United States · United States Congress · 29 February 1984
Juvenile Justice, Runaway Youth, and Missing Children's Act Amendments of 1984 - Title I: General Provisions - Amends the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to make technical changes with regard to the Act's findings, purpose, and definitions. Title II: Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention - Makes changes in the Act so that it is neutral as to sex. Decreases from seven and one-half to four percent the percentage of authorized appropriations for use by the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to implement policy. Decreases the authorized appropriations from $500,000 to $200,000 for the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Allows members of State advisory groups and State and local officials to be appointed to the National Advisory Committee for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Requires that at least two of the individuals appointed to the Advisory Committee be residents of rural areas. Decreases the authorized appropriations from $500,000 to $200,000 for the Advisory Committee. Revises certain requirements imposed on State plans receiving formula grants under the Act, including the involvement of family members in programs addressing the delinquency-related problems of juveniles and the provision of treatment to juveniles with a dependence on alcohol or drugs. Requires that State plans provide that no juvenile shall be detained or confined in any jail or lockup for adults except in certain cases of juveniles accused of nonstatus offenses who are awaiting an initial court appearance within 24 hours of custody. Revises the amount of funds appropriated for making grants and entering contracts with public and private non-profit agencies, organizations, or institutions, or individuals for certain activities and projects. Requires programs selected for such grants to be selected through a competitive process. Requires the Administrator to announce publicly the availability of funds for such assistance. Requires that the notification of grants and contracts and the applications for such grants be transmitted to the Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives and the Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate. Requires the Administrator, acting through the National Institute for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, to provide for a biennial national conference for the purpose of disseminating information, data, standard techniques, and program models. Establishes within the Institute a Law-Related Education Resource Center. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1985 through 1989. Title III: Runaway and Homeless Youth - Amends the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to provide grants and assistance to programs that assist families. Repeals the section dealing with the procedure for a reorganization plan. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1984 through 1989. Title IV: Missing Children's Assistance - Missing Children's Assistance Act - Establishes within the Department of Health and Human Services a Bureau of Missing Children. Directs the Secretary, through the Bureau, to: (1) coordinate all federally-funded programs relating to missing children; (2) establish and allocate a national toll-free telephone line for missing children; (3) provide assistance to State and local governments, public and private nonprofit agencies, and individuals in locating missing children; (4) coordinate Federal efforts to locate missing children; (5) disseminate information relating to missing children; (6) conduct a national incidence study; and (7) publish an annual summary evaluating Federal, State, and local projects relating to missing children. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants for research, demonstration projects, and service programs for missing children. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1985 through 1989. Title V: Effective Dates - Sets forth effective dates.
United States · United States Congress · 29 February 1984
Amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) of the Social Security Act to increase the amounts authorized for fiscal years after 1984.
United States · United States Congress · 29 February 1984
Encourages the people of Paraguay in their efforts to reclaim and exercise their human rights. Declares that the United States should: (1) encourage Paraguay to set a date for the onsite visit of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; and (2) use more public diplomacy on behalf of human rights in Paraguay. Declares that until all political prisoners are released and Paraguayans are guaranteed the right to return and remain in their country, the United States should: (1) not provide security assistance to Paraguay; and (2) oppose loans and financial assistance for Paraguay by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and by the Inter-American Development Bank, except assistance which serves the human needs of the Paraguayans.
United States · United States Congress · 29 February 1984
Restates the intent of Congress to assist local school systems with their obligation to educate alien children. Declares that the funds duly appropriated pursuant to specified Federal law for such purpose should be spent.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1984
Hazardous Materials Transportation Act Amendments of 1984 - Declares the purpose of this Act to be to promote the public safety by providing State and local governments with the authority to adequately meet their enforcement and emergency response responsibilities. Amends the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act to set forth standards and procedures for the Secretary of Transportation to use in making inconsistency and nonpreemption determinations about State and local safety requirements in relation to Federal requirements. Directs the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements for the establishment of regional training centers to train State and local personnel to: (1) respond to hazardous materials transportation accidents; and (2) enforce State and local hazardous materials transportation requirements. States that such agreements shall be for terms of three years. Requires any party to an agreement with the Secretary to bear the cost of constructing training facilities. Directs the Secretary to provide, upon request, training materials and other assistance as may be appropriate. Requires parties to agreements with the Secretary, in developing training materials, to consider the procedures and standards for responding to hazardous substance releases as set forth in the national contingency plan required under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980. Directs (currently, authorizes) the Secretary to establish: (1) criteria for handling hazardous materials; and (2) minimum levels of insurance coverage sufficient to meet injury or damage claims resulting from transportation of such materials. Directs (currently, authorizes) the Secretary to require transporters or shippers of hazardous materials to submit registration statements and to amend such statements as necessary. Requires the Secretary to study and determine the most effective, equitable, and cost-efficient method for imposing a fee on all participants in the registration program to assist States or political subdivisions in developing and conducting enforcement and emergency response programs related to transportation of hazardous materials. Requires a report to Congress on such study within 12 months of enactment. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1985.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1984
Joint Research and Development Act of 1984 - Declares that no joint research and development program shall be deemed illegal per se under the Federal antitrust laws or under any similar State law. Excludes from the term "joint research and development program" any activity in which two or more participating parties: (1) exchange information regarding the sales, marketing, or distribution of any product, process, or service; or (2) restrict or require the participation by any party in another research and development program, the production, marketing, or other commercial application by any party of any product, process, or service, or the sale, licensing, or sharing by any party of any invention not jointly developed under the program. Permits any party to a joint research and development program to file with the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) a written notice disclosing: (1) the parties to such program; (2) the nature, objectives, and duration of the program; and (3) the agreements made by the parties under the program. Directs the Attorney General or the FTC, within 60 days after receiving such notice, to publish in the Federal Register a notice identifying the parties to such program and the general nature and duration of such program. Exempts material submitted as part of such notices from public disclosure. Limits the amount that may be recovered in an action brought by a person or by a State on behalf of its residents for an injury to business or property sustained as a result of a violation of a State or Federal antitrust law, to the amount of the actual damages sustained, interest thereon, and the cost of the suit, if: (1) the action is based on conduct under a joint research and development program that is described in the program notice filed with the Attorney General and the FTC; and (2) such action is filed after the notice of such program is published in the Federal Register. Directs the court to award the prevailing party in such action a reasonable attorney's fee. Provides that such recovery limitation shall not apply to any conduct that occurs after an order granting a permanent injunction has been issued against such conduct as a result of an action under Federal or State antitrust law.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1984
Phantom Tax Reform and Least Cost Electric Energy Planning Act of 1984 - Title I: State Regulated Electric Utilities - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to provide that a State regulatory authority may hold hearings with respect to the adoption of a least system cost plan (a plan for meeting the demand for electric energy services which is reliable and which meets or reduces the electric power demand of retail consumers at an estimated incremental system cost no greater than that of the least-cost similarly reliable and available alternative measures) for the electric utilities with respect to which the State regulatory authority has ratemaking authority. Authorizes a State regulatory authority which adopts a least system cost plan for an electric utility to approve or establish a rate schedule for such utility which provides for the ratemaking treatment of the investment tax credit and the depreciation expenses and accelerated cost recovery deductions in a manner which will further the purposes of the plan. Provides that such treatment shall apply in lieu of Federal income tax provisions regarding the treatment of such amounts for ratemaking purposes. Title II: Federally Regulated Electric Utilities - Amends the Federal Power Act to authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to conduct hearings with respect to the adoption and implementation of a least system cost plan for electric utilities which are subject to the Commission's jurisdiction. Provides that if the Commission adopts such a plan for an electric utility, the Commission may, in approving or establishing a rate schedule for such utility, provide for such ratemaking treatment of the investment tax credit and of depreciation expenses and accelerated cost recovery deductions as will further the purposes of the plan and provide a current return to the ratepayers of the tax benefits attributable to such credit or deductions which exceeds the current return available under a specified adjustment to the methods for determining such credit and deductions. Provides that such treatment shall apply in lieu of Federal income tax provisions regarding the treatment of such amounts for ratemaking purposes. Title III: Investment Tax Credit and Depreciation - Makes technical amendments to the Internal Revenue Code in conformity with this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1984
Creates the Oil Trading Corporation (the Corporation) to: (1) acquire crude oil and petroleum products; (2) acquire storage facilities; (3) use, lease, or dispose of the storage facilities; (4) maintain reserves of crude oil and petroleum products; (5) transport crude oil and petroleum products; and (6) sell crude oil and petroleum products to maximize the stabilization of market forces during times of oil shortages. States that the Corporation shall have perpetual existence unless and until its charter is revoked or modified by Congress. Sets forth provisions relating to: (1) general corporate powers; (2) the Board of Directors; and (3) capitalization. Provides that: (1) the President shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, five members of the Board of Directors, four of whom must be selected from lists submitted by the House and Senate to the President; and (2) four members of the Board shall be elected by the Class B stockholders. States that the capital of the Corporation shall consist of capital subscribed by organizations, foundations, trusts, public bodies, and other public and private bodies, and the United States. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1985 to purchase class A stock. Authorizes the Corporation to issue class B stock to any U.S. person. Limits sales of crude oil and petroleum products to holders of class B stock. Directs the Corporation to determine the number of shares of class B stock required to be held by a purchaser of crude oil and petroleum products. Requires the Corporation to: (1) hold an annual stockholders meeting which shall be open to the public; and (2) give a report of its activities for the year at such meeting. Authorizes the Corporation to obtain funds through the public or private sale of its bonds, debentures, notes, and other evidences of indebtedness. States that such obligations shall not be guaranteed by the United States. Requires an annual report to Congress by the Corporation. Provides that January 1, 1995, shall be the final Government equity redemption date. Prohibits the Corporation from exploring for, developing, or refining crude oil.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1984
Uniform Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 - Prohibits the Secretary of Transportation from approving Federal-aid highway projects in States in which the purchase or public possession of alcoholic beverages by persons less than 21 years of age is lawful. Makes such prohibition effective in the sixth fiscal year after enactment of this Act. Requires the Secretary to reduce such States' apportionment of Federal-aid highway funds by specified percentages beginning in the third fiscal year after enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1984
Immigration Reform Act of 1984 - Title I: Control of Illegal Immigration - Part A: Preventing Displacement of Domestic Workers by Unauthorized Aliens - Authorizes supplemental appropriations for specified enforcement activities regarding the unauthorized employment of aliens (with emphasis in high concentration areas) for: (1) FY 1984 for the Department of Labor; and (2) FY 1984 through 1986 for the National Labor Relations Board. Directs the Secretary of Labor to submit an alien labor enforcement plan to Congress within two months for FY 1984 supplemental personnel and resources, and to revise such plan for FY 1985 and FY 1986. Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act to establish a civil penalty for specified recordkeeping violations. Part B: Improvement of Enforcement and Services - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize supplementary FY 1984 appropriations for Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) enforcement activities. Authorizes FY 1985 through 1986 appropriations for INS. Directs the Attorney General to submit a plan to Congress within two months for FY 1984 supplemental personnel and resources, and to revise such plan for FY 1985 and FY 1986. States that increases in enforcement activities should be used predominantly for border area patrol. Establishes criminal penalties for unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens to the United States for commercial advantage or private profit. Directs the Attorney General, jointly with the Secretary of State, to initiate antismuggling program discussions with Canada and Mexico, and to report on such discussions to the Congress within one year. Directs the Attorney General to develop an INS immigration emergency plan, and to submit such plan to the appropriate congressional committees. Authorizes the Attorney General to request supplementary appropriations if the President has determined that such an emergency exists. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish an inservice training program to familiarize INS personnel with the rights of citizens and the various cultural backgrounds of persons they may come in contact with; and (2) enhance the INS community outreach program. Part C: Adjudication and Enforcement Powers and Procedures - Creates a seven-member United States Immigration Board as an independent agency within the Department of Justice to hear appeals from: (1) final decisions of administrative law judges (other than voluntary departures); (2) the exercise of certain discretionary authority; (3) imposition of penalties and fines; and (4) determinations respecting bond, parole, and detention. States that the Board's determination shall be binding on all immigration judges, immigration officers, and consular officers unless judicially modified. Requires the President to nominate Board members within 45 days. Replaces the existing special inquiry officer system with a system of immigration judges. Grants such judges responsibility for exclusion, deportation, asylum, and status rescission cases. Limits the Attorney General's authority to arrest and obtain an alien pending determination of deportability. Requires such determination proceedings to be open to the public unless requested otherwise by the alien. Requires related bail determination within 24 hours. Sets forth determination factors, including factors requiring release without bond. Provides for an administrative de novo determination. Permits the Attorney General to revoke an alien's bond or conditional release and detain such person for reasonable cause. Permits an immigration officer or employee to stop and temporarily detain a person if the officer has a reasonable belief based on specific, articulable facts, that such person is illegally in the United States. Requires a determination of deportability to be made within 24 hours of arrest. Requires an alien to be advised orally and in writing of the reasons for arrest and his or her rights in English or in such person's native language. Requires advisement of right of counsel and right to remain silent. Provides for both searches with warrants and warrantless searches. Prohibits State and local law enforcement personnel from stopping, questioning, or detaining a person solely on the ground that such person may be an excludable or deportable alien, except as provided for under such Act. Part D: Suspension of Deportation - Revises the seven- year "physical presence" requirement to a seven-year "residence" in the United States for suspension of deportation purposes. Title II: Reform of Legal Immigration and Naturalization- Part A: Immigrants - Increases annual visas: (1) from 20,000 to 40,000 each for Mexico and Canada (with the unused portion available to the other country); and (2) from 600 to 3000 for the colonies. Makes such increases effective in FY 1985. Requires a comprehensive immigration impact report every three years beginning on January 1, 1987. Requires the House and Senate Judiciary Committees to hold public hearings to review such reports. Includes the relationship between an illegimate child and its natural father within the definition of "child" for purposes of status, benefit, or privilege under such Act. Exempts certain self-supporting retirees from numerical admissions limitations. Treats university researchers as faculty for certification purposes. Part B: Nonimmigrant Tourists - Authorizes a three-year tourist visa waiver pilot program with up to eight reciprocating countries. Authorizes a visa waiver program for Guam. Part C: Naturalization - Confers naturalization jurisdiction upon the Attorney General. Authorizes an administrative naturalization procedure in addition to the current judicial procedure. Waives the English language requirement for persons older than 50 years. Eliminates the six-month State residency requirement. Reduces the required residency period from five to four years. Title III: Legalization - Directs the Attorney General to adjust to permanent resident status aliens who: (1) entered the United States before January 1, 1982, and have resided continuously in this country illegally since that date; (2) apply within the prescribed application period; (3) have registered with the draft if so required; and (4) are otherwise admissible. Prohibits the legalization of persons: (1) convicted of a felony (excluding certain re-entry violations) in the United States; or (2) who have taken part in religious, political, or racial persecution. Requires the Attorney General to designate and work with voluntary agencies to disseminate program information and process such aliens. Waives numerical limitations, labor certification, and other specified entry violations for such aliens. Permits the Attorney General to waive other grounds for exclusion (except criminal, most drug-related, and security grounds) to assure family unity or when otherwise in the national interest. Provides for a transitional legal status, during such adjustment determination period which prohibits deportation and permits employment. Requires that persons arrested during such legalization program period be notified of their opportunity to adjust, and prohibits deportation until they have been afforded such opportunity. Permits administrative appeal of a status adjustment denial. Directs the Attorney General to establish eligibility requirements and application approval guidelines in consultation with the House and Senate Judiciary Committees and participating voluntary agencies. Directs the Attorney General to construe such adjustment requirements liberally, taking into account the special circumstances relating to individuals previously residing unlawfully in the United States. Allows the waiver of continuous residence when necessary to avoid undue family hardship. Provides criminal penalties for false application statements. Makes legalized aliens (other than Cuban/Haitian entrants, the aged, blind, and disabled, and persons requiring specified medical assistance) ineligible for Federal financial assistance and medicaid for five years. States that programs authorized under the Public Health Service Act, title V of the Social Security Act, unemployment assistance programs, the National School Lunch Act, the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, the Vocational Education Act of 1963, chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981, the Headstart-Follow Through Act, the Job Training Partnership Act, and subparts 4 and 5 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 shall not be construed as prohibited assistance. Requires the President to report to Congress within 27 months on the legalization program's impact. Provides permanent resident status adjustment for certain Cuban and Haitian nationals who entered the United States before January 1, 1982. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1984 through 1987 for State legalization assistance. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, subject to available appropriations, to provide full reimbursement to States for costs incurred in providing specified services to aliens during the period they were ineligible for Federal assistance. Requires the Secretary of Education, subject to available appropriations, to assist States in meeting such aliens' added educational costs. Provides for cooperation with State and local governmental advisory groups in implementing this Act. Title IV: National Commission on Immigration - Establishes a 15-member National Commission on Immigration to study and recommend legislative and administrative solutions to specified social, economic employment, and international immigration problems facing the United States, including the development of economic programs with Latin America. Requires the Commission to assess: (1) the current U.S. temporary worker program; and (2) the courses of the existing preference visa backlog. Sets forth administrative and operating provisions. Requires a report to Congress within three years. Terminates the Commission 30 days after submission of such report. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1984
Social Security Disability Benefits Continuation Act of 1984 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to extend provisions providing for the continued payment of disability benefits during administrative appeal of a determination that a disability benefit receipient is no longer entitled to such benefits. (Under current law, such provisions apply with respect to disability determinations made prior to October 31, 1983.) Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act to permit recipients of benefits based on disability or blindness who are determined to be no longer eligible for such benefits to elect to have the payment of such benefits continued during administrative appeal of such determinations. Provides that such benefit payments shall be considered overpayments if the Secretary of Health and Human Services affirms such a determination upon appeal.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1984
States that the Congress: (1) supports the initiatives taken by the Contadora nations and the resulting Documents of Objectives and Principles for Implementation agreed to by Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua; (2) believes that the United States should support the effort to translate such agreed Principles into practical arrangements so as to facilitate a comprehensive regional peace agreement based on the noninterference in the affairs of other countries, national reconciliation, and democracy; and (3) believes that in fashioning U.S. policies in the region, the United States should take into consideration the degree of cooperation of Central American governments with the Contadora process in seeking a peaceful resolution to Central American conflicts.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1984
Medicare Solvency and Health Care Financing Reform Act of 1984 - Adds a new title XXI to the Public Health Service Act entitled "Programs For Reforming the Health Care Financing System." Sets forth part A of such title entitled "State Health Care Programs." Provides that if a State transmits to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, within one year of the enactment of this Act, a statement that the State intends to submit a health care plan (described below), for purposes of making payments to the State under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act the Federal medical assistance percentage shall be 102 percent of such percentage as otherwise determined under Medicaid for such State for up to one year. Directs the Secretary to exempt hospitals in a State from the prospective payment limits established under this Act for certain time periods occurring during the first year of the transition period (defined in part C of title XXI as the 24-month period beginning January 1985) if: (1) the State requests such treatment; (2) the State indicates an intention to have implemented a State plan under title XXI which will provide for a recoupment of any revenues received in excess of the amounts permitted under part A; and (3) the State has agreed, with respect to such hospitals, that if a State plan under this Act is not implemented by the end of the first year of the transition period, then the Secretary shall provide for such adjustment in the prospective payment limits under part I of part B as will provide for recoupment in the subsequent year of any revenues received in excess of amounts permitted. Authorizes a State to apply to the Secretary for the approval of a health care plan for the State for an initial period of up to three years, subject to disapproval. Authorizes extensions of such initial period for up to two additional years. Provides that, for any one-year period, in the case of any State with an approved plan: (1) the transitional period provisions of subpart I of part B of title XXI shall not apply; (2) requirements for reimbursement (other than those relating to beneficiary cost sharing) under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act shall be waived and; (3) for purposes of making payments to a State under Medicaid the Federal medical assistance percentage shall, for the year the plan is in effect, be 103 percent (or 104 percent in the case of an unrestricted Medicaid plan) of the amount of the Federal medical assistance percentage otherwise determined under Medicaid and 102 percent (or 103 percent in the case of an unrestricted Medicaid plan) for any subsequent year (except for any extension period) of the amount of the Federal medical assistance percentage otherwise determined. Defines "unrestricted Medicaid plan" as a State Medicaid plan which does not impose any limitation on the scope or duration of inpatient hospital services other than requiring that such services be medically necessary. Directs the Secretary to annually review each approved plan. Requires the continued approval, for a certain time, of a plan not in compliance, if the State certifies that it will comply within a stated time period. Permits a further extension of approval if there is a trend towards compliance. Provides for the establishment of a Federal program with respect to hospitals for a State which cannot comply. Requires a State plan, in order to be approved, to meet the general requirements set forth below and, if applicable, certain requirements relating to ratesetting plans. Permits a plan, in meeting the general requirements, to be designed in a manner that meets such requirements through a ratesetting system, a voluntary system, or through the use of competitive mechanisms. Requires a plan to be designed in a manner so as to provide, to the satisfaction of the Secretary, that: (1) the amount of the total revenues per discharge for all hospitals in the State for each year beginning before 1987 in which the plan is in effect may not exceed the base general hospital revenues per discharge increased by the sum of the compounded sum of the percentage limits for a year and the previous years for which the State plan was in effect, and the population-discharge factor; and (2) the amount of the total revenues per discharge for all services furnished to hospitals inpatients for all hospitals in the State for each year beginning after 1986 in which the plan is in effect may not exceed the sum of the base general hospital revenues per discharge increased by the sum of the compounded sum of the percentage limits for a year and the previous years for which the State plan was in effect, and the population-discharge factor, plus the base physician-related hospital revenues per discharge increased by the sum of the compounded sum of the percentage limits for a year and the previous years for which the plan is in effect and provided for a limitation under this clause (2), and the population-discharge factor. Authorizes a State, at its option, to apply the test specified in clause (2) instead of the test specified in clause (1) with respect to years prior to 1986. Permits a plan, instead of meeting the above requirements, to meet such other alternative test of constraint of health care costs as the Secretary determines will not result in a greater expenditure of funds under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act and by private payers than would have been made if the plan met the above requirements. Requires a plan to be designed so as to provide that the amount of revenues for inpatient hospital services and physicians' services to hospital inpatients and individuals entitled to benefits under parts A (Hospital Insurance) and B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII of the Social Security Act may not exceed the amount which would otherwise be payable (including copayments and deductibles) for such services under title XVIII. Permits a plan (other than a plan providing for the establishment of rates of hospital reimbursement for hospital inpatient services) to provide that payment under title XVIII for inpatient hospital services and for other services furnished to hospital inpatients shall continue to be made in the amounts and in the manner otherwise provided under Medicare. Requires that the unreimbursed costs incurred by hospitals in providing services to low-income, uninsured or underinsured patients (other than Medicare or Medicaid patients) be paid pursuant to a plan in an amount which must, in the aggregate, be the same proportion of total revenues as such unreimbursed costs are of total costs of patients who are neither Medicare nor Medicaid patients. Provides that such unreimbursed costs shall be paid through distribution of funds pooled at the statewide level, through a higher payment rate, or through another method approved by the Secretary. Requires a plan to have a mechanism for providing fair hearings for hospitals and any other entities aggrieved by determinations made under the plan. Requires a State to provide for the appointment of a panel, consisting of members with expertise in health care economics and service delivery, to advise in the development and implementation of its plan, periodically review and propose modifications to the plan, and establish the methodology for establishing the percentage limit used to compute hospital revenues. Requires such methodology to include the use of appropriate external price indicators, the use of data from major collective-bargaining agreements for nonsupervisory hospital employees, and other appropriate indicators of wage costs. Requires the methodology to be approved by the Secretary. Requires a plan, to the extent that it provides for meeting plan requirements through a system which provides for the establishment of rates for hospital reimbursement for hospital inpatient services by an entity other than the hospital, to meet the following additional requirements: (1) except as provided in clause (2), the plan must provide equitable treatment of all entities that pay for health services covered under the plan, of hospital employees, and of patients; (2) if the plan is established under State law, the plan must take into account the proportion of costs associated with, and services covered by, the different payors, including Medicare and Medicaid, and may not permit undue shifting of proportions of costs among the different payors; (3) the plan may not make available any discount in price to any purchaser unless the discount accurately reflects economic benefits to a hospital resulting from a service arrangement with a purchaser and the discount is made available to all other purchasers who can satisfy such service; and (4) the plan must provide a procedure whereby, upon the request of a hospital, an adjustment can be considered to the rate limitation applicable under the plan to that hospital to reflect a significant change in the inpatient hospital services, increased costs for the compensation of employees, funds necessary to provide for the efficient operation of a hospital which the State has determined should remain in operation, and higher expenses associated with a regional tertiary care institution, teaching hospital, or children's hospital. Directs the Secretary, in reviewing a plan which provides for control of hospital inpatient costs through a competitive mechanism, to take into account the degree to which the plan provides for the following or other measures to improve price competition among providers: (1) the plan provides for open enrollment periods; (2) the plan provides for the dissemination of information concerning different health benefits plans; (3) the plan encourages innovation and public incentives to new forms of health care delivery and financing; (4) there are negotiated prices and risk-sharing between insurers and health care providers; and (5) the laws of the State do not impose legal barriers to competition in negotiated and other arrangements among insurers and health care providers. Sets forth part B of title XXI entitled "Residual Federal Program subpart I of part B entitled "Transition Period." Provides that, subject to the provisions of subpart I, for any accounting period of a hospital subject to subpart I the total revenues for inpatient hospital services may not exceed the total of such revenues that are permitted on the basis of prospective payment limits established under subpart I for the hospital's discharges as classified by diagnosis-related groups. Requires each hospital subject to a limitation on revenues under subpart I to provide for the publication of a price list which establishes the price per discharge which any payor may pay for inpatient hospital services. Requires a hospital to submit its price list to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to determine (for each accounting period) a prospective payment limit for inpatient hospital services for discharges classified by diagnosis-related groups. Sets forth the method for determining and adjusting the limit for each hospital for discharges. Authorizes the Secretary, at the request of a hospital, to increase the allowable revenues for an accounting period or provide for an increase in the base number of discharges otherwise permitted under subpart I to allow for higher revenues than would otherwise be permitted if: (1) a major renovation or replacement of physical plant or significant change in the capacity of the hospital has occurred; (2) the hospital is a sole community provider or provides a disproportionate percentage of its services to low-income or medicare patients, the hospital would otherwise be insolvent, and the State has determined that the hospital should remain open; (3) a larger revenue increase is needed because the hospital is a regional tertiary care institution, teaching hospital, or children's hospital; and (4) there has been a significant change in the characteristics of the hospital's mix of patients. Subjects a hospital which has total inpatient revenues for an accounting period in excess of its applicable limit to a civil penalty, unless the excess is deposited in an escrow account. Permits withdrawals from the account upon the Secretary's certification that the total inpatient revenues of a hospital for an accounting period fall below the applicable limit for that period. Establishes a civil penalty for a physician or other person or entity (other than a hospital) who has charged any person or entity for services which are required by law to be billed to a hospital. Sets forth provisions relating to notice, opportunity for a hearing, and appeal of such penalties. Prohibits a hospital from engaging in an admission practice that results in: (1) a refusal to admit a patient who is unable to pay for inpatient hospital services; (2) the refusal to admit a patient who would be expected to require unusually costly or prolonged treatment; or (3) the refusal to provide emergency services to any person in need of such services. Sets forth penalties, including exclusion from Medicare or Medicaid participation, for hospitals committing such admissions violations. Sets forth subpart II of Part B entitled "Post-Transition Period." Provides that in the case of a State not having a plan approved under part A and in effect for any period beginning after the transition period, the Secretary shall establish and implement a health care plan for such State for such period which meets the requirements of part A, with specified differences. Sets forth definitions under part C of title XXI. Establishes an Advisory Committee on Health Care Technologies and Procedures. Directs the Advisory Committee to examine the appropriateness of the various interventions and the conditions under which they are needed, the safety and efficacy of alternative therapeutic and preventive regimens, and the standards for availability and utilization of various technologies, and to publicly report on whether or not payments should be made for such services and, if so, under what conditions and frequency of service. Exempts individuals enrolled in health maintenance organizations and competitive medical plans from the limits established under title XXI on revenues and discharge of a hospital if: (1) the organization elects such treatment; or (2) the organization annually pays for more than 20 percent of the number of bed-days of care with respect to that hospital. Amends provisions of the Public Health Service Act relating to employees' health benefits plans to provide that if an employer makes a contribution with respect to the costs of a health benefits plan of an employee and the employer offers the option of membership in a health maintenance organization or a competitive medical plan, which membership provides benefits at least actuarially equivalent to those provided under the other health benefits plan, the employer shall: (1) contribute at least as much towards the membership as the maximum amount of the employer's contribution to the other plan; (2) provide for a cash rebate if the contribution with respect to any other health benefits plan exceeds the cost of membership with the organization; and (3) provide information to employees that reasonably compares the benefits and costs of different plans. Exempts from the provisions of the previous sentence employees of an employer represented by a collective bargaining representative or other employee representative selected under any law. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, with respect to health maintenance organizations and competitive medical plans, to provide that the annual per capita rate of payment for each class of members shall be 100 percent in the care of individuals enrolled with an eligible organization in an area where at least 30 percent of the individuals eligible to enroll with an organization are enrolled. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to exempt a health maintenance organization which is a public entity from the requirement that at least 75 percent of its membership be Medicaid eligible or insured under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII or under both parts A (Hospital Insurance) and B of title XVIII. Directs the Secretary, under the prospective payment provisions of title XVIII of the Social Security Act, to provide that in the case of a State health care plan approved under Part A of title XXI of the Public Health Service Act payments with respect to services covered under title XXI: (1) may, at the State's option, be made in accordance with title XXI rather than Medicare; or (2) shall be made in accordance with title XXI rather than Medicare in the case of a plan which provides for the control of hospital costs through a title XXI ratesetting mechanism. Provides for increased Medicare payments to a hospital for its operating costs if the number of admissions for an accounting period exceeds the hospital's admissions during a specified base period. Directs the Secretary to determine a regionally adjusted capital-related prospective payment rate for each inpatient hospital discharge in accordance with a specified formula. Directs the Secretary, for each diagnosis-related group, to estimate the average per discharge amount of charges recognized under part B of title XVIII attributable to items and services furnished to inpatients within such group during 1983. Provides that, subject to the part B deductible and subject to other provisions of the Medicare prospective payment rate provisions, with respect to each individual entitled to benefits under part A and enrolled under part B of title XVIII who is a hospital inpatient and whose discharge is classified within a diagnosis-related group, the Secretary shall provide for payment to the hospital of an amount equal to 80 percent of a specified rate in lieu of payments otherwise made under part B for inpatient services. Requires that: (1) payments for health care services furnished to inpatients be made to or through a hospital as a condition of the hospital's participation in the Medicare payment; and (2) the Secretary provide for notice to the public and to individuals enrolled under part B of title XVIII of the Social Security Act of such requirement. Permits the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund to borrow at any time from other social security trust funds if it can repay the loan within ten years. Provides for the periodic transfer to the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund from the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund of amounts which the Secretary determines to be equal to a specified fraction of the total revenues of the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund for each fiscal year. Directs the Secretary to conduct and report to Congress on seven studies relating to: (1) health care costs, quality, delivery, and services; and (2) the effects of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1984
Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize payments as trade readjustment allowances for up to 26 additional weeks in the 26 week period that begins with the first week of trade readjustment training if the training is approved after the last week of entitlement to trade readjustment allowances that are otherwise payable.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1984
National Drug Education Act of 1984 - Directs the Secretary of Education to make grants to States to assist local educational agencies (LEAs) in establishing and improving drug, alcohol, and tobacco education programs for elementary and secondary school students. Directs the Secretary to make such grant payments to States in amounts based on relative numbers of children in average daily attendance in elementary and secondary schools. Authorizes States to reserve up to seven percent of such grant payment for State administration of drug, alcohol, and tobacco education programs. Sets forth requirements for State applications for such grants. Requires State educational agencies (SEAs) to assure that LEAs will retain autonomy and flexibility in planning such programs. Requires SEAs to contribute, in cash, 20 percent of the cost of each program approved by the State. Directs the SEA to allocate grant funds to LEAs on the basis of relative numbers of children in daily attendance in elementary and secondary schools. Directs the SEA, from the amount allocated to an LEA, to pay up to 75 percent of the cost of the approved program. Provides for reallocation of amounts not spent by LEAs within a specified time period. Sets forth requirements for LEA applications for such allocations. Requires an LEA to pay five percent of the total program cost, in cash or in services, equipment, or facilities. Requires LEA planning for cooperation and coordination with Federal, State, and local police departments and agencies. Requires assurances that the LEA program will meet any special needs of low income and minority students. Sets forth provisions for program participation of children from private schools. Sets forth administrative provisions for audits and withholding of program payments to States. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on activities assisted under this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Education to carry out this Act for FY 1985 through 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1984
Comprehensive Hazardous Substances Cleanup and Emergency Relief Act of 1984 - Sets forth the finding that in order to adequately protect human health and the environment from hazardous waste it is necessary to: (1) establish a program for the cleanup of hazardous waste sites; (2) establish standards for the cleanup of such sites which will insure the same degree of protection for human health and the environment as are applicable in the case of facilities regulated under hazardous waste management provisions of the Solid Waste Disposal Act and other applicable Federal and State law; (3) establish enforcement standards which require parties responsible for the release or threatened release of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants to assume financial responsibility for injuries of those exposed and for either conducting cleanup or reimbursing government costs of cleanup; (4) establish a full and cooperative Federal-State partnership in the cleanup program; and (5) afford citizens emergency assistance, reimbursement of medical and reimbursement expenses, and an opportunity to participate in the cleanup process. Title I: Cleanup of Hazardous Substances, Pollutants, and Contaminants - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act ("the Act") (also known as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976) to add provisions for cleanup of, and liability for, certain hazardous substances, pollutants and contaminants. Defines "hazardous substance" as: (1) any substance designated under specified provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act; (2) any element, compound, mixture, solution, or substance designated under specified provisions for additional designations under this Act; (3) any hazardous waste having the characteristics identified or listed under specified hazardous waste management provisions of the Act (but not including any other waste the regulation of which under specified hazardous waste management provisions has been suspended by Act of Congress); (4) any toxic pollutant listed under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act; (5) any hazardous air pollutant listed under the Clean Air Act; and (6) any imminently hazardous chemical substance or mixture with respect to which the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ("the Administrator") has taken action under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Provides for designation of additional hazardous substances and reportable quantities under this Act. Directs the Administrator to promulgate and revise: (1) regulations designating as hazardous substances, in addition to those referred to in the definition under this Act, such elements, compounds, mixtures, solutions, and substances which, when released into the environment, may present substantial danger to the public health or welfare or the environment; and (2) regulations establishing that quantity of any hazardous substance the release of which shall be reported under this Act. Allows the Administrator to determine that one single quantity shall be the reportable quantity for any hazardous substance, regardless of the medium into which it is released. Provides that, unless and until superceded by such regulations, the substances designated as additional hazardous substances and the reportable quantities of such substances established under the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (Superfund) (CERCLA) shall be deemed designated and established under this Act. Sets forth a notice requirement relating to releases of hazardous substances from any facility. Defines "facility" as: (1) any building, structure, installation, equipment, pipe or pipeline well, pit, pond, lagoon, impoundment, ditch, landfill, storage container, motor vehicle, rolling stock, or aircraft; or (2) any site or area where a hazardous substance, or pollutant or contaminant, has been deposited, stored, dispensed of, or placed, or otherwise located (but does not include any consumer product in consumer use or any vessel). Requires any person in charge of a facility, as soon as such person has knowledge of any release (other than a federally permitted release) of a hazardous substance from such facility in quantities equal to or greater than those determined as reportable under this Act to immediately notify the National Response Center. Directs the Center to convey the notification expeditiously to all appropriate Government agencies, including the Governor of any affected State. Provides that such notification, or information obtained by exploitation of it, shall not be used against any such person in any criminal case, except a prosecution for perjury or for giving a false statement. Provides that such notice requirement shall not apply to the normal application of a pesticide product under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act or to the handling and storage of such a pesticide product by an agricultural producer. Exempts from such notice requirement any hazardous substance release which: (1) is required to be reported (or specifically exempted from a reporting requirement) under specified hazardous waste management provisions and regulations under the Act and has been reported to the Center; or (2) is a continuous release, stable in quantity and rate, and either is from a facility for which notification has been given under specified provisions of CERCLA or is a release for which notification has been given under the notice requirement of this Act for a period sufficient to establish the continuity, quantity, and regularity of the release. Requires, in the case of such exemptions, that notification be given for releases annually or at such time as there is any statistically significant increase in the quantity of any hazardous substance or constituent thereof released, above that previously reported or occurring. Sets forth response authorities. Authorizes the Administrator, whenever there is a release or substantial threat of release into the environment of any hazardous substance or of any pollutant or contaminant which may present an imminent or substantial danger to human health or the environment, to: (1) remove or arrange for the removal of, and provide for remedial action relating to such hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant at any time (including its removal from any contaminated natural resource); or (2) take any other response measure necessary to protect human health and the environment. Requires that removal actions be consistent with the National Contingency Plan and long-term remedial actions. Allows the Administrator to authorize facility owners or operators or other responsible parties to undertake such response actions. Provides, for purposes of such response authorities, that the term "pollutant or contaminant" shall include, but not be limited to, any element, substance, compound, or mixture, including disease-causing agents, which after release into the environment and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation, or assimilation into any organism either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through food chains, will or may reasonably be anticipated to cause death, disease, behavorial abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutation, physiological malfunctions (including malfunctions in reproduction) or physical deformations in such organisms or their offspring. Sets forth investigation and planning authorities. Authorizes the Administrator to undertake investigations, monitoring, surveys testing, and other information gathering to identify the existence or extent of a release or threat thereof, the source and nature of the hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants involved and the extent of danger to human health and the environment, whenever the Administrator: (1) is authorized to act under response authorities for imminent and substantial danger; or (2) has reason to believe that a release has occurred or is about to occur, or that illness, disease, or complaints thereof may be attributable to exposure to a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant and that a release may have occurred or be occurring. Authorizes the Administrator, in addition, to undertake planning, legal, fiscal, economic, engineering, architectural, and other studies or investigations to plan and direct response actions, recover costs, and enforce cleanup, liability, and funding provisions of this Act. Directs the Administrator, in such information gathering or planning, to assess the risk to human health associated with the release or threatened release. Provides for a six-months limitation on response action. Discontinues obligations, other than those authorized for investigation and planning, from the Hazardous Substances Trust Fund ("the Fund") established under this Act after $1,000,000 has been obligated for response actions or six months after the initial response to a release or threatened release of hazardous substances, unless the Administrator: (1) finds that continued response actions are immediately required to prevent, limit, or mitigate an emergency, there is an immediate risk to human health or the environment, and such assistance will not otherwise be provided on a timely basis; or (2) has determined the appropriate remedial actions and the States in which the source of release is located have complied with provisions for State payment of certain costs. Sets forth provisions for State payment of certain costs. Prohibits the Administrator from providing any remedial actions under response provisions of this Act unless the State in which the release or threatened release occurs first provides certain assurances. Requires the State to assure the availability of a hazardous waste disposal facility for any necessary offsite storage, destruction, treatment, or secure disposition of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. Requires the State to pay or assure payment of: (1) ten percent of the costs of remedial action and ten percent of all future operation and maintenance costs of any onsite remedial action; or (2) at least 50 percent (or such greater amount as the Administrator may determine appropriate, taking into account the degree of responsibility of the State or local government) of costs of remedial action and future operation and maintenance of onsite remedial action at facilities owned or operated by the State or local government at the time of any disposal of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants therein. Directs the Administrator to grant the State a credit for amounts expended or obligated by the State or local government after January 1, 1978, and before December 11, 1980, for any response action costs which are covered by provisions for the Fund and which were incurred at a release listed under National Contingency Plan provisions. Provides for reimbursement to the State of any amount paid by the State, pursuant to a specified contract or agreement at any time after December 11, 1980, in excess of ten percent of remedial action costs at a facility owned, but not operated, by the State or local government. Requires that any amount expended by a State for administrative expenses in carrying out cleanup, liability, and funding provisions of this Act be credited against the required ten percent share. Sets forth provisions for selection of remedial action. Directs the Administrator to select appropriate cost-effective remedial actions in accordance with the National Contingency Plan and with a required protection level. Directs the Administrator to consider permanent solutions and alternative treatment technologies in evaluating the cost-effectiveness. Directs the Administrator to: (1) consult with the affected States before determining the appropriate remedial action; and (2) approve a more protective action if the State or local government assures payment of 90 percent of that portion in excess of the costs of the action chosen by the Administrator. Provides that the selected remedial action shall require a level or standard of control: (1) necessary to protect human health and the environment; (2) as stringent as the most stringent applicable Federal law; and (3) as stringent as the most stringent applicable State law. Authorizes the Administrator to waive the requirements of a protection level as stringent as the most stringent Federal and State laws and to select an alternative remedial action upon a finding that: (1) such an alternative remedial action will provide substantially equivalent protection; or (2) compliance with the requirements of a level of protection necessary to protect human life and the environment at a site or facility will consume such a disproportionate share of Fund resources as to defer or prevent remedial action at other sites or facilities which pose a significantly greater threat. Prohibits permit requirements for any removal or remedial action undertaken pursuant to this Act at the location of the release or threatened release. Authorizes the Administrator to establish the exclusive administrative procedures for making any determination under provisions for required protection level. Authorizes the Administrator to enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with State and local governments to take remedial actions and to be reimbursed for reasonable response costs from the Fund. Provides for enforcement of such contracts and agreements, and of cost-sharing agreements, in Federal district courts. Authorizes the Administrator to provide technical and legal assistance to State or local governments in administering and enforcing contracts and subcontracts in connection with response actions and to intervene in civil actions involving such enforcement. Authorizes the Administrator to treat two or more noncontiguous facilities as one if they are reasonably related on the basis of geography or of threat or potential threat to human health or the environment. Sets forth information gathering and access authorities for purposes of assisting in determining the need for response to a release or enforcing cleanup, liability, and funding provisions of this Act. Requires that access to records and information, including samples of hazardous substances or pollutants or contaminants or substances which may have been hazardous, and samples of containers and labels, be provided to authorized Federal and State officers by any person: (1) who generates, stores, treats, recycles or disposes of such substances; or (2) who generates, stores, transports, or otherwise handles or has handled such substances (where necessary to ascertain facts not available at the facility where such substances are located). Provides for access to the site or facility at which any hazardous substance or pollutant, or contaminant is located, whenever necessary to carry out cleanup, liability, and funding provisions of this Act. Provides for public availability of records, reports, or information obtained, with specified exceptions for data entitled to confidentiality. Requires that all information reported or obtained be made available to any duly authorized congressional committee. Directs the Administrator or the State to require compliance with Federal health and safety standards established in the National Contingency Plan in awarding contracts for response actions. Requires that the prevailing wage rates of the Davis-Bacon Act be paid to all laborers and mechanics for construction, repair, or alteration work funded in whole or part under response action provisions of this Act. Authorizes the President to authorize the use of emergency procurement powers necessary to effect the purpose of the Act. Directs the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), in cooperation with other Federal officials and States, to implement the health related authorities of the Act. Directs the ATSDR Administrator to establish and maintain: (1) national registries of serious diseases and of persons exposed to toxic substances; (2) inventories of research on the health effects of toxic substances; and (3) a complete listing of areas closed to the public or otherwise restricted in use because of toxic substance contamination. Directs the ATSDR Administrator to: (1) provide medical care and testing, or other appropriate assistance to exposed individuals in public health emergencies; and (2) conduct periodic survey and screening programs to determine relationships between exposure to toxic substances and illness. Directs the ATSDR Administrator to prepare toxicological profiles sufficient to establish the likely effect on human health of the 100 hazardous substances which are most frequently found or which pose the most significant threat to human health at facilities listed on the National Priorities List prepared under the National Contingency Plan. Requires that the 100 profiles be completed 48 months after enactment of this Act (at 12-month intervals for four groups of 25 substances). Sets forth provisions for public participation in remedial action planning. Sets forth remedial action schedules. Directs the Administrator to complete remedial investigations and feasibility studies for all releases and threatened releases at sites listed or proposed to be listed on the National Priority List prepared under the National Contingency Plan: (1) within 18 months after the enactment of this Act, at sites listed or proposed to be listed as of such enactment date; and (2) within 12 months after the date of listing, at sites listed or proposed to be listed after such enactment date. Directs the Administrator or the State to complete, within five years after such enactment date, remedial actions for all releases or threatened releases at sites listed or proposed to be listed as of such enactment date. Directs the Administrator to complete by January 1, 1987, a preliminary assessment of all sites listed, as of such enactment date, on the Emergency and Remedial Response Information System. Requires that the National Contingency Plan be revised within 12 months after the enactment of this Act to reflect and effectuate the powers and responsibilities created by this Act, in addition to those matters specified in CERCLA and other applicable law. Requires that the portion of such plan known as "the National Hazardous Substance Response Plan" be revised to provide procedures and standards for response actions consistent with protection level requirements under this Act. Requires that, on or before January 1, 1988, at least 1,000 of the highest priority facilities be designated individually on the National Priorities List as "top priority among known response targets." Requires that plan criteria for determining priorities among releases or threatened releases throughout the United States for purposes of taking remedial action shall take into account (in addition to factors required under CERCLA): (1) the release-associated damage to natural resources which may affect the human food chain; and (2) the release-associated contamination or potential contamination of the ambient air. Sets forth provisions for citizen petitions for site ranking. Directs the Administrator, within 12 months after receipt of a citizen petition, to complete a preliminary assessment of the hazards to public health and environment associated with any actual or threatened release of a hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant. Directs the Administrator, if such assessment indicates a significant threat, to make a prompt evaluation in accordance with the hazard ranking system referred to under specified provisions of CERCLA to determine the national priority of such release or threatened release. Sets forth provisions for abatement actions. Directs the Administrator, upon determining that there may be imminent and substantial danger to human health or the environment because of an actual or threatened release of a hazardous substance or any pollutant or contaminant from a facility, to request the Attorney General, in addition to any other State or local action, to secure relief necessary to abate such danger or threat. Gives the U.S. district court in the district in which the threat occurs jurisdiction to grant such relief as the public interest and the equities of the case may require. Authorizes the Administrator, after notice to the affected State, to take other abatement action including issuing orders necessary to protect human health and the environment. Directs the Administrator, within 18 months after enactment of this Act, and after consultation with the Attorney General, to revise and republish guidelines published under CERCLA for using the imminent hazard, enforcement, and emergency response authorities of this Act and other existing statutes administered by the Administrator to effectuate the responsibilities and powers created by this Act. Requires that such guidelines: (1) be consistent with the National Contingency Plan; and (2) include the assignment of responsibility for coordinating response actions with the issuance of administrative orders, enforcement of standards and permits, information gathering, and other imminent hazard and emergency powers authorized by other provisions of law. Authorizes the Administrator to establish administrative procedures regarding the opportunity for a person to object to an abatement order under this Act. Provides that no court shall have jurisdiction to review any such abatement order in any action other than an action to: (1) enforce such order; (2) recover a penalty for a violation; or (3) recover punitive damages. Sets forth provisions for liability for releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants which cause incurrence of response costs. Makes strictly liable for specified costs and damages: (1) owners or operators of facilities at which hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants were stored, treated, disposed of, or recycled; (2) persons who owned or operated such facilities at the time of such storage, treatment, disposal, or recycling; (3) persons who owned or possessed such substances and who arranged for such storage, treatment, disposal, or recycling by, or for transport for such purposes, by any other party or entity; and (4) persons who accept or accepted any such substances for transport to storage, disposal, treatment, or recycling facilities or sites selected by such persons. Provides that such costs and damages shall be: (1) all Federal and State costs of removal or remedial action and investigation and planning; (2) any other necessary response costs incurred by any other person consistent with the National Contingency Plan; (3) damages for injury to, destruction of, or loss of natural resources, including assessment costs; and (4) costs of specified emergency relief actions and health effects studies. Provides that such liability shall be: (1) joint and several; and (2) according to the standard which obtains under specified provisions of CERCLA and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Provides for recovery of interest on amounts recoverable as costs and damages. Sets forth defenses to such strict liability. Sets forth a limitation on the amount of such liability (the total of all response costs plus $50,000,000 for any damages) but makes the responsible person liable for full and total costs of response and damages in cases involving willful misconduct, willful negligence, or violations of Federal standards (within the privity or knowledge or such person), or failure or refusal to cooperate with requests in connection with response activities with respect to regulated carriers. Provides for punitive damages in an amount three times the amount of any costs incurred by the Fund as a result of a responsible person's failure without sufficient cause to properly provide removal or remedial action upon order of the Administrator. Provides that no person shall be liable under this Act for costs and damages incurred as a result of actions taken or omitted in the course of rendering care, assistance, or advice at the direction of an on scene coordinator, except in cases of gross negligence or intentional misconduct. Sets forth provisions relating to indemnification agreements. Sets forth provisions relating to liability for damages to natural resources. Makes all requirements, including liability, of this Act applicable to all Federal agencies. Prohibits recovery under such liability provisions of this Act for response costs or damages resulting from the application of a pesticide product registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Provides that recovery for response costs or damages resulting from a federally permitted release shall be pursuant to existing law in lieu of such liability provisions of this Act. Provides that, for purposes of abatement actions, the presumption that EPA (or State) laboratory tests are accurate may be overcome if the defendant establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that such test results lack a reasonable basis. Sets forth provisions for financial responsibility. Directs the Administrator to promulgate requirements (for facilities in addition to those under hazardous waste management provisions of the Act) that classes of facilities establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility consistent with the degree and duration of risk associated with the production, transportation, treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous substances. Requires that priority in the development of such requirements be accorded to those classes of facilities, owners, and operators which the Administrator determines present the highest level of risk of injury. Directs the Administrator to publish notice of the identification of those classes for which requirements will be first developed. Requires that the level of financial responsibility be established and adjusted to protect against the level of risk which the Administrator believes is appropriate based on the payment experience of the Fund, commercial insurers, court settlements and judgments, and voluntary claims satisfaction. Directs the Administrator to cooperate with and seek the advice of the commercial insurance industry in developing such financial responsibility requirements. Requires that such financial responsibility requirements be incrementally imposed over a period of between three to six years after promulgation. Provides that, where possible, the financial responsibility level appropriate as a final requirement be achieved through incremental, annual increases in the requirements. Sets forth provisions for consolidated forms of evidence of financial responsibility under specified circumstances. Provides that the requirements for evidence of financial responsibility for motor carriers covered by this Act shall be determined under specified provisions of the Motor Carrier Act of 1980. Sets forth provisions relating to claims against guarantors and the limitation of guarantor liability. Sets forth provisions for penalties for specified violations under this Act. Sets forth provisions relating to employee protection. Prohibits firing or discriminating against any employee or authorized employee representative because he or she has provided information to a State or the Federal Government, or has caused the filing or institution of, or testified, or is about to testify in, any proceeding resulting from the administration or enforcement of this Act. Sets forth procedures for review by the Secretary of Labor of employee allegations of such a firing or discrmination, and for judicial review of the Secretary's orders. Provides for abatement orders, including rehiring or reinstatement with compensation and reimbursement of legal costs and expenses to the employee by the violator. Makes such employee protection provisions inapplicable to any employee who, acting without discretion from the employer (or the employer's agent), deliberately violates any requirement of this Act. Directs the President to conduct continuing evaluations of potential loss or shifts of employment which may result from the administration or enforcement of this Act, including, where appropriate, investigating threatened plant closures or reductions in employment allegedly resulting from such administration or enforcement. Permits employees and their representatives to request investigations. Provides for a public hearing at the request of any party. Directs the President to make investigation reports, findings of fact, and recommendations available to the public. Sets forth provisions for citizen petitions for emergency relief and health effects studies. Directs the Administrator, upon receiving a petition providing reason to believe that the petitioners were exposed to any hazardous substance in a manner which may present a significant risk to human health, to: (1) immediately terminate such risk by provision of alternative drinking supplies, decontamination of soil, or relocation of residents; and (2) perform a health effects study to ascertain the nature, magnitude, scope, and duration of the exposure, including a determination of the source of any groundwater contamination and a toxicological evaluation of the substances involved. Directs the Administrator to also perform a health effects study upon receiving a petition providing reason to believe that one or more persons have been exposed to any hazardous substance and such exposure has abated but previously presented a significant risk to human health. Requires that each health effects study be completed within six months after the date on which the petition is filed, and that the results of such study be made public within ten days after completion. Provides for judicial review of the Administrator's denial of such petitions in the U.S. district court for the district in which the exposure occurred. Sets forth claims procedures. Requires that all claims which may be asserted against the Fund be presented first to the owner, operator, or guarantor of the facility from which a hazardous substance has been released, if known to the claimant, and to any other person known to the claimant who may be liable under this Act. Allows the claimant, in any case where the claim has not been satisfied within 60 days of such presentation, to elect to: (1) commence an action in court against such owner, operator, guarantor, or other person; or (2) present the claim to the Fund for payment. Directs the Administrator to prescribe appropriate forms and procedures for claims filed against the Fund. Directs the Administrator, upon receipt of any claim, to: (1) inform any known affected parties of the claim; and (2) attempt to promote and arrange a settlement between the claimant and any person who may be liable. Provides that, if the claimant and alleged liable party agree upon a settlement, it shall be final and binding upon the parties thereto, who will be deemed to have waived all recourse against the Fund. Provides that where a responsible party is unknown or cannot be determined, the claimant and the Administrator shall attempt to arrange settlement of any claim against the Fund. Authorizes the Administrator to award and make payment of such settlement, subject to proof and procedures promulgated by regulation. Directs the Administrator (except in extraordinary circumstances where inadequate services of private organizations or State agencies make the use of Federal personnel necessary) to use the facilities and services of private insurance and claims adjusting organizations or State agencies in implementing such claims settlement requirements. Sets forth provisions relating to contracts for such facilities and services. Authorizes the Administrator, if no settlement is reached within 45 days after filing of a claim and if the information developed during the claim processing warrants it, to make and pay an award of the claim. Provides for the appeal of such an award in the U.S. district court for the district in which the arbitral hearing took place. Requires that, if the Administrator declines to make an award, the claim be submitted to a member of the Board of Arbitrators established under CERCLA. Sets forth subrogation provisions. Sets forth statute of limitations provisions. Prohibits, with specified exceptions, the presentation of a claim or the commencement of an action for damages under this Act unless that claim is presented or action commenced within three years from the date of the discovery of the loss, whichever is later. Provides that such time limitations shall not begin to run against minors or incompetent persons until a legal representative is duly appointed for them or until the minor reaches 18 years of age or the incompetency ends. Prohibits presentation of claims or commencement of actions for recovery of specified response costs until the date six years after the completion of the response action. Provides that no person who asserts a claim against the Fund pursuant to this Act shall be deemed or held to: (1) have waived any other claim not covered or assertable against the Fund under this Act arising from the same incident, transaction, or set of circumstances; (2) have split a cause of action; or (3) as a result of any determination of a question of fact or law in connection with such claim, be collaterally estopped from raising such question in connection with any other claim not covered or assertable against the Fund. Provides that judicial review of any regulation promulgated under this Act may be had upon application, within 90 days from the date of promulgation, by any interested person only in the Circuit Court of Appeals of the United States for the District of Columbia. Grants the U.S. district courts exclusive original jurisdiction over all other controversies arising under this Act. Sets forth provisions for venue in such cases. Provides that no provision of this Act shall be deemed or held to meet any prior litigation concerning any release of any hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant or any associated damages. Sets forth provisions concerning the relationship of this Act to other law. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed or interpreted as preempting any State from imposing any additional liability or requirements with respect to the release of hazardous substances or pollutants or contaminants within such State. Bars any person from receiving double compensation for the same removal costs or damages or claims pursuant to this Act and any other Federal or State law. Authorizes States to require any person to contribute to any fund to pay compensation for claims for any response costs or damages or claims which may be compensated under this Act. Prohibits State or local governments from requiring any other evidence of financial responsibility in connection with liability for the release of a hazardous substance from a facility, if the owner or operator establishes and maintains evidence of financial responsibility in accordance with this Act. Authorizes the President and the Administrator to delegate any powers or duties and to promulgate regulations to carry out cleanup, liability, and funding provisions of this Act. Adds provisions for medical and relocation expenses and other recovery to the Act. Sets forth definitions applicable to such provisions. Title II: Establishment and Uses of Hazardous Substance Trust Fund - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act ("the Act") to establish the Hazardous Substance Trust Fund ("the Fund") in the Treasury. Transfers to the Fund amounts determined by the Secretary of the Treasury ("the Secretary") to be equivalent to: (1) the fees imposed under title III of this Act; (2) amounts recovered on behalf of the Fund under specified provisions of this Act; (3) civil penalties assessed under specified provisions of this Act; and (4) punitive damages under specified provisions of this Act. Authorizes appropriations in a specified amount for the Fund for FY 1986 through 1988. Authorizes appropriations for each fiscal year thereafter in an amount equal to not more than 12.5 percent of the amount deposited in the Fund during the second preceding fiscal year which is derived from the fees imposed under title III of this Act. Limits the liability of the U.S. Government to the amount in the Fund. Sets forth provisions for the Secretary's administration of the Fund, relating to method of transfer, management (including an annual report to Congress and investment requirements), and authority to borrow (including limitations on advances and repayment requirements). Sets forth the uses of the Fund. Directs the Administrator to use the money in the Fund for payment of: (1) governmental response costs incurred pursuant to response provisions of this Act; (2) any claim for necessary response costs incurred by any other person as a result of carrying out the revised National Contingency Plan, if such costs are approved in advance of expenditure under that plan and certified by the responsible Federal official; (3) any claim authorized by provisions relating to natural resources damages and finally decided under settlement provisions, including interest, administrative and adjudicative costs, and attorney's fees; (4) medical and relocation expenses; and (5) other specified costs. Directs the Administrator to cooperate with State and local governments in their undertaking of response actions under this Act. Requires that any administrative costs or expenses paid out of the Fund be reasonably necessary and incidental to the implementation of this Act. Sets forth provisions relating to claims for damages to natural resources. Allows claims resulting from a release or threat of release of a hazardous substance from a facility to be asserted against the Fund for injury to, or destruction or loss of, natural resources. Provides that such claims may be asserted only by: (1) the President, as trustee, for natural resources over which the United States has sovereign rights or within U.S. territory to the extent they are managed and protected by the United States; or (2) any State for natural resources within its boundaries belonging to, managed by, controlled by, or appertaining to such State. Provides that the Fund may be used for other specified "included costs" of: (1) natural resources damages assessment; (2) Federal or State efforts to restore, rehabilitate, replace, or acquire the equivalent of the natural resources damaged; (3) a program to identify, investigate, and take enforcement and abatement action against releases of hazardous substances (subject to amounts provided in appropriation Acts); (4) epidemiologic studies, a registry of and long-term health effect studies on persons exposed to hazardous substances, and otherwise unavailable diagnostic services to determine whether persons in populations exposed to hazardous substances in connection with a release or suspected release are suffering from long- latency diseases; (5) providing supplementary equipment and similar overhead and damage assessment capability for any Federal agency involved in strike forces, emergency task forces, or other response teams under the National Contingency Plan (subject to amounts provided in appropriations Acts); (6) a program to protect the health and safety of employees involved in response to hazardous substances releases (subject to amounts provided in appropriations Acts); (7) preparation of toxic profiles by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; (8) evaluation of sites by the Administrator pursuant to citizen petitions; and (9) emergency relief and health effects studies carried out by the Administrator. Provides that the health and safety program for employees involved in response actions shall: (1) be developed jointly by the EPA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; and (2) include measures for identifying and assessing hazards to which persons engaged in the removal or remedy of, or other response to hazardous substances may be exposed, methods to protect workers from such hazards, and necessary regulatory and enforcement measures to assure adequate protection of such employees. Prohibits the use of money in the Fund for: (1) assessment or restoration costs or claim payments where the damage to natural resources and the release occurred wholly before the enactment of this Act; or (2) claim payments for natural resources damages where such expenses are associated with injury or loss resulting from long-term exposure to ambient concentrations of air pollutants from multiple or diffuse sources. Provides that claims against or presented to the Fund shall: (1) not be valid or paid in excess of the total money in the fund at any one time; and (2) become valid only when additional money is collected, appropriated, or otherwise added to the Fund. Directs the Administrator, should the total claims outstanding at any time exceed the current balance of the Fund, to pay such claims, to the extent authorized, in full in the order in which they were finally determined. Limits the portion of money credited to the Fund that shall be available in any fiscal year: (1) to six percent for payment of any claims and related costs for natural resources damages; and (2) to 12 percent for payment of medical and relocation expenses. Provides that no money in the Fund shall be available for remedial actions, other than actions specified under provisions for "included costs" under uses of the Fund, with respect to federally owned facilities. Provides that the following uses of the Fund shall, in the aggregate, be subject to such amounts as are provided in appropriation Acts: (1) payment of governmental response costs; and (2) payment of the specified "included costs." Authorizes the Administrator to delegate authority to obligate money in the Fund or to settle claims to officials of a State operating under a specified contract or cooperative agreement. Directs the Administrator to promulgate appropriate regulations for the notice to be provided to potential injured parties by an owner or operator of any facility from which a hazardous substance has been released. Requires such owners and operators to: (1) provide notice in accordance with such regulations; and (2) until such regulations are promulgated, provide reasonable notice to potential injured parties by publication in local newspapers serving the affected area. Requires that natural resources damages be assessed for purposes of this Act by Federal officials designated by the President under the National Contingency Plan and acting for the President as trustee. Provides that any such determination or assessment of natural resources damages shall have the force and effect of a rebuttable presumption on behalf of any claimant in any judicial or adjudicatory administrative proceeding under this Act. Requires that a plan for the use of funds under this Act for natural resources restoration be developed and adopted by affected Federal agencies and Governors of States sustaining damages to natural resources belonging to, managed by, or appertaining to such States, after adequate public notice and opportunity for a hearing and consideration of all public comment. Requires that such plan be developed and adopted before such funds may be used for such purposes, except in a situation requiring action to avoid an irreversible loss of natural resources or to prevent or reduce any continuing danger to natural resources or to meet a similar need for emergency action. Sets forth provisions for audits by the Inspector General of the EPA. Sets forth provisions relating to foreign claimants. Prohibits any potentially liable claimant from seeking judicial review of any determination to incur any government response costs under response provisions of this Act or to utilize the Fund for payment of any such costs, except in an action to recover such costs under liability provisions of this Act. Directs the President, acting through Federal officials designated by the revised National Contingency Plan, to promulgate regulations for assessment of natural resources damages within six months after enactment of this Act. Sets forth required contents of such regulations. Requires review, and appropriate revision, of such regulations every two years. Provides that, effective on the date of enactment of this Act, specified CERCLA provisions shall be superseded by this Act. Adds provisions regarding medical and relocation expenses to the Solid Waste Disposal Act ("the Act"). Allows individuals who allege that they sustained injury for which relief is payable under this Act to file an application for such relief with the Administrator. Directs the Administrator, within 45 days after the enactment of this Act, to issue a rule or order for the manner of filing such applications. Directs the Administrator to pay relief under this Act if individuals establish by a preponderance of the evidence that they have suffered physical injuries or illnesses caused by exposure to a hazardous substance: (1) from a facility or site at or from which such substance was stored, treated, recycled, disposed of, or migrated; or (2) during transportation to such a facility or site. Directs the Administrator to pay relief under this Act to dependents of any deceased individual who establish to the satisfaction of the Administrator that the death was caused by any such exposure. Provides that such relief to any individual who has suffered such physical injury or illness shall consist of: (1) payment or reimbursement for all medical costs incurred in connection with the physical injury, illness, or death; (2) a monthly payment (not to exceed $2,000 per month) in an amount equal to the injured, ill, or deceased individual's monthly earnings which are lost by reason of such injury, illness, or death during the five-year period following such injury, illness, or death; and (3) reimbursement for expenses incurred in obtaining alternative water supplies or relocating a residence where the individual's exposure (or potential exposure) to hazardous substances caused or significantly contributed to such expenses. Provides that relief to dependents of any such individual shall be equal to all such medical costs incurred, plus the reasonable expenses of burial. Directs the Administrator to promulgate rules for equitable allocation of such relief where there are two or more dependents. Directs the Administrator to compute the amount of relief and determine the method, terms, and time of payment. Requires that payments made pursuant to such provisions for medical and relocation expenses be charged against the Fund. Provides that such claims against the Fund which are in excess of the total money in the Fund shall become valid and be paid in the same manner as provided for other claims against the Fund. Limits to 12 percent that portion of the Fund which may be used for purposes of such payments for medical and relocation expenses. Sets forth the procedure for determination of such claims for medical and relocation expenses. Directs the Administrator, except as otherwise provided, to use the procedures used by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) in determining entitlement to disability insurance benefit payments under the Social Security Act. Directs the Administrator and the Secretary of HHS to arrange to use Social Security Administration personnel and offices for administration and determination of claims filed for medical and relocation expenses under this Act. Authorizes the Administrator to delegate to the Secretary of HHS, or to any HHS employee, any function vested in the Administrator under provisions for medical and relocation expenses under this Act. Provides that the injury, illness, or death shall be presumed to have been caused by the exposure if the applicant provides information sufficient to enable the Administrator to find that: (1) the individual suffered any physical injury, illness, or death; (2) the individual was exposed in any manner to a hazardous substance from a facility or site at or from which such substance was treated, recycled, stored, disposed, or migrated, or during transportation to such site;(3) exposure in such manner to such hazardous substance has a reasonable likelihood of causing or significantly contributing to death or to a personal injury or illness of the type suffered by the individual. Provides that such presumption shall be overcome if the Administrator determines, on the basis of any available information, that it is reasonably certain that such exposure did not cause, or significantly contribute to, the individual's injury, illness, or death. Provides that any information which tends to establish that exposure to the hazardous substance in question causes or contributes to death or to personal injury or illness of the type or class allegedly suffered by an individual, shall be considered relevant to the issues of causation for purposes of determination of such claims for medical and relocation expenses under this Act. Includes among such relevant information: (1) an increase in the incident of injury, illness, or death in the exposed population above that which is otherwise probable; (2) epidemiological studies (without regard to the size of the sample); (3) animal studies; (4) tissue culture studies; (5) micro-organism culture studies; (6) laboratory and toxilogic studies; (7) immunological studies; (8) toxicology profiles prepared under this Act; and (9) health effects studies prepared under this Act. Directs the Administrator to require medical tests or examinations of the applicant to confirm the diagnosis or determination of physical injury or illness. Authorizes the Administrator to investigate and gather other appropriate information in making such claim determinations. Directs the Administrator, upon request by the claimant, to conduct a hearing with respect to any claim which has been denied, in whole or in part. Requires that the involved owner, operator, or transporter be given notice of any proceeding under provisions for claims for medical or relocation expenses, but declares that such persons have no right to participate in such proceedings. Provides for the award of legal costs for such hearings to claimants who prevail. Sets forth subrogation provisions. Provides for deposit in the Fund of any amount so recovered. Sets forth provisions for the judicial review of such claim determinations in U.S. district courts. Provides that a determination of the Administrator shall constitute a final administrative determination for the purpose of such judicial review. Sets forth provisions for additional recovery. Provides that individuals who have recovered any amount under such provisions for medical or relocation expenses shall not be prohibited from recovering an additional amount under this Act at a subsequent time if such individuals establish that an additional physical injury or illness: (1) was caused by such exposure; and (2) was not known to the individual at the time of the prior application. Title III: Funding - Part 1: Fee on Petroleum - Imposes a fee of four and one-half cents a barrel on: (1) crude oil received at a U.S. refinery (to be paid by the operator of the U.S. refinery); and (2) petroleum products entering the United States for consumption, use, or warehousing (to be paid by the person entering the product for such purposes). Imposes such fee (to be paid by the user or exporter) on any domestic crude oil if: (1) it is used in or exported from the United States; and (2) such fee was not imposed before such use or exemption. Provides that such fee shall not apply to any use of domestic crude oil for extracting oil or natural gas on the premises where such crude oil was produced. Sets forth definitions and special rules. Provides that only one fee may be imposed under this part with respect to any petroleum product. Makes such fee effective on October 1, 1985. Part 2: Fee on Certain Chemicals and Metals - Imposes a fee on any assessed chemicals sold (or used) by the manufacturer, producer, or importer thereof. Sets forth a table of assessed chemicals, with a specified fee per ton for each. Sets forth definitions, exceptions, and other special rules. Provides for a refund or credit for certain uses. Makes such fee effective on October 1,1985. Part 3: Waste End Fee - Imposes a fee on the disposal of hazardous substances. Provides that such fee shall apply only to a disposal which is: (1) required to be carried out in compliance with hazardous waste management provisions of the Act; and (2) not specifically exempt under this part. Exempts from such fee the disposal of any substance: (1) by incineration in accordance with the standards applicable to incineration facilities permitted under hazardous waste management provisions of the Act; or (2) by any person in the course of carrying out any removal or remedial actions under this Act. Sets the amount of such fee in the case of: (1) any hazardous substance for which there is in effect under this Act a reportable quantity of one pound or less, at $15 for each metric ton disposed of by underground injection and $30 for each metric ton not disposed of by such method; and (2) all hazardous substances for which there is in effect under this Act a reportable quantity of more than one pound, at $5 for each metric ton disposed of by underground injection and $10 for each metric ton not disposed of by such method. Provides that, in the cases of mixtures of hazardous substances with reportable quantities of one pound or less and those with reportable quantities more than one pound, the entire mixture shall be deemed to have a reportable quantity of one pound or less. Provides for imposing a fraction of the fee in the case of a fraction of a metric ton. Requires the owner or operator of the facility to pay such fee with respect to the disposal of any hazardous substance at a facility for which a permit is in effect under the hazardous waste management provisions of the Act. Requires the person disposing of the hazardous substance to pay such fee with respect to any other disposal of any hazardous substance. Requires, in the case of a fee imposed with respect to the long-term storage of any hazardous substance, that such fee be paid by the owner or operator of the site or facility at which the substance is located on the date one year after the date of generation of such substance. Sets forth provisions concerning the time of fee payment and regulations to carry out this part. Provides that the fee imposed under this part shall apply only with respect to the disposal of hazardous substances after January 1, 1987, and that no period of storage before such date shall be taken into account for purposes of imposition of such fee with respect to long-term storage of hazardous wastes. Provides that, after such date, the fee with respect to long-term storage of a hazardous waste shall: (1) cease to apply on the effective date of a removal of such waste from the list under hazardous waste management provisions of the Act; or (2) take effect after the effective date of a listing or identification of such waste under such provisions. Part 4: Administration and Enforcement; Suspension - Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations for the collection of fees under this title, including reporting and information-gathering regulations. Authorizes the Administrator to use authorities relating to the inspection of records and access under hazardous waste management provisions of the Act for purposes of carrying out this title. Sets forth criminal and civil penalties for specified violations of this title. Requires the suspension of fees imposed under this title during any fiscal year which commences after September 30, 1991, if the Administrator determines (on or before the first day of such fiscal year) that the unobligated balance in the Fund exceeds $3,000,000,000. Provides that such suspension shall continue until the expiration of the fiscal year concerned. Title IV: Citizen Suits and Liability of Certain Persons - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act ("the Act") to revise provisions for citizen suits. Adds provisions for citizen suits against any person, including the United States and any other governmental instrumentality or agency, to the extent permitted by the eleventh amendment of the Constitution, and including any past or present generator, transporter, or owner or operator of a treatment, storage, recycling, or disposal facility who has contributed or is contributing to the past or present handling, storage, treatment, transportation, or disposal of any solid or hazardous waste which may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to health or the environment. Grants the district jurisdiction to immediately restrain any person contributing to such endangerment, to order such person to take other necessary action, and to apply any appropriate civil penalties relating to hazardous waste management violations. Provides that citizen suits for such purposes may not be commenced: (1) if the Administrator has commenced, and is diligently prosecuting, an action under imminent hazard provisions of the Act, or if the State has brought an action under specified provisions of the Act, to immediately restrain any person contributing to such endangerment; or (2) by any person (other than a State or local government) with respect to the siting of a hazardous waste treatment, storage, or disposal facility. Adds provisions to the Act relating to the liability of certain persons for specified damages. Makes the following persons liable for specified damages to individuals (or their dependents) caused by the exposure of such individuals to a hazardous substance: (1) in cases of exposure to such substance from a facility or site at which treatment, storage, recycling, or disposal took place, the owner or operator of such facility or site at the time of such treatment, storage, recycling, or disposal, and any subsequent owner or operator of such facility or site; (2) in cases of exposure to such substance during storage of such substance pending transport for storage or treatment, any person who arranged for treatment, storage, recycling, or disposal, or who arranged for transport for such purposes; and (3) in cases of exposure during the transportation to, or treatment, storage, or disposal at, a disposal or treatment facility or site, any person who accepts or accepted such substance for transport to a treatment, recycling, storage, or disposal facility selected by such person. Provides that such liability shall be: (1) strict liability, with specified exceptions; (2) joint and several; and (3) construed to be the standard of liability which obtains under specified provisions of CERCLA and of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Excuses from such liability any defendant who can establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the exposure to a hazardous substance or the damage resulting from such exposure was caused solely by: (1) an act of God; or (2) an act of war. Makes the following damages compensable under such liability provisions: (1) any medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, or burial expenses due to personal injury, illness, or death; (2) any loss of income or profits or any impairment or loss of earning capacity due to personal injury, illness, or death; (3) any pain and suffering which results from personal injury, illness, or death; and (4) any economic loss and any damages to property, including diminution in value. Sets forth procedural provisions relating to such liability. Provides that no evidence may be introduced in an action under such liability provisions of this Act with respect to the results of any proceeding brought by the plaintiff under specified medical and relocation expenses provisions of this Act. Sets forth provisions relating to a presumption of cause of damages. Sets forth provisions for jurisdiction of U.S. district courts over actions under such liability provisions. Authorizes the court to award appropriate legal fees. Provides that nothing in such liability provisions or in provisions for medical and relocation expenses under this Act shall be construed to preempt, or otherwise affect, any provision of State law regarding liability for damages in connection with any hazardous substance. Sets forth a statute of limitations relating to such liability provisions and to provisions for medical and relocation expenses under this Act. Sets such limitation at three years after: (1) the date the physical injury or illness was first known (or reasonably should have been known) by the applicant or plaintiff to exist, or the date of the individual's death; (2) the date the applicant or plaintiff knew (or reasonably should have known) that the physical injury, illness, or death or other expense was caused or contributed to by exposure to such hazardous substance; or (3) the date of enactment of this Act. Sets forth exceptions to such limitation in the case of minors or incompetents. Sets forth provisions for collateral recovery relating to such liability provisions and to provisions for medical and relocation expenses under this Act. Provides for recovery from other sources and for liens. Prohibits recovery under such liability provisions and under provisions for medical and relocation expenses under this Act of any amount for injury, illness, or death for which compensation is available under a State workers' compensation law. Sets forth criminal penalties for false statements in any application or proceeding under provisions for medical and relocation expenses under this Act. Title V: Law Enforcement Authority - Grants specified law enforcement authority to EPA officers or employees authorized by the Administrator to investigate, or supervise the investigation of, any activity for which a criminal penalty is provided under the Solid Waste Disposal Act ("the Act") or under this Act. Directs the Administrator to request the Attorney General to appear and represent the United States in any civil or criminal action instituted under this Act to which the Administrator is a party. Requires EPA attorneys to appear and represent the United States in a civil action, unless the Attorney General notifies the Administrator within a reasonable time that the Attorney General will appear and represent the United States in such action.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1984
Fair Share Tax Reduction Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable income tax credit to individuals living in States where: (1) the Federal spending ratio was less than 90 percent; and (2) the average unemployment rate was greater than ten percent or greater than 150 percent of the average of the national rate of unemployment. Sets forth the method of calculating such income tax credit. Defines "Federal spending ratio" as an amount determined by dividing the sum of all amounts spent within a State by the Federal Government by the sum of all amounts of revenue generated within such State.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1984
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the FY 1985 funding levels for Federal foreign language and international education and exchange programs should be maintained or increased above the FY 1984 levels.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1984
Older Americans Act Amendments of 1984 - Title I: Amendments Regarding Objectives and Definitions - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to declare as an objective of such Act that our older people should have available a comprehensive array of community- based, long-term care services adequate to appropriately sustain them in their communities and in their homes. Title II: Amendments Regarding the Administration on Aging - Replaces provisions establishing the Administration on Aging with provisions establishing, under the general authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, an Office on Aging to be headed by the Assistant Secretary for Aging (the Assistant Secretary) who shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Provides that the Office on Aging shall assume the duties and functions of the Administration on Aging and that the Assistant Secretary shall assume the duties and functions of the Commissioner on Aging. Establishes in the executive branch of the Government a Federal Coordinating Board on Aging. Provides that the Secretary shall be the Chairperson of the Board and that the Assistant Secretary shall be the Vice Chairperson. Directs the Board to: (1) coordinate all Federal programs and activities related to older individuals; and (2) annually report to the President and Congress with recommendations for the development of objectives and priorities for all Federal programs and activities relating to aging and to older individuals. Authorizes funds to be appropriated for FY 1985 through 1987 for the Federal Council on Aging. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations for the administration of the Older Americans Act of 1965. Prohibits the Secretary from making grants or contracts under such Act for training, research, and discretionary projects and programs until the Secretary develops and publishes general standards to be used in evaluating such projects and programs. Title III: Grants for Programs on Aging - Defines: (1) an "older individual" as any individual who is 60 or older; and (2) "multipurpose senior centers" as community facilities for the organization and provision of a broad spectrum of services, including the provision of health, social, nutritional, and educational services and provision of facilities for recreational activities, for older individuals. Authorizes funds to be appropriated for FY 1985 through 1987 for social service grants and nutrition project grants under the Older Americans Act of 1965. Requires each area agency on aging to: (1) specify annually in its area plan the amount of funds spent for each category of services in the preceding year; and (2) conduct efforts to coordinate community-based, long-term care services designed to keep individuals in their homes, thereby deferring unnecessary institutionalization. Requires a State's plan under such Act in planning and operating its long-term care ombudsman program to consider the views of area agencies on aging, older individuals, and provider agencies. Authorizes funds to be appropriated for FY 1985 through 1987 for the surplus commodity program under such Act. Title IV: Training, Research, and Discretionary Programs Related to Aging - Revises provisions of the Older Americans Act of 1965 relating to training, research, and discretionary programs. Directs the Assistant Secretary to make grants and enter into contracts for training, research, and discretionary programs related to aging in order to: (1) provide comprehensive and coordinated nondegree education, training programs, and curricula at institutions of higher education and at other educational organizations for practitioners in the fields of nutrition, health care, supportive services, housing, and long-term care; (2) provide inservice training opportunities to the personnel of State offices, area agencies, senior centers, and nutrition sites to strengthen their capacity to remain responsive to the needs of older individuals; and (3) provide courses on aging and the dissemination of information about aging. Directs the Office on Aging to conduct both: (1) long-term educational activities to prepare personnel for careers in the field of aging; and (2) short-term inservice training and continuing education activities for State and area agency personnel, and other personnel, in the field of aging. Requires multidisciplinary centers of gerontology to: (1) conduct research and policy analysis and function as a technical resource for the Assistant Secretary, policy makers, service providers, and Congress; (2) recruit and train personnel; (3) conduct research toward the development of information related to aging; (4) stimulate the incorporation of information on aging into the teaching of biological, behavioral, and social sciences at colleges and universities; (5) develop training programs in the field of aging; (6) serve as a repository of information and knowledge on aging; (7) provide consultation to organizations serving older individuals under provisions of this Act; and (8) provide data to the Assistant Secretary on projects and activities for which training, research, and discretionary program funds are provided. Sets forth the purposes of research and development projects under the Older Americans Act of 1965. Directs the Assistant Secretary to select for research assistance research activities which will, within three years of enactment of this Act: (1) contribute to the establishment and maintenance of a demographic data base which contains information on the population of older individuals; (2) identify the future needs of older individuals; (3) identify the kinds and comprehensiveness of programs required to satisfy such needs; and (4) identify the kinds and number of personnel required to carry out such programs. Authorizes making grants and contracts for projects designed to identify older individuals who suffer from Alzheimer's disease and other neurological diseases and provide family respite services and other community-based care services to such individuals. Revises provisions relating to special demonstration projects on legal services for older individuals. Directs the Assistant Secretary to make grants and enter ito contracts to: (1) provide nationwide legal services support activities to State and area agencies on aging for providing, developing, or supporting legal services for older individuals; and (2) support demonstration projects to expand or improve the delivery of legal services to older individuals with social or economic needs. Authorizes funds to be appropriated for FY 1985 through 1987 training, research, and discretionary programs under the Older Americans Act of 1965. Directs the Assistant Secretary to: (1) be responsible for the administration, implementation, and making of grants and contracts for such programs; and (2) annually provide a report on the expenditure of funds for such programs. Title V: Community Service Employment - Amends the Older Americans Community Service Employment Act to authorize funds to be appropriated for FY 1985 through 1987. Increases the number of part-time employment positions provided under such Act. Title VI: Grants for Indian Tribes - Authorizes funds to be appropriated for FY 1985 through 1987 under the Older Americans Act of 1965 for grants to Indian tribes. Title VII: Amendments to Other Laws; Effective Dates - Sets forth conforming amendments and effective dates.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1984
Economic Conversion Act - Title I: Prenotification of Base Closures and Defense-Related Contract Cancellations - Directs the Secretary of Defense, through the Economic Adjustment Committee, to notify State and local governments and regional organizations within a specified period of time of a proposed realinement or closure of a military installation or of the cancellation or termination of a defense contract or failure to proceed with an approved major weapon system program. Title II: Economic Conversion Pilot Program - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for job retraining programs and planning for alternative production required by cancellation of defense contracts during FY 1985-1989. Permits one grant for each defense contract cancellation or reduction. Requires the administration of such grants at the local level by a capable unit of general local government or, through default, by the collective bargaining agents of affected employees. Directs the Secretary to make weekly assistance payments to such employees affected by a cancellation or reduction of a contract valued at $10,000,000 or more during FY 1985-1989. Sets forth a formula for determining the amount of such assistance, making allowances for unemployment compensation or public assistance received and health insurance coverage needed. Sets forth assistance application procedures and notification requirements. Makes available for such grants the amount of previously appropriated funds which the United States will save as a result of the cancellation or reduction of the defense contract.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1984
Former Presidents Austerity Act of 1984 - Title I: Presidential Libraries - Directs the Administrator of General Services, in consultation with the Archivist of the United States and the Commissioner of the Public Buildings Service, to promulgate architectural and design standards for Presidential archival depositories. Authorizes the Administrator to accept, as private gifts or pursuant to agreements with State or local governments, institutes, or foundations, only such land, buildings, and equipment as are necessary to establish one depository in one building of a specified size for each President or former President, provided that an endowment has been established which will provide sufficient income, combined with admission fees, to cover all administrative and operational costs of such depository. Requires the Administrator to submit a prospectus for each proposed depository and change thereto to specified congressional committees. Prohibits the Administrator from accepting a gift or entering into an agreement to establish a depository if the land, buildings, and equipment do not meet the architectural and design standards. Prohibits any change or addition to a depository that would result in noncompliance with such standards. Requires the President, while holding office, to dispose of his or her Presidential records which have no administrative, historical, informational, or evidentiary value after obtaining the views of the Archivist of the United States concerning such disposal, unless the Archivist notifies the President that the Archivist intends to request advice from certain congressional committees. Title II: Former Presidents - Changes the amount of the annual allowance to which the spouse of a deceased former President is entitled from $20,000 to two-thirds of the allowance to which a former President is entitled. Repeals the requirement that the spouse must waive the right to any other Government annuity or pension to qualify for such allowance. Terminates the allowance when the spouse remarries, at any age. Authorizes the Administrator to provide to each former President, upon request: (1) one office; (2) compensation, without an aggregate ceiling, for members of an office staff who shall be subject to certain provisions of civil service laws; (3) payment for the travel and subsistence allowances for specified office employees; (4) communications services; (5) printing and binding expenses; and (6) movement of the former President's personal effects and household goods from the executive residence in Washington, D.C., to another location in the United States as he or she designates. Authorizes the Administrator to provide for the movement of the personal effects and household effects of a former Vice President. Allows any Federal employee to be detailed to the office staff of a former President, with the consent of the employee's agency head, during the first eight months and ten days after the President leaves office. Authorizes the use of a Government aircraft to assist a former President in winding up office affairs or for protective purposes when authorized by the President. Authorizes the Administrator to provide a former Vice President with necessary services and facilities for concluding his or her office affairs which are similar to the services and facilities provided to a former President under this title. Prohibits the use of funds provided for necessary services and facilities of a former President or Vice President for partisan political activities or income generating activities. Permits a former President to use such funds to prepare his or her memoirs if the former President signs an agreement providing that the Public Printer will print and distribute such memoirs. Prohibits the expenditure of such funds for a former President any time beyond 90 days after the former President dies. Requires each former President to submit to Congress an annual report concerning activities carried out with the assistance of such funds. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the provisions of this title concerning the services and facilities to be provided for former Presidents and Vice Presidents. Directs the President to include in the budget transmitted to Congress for the fiscal year in which his or her regular term of office expires a proposed appropriation providing sufficient funds to carry out the provisions of this title as it would apply to such President and the Vice President. Repeals specified provisions of the Presidential Transition Act of 1963. Title III: Protection of Former Presidents, Former Vice Presidents, and Their Families - Prohibits the United States Secret Service from protecting a former President, former Vice President, or the spouse, widow, widower, or minor child of a former President, except as authorized under this title. Authorizes the Secret Service to protect: (1) a former President for eight years after the individual becomes a former President; (2) the spouse or minor child of a former President to the extent that such protection is incidental to the protection of the former President; and (3) the widow or widower of a former President for six months after the former President dies. Permits the Secretary of the Treasury to reinstate the Secret Service protection of a former President for one year and of a spouse or minor child for six months after the original protection has been terminated upon finding that a seriouus threat warranting such protection exists. Authorizes additional extension of such periods of protection upon the individual's written request and with the approval of an existing advisory committee established to determine whether protection should be furnished to certain presidential or vice presidential candidates. Establishes the Advisory Panel on Secret Service Protection to review requests for extended protection and to make recommendations on such requests to such advisory committee. Permits the Secretary to authorize Secret Service protection for a former Vice President for a period beginning on the last day of the individual's term and ending on the last day of the fiscal year in which the term expires, upon the former Vice President's written request, and upon finding that a threat exists which warrants such protection.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1984
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the: (1) Republic of South Africa should release Nelson Mandela from prison and should revoke Winnie Mandela's banning order; (2) President should use his position to secure the release of Nelson and Winnie Mandela; and (3) Speaker of the House is requested to transmit a copy of this resolution to the President and to the Republic of South Africa.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1984
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the insured loan component of the economic emergency loan program is of critical importance to farmers and ranchers; (2) the limitation and effective termination of such insured loans violated the intent of Congress; and (3) the Farmers Home Administration should immediately begin the obligation of insured economic emergency loan funds (of at least $500,000,000) and should continue such program until the funds are exhausted or until September 30, 1984.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1984
Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) ("Superfund") to establish certain requirements with respect to hazardous substances released from Federal facilities. Authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to enter into specified interagency agreements with any Federal agency. Directs the Administrator, in addition to undertaking response action, to take action under CERCLA against any Federal agency in the same manner and to the same extent as against a nongovernmental entity, unless such an interagency agreement is reached within specified time periods. Sets forth procedures for interagency agreements and emergency actions applicable to Federal agencies under CERCLA. Directs the Administrator to establish a special Federal Agency Hazardous Waste Compliance Docket. Directs the Administrator to report annually to Congress on: (1) progress in reaching interagency agreements; (2) cost estimates and budgetary proposals involved; (3) public comments regarding each proposed agreement; and (4) instances in which no agreement has been reached, including an explanation of why no agreement was reached. Authorizes citizen lawsuits under CERCLA against: (1) any person (including the United States and any other governmental instrumentality or agency, to the extent permitted by the eleventh amendment to the Constitution) who is alleged to be in violation of any requirement which has become effective pursuant to CERCLA; or (2) the Administrator where there is an alleged failure to perform any non-discretionary act or duty under CERCLA. Sets forth requirements relating to such citizen lawsuits, which are to be brought in the appropriate U.S. district court. Directs the President, within 90 days after the enactment of this Act, to publish a schedule for including on the national priority list under CERCLA any federally owned or operated facilities which present a risk or danger to public health or welfare or the environment. Provides that such facilities shall be included on such list in the same manner and subject to the same criteria as facilities which are owned or operated by other persons.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1984
Prohibits any reduction in force within the Employment and Training Administration which would reduce the number of civilian employees below a specified level during the period from the enactment of this Act until September 30, 1984. Directs the Secretary of Labor, in carrying out a reduction in force, to retain Native American personnel having particular competence and experience in the selection, administration, monitoring, and evaluation of Native American employment and training programs under the Job Training Partnership Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1984
Prohibits U.S. armed forces from participating in joint military exercises with Honduran armed forces during the period beginning 30 days after enactment of this Act or on April 1, 1984, (whichever is later) and ending September 30, 1985. Limits the number of members of the U.S. armed forces in Honduras during such time to 200. Prohibits obligating or spending appropriations contrary to this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1984
Effective Schools Development in Education Act of 1984 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a grants program to promote more effective schools and excellence in education. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1985 through 1989 for such grants program. Allows program grants to be used to: (1) promote State educational agency (SEA) and local educational agency (LEA) awareness of effective schools information through conferences at schools and district and multidistrict offices and through onsite visits to model effective schools; (2) develop and implement systems of data collection, analysis, interpretation, and communication; (3) plan, review, and revise program activities; (4) support related effective schools efforts; (5) obtain technical assistance and consultant services from regional educational laboratories, research and development centers, institutions of higher education, and other nonprofit educational organizations; (6) design, develop, and publish educational materials on effective schools programs; (7) conduct program evaluations; and (8) otherwise identify, document, and disseminate information concerning exemplary effective schools programs. Requires that program grant applications by SEAs or LEAs demonstrate that: (1) the applicant has an effective schools improvement program in effect; (2) grant funds would be used to pay not more than one-half of the cost of any program or activity; (3) grant funds would be supplementary; and (4) independent annual evaluations will be conducted and reported. Directs the Secretary of Education, in selecting grant recipients, to: (1) consider the extent to which grant funds would be used to improve schools in districts with the greatest numbers or percentages of educationally deprived children and the extent to which the applicant's ongoing effective schools program has demonstrated the capacity to improve student achievement or behavior; (2) ensure reasonable geographic distribution of grants; and (3) designate grants as being available for a period of at least one but not more than three years. Sets forth provisions for technical assistance and program evaluation.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1984
National Symposium on Missing Children Act of 1984 - Establishes a 15 member Commission on Missing Children to conduct an inquiry into the problem of missing children. Requires the Commission to hold a national symposium to bring together experts, professionals, and interested individuals to: (1) find solutions to prevent the disappearance of children and provide for the safe return of any missing children; (2) disseminate information and assistance to citizens, agencies, and the government; (3) make recommendations to the President and Congress for legislative changes; and (4) make recommendations for a program to coordinate and assist those concerned with missing children. Directs the Commission to submit a comprehensive report incorporating specific recommendations to the President and the Congress. Requires the Commission to terminate 18 months after its inception. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1984
Housing Finance Opportunity Act of 1984 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend for five years, until December 31, 1988, the period during which mortgage revenue bonds may be issued as tax-exempt bonds (interest excluded from gross income).
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1984
Declares that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should resubmit his FY 1985 budget after making certain changes that reflect progress toward reducing the Federal budget deficit by $30,000,0000,0000, that are more in keeping with his stated goal of a balanced budget.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1984
Continues to apply after the end of FY 1983 the certification requirements of the International Security and Development Cooperation Act of 1981 which relate to El Salvador until Congress enacts new legislation providing conditions for U.S. military assistance to El Salvador or until September 30, 1984, whichever occurs first.
![Official portrait of Rep. Crockett, George W., Jr. [D-MI-13]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c000919_200.jpg)