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United States · Official source
2,451 records where Rep. Lancaster, H. Martin [D-NC-3] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Rural Health Statistics Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require that the geographic area description and analysis in a currently-mandated annual report on the health of the Nation's people include a description and analysis by rural area and urban area.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Rural Medical Emergencies Air Transport Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to at least seven States to assist in the creation or enhancement of air medical transport systems that provide victims of medical emergencies in rural areas with access to treatments. Requires: (1) preference for States with plans to integrate the proposed air medical system into a comprehensive network or plan for regional or statewide emergency medical services; and (2) the grant to be administered by the State agency responsible for medical emergency or trauma services programs. Allows the State to award grant funds to public and private entities. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Rural Mental Health Initiatives Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish, in the National Institute of Mental Health, the Office of Rural Mental Health. Mandates grants for demonstration projects to improve the availability of rural mental health services through providing such services in the same facilities as other health or social services, and otherwise integrating mental health, other health, and social services. Requires reports to the Congress. Requires that funds be made available to carry out these provisions from amounts appropriated under the Act for mental health research. Requires State comprehensive mental health services plans to describe how mental health services will be provided to rural residents.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 to allow a consortium including one or more rural hospitals (including at least a small rural hospital and/or one or more rural health clinics) to participate in the rural health medical education demonstration project of the Department of Health and Human Services. Authorizes appropriations as necessary to pay costs of such project which are attributable to travel and living expenses of medical residents and travel expenses of supervising physicians, to the extent such costs are not reimbursed under the Medicare program.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Rural Access to Obstetrical Care Act of 1991 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) provide for demonstration projects to reduce infant mortality by improving access in rural, underserved areas to obstetric services for eligible pregnant women under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act; (2) develop and make available to the public each year a compendium of State initiatives to address the obstetric access crisis in rural areas; and (3) provide funding for a study, and report to the Congress on, obstetrical malpractice claims payment by Medicaid and private insurance companies.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Amends the Public Health Service Act to require that between 25 and 50 percent (currently, at least 50 percent) of certain block grant funds be used for prevention and treatment with respect to intravenous drug abuse.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Primary Care Training Amendments of 1991 - Amends provisions of the Public Health Service Act authorizing grants and contracts for training, traineeships, and fellowships in general internal medicine and general pediatrics to require that a school, hospital, or other entity, in order to receive a grant or contract, provide certain types of training related to family medicine. Adds demonstration of a commitment to family medicine to the criteria for establishing priority in making the grants and contracts.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Rural Hospital Medicare Certification Due Process Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to establish due process requirements for State certifications of providers of services under the Medicare program.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Improving Access to Health Care Through Telecommunications Act - Mandates grants to rural health care consortia for acquisition and operation of interactive telecommunications systems to improve delivery of health care services. Allows information uses to include consultations, x-ray transfers, professional education programs, patient record transfers, and claims processing. Limits grants to one consortium per State, subject to waiver for consortia serving two or more States. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Provides for the awarding of the Purple Heart to former prisoners of war held captive before April 25, 1962, on the same basis at it may be awarded former prisoners of war captured on or after such date.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services should explore, expand, and promote opportunities for shared services in all areas, including alcohol and drug treatment, gerontology, mental health, pharmacy services, radiology, and other diagnostic specialties.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1991
Antiterrorism Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal criminal code to define the term "international terrorism" to include activities that: (1) involve violent acts that are a violation of Federal or State laws, or that would be a criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United States or of any State; (2) appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, or affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping; and (3) occur primarily outside U.S. territorial jurisdiction or transcend national boundaries. Authorizes any U.S. national injured in his person, property, or business by reason of an act of international terrorism to bring a civil action in U.S. district court and recover treble damages and the cost of the suit, including attorney's fees. Specifies that a final judgment or decree rendered in favor of the United States in certain classes of criminal proceedings (such as those involving the murder of a foreign official, kidnapping, hostage taking, killing of a U.S. national, or an aircraft piracy-related offense) or in favor of any foreign state in a criminal proceeding to the extent that such judgment or decree may be accorded full faith and credit under U.S. law shall estop the defendant from denying the essential allegations of the criminal offense in a subsequent civil proceeding under this Act. Sets forth provisions with respect to jurisdiction and venue for, and limitation of, such civil actions.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1991
Underwater Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1991 - Amends the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979 to require the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations requiring that operators of underwater pipeline facilities provide information (and revise such information periodically) such as the following for each facility: (1) the location, diameter, and length of the facility; (2) the date of installation, type, and manufacturer of the facility; (3) the date on which significant repairs were made or when the facility was replaced, and the nature of the repair, replacement, or both; and (4) an assessment by the operator of the susceptability of the facility to corrosion and outside force damage. Directs the Secretary to issue annual reports to the Congress. Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish and maintain in a computer data base a hazardous liquid pipeline facility inventory, incorporating the data submitted by such operators, and other data collected, under this Act; and (2) make such data accessible by computer telecommunication and any other appropriate means to any person, at a reasonable cost, and to States and municipalities without charge. Sets forth additional reporting requirements. Directs the Secretary: (1) within one year, to issue regulations requiring all underwater pipeline facilities which can accommodate the passage, without significant alterations, of instrumented internal inspection devices to be inspected with such devices (and requires such inspections to be conducted on at least an annual basis, unless the Secretary determines that less frequent inspections do not diminish their value in preventing releases); (2) within 18 months, to issue regulations requiring the use of remotely controlled emergency flow restricting devices on all underwater pipeline facilities (and requiring the annual inspection of such devices and the review of any operational procedures and training guidelines associated with the use of such devices); and (3) within six months, to study the benefits of automatic emergency flow restricting devices on underwater pipeline facilities in preventing releases into environmentally sensitive areas or significant commercial water routes (and, upon completion of such study, to report to the Congress and make recommendations). Requires the Secretary, within six months, to submit to the Congress a report describing Department of Transportation (DOT) actions to ensure that its enforcement policies and procedures pertaining to the hazardous liquid pipeline safety program are consistent throughout the program, including the extent to which: (1) DOT has implemented procedures to coordinate the enforcement activities of its hazardous liquid pipeline safety field inspection staff with headquarters enforcement and legal staff, written guidelines regarding procedures for the adequate documentation of cases, and written guidelines delineating the type and severity of sanctions that should be applied to violators of pipeline safety regulations; and (2) guidelines pertaining to sanctions incorporate an operator's enforcement history and the extent to which such guidelines require the levying of more severe sanctions on chronic violators of hazardous liquid pipeline safety regulations. Directs the Secretary to collect information regarding each hazardous liquid pipeline facility operator's inspection and enforcement history in order to: (1) determine whether there is evidence of chronic violations of hazardous liquid pipeline safety regulations by such operator; and (2) set priorities for inspection, increased monitoring, rulemaking, and in the event that widespread deficiencies are discovered in the hazardous liquid pipeline safety program, remedial efforts to correct such deficiencies. Requires that information pertaining to operators possessing a record of chronic violations of hazardous liquid pipeline safety regulations be made available to other Federal, State, and local government agencies and officials, and to the public upon written request. Amends the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 to require that not less than 20 (currently, five) percent of any amounts appropriated for carrying out the Federal grants-in-aid provisions for any fiscal year beginning after September 30, 1991 (currently, 1985) be available for grants to aid State enforcement under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1991
Child Health Program Act of 1991 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require State plans for medical assistance to make available through a mail application process preventive care services and outpatient and physicians' services for children whose parents do not have health insurance but have incomes between 133 and 185 percent of the Federal poverty line and choose, via an annual enrollment fee, to participate in such child health program. Finances such program entirely through Federal funding. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to finance such program by removing the cap on the maximum amount of income subject to the Medicare hospital insurance (part A of title XVIII of the Social Security Act) payroll tax.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1991
Federal Deposit Insurance Fair Assessment Act - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to include foreign deposits and certain nondeposit liabilities in the assessment base for purposes of determining deposit insurance premium payments.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1991
Title I: Preconditions for the Receipt by China of Nondiscriminatory Treatment - Prohibits the President from recommending for a 12-month period in 1992 continuation of a waiver of human rights and emigration requirements for nondiscriminatory treatment (most-favored-nation treatment) for China under the Trade Act of 1974 unless a specified report is submitted to the Congress stating that China has accounted for and released prisoners who dissented in Tiananmen Square on June 3, 1989 and made progress in: (1) preventing gross violations of human rights (including in Tibet); (2) ending religious persecution and releasing members of religious groups who were detained for their religious beliefs; (3) removing restrictions there and in Tibet on freedom of the press and on broadcasts by Voice of America; (4) terminating harassment of Chinese citizens in the United States, including the return and renewal of passports confiscated for prodemocracy activities; (5) ensuring access of international human rights monitoring groups to prisoners; (6) ensuring freedom from torture and from inhumane prison conditions; (7) terminating prohibitions on peaceful assembly and demonstration imposed after June 3, 1989; and (8) adhering to the Joint Declaration on Hong Kong. Requires the President, if he recommends such extension, to include in a specified document to be submitted to the Congress a report on China's progress in implementing the above-mentioned measures.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1991
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a pilot program at not less than 30 Department of Veterans Affairs facilities to provide hospice care for terminally ill veterans who are currently being provided hospital, nursing home, or domiciliary care by the Department. Directs the Secretary to contract with non-Department facilities that are considered hospice programs for purposes of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Outlines provisions concerning the duration of such hospice care for each individual, allowing such individual to terminate such care or, in some cases, to have such care extended. Provides for payments to hospice programs for the provision of such care. Requires the Secretary to notify terminally ill veterans of the availability of such pilot program. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on the quality of care furnished under the program as well as its cost-effectiveness.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1991
Designates the week beginning November 10, 1991, as National Women Veterans Recognition Week.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1991
Designates the week beginning April 19, 1992, as Big Brothers/Big Sisters Appreciation Week.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1991
Expedited Consideration of Proposed Rescissions Act of 1991 - Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to require a special message, in the case of budget authority proposed to be rescinded or reserved, to include language amending the law authorizing such programs to allow them to continue to function at the proposed new level of budget authority. Allows the President to transmit to both Houses of the Congress, for expedited consideration, one or more special messages proposing to rescind all or part of any item of budget authority provided in an appropriation bill. Requires that such special message be transmitted not later than three days after the President approves the appropriation bill and be accompanied by a draft bill or joint resolution that would, if enacted, rescind the budget authority proposed to be rescinded. Sets forth House and Senate procedures for the expedited consideration of such a proposal.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1991
Designates October 1991 as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1991
Establishes the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, Idaho. Directs the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to continue implementation of the comprehensive land use plan for the management and rehabilitation of public lands and resources within the conservation area. Requires the Secretrary to review such plan for the compatibility of the military use of such area with the protection and conservation of the area's raptor (birds of prey) habitat and resources. Authorizes the Secretary to establish a visitors center designed to interpret the history, research, management, geology, ecology, and biology of the raptors and their relationship to man. Declares that the management plan shall provide for the continued use of the conservation area's Orchard Training Area by the Idaho National Guard. Authorizes the grazing of domestic livestock within such area. Provides that private lands acquired within the boundaries of the conservation area shall become a part of such area. Directs the Secretary to appoint a steering committee to review long-range plans and research and management of the conservation area. Releases lands of the Snake River Birds of Prey Natural Area not designated as wilderness for multiple use and management and requires such lands to be managed as part of the conservation area. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1991
Aid for Trade Act of 1991 - Title I: Use of Foreign Assistance Funds - Allocates, on a percentage basis, bilateral economic assistance for FY 1993 through 1997 and thereafter for the construction, design, or servicing of developmentally sound capital projects. Limits the use of such assistance to the procurement of U.S. goods and services. Establishes a program for the combined use of credits, loans, and guarantees by the Export-Import Bank and the private sector and grants from the Agency for International Development (AID) under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to support the construction, design, or servicing of such capital projects. Directs the President to establish an interagency capital projects coordinating committee composed of specified Federal officials to ensure a strategic approach to the support of such projects. Requires the committee to submit to the Congress a report with respect to the support and coordination of such projects and the extent to which they and tied aid programs have affected U.S. exports. Sets specified percentage limits on cash transfers with respect to Economic Support Funds for FY 1993 through 1997. Requires the Comptroller General to study and report to the Congress on cash payment assistance. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to require the Administrator of each agency, in determining the geographic code for the purchase of goods and services, not to grant any waivers from Geographic Codes 000 (United States only) or 941 (United States and least-developed countries) except for specified reasons. Requires the Administrator of AID to report annually to the Congress on such waivers. Title II: Increase in Credit Authority - Amends the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to direct the Export-Import Bank to increase its direct loans and reserve funds for loan guarantees for FY 1993 through 1997 by 15 percent per year. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 and 1994 to the Tied Aid Credit Fund. Amends the Trade and Development Enhancement Act of 1983 to authorize appropriations for FY 1993 and 1994 to support preliminary engineering and design work for capital projects. Title III: Eastern Europe Recovery Program - Authorizes the President, acting through the Administrator of AID, to provide technical assistance to assist in the revision of public policy and administrative reforms to effect the evolution of free-market economics among the Eastern European nations. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes within the Export-Import Bank an Eastern European Loan Guarantee Program which shall provide guarantees to U.S. lenders and exporters to export U.S. products and services to Eastern Europe. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to increase the amount of direct investment loans that the Overseas Private Investment Corporation must make each fiscal year. Earmarks a specified amount of such loans to promote the activities of U.S. small businesses in Eastern Europe. Title IV: General Provisions - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury and the President of the Export-Import Bank to report to the Congress on the status of negotiations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) with respect to reducing the levels of concessional financing by its member countries (other than the United States) if a new agreement has not been reached by December 31, 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1991
Directs the Resolution Trust Corporation to convey property in North Carolina known as the Nags Head Woods tract to a government agency or qualified organization for conservation purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1991
Morris K. Udall Wilderness Act of 1991 - Designates specified lands in Alaska as the Arctic Coastal Plain Wilderness and a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1991
Designates October 1991 as National Lock-In-Safety Month.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that Federal law governing the taxation of State and local government bonds should not be changed in order to increase Federal revenues.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1991
Civic and Character Values-In-Schools Act of 1991 - Title I: Commission on Values Education - Establishes the Commission on Values Education. Directs the Commission to report, with recommendations, to the Congress and the President within one year after enactment of this Act. Authorizes appropriations. Terminates the Commission 30 days after its final report to the Congress. Directs specified congressional committees, within 90 days after submission of the Commission's report, to conduct hearings on such report, and to report to their respective houses on results of such hearings within 30 days after their completion. Title II: Ethics and Values Demonstration Program - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to provide for an ethics and values demonstration program under the Secretary's Fund for Innovation in Education. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants to State educational agencies, local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and other public and private organizations to conduct activities designed to stimulate understanding of ethics, civic and character values, and the principles of democracy as a means of enhancing and improving elementary and secondary education. Sets forth authorized uses of such grant funds. Sets forth application requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1991
Title I: Combined Sewer and Storm Water System Overflow Control - Estuarine Zone and Marine Waters Combined Sewer Overflow Control Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to issue regulations setting forth permit requirements for discharges from combined storm water and sanitary sewer overflows into the estuarine zone and marine waters. Directs the Administrator, in determining the content of such regulations, to take into account; (1) the expected composition, frequency, and volume of each discharge; (2) the anticipated effect of each discharge on the environment, economy, and aesthetic and recreational values of the receiving waters; and (3) the need for a flexible approach in minimizing such discharges. Authorizes the Administrator to issue permits after 1999 for such discharges only if the permittee has taken reasonable efforts to eliminate dry weather discharges and to minimize wet weather discharges. Requires the Administrator to provide technical assistance to State and local governments issued permits under this Act. Directs permittees, as a condition for permit issuance or renewal, to budget and expend an amount of funds for: (1) identifying all discharges of overflows into the estuarine zone and marine waters; (2) implementing water quality-based limitations of such discharges; and (3) limiting such discharges. Waives such requirement if the Administrator determines that the permittee or the State in which such permittee is located has begun to implement a plan that will result in the cessation of dry weather discharges and minimization of wet weather discharges by the year 2000. Makes funds available to permittees to address water quality problems resulting from such discharges, including the implementation of control strategies to eliminate dry weather discharges and minimize wet weather discharges. Directs the Administrator to report to the Congress on: (1) the feasibility and cost of establishing a technological clearinghouse to make available to States and local governments information on, and assistance in, controlling and ceasing discharges of overflows from combined storm water and sanitary sewers into the estuarine zone and marine waters; and (2) the major components of discharges which contribute significantly to floating debris and debris which washes up on shores and ways to eliminate the introduction of such debris into combined storm water and sanitary sewer systems. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: National Estuary Program Amendment - National Estuary Program Amendment Act - Requires the Administrator to: (1) identify estuaries where overflow discharges from combined storm water and sanitary sewer systems constitute a major source of pollution; (2) urge that the management conference for each estuary develop a priority action plan to address such overflows; and (3) report to the Congress on the extent of such discharges and the anticipated Federal cost of addressing the problem. Title III: Marine Pollution Discharge Abatement - Marine Discharge Abatement Act - Prohibits the issuance or renewal of permits for pollutant discharges into estuaries, the oceans, or other navigable waters (at the discretion of the Administrator): (1) if the applicant has failed to demonstrate the need for the discharge and the lack of reasonable alternatives to it; or (2) for any discharge for which insufficient information exists to determine its environmental impact based on the guidelines published under the Clean Water Act. (Current law bars discharges in any event where insufficient information exists to make a reasonable judgment based on such guidelines.) Prohibits the waiver of permit requirements for discharges into specified estuaries or the territorial sea. Directs the Administrator to review existing guidelines and to revise guidelines as necessary to prevent the degradation of such waters.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1991
Federal Recycling Incentive Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to direct the Administrator of General Services to: (1) establish, and periodically modify, a program requiring each Federal department, agency, or instrumentality to separate and collect solid waste (including high-grade paper, newspapers, aluminum, bottles, and containers) for recycling; (2) establish and implement a system for monitoring and enforcing the provisions of this Act; and (3) report periodically to the Congress as to the extent of compliance for the preceding 12-month period. Authorizes any such entity to retain any moneys received from the sale of such waste for use in carrying out its functions. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1991
Family Caregiver Support Act of 1991 - Amends the Social Security Act to add a new title XXI entitled "Grants to States for Family Caregiver Support Programs" to establish a program to enable States to furnish services to support informal caregivers of individuals with functional disabilities. Outlines State plan requirements for such caregiver support services, including requirements that: (1) States must support 50 percent of program administration costs; (2) services may not supplant Medicare or Medicaid (titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act) or private insurance otherwise available to eligible recipients of services; and (3) persons with incomes exceeding 200 percent of the Federal poverty level must pay on a sliding fee scale established by the State, up to a maximum annual income of $75,000. Caps total annual Federal expenditures at $2,400 per eligible recipient. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the new title.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1991
Designates July 28, 1992, as Buffalo Soldiers Day.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1991
Authorizes additional appropriations for increased border patrol personnel. Makes amounts from the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund available for such purpose.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1991
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from approving or renewing a waiver under a State Medicaid program of Medicaid's home health care exclusion if such program requires a patient to be or have been an inpatient of a hospital or a resident of a nursing facility in order to be eligible for home health care services.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1991
Hearing Loss Testing Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) require that every child born in the United States be tested for hearing loss at the time of birth; and (2) establish uniform standards for such testing. Requires each health insurance policy, including contracts for coverage by health maintenance organizations, which provides for any benefits with respect to a newborn to include coverage for newborn hearing loss testing. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to add newborn hearing loss testing to the definition of screening services. Directs the Secretary to provide for such a grant or other program as necessary to assure that all newborns in the United States are tested for hearing loss at the time of birth. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1991
Grants a Federal charter to the Fleet Reserve Association.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1991
Designates September 20, 1991, as National POW/MIA recognition Day. Requires the display of the National League of Families POW/MIA flag: (1) at all national cemeteries and the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial on May 30, 1991 (Memorial Day), September 20, 1991 (National POW/MIA Recognition Day), and November 11, 1991 (Veteran's Day); and (2) on, or on the grounds of, the White House, and the buildings containing the primary offices of the Secretaries of State, Defense, and Veterans Affairs, and the Director of the Selective Service Commission on September 20, 1991 (National POW/MIA Recognition Day).
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1991
Designates May 15, 1991, as Joe DiMaggio Day, in honor of the 50th anniversary of his remarkable and lasting major league feat of hitting in 56 consecutive games.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1991
Rural Telephone Cooperative Associations ERISA Amendments Act of 1991 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide that rural telephone cooperative association employee welfare benefit plans shall be treated the same as those of rural electric cooperatives, for purposes of ERISA preemption of State laws (by excluding such telephone organizations from the definition of multiple employer welfare arrangements, which are subject to certain State regulations).
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1991
Title I: General Provisions - Operation Coastal Shield of 1991 - Sets forth congressional findings and purposes with respect to coastal and Great Lakes water quality. Title II: Coastal Water Quality - Amends the Clean Water Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) issue guidance to States for implementing water quality criteria, developing water and sediment quality-based effluent limitations, and implementing water quality related controls on nonpoint sources; (2) submit a workplan to specified congressional committees on a five-year schedule for developing and revising criteria for pollutants found in coastal waters; (3) issue or revise at least five new criteria and revise at least five existing criteria biennially for pollutants which pose the greatest risk to coastal waters; and (4) publish biological criteria for assessing and protecting coastal water quality and habitat to complement pollutant-specific criteria. Requires a coastal State, whenever the State reviews water quality standards, to adopt coastal water quality standards for pollutants for which water quality criteria and information have been issued. Requires criteria issued by the Administrator to take effect immediately as interim coastal water quality standards for States that fail to adopt approvable standards. Directs the Administrator to publish information on methods for measuring water quality criteria for pollutants that may pose risks to coastal and Great Lakes water quality on bases other than pollutant-by-pollutant criteria. Requires applicants for Federal permits to conduct activities which may result in discharges into navigable waters to obtain a certification from the State in which the discharge will originate that such activities will not contribute to a failure to achieve water quality standards. Directs coastal States to develop coastal water quality protection programs for restoring and protecting coastal water quality. Requires such programs to: (1) incorporate requirements of specified Acts; (2) identify coastal waters for which standards cannot be expected to be maintained and waters that currently meet standards but are threatened by increases in pollution; (3) establish a priority ranking for such waters and implement schedules for developing water quality restoration plans for those waters; (4) provide for a system of allocating and exchanging discharge reduction credits and pollution offsets among sources of conventional pollutants and nutrients into coastal waters; (5) establish a system through which a State authority certifies that the issuance or renewal of a discharge permit or the undertaking of any activity subject to the requirements of a coastal water quality restoration plan complies with such requirements; and (6) ensure public participation in the program and include procedures to ensure compliance with the program. Sets forth: (1) requirements for coastal water quality restoration plans; and (2) approval procedures for such plans and for coastal water quality protection programs. Directs the Administrator to develop water quality restoration plans for States that fail to do so. Requires the Administrator to issue orders to, or commence civil actions against, persons failing to comply with coastal water quality protection program requirements. Authorizes citizen suits against the United States and other governmental authorities for violations of such requirements. Prohibits the issuance or renewal of permits for discharges into estuaries nominated for the National Estuary Program, except in compliance with specified guidelines. Directs the Administrator to review and revise guidelines to prevent the degradation of coastal water quality and to reflect changes made by this Act. Authorizes State Governors to request the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to enter into a cooperative agreement to permit a State and its political subdivisions to enforce requirements for marine sanitation devices. Requires such agreements to authorize States or political subdivisions to assess and retain required penalties. Directs the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Administrator to notify the fish and game and water pollution control authorities of each coastal State of the funds available under the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act to finance shoreside pumpout stations for marine sanitation devices. Requires the Administrator to review and revise standards for marine sanitation devices to prevent discharges from vessels equipped with Type III marine aviation devices. Directs the Administrator to: (1) identify pollution control measures for controlling the introduction of pollutants into coastal waters from nonpoint sources; (2) develop techniques for evaluating the effectiveness of such measures; and (3) make available to State and local authorities technical guidance for implementing and monitoring such measures. Requires the Administrator, with respect to best management practices for industry, to identify releases of pollutants that may cause risks to human health or the environment and to prohibit or restrict the production of such pollutants to eliminate such risks. Revises provisions concerning the purposes of management conferences under the National Estuary Program. Requires such conferences to be convened for periods of at least five years (currently, up to five years). Permits the extension of a conference for an additional five years if the affected Governors concur in the extension and the extension is necessary to meet requirements. Revises approval and implementation procedures for conservation and management plans under the Program. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants for the implementation of such plans. Extends the authorization of appropriations for Program activities. Authorizes appropriations to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and the Director to participate in the development and implementation of such plans. Requires the Administrator to issue orders to, or commence civil actions against, persons failing to comply with requirements concerning national estuaries. Title III: Coastal and Great Lakes Contaminated Sediments Remediation Program - Directs the Administrator to conduct a survey and report to the Congress on bottom sediment contamination in the Great Lakes and U.S. coastal waters. Declares that the purpose of such survey is to assess the severity of such contamination, identify areas for which additional pollution reduction requirements may be required, and determine the order of priority for undertaking remedial actions. Requires the Administrator to publish: (1) criteria for sediment quality; and (2) information on the factors necessary to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of aquatic ecosystems. Authorizes persons to petition for the development of criteria for pollutants. Requires the Administrator to approve a petition if the pollutant, when present in sediments, is preventing: (1) the attainment of a balanced, indigenous population of fish, shellfish, or wildlife; or (2) recreation in and on the Great Lakes or coastal waters. Directs the Administrator to: (1) issue national sediment remediation standards to govern remediation projects involving contaminated sediments; and (2) issue standards to establish temporary maximum permissible concentrations of pollutants or contaminants during the duration of projects for sediment contamination. Requires the Administrator, when publishing sediment quality criteria for a pollutant, to issue guidance on the imposition by the appropriate permitting authority of sediment-based effluent limits that will prevent the violation of such criteria. Directs the Administrator to publish guidelines to govern projects to clean up contaminated sediments. Provides for the review and revision of such guidelines at least once every five years. Requires the Administrator, with the approval of a State Governor, to implement sediment remediation projects for locations posing the greatest risks to human health and the environment. Prohibits the Administrator, in selecting such sites, from selecting any site listed as a priority under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 and for which there is reasonable likelihood of remediation under such Act. Authorizes approprations. Title IV: Monitoring Coastal Waters - Establishes the National Coastal Water Quality Monitoring Task Force. Requires the Task Force to: (1) implement a national strategy for conducting coastal water quality monitoring programs; (2) identify all Federal water quality monitoring programs and incorporate those programs into the national strategy; (3) develop a memorandum of understanding among appropriate Federal agencies to implement such strategy; (4) develop coastal water quality monitoring guidelines; and (5) select high priority coastal waters and approve, implement, or disapprove coastal water quality monitoring programs for such waters. Directs the Task Force to issue quidelines to assist in the development and implementation of such programs. Amends the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 to require Regional Marine Research Boards to establish monitoring committees comprised of individuals with technical expertise in coastal water quality monitoring programs. Requires the Boards, acting through such committees, to: (1) recommend areas for individual monitoring; (2) submit recommendations to the Task Force; (3) develop coastal water quality monitoring programs for high priority coastal waters selected by the Task Force; (4) provide for public participation in such programs; (5) provide technical guidance for the implementation of such programs; and (6) review the effectiveness of such programs and make necessary modifications. Sets forth requirements for coastal water quality monitoring programs and approval procedures for programs submitted by the committees to the Task Force. Requires the Under Secretary, the Administrator, and State Governors to ensure compliance with such programs. Deems requirements of approved programs to be requirements of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 and requires such programs to be submitted for approval as part of coastal zone management programs under the coastal Zone Management Act of 1972. Directs the Administrator or a State permitting authority to incorporate monitoring requirements into discharge permits. Title V: Compliance and Enforcement - Amends the Clean Water Act to authorize the use of specified civil and administrative penalties for beneficial mitigation projects. Increases the maximum on class II civil penalties authorized to be assessed under such Act. Prohibits Federal agencies from entering into any contract for the procurement of goods or services if the contract is to be performed at any facility owned or operated by a person who has: (1) repeatedly violated a discharge permit or the requirements of a nonpoint source management program or categorical standard with respect to the treatment of pollutants; or (2) been in repeated noncompliance with an estuary conservation and management plan. Authorizes the Administrator to commence administrative enforcement actions against Federal agencies to enforce this Act. Permits partial program withdrawal of State discharge permit programs if the Administrator determines that a State is not administering part of a program in accordance with applicable requirements. Requires permits to take effect upon issuance unless the permittee demonstrates that: (1) he will be irreparably harmed; and (2) there is a likelihood that he will succeed on the merits in an administrative hearing or civil action to review the permit's conditions. Prohibits Federal agencies from undertaking any development project or awarding any grant for an activity that may adversely affect the quality of navigable waters in any State with a pattern of: (1) continuing and chronic violations of coastal water quality standards; or (2) continuing and chronic failure to maintain a designated use under such standards. Requires Federal agencies which own or operate facilities that discharge pollutants into navigable waters (and that would qualify as major dischargers if industrial facilities) to develop and submit to the Administrator environmental auditing plans for such facilities. Directs industrial dischargers and publicly owned treatment works that discharge pollutants into navigable waters and that have repeatedly violated discharge permits or consent decrees to conduct biannual environmental audits of such facilities until they are no longer in violation of applicable requirements. Requires major dischargers, prior to the renewal of a permit, to provide to the Administrator an environmental audit conducted during the six-month period preceding the renewal. Sets forth requirements for audits and auditors. Requires the Administrator to: (1) issue regulations establishing eligibility requirements for certification of environmental auditors and continuing education requirements for maintaining the certification; and (2) issue guidance to States on the development of State programs for certification of environmental auditors. Directs States having navigable waters that do not meet applicable water quality standards to post and maintain signs at each place of public access to such waters indicating the standards such waters fail to meet and the health and environmental effects which may occur as a result of such failure. Title VI: Financing - Subtitle A: Discharge Fees - Establishes the Coastal Defense Fund. Provides for the deposit of specified fines, penalties, and payments collected under the Clean Water Act and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 into the Fund. Requires the Administrator to use Fund revenues to supplement funding for activities associated with administering the discharge permit program. Directs the Administrator to establish a National Coastal Discharge Permit Fee System to collect fees from coastal dischargers. Declares that the objectives of the System are to: (1) recoup the costs to Federal, State, and local governments of administering coastal discharge permit programs; (2) provide economic incentives to dischargers to eliminate or reduce the volume of toxicities of their effluents; and (3) supplement funding for discharge permitting programs under the Clean Water Act. Provides for the deposit of fees and penalties collected under the System into the Fund. Makes persons failing to pay fees liable for civil penalties. Provides for a hardship exemption to fees under certain conditions. Requires the Administrator, upon the petition of a coastal State, to waive the application of the System to such State if the amount of discharge fees collected under a State system is equivalent to the amount that would be collected by the System. Prohibits such waiver if the State uses fees solely to support State water quality programs. Makes industrial users of publicly owned treatment works liable for fees and requires users to pay fees to the authority responsible for controlling the treatment works. Directs the authority to retain such fees and use them to enforce water quality programs. Requires the Administrator to establish a fee schedule under the System that provides for the assessment of fees at least once a year and for the triennial adjustment of fees. Subtitle B: General Authorizations - Extends through FY 1999 the authorization of appropriations under the Clean Water Act for: (1) specified research, investigations, training, and information; (2) grants to States for pollution control programs; (3) nonpoint source pollution control in rural areas; (4) interagency agreements to maintain water quality; (5) the clean lakes program; and (6) nonpoint source pollution management programs. Extends the general authorization under such Act through FY 1999. Subtitle C: State and Local Financing - Authorizes States to use up to 15 percent of monies available in water pollution control revolving funds under the Clean Water Act to provide financial assistance to financially restricted communities. Permits loans to be made to such communities on terms of up to 40 years. Authorizes a fund to be used to reduce the principal of a debt obligation of a municipality or intermunicipal or interstate agency incurred after April 1, 1991, by up to 34 percent. Adds to the list of projects eligible for revolving fund assistance: (1) approved combined stormwater and sanitary sewer control programs; and (2) Great Lakes protection programs. Provides that: (1) annual principal and interest payments for loans made with revolving fund monies will commence no later than three years (currently, one year) after the completion of the project; and (2) amounts used for administering a fund shall not exceed four percent of amounts allotted to a State, or $400,000, whichever is greater (currently, four percent of all grant awards to such fund). Extends the allotment formula with respect to such funds. Raises the ceiling on the dollar amount to be reserved for planning purposes. Extends the authorization of appropriations for such funds through FY 1999.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1991
Amends Federal provisions relating to the National Guard to add a new chapter concerning the formation of State defense forces. Defines a "State defense force" as a military force organized by a State to become operational when the State National Guard forces are federalized or otherwise unavailable or inadequate for the defense needs of such State. Provides that, as general policy, State defense forces are in the national interest as a reserve force of the States, for specified reasons. Provides that membership in a State defense force shall be determined by the individual States, but that a member of the U.S. armed forces shall not also be a member of a State defense force. Provides further that membership in a State defense force does not exempt a person from any required duty under the Military Selective Service Act, nor does such membership limit a person from enlistment or appointment in an armed force. Authorizes the Secretary of a military department to issue or loan military equipment, supplies, or uniforms to a State for use in connection with its State defense force. Directs the Secretary of Defense to prescribe policies and procedures to be followed in the issuing and loaning of such equipment. Authorizes the sale (by the Secretary of the military department concerned) and the wearing of military uniforms by members of a State defense force, as long as such uniforms have been approved by such Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary of a military department to provide a member of a State defense force and States with defense forces training and training assistance for such forces. Authorizes such training, in the alternative, to be provided by an executive department and an independent agency of the Federal Government in the interest of national security and when not detrimental to the primary operational requirements of the department or agency concerned. Provides that the Chief of the National Guard Bureau shall serve as the means of communication between a State and the Federal Government on matters involving the State defense forces. Provides that a member of a State defense force is not to be considered a member of the U.S. armed forces for any reason, including eligibility for federally-sponsored health care or disability benefits. Authorizes the Secretary of a military department to conduct such background investigations for potential members of State defense forces as considered necessary and appropriate by such Secretary for the granting of appropriate security clearances for such personnel. Authorizes a State sponsoring a State defense force to conduct necessary and appropriate background investigations as a condition for allowing access to classified information by a member of the defense force.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1991
Nuclear Decommissioning Reserve Fund Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) decrease the rate of the tax imposed on the income of any Nuclear Decommissioning Reserve Fund; and (2) remove restrictions on permitted investments of Fund monies.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1991
Day Care Provider Tax Simplification Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a revised allocation formula for determining deductions allowable to home day care providers for the business use to their homes.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1991
Designates October 16, 1991, and October 16, 1992, as World Food Day.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1991
Designates May 22, 1991, as National Desert Storm Reservists Day to commemorate the accomplishments of the men and women of the reserve components of the U.S. Armed Forces who proudly served the United States during Operation Desert Storm.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1991
Designates October 1991 as National Down Syndrome Awareness Month.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1991
Designates July 15, 1991, as National Minority Organ Donor Encouragement Day.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Government of Kuwait, Kuwaiti enterprises, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shall grant preference in the award of contracts for the rebuilding of Kuwait to supplies and goods produced and manufactured in the United States and to U.S. engineering and consulting services.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1991
Budget Simplification and Reform Act of 1991 - Title I: Biennial Budget Cycle - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, the Rules of the House of Representatives and other Federal law to revise the Federal budget process by establishing a two-year timetable, beginning on October 1, 1993. Title II: Restricted Uses of Continuing Resolutions - Amends rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives to prohibit the consideration of any joint resolution continuing appropriations which: (1) exceeds the rate it would have been at assuming the continuation of current law; or (2) changes existing law. Title III: Expedited Rescissions - Modifies the rescission process and provides for expedited consideration in the House and Senate of certain proposed rescissions. Title IV: Budget Baseline Reform - Requires the President to draft a budget based on estimates of current fiscal year spending, proposing increases or decreases based on this level (rather than on an estimated baseline). Requires the Congressional Budget Office to use such a current fiscal year baseline in its report to the congressional budget committees, projecting growth for entitlement and discretionary spending based on current fiscal year spending. Title V: Binding Budget Resolution - Replaces the concurrent resolution on the budget with a joint resolution on the budget. Title VI: - Truth in Legislating - Amends rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require each report or joint explanatory statement accompanying each bill or joint resolution to contain: (1) an identification of each provision which benefits only ten or fewer beneficiaries; (2) the name of each beneficiary; (3) the name of the Member who sponsored such provision and an identification of each such provision requested by a Federal agency or Federal officer; and (4) an estimate by the Congressional Budget Office or the Joint Committee on Taxation of the costs or loss in revenues resulting from such provision. Title VII: Budget Impact on State and Local Governments - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to provide that it shall not be in order for either House of Congress to consider any legislation which would impose any requirement on State or local governments which is likely to result in an annual cost to them of $50,000,000 or more for any particular program, project, or activity, except for legislation which complies with any sequestration order issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Requires the report of the Committee on the Budget of each House accompanying the concurrent resolution on the budget to identify changes in Federal aid programs for State and local governments on a program-by-program basis. Title VIII: Pay-As-You-Go-Budget Resolutions - Prohibits the President's budget and that adopted by the Congress in a joint resolution on the budget from including: (1) total budget outlays that exceed those for the preceding fiscal year, unless at least equivalent revenue increases and their sources are identified; and (2) a reduction in revenues from the preceding fiscal year, unless at least equivalent reductions in outlays are identified, along with the affected programs. Authorizes the Congress to waive the prohibition with respect to its budget resolution by a two-thirds vote. Makes it out of order in both the Senate and the House of Representatives to consider a joint budget resolution under which fiscal year revenues exceed outlays, unless the purposes for which the excess is to be allocated are specified.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1991
First-Time Homebuyers Assistance Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to set forth the conditions under which small builders will be allowed to compute on the installment sales method income from the sale of certain residential real property.