United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1974
Fiscal Integrity Act - Expresses the findings of Congress, including that allowing the continuation of policies which lessen the fiscal integrity of the Government is detrimental to the general welfare of the people and ought, therefore, to be ended. Title I: Revenue and Budget Outlays Control - Establishes for each fiscal year a revenue and budget outlays limit for the Government. States that no appropriation shall be made for any fiscal year by the Congress in excess of the revenue and budget outlays limit for such fiscal year. Provides that if the revenue of the Government exceeds the limit established, the excess shall be used for the payment of the public debt of the Government. States that the revenue and budget outlays limit shall be derived by multiplying the estimated aggregate national income for such fiscal year by the Federal revenue factor. Defines "Federal revenue factor". Title II: Monetary Supply Control - Directs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to insure that any rate of increase in the amount of currency in circulation and demand deposits is not greater than 1 1/4 percent per quarter fiscal year. Title III: Fiscal Disclosure - States that a bill or joint resolution introduced in either House of Congress or received by it from the other House shall be printed only when there appears at the bottom of the first page a fiscal note. Requires such fiscal note to state the amounts estimated to be the direct and indirect costs likely to be incurred or the direct and indirect savings likely to be achieved in carrying out the provisions of such bill or joint resolution in the fiscal year in which it is introduced or received and in each of the five fiscal years following such fiscal year, or for the authorized duration of any program authorized by such bill or joint resolution if less than five years, except that in the case of measures affecting revenue, the fiscal note shall state only the estimate of change in revenues for a one-year period. States that a copy of each such bill or joint resolution shall be transmitted immediately to the instrumentality of Government which will carry out its provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 15 August 1974
Prohibits the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from requiring, under the Clean Air Act, an indirect source emission review as a part of any applicable implementation plan. States that any rules or regulations with respect to the requirement of such review as a part of any such plan previously promulgated by the Administrator shall be void on the date of the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1974
Requires the President to make the provision of assistance to foreign countries contingent, to the maximum extent practicable, on reception of strategic or critical raw materials in return.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1974
Requires, under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, that imported meat and meat food products made in whole or in part of imported meat be labeled "imported" at each stage of distribution until delivery to the ultimate consumer.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 1974
Expands the conditions under which the shipment of motor vehicles owned by members of the armed forces may be permitted at the expense of the United States. Authorizes the payment of travel and transportation allowances to members of the uniformed services incapacitated by illness.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1974
Reclamation Development Act - Title I: Page, Arizona, Community Act - States that the purpose of this title is to separate the town of Page, Arizona, from the Colorado River storage project so that the United States may withdraw from ownership and operation of the town, and the town may be incorporated and self-governing. Transfers designated properties to such town without cost. Provides for water rights for Page, Arizona from Lake Powell. Specifies projects to be completed in Page by the United States. Authorizes payment of $500,000 to Page, upon its incorporation, for specified municipal services and facilites. Authorizes appropriations from the Upper Colorado River Basin Fund to Page in the amount necessary for Page to acquire electric distribution facilities. Transfers 808 acres in Cocomino County, Arizona, to the Navajo Indian Reservation. Authorizes the use of up to $4,000,000 from the Upper Colorado Basin Fund to carry out this title. Title II: Cibolo Project, Texas - Authorizes the construction, operation, and maintenance of a dam on recreational facilities on Cibolo Creek, Texas, including provision of water for municipal and industrial use. Authorizes appropriations of $24,160,000 for flood control, fish and wildlife, and recreation in connection with such project. Title III: Mountain Park Project Oklahoma - Provides for the construction and operation of municipal water supply facilities, and authorizes appropriations therefor, for Frederick, Oklahoma. Title IV: Casitas Reservation Open Space, California - Directs the purchase of, and authorizes appropriations for, private lands to add to the Lake Casistas Reservoir area in California. Title V: Klamath Project Right-of-Way, Oregon - Directs the conveyance by quitclaim deed to the owners of record of specified lands in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Title VI: Solana Project Recreational Facilities, California - Authorizes the development and operation of short-term recreational facilities at Lake Berryessa, Solano Project California, and authorizes appropriations for such purposes. Title VII: Miscellaneous Drainage Construction, Utah - Authorizes the construction of specified drainage facilities in the Central Utah and Emery County projects in Utah. Title VIII: Belle Fourche Dam Rehabilitation, South Dakota - Authorizes the construction and operation of an adequate spillway and improvement of the upstream slope protection at the Belle Fourche Dam, South Dakota. Authorizes appropriations for such purpose. Title IX: Glendo Unit Road Reconstruction, Wyoming - Authorizes the relocation and reconstruction, and appropriations therefor, for a highway near the Glendo Dam and Reservoir, Wyoming. Title X: Nueces River Project, Texas - Authorizes the construction and operation, and appropriations therefor, for the Nueces River project in Texas, including furnishing of water for municipal, industrial, and recreational uses. Title XI: Elephant Butte Recreation Pool, New Mexico - Authorizes the releases from Heron Reservoir, New Mexico, to provide storage and a recreation pool in Elephant Butte Reservoir, New Mexico. Title XII: Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, Colorado - Authorizes additional appropriations for construction and operation at the Fryingpan-Arkansas project, Colorado. Title XIII: Savage Rapids Fish Way, Oregon - Authorizes the construction of improved fish passages at the Savage Rapids Dam, Oregon, and authorizes appropriations therefor. Title XIV: Feasibility Study Authorities - Authorizes feasibility studies of water resource development programs in California, Arizona, and North Dakota.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1974
Harry S. Truman Memorial Scholarship Act - Expresses the findings of Congress and declares that it is especially appropriate to honor former President Harry S. Truman through the creation of a perpetual educational scholarship program to develop increased opportunities for young Americans to prepare and pursue careers in public service. Establishes as an independent establishment of the executive branch of the United States Government, the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, to be subject to the supervision and direction of the Board of Trustees. Authorizes the Foundation to award fifty-one scholarships in any fiscal year beginning after June 30, 1973, for undergraduate study for persons who plan to pursue a career in public service. States that each recipient shall be knows as a Truman scholar. Sets forth provisions governing: (1) the scholarship requirements; (2) the procedures for selection of Truman scholars; (3) stipends and institutional allowances; and (4) the scholarship conditions. Establishes in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known as the Harry S. Truman Memorial Scholarship Trust Fund. Prescribes the procedures for expenditures from the fund. Directs that there shall be an Executive Secretary of the Foundation, appointed by the Board, who shall be the chief executive officer and shall carry out the functions of the Foundation subject to the supervision and direction of the Board. Authorizes to be appropriated $30,000,000 to the fund. Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for administrative expenses incident to carrying out the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1974
Increases from $25,000,000 to $50,000,000 the amount authorized to be appropriated for the forestry incentive program administered under the Agricultural Act of 1970. Increases from 500 acres to 1000 acres the size of a tract which may be affected by such program.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1974
Small Investors Act - Provides that, in the case of a taxpayer other than a corporation, gross income under the Internal Revenue Code does not include an amount representing the excess of the net long-term capital gain for the year over the net short-term capital loss from the sale or exchange of a security or securities, to the extent that such amount does not exceed $1,000. (Adds 26 U.S.C. 124)
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1974
Provides, under provisions of the Internal Revenue Code relating to scholarship and fellowship grants, that no amount shall be included in gross income by reason of the discharge of the indebtedness of an individual under a student loan if such discharge was pursuant to a provision of the loan under which the indebtedness would be discharged if the individual worked for a certain period of time in certain professions or certain geographical areas or for certain classes of employers. Defines "student loan" for purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1974
Provides that, under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, real property which is farmland, woodland, or open land and forms part of an estate may be valued, for estate tax purposes, at its value as farmland, woodland, or open land (rather than at its fair market value). Provides that real property which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places may be valued, for estate tax purposes, at its value for its existing use. Provides for the revocation of such lower valuation and recapture of unpaid tax with interest under specified circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1974
Authorizes the partial attachment of up to 50 percent of the retired or retainer pay of members of the armed forces to satisfy judicially decreed child support contributions that are 30 days overdue. (Adds 10 U.S.C. 1407)
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1974
Provides, under the Social Security Act, that any State with a statewide Professional Standards Review Organization shall be established, upon the request of the Governor of such State, as one area for which a Professional Standards Rivew Organization may be designated.
United States · United States Congress · 29 May 1974
Permits the attachment of up to fifty percent of the retired or retainer pay of a member of an armed force to satisfy judicially decreed child support contributions that are 30 days overdue.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1974
Designates the premises occupied by the Chief of Naval Operations as the official residence of the Vice President, effective upon the termination of service of the incumbent Chief of Naval Operations. Authorizes the Administrator of General Services to provide for the care, maintenance, repair, improvement, alteration, and furnishing of the official residence and grounds. Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary from time to time to carry out the foregoing purposes. Expresses the sense of Congress that living accommodations, generally equivalent to those available to the highest ranking officer on active duty in each of the other military services, should be provided for the Chief of Naval Operations. Repeals the Federal law authorizing the planning, design, construction, furnishing, and maintenance of an official residence for the Vice President of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1974
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that (1) it most strongly condemns all acts of terrorism in the Middle East; (2) the President and the Secretary of State should and are hereby urged and requested to (a) call upon all governments to condemn this inhuman act of violence against innocent victims; and (b) strongly urge the governments who harbor these groups and individuals to take appropriate action to rid their countries of those who subvert the peace through terrorism and senseless violence; and (3) the President should request the American Ambassador to the United Nations to take appropriate action before that body in order to have introduced a Security Council resolution condemning this brutal act of violence.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1974
Provides that no court created by Act of Congress and having general jurisdiction, original or appellate, with respect to cases or controversies arising under the laws or Constitution of the United States, shall have any jurisdiction to hear or decide cases or controversies involving the public schools. Vests the jurisdiction terminated by this Act in the courts of the several States and, with respect to such cases and controversies arising in the District of Columbia or in any other territory or possession of the United States, in the Federal courts of an essentially local jurisdiction in such District, territory, or possession. Vests in the Supreme Court of the United States appellate jurisdiction by writ of certiorari to the highest State or territorial court exercising jurisdiction over such case or controversy.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1974
Uniform Criteria Act - States that it is the purpose of this Act to specify appropriate criteria for the formulation of remedies for the orderly elimination of the vestiges of dual school systems. Title I: Assignment Provisions - States that the assignment by an educational agency of a student to the school nearest his place of residence which provides the appropriate grade level and type of education for such student is not a denial of equal protection of the laws unless such assignment is made for the purpose of segregating students on the basis of race, color, sex, or national origin. Provides that the failure of an educational agency to attain a balance, on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, or socioeconomic status of students among its schools shall not constitute a denial of equal protection of the laws. Title II: Remedies - Requires a court, department, or agency of the United States in formulating a remedy for a denial of the equal protection of the laws, to seek or impose only such remedies as are essential to correct particular denials of equal protection of the laws. Provides that in formulating a remedy for a denial of the equal protection of the law, which may involve the transportation of students, a court, department, or agency of the United States shall consider and make specific findings on the efficacy in correcting such denial of specified remedies and shall require implementation of the remedies or on the first combination thereof which would remedy such denial: (1) assigning students to the schools closest to their places of residence which provide the appropriate grade level and type of education for such students, taking into account school capacities and natural physical barriers; (2) assigning students to the schools closest to their places of residence which provide the appropriate grade level and type of education for such student, taking into account only school capacities; (3) permitting students to transfer from a school in which a majority of the students are of their race, color, or national origin to a school in which a minority of the students are of their race, color, or national origin; (4) the creation or revision of attendance zones or grade structures without requiring transportation beyond the next closest school to a student's residence; or (5) the development and implementation of any other plan which is educationally sound and administratively feasible. Prohibits any court, department, or agency of the United States from ordering the implementation of a plan that would require the transportation of any student to a school other than the school closest or next closest to his place of residence which provides the appropriate grade level and type of education for such student. Prohibits any court, department, or agency of the United States from requiring directly or indirectly the transportation of any student if such transportation poses a risk to the health of such student or constitutes a significant impingement on the educational process with respect to such student. Provides that when a court of competent jurisdiction determines that a school system is desegregated, or that it meets the constitutional requirements, or that it is a unitary system, or that it has no vestiges of a dual system, and thereafter residential shifts in population occur which result in school population changes in any school within such a desegregated school system, no education agency shall because of such shifts be required by any court, department, or agency of the United States to formulate, or implement any new desegregation plan or modify or implement any modification of the court approved desegregation plan to compensate wholly or in part for such shifts in school population. States that in the formulation of remedies under this Act, the lines drawn by a State, subdividing its territory into separate school districts, shall not be ignored or altered except where it is established that the lines were drawn for the purpose of segregating children among public schools on the basis of race, color, sex, or national origin. Asserts that nothing in this Act prohibits an educational agency from proposing, adopting, requiring, or implementing any plan of desegregation, otherwise lawful, that is at variance with the standards set out in this title, nor shall any court, department, or agency of the United States be prohibited from approving implementation of a plan which goes beyond what can be required under this title, if such plan is voluntarily proposed by the appropriate educational agency. Provides that on the application of an educational agency, court orders, or desegregation plans under title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in effect on the date of enactment of this Act and intended to end segregation of students on the basis of race, color, or national origin, shall be reopened and modified to comply with the provisions of this Act. States that any court order requiring the desegregation of a school system shall be terminated, if the court finds the schools of the defendant educational agency are a unitary school system, one within which no person is to be effectively excluded from any school because of race, color, or national origin, and this shall be so, whether or not such school system was in the past segregated de jure or de facto. Title III: Definitions - Defines the terms used in this Act. Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions - Repeals the provision of the Emergency School Aid Act authorizing the construction of integrated education parks. Provides that if any provision of this Act, or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the provisions of the Act and the application of such provision to other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1974
Student Antibusing Act - Provides that no court of the United States shall have the jurisdiction to make any decision, enter any judgment, or issue any order requiring pupils to be transported to or from school on the basis of their race, color, religion, or national origin. Provides that no department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States empowered to extend Federal financial assistance to any program or activity at any school by way of grant, loan, or otherwise, shall withhold or threaten to withhold any such Federal financial assistance in order to coerce or induce the implementation or continuation of any plan or program the effect of which would be to require that pupils be transported to or from school on the basis of their race, color, religion, or national origin. Provides that, notwithstanding any other law or provision of law, in the case of any order on the part of any United States district court the effect of which is or would be to require that pupils be transported to or from school on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin, the effectiveness of such order shall be postponed until all appeals in connection with such order have been exhausted or, in the event no appeals are taken, until the time for such appeals has expired. Gives the U.S. district courts exclusive jurisdiction of proceedings instituted pursuant to this Act and sets forth the procedure for such proceedings.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1974
Provides, under the Federal Trade Commission Act, that under specified circumstances exclusive territorial arrangements relating to the manufacture, distribution, or sale of food and beverage products shall be deemed lawful provided that substantial and effective competition between products and between vendors of those products is maintained, and the licensor retains control over the nature and quality of such product pursuant to the Trademark Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1974
Student Freedom of Choice Act - States that no department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States empowered to extend Federal financial assistance to any program or activity at any public school by way or grant, loan, or otherwise shall withhold, or threaten to withhold, such financial assistance from any such program or activity: (1) on account of the racial composition of the student body at any public school or in any class at any public school in any case whatever where the school board operating such public school or class maintains, in respect to such public school and class, a freedom of choice system; (2) to coerce or induce the school board operating such public school to transport students from such public school to any other public school for the purpose of altering in any way the racial composition of the student body at such public school or any other public school; (3) to coerce or induce any school board operating such public school system to close any public school, and transfer the students from it to another public school for the purpose of altering in any way the recial composition of the student body at any public school; and (4) to coerce or induce the school board operating such public school system to transfer any member of any public school faculty from the public school in which the member of the faculty contracts to serve to some other public school for the purpose of altering the racial composition of the faculty at any public school. Provides that whenever any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States violates or threatens to violate this Act, the school board aggrieved by the violation or threatened violation, or the parent of any student affected or to be affected by the violation or threatened violation, or any member of any faculty affected or to be effected by the violation or threatened violation may bring a civil action against the United States in a district court of the United States complaining of the violation or threatened violation. Provides that no court of the United States shall have jurisdiction ot make any decision, enter judgment, or issue any order requiring any school board to make any change in the racial composition of the student body at any public school or in any class at any public school to which students are assigned in conformity with a freedom of choice system, or requiring any school board to transport any students from one public school to another public school or from one place to another place or from one school district to another school district in order to effect a change in the racial composition of the student body at any school or place or in any school district, or denying to any student the right or privilege of attending any public school or class any any public school chosen by the parent of such student in conformity with freedom of choice system, or requiring any school board to close any school and transfer the students from the closed school to any other school for the purpose of altering the racial composition of the student body at any public school, or precluding any school board from carrying into effect any provision of any contract between it and any member of the faculty of any public school it operates specifying the public school where the member of the faculty is to perform his or her duties under the contract.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1974
Repeals, under the Social Security Act, the provisions for the establishment of Professional Standards Review Organizations to review services covered under the medicare and medicaid programs.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1974
Occupational Safety and Health Amendments - States that the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall not propose any rule promulgating a new occupational health or safety standard before he: (1) has, as part of each such proposal, reviewed and published in the Federal Register the financial impact of such proposed standard; and (2) has determined with due regard for that impact that the benefit to be derived from such standard justifies such proposal. Provides that no standard adopted or promulgated shall require any employer to phase out, change, or replace existing equipment or facilities before the normal useful life of that equipment or facility has expired unless failure to so phase out, change, or replace that equipment or facility prematurely would result in a serious violation. Directs the Secretary to prescribe, as soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, as part of each existing standard adopted under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: (1) the estimated average and maximum cost per unit to the average employer who is subject to that standard for compliance with the conditions, practices, means, methods, operation, or process used or proposed to be used by that employer under that standard; and (2) the period within which it is, in fact, possible for such employers to meet such standard including, but not limited to, availability of required devices, and possibility of performance of required procedures. Sets forth requirements with respect to notifying an employer of violations of the requirements prescribed pursuant to this Act. States that any employer who has been found to be not in compliance with any rule or standard adopted or promulgated under this Act shall not receive a notice for such violation if he is able to show: (1) that implementing such rule or standard would not materially affect the safety or health of his employees in the facility inspected; (2) that he has employed alternative procedures to protect his employees from the hazards contemplated by the rule or standard which are as effective in protecting the safety and health of his employees; or (3) that he has furnished adequate notice and exerted all reasonable efforts, pursuant to such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, to obtain the compliance of his employees, that such violation was attributable to such employees, and that he could not otherwise have reasonably prevented such violation. Sets forth procedures for enforcement of these regulations. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into compliance agreements with an employer believed to be in violation of an occupational safety and health standard promulgated pursuant to this Act under which enforcement and penalty provisions are waived or deferred upon condition that the employer will voluntarily comply with the applicable standard upon such terms and conditions as the Secretary determines appropriate under the circumstances. States that failure of an employer to abide by such an agreement may be taken into account in resulting enforcement and penalty procedures. Directs the Secretary to provide technical advice, assistance, and consultation to employers with less than one hundred employees whenever it is necessary to assist them in complying with applicable standards.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1974
Consumer Protection Act - Establishes as an independent agency within the executive branch of the Government the Consumer Protection Agency. States that the Agency shall be headed by an Administrator who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Requires the Administrator to transmit to the Congress and the President in January of each year a report which shall include a comprehensive statement of the activities and accomplishments of the Agency during the preceding calendar year including a summary of consumer complaints received and actions taken thereon and such recommendations for additional legislation as he may determine to be necessary or desirable to protect the interests of consumers within the United States. Directs the Agency, in the performance of its functions, to advise the Congress and the President as to matters affecting the interests of consumers; and to protect and promote the interests of the people of the United States as consumers of goods and services made available to them through the trade and commerce of the United States. States that the functions of the Agency shall be to: (1) represent the interests of consumers before Federal agencies and courts to the extent authorized by this Act; (2) encourage and support research, studies, and testing leading to a better understanding of consumer products and improved products, services, and consumer information; and (3) submit recommendations annually to the Congress and the President on measures to improve the operation of the Federal Government in the protection and promotion of the interests of consumers. Directs the Agency to receive, evaluate, develop, act on, and transmit complaints to the appropriate Federal or non-Federal entities concerning actions or practices which may be detrimental to the interests of consumers. Requires the Agency to maintain a public document room containing an up-to-date listing of all signed consumer complaints of any significance for public inspection and copying which the Agency has received, arranged in meaningful and useful categories, together with annotations of actions taken by it. Directs the Agency to investigate and report to Congress on the desirability and feasibility of establishing a National Consumer Information Foundation which would administer a voluntary, self-supporting, information tag program. Provides for the gathering of information by the Administrator, with specified exceptions, including national security information and trade secrets. Sets limitations on the disclosures the Agency may make to the public or to any State or local agency. Defines the terms used in this Act. Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may be required to carry out the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1974
Occupational Safety and Health Act Amendments - Excludes from the coverage of the Occupational Health and Safety Act any farmer engaged in a contract with any person for the purpose of furnishing and operating farm machinery used in connection with farm activities. Requires safety and health rules proposed by the Secretary of Labor to be accompanied by a statement summarizing the economic impact on affected employers. States that no safety or health standard adopted shall require any employer to replace existing equipment or facilities before the normal useful life of that equipment or facility has expired unless failure to do so would result in a serious violation of the Act. Requires citations for violations of the Act to stipulate with particularity a suggested course or courses of action which if implemented would correct the violating condition or process. Provides for the suspension of all further proceedings concerning a citation pending final action on an application for variance from the Act's standards. States that the posting of a citation shall not be required after the violation has been abated, or a proceeding contesting the citation has been concluded by a final order. Provides that it shall be an affirmative defense to any proceeding under that Act that: (1) the employer furnished adequate notice and exerted all reasonable efforts to obtain the compliance of his employees and the violation of the Act was attributable to such employees; (2) the employer did not receive at least 30 days prior actual notice of a standard; and (3) the standard which is the subject of the violation charged would not have effectively constituted an improvement of occupational safety and health in the circumstances under which the charge is brought. Gives the Review Commission (previously the Secretary) final authority to affirm or modify abatement requirements in a citation. Assesses a civil penalty of up to $1000 for a series of non-serious violations of standards or orders under the Act, unless the employer voluntarily complies with the applicable standards upon such terms as the Secretary determines appropriate under the circumstances. (Amends 29 U.S.C. 653-66)
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1974
Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act - Title I: Findings and Purposes - Sets forth the findings of Congress and declares the purposes of this Act. Title II: Control of Environmental Impacts of Surface Coal Mining Operations - Provides, as an interim regulatory procedure, that on and after 90 days from the date of enactment of this Act, no person shall open or develop any new or previously mined or abandoned site for surface coal mining operations on lands on which such operations are regulated by a State regulatory authority unless such person has obtained a permit from such regulatory authority. States that within 60 days from the date of enactment of this Act the State regulatory authority shall review and amend all existing permits in order to incorporate in them the interim surface coal mining and reclamation performance standards of this Act. Sets forth the interim surface coal mining and reclamation performance standards that shall be applicable to surface coal mining operations on lands on which such operations are regulated by a State regulatory authority. Declares that not later than the end of the 180 day period immediately following the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall promulgate and publish in the Federal Register regulations covering a permanent regulatory procedure for surface coal mining and reclamation operations setting permanent surface coal mining and reclamation performance standards, and procedures and requirements for preparation, submission and approval of State programs, and the development and implementation of Federal programs under this title. Provides that each State in which surface coal mining operations are or may be conducted, and which proposes to assume State regulatory authority under this Act, shall submit to the Secretary, by the end of the twenty-four month period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, a State program which demonstrates that such State has the capability of carrying out the provisions of this Act. Establishes the procedure which the Secretary shall follow before approving any State program submitted under this Act. Directs the Secretary to prepare, promulgate, and implement a Federal program for the regulation of surface coal mining operations in any State which fails to submit a State program covering surface coal mining and reclamation operations by the end of the twenty-four month period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act; resubmit an acceptable State program, or portion thereof, within sixty days of disapproval of a proposed State program, in whole or in part; or adequately implement, enforce, or maintain a State program approved pursuant to this Act. Declares that the Secretary, and, in the case of national forest lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, shall conduct a review of the Federal lands and determine areas or types of areas on Federal lands which cannot be reclaimed with existing techniques to satisfy applicable standards and requirements of law. States that permits for surface coal mining will not be issued to mine such areas unless it is determined, with respect to any such permit, that the technology is available to satisfy applicable performance standards. Provides that in no event is an area to be designated unsuitable for surface coal mining operations on which surface coal mining operations are being conducted on the date of enactment of this Act, or under a permit issued pursuant to this Act, or where substantial legal and financial commitments in such operations are in existence prior to the date of enactment of this Act. Enumerates the permit application requirements. Declares that each applicant for a permit shall be required to submit to the regulatory authority, as part of the permit application, a surface coal mining and reclamation plan. Directs the regulatory authority to notify the applicant for a surface coal mining and reclamation permit within a period of time established by law or regulation, not to exceed ninety days, that the application has been approved or disapproved. Provides that after a surface coal mining and reclamation permit application has been approved but before such a permit is issued, the applicant shall file with the regulatory authority, on a form prescribed and furnished by the regulatory authority, a bond for performance payable, as appropriate, to the United States or the State, under an approved State program, and conditioned that the applicant shall faithfully perform all the applicable requirements under this Act. Makes provisions for the release of performance bonds or deposits. States that during the term of the permit the permittee may submit an application, together with a revised surface coal mining and reclamation plan, to the regulatory authority for a revision of the permit. Provides that any permit issued under any approved State or Federal program pursuant to this Act to conduct surface coal mining operations shall require that such surface coal mining operations shall meet all applicable surface coal mining and reclamation performance standards of this Act. Lists the general surface coal mining and reclamation performance standards that shall be applicable to all surface coal mining and reclamation operations. Lists the mining and reclamation performance standards to be applicable to steep-slope surface coal mining in addition to the general performance standards required by this Act. Provides mining and reclamation performance standards for surface operations incident to underground coal mining. States that the Secretary shall cause to be made such inspections of any surface coal mining and reclamation operations as are necessary to evaluate the administration of approved State programs, or to develop or enforce any Federal program, and for such purposes authorized representatives of the Secretary shall have a right of entry to, upon, or through any surface coal mining and reclamation operations. Provides that if the State regulatory authority, if one exists, fails, within ten days after notification of a violation of this Act, to cause that violation to be corrected or to show good cause for such failure and transmit notification of its action to the Secretary, the Secretary shall immediately order Federal inspection of the surface coal mining operation at which the alleged violation is occurring (unless the information available to the Secretary is a result of a previous Federal inspection of such surface coal mining operation). Allows any person having an interest which is or may be adversely affected by a notice or order issued as a result of the above inspection to apply to the Secretary for review of the notice or order within thirty days of its receipt or within thirty days of its modification, vacation, or termination. Provides a maximum civil penalty of $10,000 for each violation of this Act, and a criminal penalty, for willful and knowing violations of this Act, of not more than a $10,000 fine or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. Makes provisions for the applicability of this Act to Federal lands. Title III: General Provisions and Administration - Declares that in carrying out his responsibilities under this Act the Secretary shall: (1) administer the State grant-in-aid program for the development of State programs for surface coal mining and reclamation operations provided for in this title; (2) maintain a continuing study of surface coal mining and reclamation operations in the United States; (3) assist the States in the development of State programs for surface coal mining and reclamation operations which meet the requirements of this Act; (4) publish and promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes and provisions of this Act; and (5) conduct hearings, administer oaths, issue subpenas, and compel the attendance of witnesses and production of written or printed materials as are necessary to carry out his duties under this Act. Directs the Secretary to conduct a full and complete study and investigation of the practices of backfilling all coal mine wastes and coal processing plant wastes in mine voids or other equally effective disposal methods and the control of subsidence to maximize the stability, value, and use of lands overlying underground coal mines. States that the Secretary shall report to the Congress the results of such study and investigation no later than the end of the two-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to make annual grants to any State for the purpose of assisting such State in developing, administering and enforcing State programs under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1974
Provides, under the provisions of the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973, for a roll back of the wholesale and retail prices of propane gas. Requires that the President shall, in the administration of the pricing authority under the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973, provide for the equitable allocation of costs among different petroleum products covered by such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1974
States that the House of Representatives disapproves the recommendations of the President with respect to the rates of pay of Federal officials transmitted to the Congress in the budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1974
Makes it the sense of the House that, during the period pending consideration and action by the Senate upon the bill H.R. 10710, as introduced in the first session of the Congress, cited as the "Trade Reform Act of 1973" and as amended and passed by the House, no loan, guarantee, insurance, or credit shall be extended by the Export-Import Bank of the United States to any nonmarket economy country (other than any such country whose products are eligible for column 1 tariff treatment on the date of the enactment of this resolution), and no such country shall participate in any program of the Government of the United States which extends credits or credit guarantees or investment guarantees, directly or indirectly.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1974
Declares it to be the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the Government of the United States should maintain and protect its sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the canal and zone, and should in no way cede, dilute, forfeit, negotiate, or transfer any of these sovereign rights, power, authority, jurisdiction, territory, or property that are indispensably necessary for the protection and security of the United States and the entire Western Hemisphere; (2) that there be no relinquishment or surrender of any presently vested United States sovereign right, power, or authority or property, tangible or intangible, except by treaty authorized by the Congress and duly ratified by the United States; and (3) that there be no recession to Panama, or other divestiture of any United States-owned property, tangible or intangible, without prior authorization by the Congress (House and Senate), as provided in article IV, section 3, clause 2 of the United States Constitution.
United States · United States Congress · 14 February 1974
Provides, under the provisions of the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973, for a roll back of the wholesale and retail prices of propane gas. Requires that the President shall, in the administration of the pricing authority under the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973, provide for the equitable allocation of costs among different petroleum products covered by such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1974
States that the House of Representatives disapproves the recommendations of the President with respect to rates of pay of Members of Congress transmitted to the Congress in the Appendix to the Budget for the fiscal year 1975.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 1973
Provides for the establishment of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac, in Washington, D.C. States that the authorization granted by this resolution shall lapse unless development of the memorial is begun within ten years of the enactment of this resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 30 November 1973
Requires that all contracts by the United States Government for services and materials and all contracts financed by Federal funds shall be awarded to the lowest qualified bidder, including contracts for architectural and engineering work.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 1973
Authorizes the establishment of the Big Thicket National Preserve in the State of Texas. Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act, but not to exceed $63,812,000 for the acquisition of lands and interests in lands and not to exceed $7,000,000 for development.
![Official portrait of Rep. Fisher, O. C. [D-TX-21]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/f000152_200.jpg)