, including intensive family preservation programs; (2) foster care evaluations; (3) longitudinal child welfare data bases, and studies of child welfare population dynamics; and (4) comprehensive service projects evaluations. Requires the Commission to conduct a study concerning child separation guidelines. Directs the Secretary of HHS to conduct the following research and evaluations: (1) a study (under contract with an independent research organization) to assess the prevalence and nature of risks to the safety of employees of child welfare systems; and (2) a three-year study (under contract with an organization with demonstrated appropriate experience) to examine methodologies for measuring the workloads of providers of child welfare services and community mental health services. Directs the Secretary of HHS to authorize child welfare demonstration projects concerning each of the following: (1) abandoned infants' permanent placement; (2) termination of parental rights; (3) child welfare worker training in U.S. areas that border on Mexico; (4) staff recruitment and retention; and (5) joint training for staff of child welfare, mental health, and juvenile justice agencies. Directs the Secretary of HHS to authorize demonstration projects to test the feasibility of eliminating income and resource requirements respecting foster care and adoption assistance payments. Directs the Secretary of HHS to provide technical assistance to States for: (1) interpreting and implementating parts B, C, and E; (2) disseminating information on innovative child welfare agencies; (3) correcting problems identified through Federal audits and reviews and carrying out corrective action plans under part E; (4) implementing the foster care and adoption data collection system; and (5) addressing other matters identified by such Secretary. Title VI: Miscellaneous Human Resources Amendments - Amends the AFDC program to give States the option of using retrospective budgeting without monthly reporting under AFDC. Increases the amount of stepparent income disregarded under AFDC. Amends the Family Support Act of 1988 to extend demonstration projects for evaluating model procedures for reviewing child support awards. Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to make technical corrections relating to human resource and income security provisions. Repeals the technical amendment made by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 with respect to the National Commission on Children. Title VII: Budget Compliance Provisions - Specifies the applicable cost estimate of this Act for purposes of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). States that the conversion by this Act of the Child Welfare program from an authorization to a capped entitlement program shall not be treated as a change in concept or definition under the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Local Partnership Act of 1991 - Establishes a revenue sharing program of payments to local governments. Sets forth the general framework for the timing of payments and for adjustments. Establishes in the Treasury a Local Government Fiscal Assistance Trust Fund (trust fund), with the Secretary of the Treasury as the personal trustee, and authorizes FY 1993 through 1997 appropriations to finance it. Describes qualifying criteria for and conditions to be met by local governments seeking payments under the program. Withholds payments in cases of noncompliance. Requires the Secretary, in accordance with specified formulae, to determine the amount from the trust fund to be allocated to each State for further allocation to county, municipal, and township local governments as well as to Indian tribes and Alaskan native villages. Permits State variation of certain local government allocations. Sets forth special rules governing adjustments in local government allocations, including a limit on allocations to local government units based on a specified formula. Specifies the information to be used in making allocations under the program. Requires public hearings on proposed uses of program payments in relation to the local government's budget. Requires public disclosure of information on proposed payment uses and proposed budgets of local governments both prior to the hearing and after adoption of the budget. Prohibits discrimination under a local government program or activity on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex if such program or activity is paid for with funds provided under this Act. Lists additional prohibitions applicable to such programs or activities. Prescribes procedures for: (1) instituting administrative proceedings for violations of such prohibitions; (2) suspending and terminating payments; and (3) judicial review of such sanctions. Sets forth provisions providing for: (1) enforcement by the Attorney General of such prohibitions; (2) civil actions by persons adversely affected by such prohibitions; (3) independent audits of local government finances; (4) investigations by the Secretary of possible violations of this Act; (5) reviews by the Comptroller General of activities of the Secretary, State governments, and local government units to determine compliance with this Act; (6) annual reports by the Secretary to the Congress on both the trust fund and the administration of the payment program; and (7) annual reports by local govermental units to the Secretary on program payments.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should: (1) condemn the use of force in Yugoslavia; (2) recognize the independence of the Republics of Croatia and Slovenia; and (3) work for the cessation of hostilities leading to a negotiated settlement and peace in the region.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 1991
Medicaid Moratorium Amendments of 1991 - Amends the Technical and Miscellaneous Revenues Act of 1988 to: (1) delay until September 30, 1992, the issuance of regulations changing the treatment under the Medicaid program (title XIX of the Social Security Act) of voluntary contributions and provider-specific taxes; and (2) maintain current regulations that allow intergovernmental transfers as a source of a State's expenditures for which Federal matching funds are available under the Medicaid program. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit to specified congressional committees a report on: (1) regulations to limit the use of voluntary contributions and provider-specific taxes to obtain Federal financial participation; (2) specific types of voluntary contributions and provider-specific taxes that may be used as sources of State expenditures for which Federal financial participation is available; and (3) any legislation that the Secretary believes is appropriate. Sets forth budget compliance provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1991
Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), acting through the Office of Research and Development, to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study of the environmental research basis for wetlands delineation. Requires the Academy to report the findings of the study to the Congress, along with recommendations for legislative and administrative actions. Authorizes appropriations. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the EPA should not adopt proposed revisions to the Federal Manual for Delineating Wetlands until six months after the Academy submits such report.
United States · United States Congress · 11 October 1991
Lead Exposure Reduction Act of 1991 - Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act to prohibit the importing, manufacturing, processing, or distribution in commerce of certain products containing more than a specified percentage of lead. Authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to modify the allowable lead percentage for such products under certain conditions. Exempts from lead content requirements products used: (1) for medical purposes; (2) for purposes in the paramount interest of the United States; (3) for radiation protection; (4) in the mining industry to determine the presence of noble metals in geological materials; or (5) as radiation shielding in electronic devices and in specialized electronics uses where the Administrator has determined that no appropriate substitutes for lead are available. Provides additional exemptions for: (1) corrosion inhibitive coatings applied by original equipment manufacturers to motor vehicle parts that do not exceed a specified lead content; (2) industrial paint in which the incidental presence of lead does not exceed a specified percentage; (3) paint or stained glass used by artists, provided the paint is labeled with a warning label that it is for adult use only; (4) toys and recreational game pieces that are collectible items and scale models intended for adult acquisition, provided they are labeled to disclose that they are not suitable for children; and (5) certain plastic additives. Requires the Administrator to determine whether there are primer paints suitable for use as electrocoat or electrodeposition primers on motor vehicle parts that: (1) contain less than a specified percentage of lead; (2) have corrosion inhibition and related performance characteristics equivalent to primer paints in use for corrosion inhibition; and (3) do not pose a greater risk to human health and the environment than primer paints already in use for corrosion inhibition. Prohibits the importing, manufacturing, processing, or distribution in commerce of any electrocoat or electrodeposition primer paint with a lead level exceeding that identified by the Administrator if the Administrator determines that one or more primer paints meeting such characteristics exist and are economically feasible to use. Sets alternative lead content limitations on such paints if the Administrator determines that no paints meeting such characteristics exist. Prohibits the sale or promotion of any packaging or product in packaging that includes any additive to which lead has been intentionally introduced, beginning 48 months after this Act's enactment. Sets allowable concentration levels for the incidental presence of lead in such packaging. Prohibits the sale or promotion of packaging exceeding such levels. Authorizes the Administrator to exempt from such requirements: (1) packaging manufactured prior to this Act's enactment date; and (2) packaging to which lead has been added to comply with Federal, State, or local health or safety requirements. Requires certificates of compliance with lead requirements to be retained by packaging manufacturers or distributors and made available to purchasers. Directs persons manufacturing, processing, or importing any product containing more than .1 percent lead by dry weight to submit specified information to the Administrator. Exempts owners or operators of automotive dismantler or recycling facilities for post-consumer metal, glass, paper, or textiles regulated by a State or the Administrator from such requirement. Makes it unlawful to fail to submit such information. Requires the Administrator to update, and publish a compilation of, such information. Directs the Administrator to report to the Congress on such information and on recommendations for minimizing the release of lead into the environment and preventing human exposure to lead. Permits persons submitting inventory information to claim such information as confidential. Sets forth provisions concerning confidentiality applications. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations that provide for the labeling of products (other than lead-acid batteries and products regulated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act): (1) to which any lead has been intentionally introduced as an element during manufacturing, processing, or distribution; or (2) in which the incidental presence of lead exceeds a certain percentage. Directs the Administrator to conduct a program to promote monitoring, detection, and abatement of lead-based paint and other lead exposure hazards. Requires the Administrator to chair an Interagency Coordinating Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention to coordinate Federal lead poisoning prevention programs and to make recommendations for Federal, State, and local lead poisoning prevention programs. Directs the Administrator to establish: (1) standards for laboratory analysis of lead in paint films, soil, and dust; and (2) certification programs to assure the quality and consistency of such analyses, unless voluntary accreditation programs are operating nationwide. Requires the Administrator to publish and make available to the public a list of certified or accredited environmental sampling laboratories. Provides for the review of such programs on a triennial basis. Directs the Administrator to: (1) evaluate and develop standards and testing protocols for emerging products and techniques for detecting lead in paint films and dust; (2) report to the Congress on the efficacy and effectiveness of various abatement and management techniques in reducing lead dust levels; (3) establish a program and develop standards for the evaluation of products and procedures for encapsulating or removing lead-based paint; (4) publish a list of products and procedures that meet performance standards; and (5) issue guidelines for the management of lead-based paint debris. Requires the Administrator to conduct research and report to the Congress on: (1) the sources of lead exposure in children who have elevated blood lead levels (or other indicators of elevated lead body burden); and (2) means to reduce hazardous occupational lead abatement exposures. Requires the Administrator to sponsor public education and outreach activities to increase awareness of the scope and severity of lead poisoning from household sources, potential exposure to lead in schools and day care centers, the need for abatement and management action, and other components of a lead poisoning prevention program. Directs the Administrator to issue guidelines concerning the action levels for lead in soil and abatement recommendations. Requires the Administrator to appoint a Coordinator for Lead Activities. Directs the Administrator to promulgate final regulations governing lead-based paint abatement activities, including requirements for the accreditation of lead abatement training programs for workers and the certification of lead abatement contractors. Requires the Administrator to delegate the administration of such regulations to the States. Directs the Administrator to award grants to nonprofit organizations engaged in lead-based paint abatement activities with demonstrated experience in operating worker health and safety lead-based paint abatement training and education programs and with an ability to target workers engaged in such activities. Requires the Administrator to award grants to institutions of higher education for purposes of establishing Centers for the Prevention of Lead Poisoning. Limits the Federal share of Center operation costs. Limits grants to two-year periods. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 11 October 1991
Declares that Members of Congress are no longer exempted from Federal laws, including the: (1) Americans with Disabilities Act; (2) title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act; (3) Equal Opportunity Act; (4) Occupational Safety and Health Act; (5) Fair Labor Standards Act; and (6) Freedom of Information Act. Makes it illegal to furnish any Member of the Congress, at the expenses of the Federal Government, free or at reduced costs: (1) medicine; (2) hospital care; (3) ambulance services; (4) meals; (5) flowers or plants; (6) pictures or picture frames; (7) haircuts; or (8) other items, services, or privileges, except official office expenses such as supplies and stationery.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 1991
Emergency Job Creation Appropriations Act, 1992 - Title I: Meeting Our Economic Problems Coming from Changing Conditions with Essential Productive Jobs - Directs the appropriate congressional committees to study the current economic crisis, with emphasis on long-term recovery and and a strong private sector based on Government/industry partnership, and present their findings to the Congress as expeditiously as possible for appropriate action. Declares that the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and the Federal Open Market Committee should take necessary actions to achieve and maintain a level of interest rates low enough to achieve significant economic growth and reduce the current level of unemployment. Makes appropriations for FY 1992, in order to create productive jobs and protect public investment, for various activities relating to: (1) Federal buildings; (2) interstate highways; (3) air transportation; (4) mass transportation; (5) rehabilitation of highway bridges crossing over Northeast corridor rail transportation properties; (6) railroad infrastructure and rights-of-way improvement; (7) veterans' medical facilities and services; (8) public housing modernization; (9) community development; (10) international trade competition; (11) local economic development; (12) small business loans and investments; (13) small business oriented employment or national resources development programs; (14) parks and recreational areas and facilities; (15) the National Forest System; (16) Indian health facilities; (17) Fish and Wildlife Service facilities; (18) rural development and resource conservation, including rural water and waste disposal; (19) soil conservation, including watershed and flood prevention operations; (20) Federal, State, and local prison modernization; (21) water resource and hydroelectric power, flood control, shore protection, harbor channel and navigable waterway maintenance; (22) reclamation and irrigation projects; (23) Federal agricultural research facilities; (24) tree-planting and other natural resources development programs; (25) historic properties restoration; and (26) Bureau of Land Management facilities. Makes appropriations for FY 1992 to the Department of Labor to provide productive jobs for unemployed individuals under specified conditions, in various types of public service employment. Provides for allocation of such funds to eligible local governments, rural area concentrated employment program grantees, or States. Makes appropriations in additional amounts for FY 1992 for: (1) employment and training services; (2) grants to States for unemployment insurance and employment services; (3) higher education academic and research facilities; and (4) the Federal Emergency Management Agency's emergency food and shelter program. Makes appropriations for FY 1991 for: (1) construction and modernization of military family housing; (2) low-income energy conservation weatherization activities (in an additional amount) and (3) Federal motor vehicle procurement. Title II: Technical Provisions - Provides that no part of any appropriation contained in this Act shall remain available for obligation beyond the current fiscal year unless expressly so provided herein.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 1991
Requires the Clerk of the House of Representatives to ensure that letterhead stationery used in the House is made from recycled paper that contains at least 50 percent recycled material.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1991
Economic Equity Act - Title I: Employment Opportunities - Subtitle A: Nontraditional Employment for Women Act - Nontraditional Employment for Women Act - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act to modify requirements regarding women in nontraditional employment (defined as occupations or fields where women comprise less than 25 percent of the individuals) relating to: (1) job training plans and coordination and special services plans; (2) the duties of the State job training coordinating council; and (3) the use of certain funds. Requires States to develop demonstration programs to train and place women in nontraditional employment. Subtitle B: Worker Retraining Act of 1991 - Worker Retraining Act of 1991 - Mandates grants to not more than ten States to plan, establish, and operate worker retraining initiatives to allow employed low-income individuals to advance from low skill to higher skill positions. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Women in Apprenticeship Occupations and Nontraditional Occupations Act - Women in Apprenticeship Occupations and Nontraditional Occupations Act - Requires the Department of Labor to promote an outreach program to employers to inform employers of the availability of technical assistance in preparing the work place to employ women in apprenticeable occupations and other nontraditional occupations. Mandates a report to the Congress on the participation of women in apprenticeable and other nontraditional occupations. Subtitle D: Glass Ceiling Act of 1991 - Glass Ceiling Act of 1991 - Establishes a Glass Ceiling Commission to study and report to the President and appropriate committees of the Congress concerning: (1) eliminating artificial barriers to the advancement of women and minorities; and (2) increasing the opportunities and developmental experiences of women and minorities to foster advancement to management and decision making positions in business. Establishes the National Award for Diversity and Excellence in American Executive Management. Allows a recipient business to publicize the receipt of the award and use the award in its advertising, if the business agrees to help other U.S. businesses improve with respect to the promotion of opportunities and developmental experiences of women and minorities to foster the advancement of women and minorities to management and decision making positions. Authorizes appropriations. Terminates the Commission and the authority to make awards four years after enactment of this Act. Subtitle E: Women and Minorities in Science and Mathematics Act of 1991 - Women and Minorities in Science and Mathematics Act of 1991 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 with regard to women and minorities who are underrepresented in science and mathematics to mandate grants and contracts for education programs. Modifies existing provisions regarding: (1) off-campus programs; (2) adult and continuing education staff development; (3) research and research application in adult and continuing education; (4) the "talent search" and "upward bound" programs; (5) midcareer teacher retraining; (6) school, college, and university partnerships; (7) professional development resource centers; (8) congressional teacher scholarships; (9) model and cooperative education; (10) graduate education programs; (11) Harris fellowships; (12) graduate assistance in areas of national need; (13) the Minority Science Improvement Program; and (14) science and engineering access programs. Subtitle F: Commission on the Advancement of Women in the Science and Engineering Work Forces Act - Commission on the Advancement of Women in the Science and Engineering Work Forces Act - Establishes the Commission on the Advancement of Women in the Science and Engineering Work Forces. Title II: Women in Business - Subtitle A: Act for Microenterprise - Act for Microenterprise - Amends the Social Security Act to exclude business assets from consideration in determining: (1) eligibility for aid and services to needy families with children (AFDC); and (2) income and resources in connection with provisions relating to supplemental security income (SSI). Excludes income from a business with five or fewer employees, during the first year of the business, from consideration in determining the amount of aid under AFDC and SSI. Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to require approval of any State law making unemployment compensation payable to individuals starting microenterprises. Requires State law to entitle an individual performing services in a microenterprise to receive regular or extended unemployment compensation. Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to allow assistance under certain provisions of the Act to be used for: (1) loans to commercial enterprises with five or fewer employees, one or more of whom own the enterprise; and (2) counseling, technical assistance, educational programs, planning, and training to facilitate such commercial enterprises. Amends the Small Business Act to set forth Congressional findings regarding microenterprises and implementation of loan programs under specified provisions of the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958. Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act to add references to microenterprise loans to provisions defining "qualified thrift investments." Requires each Federal banking agency to establish a division to be known as the Microenterprise Technical and Operations Office to offer technical assistance, training, outreach, and other support. Subtitle B: Microlend for the Future Act - Microlend for the Future Act - Authorizes the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to make loans and grants to community based organizations for the startup and expansion of microenterprises, with the organizations using the loans to make loans and the grants to provide technical assistance to microenterprises. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Women's Business Procurement Assistance Act of 1991 - Women's Business Procurement Assistance Act of 1991 - Amends the Small Business Act to add references to small businesses owned and controlled by women to provisions concerning: (1) Government-wide goals for participation of small businesses in procurement; (2) U.S. policy on small business participation in Federal procurement and on timely payment by prime contractors to small business subcontractors; and (3) a clause required to be included in Federal agency contracts. Requires that each Federal agency having procurement powers: (1) designate a specialist responsible for programs to assist small businesses owned and controlled by women; and (2) engage in affirmative efforts to identify and solicit offers from such businesses. Establishes in the Small Business Administration the Office of Women's Business Ownership. Subtitle D: Equal Surety Bond Opportunity Act - Equal Surety Bond Opportunity Act - Prohibits discrimination by a surety in any aspect of a surety bond transaction: (1) on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, or age; (2) because the applicant has exercised any right under this title; or (3) because the applicant previously obtained a bond through certain means. Specifies activities not constituting discrimination. Provides for civil and equitable relief and prohibits a company from being approved as a surety by the Secretary of the Treasury unless the company is in full compliance with the requirements of this subtitle. Amends Federal Law to require surety companies to be in compliance with this subtitle. Subtitle E: Small Business Access to Surety Bonding Survey Act of 1991 - Small Business Access to Surety Bonding Survey Act of 1991 - Requires the Comptroller General to conduct a survey and report to specified congressional committees on the experiences of businesses, especially small businesses, in obtaining surety bonds from corporate surety firms. Title III: Economic Justice - Subtitle A: Pay Equity Technical Assistance Act - Pay Equity Technical Assistance Act - Directs the Secretary of Labor to carry out a continuing program regarding reducing or eliminating, conducting research on, and providing technical assistance concerning wage disparities based on sex, race, or national origin. Subtitle B: Legislative Pay Equity Study - Declares that it is congressional policy that persons employed in the legislative branch shall receive equal pay for comparable work. Establishes the Commission on Employment Discrimination in the Legislative Branch. Subtitle C: Part-Time and Temporary Workers Protection Act - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to set forth special participation, vesting, and accrual rules applicable to part-time and temporary employees. Allows limited reductions in employer-provided group health plan premiums for part-time employees. Modifies, for provisions relating to protection of employee benefit rights, the definition of "employee" to include persons who have performed at least 500 hours of service per year. Subtitle D: Child Support Enforcement Improvements Act of 1991 - Child Support Enforcement Improvements Act of 1991 - Shields a depository institution from liability under Federal or State law for disclosing any financial record of an individual to a State child support enforcement agency attempting to establish, modify, or enforce a child support obligation. Prohibits the recipient enforcement agency from improperly disclosing the information and provides for civil damages. Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to allow a consumer reporting agency to furnish a consumer report to such an enforcement agency that is making such an attempt. Amends the Social Security Act to require that a State plan for child and spousal support include certain procedures relating to the provision by an absent parent of medical insurance coverage for one or more children of a custodial parent. Increases the incentive payment to States for successful enforcement of court orders for the coverage. Modifies requirements concerning: (1) regulation of the interception of refunds from the internal revenue service; and (2) employer withholding of support payments. Provides for a national network to build on the statewide child support enforcement systems States are developing. Subtitle E: Dependent Care Tax Credit Refundability - Amends the IRC to allow as a limited refundable credit a portion of: (1) expenses for household services and for the care of a qualifying individual; and (2) respite care expenses. Subtitle F: Pell Grant Eligibility Expansion Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to remove provisions prohibiting, in certain circumstances, basic educational opportunity grants (BEOGs) to less than half-time students. Subtitle G: Federal Council on Women Act - Federal Council on Women Act - Establishes in the legislative branch the Federal Council on Women to make recommendations on a wide range of issues and concerns relating to women. Title IV: Retirement Equity - Subtitle A: Pension Reform Act of 1991 - Pension Reform Act of 1991 - Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to modify requirements relating to the effective date of the application of nondiscrimination rules to integrated plans. Amends the IRC to repeal provisions relating to nondiscrimination requirements and permitted disparity with regard to contributions to pension plans, including simplified pension plans. Modifies minimum coverage requirements for qualified pension, profit-sharing, and stock bonus plans with regard to whether an employer operates separate lines or a single line of business. Amends the IRC and ERISA to modify minimum vesting standards to remove provisions relating to multiemployer plans. Requires the Comptroller General to report to specified congressional committees on alternative: (1) methods of requiring employee pension benefit plans to provide cost-of-living and other adjustments to benefits; and (2) pension portability mechanisms for preserving and enhancing the real value of deferred vested pension benefits. Allows a domestic relations court order entered after enactment of this Act and amending an order originally entered before 1985 to be considered a qualified domestic relations order for purposes of certain provisions of the Retirement Equity Act of 1984. Subtitle B: Spousal Pension Equity Act - Spousal Pension Equity Act - Amends provisions of the IRC relating to limitations on the amount of annual compensation taken into account to prohibit aggregation of spousal incomes when both spouses are licensed to perform services in the same professional field and perform the services for the employer. Subtitle C: Social Security Care Provider Act of 1991 - Social Security Care Provider Act of 1991 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to change the formula for determining the number of an individual's benefit computation years. Subtitle D: Social Security Modernization Act of 1991 - Social Security Modernization Act of 1991 - Amends OASDI to require, provided this method increases benefits, that the combined earnings of an individual and his or her spouse, during their marriage, be divided equally for determining OASDI benefits. Terminates the amendment made by this subtitle after the year 2015. Mandates studies every five years by the appropriate congressional committees to determine the effect of the termination on beneficiaries. Subtitle E: Former Military Spouses - Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 to apply amendments relating to retired pay to any divorces, dissolutions of marriage, annulments, and legal separations (currently, to any such events that occur more than 90 days after enactment of the Act). Subtitle F: Federal Employees Former Spouses - Amends the Civil Service Retirement Spouse Equity Act of 1984 to modify requirements for entitlement of a former spouse of a Federal employee or Member of Congress to a survivor annuity. Allows any former spouse who becomes eligible, because of this subtitle, for a survivor annuity, to enroll in a health benefits plan under specified provisions of Federal law.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
American Industrial Quality and Training Act of 1991 - Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce, through the Technology Administration, to make competitive matching grants to establish and operate American workforce quality partnership programs for workforce training consortia of industry and higher education institutions. Requires such programs to establish partnerships between one or more technology-based or manufacturing sector firms and a local community or technical college to train and educate a significant portion of the industrial partners' employees at all organizational levels through workplace and classroom training programs. Requires each partnership to establish an advisory board. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish, in the Technology Administration, the American Industrial Quality Foundation to further the ability of U.S. industry to compete internationally. Sets forth the Foundation's functions, including identifying and disseminating information on best practices. Sets forth provisions for a Director and staff, an advisory committee, and user fees. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to make competitive grants to develop and operate youth technical apprenticeship programs. Gives special consideration to applications providing for non-Federal contributions. Provides planning grants for such programs. Requires each grant recipient to establish an advisory board. Directs the Secretary of Labor, together with other appropriate entities, to establish and maintain a clearinghouse of youth apprenticeship programs in the United States. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make competitive matching grants to States for statewide technical education and training networks to develop plans or strategies to establish statewide systems to provide technical, technician, or technological skills and education by building upon Federal, State, and local programs through various methods. Requires State Governors to submit evaluation reports within three years of award of such grants. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Labor, in conjunction with the Small Business Administration and other relevant agencies, to compile information and statistics on the total annual expenditure of U.S. industry on formal worker training programs, quantity of training, and other relevant worker training information, by firm size, sector, industry, job classification, and purpose of training (as well as any other available and appropriate data such as international comparative data). Requires a biennial report to the Congress on such information in a useful format. Requires making such information available to U.S. industry. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Education, in conjunction with the Secretary of Commerce, to report to the Congress on the feasibility of adopting principles of total quality management, as embodied in the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, to improve the quality and relevance of secondary and postsecondary education.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Solid Waste Metals Reduction Act - Prohibits the intentional introduction of lead, cadmium, mercury, or hexavalent chromium into a package or packaging component during manufacturing or distribution. Sets forth the maximum allowable concentration level of the sum of such elements in packaging. Makes such regulations inapplicable (for a specified period) for packaging: (1) that was manufactured prior to this Act's effective date; (2) to which lead, cadmium, mercury, or hexavalent chromium have been added to comply with Federal health or safety requirements or, because it is essential for the protection, safe handling, or function of the contents of the package, provided that the manufacturer, supplier, or distributor petitions the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the exemption; or (3) that would not exceed the maximum concentration levels set forth in this Act but for the addition of post-consumer materials. Provides for the renewal of exemptions if the Administrator determines that a renewal is warranted. Requires packaging manufacturers or suppliers to furnish certificates of compliance (with respect to this Act's requirements) to distributors. Makes certificates of compliance, upon request, available to EPA and the public. Authorizes the assessment of civil penalties for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Breast Cancer Screening Safety Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require certification in order for a facility to perform or interpret mammograms, inspect equipment, perform needle localizations or other procedures using mammography equipment, or conduct quality assurances oversight related to mammography. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue and renew certificates for up to two years. Allows the Secretary to approve a private nonprofit organization to be an accreditation body which meets certain requirements, including inspecting facilities. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish standards for facilities to assure the safety and accuracy of mammography; (2) specify organizations eligible to certify individuals to perform radiological procedures; (3) specify boards eligible to certify individuals to interpret screening mammograms; (4) establish standards regarding the qualifications for individuals to interpret screening mammograms; and (5) specify boards eligible to certify individuals to inspect screening mammography equipment and oversee quality assurance practices. Directs the Secretary to conduct annual announced and unannounced inspections of certified facilities. Provides for: (1) intermediate sanctions for certain violations; (2) suspension, revocation, and limitation of certificates; and (3) injunctions. Requires fees for certificate issuance and renewal, and for inspections, sufficient to cover costs. Requires annual publication of a list of facilities convicted of fraud and abuse, false billings, or kickbacks, facilities that have had certificates revoked, suspended, or limited, and facilities that have been the subject of a sanction or other similar matters. Allows the Secretary to exempt facilities in a State with more stringent requirements from compliance with this Act. Directs the Secretary to: (1) make grants for research on new methods of establishing a Mammography Registry; and (2) based on the research, establish the Registry. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require that screening mammographies paid for under Medicare be performed by a facility: (1) certified under this Act; and (2) in compliance with specified provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Improvement of Information Access Act of 1991 - Amends the Freedom of Information Act to direct each executive department, military department, and independent establishment to: (1) make available to the public upon request a report which describes its information dissemination policies and practices; (2) notify the users of its information of: (a) the availability of such report; and (b) a period for the submission of public comments regarding its information dissemination policies and practices; (3) before discontinuing an information product or service to: (a) notify the users of its information of a period for submission of public comments regarding that discontinuation; (b) include in that notice an explanation of the reasons for the discontinuation; and (c) consider comments received pursuant to the notice; (4) disseminate information in useful modes and through appropriate outlets, with adequate resources to permit and broaden public access; (5) store and disseminate information products and services in standardized record formats; and (6) use depository libraries, national computer networks, and other distribution channels that improve public access to Government information. Prohibits an agency, except as specifically authorized by statute, from charging: (1) more than the incremental cost of disseminating an information product or service; or (2) any royalty or other fee for any use or redissemination of Government information. Directs the Archivist of the United States and the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to jointly issue and periodically revise model performance standards under which agencies shall be encouraged to provide access to public records.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1991
Hazardous Materials Listing Act - Amends transportation law to provide for the designation of materials that may pose an unreasonable risk to the environment when transported as hazardous materials. Amends the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 to include in emergency powers the authority to abate situations which involve a hazard of substantial harm to the environment. Requires the Secretary of Transportation, in the administration of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, to consult on a regular basis with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that the designation of hazardous materials includes all hazardous materials that may be accidentally discharged into the air, water, or soil by any carrier.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1991
Amends the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act to require the Secretary of Transportation to also designate as hazardous materials under such Act any material designated by the Coast Guard as a hazardous material when shipped by water.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1991
Authorizes claims for damages against the United States for personal injury or death of a member of the armed forces serving on active duty or on full-time National Guard duty. Provides that the personal injury or death must have arisen out of noncombatant medical or dental care furnished in a fixed medical facility operated by the United States. Offsets the amount of Government benefits for members of the armed forces or veterans for personal injury or death by the amount of any awards or judgments from such claims.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Federal Fire Safety Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to prohibit the use of Federal funds to: (1) construct, purchase, or lease a newly constructed Federal office building, other than housing, having more than 25 full-time Federal employees nor to renovate one with five or more stories unless the entire building includes automatic sprinkler systems or an equivalent level of safety, with specified exceptions; and (2) increase the number of employees in such building by more than 100 employees over that as of enactment of this Act without such system or level of safety. Prohibits the use of such funds after the enactment of this Act: (1) to construct, purchase, lease, rebuild, or operate Federal Government housing for Federal employees and their dependents; (2) multifamily housing for Federal employees subsidized by the Federal Government; and (3) rental assistance housing, without automatic sprinkler systems and smoke detectors (in some cases smoke detectors alone). Directs the: (1) Administrator of the National Fire Prevention and Control Administration (Administrator) to promulgate regulations implementing this Act; and (2) head of any Federal agency that owns, leases, or operates a federally-funded building or housing unit, to invite the local agency or voluntary organization with fire protection responsibility in the jurisdiction of such building or housing unit to prepare, and biennially review, a prefire plan for it.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat as amounts realized on the sale of a residence any amounts paid by the Secretary of Defense which represent the reduction in value of the residence on account of a military base closing.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1991
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should provide agricultural credit guarantees and technical assistance to the Soviet Union, the Soviet Republics, and the Baltic Nations to help meet their food needs.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
National Air and Space Museum Expansion Site Selection Act of 1991 - Establishes the National Air and Space Museum Expansion Site Advisory Panel to conduct a national competition for the evaluation of possible expansion sites for the National Air and Space Museum. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to select the site after considering the recommendation of the Panel. Terminates the Panel 30 days after such selection. Requires the General Accounting Office to review and evaluate the selection by the Board of Regents and report to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Extends the presumption of service-connection, for purposes of eligibility for veterans' benefits and medical care, in the case of exposure to ionizing radiation, to include reserve members exposed to such radiation during active and inactive duty training. Expands the list of diseases presumed to be service-connected in the case of exposure to ionizing radiation to include cancer of the salivary tract and cancer of the urinary tract. Terminates the current presumptive period (the maximum period allowed before manifestation of the illness or disease occurs in order to be presumed to be service-connected and, therefore, covered as a veterans' benefit) of 40 years after participation in the radiation-related activity (30 years in the case of leukemia). Amends the Veterans' Dioxin and Radiation Exposure Compensation Standards Act to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish guidelines and standards for the resolution of claims for benefits where a claim is based on a veteran's exposure to ionizing radiation. Directs the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, to identify not less than three activities in which individuals serving on active duty, or active or inactive duty training, have participated and which likely would have exposed such individuals to levels of ionizing radiation above background levels. Requires the Secretary to identify at least three additional activities no later than the beginning of FY 1993 through 1995. Requires the Secretary, immediately after identifying such an activity, to direct the Veterans' Advisory Committee on Environmental Hazards to evaluate and make a finding as to whether participation in such activity resulted in potentially harmful exposure to ionizing radiation. Requires reports from the Committee and the Secretary concerning such activities. Directs the Secretary to list each ionizing radiation exposure identified, unless the Secretary determines that the activity did not result in an opportunity for potentially harmful exposure to ionizing radiation.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
National Energy Efficient Lighting Education Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary), within 12 months after enactment of this Act, to make grants to nonprofit institutions and universities (or a consortium of such entities) to establish one regional energy efficient lighting education and demonstration center (centers) in each of the ten regions served by a Department of Energy regional support office. Sets forth such centers' responsibilities, including functions relating to training of lighting professionals, information dissemination, and assistance for lighting engineering and technical programs and curricula. Sets forth requirements for grant applications, selection criteria, and matching funds. Directs the Secretary to establish a task force to: (1) oversee research and training carried out by grant recipients; (2) disseminate such research results; (3) review such programs; and (4) make recommendations for possible future programs. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on the activities of such centers. Authorizes appropriations for grants for such centers. Authorizes the Secretary to make matching grants to States to encourage State energy offices to supplement the activities of such centers in providing educational workshops to train local building owners, developers, and facility energy and financial managers regarding energy efficient lighting options. Requires such workshops to be conducted in cooperation with the center for the region in which the State is located and with technical assistance and educational material from such center. Gives preference for such grants to States in which a center has not been established. Sets limits on the amount of such a grant to any State. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on such educational workshops supported by State energy offices. Authorizes appropriations for such grants to States.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary Notification Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services' annual notice to Medicare beneficiaries to: (1) notify such beneficiaries of the availability of and the requirements to qualify for Medicaid (title XIX of the Act) payment of their premiums, deductibles, and copayments under Medicare; and (2) contain an initial application for such assistance. Requires participating physicians and hospitals to post conspicuously a notice of the availability of such assistance. Amends the Medicaid program to State plans to provide for the establishment and operation of a toll-free hotline to provide information on such assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Food Quality Protection Act of 1991 - Title I: Cancellation and Suspension - Amends provisions of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) relating to cancellation and changes in classification or other terms or conditions of registration with respect to the authority of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Requires that a rulemaking under such provisions be based on a validated test or other significant evidence raising prudent concerns of unreasonable adverse effects to man or to the environment. Sets forth procedural requirements for such a rulemaking. Provides for amendment of a rule and for judicial review. Allows the Administrator, in the case of a suspension, to waive certain requirements. Allows the Administrator to elect to proceed with a special review proceeding or a public interim administrative review proceeding, if published before a specified date, under the law in effect before enactment of this Act. Requires the Administrator to reassess each tolerance and exemption from the requirement for a tolerance at certain times in connection with reregistration of pesticides. Establishes the Science Review Board to assist the Scientific Advisory Panel in reviews conducted by the Panel. Revises procedures applicable after denial of an application for registration. Allows the Administrator to deny an application for registration because it does not comply with the requirements of a rule issued under provisions of this Act. Repeals provisions regulating the authority of the Administrator to initiate a public interim administrative review process. Declares a decision made after a hearing in certain circumstances during phase three of reregistration to be final. Amends provisions regulating: (1) review by district courts of suspension of registrations; and (2) public hearings. Title II: Data Collection - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to collect pesticide use data of Statewide or regional significance for all the major crops and crops of dietary significance. Mandates research, development, and dissemination of integrated pest management techniques and other pest control methods that enable producers to reduce or eliminate application of pesticides which pose a greater than negligible dietary risk to humans. Title III: Amendments to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to define, subject to exception, "pesticide chemical" as it is defined in the FIFRA. Adds to the list of prohibited acts under the FDCA violation of provisions relating to confidentiality of data, as amended by this Act. Deems a food adulterated if it bears or contains: (1) a pesticide chemical residue that is unsafe; or (2) a new animal drug, or conversion product thereof, that is unsafe. Sets forth requirements relating to tolerances and exemptions from the requirement of a tolerance for pesticide chemical residues in food, including residues of degradation products. Prohibits establishment of a tolerance higher than a level the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency determines is adequate to protect the public health. Sets forth the factors the Administrator must consider. Allows a greater than negligible dietary risk if: (1) use protects from greater adverse health effects to humans or the environment; (2) use avoids greater risks from another pesticide; or (3) the unavailability of the pesticide would reduce the availability of an adequate, wholesome, and economical domestic supply of the food, and the adverse effects from the reduction would outweigh the risk posed by the residue. Allows the Administrator to issue an exemption from the requirement for a tolerance only if the Administrator determines that a tolerance is not needed to protect the public health, in view of the levels of dietary exposure that could reasonably be expected to occur. Sets forth the factors the Administrator must consider. Sets forth procedures and requirements in connection with: (1) petitions for tolerances or exemptions; (2) certain actions authorized on the Administrator's own initiative; (3) the required submission of additional data to support the continuation of a tolerance or exemption; and (4) confidentiality of data submitted to the Administrator. Provides for continuation of previously issued regulations. Sets forth transitional provisions. Prohibits a final rule that revokes, modifies, or suspends a tolerance or exemption until the Administrator has taken any necessary action under the FIFRA with respect to the registration of the pesticide involved. Requires the Administrator, if the Administrator takes certain actions with respect to the registration of a pesticide, to revoke any tolerance or exemption that allows the presence of the chemical or chemical residue. Requires the suspension of any tolerance or exemption upon the suspension of the use of an associated registered pesticide. Provides for: (1) tolerances for unavoidable residues in the case of a residue of a canceled or suspended pesticide chemical that will unavoidably persist in the environment and thereby be present in or on a food; and (2) residues resulting from an application which was lawful at the time of the application. Directs the Administrator to require the payment of fees sufficient for the Administrator's functions under these provisions. Prohibits, subject to exception, a State from establishing or enforcing any limit on a qualifying pesticide chemical residue in or on any food which is not identical to Federal requirements. Prohibits a State from enforcing a residue limit which was lawful at the time of application. Authorizes appropriations for increased monitoring by the Secretary of Health and Human Services of pesticide residues in imported and domestic food.
![Official portrait of Rep. Brown, George E., Jr. [D-CA-42]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/b000918_200.jpg)