United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1987
Nuclear Waste Policy Commission Act of 1987 - Prohibits any expenditures from the Nuclear Waste Fund (or any other source) for site-specific activities until the Nuclear Waste Policy Review Commission (established by this Act) has submitted a specified report to the Congress, and the Congress authorizes the resumption of such activities after reviewing the report. Establishes the Nuclear Waste Policy Review Commission and makes it responsible to the Congress. States that the Commission's function shall be to examine the Nation's progress in the disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel and to make recommendations to the Congress. Details the scope of the Commission's review. Outlines the manner in which the Commission shall administer its affairs. Requires the Commission to submit a comprehensive report to the Congress within 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act. Authorizes appropriations to implement this Act for FY 1988 through 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1987
Amends rule XXI of Rules of the House of Representatives to prohibit any appropriation from being reported in any joint resolution continuing appropriations, or from being in order as an amendment thereto, for any expenditure not previously authorized by law, except to continue appropriations for public works and objects which are already in progress. Prohibits any provision which changes existing laws from being reported in any joint resolution continuing appropriations except germane provisions which retrench expenditures by the reduction of money covered by the bill, which may include those recommended to the Committee on Appropriations by direction of any legislative committee having jurisdiction over the subject matter. Prohibits an amendment to a joint resolution continuing appropriations from being in order if changing existing law. Declares that, except as provided by this Act, no amendment shall be in order during consideration of a joint resolution continuing appropriations proposing a limitation not specifically contained or authorized in existing law for the period of the limitation. Sets forth floor procedure for consideration of an acceptable joint resolution continuing appropriations. Prohibits the House from considering any joint resolution continuing appropriations, or amendments thereto, which covers a period of more than 90 calendar days. Prohibits any item of appropriation set forth in any joint resolution continuing appropriations from exceeding the lesser of the amount set forth for such item in the House-passed or Senate-passed general appropriation bill for the fiscal year. Declares that if there is no House-passed or Senate-passed bill containing such item, then such item shall be at the rate at which it would have been assuming the continuation of current law. Prohibits the waiver of any provision of this resolution except by two-thirds vote of the Members present and voting. Declares this resolution applicable with respect to joint resolutions continuing appropriations for FY 1989 or any subsequent fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1987
Constitutional Amendment - Requires the Congress and the President, prior to each fiscal year, to agree, by enactment of a joint resolution, on an estimate of total receipts for that fiscal year. Prohibits outlays for that year from exceeding such estimated receipts unless the Congress, by a three-fifths rollcall vote of each House, provides for a specific excess of outlays over receipts. Requires the Congress, whenever actual outlays exceed actual receipts for any fiscal year, to provide by law for the repayment of such excess in the ensuing fiscal year. Requires a three-fifths rollcall vote of each House to increase the public debt. Directs the President to submit to the Congress a proposed budget for each fiscal year in which total outlays do not exceed total receipts. Requires the approval by a majority of the total membership of each House by rollcall vote before any bill to increase revenue may become law. Waives this article for any fiscal year in which a declaration of war is in effect. Declares that total receipts shall include all receipts of the United States, except those derived from borrowing, and total outlays shall include all outlays of the United States, except those for repayment of debt principal.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1987
National Petroleum Security Act of 1987 - Title I: Financial Incentives to Stimulate Oil and Gas Production - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the windfall profit tax on domestic crude oil. Allows a crude oil production tax credit for maintaining economically marginal wells. Allows as a tax deduction geological and geophysical costs paid or incurred during the taxable year. Repeals special rules for deduction of intangible drilling costs and mineral exploration and development costs. Increases the net income depletion limitations for oil or gas wells to 100 percent. Repeals certain depletion transfer rules. Title II: Federal Leasing Reform Provisions - Amends the Mineral Lands Leasing Act of 1920 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to implement a competitive oil and gas leasing program on the public lands of the Coastal Plain (in Alaska) in order to assure expeditious exploration, development, and production of the area's oil and gas resources. Delineates the elements of the Coastal Plain leasing program. Mandates deposit of the receipts from such leasing program in the Treasury. Requires that activities be conducted to achieve the reasonable protection of wildlife resources, the environment, and subsistence users. Authorizes the Secretary of State to initiate discussions with the Canadian Government regarding mutual planning for the development and transportation of crude oil and natural gas resources in the Arctic region under the respective jurisdiction of each country, both onshore and offshore. Title III: Oil Regulatory Reform Provisions - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to direct the Secretary of Energy to assure that at least 50 percent (by volume) of the petroleum products acquired for storage in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve during each fiscal year are derived from domestic crude oil production (other than production of Federal lands). Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to authorize the Attorney General to petition the Secretary of Energy for an adjudication of whether continued regulation of an existing pipeline is in the public interest. Directs the Secretary, upon receipt of such petition, to conduct such adjudication according to prescribed guidelines. Terminates Federal Energy Regulatory Commission jurisdiction over an existing pipeline that is not the subject of such a petition 120 days after the effective date of this Act, unless a joint resolution is enacted before then directing the Secretary to conduct an adjudication of whether regulation of such pipeline is in the public interest. Prescribes adjudication guidelines under which the Secretary shall find that regulation of a pipeline is in the public interest only if it is demonstrated that such regulation is necessary to constrain the exercise of substantial market power in a significant portion of the markets in which the pipeline operates. Terminates Commission regulatory jurisdiction over an existing pipeline if the Secretary finds the regulation over such pipeline is not in the public interest. Prescribes guidelines under which the Secretary is authorized to conduct an adjudication of whether, as a direct result of changed circumstances, regulation of an existing pipeline not then subject to Commission regulatory jurisdiction is in the public interest. Declares that new pipelines shall not be subject to Commission regulatory jurisdiction. States that the termination of Commission regulatory jurisdiction does not apply to its jurisdiction over crude oil or refined oil products transported prior to termination. Precludes Commission regulatory jurisdiction from being transferred in any manner to any Federal agency. Declares that the pipeline jurisdiction provisions of this Act do not apply to the Trans-Alaska pipeline. Confers exclusive, original jurisdiction over any petition for judicial review upon the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Precludes from such judicial review any action of the Attorney General under this Act, including adjudication petitions. Authorizes both the Secretary and the Attorney General to promulgate regulations under this Act. Retains the applicability of all antitrust laws to pipeline transportation of crude oil or refined oil products. Title IV: Natural Gas Regulatory Reform Provisions - Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 to authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to: (1) allow any pipeline to transport natural gas on behalf of any person; (2) require pipelines to transport gas without discrimination; and (3) require pipelines which receive gas to provide nondiscriminatory transportation services. Requires the Commission (upon request by any person) to direct an interstate pipeline to provide transportation service, without discrimination, unless such pipeline demonstrates to the Commission that it is incapable of providing such service. Removes wellhead price controls over all natural gas first sales beginning April 1, 1988. Removes such control for certain gas sales contracts executed after the date of enactment of this Act. Repeals Commission jurisdiction over first sales of natural gas committed or dedicated as of the day before enactment of this Act. Repeals Commission authority to specify the minimum duration of certain natural gas contracts (thus removing all non-price regulation of first sales of natural gas). Declares that, with respect to ceiling prices of certain natural gas sales, the last price paid for such gas shall be considered a federally established rate for purposes of an area rate clause. Provides a limited antitrust exemption for independent natural gas producer cooperatives. Title V: Environmental Provisions - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to exclude from the definition of "underground storage tank" all well cellars, sumps, drip collection devices, and specified equipment used in petroleum marketing operations. Expresses the sense of the Congress that certain rules regarding mixtures and derivatives should not be invoked to curtail certain petroleum industry recycling practices. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency should encourage continued use of land treatment for petroleum waste, and that such treatment should be considered as complying with the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to modify the underground injection control program with respect to the utilization of brine or other fluids.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1987
Amends the Federal criminal code to provide enhanced criminal penalties for kidnapping children. Provides a minimum sentence of ten years' imprisonment (life imprisonment if any listed aggravating conduct exists) for such violation. States that persons sentenced under this Act shall not be granted a probationary or suspended sentence, and shall not be eligible for parole during the first five years (20 years if the offender engaged in any listed aggravating conduct) of such imprisonment. Includes as aggravating conduct: (1) selling the victim of such offense; (2) sexually abusing such victim; (3) using such victim for pornography; or (4) intentionally harming such victim physically to a life-threatening extent.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1987
Amends rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require each House committee that reports legislation requiring employers to provide new employee benefits to include in such report an analysis of the impact of the legislation on employers (especially small businesses), the economy (in terms of international competitiveness), and employees (in terms of lost jobs).
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1987
Anti-Terrorism Sanctions Act of 1987 - Provides certain sanctions against countries determined by the Department of State, under provisions of the Export Administration Act of 1979, as countries that repeatedly provide support for international terrorism. Specifies such sanctions as: (1) the termination, withdrawal, or suspension of any portion of any trade agreement or treaty that relates to the provision of nondiscriminatory (most-favored-nation) trade treatment to such country; (2) the denial of nondiscriminatory (most-favored-nation) trade treatment by the United States; (3) the nonapplication of the Generalized System of Preferences with respect to the products of such country; (4) the nonapplication of the provisions of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act with respect to the products of such country; and (5) the nonapplication of the provisions of the International Travel and Tourism Act of 1961 instructing the Secretary of Commerce to consult with other nations regarding international travel and tourism. Authorizes the President to waive any or all of such sanctions with respect to any foreign country if the President determines that such a waiver would be in the best interests of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1987
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Federal excise taxes should not be increased as a method of reducing the Federal budget deficit.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1987
Worker Protection Act of 1987 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to require the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to revoke the exclusive bargaining status of any labor organization that is found either to engage in or to encourage the use of violence. Prohibits the NLRB from issuing an order directing reinstatement of any employee whose past or present conduct displays violence that would be an unfair labor practice if carried on by a labor organization. Includes among the unfair labor practices of a labor organization any interference with employees exercising their statutory rights. Provides for investigations and injunctive relief in cases of labor organizations' unfair labor practices involving violence, as long as a petition for such relief is filed within seven days of the filing of the unfair labor practice charge. Directs the NLRB to order awards of treble backpay and special damages to employees suffering loss of wages and other damages as a result of violent conduct qualifying as an unfair labor practice.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1987
Davis-Bacon Reform Act of 1987 - Amends the Davis-Bacon Act to increase from $2,000 to $250,000 the threshold amount subjecting certain contracts to such Act and requiring them to specify the minimum wages to be paid to laborers and mechanics. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish as the prevailing wage for a class of laborers or mechanics the entire range of wages being paid to a corresponding class of such workers in the particular urban or rural subdivision of the State in which the work is to be performed. Sets out the means for determining such prevailing wage in cases when more than a single wage is being paid to corresponding classes of workers. Excludes from the computation of wages the basic hourly rates of pay for workers on local Federal projects. Establishes a separate classification for helpers of laborers or mechanics, with their prevailing wages to be determined on the basis of the corresponding class of helpers. Prohibits the division of contracts into units of $250,000 or less for purposes of avoiding wage computation under such Act. Directs the Secretary of Labor and the U.S. Comptroller General to submit to the Congress annual reports describing the effects of the Davis-Bacon Act, the Copeland Act, and this Act on local wages and on local and national economies. Amends the Copeland Act to require certain contractors or subcontractors to furnish compliance statements concerning weekly wages at the beginning, midpoint, and conclusion of the period covered by the contract, instead of every week as the wages are paid.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1987
Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control, from making certain grants regarding acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), under existing provisions of such Act, to a public entity established by a State which does not by law require testing for the etiologic agent for AIDS of any individual who: (1) is receiving medical treatment for any venereal disease; (2) is between 15 and 49 years of age and is admitted to any hospital; (3) applies for a marriage license; or (4) is convicted of prostitution or the intravenous use of any drug.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1987
Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments of 1987 - Prohibits the expenditure of funds for any nuclear waste site characterization activities before the Federal Radioactive Waste Agency (established by this Act) has nominated sites for selection as repositories. Establishes the Federal Radioactive Waste Agency as an independent instrumentality within the executive branch. Establishes a Director of such Agency. Requires an annual report to the Congress regarding Agency activities and expenditures. Outlines the staffing and functions of the Agency. Directs the Comptroller General to make annual audits of the Agency. Repeals specified repository siting guidelines issued by the Department of Energy. Requires the Director to: (1) issue revised guidelines for the recommendation of repository sites; (2) nominate at least five sites considered suitable for characterization within 18 months after such revised guidelines are issued; (3) recommend to the President at least three sites as candidate sites; and (4) issue an environmental assessment for each such site. Provides that if the President approves certain candidate sites in an order other than the order in which such sites were ranked, then no site characterization activity will be implemented until 18 months after the President's approval. Sets forth procedural guidelines under which the President is required to submit site recommendations to the Congress. Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to prescribe guidelines under which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall allocate disposal capacity in the first repository among producers of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. Requires the Director to: (1) make grants to States adjacent to States in which a repository candidate site is approved for the purpose of studying the safety and environmental impact of such repositories; (2) appoint a panel to study the need for disposal capacity beyond the 70,000 metric ton limitation, and to submit its findings and recommendations to the Director within 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act; (3) submit the panel findings to the Congress, along with recommendations for implementation; and (4) revise the mission plan in order to implement the amendments made by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1987
Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act of 1975 to repeal provisions regarding automotive efficiency improvements. Provides that any credits earned by a manufacturer under the statutory automotive fuel economy standards can be used by such manufacturer to offset deficits incurred in any model year in which such manufacturer failed to exceed such standards without regard to the three-year limitation in carrying credits forward and backward.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1987
Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require foods to include on their labeling the presence and amount of any palm, palm kernel, or coconut oil along with a statement that such oil(s) is a saturated fat.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
PRO Due Process and Equity Amendments of 1987 - Amends part B (Peer Review) of title XI of the Social Security Act to give Medicare (title XVIII of the Act) providers 30 days to request a hearing, and such time as is thereafter needed to exhaust administrative and judicial remedies, before the decision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services to exclude the provider from Medicare participation takes effect, provided that such delay does not pose a severe and immediate threat to the health of Medicare beneficiaries. Provides that where the Secretary finds such an immediate threat to exist, the provider shall be immediately excluded from Medicare participation and be given a hearing within 30 days. Directs the Secretary to act upon the recommendations regarding a provider's noncompliance with title XI requirements within five days of their submission if the PRO finds such noncompliance to pose an immediate threat to the health of Medicare beneficiaries, and, in any other case, within 120 days of the submittal of the recommendations. Entitles Medicare providers to a reconsideration by PRO of that organization's denial of payment for services provided, and to further review where such reconsideration is adverse to the provider and certain jurisdictional criteria are satisfied. Requires PROs to notify providers regarding any changes in the services reviewed or the review standards applied by PROs at least 30 days before such changes take effect. Requires the Secretary to emphasize PRO educational activities as much as its sanctioning activities when entering into, reviewing, or terminating PRO contracts. Directs PROs to make at least 50 percent of their review of small rural hospitals on-site reviews and take into account professionally recognized local health care standards as well as national and State standards in conducting such reviews. Prohibits the finalization of a provider payment denial until at least 30 days after the PRO gives the provider reasonable notice of the proposed denial and a reasonable opportunity to discuss such denial. Requires a PRO to include at least one hospital representative on its governing body. Requires the random review of physician care to be conducted so that there is an equal likelihood and intensity of review for each physician sampled.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Social Security Procedural Improvements Act of 1987 - Title I: Improvements in Administrative Determinations of Disability Entitlements - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to make the Secretary of Health and Human Services' decision to assume a State's disability determination function discretionary. Authorizes the Secretary to implement a plan concerning the assumption of the disability determination function from a State when a State notifies the Secretary that it no longer wishes to perform such function. Converts to employment with the Department of Health and Human Services those permanent State employees whose disability determination function is assumed by the Secretary either at the Secretary's discretion or upon the State's request, provided, in the latter case, the Secretary declines to implement the plan authorized above. Sets forth provisions, regarding the administration of the conversion of State employees to Federal employment, which take an employee's State service into account in computing the Federal pay and benefits to which such employee is entitled. Allows certain senior employees to elect to remain covered under State retirement plans rather than converting to a Federal retirement program. Provides for the transfer of funds to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund to cover the Federal retirement annuity due former State employees. Reduces the amount of such annuity available to former State employees to the extent such employee is entitled to State retirement benefit payments. Title II: Establishment of Social Security Court; Abolition of Appeals Council and Interim Benefits in Cases of Delayed Final Decisions - Establishes the Social Security Court which shall have exclusive jurisdiction over actions arising under titles II, XVI (Supplemental Security Income), and XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Authorizes any individual who was a party to a hearing to which the Secretary has rendered a final decision to bring a timely action for review of such decision in the Social Security Court. Authorizes the Court to affirm, modify, or reverse the Secretary's decision, but restricts the Court's authority to reconsider factual findings. Amends title VII (Administration) of the Act to provide for the President's appointment of 20 judges to the Court. Authorizes the chief judge of the Court to divide the Court into divisions of one or more judges which may sit anywhere within the country so that claimants have a reasonable opportunity to appear before the Court without great inconvenience. Allows the Court, within certain guidelines, to prescribe its procedural rules and punish by fine or imprisonment contempt of its authority. Requires the claimant and Secretary to be given notice and the opportunity to be heard upon a proceeding in the Court or its divisions. Provides that within 60 days of a division's decision such decision shall be the decision of the Court, unless, within that period, a party petitions the Court's chief judge, or the chief judge makes his own motion, for the Court's review of the decision. Directs the Court to have any of its decisions which the chief judge determines to have precedential value published for public use. Gives the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit exclusive jurisdiction to review Social Security Court decisions upon the claimant's or Secretary's appeal, but prohibits such appeal until the Social Security Court has reviewed or denied a petition for review of its decision. Abolishes the Department of Health and Human Services' Appeals Council without limiting the Secretary's authority to hold hearings and conduct investigations. Amends titles II and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Act to require individuals to be paid interim benefits in cases where an administrative law judge has determined their entitlement to certain benefits, but the Secretary's final decision has not been issued within 90 days of the judge's decision. Sets forth effective date and transitional provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Medicare Rural Hospital Amendments of 1987 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to extend, until October 1990, the adjustment of payments made to sole community hospitals which experience a five percent decrease in patient volume over two successive cost reporting periods, unless such decrease in patient volume is due to hospital actions taken to reduce capacity or case load. Requires the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission (Commission) to report to the Congress on March 1, 1988, on a study into the appropriateness of the criteria used in designating hospitals as sole community hospitals. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress on a study into the feasibility and impact of eliminating separate urban and rural prospective payment rates for hospital services. Requires the Commission to collect information and report to the Congress on March 1, 1988, concerning whether an adjustment to the area wage index (used to adjust prospective payment rates to account for the wage differential between urban and rural areas) is warranted to account for variations in the occupational mix of hospital employees. Requires information on the wages and hours of employment for employees in hospital occupational categories to be collected for purposes of the annual update of the area wage index. Bases outlier payments for a fiscal year on a percentage of the total prospective payment system (PPS) payments made for the second previous fiscal year. (Currently, outlier payments represent a percentage of the total PPS payments estimated to be made for the same fiscal year). Directs the Commission to report to the Congress by FY 1989 on a study into the impact on urban and rural hospitals of the criteria used to determine eligibility for outlier payments. Requires the Secretary to analyze the appropriateness of different annual percentage changes in prospective payment rates for urban and rural hospitals. Authorizes the Secretary, beginning in FY 1989, to provide for different annual percentage changes in prospective payment rates for urban and rural hospitals. Sets forth certain factors that a rural hospital which is adjacent to an urban area must establish in order to have the urban wage index applied in the determination of its prospective payments. Sets aside 25 percent of the funds appropriated pursuant to the Social Security Act, beginning with FY 1988, for research and demonstration projects relating to the delivery of or access to health care, to projects relating to the delivery of or access to health care in rural areas.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Rural Nursing Care Access Amendments of 1987 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to permit certain rural hospitals having less than 150 beds to provide Medicare extended care services. (Currently, such hospitals must have less than 50 beds.) Provides that, as an alternative to procuring a State certificate of need for extended care services, such hospitals may demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Secretary of Health and Human Services that: (1) there is no Medicare skilled nursing facility in the county (or equivalent area) in which the hospital is located or; (2) if there are such facilities, at least 95 percent of facility beds have been occupied during the year preceding the hospital's annual agreement with the Secretary for the provision of such services. Reimburses eligible hospitals for routine extended care services on the same basis on which skilled nursing facilities in the area are reimbursed for such services.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Rural Health Care Preservation Act of 1987 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to create a new title, Title XXIII: Preservation of Rural Health Care. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) to appoint a Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Health Care to coordinate public and private activities to strengthen the rural health care system, including regional analyses and an information clearinghouse. Requires the Director of the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment to appoint a Rural Health Care Advisory Commission to report annually to the Congress, the Secretary, and the Deputy Under Secretary on access to community-based rural health care. Declares that certain provisions of the Social Security Act relating to staffing, administration, and reporting shall apply in the same way to the Commission as they apply to the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the provisions of this Act relating to the Rural Health Care Advisory Commission for FY 1988 through 1990. Requires the Secretary to include with the publication of certain regulations an analysis of the impact of each regulation on access to rural health care. Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary to make grants for mental health services demonstration projects relating to rural residents. Increases the amount authorized to be appropriated for such projects in FY 1988 and authorizes such increased amount for FY 1989 and 1990. Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary to provide that not less than 25 percent of funds set aside for research and demonstration projects relating to health services delivery or access be used in projects relating to rural areas, except for funds appropriated for the National Institutes of Health or funds first made available before FY 1988.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) reconciliation legislation should take into account the special needs of rural hospitals which are not currently taken into account under the Medicare hospital prospective payment system.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Amends the Small Business Act to require each Federal agency having substantial procurement or grant-making authority to develop rural area business enterprise development plans. Requires the Secretary of Commerce and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to establish uniform guidelines for all Federal agencies to use in rural area business development programs. Directs each Federal agency required to develop a rural area business development plan to assist small businesses in rural areas by providing direct assistance, procurement assistance, and management and technical assistance to such small businesses and by providing incentives for greater subcontracting by Federal prime contractors and grant recipients with such small businesses.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Rural Development Reorganization Act of 1987 - Title I: Reorganization of the Department of Agriculture - Renames the Department of Agriculture the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development to establish and maintain a revitalized nationwide rural development program as set forth in the Rural Development Act of 1972, the Rural Development Policy Act of 1980, and this Act. Establishes in such Department a Rural Development Administration headed by an Administrator appointed by the Secretary, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Directs the Secretary to transfer to the Rural Development Administration those agencies, offices, or entities in the Department performing rural development functions. Amends the Agriculture and Food Act of 1981 to expand the number of designated assistance areas from 225 to 450. Establishes within the Rural Development Administration an Office of Advocacy for Rural Development, whose Chief Counsel shall be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Specifies the functions and duties of such Office. Directs the Comptroller General to investigate and report to the President and the Congress about services, functions, and missions of other Federal departments and agencies which could be transferred to the Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development. Directs the Secretary to report, by geographical areas of the United States, to the Congress: (1) within six months after enactment of this Act on the extent to which rural development offices and activities of the Federal Government were located or relocated to rural areas during FY 1981 through 1986; and (2) within six months after the end of each fiscal year beginning with FY 1987 on the extent to which Federal offices and activities were located or relocated to rural areas. Title II: State Cooperative Agreements and Plans - Authorizes the Administrator, Rural Development Administration, to enter into cooperative agreements with States: (1) to delegate to any State the authority to cooperate in carrying out the provisions of this Act; and (2) to assist States in the development and administration of Federal programs that provide educational opportunities, job training, health services, and other specified benefits to rural residents. Conditions any agreement or financial assistance under this Act upon a State's submission for approval of a comprehensive plan for a State rural development program. Permits the Secretary and other Federal agency heads to enter into agreements with State and local governments to provide educational training, job training, health services, and other benefits to rural residents. Directs the Administrator in cooperation with the Secretary to use the Cooperative State Extension Service to inform rural residents about such programs. Establishes in the National Agricultural Library the National Rural Assistance Information Clearinghouse, which shall distribute information and data about Federal, State, and local programs. Title III: Rural Technology Grants - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to direct the Secretary to make grants to nonprofit institutions to establish rural technology development centers to seek to improve rural economic conditions. Permits the Secretary to provide employment-related technical assistance to economically distressed rural areas. Title IV: Special Grants - Amends the Rural Development Act to direct the Secretary to make grants to programs assisting displaced farmers. Specifies the kinds of services to be provided. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Miscellaneous Amendments - Makes conforming amendments to the Community Economic Development Act of 1981 and other Federal law. Title VI: Administrative Provisions - Sets forth administrative provisions. Title VII: Block Grants - Subtitle A: Rural Development Assistance Grant - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to direct the Rural Development Administration to make grants to States: (1) to provide rural economic development technical assistance, rural community leadership development, and community and areawide rural economic development planning; or (2) for measures designed to facilitate development of private business enterprises. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Rural Infrastructure Block Grant Act - Directs the Secretary, for each fiscal year, to allocate to each State funds for rural infrastructure development according to a congressionally approved formula. Lists factors to be considered in devising such formula. Requires submission of a proposed formula to the agriculture committees of both Houses of Congress. Makes such proposed formula effective after 90 calendar days unless a joint resolution is enacted either disapproving the formula or substituting another formula. Authorizes appropriations. Title VIII: Special Assistant to the President for Rural Policy - Directs the President, within 90 days after enactment of this Act, to appoint a Special Assistant to the President for Rural Policy who shall: (1) systematically review Federal programs affecting rural areas; and (2) assist in the preparation of a comprehensive rural development strategy designed to maximize the effectiveness and increase the responsiveness of Federal programs to rural areas. Requires the Secretary, within one year after enactment of this Act, to transmit the rural development strategy to the congressional agriculture committees and to report annually to such committees on any changes to such strategy. Requires the Special Assistant to use the Office of the President to maximize coordination of Federal programs affecting rural areas. Title IX: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Project ACCESS - Establishes a two-year demonstration program that will provide a wide array of services to secondary school students in rural sections of the country to encourage entry into and successful completion of postsecondary education programs, career planning, and return to the rural community. Authorizes the Secretary of Education, in accordance with specified provisions of the Higher Education Amendments of 1986, to support development of Project ACCESS Program capability in any or all of the nine Educational Research Laboratories. Sets forth application requirements and services to be incorporated as part of the programming under Project Access. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 and 1989 to supplement the contracts now held by the nine regional educational laboratories administered by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) for purposes of this program. Subjects this program to ratable reductions. Requires regional educational laboratories wishing to develop and operate a demonstration Project ACCESS Program to request a modification of their existing OERI contracts. Sets forth required contents of such proposed contract modifications. Requires OERI to prepare and submit a report to the Congress on the impact of this demonstration program, including recommendations of the regional laboratories, by November 30, 1988.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Amends the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to require the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy to provide leadership and coordination with respect to policies affecting procurement programs for rural areas. Directs the Administrator to: (1) coordinate with and advise State and local officials with regard to Federal efforts to encourage procurement in rural areas with the aim of fostering economic development in such areas; (2) establish specific rural area procurement targets for executive agencies consistent with awards or contracts for small business concerns; and (3) encourage the use of set asides or other appropriate methods for meeting procurement targets for rural areas. Requires executive agencies to cooperate with the Administrator's responsibilities for rural area programs.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to permit Rural Electrification Administration borrowers to prepay Federal Financing Bank loans without penalties if: (1) private capital is used to replace such loans; and (2) any savings will be used to avoid future rate increases, passed on to customers, or used to improve the borrower's financial strength.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1987
Domestic Energy Supply Act of 1987 - Title I: Natural Gas Reform Act of 1987 - Natural Gas Reform Act of 1987 - Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 to authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (the Commission) to: (1) allow any pipeline to transport natural gas on behalf of any person; (2) require pipelines to transport gas without discrimination; and (3) require pipelines which receive gas to provide nondiscriminatory transportation services. Requires the Commission (upon request by any person) to direct an interstate pipeline to provide transportation service (without discrimination) unless such pipeline demonstrates to the Commission that it is incapable of providing such service. Directs the Commission to grant the petition of a local distribution company to prohibit a person from purchasing transportation service from an interstate pipeline to displace or bypass a service being provided to such person by such company. Removes wellhead price controls over natural gas prices. Repeals the jurisdiction of the Commission over natural gas exempt from wellhead price controls. Repeals the President's standby price control authority. Repeals congressional review over natural gas price controls. Title II: Leasing of Coastal Plain - Arctic Coastal Plain Development and Conservation Act of 1987 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to implement a competitive oil and gas leasing program for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. States that this Act shall be considered the primary land management authorization for all exploration and production activities on the Coastal Plain. Provides that no land management review shall be required except as specifically authorized by this Act. Mandates that all receipts from sales, rentals, bonuses, and royalties on leases under this Act be deposited into the Treasury. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations to ensure that oil and gas exploration and transportation activities are conducted to achieve the reasonable protection of animal and environmental resources (including subsistence uses of the Coastal Plain). States that the "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, Coastal Plain Resource Assessment," prepared by the Secretary, satisfies all legal requirements for the promulgation of such regulations, and that no further studies or assessments shall be required prior to Federal action. Directs the Secretary to provide impact aid and other assistance to communities on the North Slope and elsewhere in Alaska in order to ensure the public services needed to accomodate oil and gas production and transportation activities on the Coastal Plain. Title III: Repeal of Windfall Profit Tax - Crude Oil Tax Equity Act of 1987 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the windfall profit tax on domestic crude oil. Title IV: Onshore Leasing - Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act of 1987 - Amends Federal law regarding competitive leasing of oil and gas for onshore Federal lands to increase from 640 acres to 2,560 acres the units of land open to competitive leasing. Provides for lease sales to be: (1) conducted by oral bidding; and (2) held at least quarterly in each State (or more frequently at the Secretary's discretion). Requires the Secretary of the Interior to accept the highest bid. Makes lands available for leasing for a one-year period if no bid is received. Describes circumstances under which certain lands may be leased without competitive bidding. Increases the primary lease term from five to ten years. Authorizes the Secretary to disapprove partial assignments of less than 640 acres outside of Alaska, or of less than 2,560 acres within Alaska. Subjects a lease to cancellation by the Secretary of the Interior after 30 days' notice for noncompliance with the lease terms unless: (1) the leasehold contains a well capable of production of oil or gas in paying quantities; or (2) the lease is committed to an approved cooperative or unit plan or communitization agreement which contains a well capable of production of unitized substances in paying quantities. Amends the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act to make leasing in Alaska consistent with that in the lower 48 States. Repeals provisions regarding: (1) determination of favorable petroleum geological provinces; and (2) suspension of noncompetitive leasing. Establishing an interim period during which certain pending lease applications will be processed as they would have been prior to the date of enactment of this Act. Prohibits noncompetitive lease applications for specified lands from being processed until such lands are posted for competitive bidding in accordance with this Act. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to hold at least one competitive lease sale for tracts which but for this Act would have been posted for the filing of simultaneous oil and gas lease applications. Permits the inclusion in such sale of certain tracts which had over-the-counter noncompetitive oil and gas lease offers. Establishes civil penalties for persons who willfully and knowingly misrepresent the value of lands and leases under this Act. Grants to the States concurrent civil and criminal jurisdiction for violations of this Act. Requires the Secretary to submit an annual report to the Congress regarding the implementation of this Act. Title V: Limited Antitrust Relief for Independent Gas Producer Cooperatives - Independent Producer Cooperative Authorization Act of 1987 - Declares that in any action under the antitrust laws, the formation or operation of an independent producer cooperative shall not be deemed illegal unless the anticompetitive effects substantially outweigh the procompetitive effects. States that any person who is entitled to recover damages resulting from the formation or operation of an independent producer cooperative shall recover only the actual damages sustained (rather than treble damages as provided for under certain Federal law). Title VI: Oil Pipeline Deregulation - Oil Pipeline Deregulation Act of 1987 - Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to permit the Attorney General to petition the Secretary of Energy for an adjudication of whether continued regulation of an existing pipeline is in the public interest. Directs the Secretary, upon receipt of such petition, to conduct such adjudication according to prescribed guidelines. Terminates Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulatory jurisdiction over an existing pipeline that is not the subject of such a petition 120 days after the effective date of this Act, unless a joint resolution is enacted before then directing the Secretary to conduct an adjudication of whether regulation of such pipeline is in the public interest. Directs the Secretary to find that regulation of a pipeline is in the public interest only if it is demonstrated that such regulation is necessary to constrain the exercise of substantial market power in a significant portion of the markets in which the pipeline operates. Terminates Commission regulatory jurisdiction over an existing pipeline if the Secretary finds that regulation over such pipeline is not in the public interest. Authorizes the Secretary, after ten years following deregulation of an existing pipeline, to conduct an adjudication of whether, as a direct result of changed circumstances, regulation of such a pipeline not then subject to Commission regulatory jurisdiction is in the public interest. Declares that new pipelines shall not be subject to the Commission regulatory jurisdiction. States that the termination of Commission regulatory jurisdiction does not apply to its jurisdiction over crude oil or refined oil products transported prior to termination. Precludes Commission regulatory jurisdiction from being transferred in any manner to any Federal agency. Declares that the pipeline jurisdiction provisions of this Act do not apply to the Trans-Alaska pipeline. Confers exclusive, original jurisdiction over any petition for judical review upon the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Precludes from such judicial review any action of the Attorney General under this Act, including adjudication petitions. Authorizes both the Secretary and the Attorney General to promulgate regulations under this Act. Retains the applicability of all antitrust laws to pipeline transportation of crude oil or refined oil products. Title VII: Methanol - Methanol Energy Policy Act of 1987 - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to direct the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) to: (1) ensure that of the total number of passenger automobiles and light duty trucks acquired for Federal use during FY 1989 through 1992, at least 5,000 shall be methanol-powered vehicles; and (2) conduct studies related to methanol-powered vehicles in cooperation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (the Administrator). Sets guidelines for such studies. Requires that methanol be offered for sale to the public at locations where Federal vehicles are supplied with methanol, but only until methanol is commercially available in the vicinity of such locations. Terminates such requirement after September 30, 1992. Requires the Secretary to provide methanol-powered vehicles to any requesting Federal agency. Requires the Secretary to ensure that the cost to any Federal agency receiving such vehicle shall not exceed the cost of a comparable gasoline-powered vehicle. Requires such agencies to cooperate with the Secretary in studies about such vehicles. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress regarding the Federal use of methanol-powered vehicles. Exempts such vehicles from: (1) any calculation of the average fuel economy of the passenger automobile fleet acquired in a fiscal year by the United States; and (2) any calculation with respect to a limitation on the maximum cost of individual vehicles obtained by the United States. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1989 through FY 1992. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish a demonstration program for the operation of methanol-fueled diesel trucks; and (2) report to the Congress regarding such program. Authorizes appropriations for such program for FY 1989 through FY 1992. Requires the Administrator to: (1) purchase a minimum of five methanol-powered buses during FY 1988 for use in urban settings to determine emissions and fuel economy tests; and (2) report to the Congress regarding such tests. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1989 through 1992. Requires any State which receives Federal mass transportation assistance after January 1, 1991, for the acquisition of motor vehicles transporting 30 or more persons in a nonattainment area to acquire methanol-powered buses with such assistance. Directs the Secretary to provide such States with supplemental grants to cover the amount by which methanol-powered buses exceed the costs of comparable diesel-powered buses. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through FY 1995. Establishes the Interagency Commission on Methanol to develop and coordinate implementation of a national methanol energy policy. Requires the Commission to: (1) perform various studies with respect to the production, use, and promotion of methanol as a fuel; (2) develop a plan for the commercialization of methanol; (3) develop a public-awareness program on methanol as a transportation fuel; (4) coordinate Federal efforts with respect to methanol research and commercialization; (5) ensure communication between Federal agencies involved in methanol demonstration projects; and (6) establish an information clearinghouse for parties working with or interested in methanol and related projects. Requires the Chairman of the Commission to establish a private sector advisory panel to inform the Commission about methanol-related matters. Sets forth reporting requirements which apply to the Commission. Terminates the Commission upon the submission of its last report. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress regarding a study of the comparative costs of methanol based on natural gas, coal, and other resources. Sets guidelines for such study. Directs the Administrator to prepare a comprehensive air quality and health study regarding specified aspects of methanol as a transportation fuel compared to existing gasoline and diesel fuels. Authorizes appropriations for both studies. Requires all passenger automobiles and light-duty trucks acquired by the United States after October 1, 1987, to be suitable for operation on all fuels for which Environmental Protection Agency waivers are in effect. Title VIII: Enhancement of Coal Exports to Japan - Coal Export Enhancement Act of 1987 - Requires the President to enter into negotiations with the Government of Japan to implement the recommendations of the 1983 "Joint Policy of Energy Cooperation" regarding domestic coal exports to Japan, and to report to the Congress regarding such negotiations. Title IX: Outer Continental Shelf Moratoria - Proscribes any moratorium regarding oil or gas drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf except as provided in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1987
Farm Employment and Enterprise Development Act of 1987 - Title I: Designation of Enterprise Zones - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the designation of enterprise zones by the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) for purposes of providing tax and regulatory relief and improving local services. Specifies that States and local governments shall nominate areas for such designation. Limits to 100 the total number of areas which may be designated as enterprise zones. Limits the period during which: (1) the Secretary has authority to designate such zones; and (2) the designations may remain in effect. Authorizes the Secretary to designate such zones only if: (1) the area is within the jurisdiction of a local government; (2) the boundary of the area is continuous; (3) the area has a population of at least 1,000 or is entirely within an Indian reservation; and (4) the area meets specified unemployment and poverty requirements. Requires nominating local governments, as a condition of the Secretary's designation, to agree in writing to follow a course of action which may include reducing tax rates, improving local services, simplifying or streamlining regulation of business, and providing job training to residents of the area. Describes areas to which the Secretary must give preference in selecting nominated areas for designation as enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress every four years on the effects of such enterprise zones' designation in accomplishing the purposes of this Act. Requires that any property tax reduction effected by a local government under the terms of this Act be disregarded for purposes of determining the eligibility of a State or local government for Federal assistance or benefits. States that the designation of an enterprise zone shall not give displaced persons from such an area any rights or benefits under the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970. Provides that such enterprise zones shall be treated for all purposes under Federal law as labor surplus areas. Title II: Federal Income Tax Incentives - Subtitle A: Credits for Employers and Employees - Allows employers located in rural enterprise zones a nonrefundable income tax credit for qualified increased employment expenditures and employment of the disadvantaged. Allows a three-year carryback and a 15-year carryover of such credit. Sets the amount of such credit at ten percent of the increase in payroll (taking into account $17,500 in wages per year per employee) plus a specified percentage of wages paid to certain disadvantaged workers through the first 20 years of the enterprise zone designation. Phases out such credit in the last four years of the enterprise zone designation. Disallows a deduction for the portion of wages taken into account for such credit. Allows a nonrefundable income tax credit to enterprise zone employees for five percent of wages earned (taking into account up to $10,500 per year). Phases out such credit in the last four years of the enterprise zone designation. Subtitle B: Credits for Investment in Tangible Property in Enterprise Zones - Allows businesses an additional investment tax credit for investments made in certain enterprise zone construction property located in enterprise zones. Limits such credit to ten percent for new enterprise zone construction property, including rental property. Requires that the property subject to such credit be located in an enterprise zone, be predominantly used in the zone, be either constructed, reconstructed, renovated, etc. during the period of zone designation or acquired during such period, and not be acquired from relatives or related corporations. Requires the recapture of such credit upon the early disposition of the property. Provides for a phase-out of the tax credit as the enterprise zone ends. Provides for an adjustment to the basis of the enterprise zone construction property to reflect the tax credit. Subtitle C: Nonrecognition of Qualified Enterprise Zone Capital Gain Where Acquisition of Enterprise Zone Business Property - Provides for the nonrecognition of capital gain on the sale of property if, within one year after such sale, the taxpayer acquires qualified replacement property (generally defined as property related to an enterprise zone or to a business within such a zone). Limits such nonrecognition of gain to the amount by which the gain does not exceed the cost of the replacement property. Sets forth special rules and provisions relating to this subtitle. Subtitle D: Deduction for Purchase of Enterprise Stock - Allows a taxpayer to deduct up to $100,000 of the aggregate amount paid during the taxable year for the purchase of enterprise stock on the original issue of such stock by a qualified issuer. Requires that the gain from the disposition of the stock be treated as ordinary income. Includes provisions to govern situations in which: (1) the stock is transferred within three years of its purchase; or (2) the issuer ceases to be a qualified issuer of enterprise stock within five years of its issue. Requires the basis of such stock to be reduced by the amount of the deduction. Exempts this deduction from calculations with respect to the limitation of an individual taxpayer's miscellaneous itemized deductions to two percent of adjusted gross income. Subtitle E: Rules Relating to Industrial Development Bonds - Provides that limitations on the cost recovery deductions for property financed with tax-exempt bonds shall not apply to enterprise zone property. Provides that the termination of the small issue exemption shall not apply to bonds whose proceeds are used to finance facilities in such enterprise zones. Modifies certain small issue volume limitations with respect to enterprise zone facilities. Requires that five percent of the private activity bond volume cap of a State that has at least one enterprise zone shall be set aside for use only in such zones. Subtitle F: Ordinary Loss Deduction for Securities of Enterprise Zone Business Which Become Worthless - Permits an ordinary loss deduction for securities of enterprise zone businesses which become worthless during the taxable year. Subtitle G: Increase in Research Credit for Research Conducted in Enterprise Zones - Increases from 20 to 30 percent the tax credit for increasing research conducted in enterprise zones. Subtitle H: Sense of the Congress with Respect to Tax Simplification - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Internal Revenue Service should simplify the administration and enforcement of any provision of the Internal Revenue Code affected by this Act. Subtitle I: Regulations - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue regulations to carry out the provisions of this Act not later than six months after the date of enactment. Title III: Regulatory Flexibility - Revises the definition of "small entity" for purposes of the analysis of regulatory functions to include qualified business, government, and nonprofit enterprises operating within enterprise zones. Authorizes Federal agencies, upon request by a designating government, to waive or modify rules and regulations pertaining to the implementation of projects or activities within an enterprise zone. Requires agencies to approve such request if the resulting benefits of job creation, community development, or economic revitalization outweigh the public interest in retaining the rule unchanged. Disallows waiver or modification of a rule that would directly violate a statutory requirement (including the Davis-Bacon Act and Fair Labor Standards Act) or present a danger to the public health and safety. Provides that such waivers or modifications of a rule shall remain in effect only as long as the affected zone designation. Amends the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act to direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to promote the coordination of all enterprise zone programs and to consolidate all periodic reports required under such programs into one summary report. Title IV: Establishment of Foreign-Trade Zones in Enterprise Zones - Requires the Foreign-Trade Board to consider on a priority basis and to expedite the processing of applications for the establishment of foreign-trade zones within enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to give priority to, and expedite applications for, the establishment of ports of entry necessary to establish such zones. States that, to the maximum extent practicable, foreign-trade zones should be established within enterprise zones.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1987
Makes permanent the income tax credit for qualified research expenditures by repealing the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that would terminate such credit for expenses incurred or paid after 1988.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1987
Small Business Export Innovation Act - Amends the Small Business Act to establish within the Small Business Administration the Small Business Export Innovation Office. Requires the Office to administer a Small Business Export Innovation Program under which the Office shall make competitive awards to small businesses to develop export trade strategies and knowledge of foreign markets. Requires the first phase of awards to involve matching awards of $25,000 to fund the export trade objectives described in export increase proposals submitted by selected applicants. Requires the second phase to involve additional $10,000 awards to those recipients who best developed export trade strategies and knowledge of foreign markets. Provides that a small business must have been in operation for at least two years to be eligible to apply for such an award. Requires the Office to ensure that at least one small business from each State receives an award. Requires the Office to: (1) make an annual public announcement of the Program specifics; (2) make direct mail solicitations to small businesses and intermediary service firms which could help publicize the Program; (3) report to the Congress annually on the awards made and the success of recipients in attaining award objectives; and (4) issue rules specifying a simplified, standardized funding process for such Program. Requires each recipient to report to the Office on its use of funds under the Program and its success in meeting export trade objectives. Makes one percent of the amounts appropriated for FY 1989 through 1993 for program and financing, loan investment, and the bond guarantee revolving fund under the Small Business Act available to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 1987
Civil Rights Act of 1987 - Amends title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to provide that the phrase "program or activity" shall, as applied to educational institutions receiving Federal financial assistance, mean the educational institution (notwithstanding the decisions of the Supreme Court in Grove City College v. Bell and North Haven Board of Education v. Bell). Amends title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 to state that such Act's prohibition of sex discrimination shall be inapplicable to educational institutions which are controlled by, or closely associated with the tenants of, a particular religious organization if the application of such prohibition would be inconsistent with the organization's religious intent. (Current law provides that such prohibitions are inapplicable where the educational institutions are controlled by religious organizations.) States that nothing in such Act shall be construed to grant or deny any right relating to abortion.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1987
Telephone Decency Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit any obscene or indecent telephone communication, in foreign or interstate communication or in the District of Columbia, for commercial purposes to any person. (Current law prohibits such communication to any person without his or her consent or to any person under 18 years of age.)
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1987
Rural Area Revitalization Act of 1987 - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to authorize FY 1988 through 1992 appropriations for Rural Development Loan Fund intermediate borrowers. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to make 1988 through 1992 grants for: (1) rural business, employment, and infrastructure development; and (2) stimulation of growth and diversification in rural communities affected by chronic underemployment in basic economic sectors, such as agriculture. Limits: (1) Federal cost sharing to 75 percent, unless waived by the Secretary; and (2) grant eligibility to projects serving communities with populations of not more than 20,000 people. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to authorize grants for rural drinking water projects. Directs the Secretary to establish an office in the Farmers Home Administration of the Department of Agriculture whose primary purpose shall be to encourage different approaches to economic and community development in rural areas.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
President's Pro-Life Bill of 1987 - Prohibits the use of Federal funds for abortions, except when continuing the pregnancy would endanger the mother's life. Prohibits the granting of funds relating to certain population research and voluntary family programs under the Public Health Service Act to organizations providing abortions or abortion referrals, unless the life of the mother would be endangered by continuing the pregnancy.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1987
Employee Educational Assistance Act of 1987 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the income tax exclusion for employee educational assistance programs. (Present law terminates such exclusion as of December 31, 1987.) Requires, for every taxable year beginning after 1988, an annual cost of living adjustment of the maximum excludable amount. Waives the maximum excludable amount for any educational assistance furnished by certain educational institutions to graduate students engaged in teaching or research activities for such organization.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1987
Small Business Prompt Payment Act Amendments of 1987 - Revises Federal law to deem the head of a Federal agency to have received an invoice on the later of: (1) the date on which the designated office or employee of an agency actually receives it; or (2) the fifth day after the date on which a property is actually delivered, or final performance of a service is actually completed, unless the contract specifies otherwise. Makes Federal prompt payment provisions applicable to the United States Postal Service. Makes the Postmaster General responsible for issuing procurement regulations, solicitation provisions, and contract clauses. Reduces the 15-day grace period for payment of interest penalties to eight days for solicitations (other than meat products and agricultural commodities) issued before October 1, 1990. Eliminates such grace period for procurement solicitations issued on or after October 1, 1990. Requires an agency to pay a double interest penalty if: (1) the agency owes the interest penalty; (2) the interest penalty is not paid to the business concern on or after the date the penalty is due; (3) the agency does not pay the penalty within ten days after such payment is made; and (4) a written demand is made within 40 days after such payment is made. Requires regulations on interest penalties, in the case of construction contracts, to provide for the payment of interest on: (1) progress payments due for more than seven days, or a longer period if the prevailing practice in private construction contracts is to provide such longer period; and (2) amounts retained during the performance of a contract, if such amounts are not paid by the required payment date. Requires regulations on interest penalties to provide for periodic payments in the case of supply or service contracts upon: (1) the submission of an invoice for supplies delivered or services performed; and (2) acceptance of supplies or services by an authorized employee or certification of performance by such an employee. Requires Government construction contractors to include a payment provision in their agreements with their subcontractors which provides for payment in accordance with prevailing industry standards. Requires the contractor to pay a late payment interest penalty to the subcontractor at the rate applicable between the prime contractor and the Government. Specifies the calculation of time for interest penalties on discount payments. Revises agency reporting requirements on interest penalty payments to include: (1) a description of agency payment practices; and (2) an analysis by the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization for each of the various Federal agencies on the impact of such payments on small and disadvantaged businesses. Requires the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration to report to the congressional committees on Small Business on current Government compliance with the payment of interest penalties and the impact on small business. Requires the Chief Counsel to monitor the compliance of all agencies and of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget with interest penalty payments. Requires the modification of the Federal acquisition regulation to implement Federal prompt payment provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1987
Emergency Energy Act of 1987 - Title I: Amendments of Internal Revenue Code of 1954 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a credit against the income tax for crude oil producers equal to the excess of an oil well's operating costs allocable to a barrel of oil over the sales price of the barrel (but in no event for more than $5.00 per barrel). Provides for a carryback of unused excess credits for any year. Allows a credit for 15 percent of the costs of exploring for oil or natural gas in the United States. Provides for a carryback of unused excess exploration cost credits. Revises the minimum tax rules to allow a taxpayer to elect to carry over any portion of a percentage depletion deduction to the succeeding taxable year. Revises the definition of intangible drilling and development costs eligible for annual deduction as business expenses when paid or incurred to include geological, geophysical, and surface casing costs paid or incurred for the purpose of ascertaining the existence, location, extent, or quality of any domestic deposit of oil or gas. Repeals the tax preference cutback which currently requires integrated oil and gas producers to reduce (and thereby capitalize) the amount of intangible drilling and development costs eligible for a tax deduction by 30 percent. Repeals the rule that limits percentage depletion for oil or gas properties to 50 percent of a taxpayer's net income from the property. Revises the rule regarding an election to treat operating mineral interests as separate properties to allow such an election without regard to whether one or more of the operating mineral interests participated, under a voluntary or compulsory unitization or pooling agreement, in a single cooperative or unit plan of operation. Repeals specified rules which currently disqualify certain properties from: (1) the percentage depletion allowance deduction; and (2) the stripper well oil exemption from the windfall profit tax. Revises the special rules for the windfall profit tax to declare that a return shall not be treated as required if the amount of windfall profit tax withheld from the purchase payment to an oil producer equals or exceeds the amount required to be withheld as shown on the first purchaser's return. (The statute of limitations on assessments for windfall profit tax liability will thus begin to run concurrently with the statute of limitations on the taxpayer's income tax return.) Limits such rule revision to returns filed after February 29, 1980. Repeals the windfall profit tax. Title II: Removal of Wellhead Price Controls and Repeal of Natural Gas Act Jurisdiction Over Certain First Sales of Natural Gas - Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 to: (1) remove wellhead price controls over natural gas prices; (2) repeal the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) over natural gas exempt from wellhead price controls; (3) repeal the President's standby price control authority; and (4) repeal congressional review of natural gas price controls. Title III: Repeal of Certain Restrictions on the Use of Natural Gas and Petroleum - Amends the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 to: (1) repeal the prohibitions against the use by electric powerplants and major fuel-burning installations of petroleum and natural gas as primary energy sources: (2) remove the restrictions placed upon Federal major fuel-burning installations against the use of natural gas and petroleum as primary energy sources; and (3) repeal the guidelines for the emergency use of natural gas or petroleum as a primary energy source by any person operating a peakload powerplant or a major fuel-burning installation. Revokes the authority of the Secretary of Energy to require any major fuel-burning installation to furnish certain information regarding the use of primary energy sources of fuel. Title IV: Repeal of Incremental Pricing Requirements - Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 to repeal the natural gas incremental pricing provisions. States that incremental pricing rules promulgated by FERC shall continue in effect only with respect to the flow-through of costs incurred before enactment of this section, including any surcharges based on such costs. Title V: Strategic Petroleum Reserve - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to direct the Secretary of Energy to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve only with crude oil produced in the United States. Title VI: Separability - Sets forth separability provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1987
Omnibus Family Decency Protection Act of 1987 - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide criminal penalties for the distribution of obscene matter. Subjects such obscene material, and any property derived from such material, to forfeiture. Provides criminal penalties for obscene television broadcasts. Requires any person who produces, distributes, or sells any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct to maintain records containing proof of ages of the persons depicted and consent forms from such persons. Provides criminal penalties for violations of such recordkeeping requirements. Provides criminal penalties for producing a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct using performers between the ages of 18 and 21. Provides criminal penalties for using a computer network to exchange information concerning visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to provide criminal penalties for making an obscene or indecent telephone communication for commercial purposes. (Current law provides such criminal penalties if made to a minor or to a person without his or her consent.) Amends the National Labor Relations Act to make the employment of any person to participate in a commercial sexual performance an unfair labor practice. Amends the Mann Act to make certain offenses gender neutral.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1987
Child Protection Act of 1987 - Amends the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Statute to extend its coverage to the sexual exploitation of children. Allows any person injured personally or in his business or property by such violations to bring a civil suit for treble damages. Amends the Federal criminal code to require a mandatory life sentence in kidnapping offenses involving the murder of a minor. Establishes mandatory minimum sentences for the sexual exploitation of minors. Provides that the period of any applicable limitation for the commencement of prosecution for certain offenses involving the sexual exploitation of children shall not begin until the child has reached the age of 18 years. Directs the Attorney General to submit a report to the Congress detailing possible changes in the Federal Rules of Evidence, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and other procedures which would facilitate the participation of child witnesses in cases involving child abuse and sexual exploitation. Directs the Attorney General to modify the classification system used by the National Crime Information System and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with respect to offenses involving the sexual exploitation of children by: (1) including the age of the victim and the relationship of the victim to the offender; and (2) using a uniform definition of a child.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1987
Directs the Postal Service to restore the reduced rates applicable to mailings of fewer than 5,000 copies of publications to counties adjacent to the county of publication. Limits to 20,000 the number of copies of such publications which may be mailed under reduced rates within the county of publication.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1987
Omnibus Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Act - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to prepare a statement setting forth in nontechnical terms: (1) the rights and obligations of a taxpayer and of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) during a tax audit; (2) the procedures by which a taxpayer may appeal adverse decisions, prosecute refund claims, and file complaints; and (3) the procedures that the IRS may use in enforcing revenue laws. Directs the Secretary to transmit drafts of such statement to specified congressional committees and to distribute the final statement to all taxpayers with tax forms sent by the IRS. Amends the Inspector General Act of 1978 and other Federal law to establish within the Department of the Treasury (Department) an Office of Inspector General (Inspector). Transfers to such Office the existing audit and investigation units of the Department. Prohibits the Inspector from reviewing: (1) monetary, fiscal, and tax policy; and (2) the exercise of legal judgment in the investigation and litigation of cases. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) withhold from the Inspector requested information that the Secretary determines will jeopardize the success of an ongoing investigation or litigation, confidential sources, or the national security; and (2) prohibit the Inspector from undertaking or continuing an audit or investigation under limited circumstances described in this Act. Requires the IRS, upon taxpayer request, to conduct any interview regarding a deficiency assessment at a reasonable time and place convenient to the taxpayer and to the IRS, and to permit the taxpayer, at his or her own expense, to record the interview. Authorizes the IRS interviewer to record such interview if the taxpayer has been given prior notice and is provided, upon request and payment of reproduction costs, with a transcript of the recording. Requires the interview to warn the taxpayer that: (1) he or she has a right to remain silent; (2) any statement the taxpayer makes may be used against him or her; and (3) he or she has the right to the presence of an attorney, certified public accountant, enrolled agent, or enrolled actuary. Permits a waiver of such rights if voluntarily and knowingly made. Amends Federal law to require the Comptroller General (Comptroller) of the General Accounting Office to: (1) conduct audits of the IRS with respect to the efficiency, uniformity, and equity of the internal revenue laws (current law specifies no particular focus for such audits); and (2) conduct special audits or investigations of internal revenue law administration upon the request of any congressional committee or Member of Congress. Requires the Comptroller's annual report to the Congress to include specified findings concerning IRS management, efficiency, procedures, and structure. Divests of its finality a vote of the Joint Committee on Taxation to disapprove a Comptroller General audit of the IRS. Designates such vote as a recommendation to disapprove an audit and makes such recommendation subject to congressional approval. Prohibits evaluations of IRS personnel based on revenue collected from taxpayers as a result of audits or investigations involving such personnel. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prescribe criminal penalties for: (1) any investigation by an officer or employee of the United States in connection with Federal tax laws that inquires into the beliefs, associations, or activities of any individual or organization; or (2) the maintenance of any records containing information derived from such an investigation. Creates a civil cause of action in Federal court (regardless of the amount in controversy) for any taxpayer aggrieved by such prohibited investigation or recordkeeping. Authorizes both equitable remedies and awards of damages, including punitive damages, litigation costs and reasonable attorney fees, in such cases. Extends from ten to 30 days the period between the required notice to a person who neglects or refuses to pay tax liability and a levy on such person's salary, wages, or other property. Specifies information that must be incorporated in such notice, including possible alternative actions and the appropriate appeals procedures. Adds to the circumstances triggering termination of such a levy: (1) an agreement between the taxpayer and the Secretary for payment of the liability; and (2) the Secretary's determination that the taxpayer's financial condition precludes enforceability of the liability. Revises the list of property exempt from levy to: (1) increase the exempt amount permitted for certain personal effects, the property of a business, and wages; (2) add an exemption for certain deposits in qualified institutions; and (3) provide an express exemption, except under limited circumstances specified in this Act, for the taxpayer's principal residence, a motor vehicle used by the taxpayer as the primary means of transportation to work, and any tangible personal property essential to the operation of the taxpayer's business in cases when a levy would prevent the taxpayer from carrying on such business. Prohibits a levy on any property when levy and sales expenses would exceed either the liability for which the levy is made or the fair market value of the levied property. Sets forth situations in which the Secretary must release a levy. Applies to jeopardy levies the administrative and judicial review procedures currently applicable to jeopardy assessments. Authorizes the Secretary, in certain cases, to enter into a binding agreement with a taxpayer under which such taxpayer may pay tax liability in installments. Requires the Secretary to offer in writing to enter such an agreement with any individual: (1) whose tax liability is $20,000 or less; and (2) who has not been delinquent in installment tax payments under similar agreements during a specified period. Permits the Secretary, after proper notice and a hearing, to modify or annul such an agreement upon the finding that the financial condition of the affected taxpayer has significantly changed. Requires the Secretary to abate in full any deficiency, including penalty or interest, completely attributable to erroneous advice in writing given to a taxpayer by an IRS officer or employee in response to such taxpayer's specific inquiry. Directs IRS officers and employees, when giving oral advice to a person, to inform such person that the contents of such communication are not binding on the IRS. Authorizes the IRS Ombudsman, upon application filed by a taxpayer, to issue a Taxpayer Assistance Order if, in the determination of the Ombudsman: (1) the taxpayer is suffering or is about to suffer from an unusual or irreparable loss as a result of the manner in which the internal revenue laws are being administered by the Secretary; and (2) the Secretary has failed to carry out any of his or her duties or has violated any provision of law. Allows the terms of a Taxpayer Assistance Order to require the Secretary to release property of the taxpayer levied upon or to cease or refrain from certain actions. Requires the Secretary to obey any Taxpayer Assistance Order issued by the Ombudsman. Allows an administrative appeal of tax liens. Revises the criteria according to which the Secretary determines a minimum sale price for property seized by levy and subject to a tax sale. Prohibits the Secretary from authorizing a class audit of taxpayers in a particular business or trade until each group member is given proper notice and the opportunity either to file an amended return or to challenge the Secretary's findings at a hearing. Places upon the IRS the burden of proof on all issues in all administrative and judicial proceedings between the IRS and a taxpayer. Applies the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act to all IRS rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary.
![Official portrait of Rep. Combest, Larry [R-TX-19]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c000653_200.jpg)