United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the residential energy income tax credit for solar energy property for five years (from 1985 to 1990). Phases out the percentage of expenditures which may be taken into account for such credit between the years 1986 and 1990. Limits to $6,000 the maximum amount of expenditures for solar hot water systems which may be taken into account for purposes of such credit. Specifies additional standards which solar hot water systems and active space heating systems must meet in order to qualify for such credit. Increases and extends for five years (from 1985 to 1990) the energy investment tax credit for specified types of solar energy property.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) veterans' disability compensation payments should remain exempt from Federal income taxation; and (2) the President should reject any proposals to tax such payments.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1985
Benzidine Protection and Control Act of 1985 - Prohibits imports of benzidine or benzidine products on or after one year after enactment of this Act. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to enforce this prohibition. Directs the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the U.S. Trade Representative, to: (1) determine the scope and nature of benzidine and benzidine products in commerce in the United States; (2) determine the amount and sources of imports of benzidine and benzidine products; and (3) prescribe regulations which list the prohibited benzidine products and which set out the enforcement procedures. Directs the U.S. Trade Representative to: (1) begin consultations with those countries which produce or use benzidine and its salts; and (2) seek to negotiate through the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade a world-wide prohibition on the export of benzidine and its salts. Requires the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the Public Health Service to: (1) identify those imported chemicals and products that are toxic; and (2) submit a list of such items to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1985
Authorizes the Armored Force Monument Committee, the United States Armor Association, the World Wars Tank Corps Association, the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment Association, the Tank Destroyer Association, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 16th Armored Division Associations, and the Council of Armored Division Associations to erect a memorial in or near Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, to honor and commemorate the American Armored Force. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, with the approval of the National Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission, to select the site and approve the design and plans. Obligates the United States to expenses of maintenance only. Requires the commencement of the erection of the memorial within five years with a certification of sufficiency of funds necessary before commencement.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1985
Children's Justice Act - Amends the Child Abuse Amendments of 1984 to authorize a Children's Justice Grant program. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make additional grants to States under specified provisions of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act for identification, treatment, and prevention of sexual abuse. Makes a State eligible for such assistance if the Secretary determines that the State, within one year after the enactment of this Act, has enacted specified legal and administrative changes with respect to the investigation and prosecution of child sexual abuse cases. Requires a State, to be eligible for such assistance, to have in effect a child sexual abuse program which includes at least one statute or administrative procedure to carry out the following categories of reforms: (1) handling such cases so as to reduce the trauma to the child victim; (2) improving the chances of successful prosecution or legal action against child molesters; and (3) improving procedures to protect children from sexual abuse. Directs the Secretary to issue necessary regulations for such assistance program. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 and 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1985
Administrative Law Judge Corps Act - Amends Federal law to establish, in Washington, D.C., an Administrative Law Judge Corps (the Corps) comprised of all current administrative law judges. States that the chief administrative law judge shall be the chief administrative officer of the Corps as well as its presiding judge. Specifies the qualifications for chief judge. States that such judge shall be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Directs the chief judge to submit a written report to the President and the Congress. Establishes divisions (to number between four and ten) within the Corps, with each division headed by a division chief judge appointed by the President, with the consent of the Senate. Identifies initial divisions and their respective areas of jurisdiction. Specifies qualifications required for division chief judges. States that the Corps' policymaking body shall be the Council of the Corps (the Council), comprised of the chief judge and the division chief judges. Authorizes the Council to approve or disapprove: (1) the assignment of judges to divisions; (2) creation, abolition, or reorganization of divisions; and (3) re-assignments of division chief judges. Authorizes the Council to determine matters of general Corps policy, including: (1) the issuance of regulations for Corps proceedings; (2) creation or abolition of divisions or regional offices; (3) contractual transactions; and (4) delegation of functions to division chief judges. Establishes a Judicial Nomination Commission (the Commission) to submit a list of qualified nominees for positions of chief judge and division chief judges. Specifies officials who shall appoint a member to the Commission. Sets the terms of initial Corps appointments and the procedure for filling vacancies. Prescribes a procedure for recommending appointments to the President. Directs the Corps to appoint new judges from a register maintained by the Office of Personnel Management. Confers jurisdiction upon members of the Corps to adjudicate cases under specified sections of the Administrative Procedure Act. Requires cases arising under such sections to be referred to the Corps. Directs the Council to issue regulations for assigning such cases. Provides guidelines for the removal and discipline of administrative law judges. Establishes a Complaints Resolution Board within the Corps to recommend action upon complaints against the official conduct of judges. Details the membership of such Board and the procedures to be followed. Declares Board proceedings and the contents of complaints to be privileged and confidential. Exempts documents and reports considered by the Board from the disclosure and publication requirements of the Freedom of Information Act. Exempts the Board from compliance with the public meeting requirements of specified Federal law. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1985
Construction Work in Progress Policy Act of 1985 - Amends the Federal Power Act to provide that nothing in such Act shall be construed to affect the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's authority to approve the inclusion of the costs of construction work in progress (defined as construction of a facility used to generate electric energy) in the rate base of a public utility with respect to: (1) any pollution control facility; and (2) the conversion of oil or natural gas-fired facilities to the use of other fuels. Permits a public utility whose internal generation of funds during a test period established by the Commission is 30 percent or less of planned construction expenditures during such period to apply for the inclusion of the cost of construction work in progress in the public utility's rate base. Sets forth the items required in such an application. Requires the Commission to hold an evidentiary hearing upon receipt of an application from a public utility. Requires the Commission to approve the inclusion of the costs of construction work in progress in the utility's rate base if: (1) the facility being constructed is reasonably necessary to meet energy demands; and (2) the utility's financial condition would prevent the financing of such facility except at a cost significantly higher than the average cost of financing within the electric utility industry. Sets forth limitations on the amount of the costs of construction work in progress which may be included in a public utility's rate base. Requires public utilities to discontinue the capitalization of allowance for funds used during construction for those construction work in progress costs which are included in the rate base. Requires that revenues derived from construction work in progress be deferred from inclusion in utility rates for a certain period of time when the facility becomes used for public service.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1985
High Technology Research and Scientific Education Act of 1985 - Title I: The Credit for Increasing Research Activities - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the tax credit for research and development (R&D) expenditures. Modifies the definition of qualified research for purposes of the R&D credit to narrow the category of eligible activities for which the credit is allowable. Provides that in-house and contract research expenses paid or incurred by a regular corporation (not an S corporation, a personal holding company, or a service corporation) will constitute qualified research expenses for R&D credit purposes if the corporation undertakes the research with the intention to use the result thereof in the active conduct of a present or future trade or business. Provides that in the case of research being conducted in partnership form, research expenses will constitute qualified research expenses if they are incurred by the partnership in carrying on a trade or business as applied at the partnership level, and the credit is apportioned among the partners in accordance with general partnership rules. Provides exceptions to this general rule where: (1) there is a joint venture enterprise of regular corporations; or (2) not all of the members of the joint venture are regular corporations, but each member's own trade or business would satisfy the trade or business test with respect to the partnership's research expenditures. Provides that for these two exceptions the research expenses will flow through to the partners, with the trade or business test being applied at the partner level. Title II: Promotion of University Research and Scientific Investigation - Establishes a new income tax credit equal to 20 percent of that portion of a corporation's payments to universities (and other qualified non-profit tax-exempt organizations for basic research) which exceeds a fixed, historical "minimum university basic research" floor. Defines the "minimum university basic research" floor as one percent of the annual average of the corporate taxpayer's combined qualified in-house research expenses, contract research expenses and university basic research payments for the base period composed of the period from 1981 through 1983. Provides that the amounts of research expenses which fall below the floor shall remain eligible for the present R&D credit and are included in the corporation's base period for purposes of calculating the present R&D credit. Treats the amounts which exceed the "minimum university basic research" floor as ineligible for the present R&D credit and excludes such amounts from the corporate taxpayer's base year research expenses for purposes of calculating the corporations R&D credit under present law. Provides that a corporation's payments to universities for basic research that is eligible for the new tax credit shall be reduced to the extent that the corporation's general (i.e., not designated for research purposes) charitable giving to all universities falls below historical levels (the annual average of undesignated payments for three of the immediately preceding four years as selected by the taxpayer). Makes additions to the list of organizations to which corporate payments for basic research may be made and be eligible for the tax credit. Allows a corporation an income tax deduction for contributions of scientific or technical property to an institution of higher education. Defines scientific property to mean tangible personal property (including computer software) used in a trade or business, which is donated for the direct education of students or faculty, for research and experimentation, or for research training in the United States in mathematics, the physical, biological, or chemical sciences, engineering, or advanced computer sciences. Sets forth a formula for determining the amount of the allowable deduction for contributions of scientific property. Provides for an income tax exclusion for the scholarships, fellowship grants, student loan forgiveness, or stipends of a graduate student in mathematics, engineering, computer science, or the physical or biological sciences. Provides that such tax exclusion is not forfeited merely because the student is required, as a condition of the scholarship or fellowship, to perform future service in teaching or research.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1985
Declares that the House of Representatives: (1) finds that the Job Corps program has been a cost-effective and successful effort to assist disadvantaged young men and women in obtaining and holding employment; (2) reaffirms its commitment to the Job Corps program; and (3) will not make or accept any reduction in the level of funding for the Job Corps program.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1985
Amends general military law to apply the minimum age established by a State law for persons purchasing, possessing, or consuming alcoholic beverages to the purchase or consumption of alcoholic beverages on military installations in such State.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1985
Information Dissemination and Research Accountability Act - Establishes in the National Library of Medicine a National Center for Research Accountability to assist in eliminating duplication of effort in Federal research proposals involving live animals. Directs the President to appoint as members of the Center 20 experts in the biomedical information sciences who are currently employed by a Federal agency in a capacity which qualifies them to make determinations as to whether research proposals involving live animals are duplicative of other research efforts. Sets forth provisions for a Director of the Center. Prohibits Federal agencies from carrying out or funding any research proposal involving live animals unless the proposal is submitted to the Center following agency approval. Prohibits Federal funding of any such proposal which the Center determines would duplicate other research completed or in process. Authorizes the Center to contract with private entities to assist in the conduct of comprehensive full-text literature searches. Directs the President to establish rules to preclude any conflict of interest in the awarding of such contracts. Authorizes the President to appoint uncompensated advisors to the Members of the Center. Directs the Center to report annually to the President and the Congress. Provides for modernization of biomedical information storage and dissemination by the National Library of Medicine. Directs the Library to: (1) acquire, in full-text form, all biomedical information owned or available for use by Federal agencies (except information already in the Library or classified for national security reasons); (2) transcribe and store in full-text all such information in its collection, using modern technologies; (3) translate into English all foreign-language biomedical information owned or used by the Library; (4) make available through modern technologies, at cost, to medical libraries all full-text biomedical information in its collection; (5) support, by grants and contracts, the creation of new information for teaching and demonstrations, including audiovisual aids and computer graphics technologies; (6) make available, at cost, such new information to research and teaching institutions; and (7) increase the number of persons trained in modern methods of biomedical information storage and dissemination technologies by making available stipends, awards, and grants to persons engaged in such training. Provides that the cost to those requesting such biomedical or such teaching and demonstration information shall include the Federal expenses incurred in acquiring and making it available. Authorizes the Library to award contracts to the private-sector data recording industry to improve: (1) the development of technologies for storage and dissemination of full-text biomedical information; and (2) dissemination of such information to medical libraries for research use. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to appoint uncompensated advisors to the Library for purposes of this Act. Requires the Library to report annually to the Congress on its progress. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 and thereafter.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1985
Safe Drinking Water Act Sole Source Aquifer Amendments of 1985 - Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to provide a program for the protection of certain recharge areas overlying sole source underground water supplies. Authorizes municipalities within a sole source area to petition the Governor to designate a part of such area as a "special protection area." Requires the Governor, if approving the petition, to: (1) designate or establish an entity to develop a comprehensive management plan; (2) assure and encourage public participation; and (3) submit to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency the proposed boundaries of the area and a description of the planning entity. Authorizes the Administrator, if approving the Governor's submission, to provide such State with a 50 percent matching grant for the costs of preparing the petition and developing and implementing the plan. Increases the Federal share to 70 percent for aquifers serving populations of 50,000 or less. Requires the plan to maintain the quality of the ground water recharged through the special protection area by maintenance, to the maximum extent possible, of the natural vegetative and hydrological conditions. Permits the resubmission of modified plans if earlier submissions to the Governor or Administrator are rejected. Authorizes the Administrator or a State with primary enforcing responsibility to order certain contaminators of a sole or principal source aquifer which supplies a public water system to provide potable water to affected persons. Establishes civil penalties for violations. Directs the Administrator to establish criteria for sole or principal source areas. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988 for plan development and for FY 1986 through 1989 for plan implementation. Restricts the use of such funds to sole source aquifer protection.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that no action should be taken to reduce or alter the funding for the Legal Services Corporation in any way that would reduce the availability of legal services to older individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President and the Secretary of State should take all diplomatic and legal means possible to achieve worldwide compliance with the International Whaling Commission moratorium on commercial whaling.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should establish a Cyprus Cooperative Development Fund to provide economic assistance for specified projects in Cyprus. States that a portion of such Fund should be used toward settlement of the Cyprus dispute.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the targeted jobs income tax credit from 1985 to 1990. Increases the amount of wages which may be taken into account for such credit from $6,000 to $10,000 per year. Revises the definition of "members of economically disadvantaged families" to increase from 70 percent to 80 percent of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' lower living standard the amount of income a family may have in order to qualify as a member of a targeted group.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Amends the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act to direct the Secretary of Transportation 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.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to permit States to adopt more stringent right-to-know standards than those under OSHA. Permits any State to adopt any requirement (including any labeling requirement) requiring information to be provided to employees concerning hazardous substances to which they may be exposed in the course of their employment if: (1) such State requirement is more stringent than the OSHA standard in effect which relates to the same issue; or (2) there is no OSHA standard in effect relating to such issue. Treats a State requirement as more stringent than the OSHA standard if it: (1) requires more information to be provided to employees; or (2) is otherwise more effective in providing safe and healthful employment and places of employment. Provides for the separability of individual requirements for purposes of determinations under this Act. Requires compliance both with a more stringent State requirement and with the OSHA standard which relates to the same issue. Provides that, where compliance with both standards would be physically impossible, compliance with the OSHA standard shall not be required. Makes the provisions of this Act applicable in all States without regard to whether a State plan has been submitted, approved, or disapproved.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Hazardous Air Pollutants Amendments Act of 1985 - Title I - Amends the Clean Air Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to classify 36 substances into two categories for purposes of determining whether such substances are hazardous air pollutants as defined under provisions for national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAPs). Requires that 26 substances, including methyl isocyanate and each of the 22 substances listed in specified testimony of the Administrator before the Congress, be classified in the first category. Requires that ten additional substances, from among the 37 substances identified to Congress on a specified date by the EPA as being in the assessment phase of the review process, be classified in the second category. Authorizes the Administrator to substitute for a category two substance another substance if the Administrator determines that there is a higher priority for determining whether the substitute is a hazardous air pollutant. Directs the Administrator to commence hazardous air pollutant determination proceedings concerning first category substances within 90 days and second category substances within one year after enactment of this Act. Provides for public and scientific community participation. Directs the Administrator to make a hazardous air pollutant determination for first category substances by January 1, 1986, and for second category substances by January 1, 1987, and to publish a list of such pollutants and all categories of stationary sources which emit such pollutants. Directs the Administrator to promulgate national emission standards for category one stationary sources by January 1, 1988. Requires promulgation of category two stationary sources emission standards by January 1, 1989. States that actions required of the Administrator under this Act are nondiscretionary and enforceable by any person bringing a civil action. Treats a listed substance as a hazardous air pollutant until the Administrator makes a determination if the required determination has not been made by the specified deadline. Directs a court to issue an order requiring a substance classified in the first or second category to be treated as a listed hazardous air pollutant until the Administrator completes further proceedings if the court reviewing a determination of no hazard remands such determination to the Administrator for further proceedings. Directs the Administrator, by January 31, 1987, to commence hazardous air pollutant determination proceedings for each substance which: (1) has been classified, prior to January 31, 1987, by the national toxicology program as a known carcinogen; (2) is an air pollutant; and (3) is not determined among the 36 substances classified in two categories. Requires that such proceedings be completed within one year. Requires annual hazardous air pollutant determination proceedings for each air pollutant which has been classified during the preceding year by the national toxicology program as a carcinogen. Directs the Administrator to publish and periodically revise a list of air pollutants determined to be hazardous, the categories of stationary sources emitting such pollutants, and national emission standards for each category. Permits the most stringent interim emission standards achievable for up to six years where the application of all potential emission reduction measures would not meet the national emissions standard. Requires as a minimum for such standards that level of control which is empirically available or required in a permit. Directs the Administrator to review all emissions standards in effect on December 1, 1984, within four years of this Act's enactment. Authorizes the Administrator to waive through a permit the prohibition against constructing or modifying a stationary source of a listed hazardous pollutant and subject such source to an interim standard. Requires existing stationary sources emitting hazardous air pollutants to obtain from the Administrator a permit requiring compliance with the applicable national standard or an interim standard if achievement of the national standard is not possible using all potential emission reduction measures. Applies the same conditions to interim standards for existing stationary sources as apply to new or modified sources. Sets forth emergency extension of waivers procedures, requiring the source owner or operator to petition the State's Governor who in turn may petition the President after public notice for such extension. Requires notice to the Governor and residents of any other State affected by such waiver. Requires the President to notify the Congress of all extensions granted. Sets forth general permit requirements for sources emitting hazardous air pollutants with respect to: (1) monitoring; (2) hearings; (3) revocation; (4) terms; and (5) fees. Title II: Hazardous Air Pollutants from Motor Vehicles - Establishes a program for controlling motor vehicle hazardous air pollutants. Directs the Administrator to publish and periodically revise a list of such pollutants, including lead, ethylene dibromide, diesel particulates, benzene, and any pollutants already listed under this Act if the Administrator determines they are emitted from motor vehicles or their parts. States that actions required of the Administrator under this title are nondiscretionary and enforceable by any person bringing a civil action within approximately 18 months. Directs the Administrator to prescribe emissions standards for all identified motor vehicle hazardous air pollutants except lead. Permits the promulgation of interim standards, subject to the same conditions applicable to interim standards for stationary sources. Makes emission standards effective with the second model year after the model year during which the standard is prescribed. Establishes minimum emissions standards for diesel particulates broken down by vehicle weight. Directs the Administrator to control or prohibit the manufacture and sale of fuel or fuel additives determined to be hazardous air pollutants. Directs the Administrator to prohibit the use of lead or lead additives in gasoline after December 31, 1986.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Chemical Manufacturing Safety Act of 1985 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to include releases into the air from an underground storage tank. Reduces from 36 to 18 months after the enactment of the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 (November 8, 1984) the time within which new underground tank performance standards become effective. Reduces from 48 to 24 months after such date the effective date of certain regulations covering underground storage tanks containing regulated substances. Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act to include pesticides within chemical substances under such Act only when the manufacturing and processing is completed and the pesticide is distributed. Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act by adding a new title II concerning the communities' right-to-know, emergency planning, and liability. Requires each covered manufacturer, distributor, user, and importer of a covered hazardous substance (potential releasors) to prepare and update a fact sheet for such substance for distribution to local police, fire, and health officials. Requires the fact sheet to include the name, physical properties of, and hazards posed by the substance, including potential routes of human exposure to such substance, symptoms of such exposure, and appropriate emergency and first aid procedures. Requires status sheets on the same basis as fact sheets, with each status sheet to include the maximum inventory and method of storage of the substance, the quantity of its emission into the environment, and the quantity and method for disposal. Requires the releasor of a covered hazardous substance in an emergency situation to provide an emergency bulletin to the State and local police and other local officials. Requires the bulletin to identify the name and amount of the substance released and the response actions taken. Requires fact and status sheets and emergency bulletins to be made available for public inspection with public notice of such availability at the facility of the potential releasor. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to publish a uniform format for fact and status sheets. Authorizes a State's Governor to identify local officials to receive covered hazardous substance release information, with the Administrator doing so in the absence of the Governor's identification. Requires the potential releasors to maintain records of information required by this Act. Requires manufacturers or importers to transmit fact sheets to covered distributors or users upon shipping of a covered hazardous substance. Excludes certain small businesses and research, medical, and household uses from coverage under this Act. Provides protection for trade secrets while continuing to make necessary information available to the appropriate persons. Excludes listed or possible carcinogens from such protection. Sets forth application and substantiation procedures for trade secret claims. Permits affected citizens or government officials to compel disclosure of nonsubstantiated trade secrets through the Federal courts. Authorizes the Administrator to grant exemptions from the basic notification requirements of this Act through specified procedures open to the public, based upon a cost-benefits analysis where there is no reasonable likelihood of harm. Directs each covered major manufacturer to develop within two years of the enactment of this Act a comprehensive evacuation and emergency response plan which addresses the health and safety issues applicable to such manufacturer's particular situation. Requires the plan to include designations of the appropriate government officials to be notified, mitigation measures, evacuation routes, notification plans, and evaluation of community support services. Authorizes each Governor to designate emergency response districts within 18 months of the enactment of this Act or the Administrator will do so. Permits each Governor to appoint an Emergency Response Committee per district or the Administrator will be treated as such Committee. Requires such Committees to review the manufacturers' plans, revising them where necessary. Directs the Administrator within 18 months of the enactment of this Act to develop uniform national mandatory labeling requirements for pipes, storage tanks, or containers not otherwise required to be labeled which could reasonably be presumed to release a covered hazardous substance. Requires the label to indicate the appropriate response to a release. Directs the Administrator to designate covered major manufacturers for emergency response purposes within one year of the enactment of this Act. Limits the designation to those whose substances would pose an imminent and substantial danger to health and the environment if released in significant quantities. Includes all persons covered under this Act in lieu of such designations. Includes Federal departments as potential covered major manufacturers. Exempts those whose emergency activities are sufficiently covered under other Federal or State law. Renders the manufacturer or processor strictly liable for damages caused by accidental or abnormal releases, excluding act of God or war. Covers medical, burial, and economic losses as well as pain and suffering (to a limited extent). Includes specified analysis and scientific evidence and studies among the evidence which may be introduced to establish causation. Establishes a three-year statute of limitations from the date of the enactment or the date of realization of injury for causes of action for injury from the release of a covered hazardous substance, whichever is later. Provides that this Act does not preempt State or other law in the area of liability for damages. Requires entitled individuals to receive compensation for injuries sustained from a hazardous substance release from workers' compensation rather than under this Act. Sets forth categories of substances to be considered covered hazardous substances and procedures for adding additional substances. Directs the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to compile and update a digest of all such substances. Exempts certain substances for this Act's purposes, based upon the form, amount, and other regulation of such substances. Establishes civil and criminal penalties, limiting criminal penalties to the knowing violation of emergency requirements. Authorizes citizens' suits to enforce this Act. Permits States to adopt more stringent right-to-know standards in the workplace context and emergency response requirements. Permits State and local governments to impose fees upon potential releasors to cover administrative costs.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Requires that funds be made available from appropriations under the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies Appropriation Act, 1985 to enable the National Institutes of Health to award 6,500 new and competing research grants in FY 1985.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1985
Synthetic Fuels Corporation Fiscal Responsibility Act - Amends the United States Synthetic Fuels Corporation Act of 1980 to terminate the authority of the United States Synthetic Fuels Corporation (the Corporation) to enter into any awards or commitments for financial assistance. Directs the Corporation's Board of Directors to submit a final report to the Congress regarding the status of the Corporation within 60 days after enactment of this Act. Prohibits the Corporation from expending any funds or acting in furtherance of any commitment made after February 5, 1985, unless a joint resolution approving such transaction is enacted. Requires the Secretaries of Energy and of the Treasury and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to agree on a Memorandum of Understanding which includes a plan for: (1) the abolition of the Corporation; and (2) for the administration of synthetic fuels projects which will continue after the abolition of the Corporation.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1985
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the payment of title II benefits to individuals who have been deported pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act because of activities conducted under the direction of association with the Nazi government of Germany or its allies.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the President should urge Canada to discontinue imposing taxes on travel literature imported from the United States; and (2) a reciprocal tax imposed on imported Canadian literature may be appropriate if Canada continues to impose such taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1985
Establishes a presumption of service-connection for disability purposes for former prisoners of war suffering from the following conditions, manifest to a degree of ten percent or more after active service: (1) chronic liver disease; (2) organic residuals of hypothermia; (3) gastro-intestinal disorders; (4) arthritis; (5) cardiovascular conditions; (6) peripheral neuropathy; (7) immunological dysfunctions; or (8) chronic pulmonary disease. Decreases from six months to 30 days the amount of time a former prisoner of war must have been incarcerated to be eligible for outpatient dental services.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1985
Secondary School Basic Skills Act - Establishes a program of grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) having especially high concentrations of children from low-income families to enable such agencies to provide more effective instruction in basic skills for economically disadvantaged secondary school students. Defines "basic skills" (to include reading, communications, writing, and mathematics proficiency, as well as problem-solving comprehension, and reasoning.) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1991. Makes certain amounts of such appropriations available for specified activities and types of grants under this Act. Makes a secondary school eligible to receive assistance under this Act for program grants only if 20 percent or more of children aged 12 to 17, inclusive, who are enrolled in such school: (1) are counted under LEA basic grant provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as modified by the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981 (ECIA); or (2) qualify for a free school lunch under the National School Lunch Act of 1946. Requires that funds made available under this Act for program grants be used to develop new approaches to and carry out educational services and activities designed specifically to raise the basic skills of low-achieving disadvantaged children. Authorizes the Secretary of Education, from specified funds appropriated for program grants for FY 1985 through 1990, to make grants to enable eligible secondary schools to develop, implement, and carry out new approaches to achieving improved basic skills instruction of low-achieving economically disadvantaged secondary school students. Requires that the grant application be made on behalf of the eligible secondary school by: (1) the LEA; or (2) an institution of higher education, public agency, or private nonprofit organization if such entity will provide educational services or conduct educational activities subject to the proposal. Requires applicants to assure their participation in a national evaluation. Requires that administrators, teachers, and parents in the eligible school participate in the preparation of the proposal. Requires that the appropriate State educational agency (SEA) be provided on opportunity to review and comment on the application before submittal to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to assure that: (1) eligible applicants represent various geographic regions of the country, including both rural and urban secondary schools within those various geographic regions; and (2) at least one demonstration grant is made in each State in each fiscal year, unless no applications are received from a State. Requires each LEA which desires to receive program grants under this Act to file with the Secretary an application containing specified assurances. Allows any eligible applicant organization to apply for a five-year grant, subject to specified restrictions, on behalf of an eligible secondary school. Sets forth requirements for such applications. Requires consultation with parents and teachers of low-achieving economically disadvantaged secondary school students in program design and implementation. Directs the Secretary, through the National Institute of Education (NIE), to annually conduct a national evaluation of the effectiveness and the implementation of program grants. Requires that such assessment results be submitted to Congress and disseminated to SEAs, LEAs, State legislatures, and Governors. Directs the Secretary, through NIE, to monitor grants and coordinate activities under this Act with other research activities conducted by NIE and through the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Directs NIE, once program grants are awarded, to provide eligible recipients with technical assistance. Prohibits the Secretary from disapproving an LEA application without affording notice and opportunity for a hearing. Directs the Secretary to make payments as expeditiously as possible after approval of applications. Prohibits any grant from being made with respect to any eligible secondary school for more than two fiscal years unless there is: (1) an improved performance of the targeted secondary school students at the school on a nationally normed basic skills test; or (2) a decrease in the dropout rate at the school. Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations relating to such requirement. Authorizes the Secretary to grant a waiver of such requirement for one additional academic year of programming if external conditions warrant.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Title I: General Accounting Office Investigation and Report - Directs the General Accounting Office to investigate the situation of displaced nationals of El Salvador, including determinations of those Salvadorans in Central America, unlawfully in the United States, or returned from the United States to El Salvador. Requires a report to the Congress. Title II: Congressional Review - Provides that such report shall be referred to the appropriate committees for hearings and committee reports. Title III: Temporary Stay of Deportation - Provides for a temporary stay of detention and deportation for specified Salvadorans presently in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit the employment of any blind person, or person with impaired sight, at less than the applicable minimum wage under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Amends the National Labor Relations Act to authorize the Secretary of Labor to prohibit the awarding of Federal contracts to persons who have violated certain judicial orders or orders issued by the National Labor Relations Board. Limits the period of such ban to not more than three years after the Secretary has certified the identity of such person to the Comptroller General. Permits the awarding of Federal contracts to such person during the period of the ban if the Federal agency or department, after notice and opportunity for hearing to all interested parties, certifies to the Secretary that there is no other source for the material or services furnished by such person.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Amends the Bretton Woods Agreements Act to require the President to instruct the U.S. Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund to vote against any credit drawing on the Fund by any country which practices apartheid.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Directs the President to: (1) secure from the Indochina nations a full accounting of Americans captured or missing as a result of the Vietnam conflict; and (2) work for the release of captive Americans and the return of the remains of those American servicemen and civilians who died in Southeast Asia. Requires the President to submit two reports to Congress on American POW/MIAs in Southeast Asia.
![Official portrait of Rep. Florio, James J. [D-NJ-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/dfda094a48c87dccd97fd47288d44ac3_200.jpg)