United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1979
Third Party Search Protection Act of 1979 - Amends the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to allow the issuance of a search warrant only if: (1) there is probable cause to believe that the person having custody of the property has committed or is committing a crime; or (2) with respect to property in the possession of third parties a subpoena is not available or there is a clear showing that such property will be destroyed or removed from the jurisdiction and that this cannot be prevented by a restraining order.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1979
Medicare Reform Act of 1979 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to remove the 100 visit limitation presently applicable to home health care services under such title. Eliminates prior hospitalization as a condition of eligibility for home health care services under part A (Hospital Insurance Benefits for the Aged and Disabled) of such title. Eliminates confinement to home as a requirement for receiving home health care services under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance Benefits for the Aged and Disabled) of such title. Includes "periodic chore services" within those home health services for which payment may be made under the supplementary medical insurance program. Eliminates the requirements that the months be consecutive in the 24-month Medicare waiting period for railroad retirement disability beneficiaries or old-age, survivors, and disability insurance beneficiaries who are disabled to be eligible for Medicare hospital care benefits. Eliminates payment of the $60 deductible under the Medicare program. Allows reimbursement under the Medicare program for services furnished in qualified community mental health centers and comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation centers. Authorizes payment under the Medicare program for: (1) occupational therapy services; (2) the removal of corns; warts and calluses on the feet; (3) all services of a doctor of dentistry for which such doctor is legally authorized to perform; and (4) eyeglasses, hearing aids and dentures; and examinations for the purpose of prescribing such articles.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1979
Creates a House Select Committee on Insurance to conduct an investigation and study of all facets of the business of insurance, rating and ratemaking, and other related issues. Requires the Select Committee to submit to the House as soon as practicable the results of its investigation and study.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1979
Toxic Tort Act - Title I: Federal Cause of Action - Creates a Federal cause of action for damages to any person physically injured by the negligent manufacture of a toxic pollutant by a manufacturer. Stipulates that this action shall not preempt any other rights or causes of action existing under State or Federal law. Establishes a two-year statute of limitations for actions brought under this title, such period to commence on the date that the Environmental Protection Agency determines the requisite nexus exists between the physical injury complained of and the toxic pollutant alleged to be the cause of such injury. Authorizes the award of exemplary damages upon a finding by the trier of fact that the conduct of the defendant constituted a gross and wanton disregard for public safety. Sets forth certain rules regarding rebuttable presumptions and jurisdiction for any action pursuant to this title. Title II: State Worker's Compensation Law Amendments - Preempts any provision of State law contrary to the provisions, purposes, or intents of this title. Declares that the worker's compensation law of any State shall not deny benefits to any injured person solely for the untimely filing of a claim for benefits where such claim would have been timely under the provisions of this Act. Title III: Toxic Pollutant Compensation Agency - Establishes within the Environmental Protection Agency the Toxic Pollutant Compensation Agency (TPCA). Sets forth the powers and duties of the TPCA, including the power to subpoena any person to provide information deemed relevant to a claim; to promulgate such rules, regulations, and procedures necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act; to employ experts and consultants; and to perform any other administrative activities necessary for the effective fulfillment of its powers and duties under this Act. Outlines the procedure for certification of victims of toxic substance pollution and sets forth criteria upon which the TPCA shall determine whether the toxic pollutant caused the physical injury. Entitles certified victims to benefits not to exceed $50,000 per victim for medical expenses, costs of rehabilitation, and lost wages, where such claims are not provided for by insurance. Directs the TPCA to promulgate, through rules and regulations, appropriate forms and procedures for the filing of claims for benefits. Entitles persons other than the victim to payment of benefits if necessary to secure payment of alimony, maintenance or child support, to insure satisfaction of authenticated claims by those who furnished the victim with products or services constituting medical or rehabilitation benefits, or to insure satisfaction of claims for reasonable attorney's fees. Establishes the Toxic Pollutant Revolving Fund to provide for the payment of benefits. Directs the TPCA to prepare and submit to the Congress and the President annual reports of the activities of the TPCA. Vests jurisdiction for review of any compensation award or other final determination of the TPCA in the United States district court for the district in which the injury, disease, or death allegedly occurred. Authorizes the court to grant appropriate relief to persons petitioning for a review of a TPCA award or order. Title IV: Environmental Protection Agency - Sets forth powers and duties of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in administering this Act. Authorizes the EPA to make studies and investigations to determine whether physical injuries are caused by toxic pollutants, and sets forth procedures for conducting such studies and investigations. Requires the EPA to publish in the Federal Register for public comment any tentative findings of requisite nexus between a physical injury and an allegedly toxic pollutant, and to make and publish a final determination upon a finding of requisite nexus. Authorizes judicial review in the United States district court of such finding upon petition praying that the finding be set aside or modified.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1979
Family Farm Antitrust Act of 1979 - Finds that vertical integration of the agricultural industry by corporations engaged in the processing, distributing and retail industries, and other conglomerate corporations, tends to create monopolies in the agricultural industry and produce unfair competition for family farms, contributing to the decline of rural populations and the consequent crowding of metropolitan centers. Declares it to be the national policy to restore competition to the agricultural industry and to provide for the continuance of the family farm. Provides that no person engaged in commerce in a business other than farming, whose nonfarming business assets exceed $3,000,000, shall engage in farming or the production of agricultural products, or participate in farming by any means of acquisition or control of another person who is engaged in farming. Specifies exceptions including charitable, educational, or nonprofit institutions, and farmer-owned and controlled cooperatives. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to acquire at fair market value any property or interest of which a person is required to divest himself under the provisions of this Act, if the person is otherwise unable to divest himself of such property.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1979
Radioactive Waste Management Act of 1978 - Requires the Secretary of Energy, before investigating any site for construction of a radioactive waste storage facility, to notify each chamber of the concerned State legislature and publish notice of such investigation in the Federal Register. Requires notice to State legislatures of decisions and contracts for the construction of such facilities. Allows a 120-day period for disapproval of construction by the affected State's legislature or by statewide referendum.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1979
Sound Recording Performance Rights Amendment - Amends the copyright law to give the owner of a sound recording copyright the exclusive right to perform or authorize the performance of the copyrighted work publicly. Exempts specified educational, religious, literary, and governmental performances of sound recordings from copyright infringements. Limits further the exclusive right of the owner of copyrights in sound recordings of specified kinds of works to the right to perform publicly all or any part of the actual sounds fixed in such recordings. Stipulates that the exclusive right to perform publicly, by means of a phonorecord, a copyrighted literary, musical, or dramatic work, and to perform publicly a copyrighted sound recording are separate and independent rights under this Act. Subjects the exclusive performance right in a sound recording to compulsory licensing if phonorecords of such recording have been distributed to the public under the authority of the copyright owner. Sets forth the requirements for obtaining such license. Establishes the royalty rates or payments for broadcast stations based on gross receipts of advertising sponsors, and gives the compulsory licensee the option of computing such royalty fees on either a prorated or blanket basis. Directs that royalty fees shall be deposited by the Register of Copyrights in the United States Treasury and invested by the Secretary of the Treasury in interest-bearing United States securities. Establishes the procedure for the distribution of royalties to persons claiming entitlement to compulsory license fees. Exempts certain broadcast stations and transmitters which publicly perform a copyrighted sound recording from liability for infringement and compulsory licensing requirements if the gross receipts of such stations are less than specified amounts. Stipulates that if an owner of a copyright authorizes the public distribution of material objects that reproduce such copyrighted sounds but do not include any accompanying motion picture, a compulsory licensee shall be freed from further liability for infringement for the public performance of such sounds. Directs the Copyright Royalty Tribunal to retain the services of one or more private, nongovernmental entities to monitor and value sound recording performances, distribute royalty funds to recipients, and perform other functions deemed necessary.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1979
Gasohol Motor Fuel Act of 1979 - Requires the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to promote the development and use of alcohol-blended fuels in the United States. Directs the Secretary to study the most suitable raw materials for the production of alcohol-blended fuels. Requires that such study emphasize alternative fuel sources to petroleum and natural gas, and evaluate the efficiency of various production and distribution systems. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress within six months after the enactment of this Act concerning the results of such study. Directs the Secretary to set production goals for alcohol-blended fuel development within six months after the completion of the study. Directs the Secretary to require that motor fuel sold in 1981 be one percent alcohol-blended. Sets increasing percentage requirements for succeeding years ending in 1990 where motor fuel shall be ten percent alcohol-blended. Empowers the Secretary to enforce the provisions of this Act and enumerates the enforcement procedures and penalties. Requires that all facilities constructed to distill alcohol for motor fuel use shall use fuel sources which are renewable. Directs the Secretary to establish, within six months after the enactment of this Act, procedures for the certification of alcohol distilling facilities. Requires the Secretary to give first priority for fuel sources to operate such distillation facilities to renewable energy resources. Grants last priority for fuel sources to petroleum, petroleum derivatives and natural gas. Empowers the Secretary to waive the preference for renewable resources upon a finding that they are economically or technically infeasible for use as fuel sources to power distillation facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt taxpayers from the payment of interest or a penalty on tax deficiencies attributable to erroneous advice obtained in writing from an Internal Revenue Service Officer or employee acting in an official capacity.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Nuclear Incident Liability Reform Act of 1978 - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to require that licensees for nuclear facilities obtain the maximum amount of liability insurance available from private sources. Requires that such licensees participate in an industry retrospective rating plan in addition to maintaining such insurance. Directs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to establish rules specifying the rates for deferred premiums charged to licensees under such plan in the event of any nuclear incident resulting in public liability which exceeds or appears likely to exceed the level of a licensee's primary financial protection and the amount otherwise available from such licensee for the satisfaction of such liability. Authorizes the Commission to loan to a licensee, at prescribed interest rates, the amount by which an assessment of deferred premiums exceeds the amount which the licensee is able to pay within a reasonable time following any nuclear incident without impairing its ability to provide electric utility service. Repeals the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 relating to indemnification of licensees from liability which is in excess of the level of financial protection required of the licensee. Eliminates the $500,000,000 ceiling on indemnification of contractors of the Commission against claims for liability, arising out of contractual activities, which are above the amount of financial protection required of contractors. Repeals provisions of such Act relating to: (1) the $560,000,000 maximum aggregate liability for a single nuclear incident; (2) the collection of fees for indemnification agreements, and (3) compensation to private insurance organizations for services connected with handling indemnifications. Eliminates the exemption from the requirements of financial protection of nonprofit, educational institution licensees. Repeals the Commission's authority to indemnify persons engaged in activities relating to the Nuclear Ship Savannah from liability for nuclear incidents. Terminates the Commission's authority to enter agreements with other indemnitors with respect to emergency assistance payments. Makes technical and conforming amendments to carry out the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income up to $1,000 ($1,500 for joint returns, $750 for married individuals filing separately) of the interest earned from savings accounts. Reduces the amount of such exclusion, dollar for dollar, by the amount the taxpayer's adjusted gross income exceeds $10,000 ($15,000 for joint returns, $7,500 for married individuals filing separately).
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Prohibits the distribution in commerce of any ionization smoke detector unless such device bears a label which: (1) includes a recognized symbol indicating the presence of radioactive material; and (2) bears the following statement: "This device contains radioactive material which may be hazardous to your health if ingested or improperly disposed."
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973 to extend price controls on domestically produced crude oil for a period of 24 months. Directs the President to promulgate and make effective an amendment to such Act which would continue ceiling prices applicable to any first sale of domestic crude oil for such period.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Prohibits the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from approving any application for rental increases in federally assisted housing unless the amount of such increase is permitted under State and local law.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1964 to exclude cost-of-living increases in Social Security benefits from consideration as household income for purposes of determining: (1) eligibility for participation in the food stamp program; (2) the charge for issuing a coupon allotment to a household; and (3) eligibility for any Federal program administered by the Department of Agriculture which provides for the donation or distribution of surplus agricultural commodities to low-income persons.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to assure the individuals otherwise eligible for benefits under such title do not lose such eligibility, or have the amount of such benefits reduced, because of increases in the amount of benefits under title II (Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Prohibits the consideration of any cost of living or general benefit increase of Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance benefits after May, 1977 for purposes of determining the eligibility for or amount of assistance which any individual or family is provided under the United States Housing Act of 1937, the National Housing Act, the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965, or the Housing Act of 1949.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Permits officers and employees of the Federal Government to elect coverage under title II (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act. Establishes periods during which such officers and employees may certify their intention to be covered by the Social Security Act. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to promulgate regulations requiring the heads of the various Federal agencies to know which of their employees qualify for elective coverage under this Act, or, in the alternative, to provide for the collection of the tax from a Federal employee electing such coverage, where it is not feasible for the head of the Federal agency or instrumentality involved to do so.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Increased Federal Share of Welfare Costs Act of 1979 - Provides that the Federal matching rate to States beginning October 1, 1979, shall be 75 percent under title IV (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Rules Enabling Act Amendments Act of 1979 - Amends the Rules Enabling Act to empower the Judicial Conference of the United States, rather than the Supreme Court, to prescribe, contingent upon Congressional approval, rules of pleading, practice, and procedure for Federal courts.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Community Restoration Act - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants to local governments for the purpose of funding qualified nonprofit neighborhood organizations engaged in activities designed to improve housing and prevent neighborhood deterioration. Limits to $50,000 any grant made by a unit of general local government to any organization in any fiscal year. Directs the Secretary to oversee the auditing and accounting of all moneys received and spent by units of local government and community organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide payment for diagnostic tests and examinations given for the detection of breast cancer under the supplementary medical insurance program.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require that a statement of the steps that have been or will be taken to reduce unobligated balances of budget authority under Federal programs and an estimate of the level of unobligated balances of budget authority that will exist at the end of the fiscal year be included in: (1) the report accompanying the first concurrent resolution on the budget each year; (2) the annual reports submitted by other committees to the Budget Committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate; and (3) the President's annual budget.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends title II (Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to allow individuals to receive simultaneously both old-age or disability insurance benefits and widow's or widower's benefits without any reduction or offset.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Stipulates that income received from post-1974 Social Security cost-of-living increases shall be excluded in determining the eligibility of an individual for benefits under: (1) title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act; (2) title XI (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of such Act; (3) dependency and indemnity compensation plans for veteran's service connected deaths; (4) veterans' pension plans; (5) the Food Stamp Act of 1964; (6) the United States Housing Relief Act of 1937; or (7) any other Federal assistance program which conditions eligibility upon the income or resources of the applicant.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Rules Enabling Act Amendments Act of 1979 - Amends the Rules Enabling Act to empower the Supreme Court of the United States to prescribe general rules of pleading, practice, and procedure for Federal courts only upon the recommendation of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Requires the Judicial Conference, within specified periods of time, to publish proposed rules and a list of issues raised by such proposals in the Federal Register, and to accept and consider, before making its final recommendations, timely written comments on such proposals.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Directs that, upon finding a person not guilty of a violent offense solely because of insanity at the time of the offense, the fact of such insanity shall be noted in the verdict and the defendant shall be subject to the procedures set forth in this Act. Details examination, treatment, and release procedures regarding persons acquitted of violent crimes due to insanity. Includes in such procedures: (1) an examination stage, during which each of at least two examiners is to examine the acquitted person and report separately upon methodology and findings and prognosis; (2) a commitment hearing stage to determine whether clear and convincing evidence exists that it is more likely than not that the person would create a danger of bodily harm to others; (3) a treatment hearing stage to determine which facility is most appropriate and whether the person should be a resident patient or outpatient; and (4) a review stage to determine yearly whether the person more likely than not poses a danger of bodily harm to others. Permits an acquitted person to refuse any treatment under this Act. Establishes within each judicial district a Commitment Review Committee: (1) to review the treatment of a person committed under this Act, either on its own motion or on request of such person or his agent, in order to decide if the person should be transferred to a different institution, administered different treatment, or released; and (2) to determine whether a person committed under this Act has capacity to give informed consent to treatment and, if not, whether any of specified treatments such as electroconvulsive therapy, psychotropic medication, and behavior modification are recommended to determine whether the prescribed treatment is appropriate. Sets the maximum time for which a person subject to commitment under this Act may be confined.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Prohibits any creditor from discriminating against any applicant on the basis of the geographical location of the applicant's residence except when the credit is secured by the applicant's residence.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Antirecession Supplementary Fiscal Assistance Amendments of 1979 - Amends the Public Works Employment Act of 1976 to establish a supplementary antirecession fiscal assistance program to aid local governments which have an average unemployment rate during a calendar quarter above six percent. Authorizes appropriations through fiscal year 1980 for the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Directs the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to provide a supplementary housing allowance to eligible individuals under title XVI (Supplemental Security Income for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled) of the Social Security Act whose annual housing expenses consisting of rent, mortgage payments, real estate taxes, and gas, electric, home and water heating charges exceed 33 1/3 percent of an individual's annual income.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include the relationship between an illegitimate child and its natural father within the definition of child for purposes of status, benefit, or privilege under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Civil Contempt Reform Act of 1977 - Requires that a witness who without just cause refuses to testify or provide information to a Federal court or grand jury be given a hearing before being found in contempt and confined. Entitles such a recalcitrant witness to counsel at such a contempt hearing. Limits imprisonment for contempt to six months. Prohibits the fining or imprisonment of a witness for refusing to testify about any transaction or event if such witness has been fined or imprisoned for a previous refusal to testify about the same transaction or event.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Nuclear Energy Reappraisal Act - Directs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to cease the granting of licenses or construction authorizations for nuclear fission powerplants pending the outcome of a comprehensive study by the Office of Technology Assessment. Continues such termination until Congress determines that safety and environmental hazards have been adequately studied and that nuclear fission plants are acceptable in comparison to other energy sources. Authorizes a resumption of licensing under limited conditions which shall be specified by Congress. Requires a five-year independent study of the nuclear fuel cycle by the Office of Technology Assessment. Empowers the Office to compel delivery of any information necessary for conducting such study. Directs all government agencies to cooperate fully with the Office. Requires the preparation of a final report with recommendations at the end of five years and annual progress reports. Requires the following specific issues to be considered in the final report: (1) safety and environmental hazards, including an analysis of reported malfunctions; (2) genetic effects of low level radiation; (3) economic implications of a long-term nature; (4) proliferation dangers; (5) economical and technical capabilities of utilities; and (6) licensing procedures of past regulatory agencies. Stipulates that existing nuclear fission powerplants shall operate at less than licensed core power level and be annually derated should Congress fail to determine that the licensing of fission plants may continue after conclusion of the study. Requires the Federal Government, to the maximum extent possible, to expend funds for employment creation programs in areas where unemployment has been caused by the implementation of this Act. Authorizes the appropriation of $15,000,000 per year for each of the five fiscal years following the date of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Title I: Domestic Oil Pollution Liability, Compensation, and Fund - Establishes in the Treasury of the United States the Comprehensive Oil Spill Liability Fund for the purposes of paying for otherwise uncompensated losses resulting from oil pollution. Enumerates the sources of monies to be deposited in such fund, including a fee not to exceed three cents per barrel of oil, imposed upon owners of facilities receiving oil. Obligates owners of such oil to reimburse the refinery or terminal the full amount of the fee levied on such person's oil. Imposes a civil penalty on any person required to pay or collect such fees who fails to do so. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to issue obligations to the Secretary of the Treasury at times when fund assets are insufficient to meet fund liabilities. Lists the types of injuries which may be compensated under this Act and the potential claimants who have standing to assert claims involving each such type of damage. Imposes joint, several, and strict liability on the owners and operators of each pollution source. Specifies liability limits, except in cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct, for ships and other vessels. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish limits on the liability of classes of facilities used for transporting, producing, processing, storing, or transferring oil. Requires the owner or operator: (1) of any such facility; or (2) of any vessel which uses such facility or navigable waters of the United States, to establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility in an amount sufficient to satisfy applicable liability limits. Directs the person in charge of a vessel or facility to immediately notify the Secretary of Transportation of any pollution incident in which the vessel or facility is involved. Specifies procedures whereby the Secretary may, in the absence of such an admission, designate and advertise pollution sources. Directs the Secretary, in instances in which (1) the owner and operator of a vessel or facility designated by the Secretary deny such vessel's or facility's involvement; (2) the source of the discharge is a public vessel; or (3) the Secretary is unable to designate the pollution source, to advertise claims with limited exceptions to be presented initially to the owner or operator, or to such person's guarantor. Permits claimants either to present a claim to the fund or to bring an action in an appropriate United States court if liability is denied or the claim is not settled within a specified period. Sets forth procedures for the disposition and appeal of claims submitted to the fund. Requires both the plaintiff and the defendant in a court action brought against an owner, operator, or guarantor to forward copies of all pleadings to the fund. Permits the fund to intervene in such actions. Subrogates any person or government entity, including the fund, paying compensation to all the claimant's claims and rights under this Act. Specifies procedures for and the measure of recovery in actions brought by the fund against owners, operators, or guarantors of alleged pollution sources. Declares that the rights and remedies under this Act shall be exclusive with respect to economic loss caused by oil pollution. Sets penalties for persons failing to comply with specified provisions in this Act. Directs the President to conduct a study to determine whether adequate private oil pollution protection is reasonably available to owners and operators of vessels and facilities. Title II: Effective Dates; Conforming Amendments - Specifies the effective date of this Act. Amends specified laws, including the Deepwater Port Act of 1974, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Act, to conform with the the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Electric Utilities Rate Reform Act of 1979 - Directs State and local electric utility regulatory authorities to implement and maintain rate schedules which distribute costs to consumer classes in accordance with consumption patterns. Requires that rate schedules accurately reflect long-run incremental costs of service and that price differentials between consumer classes reflect actual document differentials in cost of service. Prohibits regulatory authorities from allowing recoupment of promotional and advertising expenses, unless such expenses finance efforts encouraging the conservation of electricity or the shifting of electricity consumption from peak load periods to off-peak load periods. Establishes standards to regulate monthly changes in rates by the use of fuel adjustment clauses. Establishes standards of determining the effective date of proposed changes in rates and schedules. Authorizes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to provide financial assistance to non-Federal regulatory authorities as necessary to meet additional costs incurred as a result of complying with provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Sludge Management Act of 1979 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to study the environmental, health, and economic effects of subsurface landfilling sludge on soils and ground water, and alternate methods of sludge disposal. Directs the Administrator to develop guidelines for sludge disposal and land-spreading in order to protect the public health and welfare. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to States and localities of up to 40 percent of the cost of removal of sludge from navigable waters of the United States or any adjacent shoreline. Directs the Administrator to establish an Environmental Protection Agency Task Force on sludge removal. Authorizes the establishment of programs of training, demonstration, and surveys relating to the restoration of water quality where degraded by sludge. Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to prohibit grants for treatment works, unless the applicant demonstrates that adequate, confined sludge disposal methods will be provided.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends the Arms Export Control Act to extend the period of time during which Congress can adopt a concurrent resolution objecting to a proposed arms sale.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Senior Citizens Health Insurance Standards Act of 1979 - Directs each State to submit to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare a plan specifying certain minimum standards applicable for the sale of health insurance to the elderly. Amends Title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary to conduct studies for the purpose of making recommendations to Congress concerning: (1) a uniform approach for regulating all private health insurance offered to the aged and disabled; and (2) the feasibility of health insurance coverage under title XVIII in addition to the coverage now provided under parts A (Hospital Insurance) and B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of such title.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Airport Noise Curfew Act - Establishes an Airport Noise Curfew Commission to study and make recommendations to Congress regarding the establishment of curfew on nonmilitary aircraft operations over populated areas during normal sleeping hours. Directs the Commission to submit its findings within six months and terminates the Commission at such time. Grants the Commission subpoena power in carrying out its mission.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1979 - Title I: Findings, Policy, and Definitions - Declares it the purpose of this Act to preserve for the benefit of present and future generations certain lands in the State of Alaska in order to: (1) preserve unrivaled scenic, geologic, and wildlife values; (2) perpetuate significant and diverse eecosystems; (3) protect and preserve cultural values of Native and non-Native people; (4) provide recreation; (5) maintain wilderness resource values; (6) preserve rivers; (7) maintain opportunities for research; and (8) utilize natural resources, consistent with sound ecological principals. Provides that: (1) intangible values should be considered on an equal basis with tangible values; (2) the management policies should cause the least adverse impact possible to people who depend on subsistence uses of resources; (3) the interests of the State of Alaska and the Native Corporations shall be continually considered in carrying out provisions of this Act to maintain a viable economy and provide employment for citizens of Alaska. Title II: National Park System - Designates as units of the National Park System: (1) Ainakchak National Monument; (2) Bering Land Bridge National Monument; (3) Cape Krusenstern National Monument; (4) Gates of the Arctic National Monument; (5) Kenai Fjords National Monument; Kobuk Valley National Monument; (7) Lake Clark National Monument; (8) Noatak National Monument; Wrangell-Saint Elias National Monument; (10) Yukon-Charley National Monument; and (11) Katmai National Monument. Expands and redesignates: (1) Mount McKinley National Park by the addition of Denali National Monument to be redesignated as Denali National Park; and (2) Glacier Bay National Monument by the addition of 40,000 acres to be redesignated as Glacier Bay National Park. Establishes as units of the National Park System: (1) Aniakchak National Preserve; (2) Lake Clark National Preserve; and (3) Noatak National Preserve. Establishes and designates as units of the National Wilderness Preservation System certain lands in: (1) Aniakchak National Park and Preserve; (2) Bering Land Bridge National Park; (3) Cape Krusenstern National Park; (4) Denali National Park; (5) Gates of the Arctic National Park; the Arctic Wilderness; (6) Glacier Bay National Park; (7) Katmai National Park; (8) Kenai Fjords National Park; (9) Kobuk Valley National Park; (10) Lake Clark National Park and Preserve; (11) Noatak National Park; (12)Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park; and (13) Yukon-Charley National Park. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to study the nondesignated areas within the boundaries of the National Park System and report to the President and Congress on the suitability of all roadless areas for preservation as wilderness. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to administer all Alaska lands, waters, and interests in accordance with applicable laws and this Act. Incorporates the redesignated national monuments specified in this Act as part of the appropriate national park. Makes available for the appropriate national park any funds that were available for the corresponding monument. Subjects the portion of the Alaska Railroad right-of-way within Denali National Park to the applicable laws and regulations. Permits the continuation of reindeer grazing within Bering Land Bridge National Park. Prohibits the Secretary, generally, from acting to restrict unreasonably the exercise of valid commercial fishing rights or privileges obtained pursuant to State or Federal law, with respect to the Malaspina Glacier area of Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and the Dry Bay area of Glacier Bay National Park. Title III: National Wildlife Refuge System - Redesignates Becharof National Monument as Becharof National Wildlife Monument and Yukon Flats National Monument as Yukon Flats National Wildlife Monument. Designates as units of the National Wildlife Refuge System: (1) Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge; (2) Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge; (3) Copper River National Wildlife Refuge; (4) Iliamna National Wildlife Refuge; (5) Innoko National Wildlife Refuge; (6) Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge; (7) Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge; (8) Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge; (9) Selawik National Wildlife Refuge; (10) Teshekpuk National Wildlife Refuge; (11) Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge; and (12) Utukok National Wildlife Refuge. Expands the following units of the National Wildlife Refuge System: (1) Arctic National Wildlife Range; (2) Cape Newenham National Wildlife Refuge; (3) Clarence Rhode National Wildlife Range and Hazen Bay National Wildlife Refuge; and (4) Kenai National Moose Range. Designates as wilderness and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System certain lands in: (1) Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (to be known as Alaska Maritime Wilderness, Aleutian Islands Wilderness, Unimak Wilderness and Semidi Wilderness); (2) Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge (to be known as Pavlof wilderness and Chiginagak Wilderness); (3) Arctic National Wildlife Range; (4) Becharof National Wildlife Monument; (5) Copper River National Wildlife Refuge; (6) Innoko National Wildlife Refuge; (7) Izembek National Wildlife Range; (8) Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge; (9) Kenai National Wildlife Range; (10) Kodiak National Wilderness Refuge; (11) Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge; (12) Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge; (13) Nunivak National Wildlife Refuge; (14) Selawik National Wildlife Refuge; (15) Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge; (16) Togiak National Wildlife Range; (17) Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge (to be known as Andreafsky Wilderness and Kisaralik Wilderness); and (18) Yukon Flats National Wildlife Monument (to be known as Hodzana Wilderness and White Mountain Wilderness). Directs the Secretary of the Interior to review all areas within the National Wildlife Refuge System established or expanded by this Act as to their suitability for preservation as wilderness. Directs the President to advise Congress as to the Secretary of the Interior's recommendations. Declares that all Executive orders and other administrative actions which were in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act will remain in force, except to the extent that they are inconsistent with this Act or the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Makes available for the purposes of any conservation unit established under this Act all funds that were previously available. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to administer each wildlife refuge subject to valid existing rights and in accordance with applicable law and this Act. Prohibits the Secretary from permitting uses or granting easements in the above-designated refuges which are not compatible with the major purposes of the refuge. Withdraws, subject to valid existing rights, all public lands in each refuge from all forms of appropriation under the mining laws and from operation of the mineral leasing laws. Authorizes the Secretary to permit oil and gas development under a leasing program. Directs the Secretary to undertake to enter into cooperative management agreements with Native Corporations, the State, or persons owning land within or adjacent to a refuge. States that each such agreement shall provide that the land subject to the agreement shall be managed by the owner in a manner compatible with the major purposes of the refuge, and in a manner which will not diminish opportunities for subsistence uses in the refuge. Sets forth terms and conditions for such agreements. States that the Congress finds that barren-ground caribou are a migratory species deserving special protection and that the Western Arctic and Porcupine herds of such caribou are of national and international significance. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study of the barren-ground caribou herds north of the Yukon River, and, acting through the Secretary of State, to initiate negotiations with the Government of Canada in order to enter into a treaty to protect the Porcupine caribou herd and its habitat. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an assessment of the bald eagle in the Chilkat River area in order to determine habitat use, dynamics of salmon runs on which the eagles feed, seasonal movement patterns, and effects on the eagle population of developments by man. Directs the Secretary to develop a proposal to conserve bald eagles and other wildlife in the region, insure compatible land uses, provide for land lease agreements to facilitate the proposal. Title IV: National Forest System - Expands as units of the National Forest System the Tongass National Forest and the Chugach National Forest. Designates as wilderness and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System certain lands in: (1) Chugach National Forest, to be known as Nellie Juan Wilderness, College Fjord Wilderness, Red Peak Wilderness, and Tonki Cape Wilderness); (2) Admiralty Island National Monument; (3) Tongass National Forest, (to be known as Endicott Wilderness, Etolin Island Wilderness, Idaho Inlet Wilderness, Karta Wilderness, and King Salmon Capes Wilderness; (4) Misty Fjords National Monument; (5) Tongass National Forest, to be known as Petersburg Creek-Duncan Canal Wilderness, Prince of Wales Wilderness, Rocky Pass Wilderness, Russell Fjord Wilderness, Stikine- LeConte Wilderness, South Baranof Wilderness, Tebenkof Wilderness, Tracy-Arms-Ford Terror Wilderness, and West Chichagof-Yakobi Wilderness). Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to study and report to the President and Congress in accordance with the Wilderness Act recommendations as to the suitability of the Western Prince William Sound for preservation as wilderness. Specifies that the provisions of this Act apply only to the lands within Alaska and nothing in this Act shall be interpreted to expand, diminish, or modify provisions of the Wilderness Act with respect to lands outside of Alaska. Allows the Secretary of Agriculture to permit fishery research, management, enhancement, and rehabilitation activities within national forest wilderness areas designated by this Act in accordance with the goal of restoring and maintaining anadromous fish production in the Tongass National Forest. Sets forth factors to be considered in allowing such activity. Directs that previously existing public use cabins within national forest wilderness may be permitted to continue subject to necessary restrictions deemed to preserve the wilderness character of the area. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to construct and maintain a limited number of new cabins and shelters. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to permit commercial fishery activities within national forest wilderness in accordance with principles of sound fisheries management. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to modify any existing national forest timber sale contracts applying to lands designated by this Act as wilderness by substituting other national forest lands of corresponding quality, quantity, and access, to the extent practicable. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to acquire timber rights to those lands selected for the village of Angoon under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act by purchase or exchange for timber rights elsewhere within the Tongass National Forest. Allows, at the election of the shareholders of Kootznoowoo, Inc., the conveyance of timber rights to lands selected by the corporation to the Secretary of Agriculture, and within one year after such a conveyance the conveyance to Kootznoowoo, Inc. of timber rights which are of equal value to those conveyed to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to designate alternative lands, of equal or greater timber value, for the benefit of Shee Atika, Inc., in satisfaction of the rights of the Natives of Sitka as provided by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Specifies that such lands shall be located in southeast Alaska other than Admiralty Island. Sets forth procedures for conveyance of surface and subsurface rights, and the release of such rights. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to reimburse Shee Atika, Inc., Goldbelt, Inc., and Kootznoowoo, Inc. for reasonable and necessary land selection costs. Specifies that permits issued by the Forest Service, before the enactment of this Act, for a dwelling or campsite in the Admiralty Island National Monument, Misty Fjords National Monument, or any wilderness area, shall expire not later than ten years after the enactment of this Act. Provides a limited exception to such permit expiration for Thayer Lake Lodge. Amends the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to prohibit land conveyed to a Native Corporation pursuant to this Act or the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which is within a contingency area designated in a U.S. timber sale contract, to be subject to such contract or to entry or timbering by the contractor. Prohibits a timber contractor form entering or cutting timber from land in a contingency area that has been withdrawn or selected by a Native Corporation until such Corporation has received all conveyances. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to improve timber production from high quality timber growing sites in the Tongass National Forest through a program of precommercial thinning. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an insured or guaranteed loan program for purchasers of national forest materials in Alaska to assist such purchasers in the acquisition of equipment to use wood products which might not otherwise be utilized. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a study and report to Congress to identify opportunities to increase timber yields on national forest lands in Alaska, and to reduce inefficient timber uses or waste of national forest produced fiber. Title V: National Wild and Scenic Rivers System - Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act by adding to the Wild and Scenic Rivers System the following rivers (or segments thereof) which are outside the boundaries of other conservation system units: Birch Creek, Colville, Copper, Delta, Etivluk-Nigu, Fortymile, Gulkana, Alagnak, Killik, Nowitna, Stony, Unalakleet, and Yukon (Ramparts section). Adds to the system the following rivers (or segments thereof) which form the boundary of, or are within, any national preserves in Alaska: Aniakchak (including its major tributaries), Chilikadrotna, Mulchatna, Stonu, and Telaquana. Adds to the system portions of the following rivers which form the boundary of, or are within, any national wildlife refuge in Alaska: Nowitna, Porcupine, Sheenjek, Andreafsky, Ivishak, Kanektok, Kisaralik, Wind, Beaver Creek, Copper, Selawik, Squirrel, and Utukok. Requires that detailed boundaries and development plans be established for specified rivers within one to three years of the date of enactment of this Act. Designates the following rivers to be studied for possible inclusion in the system: Holitna-Hoholitna, Ikpikpuk, Koyuk, Kuskokwim, Melozitna, Mulchatna, Nelchina-Tazlina, Nuyakuk, Situk, Susitna. Sets forth time requirements for completion of such studies. Authorizes the Secretary to seek cooperative agreements with the owners of non-Federal lands adjoining rivers which are newly designated units of the Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Permits the Secretary to establish a river protection zone extending two miles from the banks of such rivers. Withdraws the minerals in Federal lands within the boundaries of such rivers and within each such river protection zone from all forms of appropriation under United States mining laws. Authorizes the Secretary to permit the use of snowmobiles for customary purposes by local residents and by authorized subsistence users, if such use was occurring on or before January 1, 1979. Authorizes the Secretary to promulgate regulations to protect the quality and quantity of water in the Wulik River. Allows the Secretary to grant rights-of-way for oil and gas pipelines across the Iditarod Trail or a wild and scenic river when there exists no alternative route. Sets forth the requirements for obtaining a permit for an oil or gas pipeline. Title VI: Federal-State Coordination - Establishes the Alaska Advisory Coordinating Council, cochaired by the Secretary of the Interior and the Governor of Alaska and composed of the Alaska field directors of the Federal land managing and planning agencies; the Commissioners of the Alaska Departments of Natural Resources, Fish and Game, and Environmental Conservation; and representatives from a Village Corporation and a Regional Corporation. Requires that all Council meetings be open to the public, with at least 15 days prior notice in the Federal Register and in newspapers of general circulation in Alaska. Directs the Council to conduct studies and advise the Secretary, other Federal agencies, the State, and Native Corporations regarding land and resource uses in Alaska, including natural resource management, economic development, and other land administration programs. Authorizes the Council to recommend cooperative planning and management zones where the management of lands or resources of one member materially affects another. Authorizes Federal members of the Council to enter into cooperative agreements with Federal agencies, with State and local agencies, and with Native Corporations for mutual consultation, review, and coordination of resource management plans within such zones. Authorizes the Secretary to provide technical and other assistance to landowners whose lands or resources are subject to a cooperative agreement, for fire control, trespass control, law enforcement, resource use, and planning. States that such assistance may be provided without reimbursement if the Secretary determines that doing so would further the purposes of the cooperative agreement and would be in the public interest. Provides that the Council will terminate in ten years, unless extended by Congress. Directs the Council to establish a citizens' advisory committee of land-use advisors. Establishes the Alaska Land Bank Program to facilitate the coordinated management and protection of Federal, State, and Native and other private lands. Authorizes certain private landowners to enter into agreements with the Secretary for ten years, with five year renewal periods, concerning the management of the affected lands. Sets forth required terms of such agreements, as well as benefits to private landowners. Provides, as to Native corporations and other persons or groups that have received or will receive lands or interests therein pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act on this title, immunity from adverse possession, Federal and State taxation, and judgment in any action at law or equity to recover sums owed or penalties incurred by any Native Corporation, or any officer, director, or stockholder of any such Corporation. Title VII: Subsistence - Declares the first priority of this Act to be consumptive uses of fishing and other renewable resources for nonwasteful subsistence uses by local rural residents. Stipulates that restrictions on the taking of populations of fish and wildlife on such lands for subsistence uses in order to protect the continued viability of such populations, or to continue such uses, shall be based on: (1) customary and direct dependence upon the populations as the mainstay of livelihood; (2) local residency; and (3) the availability of alternative resources. Directs the Secretary, if the State fails to do so, to establish: (1) at least seven Alaska subsistence resource regions which, taken together, include all public lands; (2) such local advisory committees within each region, as necessary, based upon a finding that the existing State fish and game advisory committees do not adequately assist in the preparation of the reports required of the regional councils; and (3) a regional advisory council in each subsistence region, to be composed of residents of the affected region. Sets forth the duties of such regional councils in regard to subsistence uses of fish and wildlife within the regions, including the preparation of annual reports to the Secretary. Requires that such reports contain identifications, evaluations and recommended strategies for the management of fish and wildlife populations within the regions, as well as recommendations concerning policies, standards, guidelines, and regulations to implement such strategies. Directs the Secretary to follow the advice of such councils unless he determines in writing that such advice is not supported by substantial evidence, violates recognized principles of fish and wildlife conservation, or would be detrimental to the satisfaction of subsistence needs. Directs the Secretary to take certain administrative action if it is determined that the program or implementation is not in compliance with this Act. Gives the Secretary authority to close public areas to all consumptive uses except subsistence uses by local residents. Sets forth procedures for hearings and appeal by the State. Gives the Secretary emergency authority to temporarily close any public land to subsistence uses if necessary for public safety, administration, or to insure the natural stability and continued productivity of one or more fish or wildlife populations. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements or to otherwise cooperate with other Federal agencies, the State of Alaska, Native Corporations, and other appropriate persons and organizations, (including, through coordination with the Secretary of State, other nations) in order to protect subsistence resources and uses. Prohibits the appropriate Federal agency from withdrawal, reservation, lease, permit, or other use, occupancy or disposition of lands within their jurisdiction if the effect would be to significantly restrict the subsistence uses unless the head of the agency: (1) gives notice to the appropriate State agency, local committees and regional councils; (2) gives notice of, and holds, a hearing in the vicinity of the area involved; and (3) makes specific determinations regarding the purpose and the effect of the restriction. Directs the Secretary to insure the access to subsistence resources on public lands to persons engaged in subsistence uses. Directs the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service to undertake research on fish and wildlife subsistence activities on the public lands. Title VIII: Administrative and Miscellaneous Provisions - Authorizes the Secretary to acquire by purchase, donation, or exchange any lands within the boundaries of any conservation system unit. Stipulates that land owned by the State, a political subdivision or a Native Corporation may only by acquired with their consent. Sets forth administrative provisions relating to such acquisitions. Allows the Secretary to permit on conservation system units the use of snow machines, motorboats, airplanes, and nonmotorized transportation methods, subject to reasonable regulation. Directs the Secretary to authorize and permit temporary access by the State or a private landowner to any conservation system unit, the Alaskan National Petroleum Reserve, or public lands for the purposes of survey and geophysical study and adequate access State or privately owned land and valid mining claims. Removes certain restrictions from sections of the North Slope Haul Road. Authorizes the Secretary to acquire up to 7,500 acres of archaeological or paleontological sites outside of the Cape Krusenstern National Park, Bering Land Bridge National Park, Kobuk Valley National Park, and the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Park. Requires the Secretary, prior to acquiring any such property in excess of 100 acres to submit notice of the proposed acquisition to the appropriate committees of the Congress, and publish notice of such proposed acquisition in the Federal Register. Directs the Secretary to provide advice, assistance, and technical expertise to an applying Native Corporation or Native Group for the purpose of preserving cultural resources, without regard to whether title to such resources is in the United States. Authorizes the Secretary to establish an information and education center for visitors to Alaska, on no more than 1,000 acres of land adjacent to the Alaska Highway. Authorizes the Secretary to establish such centers in Anchorage and Fairbanks, and authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to establish such a center in Juneau, Ketchikan, or Sitka. Sets forth provisions relating to program planning, construction, operation and administration of such centers. Authorizes the Secretary to establish administrative sites and visitor facilities within the conservation units, if compatible, or outside the units. Directs the Secretary to locate such sites and facilities on Native lands where practicable and desirable. Sets forth the authorities of the Secretary in regard to establishing such sites and facilities. Directs the Secretary, under reasonable terms, to permit a person who on or before January 1, 1979, was adequately providing any type of visitor service to a conservation system unit, to continue providing the services if they are consistent with the purposes of the unit. Requires that the Secretary, in selecting persons to provide visitor services, give preference to Native Corporations most directly affected by the conservation system unit, and local residents. Directs the Secretary to establish a local-hire program, under which the Secretary will consider for selection qualified local residents to positions in any of the units, without regard to civil service regulations which require minimum periods of formal training or experience, other preference provisions, or numerical limitations on personnel. Requires the Secretary to submit annual reports and recommendations to Congress on such program. Requires the Secretary to prepare detailed management plans for national park and wildlife refuge units and submit them to Congress within five years of the date of enactment of this Act. Sets forth requirements for such plans, factors which must be considered, public hearings requirements, and requirements for reports to the appropriate committees of Congress. Closes all areas of the National Park System in Alaska to the taking of fish and wildlife, except for authorized subsistence use, fishing, and sport hunting as the Secretary may permit within national preserves. Stipulates that other conservation units will be subject to applicable Federal and State law. Requires that the boundary maps described in this Act shall be on file and available for public inspection in the office of the Secretary of Interior and Secretary of Agriculture. Specifies that in the event of discrepancies between the acreages stated in this Act and those depicted on such maps, the maps shall be controlling. Prohibits the boundaries of areas added to the national systems to extend beyond the mean high tide line to include lands owned by the State unless the State concurs. Directs that a map and legal description of each change in land management status effected by this Act be published in the Federal Register and filed with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate, and that each such description shall have the same force as if included in this Act. Directs that the Secretary shall make each such map and description available for public inspection. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to make minor adjustments in the boundaries or areas added to or established by this Act, as appropriate, following reasonable notice in writing to Congress. Permits reasonable access to and operation and maintenance of existing air and navigation aids and facilities for weather, climate, and fisheries research and monitoring in accordance with applicable law. Authorizes reasonable access to and operation and maintenance of, existing facilities for national defense purposes, notwithstanding any other provision of this Act. Permits the establishment of new facilities for national defense purposes within any conservation unit after consultation with the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture by the head of the applicable Federal department, in accordance with terms and conditions as may be mutually agreed in order to minimize the adverse effects within such unit. Amends the Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park to provide that lands owned by the State or any political subdivision may be acquired by exchange or donation and that the State may include minerals in any such transaction. Withdraws all public lands within a specified area near the Denali National Park from all forms of entry or appropriation under the mining laws and from operation of mineral leasing laws of the United States, for the purpose of establishing Denali Scenic Highway. Directs the Secretary to study the desirability of establishing a Denali Scenic Highway and within three years after the date of enactment to report to the President, who shall advise the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of any legislation to create such a scenic highway (if so recommended). Stipulates that a holder of a permit to use any conservation system shall be strictly liable for damage to any lands, fish, wildlife or other renewable resource, unless such damage was caused by an act of war or the negligence of the United States. Limits damages for such strict liability to $50,000,000 for any one incident. Exempts the State from strict liability. Withdraws all public lands within the conservation system units in Alaska, subject to valid existing rights, from the mining and mineral leasing laws of the United States. Directs any holder of a valid existing mineral claim or lease to exercise their rights in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary to assure such activities are compatible with the conservation unit. Denies valid lease status to certain noncompetitive oil and gas leases. Allows any holder of a mining claim who feels he has suffered loss to bring an action against the United States in the U.S. District Court for Alaska. Directs the Secretary to assess the oil, gas, and other mineral potential on all public lands in the State of Alaska in order to expand the data base with respect to mineral potential of such lands. Title IX: Improvements in Administration of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act - Amends the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to cancel all stock issued previous to December 18, 1991, and to issue shares of appropriate class stock to each stockholder. Makes further provisions for permissible restrictions on stockholders; amendments to the articles of incorporation; and stock alienation, annual audits, and transfer of stock ownership. Includes provisions for: (1) the Secretary waiving the whole section requirement at the request of a Village Corporation in certain specified situations; (2) the selection of land by Regional Corporations where the public lands consist only of the mineral estates; (3) the conveyance of title to the Federal or State Government or the proper municipal corporation to the surface estate for existing airport sites; and (4) the conveyance of fee title of existing cemetery and historical places to the appropriate Regional Corporation. Dissentitles any Regional Corporation which asserts a claim with the Secretary to certain subsurface estate of lands selected under such Act which are in a Wildlife Refuge, to any in lieu surface or subsurface estate. Requires that any such claim must be asserted within 180 days after enactment. Amends the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to exempt from Federal, State, and local taxation the receipt of land or any interest pursuant to this Act to equalize the values of properties. Stipulates the manner to determine the taxable basis of such interests for the purpose of future taxable dispositions. Exempts from taxation real property interests conveyed pursuant to this Act to a Native individual or Native Corporation which are not developed or leased to third parties. States that fire protection of Native land provided by the Department of the Interior shall cover "wildland." Makes provisions for the conveyance of real property by a Village Corporation to a shareholder of such Corporation to provide homesites. Authorizes the Secretary to withdraw twice the amount of unfulfilled entitlement where lands selected and conveyed to a Village Corporation is insufficient to fulfill the Corporation's entitlement. Withdraws from further entry all lands located in patented townsites or which are the subject of an application for patent on the date of enactment of this Act. Provides for the conveyance of unoccupied townsite lands. Requires the Secretary to act on any pending townsite entry and to issue patent, if appropriate, to the townsite trustee. Approves Alaska Native allotment applications which were pending before the Department of the Interior on December 18, 1971, and which describe land that was unreserved on December 13, 1968, except when provided otherwise by the applicable provisions of this Act. Makes exceptions to such approval for: (1) allotment applications describing land within the boundaries of a conservation system unit established before or by this Act and the described land not withdrawn; (2) allotment applications describing land patented or deeded to the State of Alaska, or land selected by, or tentatively approved or confirmed to the State of Alaska as of December 18, 1971 and not withdrawn; (3) allotment applications where a Native Corporation files a protest stating the applicant is not entitled and the land is withdrawn for selection by the Corporation; (4) allotment applications where the State of Alaska files a protest stating the land in the allotment application is necessary for access to public lands; (5) allotment applications where a person or entity files a protest and the land is a situs of an improvement by that person or entity; and (6) an allotment application that was pending before the Department of the Interior on December 18, 1971, which was knowingly and voluntarily relinquished by the applicant. Sets forth procedures for the Secretary to adjust descriptions of lands in allotment applications to eliminate conflicts. Allows the allotment applicant to amend the land description in the allotment if such description describes land that the applicant did not intend to claim. Directs the Secretary to notify the State and all interested parties of such intended correction and gives parties an opportunity to file a protest. Deems vacant, unappropriated and unreserved land described in an allotment application pending before the Department of the Interior on December 18, 1971, which was at such time withdrawn, reserved, or classified for powersite or power-project purposes unless the described land is included as part of a project under the Federal Power Act or is presently utilized for purposes of transmitting or generating electrical power. Reserves such land to be alloted subject to a right or reentry for a 20-year period after the effective date of this Act. Directs the Secretary to identify and adjudicate any record entry or application for title made under an Act other than the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, the Alaska Statehood Act, or the Act of May 17, 1906, prior to issuing a certificate for an allotment subject to this Act. Directs the Secretary to determine whether such entry or application represents a valid existing right. Disallows the affecting of existing rights acquired by actual use of the described lands prior to its withdrawal or classification. Sets forth fiscal year adjustments for appropriation of funds. Directs the Secretary to pay by grant to each of the Native Group Corporations $50,000 to $100,000 depending on the population of each group, to be used for planning, development, and other authorized purposes. Subjects the decisions made by the Secretary under this title or the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to judicial review only if an action is initiated before a court of competent jurisdiction within two years after the Secretary's decision has become final and after the party seeking review has exhausted any administrative appeal rights. Subjects the decisions made by a Village Corporation to reconvey land under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to judicial review only if the action is initiated before a court of competent jurisdiction within one year after the date of the filing of the map of the boundaries under applicable law.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Authorizes the Attorney General to institute a civil action for or in the name of the United States in an appropriate district court whenever he has reasonable cause to believe that a State or its agents are subjecting persons confined in any correctional facility, juvenile correction center, mental hospital, nursing home, or facility for the chronically ill, retarded, or physically handicapped to conditions which deprive such persons of their Federal constitutional or statutory rights. Permits such action only if the Attorney General believes that such deprivation of rights is part of a pattern or practice of denial, if the suit is of general public importance, and after notice and consultation with State officials. Directs the Attorney General to promulgate minimum standards for the resolution of grievances of persons involuntarily confined. Requires individuals confined in State correctional institutions to exhaust State administrative remedies which meet the minimum standards developed by the Attorney General before bringing a civil action under the Civil Rights Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Comprehensive Oil Pollution Liability and Compensation Act - Title I: Domestic Oil Pollution Liability, Compensation, and Fund - Establishes in the Treasury of the United States the Comprehensive Oil Spill Liability Fund for the purpose of paying for otherwise uncompensated losses resulting from oil pollution, for research related to the purposes of this title, and for necessary administrative and personnel costs. Enumerates the sources of monies to be deposited in such fund, including a fee, not to exceed three cents per barrel of oil, imposed upon owners of facilities receiving oil. Obligates owners of such oil to reimburse the refinery or terminal owner the full amount of the fee levied on such person's oil. Impose a civil penalty on any person required to pay or collect such fees who fails to do so. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to issue obligations to the Secretary of the Treasury at times when fund assets are insufficient to meet fund liabilities. Lists the types of injuries which may be compensated under this Act and the potential claimants who have standing to assert claims involving each such type of damage. Imposes joint, several, and strict liability on the owners and operators of each pollution source. Specifies liability limits, except in cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct, for ships and other vessels. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish limits on the liability of classes of facilities used for transporting, producing, processing, storing, or transferring oil. Requires the owner or operator: (1) of any such facility; or (2) of any ship which uses such facility or navigable waters of the United States, to establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility in an amount sufficient to satisfy applicable liability limits. Directs the person in charge of a vessel or facility to immediately notify the Secretary of Transportation of any pollution incident in which the vessel or facility is involved. Specifies procedures whereby the Secretary may, in the absence of such an admission, designate and advertise pollution sources. Directs the Secretary, in instances in which: (1) the owner and operator of a vessel or facility designated by the Secretary deny such vessel's or facility's involvement; (2) the source of the discharge is a public vessel; or (3) the Secretary is unable to designate the pollution source, to advertise procedures for presenting claims directly to the fund. Requires all other claims, with limited exceptions, to be initially presented to the owner or operator, or to such person's grantor. Permits claimants to either present a claim to the fund or to bring an action in an appropriate United States district court when an owner or operator and a guarantor deny liability or fail to settle the claim within a specified period. Sets forth procedures for the disposition and appeal of claims submitted to the fund. Requires both the plaintiff and the defendant in a court action brought against an owner, operator, or guarantor to forward copies of all pleadings to the fund. Permits the fund to intervene in such actions. Subrogates any person or governmental entity, including the fund, paying compensation to all the claimant's claims and rights under this Act. Specifies procedures for and the measure of recovery in actions brought by the fund against owners, operators, or guarantors of alleged pollution sources. Permits a claimant to elect to pursue his remedy for damages under this Act or under any applicable State law and precludes submission of that claim under the alternative procedure. Sets penalties for persons failing to comply with specified provisions in this Act. Title II: Effective Dates; Conforming Amendments: - Specifies the effective date of this Act. Amends specified laws, including the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Act, to conform with the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Equal Pay Reform Act of 1979 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit as a basis for a differential wage rate between employees of the opposite sex the economic profitability to the employer of goods produced, handled, sold, or otherwise worked on.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Health Security Act - Title I: Health Security Benefits - Makes every resident of the United States, and every nonresident citizen when in the United States, eligible for covered services. Authorizes the Health Security Board to enter into reciprocal agreements for coverage of (1) nonresident aliens when in the United States, and (2) U.S. citizens residing abroad. Entitles every eligible person to have payment made by the Health Security Board for any covered service provided within the United States by a participating provider, if such service is necessary or appropriate for the maintenance of health or for the diagnosis or treatment of, or rehabilitation following, injury, disability, or disease. Extends coverage to: (1) professional physician services, wherever furnished, including primary and specialized services, and psychiatric services to outpatients under specified conditions; (2) dental services, including preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic services (exclusive of most orthodontic services), for children under age 15, with the covered age group increasing annually by two years until all persons under age 25 are covered; (3) institutional services, including inpatient and outpatient hospital services, skilled nursing home services, the services of home health service agencies, and other necessary services, including pathology and radiology services, with specified limitations; and (4) pharmaceutical benefits, including two categories of drug use: (A) prescribed medicines administered to inpatients or outpatients within participating hospitals, or to enrollees of comprehensive health service organizations; and (B) drugs necessary for the treatment of certain chronic illnesses or conditions requiring long or expensive drug therapy. Directs the Board to establish, disseminate, and review annually: (1) a list of drugs for use in participating institutions, organizations, and associations; (2) a list of diseases and drugs for use outside such organizational settings, which shall include drug therapy for chronic conditions; and (3) lists of therapeutic devices, appliances, and equipment (including eyeglasses, hearing aids, and prosthetic appliances), and the conditions under which such items are covered benefits. Requires drugs to be listed by their established names as defined in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and also, to the extent the Board deems appropriate, by trade names. Extends coverage to other professional and supporting services, including: (1) the professional services of optometrists and podiatrists; (2) diagnostic and therapeutic services of independent pathology laboratories and radiology services; (3) mental health day care services under specified conditions; (4) alcoholism and drug abuse treatment in free-standing ambulatory centers; (5) family planning and rehabilitation services in certain free-standing centers; (6) emergency and nonemergency transportation services which are essential to overcome problems of access to covered services; and (7) other supporting services, such as psychological, physiotherapy, nutrition, social work, or health education services, which are furnished on behalf of certain approved organizations. Excludes from coverage: (1) health services furnished or paid for under Federal or State workmen's compensation laws; (2) primary or secondary school health services to the extent specified by regulation; (3) cosmetic surgery; (4) the furnishing of unapproved drugs and appliances; (5) certain medical or surgical procedures which the Board finds are experimental or too costly or scarce to provide on a nationwide basis; (6) certain services which are already furnished or available from another provider; and (7) services of a professional practitioner which are furnished in a non-participating hospital. Makes professional practitioners who are licensed on the effective date of enactment of this title eligible providers, but requires practitioners after such date to meet national standards established by the Board in addition to existing State standards. Specifies general eligibility requirements for participating providers, including the filing with the Board of an agreement (1) not to discriminate in providing services to eligible persons; (2) not to make unauthorized charges; and (3) to comply with reporting requirements. Sets forth specific eligibility requirements for various types of participating providers, including (1) general and psychiatric hospitals; (2) skilled nursing homes; (3) home health service agencies; (4) group practice organizations; (5) individual practice associations; and (6) other health service organizations and providers, including independent pathology laboratories and radiological services, ambulance services, and providers of drugs, devices, appliances, and equipment. Sets forth criteria for the utilization review of hospitals and skilled nursing homes. Requires such homes to have in effect an agreement with at least one participating hospital for the transfer of patients and medical and other information as appropriate. Limits the eligibility of providers operating newly constructed or enlarged facilities which are unnecessary for the furnishing of adequate services. Prohibits damages in malpractice judgments to be awarded for the cost of remedial services which the injured party is entitled to receive under this Act. Excludes institutions and employees of the Department of Defense, Veterans Administration, and institutions and employees of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare serving merchant seamen, Indians, or Alaskan Natives, from serving as participating providers, but allows reimbursement for services furnished by such institutions to eligible persons who are not part of their normal clientele. Permits a physician, dentist, optometrist, or podiatrist licensed in one State, and meeting the national standards, to furnish Health Security benefits in any other State. Grants similar authority to other professional and nonprofessional health personnel. Establishes the Health Security Trust Fund, to receive the net assets of existing (Medicare) funds taken over by the Health Security program, the yield of the Health Security taxes, and the Government's contribution from general revenues amounting to 100 percent of the yield from these taxes. Directs the Board to fix for each fiscal year the maximum amount which may be obligated for expenditure from the trust fund, subject to a ceiling determined by specified formulas. Establishes in the Trust Fund a health services account, a health resources development account, an administration account, and a residual general account. Provides for the allocation of the health services account among the regions of the country, based on the aggregate expenditures for covered services in each region during the most recent 12-month period, and: (1) adjusted to reflect changes in the consumer price index and the expected numbers of eligible beneficiaries and participating providers; and (2) modified by the Board to reduce inequalities in per capita expenditures, to the extent that the quality of services are unimpaired. Directs the Board to divide for each fiscal year the allocation to each region into available funds to pay: (1) institutional services, (2) physician services, (3) dental services, (4) the furnishing of drugs, (5) the furnishing of devices, appliances, and equipment, and (6) other professional and miscellaneous services. Directs the Board to allot such funds among the health service areas established in each region under this title. Provides that payments for covered services furnished to eligible persons by participating providers shall be made from the health services account in the Trust Fund. Sets forth specific payment requirements for the various types of participating providers. Entitles every independent professional practitioner to elect to be paid by the fee-for-service method. Entitles every independent practitioner in the general practice of medicine, and every dentist furnishing covered dental services, to elect to be paid by the capitation method upon the filing of an agreement with the Board. Authorizes the Board to pay independent practitioners full-time or part-time stipends instead of, or in addition to, these methods of compensation. Allows the Board to experiment with other methods of reimbursement which do not increase service costs or encourage the overutilization or underutilization of services. Provides that hospitals, skilled nursing homes, and home health service agencies shall be paid approved operating costs as set forth in an annual budget approved by the Board. Provides that health organizations shall be paid for covered services by the capitation method. Directs the Board to determine from time to time a maximum price for the cost of a drug to a provider. States that payments for a drug furnished by an independent pharmacy shall consist of its cost to the pharmacy, not to exceed the maximum price, plus a dispensing fee, which shall be established by the Board after consultation with representatives of the pharmaceutical profession. Provides for the reduction of payments to providers for unnecessary capital expenditures. Authorizes the Board to: (1) assist in the establishment, expansion, and operation of group practice organizations, other public or nonprofit health service agencies, and nonprofit organizations furnishing comprehensive dental services; and (2) provide for the recruitment, education, and training of needed health personnel, including practitioners who will agree to practice in urban or rural areas of acute shortage. Authorizes special improvement grants: (1) to any public or other nonprofit health agency or institution to establish improved coordination and linkages with other providers of services; and (2) to organizations providing comprehensive ambulatory care, to improve their utilization review, budget, statistical, or records and information retrieval systems, to acquire equipment needed for those purposes, or to acquire equipment useful for mass screening or for other diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Authorizes grants for the development and conduct of programs of personal care services. Authorizes appropriations for the purposes of the health services development fund. Creates an administrative structure within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare with exclusive responsibility for the administration of the Health Security Program. Establishes a five-member, full-time Health Security Board serving under the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Sets forth the responsibilities and duties of the Board and the Secretary with respect to this title and the provision of comprehensive health care. Provides that this title shall be administered by the Board through the regions of the Department and, within each region, through health service areas, which shall be the same as those areas established by the Secretary under the Public Health Service Act. Establishes a National Health Security Advisory Council, with the Chairman of the Board serving as the Council's Chairman and 20 additional members not in the employ of the Federal Government. Authorizes the Advisory Council to appoint professional or technical committees to assist in its functions. Directs the Advisory Council to advise the Board on matters of general policy in the administration of the program, the formulation of regulations and the allocation of funds for services. Directs the Board to appoint regional and local advisory councils for each region and each health service area. Provides for the participation of appropriate State agencies in the administration of the Health Security program. Specifies responsibilities of the Board, including: (1) informing the public and providers about the administration and operation of the Health Security program; (2) making a continuing study and evaluation of the program, including the adequacy, quality, and costs of services; (3) making detailed statistical and other studies on a national, regional, or local basis of any aspect of the title; (4) developing and testing records and information retrieval systems; (5) developing, in collaboration with the pharmaceutical profession, improved administrative practices for the reimbursement of independent pharmacies; and (6) developing and testing incentive systems for improving the quality of care, and methods of peer review of drug utilization and of other service performances. Directs the Board to make evaluations and issue guidelines with respect to health manpower education and training. Requires the Board, in accordance with regulations, to make determinations of: (1) entitlement to benefits; (2) who are participating providers; (3) whether services are covered; and (4) amounts to be paid to providers. Entitles a provider or other aggrieved person to an administrative appeal from such determinations, and authorizes judicial review of a final decision. Sets forth procedures for the suspension or termination of participating providers. Authorizes the Board to issue to any participating provider, other than an individual professional provider, a directive with respect to the discontinuous of services for the purpose of payment, or the initiation of covered services. Authorizes the Board, with the advice and assistance of the Commission on the Quality of Health Care, to issue and review regulations assuring the quality of care furnished under this Act. Directs the Board to establish reasonable continuing education requirements for physicians, dentists, optometrists, and podiatrists. Sets forth conditions under which major surgery and other specialized services designated in regulations are covered under this program. Authorizes the Board, on recommendation of the Commission on the Quality of Health Care, to contract with Professional Standards Review Organizations to monitor the quality of institutional and other services. Establishes the positions of a Deputy Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and an Under Secretary for Health and Science. Authorizes appropriations for the purposes of this title. Stipulates that no provision of this Act shall alter any contractual obligation of an employer to provide health services to his employees and their dependents. Title II: Health Security Taxes - Converts the existing Medicare hospital insurance payroll taxes into Health Security taxes, and raises the rates to one percent on employees and 3.5 percent on employers. Excludes from the gross income of employees, for income tax purposes, payment by their employers of part or all of the Health Security taxes on the employees. Converts the existing Medicare self-employment tax into a Health Security self-employment tax, raising the rate to 2.5 percent. Adds a new 2.5 percent tax on health security unearned income (unless such income is less than $400 a year), subject to the same maximum on taxable income as is applicable to the employee and self-employment taxes. Title III: Commission on the Quality of Health Care - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare a Commission on the Quality of Health Care, with the primary responsibilities of: (1) initiating and continuing development of methods of assessing the quality of health care furnished under this Act; and (2) submitting to the Secretary and the Health Security Board appropriate findings and recommendations. Directs the Commission to give special consideration to care furnished for those illnesses and conditions which have relatively high incidence in the population and which are relatively amenable to medical or other care. Title IV: Repeal or Amendment of Other Acts - Makes conforming and technical amendments to specified Acts. Repeals the Medicare program. Stipulates that after the effective date of benefits received under this Act no State shall be required to furnish any service covered under Health Security as a part of its State plan for participation under Medicaid. Title V: Studies Related to Health Security - Directs the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury to study the practicability of extending the coverage of health services for U.S. residents in other countries. Directs the Secretary to study the means of coordinating the Federal health benefit programs for merchant seamen and Indians and Alaskan Natives, veterans, and members of the Armed Forces with the Health Security benefit program.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Consumer Food Labeling Act - Title I: Truth in Food Labeling Act - Truth in Food Labeling Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require that the labels on all foods disclose each of their ingredients in order of predominance and the percentage of each ingredient in the food. Title II: Nutritional Labeling Act - Nutritional Labeling Act - Requires the processor to label any packaged consumer food product with specified information, including an analysis of nutritional contents, net weight and drained weight, where appropriate. Requires such label to state the nutritional value of the commodity, and to appear in conspicuous and easily legible type in distinct contrast with other matters on the package. Requires the conspicuous statement of any difference in weight or volume which may have occurred in the repackaging of a consumer product from a container of any given net content to a container of a different net content. Empowers the appropriate agencies to prescribe regulations and to petition for injunctive relief to carry out and enforce the provisions of this Act. Prescribes a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for willful violation of any provision of this Act. Title III: Open Dating of Perishable Food Act - Open Dating of Perishable Food Act - Amends the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act to require the manufacturer or packager of a perishable or semiperishable food to state on its label the pull date for such food and the optimum temperature and humidity conditions for its storage by the ultimate consumer. Requires pull dates also on shipping containers or wrappings. Prohibits, with specified exceptions, the display, offer for sale, or sale of any such food whose pull date has expired. Prohibits the change, alteration, defacement, or removal of any pull date before sale of such food to the ultimate consumer. Prescribes criminal penalties for the violation of this Act. Requires the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to report annually to Congress on the enforcement of this Act. Title IV: Marketing Practices Disclosure Act - Marketing Practices Disclosure Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require that labels on packaged foods contain the names and places of business of the manufacturer, the packer, and the distributor, not, as currently, only one of them. Title V: Consumer Food Grading Act - Consumer Food Grading Act - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to develop and promulgate a system of retail quality grade designations for consumer food products expressed in a uniform nomenclature, giving consideration to nutritional quality and wholesomeness of food products, as well as acceptability. Title VI: Unit and Item Pricing Act - Unit and Item Pricing Act - Amends the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act to require retailers to mark plainly the total selling price of any packaged consumer commodity on its package, and the retail unit price on either the package or a point of display, like a shelf, in close proximity thereto. Exempts from the requirements of this Act certain small retail outlets, and any retail outlet in any State or political subdivision which has enacted mandatory unit pricing laws which are, in the judgment of the Federal promulgating authority, superior to the requirements of this Act. Title VII: New Ingredient Notification Act - New Ingredient Notification Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require any food product to carry a label setting forth in a conspicuous manner any change in its ingredients for six months after such change. Title VIII: Misleading Brand Names Act - Misleading Brand Names Act - Amends the Federal Trade Commission Act to make it an unfair or deceptive act or practice to advertise a brand name of a product which inherently misleads the public as to the product's value, quantity, quality of contents, or performance.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Handgun Control Act of 1979 - Makes it unlawful for any person to import, manufacture, sell, buy, transfer, receive, transport, own, or possess any handgun or handgun ammunition. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to exempt from this prohibition handguns: (1) required for the operation of licensed pistol clubs; (2) utilized by Federal, State, and local agencies or by licensed security guard services; or (3) manufactured before 1890 and which are unserviceable and intended for use as collector's items. Specifies procedures for the licensing of pistol clubs, including conditions for approval of applications by the Secretary of the Treasury and administrative and judicial review of a license denial or revocation. Sets forth requirements for the operation of licensed pistol clubs, including record keeping of the receipt, sale, or other disposition of handguns. Imposes criminal penalties on persons violating the provisions of this Act, including those persons making misrepresentations in required records or license applications. Subjects to seizure and forfeiture any handgun used, or intended to be used, in violation of this Act or any other Federal criminal law. Establishes procedures for the reimbursement of persons voluntarily delivering handguns to a law enforcement agency.
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 1978
Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require that a statement of the steps that have been or will be taken to reduce unobligated balances of budget authority under Federal programs and an estimate of the level of unobligated balances of budget authority that will exist at the end of the fiscal year be included in the report accompanying the first concurrent resolution on the budget each year, and in the annual reports submitted by other committees to the Budget Committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and in the President's annual budget.
![Official portrait of Rep. Holtzman, Elizabeth [D-NY-16]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/h000752_200.jpg)