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United States · Official source
1,671 records where Rep. Greenwood, James C. [R-PA-8] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 1997
National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program Incentive Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income scholarship amounts received for certain teaching, research, or other services by an individual under the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1997
Multichannel Video Competition and Consumer Protection Act of 1997 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to: (1) initiate, and report to specified congressional committees on, an inquiry on the extent to which a certain differential fee decision (relating to the per subscriber per month royalty fee for the retransmission of superstation and distant network signals by direct-to-home satellite service providers) constitutes an impediment to the development of effective market competition for multichannel video programming distribution; and (2) based on such inquiry, make necessary regulatory changes. Includes direct-to-home satellite services under provisions protecting telecommunications services from piracy. Prohibits any U.S. officer or employee from taking any action to implement or enforce the differential fee decision until 120 days after FCC submission of its report.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1997
Sound Science for the Environment Act - Authorizes and directs the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a National Institute for the Environment to: (1) initiate, facilitate, and perform comprehensive assessments of the current state of knowledge of environmental issues and their implications; (2) establish a Center for Environmental Assessment; (3) award competitively grants and contracts for extramural scientific research; (4) establish an Office of Research and a universally accessible National Library for the Environment; and (5) sponsor education and training of environmental scientists and professionals and improve public environmental literacy. Establishes a Board of Governors for the Institute. Requires the Institute to be operated by a nonprofit organization under contract with the NSF. Provides for interagency acquisition of information and requires the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources of the National Science and Technology Council or an equivalent body to serve as an Interagency Advisory Committee to ensure that the scientific efforts of the Institute and Federal agencies are complementary. Makes scientists, engineers, and other researchers eligible to receive funding from the Institute. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1997
Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to exempt safety and health assessments, audits, and reviews conducted by or for an employer from disclosure in enforcement actions under such Act, with specified exceptions.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1997
Prohibits the Secretary of Labor from establishing any performance measures for any subordinate within the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (including any regional director, area director, supervisor, or inspector) with respect to the number of inspections conducted, citations issued, or penalties assessed.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1997
Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to revise requirements for issuance of citations to employers for violations of certain standards, rules, orders, or regulations. Exempts from citation for such a violation any employer who: (1) has no employees exposed to the violation; and (2) has not created the condition that caused the violation or assumed responsibility for ensuring compliance by other employers on the work site.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1997
Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to direct the Secretary of Labor to waive penalties for certain OSHA violations by small business concern employers. Provides for waiver of up to 100 percent of the penalty otherwise proposed for such a violation if an employer corrects the violation within the time set for abatement. Provides, if the employer does not correct the violation within such time, for waiver of up to 100 percent of such penalty to the extent that such employer uses the amount which would have been paid as the penalty for correction of the violation. Makes such waivers applicable where: (1) the employer has made a good faith effort to comply with applicable regulations; and (2) the violation does not constitute a significant threat to an employee's health or safety.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1997
Recognizes the historic significance of the fiftieth anniversary of the reestablishment of the State of Israel. Commends the Israeli people for their achievements in building a new state and a pluralistic democratic society in the Middle East. Reaffirms the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the United States and Israel. Extends congratulations and best wishes to the State of Israel and her people for a peaceful, prosperous, and successful future.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 1997
Expresses appreciation for the dedicated service of Navy gun crews on merchant ships as part of the Naval Armed Guard Service during World War I and World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 5 November 1997
Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 1997 - Authorizes the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to: (1) make grants to States or units of local government to purchase armor vests for use by law enforcement officers; and (2) give preferential consideration to applications from jurisdictions that have the greatest need, a mandatory wear policy, and a violent crime rate at or above the national average. Sets forth provisions regarding matching funds and allocation of funds, State and local applications, and grant application renewal. Prohibits any State or unit of local government that receives financial assistance made available by this Act from purchasing equipment or products manufactured using prison inmate labor. Authorizes appropriations. Expresses the sense of the Congress that entities receiving assistance under this Act should, in expending such assistance, purchase only American-made equipment and products.
United States · United States Congress · 5 November 1997
Printed Circuit Investment Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to classify as three-year depreciable property any printed wiring board or printed wiring assembly equipment.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 1997
Iran Missile Protection Act of 1997 - Authorizes supplemental appropriations for FY 1998 for the Department of Defense for cooperative activities with Russia for determining: (1) the extent of Russian cooperation and assistance in the development by Iran of a ballistic missile capability; and (2) the technical nature of the Iranian missile threat. Requires a certification by the President to the Congress with respect to the information to be released by Russia before such funds may be appropriated. Prohibits the obligation of $3 million in FY 1998 cooperative ballistic missile defense projects with Russia until the President certifies to the Congress that the Russian Government is providing full cooperation with respect to the release of such information. Authorizes appropriations for the Navy theater-wide missile defense system to be used to accelerate the development of such system through additional testing and risk reduction. Authorizes additional appropriations for defense-wide research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) of specified missile defense sytems, radars, networks, and related activities. Authorizes appropriations for defense-wide RDT&E for support of the Israeli Arrow tactical ballistic missile defense system to be used to protect a U.S. ally in imminent peril. Directs the Secretary of Defense to report to the Congress on the Iranian ballistic missile threat in the Middle East and Persian Gulf regions.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 1997
Designates the Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Aspinwall, Pennsylvania, as the H. John Heinz III Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1997
Superfund Recycling Equity Act of 1997- Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 to absolve persons (other than owners or operators) who arranged for the recycling of recyclable material from liability for environmental response actions. Deems transactions involving scrap paper, plastic, glass, textiles, or rubber (other than whole tires) to be arranging for recycling if the person who arranged the transaction demonstrates that the following criteria were met: (1) the recyclable material met a commercial specification grade and a market existed for the material; (2) a substantial portion of the material was made available for use as a feedstock for the manufacture of a new saleable product; (3) the material (or product to be made from the material) could have been a replacement for a virgin raw material; and (4) with respect to transactions occurring 90 days after this Act's enactment, the person exercised reasonable care to determine that the facility where the material would be managed by another was in compliance with Federal, State, or local environmental laws or regulations. Deems transactions involving scrap metal to be arranging for recycling if the person who arranged the transaction demonstrates that: (1) the criteria for scrap materials were met; (2) he or she complied with applicable standards regarding activities associated with the recycling of scrap metals; and (3) the scrap metal was not melted prior to the transaction. Deems transactions involving spent lead-acid, nickel-cadmium, or other batteries to be arranging for recycling if the person involved demonstrates that: (1) the criteria for scrap materials were met; and (2) he or she complied with applicable Federal environmental regulations or standards regarding such batteries. Makes the exemptions from liability under this Act inapplicable if the person: (1) had an objectively reasonable basis to believe at the time of the recycling transaction that the recyclable material would not be recycled or would be burned as fuel or for energy recovery or incineration or that the consuming facility was not in compliance with Federal, State, or local environmental laws or regulations; (2) had reason to believe that hazardous substances had been added to the material for purposes other than processing for recycling; or (3) failed to exercise reasonable care with respect to the management of the material. Makes such exemptions inapplicable if the recyclable material contained polychlorinated biphenyls in excess of 50 parts per million or any new Federal standard or if such material is an item of scrap paper containing, at the time of recycling, a concentration of a hazardous substance determined to present a significant human health or environmental risk.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1997
Title I: Remedy Selection and Environmental Standards Title II: Community Participation and Human Health Subtitle A: Community Participation Subtitle B: Human Health Title III: Liability Reform Title IV: Brownfields Revitalization Title V: State Role Title VI: Natural Resources Damages Title VII: Oil Pollution Title VIII: Miscellaneous Title IX: Funding Subtitle A: Expenditures From the Hazardous Substance Superfund Subtitle B: 5-Year Extension of Hazardous Substance Superfund Superfund Acceleration, Fairness, and Efficiency Act - Title I: Remedy Selection and Environmental Standards - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to revise remedy selection provisions. Authorizes remedial actions to achieve protection of human health and the environment through: (1) treatment that reduces the toxicity, mobility, or volume of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants; (2) natural attenuation; (3) containment or other controls to limit exposure or release; (4) removal of contaminated media; (5) a combination of treatment, containment, and removal; or (6) other methods of protection. (Current law requires that actions in which treatment which permanently and significantly reduces the volume, toxicity, or mobility of such substances is a principal element are to be preferred over actions not involving such treatment.) Requires the President to give preference to remedies that include a treatment component for discrete areas within a facility that contain: (1) high concentrations of highly toxic substances that present such a threat to human health or the environment that it would be imprudent to rely solely on remedies that exclude such component; or (2) high concentrations of such substances that cannot be controlled reliably through engineered barriers and therefore could present such threats if not treated. Directs the President, in any case in which a selected action allows hazardous substances to remain on-site at a facility above concentration levels that would be protective for unrestricted use, to: (1) include, as an integral component of the remedy, restrictions on the use of land, water or other resources to provide long-term health and environmental protection; (2) not determine the remedy to be complete until a mechanism is established to ensure ongoing monitoring and operation and maintenance of the remedy and until necessary institutional controls are implemented and subject to monitoring and enforcement; and (3) ensure that such controls remain in effect as long as necessary to protect human health and the environment. Authorizes the President to use institutional controls as a supplement to, but not as a substitute for, other response measures except in extraordinary circumstances. Establishes public notice requirements with respect to the selection of remedies at facilities relying on such controls. Directs the President to maintain a registry of restrictions on the use of land, water, or other resources through institutional controls that are included in final records of decision as an integral component of the remedy at facilities that are, or have been, on the National Priorities List (NPL). Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to report annually to specified congressional committees on each record of decision signed during the previous fiscal year, the type of institutional controls and media affected, and the institution designated to monitor, enforce, and ensure compliance with such controls. (Sec. 104) Revises requirements for the degree of cleanup. Requires the President, in determining what is protective of human health and the environment, to conduct site-specific human health and ecological risk assessments. Bases human exposure assessments on the reasonably anticipated uses of land and water. Bases determinations of what is protective of plants and animals on the significance of impacts from a release or threatened release of hazardous substances to a local ecosystem and plant and animal communities or populations. Requires selected remedies to take into account reasonably anticipated beneficial uses of: (1) land at a facility and, as appropriate, of nearby property; and (2) groundwater that are or may be impacted by releases or threatened releases and the timing of such uses. Sets forth assumptions to be made by the Administrator regarding such uses. Requires remedial actions with respect to hazardous substances that will remain onsite to comply with requirements applicable to the operation of such actions and that will attain at least any promulgated concentration levels applicable to determining the level of cleanup for actions under: (1) a Federal environmental or facility siting law legally applicable to the substance concerned; or (2) a legally applicable State law that is identified by the State to the President as applicable at the facility to the proposed remedial alternative, that is of general applicability, and that is consistently applied to response actions in the State. Requires final remedies, to the extent technically practicable, to prevent impairment of any designated use of surface water under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and to ensure that uncontaminated groundwater is protected from contamination unless: (1) the remedial action includes natural attenuation to facilitate restoration of groundwater to beneficial use within a reasonable period of time; (2) an alternative concentration limit has been adopted; or (3) the groundwater has no beneficial use. Requires final remedies to prevent or eliminate, at a minimum, human ingestion or exposure to drinking water containing hazardous substances in levels exceeding Maximum Contaminant Levels under the Safe Drinking Water Act, including the provision of an alternative water supply. (Sec. 105) Directs the President to consider new procedures for conducting remedial investigations and feasibility studies in an efficient, cost-effective, and timely manner. Provides for a phased approach to site characterization and remediation in which remedies are arrived at through a sequence of investigations and actions. (Sec. 106) Authorizes the President, to expedite and increase the efficiency of the remedy selection process, to establish generic remedies where such remedies are demonstrated to be effective in protecting human health and the environment. Permits such remedies to provide for consideration of site-specific factors along with generic approaches for particular categories of sites. Waives the requirement for a site-specific risk assessment (other than a baseline) in cases where generic remedies are applied. Permits the Administrator to issue waivers of generic remedies if information submitted by the interested party demonstrates that a generic remedy is inappropriate or that another alternative can protect human health and the environment through less costly means. (Sec. 107) Authorizes the President, in order to respond to a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance, to acquire a hazardous substance easement which limits or controls the use of land or other natural resources. Permits easements to be used whenever institutional controls have been selected as a component of a remedial action and the national contingency plan. Makes easements enforceable in perpetuity (unless terminated pursuant to this Act) against owners of affected property or persons who acquire interest in, or rights to use, the property. Sets forth provisions regarding the President's authority to assign easements to other parties. (Sec. 108) Requires risk assessments and characterizations conducted under CERCLA to: (1) provide objective assessments, estimates, and characterizations which neither minimize nor exaggerate the nature and magnitude of health and environmental risks; (2) distinguish scientific findings from other considerations; (3) be based on the best, relevant, and current scientific and technical information; and (4) be based on a careful analysis of the weight of scientific evidence that supports conclusions about a problem's potential health and environmental risk. Directs the President to: (1) update and publish exposure and ecological risk assessment guidelines consistent with such principles; and (2) conduct a study of the cancer potency values of 12 specified hazardous substances frequently found to pose significant risks at NPL facilities. (Sec. 109) Requires the President to establish a National Superfund Remedy Review Board to control remedy costs and to provide for protective, consistent, and cost-effective remedial decisions at NPL facilities. Directs the Board, for remedial alternatives identified after this Act's enactment date and following identification of a preferred remedy, to review remedies for NPL facilities for which the estimated cost of the preferred remedy exceeds $15 million. Permits the Board to review remedies for which the estimated cost is less than such amount, if requested. Authorizes the President to establish a different threshold for remedy review for U.S.-owned or operated facilities. Provides for public notice of such reviews. (Sec. 110) Directs the President to review past Superfund records of decision, upon request of an interested party within 12 months of this Act's enactment date, to ensure that such decisions reflect the current state of knowledge with respect to remediation science and technology and to improve the cost-effectiveness of site remediation while ensuring long-term health and environmental protection. Defines a past record of decision as one selecting a remedy for an NPL site that was signed prior to October 2, 1995, and that has not been reviewed pursuant to a specified EPA directive or otherwise updated since such date. Title II: Community Participation and Human Health - Subtitle A: Community Participation - Requires the President to take specified actions to provide for meaningful public participation in every significant phase of a response action at a facility listed or proposed for listing on the NPL (covered facilities). Permits Community Advisory Groups, affected Indian tribes and communities, local government officials, and State and local health officials to propose remedial alternatives to the President. (Sec. 203) Requires the President to make records relating to response actions at covered facilities available to the public throughout all phases of an action. Sets forth minimum requirements for documents made available to the public which describe risk to human health. (Sec. 204) Authorizes a State with an NPL site to establish a Superfund Site Information Office. Requires the Administrator to provide financial and other assistance to States for establishment and operation of such Offices. Directs the Administrator to establish such Offices within EPA for States that fail to do so. (Sec. 205) Revises provisions regarding grants for technical assistance to authorize the Administrator to make such grants to Community Advisory Groups or affected communities with respect to: (1) covered facilities; (2) facilities at which the Administrator is undertaking a response action anticipated to exceed one year; or (3) facilities at which a specified funding limit is anticipated to be reached. (Sec. 207) Sets forth specific notice and comment requirements to provide for public participation in removal actions. (Sec. 208) Requires the President to provide the opportunity for the establishment of a Community Advisory Group, a representative public forum, to achieve direct, regular, and meaningful consultation with all interested parties throughout all stages of a response action whenever: (1) the President determines such a group will be helpful; or (2) 25 individuals residing in the area in which the facility is located, or ten percent of the population of a locality in which the NPL facility is located, whichever is fewer, petition for a Group to be established. Authorizes such Groups to offer recommendations on the anticipated future use of land at a facility prior to the selection of a remedy. Authorizes the President to provide technical and administrative support for such Groups. (Sec. 209) Directs the Administrator to submit to the Congress and Superfund Site Information Offices a community study that includes an analysis of: (1) the duration of time between the discovery and listing of a facility; (2) the timing and nature of response actions; (3) the degree to which public views are reflected in response actions; (3) future land use determinations and use of institutional controls; (4) the population, race, ethnicity, and income characteristics of communities affected by facilities listed or proposed for listing on the NPL; and (5) the risk presented by each such facility. Requires periodic updates of such study. Directs the Administrator to institute necessary improvements or modifications to address any deficiencies identified by the study. Subtitle B: Human Health - Requires the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Administrator to develop and distribute educational materials on human health effects of hazardous substances to the public. Authorizes the ATSDR Administrator to provide grant or contract assistance to individuals who may be affected by releases or threatened releases when: (1) a public health assessment is conducted at an NPL facility; or (2) a facility is being evaluated for inclusion on the NPL. Authorizes and directs the ATSDR Administrator, pursuant to such grants or contracts, to provide diagnostic services, health data registries, and preventative public health education to communities affected by such releases. (Sec. 223) Requires the President, in setting priorities for remedial action under the national hazardous substance response plan (part of the national contingency plan for the removal of oil and hazardous substances), to place highest priority on facilities with releases resulting in actual ongoing human exposures at levels of public health concern or demonstrated adverse effects. (Sec. 224) Requires the Administrator to evaluate areas such as Indian country or poor rural communities that warrant special attention and identify up to five facilities in each EPA region that are likely to warrant inclusion on the NPL. Accords such facilities a priority in evaluation for NPL listing and scoring. Title III: Liability Reform - Revises limits on obligations from the Hazardous Substance Superfund (Superfund) to continue response actions. Bars the President from taking or requiring response actions at any facility after $4 million has been expended or two years have elapsed from the date of initial response unless the facility is on or proposed to be on the NPL or: (1) continued response actions are required to prevent or mitigate an emergency; (2) there is immediate risk to public health or welfare or the environment; and (3) such assistance will not be otherwise provided on a timely basis. Revises confidentiality requirements with respect to information regarding response actions and applies such requirements to contractors. (Sec. 302) Bars the President from issuing orders in connection with abatement actions to protect public health and the environment against any person who would not be liable for damages and costs described under general liability provisions. (Sec. 304) Absolves of liability for response costs and damages certain owners or operators and contiguous property owners, including persons who inherited the property concerned or received it by charitable donation and government entities that acquired property involuntarily or through eminent domain, if such persons: (1) did not cause or contribute to the hazardous substance release that caused the incurrence of response costs; and (2) exercised due care with respect to such substance. Exempts from liability construction contractors whose liability is based solely on construction contract activities and who did not know of the presence of hazardous substances and exercised due care upon discovery of such substances. Grants the United States a lien for unrecovered response costs on a facility for which the owner is not liable by reason of meeting the conditions described above. Prescribes conditions for such liens. Bars liens with respect to property: (1) for which the property owner preceding the current owner is not liable or has resolved liability; or (2) where an environmental assessment gave the owner or operator no reason to know of the release of hazardous substances. (Sec. 305) Absolves certain small businesses and de minimis parties of liability with respect to actions taken before October 23, 1997. Removes such exemption if the de minimis materials contribute significantly to response costs or to natural resource damages. Directs the Administrator to establish a small business Superfund assistance section within the EPA small business ombudsman office to provide assistance and information regarding CERCLA and the allocation and settlement processes. (Sec. 306) Revises contribution provisions to require an action by a potentially responsible party (PRP) against another PRP for recovery of costs to be commenced within the later of: (1) three years after completion of a removal action or within six years after initiation of physical on-site construction for a remedial action; or (2) three years after the date of judgment in any action for recovery or the date of any administrative order or judicial settlement for recovery of costs or damages. Provides that a person who has resolved liability to a State or an Indian tribe in an administrative or judicially approved settlement shall not be liable for claims by persons other than the United States regarding response costs or damages addressed in the settlement. Provides the same protection for persons who have resolved liability to the United States (except for liability to a State for remedial or removal action costs). Includes protection against all claims that may be asserted against the settling party for recovery of costs or damages paid by another person if addressed in the settlement, except claims based on contractual indemnification. Limits the right to seek contribution from other parties where: (1) the person asserting the right has waived such right in a settlement; (2) the person from whom the contribution is sought is not liable under CERCLA; or (3) the person from whom the contribution is sought has entered into a final settlement with the United States. Makes any person who commences a contribution action liable to the person against whom the action is brought for all reasonable costs of defending against the claim if the action: (1) is barred for the reasons stated above; (2) is brought against a person who is protected from suits by reason of settlement with the United States; or (3) is brought during a specified moratorium period. (Sec. 307) Expands the exemption from liability for response action contractors to include exemption from liability under State or local law unless a State has enacted a law determining liability of such contractors. Extends certain indemnification agreements made by the President with respect to negligence of response action contractors to any claims for negligence arising under State or local law. Extends certain provisions relating to surety bonds with respect to direct Federal procurement of response actions. Bars actions against contractors more than six years after the completion of work. Makes such prohibition inapplicable in cases of gross negligence or intentional misconduct or in States or political subdivisions where the State has enacted a statute determining liability for such contractors. (Sec. 308) Requires consent decrees pursuant to settlements to require the parties to attempt expeditiously to resolve disagreements concerning implementation of the remedial action informally with Federal and State agencies. Requires such decrees to provide authority for the Federal district court with jurisdiction to resolve disagreements. Authorizes the Administrator, if a PRP will be paying amounts to the President as part of a settlement for carrying out a response action, to accept ownership of a financial instrument running irrevocably to the benefit of the United States to conduct such response actions. Revises provisions regarding mixed funding to require the President to reimburse parties from Superfund where settlements or administrative orders require them to perform response actions at NPL sites where the costs will exceed the aggregate equitable shares of costs. Provides special conditions for funding with respect to settlements entered into, or orders issued, before October 23, 1997. Authorizes the President to delay reimbursements in fiscal years in which funds are unavailable. Requires (current law authorizes) the President to offer PRPs (currently, any person) who enter into settlement agreements that are in the public interest a final covenant not to sue concerning liability to the United States for response actions or costs, provided that: (1) the settling party agrees to perform a final remedial action for the release that is the subject of the settlement; (2) the agreement has been reached prior to the commencement of litigation against the settling party; (3) the settling party waives all contribution rights against other PRPs at the facility; (4) the settling party pays a premium that compensates for the risks of remedy failure, future liability, and unanticipated increases in the cost of any uncompleted action (unless the party is performing the action); (5) the remedial action does not rely on institutional controls to ensure continued health and environmental protection; and (6) the settlement is otherwise acceptable to the United States. Authorizes the President, for settlements for which covenants are unavailable, to provide any person with a covenant not to sue concerning any liability to the United States if the covenant not to sue is in the public interest. Makes PRPs who are natural persons, small businesses, or municipalities with a demonstrated limited ability to pay response costs eligible for expedited settlements. (Sec. 309) Absolves persons (other than owners or operators) who arranged for the recycling of recyclable material or who transported such material from liability for environmental response actions with respect to NPL facilities. Deems transactions involving scrap paper, plastic, glass, textiles, or rubber (other than whole tires) to be arranging for recycling if the person who arranged the transaction demonstrates that the following criteria were met: (1) the recyclable material met a commercial specification grade and a market existed for the material; (2) a substantial portion of the material was made available for use as a feedstock for the manufacture of a new saleable product; (3) the material (or product made from the material) could have been a replacement for a virgin raw material; and (4) with respect to transactions occurring 90 days after this Act's enactment, the person exercised reasonable care to determine that the facility where the material would be managed by another was in compliance with Federal, State, or local environmental laws or regulations. Deems transactions involving scrap metal to be arranging for recycling if the person who arranged the transaction demonstrates that: (1) the criteria for scrap materials were met; (2) he or she complied with applicable standards regarding activities associated with the recycling of scrap metals; and (3) the scrap metal was not melted prior to the transaction. Deems transactions involving spent lead-acid, nickel-cadmium, or other batteries to be arranging for recycling if the person involved demonstrates that: (1) the criteria for scrap materials were met; and (2) he or she complied with applicable Federal environmental standards regarding such batteries. Deems transactions involving used oil to be arranging for recycling if the person involved demonstrates that: (1) the recyclable material was sent to a facility that recycled used oil by using it as a feedstock for the manufacture of a new saleable product; (2) the material was not mixed with hazardous waste regardless of when generated; (3) the material (or product made from the material) could have been a replacement for a virgin raw material; (4) with respect to transactions occurring 90 days after this Act's enactment, the person exercised reasonable care to determine that the facility where the material would be managed by another was in compliance with Federal, State, or local environmental laws or regulations; (5) he or she was in compliance with standards for the management of used oil under the Solid Waste Disposal Act; and (6) the transaction was not for the purpose of recycling used oil by using it for dust suppression. Makes the exemptions from liability inapplicable if the person: (1) had an objectively reasonable basis to believe at the time of the recycling transaction that the recyclable material would not be recycled or would be burned as fuel or for energy recovery or incineration (in the case of materials other than used oil) or that the consuming facility was not in compliance with Federal, State, or local environmental laws or regulations; (2) had reason to believe that hazardous substances had been added to the material for purposes other than processing for recycling; or (3) failed to exercise reasonable care with respect to the management of the material. Makes such exemptions inapplicable if the recyclable material contained: (1) polychlorinated biphenyls in excess of the threshold for regulation under the Toxic Substances Control Act; or (2) a concentration of a solid waste determined by the Administrator to be inherently waste-like (including certain hazardous wastes and sludges) pursuant to specified Federal regulations. (Sec. 310) Requires the President, upon request of two or more PRPs at an NPL facility or vessel, to initiate an allocation for a response action at such facility or vessel if: (1) the action is not the subject of a consent decree entered, or an administrative order issued, before October 23, 1997; and (2) the aggregate costs of all actions at such facility or vessel are estimated to exceed $5 million. Provides for allocations, upon request of such parties, for actions that are undergoing construction pursuant to such decrees or orders if provided for under Section 311 of this Act. Makes the allocation process inapplicable to any U.S.-owned or operated facility or vessel and any facility or vessel for which there is only one PRP or for which there has been a final settlement, decree, or order that determines the allocated shares of all PRPs. Sets forth requirements for the President in initiating the allocation process. Authorizes the Administrator or the Attorney General, as representatives of Superfund, and any State that may be responsible for costs, to participate in allocation proceedings. Places a moratorium on litigation seeking recovery of response costs or contributions in connection with actions for which the President has initiated allocations until 150 days after issuance of the allocator's report or of a subsequent report under this section. Stays pending actions or claims, including those under State law, until such prescribed period unless the court determines that a stay will result in manifest injustice. Sets forth requirements for the selection of a neutral, third party allocator by PRPs or the President. Describes the allocator's authorities. Authorizes the allocator, based on collected information, to amend the list of PRPs to add, delete, or change the status of such parties. Permits allocation parties to submit the names of additional PRPs to the allocator. Sets forth procedures for the allocation of response costs to PRPs and Superfund by the allocator. Divides unattributable shares pro rata among the allocation parties and Superfund. Requires the allocator to issue an allocation report identifying the share of response costs attributable to each party, individually and by category, and to Superfund. Permits private allocations submitted by allocation parties to be adopted as the allocation report under certain conditions. Sets forth: (1) confidentiality requirements with respect to documents submitted to the allocator; (2) conditions under which the Administrator and Attorney General may reject the allocator's report; and (3) requirements for accepting settlements based on allocations. Authorizes the United States to commence an action against any allocation party that has not resolved its liability to the United States following an allocation. (Sec. 311) Sets forth conditions under which parties responsible for carrying out response actions pursuant to consent decrees entered, or administrative orders issued, before October 23, 1997, shall be entitled to mixed funding. Title IV: Brownfields Revitalization - Directs the President to establish a program to provide grants to eligible States or political subdivisions, including Indian tribes, for: (1) inventory and assessment of brownfield facilities; and (2) capitalization of revolving loan funds for remedial actions at such facilities. Defines a "brownfield facility" as real property with respect to which expansion or redevelopment is complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance. Makes Superfund monies available for such grants. (Sec. 402) Authorizes the Administrator to provide technical and other assistance to States to establish and expand State voluntary cleanup programs. Makes limited amounts available from Superfund for FY 1998 through 2002 for such assistance. (Sec. 403) Bars the President or any person (other than a State), with respect to a facility that is not listed or proposed for listing on the NPL at which there is a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance, from taking an administrative or judicial enforcement action or bringing a civil action if a voluntary response action is being conducted under an approved State plan or the action has been certified as complete by a State. Makes exceptions to this prohibition if the State requests the President to take action or in certain cases of emergency, risk, or migration of contamination across State lines. Title V: State Role - Authorizes the Administrator to delegate authority to States to take specified actions at NPL facilities, including actions relating to response, liability, settlements, allocations, Federal facilities, remedy selections, and community participation. Sets forth administrative provisions and restrictions on such authority. Authorizes States to request delisting of NPL facilities for which responsibility has been transferred. Permits the Administrator to withdraw State authority under certain conditions. Sets forth conditions under which the President may take actions in States to which authorities have been delegated. (Sec. 502) Allows the Administrator to authorize States to implement a State hazardous substance response program in lieu of the response action authorities of this Act at any NPL facility. Sets forth administrative provisions and restrictions on such authority. Permits States to delist a facility from the NPL if no further action to address the contamination is necessary to protect health and the environment or cleanup is proceeding under the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Authorizes the Administrator to withdraw State authority under certain conditions. Sets forth conditions under which the President may take actions in States implementing State response programs. (Sec. 503) Requires the Administrator to provide grants to, or enter into contracts with, States to which authorities have been delegated. Revises provisions requiring contracts with States before remedial actions are provided to prohibit the Administrator or a State to which authorities have been delegated from providing any remedial action unless the State enters into an agreement providing assurances that it will pay ten percent of the costs of the action and the costs of operation and maintenance. (Sec. 506) Permits the President to add a facility to the NPL only with the concurrence of the Governor of the State in which the facility is located. Authorizes the President to add a facility without a Governor's concurrence 12 months following the request for concurrence if the Governor has not taken a response action to address the release or threatened release at the facility and the facility presents sufficient risks under the Hazard Ranking System to be listed as a national priority. Provides for deferrals to listing if long-term remedial action will be conducted under other Federal authorities or if remedial action that will provide long-term health and environmental protection is underway under a State response program. (Sec. 507) Extends certain provisions authorizing reimbursements by the President to local governments affected by releases or threatened releases to affected States as well. (Sec. 508) Sets forth provisions regarding enforcement and dispute resolution regarding remedy selection at Federal facilities for which authorities have been delegated to a State. Title VI: Natural Resources Damages - Revises provisions regarding liability for natural resources damages to include the governments of foreign countries whose natural resources are damaged in the list of parties to which a charged party may be liable. (Sec. 604) Sets forth provisions regarding the designation of trustees for natural resources by Indian tribes and foreign governments. (Sec. 606) Limits the measure of damages to a natural resource to: (1) reasonable costs of restoration; (2) the loss of use by the public of the resource prior to restoration, except that any loss before December 11, 1980 (CERCLA's enactment date), shall not be recoverable; and (3) costs of reasonable assessment of damages to the resource. Bars recovery for psychological damages. (Sec. 607) Sets forth requirements for damage assessments by Federal, State, Indian tribe, and foreign trustees. (Sec. 608) Requires all assessments to be adjudicated in a de novo trial in a Federal district court. Provides for public participation in the damage assessment process. Limits admissibility of relevant evidence that is not made public. (Sec. 610) Permits sums recovered by trustees to be available only for restoration, replacement, or acquisition of natural resources. (Sec. 611) Precludes trustees who receive compensation for natural resources damages or claims pursuant to this Act from recovering compensation for the same natural resource pursuant to any other State or Federal law. Bars recovery under such other laws if recovery for such resources is made under this Act. Prohibits double liability for such resources in the same manner as double recovery is barred. Bars recovery for natural resources damages where such damages and the release of a hazardous substance from which such damages resulted occurred wholly before December 11, 1980. (Sec. 613) Requires a foreign claimant, in order to recover such damages, to demonstrate that: (1) he or she has not been otherwise compensated for such damages; and (2) recovery is authorized by an agreement between the United States and the claimant's country or the Secretary of State has certified that such country provides a comparable remedy for U.S. claimants. Permits foreign claims for damages resulting from a release or threatened release in or on the territorial sea, internal waters, or adjacent shoreline of a foreign country only if the release is from: (1) an Outer Continental Shelf facility or a deepwater port; (2) a vessel in the navigable waters; or (3) a vessel carrying a hazardous substance as cargo between two places in the United States. (Sec. 614) Makes this title inapplicable to actions to recover natural resources damages in which a trial has begun before July 1, 1997, or in which a final settlement, decree, or order has been issued before such date. Title VII: Oil Pollution - Amends the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to make amendments conforming to those made to CERCLA in Title VI of this Act with respect to natural resources damages, recovery, and liability. Title VIII: Miscellaneous - Expands CERCLA provisions regarding treatment of Indian tribes to afford Indian tribes the same treatment as States with respect to provisions regarding public participation and remedy selection. Deems references to State facilities under CERCLA to mean facilities on Federal Indian reservations as well. Requires the President to conduct a study of, and report to the Congress on, the health impacts on Indian tribes of pollutants, contaminants, and hazardous substances released from facilities listed on or proposed for listing on the NPL. (Sec. 803) Amends the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 to require certain grants for the training and education of workers engaged in hazardous waste removal or containment or emergency response activities to be made from Superfund. Allocates at least 20 percent of funds for such purposes to the training of minority and other community-based workers who are involved in such activities. Title IX: Funding - Subtitle A: Expenditures From the Hazardous Substance Superfund - Revises the list of activities for which expenditures from Superfund are authorized. Permits the President to use Superfund monies for administrative costs directly related to the costs of authorized activities. Bars the use of Superfund for response actions that are not removal actions with respect to non-NPL facilities. Repeals provisions regarding the assumption of certain liability by the Post-closure Liability Fund. (Sec. 902) Authorizes appropriations to Superfund for FY 1998 through 2002. Subtitle B: 5-Year Extension of Hazardous Substance Superfund - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the environmental tax to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1997, and before January 1, 2003. Extends specified provisions regarding: (1) Superfund's financing rate; (2) limits on tax if the unobligated balance in Superfund exceeds a specified amount; and (3) the repayment deadline for advances made to Superfund.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1997
Education Savings Act for Public and Private Schools - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to permit tax-free expenditures from education individual retirement accounts for elementary and secondary education expenses (including tuition, special needs services, and transportation expenses) required for attendance at a public, private, or religious school. Increases the maximum annual amount of contributions permitted to such accounts. Provides for the application of the IRC without regard to the result reached in the case of Schmidt Baking Company, Inc. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe regulations reflecting such application of the IRC.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1997
Clean Books Act - Repeals certain unfunded education programs under various Federal laws. Repeals specified provisions of the Adult Education Act for: (1) business, industry, labor, and education partnerships for workplace literacy; (2) English literacy grants; (3) education programs for commercial drivers; and (4) adult literacy volunteer training. Repeals specified provisions of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act for: (1) other State-administered programs; (2) State assistance for vocational education support programs by community-based organizations; (3) consumer and homemaking education; (4) comprehensive career guidance and counseling programs; (5) business-labor-education partnerships for training; (6) supplementary State grants for facilities and equipment and other program improvement activities; (7) community education employment centers and vocational education lighthouse schools; (8) demonstration programs; and (9) certain bilingual programs. Repeals the Community School Partnership Act (contained in the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994). Repeals specified provisions of the Educational Research, Development, Dissemination, and Improvement Act of 1994 for a teacher research dissemination demonstration program. Repeals provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) for: (1) innovative elementary school transition projects; (2) school dropout assistance; (3) impact aid program; (4) special programs and projects to improve educational opportunities for Indian children; (5) special programs relating to adult education for Indians; (6) Federal administration of such special programs, including the National Advisory Council on Indian Education; (7) the De Lugo territorial education improvement program; (8) extended time for learning and longer school year; and (9) territorial assistance. Repeals the Family and Community Endeavor Schools Act. Repeals specified provisions of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act for grants for the study, evaluation, and analysis of education systems in other nations. Repeals specified provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 for: (1) State and local programs for teacher excellence; (2) national teacher academies; (3) class size demonstration grants; (4) middle school teaching demonstration programs; (5) small State teaching initiative; (6) early childhood education training; and (7) grants to States for workplace and community transition training for incarcerated youth offenders. Amends the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 to eliminate the Olympic Scholarships program. Repeals specified provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 for: (1) career advancement training consortia; (2) vocational rehabilitation services for individuals with disabilities; (3) loan guarantees for community rehabilitation programs; (4) comprehensive rehabilitation centers; (5) special demonstration programs; (6) reader services for blind individuals; (7) interpreter services for deaf individuals; (8) community service employment pilot programs for individuals with disabilities; and (9) business opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Eliminates certain demonstration activities, including: (1) transportation services grants; (2) projects to achieve high quality placement; (3) early intervention demonstration projects; (4) transition demonstration projects; (5) barriers to successful rehabilitation outcomes for minorities; (6) studies, special projects, and demonstration projects to study management and service delivery; (7) the National Commission on Rehabilitation Services; (8) model personal assistance services systems; (9) demonstration projects to upgrade worker skills; and (10) model systems regarding severe disabilities. Eliminates certain training activities, including: (1) distance learning through telecommunications; (2) training regarding impartial hearing officers; and (3) recruitment and retention of urban personnel. Repeals specified provisions of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act for grants to State educational agencies for programs of literacy training and academic remediation for adult homeless individuals. Repeals specified provisions of the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals With Disabilities Act of 1988 for various training and demonstration projects, including programs for technology training, technology transfer, device and equipment redistribution information systems and recycling centers, business opportunities for individuals with disabilities, and products of universal design.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1997
Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) to authorize State Governors to impose limitations or prohibitions on the receipt of out-of-State municipal solid waste by landfills or incinerators. Permits a political subdivision: (1) notwithstanding such limitation or prohibition, to permit incinerators or landfills located in the subdivision to receive such waste; and (2) in the absence of such a limitation or prohibition, to impose a limitation or prohibition on the receipt of such waste by incinerators or landfills in the subdivision. Exempts the following from this Act's authorities: (1) solid waste identified as a hazardous waste under the SWDA; (2) solid waste resulting from a response action under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act or a comparable State law or from a corrective action under the SWDA; (3) recyclable materials that have been separated from waste destined for disposal; (4) materials and products returned from a dispenser or distributor to the manufacturer for credit, evaluation, and possible reuse; (5) specified solid waste that is generated by an industrial facility and is transported to a facility affiliated with the generator for purposes of treatment, storage, or disposal; and (6) medical waste that is not mixed with other solid waste.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1997
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) all schools should be drug-free; (2) all Federal, State, and local drug fighting agencies should work together with schools and parents to ensure that a renewed effort is made to fight the distribution, sale, and use of illegal drugs in our schools and to America's youth; (3) all governmental leaders and parents share a role in raising awareness of this issue and offering constructive alternatives to illegal drug use; and (4) the Congress and the President should set a goal and work with local communities and parents to end the distribution, sale, and use of illegal drugs in the Nation's schools by the year 2000.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Reading Grants Title II: Amendments to Even Start Family Literacy Programs Title III: Funds for Federal Work-Study Programs Title IV: Repeals Reading Excellence Act - Title I: Reading Grants - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to establish a new title XV Reading Grants program. (Sec. 101) Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make competitive grants to State-established reading and literacy partnerships to make subgrants for local reading improvement programs and tutorial assistance programs. Provides for peer review panel evaluation of grant applications. Sets forth the requirements relating to partnership membership, contractual agreements, functions, duties, fiscal agency, pre-existing partnerships, multi-State partnerships, and performance reports. Requires partnerships that receive such grants to make competitive three-year local reading improvement subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) with one or more schools identified for school improvement. Sets forth requirements for subgrant duration, applications, agencies, priorities, authorized activities, and administrative costs. Allows subgrantees to train, on a fee-for-service basis, personnel from schools or LEAs that are not subgrant recipients, in the instructional practices based on reliable, replicable research on reading used by the recipient. Requires partnerships that receive such grants to make competitive tutorial assistance subgrants to LEAs with at least one school located in an empowerment or enterprise zone. Sets forth application requirements and authorized uses of such subgrants. Requires each partnership to: (1) use a specified portion of grant funds for evaluation of subgrantee programs by a research institution; and (2) submit the evaluation findings to the peer review panel. Requires the National Institute for Literacy to disseminate information on reliable, replicable research on reading and on subgrantee projects that have proven effective. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Amendments to Even Start Family Literacy Programs - Amends ESEA to direct the Secretary to award competitive grants to States for the planning and implementation of statewide family literacy initiatives, including specified services. (Sec. 203) Requires grant recipients to: (1) provide technical assistance for the evaluation of subgrant recipient local programs; and (2) develop indicators of program quality. (Sec. 205) Directs the Secretary to research through grant or contract into successful family literacy services to improve the quality of existing programs and to develop models for new programs. Revises provisions for the dissemination of information. Title III: Funds for Federal Work-Study Programs - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise requirements for Federal Work-Study Programs. Provides funds for eligible institutions to compensate students employed as reading tutors for preschool through elementary children or family literacy projects. Revises training requirements for such students. Title IV: Repeals - Repeals certain unfunded education programs under various Federal laws. (Sec. 401) Repeals specified provisions of the Adult Education Act for: (1) business, industry, labor, and education partnerships for workplace literacy; (2) English literacy grants; (3) education programs for commercial drivers; and (4) adult literacy volunteer training. Repeals specified provisions of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act for: (1) business-labor-education partnerships for training; (2) supplementary State grants for facilities and equipment and other program improvement activities; (3) community education employment centers and vocational education lighthouse schools; (4) demonstration programs; and (5) certain bilingual programs. Repeals the Community School Partnership Act (contained in the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994). Repeals specified provisions of the Educational Research, Development, Dissemination, and Improvement Act of 1994 for a teacher research dissemination demonstration program. Repeals provisions of ESEA for: (1) innovative elementary school transition projects; (2) school dropout assistance; (3) impact aid program; (4) special programs and projects to improve educational opportunities for Indian children; (5) special programs relating to adult education for Indians; (6) Federal administration of such special programs, including the National Advisory Council on Indian Education; (7) the De Lugo territorial education improvement program; (8) extended time for learning and longer school year; and (9) territorial assistance. Repeals the Family and Community Endeavor Schools Act. Repeals specified provisions of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act for grants for the study, evaluation, and analysis of education systems in other nations. Repeals specified provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 for: (1) State and local programs for teacher excellence; (2) national teacher academies; (3) class size demonstration grants; (4) middle school teaching demonstration programs; (5) small State teaching initiative; (6) early childhood education training; and (7) grants to States for workplace and community transition training for incarcerated youth offenders. Amends the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 to eliminate the Olympic Scholarships program. Repeals specified provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 for: (1) career advancement training consortia; (2) vocational rehabilitation services for individuals with disabilities; (3) loan guarantees for community rehabilitation programs; (4) comprehensive rehabilitation centers; (5) special demonstration programs; (6) reader services for blind individuals; (7) interpreter services for deaf individuals; (8) community service employment pilot programs for individuals with disabilities; and (9) business opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Eliminates certain demonstration activities, including: (1) transportation services grants; (2) projects to achieve high quality placement; (3) early intervention demonstration projects; (4) transition demonstration projects; (5) barriers to successful rehabilitation outcomes for minorities; (6) studies, special projects, and demonstration projects to study management and service delivery; (7) the National Commission on Rehabilitation Services; (8) model personal assistance services systems; (9) demonstration projects to upgrade worker skills; and (10) model systems regarding severe disabilities. Eliminates certain training activities, including: (1) distance learning through telecommunications; (2) training regarding impartial hearing officers; and (3) recruitment and retention of urban personnel. Repeals specified provisions of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act for grants to State educational agencies for programs of literacy training and academic remediation for adult homeless individuals. Repeals specified provisions of the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals With Disabilities Act of 1988 for various training and demonstration projects, including programs for technology training, technology transfer, device and equipment redistribution information systems and recycling centers, business opportunities for individuals with disabilities, and products of universal design. Repeals specified provisions of the National Literacy Act of 1991 for the Family Literacy Public Broadcasting Program.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1997
Paycheck Protection Act - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to make it unlawful, except with the separate, prior, written, voluntary authorization of each individual, for: (1) national banks or corporations to collect from or assess its stockholders or employees any dues, initiation fee, or other payment as a condition of employment if any part of such dues, fee, or payment will be used for political activities in which the national bank or corporation is engaged; and (2) labor organizations to collect from or assess its members or nonmembers any dues, fee, or other payment if any part of such dues, fee, or payment will be used for political activities in which the labor organization is engaged. States that an authorization shall remain in effect until revoked and may be revoked at any time. Requires each entity collecting from or assessing amounts from an individual with an authorization in effect to provide the individual with a statement that the individual may at any time revoke the authorization.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1997
Declares that the United States: (1) should not provide assistance to any organization affiliated with the Palestinian Authority that advocates destruction of the United States and supports acts of terrorism or to the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation; and (2) should support a system of independent journalists in the Middle East who observe a code of professional journalism similar to the code adopted by the Voice of America.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1997
Forced Abortion Condemnation Act - Prohibits the Secretary of State from issuing any visa to, and the Attorney General from admitting to the United States, any Chinese national (including any Communist Party official or Chinese Government official) that has been found to have been involved in the enforcement of population control policies resulting in a woman being forced to undergo an abortion against her free choice, or resulting in a man or woman being forced to undergo sterilization against his or her free choice.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1997
Designates the United States Post Office located at 450 North Centre Street in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, as the Peter J. McCloskey Postal Facility.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1997
Authorizes the President to present gold medals, on behalf of the Congress, to named individuals referred to collectively as the "Little Rock Nine," in recognition of the selfless heroism they exhibited and the pain they suffered in the cause of civil rights by integrating Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell duplicates of such medals in bronze. States that these medals are national medals.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1997
Emergency Student Loan Consolidation Act of 1997 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to allow until October 1, 1998, the consolidation, under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), of all of a student's loans under both the FFELP and the Direct Loan Program. (Authorizes such consolidation of loans under both programs into single FFELP consolidation loans, which may be administered by entities other than the Department of Education, for an emergency period until October 1, 1998, to provide time to reduce a backlog in processing consolidation of both types of loans into Direct Lending Consolidation loans administered by the Department of Education.) Reduces the amount of certain funds available for administrative expenses under HEA student assistance provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1997
Calls upon the Senate to act swiftly and expeditiously to give its advice and consent to ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1997
Charitable Giving Relief Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit non-itemizers to deduct a portion of their charitable contributions.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1997
Supports National Mammography Day and urges all American women to take an active role in the fight against breast cancer by all means available to them. Calls for recognition of the role played by community organizations and health care providers in promoting awareness of the importance of regular mammograms and in helping to expand the availability of low-cost mammograms.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1997
Volunteers for Children Act - Amends the National Child Protection Act of 1993 to authorize youth-serving nonprofit organizations and institutions, in the absence of State procedures requiring qualified entities designated by the State to contact an authorized State agency to request a nationwide background check, to contact such agency to request such check, including a check of fingerprint records. Modifies fee provisions to limit fees collected by authorized State agencies and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the case of a background check requested by a qualified entity to the actual costs of the background check conducted with fingerprints. Authorizes (current law requires) the State to establish fee systems that insure that fees to nonprofit entities for background checks do not discourage volunteers from participating in child care programs. Reauthorizes funding for improvement of child abuse crime information through 2001.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1997
Marriage Tax Elimination Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit a husband and wife to file a combined income tax return on which each spouse is taxed separately at the unmarried return rate.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Improving the Regulation and Labeling of Food Title II: Effective Date Food and Nutrition Information Reform Act - Title I: Improving the Regulation and Labeling of Food - Amends Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act provisions relating to food nutrition levels and health-related claims to allow certain regulations to be effective on publication at the discretion of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. (Sec. 102) Modifies requirements regarding petitions to issue a regulation on health-related claims. (Sec. 103) Allows a health or nutrient content claim not authorized by the Secretary if: (1) a U.S. governmental scientific body with public health protection or research responsibility directly relating to human nutrition has published an authoritative statement, currently in effect, about the relationship to which the health claim refers or setting forth a basis for the nutrient claim; (2) a person has notified the Secretary; (3) the claim and food are in compliance with certain requirements; and (4) the claim is stated in a way that it is an accurate representation of the authoritative statement and in a way that it enables the public to understand the information and its significance. (Sec. 105) Requires, if a nutrient claim is made and the food contains a nutrient at a level that increases to persons in the general population the risk of a disease or health-related condition that is diet-related, that the label contain, close to the claim, a statement referring to the nutrition information elsewhere on the label. (Sec. 107) Revises oleomargarine sale and labeling requirements. Repeals provisions relating to: (1) a congressional declaration of policy regarding oleomargarine sales; and (2) noncontravention of State oleomargarine laws. Title II: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1997
African-American Civil War Memorial Commemorative Coin Act - Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue one dollar coins in commemoration of African-American Civil War veterans. Mandates that the coin design be: (1) emblematic of the African-American Civil War Memorial; (2) selected by the Secretary after consultation with the African-American Civil War Memorial Freedom Foundation and the Commission of Fine Arts; and (3) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee. Instructs the Secretary to pay all coin sales surcharges to the African-American Civil War Memorial Freedom Foundation for the construction and maintenance of an African-American Civil War Memorial and the Garnet-Patterson Family Heritage Center (Visitors' Center).
United States · United States Congress · 5 September 1997
Amends the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 to remove a requirement that makes the President's line item veto authority contingent on a cancellation (line item veto) reducing the Federal budget deficit.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1997
Parents and Students Savings Account Plus Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to education individual retirement accounts to: (1) include qualified elementary and secondary education expenses (including home schooling); and (2) increase annual contribution limits to $2,000.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1997
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Department of Education should not expend funds in FY 1997 or in any subsequent year for the planning, development, implementation, or administration of any national testing proposal in reading, mathematics, or any other subject area until such time as Congress provides specific, explicit statutory authority.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Executive Branch Governance and Senior Management of the Internal Revenue Service Subtitle A: Executive Branch Governance and Senior Management Subtitle B: Personnel Flexibilities Title II: Electronic Filing Title III: Taxpayer Protection and Rights Title IV: Congressional Accountability for the Internal Revenue Service Subtitle A: Oversight Subtitle B: Budget Subtitle C: Tax Law Complexity Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1997 - Title I: Executive Branch Governance and Senior Management of the Internal Revenue Service - Subtitle A: Executive Branch Government and Senior Management - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to replace current provisions establishing the office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue with provisions establishing the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board (the Board). Requires that seven of the nine members of the Board not be full-time Federal officers or employees. Requires that all Board members have expertise in, among other things: (1) management of large service organizations; (2) customer service; and (3) the needs and concerns of taxpayers. Requires the Board to: (1) review and approve strategic plans of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); (2) review the operational functions of the IRS; (3) select the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (Commissioner), as well as senior IRS managers, and review the Commissioner's reorganization plans; and (4) review and approve the IRS budget request, as well as ensure audits of the IRS. (Sec. 102) Replaces current provisions which authorize the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to employ such personnel as necessary for the proper administration and enforcement of the internal revenue laws with provisions requiring there to be in the Department of the Treasury a Commissioner who shall be appointed by the Board for a five-year term. Sets forth the duties of the Commissioner, including the: (1) administration and management of the internal revenue laws; and (2) Commissioner's responsibility to consult with the Board. Establishes and sets forth duties for: (1) a Chief Counsel for the IRS to be appointed by the President; (2) the Office of Employee Plans and Exempt Organizations; (3) an Office of the Taxpayer Advocate. (Sec. 103) Replaces current provisions concerning the effect of reorganization plans with provisions which authorize the Commissioner to employ such number of persons as proper to administer and enforce the internal revenue laws. Subtitle B: Personnel Flexibilities - Directs the Commissioner to establish a performance management system covering IRS employees which: (1) establishes retention standards; and (2) establishes performance goals or objectives. Provides for awards based on performance, but prohibits making an award solely on the basis of tax enforcement results. Sets forth other provisions concerning: (1) classification and pay; (2) staffing; and (3) demonstration projects. Title II: Electronic Filing - Provides for paperless filing and payment of taxes. Title III: Taxpayer Protection and Rights - Sets forth provisions concerning taxpayer protections and rights, including provisions concerning: (1) authority to issue taxpayer assistance orders; (2) authority to award costs and fees; (3) damages for negligence in collection actions; (4) criteria and procedures for selecting taxpayers for examination; (5) archival treatment of IRS records; (6) freedom of information; (7) offers-in-compromise; (8) jurisdiction of the Tax Court; (9) cataloging of complaints; and (10) procedures for taxpayer interviews. (Sec. 309) Eliminates the interest differential on overpayments and underpayments. (Sec. 310) Eliminates the failure to pay penalty as long as an installment payment agreement is in effect. (Sec. 311) Directs the Secretary to accept installment tax liability payments if: (1) such liability does not exceed $10,000; (2) the taxpayer has, during the past five years, paid on time; and (3) the taxpayer has not entered into a prior installment agreement. (Sec. 313) Directs the Secretary to make grants to provide matching funds for qualified low-income taxpayer clinics. (Sec. 319) Provides for studies concerning: (1) taxpayer confidentiality; (2) penalty administration; (3) treating all taxpayers as separate filing units; and (4) burden of proof. Title IV: Congressional Accountability for the Internal Revenue Service - Subtitle A: Oversight - Authorizes the Joint Committee on Taxation (Joint Committee) to procure the services of experts for investigations of the IRS by the General Accounting Office. (Sec. 402) Establishes additional reporting requirements for the Joint Committee. Subtitle B: Budget - Provides for additional budget authority for the IRS, but only on annual basis and only if specified improvements are made in taxpayer services. (Sec. 413) Directs the Commissioner to convene a financial advisory management group to advise the Commissioner. Subtitle C: Tax Law Complexity - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the IRS should provide the Congress with an independent view of tax administration. (Sec. 422) Requires a Senate or House of Representatives committee, when reporting legislation including any provision amending the IRC, to contain within the report a Tax Complexity Analysis. (Sec. 423) Declares it to be the policy of the Congress that employers should have a single point of filing tax and wage reporting information. (Sec. 424) Requires the Joint Committee to prepare a study of the feasibility of developing a baseline estimate of taxpayers' compliance burdens against which future legislative proposals could be measured.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1997
Authorizes the President to award the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously to Theodore Roosevelt for his actions in the attack of San Juan Heights, Cuba, during the Spanish-American War on July 1, 1898.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1997
Coral Reef Conservation Act of 1997 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to use amounts in the Coral Reef Conservation Fund to provide financial assistance grants for projects for the conservation of coral reefs. Allows any relevant natural resource management authority of a State or U.S. territory or other government jurisdiction with coral reefs whose activities affect coral reefs, or any nongovernmental organization or individual with demonstrated expertise in the conservation of coral reefs, to submit a specified project proposal under this Act. Sets forth: (1) provisions for the review and approval of each final project proposal; and (2) criteria for approval of a final project proposal. Authorizes the Secretary to approve a final project proposal if the project will enhance coral reef conservation programs. Requires the Secretary, in determining whether to approve project proposals, to give priority to: (1) projects which promote sustainable development and ensure long-term conservation of coral reefs; and (2) projects for which there exist matching funds of at least 50 percent of the total cost of each project. Establishes the Coral Reef Conservation Fund. Provides for deposits into the Fund of: (1) monetary donations; and (2) other amounts appropriated to the Fund. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1997
National Debt Repayment Act of 1997 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require concurrent resolutions on the budget, beginning with the one for the first fiscal year after there is a surplus, to set forth totals of budget outlays and Federal revenues for the budget year and each fiscal year concerned such that the annual rate of change in outlays is at least one percentage point lower than the corresponding change in revenues for each such year. Permits the Congress to waive such requirement for fiscal years in which a declaration of war is in effect or the United States is engaged in military conflict posing a serious threat to national security or for the budget year and the next fiscal year if real economic growth has been negative for two consecutive calendar quarters. Amends Federal law to require the Secretary of the Treasury to use any budget surplus for a fiscal year, with one-third allocated to each of the following, to: (1) exchange special issue nonmarketable Government bonds in the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund or the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund with marketable Government securities; (2) invest in marketable Government securities to be held in a Tax Cut Offset Trust Fund to offset future revenue reductions; and (3) exchange special issue nonmarketable Government securities in the Highway Trust Fund and the Hazardous Substance Superfund with marketable ones. Requires the surplus to be allocated, in specified increments, to repay the public debt when Government trust funds, including those described above, no longer hold nonmarketable securities. Prohibits receipts and disbursements of Government trust funds, in an amount up to the value of marketable Government securities contained in any such fund, from being counted as new budget authority, outlays, receipts, or deficit or surplus for purposes of the Federal or congressional budgets or the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Exempts such receipts and disbursements from any statutory general budget limitation on expenditures and net lending. Directs the Secretary, upon expenditure from a trust fund of any money not so counted, to sell a corresponding amount of marketable Government securities from the fund and reduce its balance accordingly.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Soft Money and Contributions and Expenditures of Political Parties Title II: Indexing Contribution Limits Title III: Expanding Disclosure of Campaign Finance Information Title IV: Effective Date Bipartisan Campaign Integrity Act of 1997 - Title I: Soft Money and Contributions and Expenditures of Political Parties - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to ban the use of certain soft money by national political parties, specified entities, and Federal candidates. Prohibits transfers of non-Federal funds between State parties unless the funds are subject to the Act. (Sec. 102) Increases the aggregate annual limit on contributions made by individuals to political parties. (Sec. 103) Repeals the limitations on the amount of coordinated expenditures that may be made by political parties. Title II: Indexing Contribution Limits - Sets forth provisions for the indexing of contribution limits. Title III: Expanding Disclosure of Campaign Finance Information - Requires the disclosure of certain radio and television communications. (Sec. 302) Revises FECA filing requirements for reports to mandate: (1) the monthly filing of reports by principal campaign committees and other political committees (other than a candidate's authorized committees); and (2) electronic filing for certain reports. (Sec. 304) Waives the "best efforts" exception with respect to information regarding the occupation or the name of employers of certain individual contributors. Title IV: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1997
National Marrow Donor Program Reauthorization Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to replace provisions relating to the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry with provisions mandating establishment, by contract, of a program to assist patients needing a blood stem cell transplant in searching for biologically unrelated donor individuals. Sets forth program functions, including: (1) maintaining one or more donor and one or more recipient registries; (2) educational activities (including donor recruitment and professional and public information); and (3) establishing the Office of Patient Advocacy and Case Management. Mandates: (1) standards regarding quality, tissue typing, donor informed consent, and patient advocacy; (2) donor selection criteria; (3) stem cell collection and transportation procedures; (4) confidentiality standards; and (5) procedures for integrating participating donor registries and centers. Mandates criminal penalties for confidentiality violations. Authorizes appropriations. Mandates a plan to effectuate efficiencies in the relationship between the program and donor centers.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1997
Equity in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act of 1997 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Public Health Service Act to prohibit a group health plan, and a health insurance issuer providing group coverage, from: (1) excluding or restricting benefits for prescription contraceptive drugs, devices, and outpatient services if the plan provides benefits for other outpatient prescription drugs, devices, or outpatient services; (2) denying eligibility based on use or potential use of such items or services; (3) providing monetary payments or rebates to a covered individual to encourage acceptance of less than the minimum protections available; (4) penalizing, reducing, or limiting a professional's reimbursement because the professional prescribed such drugs or devices or provided such services; or (5) providing incentives to a professional to induce the professional to withhold drugs, devices, or services. Amends the Public Health Service Act to apply those prohibitions to coverage offered in the individual market.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1997
Calls upon the parliamentary bodies and government officials of other nations, particularly those that participate in Little League baseball, to recognize and celebrate the international character of Little League baseball and to render Little League Baseball Incorporated assistance and recognition of its status as a nongovernmental international organization.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1997
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Research, Treatment, and Assistance Act of 1997 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for a waiver of the 24-month waiting period for Medicare coverage for individuals disabled by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease. Amends SSA title XVIII (Medicare) to provide for Medicare coverage of any drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the treatment or alleviation of ALS-related symptoms. Authorizes appropriations, in addition to any already available, for ALS research through the National Institutes of Health.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1997
Expresses the sense of the Congress that, as a part of balancing the budget and reevaluating the role of government, Federal, State, and local elected officials should carefully consider the costs of government spending and regulatory programs in the year to come so that American families will be able to keep more of what they earn.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1997
Amends Federal aviation law to declare that nothing in such law or in the Death on the High Seas Act shall affect any remedy existing at common law or under State law with respect to any injury or death arising out of any aviation incident occurring on or after January 1, 1995.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1997
Children's Privacy Protection and Parental Empowerment Act of 1997 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit and set penalties for specified activities relating to personal information about a child (defined as a person under age 16), including knowingly: (1) selling such information (by a list broker) without the written consent of a parent of that child, knowing that such information pertains to a child; (2) using prison inmate labor for data processing of personal information about children; and (3) distributing or soliciting any such information, knowing or having reason to believe that the information will be used to abuse or physically harm the child. Sets penalties for contacting that child or a parent of that child (by a person who uses personal information about a child that was obtained for commercial purposes) to offer a commercial product or service to that child and knowingly failing to comply with a parent's request to: (1) disclose the source of such information, all information that has been sold or otherwise disclosed by that list broker about that child, and the identity of all persons to whom such information has been disclosed; or (2) discontinue providing such information to third parties. Sets penalties for knowingly releasing personal information about another person's child to any entity that intends to use the information to solicit the sale of a product or service, without the permission of that child's parent. Authorizes civil actions by a child or a parent with respect to whom a violation of this Act occurs. Directs the court to award a prevailing plaintiff a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs. Specifies that nothing in this Act affects the sale of lists to: (1) the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (the Center); (2) accredited colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher learning; (3) the U.S. military; or (4) local, State, or Federal law enforcement agencies. Declares that it shall be the duty of each list broker operating in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce to make that broker's databases available twice annually, without charge, to the Center to allow the Center to match it with the database of missing children held by the Center.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1997
Fair Play Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require: (1) each institution of higher education to provide the Secretary of Education with information regarding men's and women's athletic programs; and (2) the Secretary to prepare a report based on such information, which shall be made available on the Internet. Requires the Secretary to establish a toll-free telephone service to provide the public with information regarding such reports and respond to inquiries about title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and athletic opportunities for girls and women.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1997
Cuban Humanitarian Trade Act of 1997 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to exempt from the embargo on trade with Cuba the export of food, medicines, or medical supplies, instruments, or equipment, or any travel incident to delivery of such items. Exempts the same items from the President's authority to restrict exports to Cuba under the Export Administration Act of 1979 or the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to terminate the denial of foreign tax credit with respect to income, war profits, or excess profits taxes paid to Cuba that are attributable to activities with respect to the permitted exports, or travel incident to such activities, under this Act. Directs the President to report to the Congress with respect to the uses, and end users, of the permitted exports to Cuba.