United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1990
Wetlands Conservation Initiative Act of 1990 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for wetlands conservation expenditures, wetlands conservation leases, and charitable contributions of environmentally valuable wetlands.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1990
Designates April 6, 1990, the 88th birthday of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, as Education Day, U.S.A. Calls on heads of state of the world to join the President of the United States in this tribute by signing scrolls of honor commemorating the 40th anniversary of Schneerson's leadership of the Lubavitch movement. Welcomes the cooperation of the Department of State in extending the good office of the U.S. missions to the Lubavitcher emissaries.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1990
Agricultural Wetlands Exemption Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to exempt specified wetland used for agricultural production from certain dredged or fill material permit requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1990
Benjamin Franklin Memorial Fire Service Bill of Rights Act - Title I: Minting of Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Commemorative Coin - Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Commemorative Coin Act - Provides for the sale of Benjamin Franklin commemorative coins at a surcharge of which 25 percent shall be paid to the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial and the remainder be distributed in specified percentages to the National Fire Center and Museum Account, the National Hero Scholarship Account, the Firefighter Tuition Assistance Account, the Hazardous Materials Response Computer Account, the Research and Education Account, and the Burn Research Grant Account of the Firefighter Assistance Trust Fund (Fund). Prohibits the issuance of such coins from resulting in any net cost to the Federal government. Title II: Fire Service Bill of Rights - Fire Service Bill of Rights Act - Amends the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to establish a fire service bill of rights. Establishes the National Fire Center and Museum in the District of Columbia to provide information about the fire service and safety to the public and fire services. Establishes a National Hero Scholarship to fund the higher education of a child, spouse, or dependent parent of a deceased firefighter. Establishes a scholarship providing tuition assistance to firefighters for higher education in fire safety or protection. Authorizes the Administrator of the United States Fire Administration to use amounts in the Research and Education Account of the Fund to fund other specified programs under the Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 and the provision of information concerning surplus Federal property and infectious diseases pursuant to this Act. Establishes the Firefighter Assistance Trust Fund. Places the National Academy for Fire Prevention and Control within the United States Fire Administration. Directs the Administrator to provide States with funds from the Hazardous Materials Response Computer Account of the fund for distribution to local fire services that wish to purchase computer equipment. Directs the Administrator to make a grant from the Burn Research Grant Account of the Fund to one national firefighter's burn foundation dedicated to reducing burn injuries. Requires the Administrator to prepare and make available to fire services, upon request, a manual describing Federal procedures for disposing of surplus property and highlighting how fire services could obtain such property. Directs the Administrator to distribute to such marshals information on the infectious diseases to which firefighters are particularly vulnerable. Permits the Administrator, in certain circumstances, to award to a domestic firm a contract that, under the use of competitive procedures, would be awarded to a foreign firm.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1990
Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to require the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations requiring the use of child safety restraint systems on commercial aircraft.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1990
National Fire Forces Mobilization Act of 1990 - Amends the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to authorize appropriations to be provided as Federal matching funds to State forestry agencies and rural volunteer fire departments so that they may assist other fire fighting organizations in combatting fires.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1990
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the right of self-determination should be restored to the people of Lithuania through free and fair elections conducted under the auspices of an international commission; and (2) the withdrawal of all non-Lithuanian military forces and political, administrative, and police personnel from Lithuania prior to the February 24, 1990, scheduled elections will enhance the prospects that the elections will be free and fair.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1990
Provides for all Federal civilian and military retirees to receive the full cost-of-living adjustment in annuities payable under Federal retirement systems for FY 1991. (Includes benefits payable under the Civil Service Retirement and Disability System, military retirement and survivor benefit programs, the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System, the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and railroad retirement programs.)
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1990
Boot Camp Prison Demonstration Program Act of 1990 - Directs the Attorney General, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, to establish four military-style boot camp prisons within the Federal prison system. Requires the Attorney General to ensure that such prisons provide educational and counseling programs as part of the inmates' confinement. Amends the Federal criminal code to provide such prisons as a sentencing option and an alternative to conventional prisons for defendants who: (1) are sentenced to 12 to 16 months in prison; (2) are under 25 years of age; (3) are able-bodied; (4) have been convicted of a serious but nonviolent offense; (5) have no serious prior criminal history; and (6) consent to such confinement. Credits an inmate placed in a prison boot camp with three days toward completion of the sentence for each day served in such camp. Terminates such prisons five years after this Act's enactment. Directs the Attorney General to evaluate such prisons and report to the Congress within four and one-half years with respect to the efficacy of such prisons with an assessment of: (1) recidivism rates of defendants sentenced to boot camp prisons as compared to similar defendants not sentenced to such prisons; and (2) the cost effectiveness of such prisons as compared to conventional prisons. Authorizes the Attorney General, after consultation with the Secretary of Defense, to use closed military facilities for such prisons. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the treatment of rental and nonrental real estate activities under the limitations on losses from passive activities.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Government of the People's Republic of China has dramatically decreased political and economic freedom and is moving toward a more repressive form of rule which violates human rights; (2) the Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) has become increasingly democractic, economically free, and respectful of human rights; and (3) U.S. relations with such countries should accurately reflect the primacy that U.S. policy places on political and economic freedom and human rights.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 1989
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a gold medal to Laurance Spelman Rockefeller in recognition of his leadership on behalf of natural resource conservation and historic preservation. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the sale of bronze duplicates of the medal.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 1989
Benjamin Franklin Memorial Fire Service Bill of Rights Act - Title I: Minting of Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Commemorative Coin - Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Commemorative Coin Act - Provides for the sale of Benjamin Franklin commemorative coins at a surcharge of which 25 percent shall be paid to the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial and the remainder be distributed in specified percentages to the National Fire Center and Museum Account, the National Hero Scholarship Account, the Firefighter's Tuition Assistance Account, the Hazardous Materials Response Computer Account, the In Search of Excellence Research and Education Account, and the Burn Research Grant Account of the Firefighter Assistance Trust Fund (Fund). Prohibits the issuance of such coins from resulting in any net cost to the Federal government. Title II: Fire Service Bill of Rights - Fire Service Bill of Rights Act - Amends the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to establish a fire service bill of rights. Establishes the National Fire Center and Museum in the District of Columbia to provide information about the fire service and safety to the public and fire services. Funds such museum exclusively through the Fund. Establishes a National Hero Scholarship to fund the higher education of the children or spouse of a deceased firefighter. Establishes a scholarship providing tuition assistance to firefighters for higher education in fire safety or protection. Authorizes the Administrator of the United States Fire Administration to use amounts in the In Search of Excellence Research and Education Account of the Fund to fund other specified programs under the Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974. Establishes the Firefighters Assistance Trust Fund. Places the National Academy for Fire Prevention and Control within the United States Fire Administration. Directs the Administrator to use funds from the Hazardous Materials Response Computer Account of the fund to procure computer equipment for fire services that want such equipment. Directs the Administrator to make a grant from the Burn Research Grant Account of the Fund to one national firefighter's burn foundation dedicated to reducing burn injuries. Requires the Administrator to prepare and make available to State fire marshals, upon request, a manual describing Federal procedures for disposing of surplus property and highlighting how fire services could obtain such property. Directs the Administrator to distribute to such marshals information on the infectious diseases to which firefighters are particularly vulnerable.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1989
Hurricane Hugo and Loma Prieta Earthquake Emergency Relief Act - Title I: Highway Emergency Assistance Program - Authorizes $1,000,000,000 in additional appropriations out of the Highway Trust Fund to the emergency relief fund for FY 1990 for the repair or reconstruction of highways, roads, and trails damaged from natural disasters or catastrophic failures within the United States. (Provides that obligations incurred and expenditures made from such funds shall not be charged against the Budget Act, the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act, or other ceilings.) Waives limitations on emergency relief fund expenditures and obligations with respect to projects resulting from Hurricane Hugo or the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989. Specifies that the Federal share of any such project on the interstate and Federal-aid highway systems shall be 100 percent of the costs incurred within 180 days of each such natural disaster. Makes projects on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in California resulting from such earthquake eligible for emergency relief funds, provided the Governor of California certifies in writing to the Secretary of Transportation that the State has established and will maintain insurance or other evidence of financial responsibility for damages to, or destruction of, such bridge resulting from earthquakes. Specifies that allocations for emergency relief for highways, roads, and trails for projects resulting from Hugo or Loma Prieta shall be excluded for purposes of provisions regarding the allocation of funds for interstate and Federal-aid highway programs among the States. Requires the Secretary of Transportation to provide at least two technicians from the Federal Highway Administration to assist in repairing and reconstructing portions of the Federal-aid highway system in the Virgin Islands damaged or destroyed as a result of Hugo. Requires: (1) the Secretary of Transportation to transmit to the Congress a report on the adequacy of current Federal and State standards in areas which are likely to be subject to earthquakes for ensuring that highway, mass transit, and airport construction projects will withstand earthquakes; and (2) the Comptroller General to transmit to the Congress a report on the reasons for the failure of the Cyprus Street segment of Interstate Route I-880 and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on Interstate Route I-80. Title II: Federal Emergency Management Agency and Other Emergency Assistance Programs - Directs the Chief of Engineers of the Corps of Engineers, upon request of the appropriate Governor, to: (1) provide assistance to the Virgin Islands in carrying out any project for repair, restoration, reconstruction, or replacement of any facility eligible for assistance under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act) with respect to damages resulting from Hugo; and (2) restore beaches in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico damaged by Hugo. Specifies the Federal share of the costs of such projects. Increases the maximum amount which may be allotted under the Flood Control Act of 1948 for the flood control project for Savan Gut, Virgin Islands. Provides for the reimbursement of the Administrator of General Services of expenses incurred for repair, restoration, reconstruction, or replacement of any public building damaged or destroyed by Hugo or Loma Prieta, and for relocating Federal employees. Requires the President to suspend and, for reasons of economic hardship, waive provisions of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 relating to coverage of flood insurance for approval of Federal financial assistance with regard to grants to individuals or families adversely affected by Hugo under the Stafford Act. Permits Federal assistance under such Act to be provided with respect to damages incurred as a result of Hugo or Loma Prieta by a nonprofit educational institution without regard to whether State assistance may be provided with respect to such damages.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1989
Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to prohibit the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration from refusing to issue or renew an airman's certificate, or terminate the employment of an airman, solely by reason of the airman's age if such person is under the age of 65.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1989
Declares it is in the interests of the United States to support efforts to protect South Pacific marine resources (including albacore tuna, porpoises, whales, seals and other marine mammals, birds, sea turtles, and fish) from the slaughter of driftnet fishing. Supports the Tarawa Declaration and the South Pacific Commission resolution calling for an immediate ban on driftnet fishing in the South Pacific. Urges the Secretary of State to work toward an international convention banning driftnet fishing in the South Pacific. Urges Japan and Taiwan to immediately cease the use of driftnets in international South Pacific waters.
United States · United States Congress · 18 October 1989
Approves the location of a commemorative work to honor women who served in the armed forces of the United States in Vietnam during the Vietnam era on certain Federal land in the District of Columbia.
United States · United States Congress · 11 October 1989
Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to prohibit any person from acquiring any voting securities of a major air carrier or person who controls a major air carrier, if such acquisition constitutes 15 percent or more of the voting securities, unless such person complies with specified requirements under the Act and the Secretary of Transportation has not disapproved the acquisition. Requires the Secretary to disapprove an acquisition if he or she finds that: (1) it is likely to weaken the acquired person financially; (2) the intent of the acquired person is to make a major reduction of the air carrier; (3) the acquisition would result in a non-U.S. citizen having control over the air carrier; or (4) the acquiring person is not providing the documentary material and information required by the Secretary to make a decision regarding such acquisition.
United States · United States Congress · 11 October 1989
Amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to ban the importation into the United States of shrimp or shrimp products originating from nations which: (1) do not require the use of turtle excluder devices by their shrimp fishing vessels; (2) allow the taking of sea turtle eggs on their beaches; or (3) engage in other activities which adversely affect the ability of the sea turtle to survive or reproduce. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to publish and periodically update a list of nations which engage in such activities. Prescribes civil and criminal penalties for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that in determining the allocation of foreign assistance the Department of State should: (1) weigh heavily the persecution, torture, and execution of innocent Somalis by the armed forces of Siad Barre; and (2) insist upon significant improvements in human rights as a precondition to the resumption of foreign assistance to Somalia.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1989
Amends the Rail Passenger Service Act to repeal an exemption from specified communicable disease control requirements of the Public Health Service Act for waste disposal from railroads operating in intercity rail passenger service.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1989
Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to aid businesses unable to secure credit and create jobs in rural areas. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to increase annual water and waste facility assistance limits. Authorizes the Secretary to provide water and waste facilities loans to specified rural entities. Authorizes the Farm Credit System to provide loans and other financial assistance to rural sewer and water projects. Establishes in the Farmers Home Administration a national rural waste water circuit rider grant program. Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to establish: (1) a technical assistance unit; and (2) an Assistant Administrator for Economic Development. Amends the Consolidated and Rural Development Act to authorize a rural business development grant program. Directs the Secretary to establish within the National Agricultural Library a National Rural Assistance Information Clearinghouse. Treats a rural county experiencing specified population reduction as a labor surplus area.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1989
Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in any case in which there has been either a disallowance of a veterans benefits claim or a partially awarded claim, to provide to the claimant a written statement setting forth notice of procedural rights of the claimant and the rationale for the disallowance. Requires that such statement: (1) be provided at each procedural stage relating to the disposition of a claim; (2) include a summary of the evidence supporting the disallowance or the partial award; (3) be in such forms as the Secretary prescribes by regulation; (4) include a description of each subsequent procedural stage before the Department of Veterans Affairs; (5) include a description of all rights of the claimant expressly provided for in the veterans' benefits code, the claimant's right to a hearing, to reconsideration, to appeal, and to representation, and any specific procedures necessary to obtain the various forms of review available for consideration of the claim; and (6) include such other information as the Secretary determines would be useful and practical to assist the claimant in obtaining full consideration of the claim. Adds parallel requirements with respect to the Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1989
Constitutional Amendment - Recognizes the right of the people to preserve, foster, and promote their historic, linguistic, and cultural origins. States that no person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws because of culture or language.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1989
Food Safety Assurance Act of 1989 - Title I: Cancellation and Suspension - Amends provisions of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) relating to cancellation and changes in classification or other terms or conditions of registration with respect to the authority of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Requires that a rulemaking under such provisions be based on a validated test or other significant evidence raising prudent concerns of unreasonable adverse effects to man or to the environment. Sets forth procedural requirements for such a rulemaking. Provides for amendment of a rule and for judicial review. Allows the Administrator, in the case of a suspension, to waive certain requirements. Allows the Administrator to elect to proceed with a special review proceeding or a public interim administrative review proceeding, if published before January 1, 1990, under the law in effect before enactment of this Act. Requires the Administrator to reassess each tolerance and exemption from the requirement for a tolerance at certain times in connection with reregistration of pesticides. Establishes the Science Review Board to assist the Scientific Advisory Panel in reviews conducted by the Panel. Revises procedures applicable after denial of an application for registration. Allows the Administrator to deny an application for registration because it does not comply with the requirements of a rule issued under provisions of this Act. Repeals provisions regulating the authority of the Administrator to initiate a public interim administrative review process. Declares a decision made after a hearing in certain circumstances during phase three of reregistration to be final. Amends provisions regulating: (1) review by district courts of suspension of registrations; and (2) public hearings. Title II: Data Collection - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to collect by surveys on a biennial basis pesticide use data of State-level significance for all the major crops and crops of dietary significance. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to add to the responsibilities of the Secretary of Agriculture that of establishing, with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a committee to oversee coordination between the Department of Agriculture's conservation, commodity, research, and education programs and the EPA's pesticide regulatory activities. Requires the interagency coordinating committee to: (1) develop and oversee integrated pest management research and education initiatives targeted toward principal pests of crops, with an emphasis on crops which constitute significant human dietary exposure to pesticide residues and for which few pesticide alternatives exist; and (2) advise the Administrator regarding ways to take into account, in registration, reregistration, and cancellation actions, the implications of the emergency or severity of genetic resistance in pests to pesticides, or the viability and profitability of integrated pest management systems. Authorizes appropriations. Adds to the list of high priority research, for the purpose of grants by the Secretary of Agriculture under existing provisions, research to develop and refine integrated pest management techniques and other nonchemical or reduced chemical control technologies targeted toward crop pests, particularly those pests and crops which require applications of pesticides that may pose greater than a negligible risk to man or the environment. Title III: Authorizations - Increases the amount authorized to be appropriated to carry out the FIFRA for FY 1990 and 1991, earmarking the increased authorization for the implementation of regulations relating to certain ingredients in pesticide products. Title IV: Amendments to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to define, subject to exception, "pesticide chemical" as it is defined in the FIFRA. Adds to the list of prohibited acts under the FDCA violation of provisions relating to confidentiality of data, as amended by this Act. Deems a food adulterated if it bears or contains: (1) a pesticide chemical residue that is unsafe; or (2) a new animal drug, or conversion product thereof, that is unsafe. Sets forth requirements relating to tolerances and exemptions from the requirement of a tolerance for pesticide chemical residues in food, including residues of degradation products. Prohibits establishment of a tolerance higher than a level the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency determines is adequate to protect the public health. Sets forth the factors the Administrator must consider. Allows a greater than negligible dietary risk if: (1) use protects from greater adverse health effects to humans or the environment; (2) use avoids greater risks from another pesticide; or (3) the unavailability of the pesticide would reduce the availability of an adequate, wholesome, and economical domestic supply of the food, and the adverse effects from the reduction would outweigh the risk posed by the residue. Allows the Administrator to issue an exemption from the requirement for a tolerance only if the Administrator determines that a tolerance is not needed to protect the public health, in view of the levels of dietary exposure that could reasonably be expected to occur. Sets forth the factors the Administrator must consider. Sets forth procedures and requirements in connection with: (1) petitions for tolerances or exemptions; (2) certain actions authorized on the Administrator's own initiative; (3) the required submission of additional data to support the continuation of a tolerance or exemption; and (4) confidentiality of data submitted to the Administrator. Provides for continuation of previously issued regulations. Sets forth transitional provisions. Prohibits a final rule that revokes, modifies, or suspends a tolerance or exemption until the Administrator has taken any necessary action under the FIFRA with respect to the registration of the pesticide involved. Requires the Administrator, if the Administrator takes certain actions with respect to the registration of a pesticide, to revoke any tolerance or exemption that allows the presence of the chemical or chemical residue. Requires the suspension of any tolerance or exemption upon the suspension of the use of an associated registered pesticide. Provides for: (1) tolerances for unavoidable residues in the case of a residue of a canceled or suspended pesticide chemical that will unavoidably persist in the environment and thereby be present in or on a food; and (2) residues resulting from an application which was lawful at the time of the application. Directs the Administrator to require the payment of fees sufficient for the Administrator's functions under these provisions. Prohibits, subject to exception, a State from establishing or enforcing any limit on a qualifying pesticide chemical residue in or on any food which is not identical to Federal requirements. Prohibits a State from enforcing a residue limit which was lawful at the time of application. Authorizes appropriations for increased monitoring by the Secretary of Health and Human Services of pesticide residues in imported and domestic food.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 1989
Farm Animal and Research Facilities Protection Act of 1989 - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to make it unlawful to disrupt or damage a farm animal facility, its animals, or property. Sets forth penalties for violations of this Act. Allows the Secretary of Agriculture to investigate such offenses. Grants U.S. district courts jurisdiction in such cases. Provides for a private right of action.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1989
Amends Federal transportation law to authorize a person to assert that it would be an unreasonable practice for a motor common carrier or a nonhousehold goods freight forwarder to seek to collect tariff rates or charges in addition to those originally billed and collected, or to impose rules, classifications, or practices permitting such a collection. Declares that the Interstate Commerce Commission shall determine whether or not such a collection or imposition is an unreasonable practice violating Federal law. Shortens the statute of limitations for the filing of claims: (1) by a motor common carrier for recovery of transportation or service charges; and (2) by a person to recover overcharges by a motor carrier. Decreases the limitation period for both kinds of claims from 36 months to: (1) 24 months for claim accruals during the year following enactment of this Act; and (2) 18 months for claim accruals on or after one year following enactment. Permits motor carriers and shippers to resolve by mutual consent, subject to Commission review, any overcharge and undercharge claims resulting from billing errors or incorrect tariff provisions arising from the inadvertent failure to properly and timely file and maintain agreed upon rates, rules, or classifications, or under circumstances where application of the filed tariff would be an unreasonable practice.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1989
Directs the Secretary of Education to make a grant to Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, to establish the Margaret Walker Alexander National African-American Research Center on its campus in recognition of, and to commemorate, the literary contributions of Margaret Walker Alexander. Requires the application for the grant to contain provisions to ensure that the Center will serve as a national center for the study, research, and teaching of African-American literature and history and as a repository for papers and memorabilia relating to the lives of individuals noted for their work in African-American literature and history. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 6 September 1989
Disaster Assistance Improvements Act of 1989 - Amends the Disaster Assistance Act of 1989 to specify that the "net value" rather than the "value" of any replacement crop shall be considered when making specified disaster payment reductions.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1989
Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to prohibit the Secretary of Transportation, for a one year period, from approving the transfer of any certificate authorizing the provision of foreign air transportation except if such transfer is part of the sale of the air carrier holding such certificate.