The world's political record
Person
![Official portrait of Rep. Moss, John E. [D-CA-3]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m001035_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
702 records where Rep. Moss, John E. [D-CA-3] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Provides that daylight saving time shall be observed on a year-round basis.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Mobile Home Safety Act - Includes mobile homes and recreational vehicles within the class of consumer products whose safety and design are to be regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. States that prior to promulgating a consumer product safety rule applicable to a mobile home or a recreational vehicle, the Commissioner shall seek the views of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and of Transportation with respect to the adequacy of the proposed rule and its probable effect on programs administered by them. Authorizes annual appropriations of $2,000,000 for fiscal years 1974-75 to carry out the provisions of this Act. (Amends P. L. 92-573)
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Title I: Wildlife Restoration Fund - Assigns the tax imposed on component parts of ammunition for pistols, revolvers, and other firearms to the Wildlife Restoration Fund for apportionment among the States. (Amends 16 U.S.C. 669c(b)) Title II: Tax on Sale of Firearms Parts and Ammunition Components - Establishes an 11 percent tax, under the Internal Revenue Code, on component parts of ammunition (including but not limited to, cartridge cases, primers, bullets, shot, and powders) for firearms (including pistols and revolvers). (Amends 26 U.S.C. 4181-82)
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Establishes, under the Secretary of Commerce, the United States Metric Conversion Coordinating Commission consisting of nine members representing business, labor, education, science, and technology. Authorizes members of the Commission to be compensated at the rate of $100 a day. Charges the Commission with the responsibility of implementing with the voluntary participation of every interested sector in the United States the recommendations issued by the United States metric study including: (1) that the United States change to the metric system; (2) that such change be done through a coordinated program; (3) that there be established detailed plans and time tables be worked out; (4) that priority be given to educational programs in elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher learning designed to enable Americans to think in metric terms; (5) that appropriate representatives of American enterprise participate in international standards; (6) that changeover costs shall lie where they fall; and (7) that the target date for full conversion shall be January 1, 1984. Directs each agency of the Federal Government to convert to the international metric system and provides that such system shall be the sole and official system of weights in the United States by January 1, 1984. Authorizes necessary appropriations to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Provides that daylight saving time shall be observed on a year-round basis.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Provides that, prior to making any detailed statement or proposals for legislation significantly affecting the quality of the environment, the responsible Federal official shall consult with and obtain the comments of any Federal agency which has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved. Requires copies of such statement and all comments and views of the appropriate Federal agencies, which are authorized to develop and enforce environmental standards, to be made available to the President, the Council on Environmental Quality, and to the public. Directs the responsible Federal official to notify, consult with, request comments from, and seek recommendations from the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Secretary of the Interior, the Council on Environmental Quality, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, any Federal agency which has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved, and the Governor and appropriate State and local officers or agencies of any State which will be affected by such action no later than one hundred and twenty days prior to the commencement of such action. States that at least sixty days prior to the commencement of such action copies of the detailed impact statement, including all comments and recommendations received, shall be made available to the President, the Council on Environmental Quality, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the public. Requires any recommendations received under the preceding sentence which are intended to minimize the impact on or enhance the quality of the environment of fish and wildlife of the United States, shall be adopted and implemented by the responsible Federal official.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Provides that, notwithstanding the Federal Water Pollution Control Act or any other provision of law, whenever the Secretary of the Interior determines, after consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, that the use of any insecticide, herbicide, fungicide, or pesticide results in the pollution of any of the navigable waters of the United States so as to constitute a substantial threat to man or to fish and wildlife resources living in or using such water, he is authorized to restrict or prohibit the use of such insecticide, herbicide, fungicide, or pesticide so as to prevent such pollution. States that such restrictions or probititions shall be for such periods and under such terms and conditions as the Secretary shall by regulation prescribe.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Requires any moneys received from the National Wildlife Refuge System and remaining in a special fund at the end of the fiscal year to be transferred to the migratory bird conservation fund and to be available to carry out the provisions of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act. (Amends 16 U.S.C. 715s(e)) Requires a State highway department or its nominee to pay to the Secretary of the Interior the fair market value of land or interests therein within the national wildlife refuge system before their transfer for the right-of-way of any highway or as a source of material for the construction or maintenance of any such highway. Provides for the deposit of such sums into the migratory bird conservation fund.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Truth in Advertising Act - Declares it to be the purpose of this Act to protect consumers by ensuring that no advertisement can be disseminated if substantiating documentation is not available to the public and by ensuring that individuals will be able to exercise their right to know and to act to promote fairness in advertising. Defines the terms "advertisement," "documentation," and "principal office." Makes it unlawful for any person to disseminate, through the United States mails or in commerce by the use of such media as radio, television, cinema, newspapers, magazines, billboards, posters, and display material, any advertisement concerning the safety, performance, efficacy, characteristics or comparative price of any product or service unless documentation is available at the principal office of such person for public inspection. Requires the disseminator to furnish copies of such documentation to any requester by mail, telephone, or otherwise, with the actual cost of duplication being charged to the requester. Makes the publisher, broadcast station, agency, or medium for the dissemination liable by reason of such advertising if: (1) he refuses, upon request, to furnish the name and address of the person who causes him to disseminate such advertisement; or (2) he fails to inform publicly on a regular basis that documentation for advertising claims is available upon request. Makes the dissemination, or the causing to be disseminated, of any advertisement in violation of the provisions of this Act an unfair or deceptive act or practice in commerce within the meaning of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Directs that the Act will be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, which may exercise the same powers that it exercises under the Federal Trade Commission Act. Empowers the Commission to prescribe all necessary substantive and procedural rules.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to transmit to the Secretary of the Interior information as to how, in the use of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and other pesticides, injury to fish and wildlife can be prevented or minimized. Authorizes appropriations of $3,500,000 for each of the fiscal years 1974, 1975, and 1976, in order to carry out the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Authorizes and directs the Secretary of the Interior to provide for comprehensive surveys with respect to the adequacy of game and other animals and game birds and other birds and fish, and their habitat. Authorizes the appropriation of such sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Requires a Federal permit for the taking of any migratory game birds other than migratory waterfowl. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to utilize the net receipts from the issuance of the permits for the purpose of conserving migratory game birds other than migratory waterfowl.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
States that after July 1, 1973, no Federal permit or license shall be issued by any department or agency of the United States for the construction of any facility that impounds, diverts, controls, or otherwise modifies the waters of any stream or other body of water until adequate biological and ecological studies on the effects of the proposed construction on fish and wildlife resources are conducted by the Secretary of the Interior in cooperation with the State wherein the project will be located, unless he determines that such studies are not needed. Authorizes to be appropriated $500,00 to carry out an accelerated and comprehensive nationwide study of the effects of thermal pollution of water from power plants and other facilities on fish and wildlife resources of the Nation. (Amends 16 U.S.C. 662(a), 666(c))
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Prohibits, under the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, the issuance of Federal permits authorizing water resource development by non-Federal public and private agencies until such agencies reimburse the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for related investigations required by such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Increases to $50,000,000 the maximum amount of aggregate payments which may be made in calendar years after 1973 to carry out conservation agreements under the Water Bank Act. (Amends 16 U.S.C. 1310)
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Prohibits the issuance of Federal permits, under the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, authorizing water resource development by non-Federal public and private agencies until such agencies reimburse the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for related investigations required by such Act. Provides that whenever the waters of any stream or other body of water are proposed or authorized to be impounded, diverted, the channel deepened, or the stream or other body of water otherwise controlled or modified for any purpose whatever, it shall be the responsibility of the person or agency proposing such project to include a report describing, to the extent known, the potential effect of such project on wildlife resources and their environment and the means and measures to be taken to prevent or substantially minimize any such adverse effects. States that the head of the appropriate Federal agency or department shall not approve any project application unless the Governor of the State or States in which the project may be located certifies in writing within ninety days after receipt of notice of application for a permit, license, or assistance, to such agency that there is reasonable assurance that the project will be located, designed, constructed, and operated so as to prevent or substantially minimize damage to wildlife.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Requires those who drill or prospect for any oil or gas located beneath any navigable water of the United States to secure a permit for such operation from the Secretary of the Interior. Makes issuance of such license contingent on safety to wildlife and wildlife resources, or on not polluting the navigable waters, and revocable for danger thereto.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Urgent Supplemental Appropriations Act - Authorizes an urgent supplemental appropriation for the fiscal year 1973 of $1,800,000 for an additional amount for operating expenses for the national industrial reserve established by the National Industrial Reserve Act of 1948.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Creates an Atlantic Union delegation, composed of 18 eminent citizens, which is authorized to organize and participate in a convention made up of similar delegations from such North Atlantic Treaty parliamentary democracies as desire to join in the enterprise, and other parliamentary democracies the convention may invite, to explore the possibility of agreement on: (1) a declaration that the goal of their peoples is to transform their present relationship into a more effective unity based on Federal principles; (2) a timetable for the transition by stages to this goal; and (3) a commission to facilitate advancement toward such stages. Requires the convention's recommendations to be submitted to the Congress. Provides that not more than half of the delegation's members shall be from one political party, and that 6 of the delegates shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, after consultation with the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, 6 by the President of the Senate, after consultation with the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and 6 by the President of the United States. Allows all members of the delegation to speak and vote individually in the convention. Authorizes the delegation in carrying out the purposes of this Act: (1) to seek to arrange an international convention and such other meetings and conferences as it may deem necessary; (2) to employ and fix the compensation within prescribed limits of such temporary professional and clerical staff as it deems necessary; and (3) to pay not in excess of $100,000 toward such expenses as may be involved as a consequence of holding any meetings or conferences authorized by this joint resolution. Authorizes not to exceed $200,000 to be appropriated to the Department of State to carry out the purposes of this resolution, payments to be made upon vouchers approved by the Chairman of the delegation subject to the laws, rules, and regulations applicable to the obligation and expenditure of appropriated funds. Requires the delegation to make semiannual reports to Congress accounting for all expenditures and such other information as it deems appropriate. Provides that the delegation shall cease to exist at the expiration of the three-year period beginning on the date of the approval of this resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1973
Establishes the Tule Elk National Wildlife Refuge in Inyo County, California. Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to purchase lands authorized to be acquired by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1973
Provides that whenever the law of any State permits the transportation or importation of wine into that State, such State may not impose with respect to any wine produced in another State, or from materials origniating in another State, any tax, regulation, prohibition, or requirement which is not equally applicable with respect to wine of like kind: (1) produced in, or from materials originating in, the State imposing such tax, regulation, prohibition, or requirement, or (2) produced outside, or produced from products produced outside the State. Provides that a State which permits the sale of wine within the State shall permit the transportation or importation of wine of like kind produced in other States, or from materials originating in other States, into said State for sale therein upon terms and conditions equally applicable to all wine of like kind sold in the State. Provides that whenever the law of any State permits the transportation or importation of wine into that State, such State may not impose with respect to such wine any prohibition or requirement which unreasonably impairs the free flow of commerce in such wine among the several States. Provides that whenever any person engaged in the transportation or importation into any State or the distribution within any State of any wine, or any product intended for use in the production of any wine has reason to believe that such State has violated any of the provisions of this Act, such person may file in a district court of the United States of competent jurisdiction, a civil action to enjoin the enforcement thereof. Gives such court jurisdiction to hear and determine such action, and to enter therein such preliminary and permanent orders, decrees, and judgments as it shall determine to be required to prevent any such violation.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1973
Establishes in the Executive Office of the President the Commission on the Capability of the National Guard to Control Civil Distrubances: (1) to establish minimum training, doctrine, and equipment standards for the National Guard with respect to its use in civil disturbances; (2) to perform annual inspection of all National Guard units to determine whether or not such standards are being implemented and adhered to at the unit level and on a statewide basis; (3) to take such action as is authorized under this Act in order to insure that such standards are met; (4) to perform comprehensive reviews and critiques of the operations of any National Guard unit when used in civil disturbance control duty; (5) to contract for studies and for research and development for the purpose of devising effective nonlethal weapons and devices suitable for civil disturbance control use; (6) to act as principal coordinator between State National Guards and State and local law enforcement agencies with respect to the formulation of contingency plans and preparations for the control of civil disturbances and the exchange of relevant information and technology; and (7) to report at least annually to Congress with respect to the administration of this Act and the readiness and capability (including the availability and sufficiency of recommended protective clothing and devices, communications equipment, and nonlethal weapons) of the National Guard of each State to perform civil disturbance functions in accordance with the prescribed standards. Provides that, if the Commission finds that any unit of a State National Guard has refused to implement any of the standards prescribed by the Commission under this Act does not routinely meet or enforce any such standards, or, when deployed in civil disturbance, violates any such standards, the Commission shall bar the National Guard unit concerned from receiving money or any other aid, benefit, or privilege authorized by law until such time as the Commission determines that the unit has taken such actions as the Commission deems appropriate and necessary to insure that such unit will thereafter comply with this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 1973
Provides that in the determination of the annual income of recipients of vetetans' pensions and dependency and indemnity compensation the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs shall not reduce the amount of such pension or compensation because of increases in monthly social security benefits under Public law 92-336. (Adds 38 U.S.C. 415(g)(4) 503(d))
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1973
Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act Amendments - Provides, under the Longshoreman's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, that any agreement by a stevedore, or any other person who supplies work of the ship's service to indemnify a vessel for damages for injury to an employee as a result of unseaworthiness or negligence attributable to the vessel is prohibited and is void and unenforceable. Provides that such agreement shall not prevent the stevedore or any person who supplies work of the ship's service from contributing to a settlement of any third-party suit brought under the Act. States that, upon payment of any judgment or settlement paid in satisfaction of any third-party suit brought because of injury of any employee in work of the ship's service, the vessel may sue any other person who may have caused or contributed in whole or in part to the vessel's liability for such injury to the employee. Provides that, in any such suit, damages shall be apportioned between the vessel and any other person who shall have caused or contributed to the vessel's liability. Provides that nothing in this Act shall reduce any rights of any injured person under the doctrime of warranty of seaworthiness, negligence, comparative negligence, General Maritime Law, or other compensation law which existed prior to the enactment of Public Law 92-576 or subject to any injured party to any apportionment. (Amends 33 U.S.C. 905)
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1973
Comprehensive Older Americans Services Amendments - Title I: Declaration of Objectives - States that the general purpose of this Act is to make available comprehensive health, education, and social service programs to our older citizens. Title II: Administration on Aging - Establishes in the office of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, an Administration on Aging to carry out this Act. Declares that the Commissioner on Aging shall be the principal officer of the Administration. Establishes within the Administration on Aging a National Information and Resource Clearing House for the Aging to collect, review, operate, publish, and disseminate information and data related to the particular problems caused by aging, including information describing measures which are or may be employed for meeting such problems. Establishes the Federal Council on the Aging to advise and assist the President as he may direct on matters relating to the special needs of Older Americans: to assist the Commissioner on Aging in carrying out his functions under this Act; to review and evaluate programs of the Federal Government; and to make recommendations to the President, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Commissioner, and Congress on policies and programs for the aged. Provides that, not later than one hundred and twenty days after the close of each fiscal year, the Commissioner shall prepare and submit to the President for transmittal to the Congress a complete report on the activities carried out under this Act. Title III: Grants for State and Community Programs on Aging - Prescribes standards and procedures for the establishment by the several States of State and area social service programs to concentrate resources in order to develop a greater capacity and foster development or comprehensive systems to serve older persons, to include services designed to assist older Americans in avoiding institutionalization. Authorizes appropriations totalling $600,000,000 for such programs for fiscal years 1973, 1974, and 1975. Provides that the Commissioner shall not finally disapprove any State plan, or any modification thereof, without first affording the State reasonable notice and opportunity for a hearing. Title IV: Training and Research - Directs the Commissioner to make grants to State agencies and educational institutions for the purpose of: (1) publicizing available opportunities for careers in the field of aging; (2) encouraging qualified persons to enter or re-enter the field of aging; (3) encouraging persons from other professions to undertake assignments on a parttime bais in the field of aging; and (4) assisting in covering the cost of courses of training or study. Authorizes the Commissioner to conduct a study of the transportation problems of older Americans, with emphasis upon solutions that are practicable and can be implemented in a timely fashion. Authorizes the appropriation of $7,500,000 for fiscal year 1973, $15,000,000 for fiscal year 1974, and $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1975 for purposes of such transportation studies and demonstration projects. Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants for the purpose of: (1) establishing multidisciplinary centers of gerontology to recruit and train personnel; (2) conducting basic research on the problem of the aged; (3) providing consultation to public and voluntary organizations; and (4) creating opportunities for research projects with respect to aging. Authorizes appropriations of $15,000,000 for fiscal year 1973, $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1974, and $25,000,000 for fiscal year 1975, for the purposes of attracting personnel to, and training personnel in, the field of aging; and for research and development projects. Authorizes appropriations for $20,000,000 for the fiscal year 1973, $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1974, and $40,000,000 for fiscal year 1975, for establishing multidisciplinary centers of gerontology. Title V: Multipurpose Senior Centers - Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants to units of general purpose local government or other public or nonprofit private agencies to pay not to exceed 75 percent of the cost of leasing, altering, or renovating existing facilities to serve as multipurpose senior centers. Establishes standards to be followed by the Commissioner in making such grants and authorizes appropriations of $35,000,000 annually for fiscal years 1973-1975 to carry out the provisions of this section. Creates a Multipurpose Senior Center Insurance Fund to be administered by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to insure mortgages on multipurpose senior centers. Authorizes appropriations of $10,000,000 for fiscal year 1973, and for each of the next two succeeding fiscal years for the purpose of making grants to meet the costs of compensation of professional and technical personnel for the initial operation of multipurpose senior centers. Title VI: National Older Americans Volunteer Program - Provides that no compensation paid to individual volunteers under the Retired Senior Volunteer Program under the Older Americans Act shall be considered income for any purposes. Authorizes appropriations for such program in the amount of $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1973, $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1974, and $40,000,000 for fiscal year 1975. Authorizes appropriations of $35,000,000 for fiscal year 1973, $45,000,000 for fiscal year 1974, and $55,000,000 for fiscal year 1975, for the continuation of the Foster Grandparent Program under the Older Americans Act. Title VII: Nutrition Programs - Provides, under the Older Americans Act of 1965, that the Secretary of Agriculture and the Commodity Credit Corporation may donate specified products acquired by them to a recipient of a grant or contract for providing nutritional services for the elderly. Title VIII: Amendments to Other Acts - Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants to States which have submitted a long-range program and an annual program for library services for older persons. Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants to institutions in planning, developing, and carrying out programs specifically designed to apply the resources of higher education to the problems of the elderly. Directs the Commissioner to make grants to State and local educational agencies or other public or private nonprofit agencies for educational programs for elderly persons whose ability to speak and read the English language is limited and who live in an area with a culture different from their own. Title IX: Community Service Employment for Older Americans - Older Americans Community Service Employment Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to establish an older American community service program in order to promote useful part-time work opportunities in community service activities for unemployed low-income persons 55 years old or older who have poor employment prospects. Makes provisions for allotment of funds to State, local, and private organizations to further the purposes of the program. Authorizes appropriations of $100,000,000 for fiscal year 1973 and $150,000,000 for fiscal year 1974 to carry out this title. Title X: Middle-Aged and Older Workers Training - Middle-Aged and Older Workers Training Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Labor, through the Manpower Administration, to make loans and grants for manpower training, including on-the-job, institutional, residential, and other training, designed to upgrade the work skills and capabilities of middle-aged and older persons. Authorizes the Secretary to make such studies, rules and provisions as necessary to carry out this title. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out this title in fiscal year 1973 from funds otherwise available for similar programs. Authorizes appropriations in fiscal year 1974 of $100,000,000 for the purposes of this title.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1973
Rehabilitation Act - Declares that it is the purpose of this Act to provide a statutory basis for the Rehabilitation Service Administration and to establish within the Department of Health, Education and Welfare an Office for the Handicapped, and to authorize specified programs. Establishes within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare a Rehabilitation Services Administration which shall be administered by a Commissioner. Provides that the Commissioner shall carry out and administer all programs and direct the performance of all services for which authority is provided to the Secretary of H.E.W. under titles I through IV of this Act. Creates within such administration a Division of Research, Training and Evaluation which shall be responsible for carrying out programs and projects under title IV of this Act. Authorizes the inclusion of appropriations under this Act in appropriations for the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which they are available for obligation. Provides that where funds are provided for a single project by more than one Federal agency to an agency or organization assisted under this Act, the Federal agency principally involved may be designated to act for all in administering such funds, pursuant to regulations prescribed by the President. Sets forth definitions of terms used in this Act. Title I: Vocational Rehabilitation Services - States it to be the purpose of this title to authorize grants to assist States to meet the current and future needs of handicapped individuals, so that such individuals may prepare for and engage in gainful employment to the extent of their capabilities. Authorizes to be appropriated $800,000,000 for fiscal year 1973, and $975,000,000 for fiscal year 1974 for the purpose of making grants to States to assist them in meeting the costs of vocational rehabilitation services. Authorizes to be appropriated $50,000,000 for fiscal year 1973, $60,000,000 for fiscal year 1974, and $75,000,000 for fiscal year 1975, for the purpose of making grants to States and public and nonprofit agencies to assist them in meeting the costs of projects to initiate or expand services to handicapped individuals. Sets forth the requirements of State plans to be submitted and approved for participation in programs under this title and under title II of this Act. Authorizes judicial review in United States district courts of decisions by the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration affecting State plans. Provides that the Commissioner shall insure that the individualized written rehabilitation program required in a State plan in the case of each handicapped individual shall be developed jointly by the vocational rehabilitation counselor or coordinator and the handicapped individual. Defines vocational rehabilitation services provided under this Act as any goods or services necessary to render a handicapped individual employable, including, but not limited to, the following: (1) evaluation of rehabilitation potential; (2) counseling, guidance, referral, and placement services for handicapped individuals; (3) vocational and other training services for handicapped individuals; (4) physical and mental restoration services; (5) maintenance, not exceeding the estimated cost of subsistence, during rehabilitation; (6) interpreter services for the deaf, and reader services for the blind; (7) recruitment and training services for handicapped individuals; (8) rehabilitation teaching services and orientation and mobility services for the blind; (9) occupational licenses, tools, equipment, and initial stocks and supplies; (10) transportation in connection with the rendering of any vocational rehabilitation services; and (11) telecommunications, sensory, and other technological aids and devices. Provides a formula for the allotment and payment of funds to States for providing rehabilitation services under this title. Directs the Commissioner to establish offices in ten to twenty geographically dispersed regions for client assistance pilot projects to provide counselors to inform and advise all clients and client applicants in the project area of all available benefits under this Act and to assist them in their relationships with projects, programs, and facilities providing services to them under this Act. Directs the Commissioner to pay to a State or, at the option of the State, to a public or nonprofit organization or agency a portion of the cost of planning, preparing for, and initiating special programs under the State plan to expand vocational rehabilitation services. Title II: Comprehensive Rehabilitation Services - States it to be the purpose of this title to authorize grants to assist the several States in developing and implementing continuing plans for meeting the current and future needs of handicapped individuals for whom a vocational goal is not possible or feasible authorizes to be appropriated $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1973, $50,000,000 for fiscal year 1974, and $80,000,000 for fiscal year 1975 for grants to carry out the purposes of this title. Specifies the formula to be utilized in alloting such funds to the States. Directs the Commissioner to make grants to States and public and nonprofit agencies or organizations to pay part of the cost of projects for research and demonstration and training which hold promise of making a substantial contribution to the solution of problems related to the rehabilitation of individuals under this title. Title III: Special Federal Responsibilities Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants and contracts to assist in meeting the costs of construction of public or nonprofit rehabilitation facilities, initial staffing, and planning assistance. Authorizes to be appropriated for such grants and contracts $35,000,000 for fiscal year 1973, $40,000,000 for fiscal year 1974, and $45,000,000 for fiscal year 1975. Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants to States and public or nonprofit organizations and agencies to pay up to 90 percent of the cost of projects for providing vocational training services to handicapped individuals, especially those with the most severe handicaps, in public or nonprofit rehabilitation facilities. Authorizes to be appropriated for such grants and contracts $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1973, $35,000,000 for fiscal year 1974, and $40,000,000 for fiscal year 1975. Authorizes the Commissioner to insure up to 100 percent of any mortgage on the construction of facilities for programs for handicapped individuals. Creates a Rehabilitation Facilities Insurance Fund to be used by the Commissioner as a revolving fund for carrying out the insurance provisions of this part. Provides that the total amount of outstanding mortgages shall not exceed $250,000,000. Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for initial capital for such Fund. Authorizes the Commissioner to make annual interest grants to assist States and public or nonprofit agencies and organizations to reduce the cost of borrowing from other sources for the construction of rehabilitation facilities. Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for the payment of annual interest grants in accordance with this part. Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants to States and public or nonprofit agencies and organizations for paying part of the cost of special projects and demonstrations: (1) for establishing facilities and providing services which hold promise of expanding or otherwise improving rehabilitation services to handicapped individuals, especially those with the most severe handicaps; and (2) for applying new types or patterns of service or devices. Allows the Commissioner to make grants to pay up to 90 percent of the cost of projects or demonstrations for the provision of vocational or comprehensive rehabilitation services to handicappped individuals who are migratory agricultural workers or seasonal farmworkers, and to members of their families who are with them. Provides that the Commissioner may make contracts or jointly finance cooperative arrangements with employers and organizations for the establishment of projects designed to prepare handicapped individuals for gainful and suitable employment in the competitive labor market under which such handicapped individuals are provided training and employment in a realistic work setting and such other services as may be necessary for such individuals to continue to engage in such employment. Authorizes the Commissioner to provide technical assistance to rehabilitation facilities, and for the purpose of removal of architectural and transportation barriers, to any public or nonprofit agency, institution, organization or facility. Authorizes to be appropriated, for the purpose of making grants under this part, $50,000,000 for fiscal year 1973, $125,000,000 for fiscal year 1974, and $150,000,000 for fiscal year 1975. Authorizes to be appropriated $5,000,000 for construction, $800,000 for operations for fiscal year 1973, $1,200,000 for operations for fiscal year 1974, and $2,000,000 for operations for fiscal year 1975, for establishing and operating a National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults. Authorizes to be appropriated $2,000,000 for fiscal year 1973, $4,000,000 for fiscal 1974, and $7,000,000 for fiscal year 1975 and for making grants and contracts for the expansion and improvement of vocational or comprehensive rehabilitation services for deaf and blind individuals. Authorizes to be appropriated, for the purpose of establishing and operating National Centers for Spinal Cord Injuries, $15,000,000 for fiscal year 1973, $25,000,000 for fiscal year 1974, and $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1975. Authorizes to be appropriated, for providing services for the treatment of individuals suffering from end-stage renal disease, $25,000,000 for fiscal year 1973, $25,000,000 for fiscal year 1974, and $25,000,000 for fiscal year 1975. Establishes a National Advisory Council on Rehabilitation of Handicapped Individuals in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to: (1) provide policy advice and consultation to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Commissioner; (2) review the administration and operation of vocational rehabilitation programs under this Act; and (3) advise the Secretary and the Commissioner with respect to the conduct of independent evaluations of programs carried out under this Act. Authorizes appropriations of $100,000 for fiscal year 1973 and $150,000 for each of fiscal years 1974 and 1975 to carry out the functions of the Council. Title IV: Research and Training - Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants to and contracts with States and public or nonprofit agencies and organizations to pay part of the cost of projects for the purpose of planning and conducting research, demonstrations, and related activities, which bear directly on the development of methods, procedures, and devices to assist in the provision of vocational and comprehensive rehabilitation services to handicapped individuals, especially those with the most severe handicaps. Authorizes to be appropriated for such research activities $75,000,000 for fiscal year 1973, $100,000,000 for fiscal year 1974, and $150,000,000 for fiscal year 1975. Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants to and contracts with States and public and nonprofit agencies and organizations to pay part of the cost of projects for training, traineeships, and related activities designed to assist in increasing the numbers of personnel trained in providing vocational and comprehensive rehabilitation services to handicapped individuals and in performing other functions necessary to the development of such services. Authorizes to be appropriated for such training grants $50,000,000 for fiscal year 1973, $75,000,000 for fiscal year 1974, and $100,000,000 for fiscal year 1975. Title V: Administration and Program and Project Evaluation - Provides that, in carrying out his duties under this Act, the Commissioner shall: (1) cooperate with, and render technical assistance to States in matters relating to the rehabilitation of handicapped individuals; (2) provide short-term training and instruction in technical matters relating to vocational and comprehensive rehabilitation services; and (3) disseminate information relating to vocational and comprehensive rehabilitation services, and otherwise promote the cause of the rehabilitation of handicapped individuals and their greater utilization in gainful and suitable employment. Directs the Secretary to measure and evaluate the impact of all programs authorized by this Act. Title VI: Office for the Handicapped - Establishes an Office for the Handicapped in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to: (1) prepare a long-range projection for the provisions of comprehensive services to handicapped individuals; (2) analyze program operations; (3) encourage coordinated and cooperative planning; (4) provide assistance to other committees advising the Secretary; (5) develop means of promoting scientific research to bring about the full integration of handicapped individuals into all aspects of society; and (6) provide a central clearinghouse for information and resource availability for handicapped individuals. Authorizes to be appropriated for purposes of this title $1,000,000 for fiscal year 1973, $2,000,000 for fiscal year 1974, and $2,000,000 for fiscal year 1975. Title VII: Miscellaneous - Provides that the Vocational Rehabilitation Act is repealed ninety days after the date of enactment of this Act. Establishes an Interagency Committee on Handicapped Employees to insure the adequacy of hiring, placement, and advancement practices with respect to handicapped individuals by each department, agency, and instrumentality of the executive branch of Government. Establishes a National Commission on Transportation and Housing for Handicapped Individuals to identify and eliminate transportation barriers that impede the mobility of handicapped individuals and aged handicapped individuals, and to prepare plans and proposals for such further action as may be necessary to the goals of adequate transportation and housing for handicapped individuals. Establishes an Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board to investigate and examine alternative approaches to the architectural, transportation, and attitudinal barriers confronting handicapped individuals. Authorizes appropriations of $1,000,000 for fiscal year 1973; $1,250,000 for fiscal year 1974; and $1,500,000 for fiscal year 1975 to carry out the duties and functions of the Board.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1973
Public Service Employment Act - Directs the Secretary of Labor to enter into arrangements with eligible applicants in order to make financial assistance available for the purposes of providing, during each of the fiscal years 1974 and 1975, employment for five hundred thousand unemployed and underemployed persons in jobs providing needed public services. Requires at least eighty-five percent of the funds appropriated pursuant to this Act to be expended only for wages and employment benefits. Provides that programs assisted under this Act shall be designed with a view toward: (1) developing new careers; (2) providing opportunities for career advancement; (3) providing opportunities for continued training, including on the job training; or (4) providing transitional public service employment which will enable the individuals so employed to move into public or private employment. Requires applications for financial assistance for a public service employment program under this Act to include provisions enumerated in this Act. Directs that the amounts authorized to be appropriated for any fiscal year be allocated by the Secretary among the States on the basis of the proportion which the total number of unemployed persons in each such State bears to the total number of such persons in the United States, determined on the basis of the monthly average for the fourth calendar quarter of the fiscal year immediately preceding the one for which the apportionment is made. States that the Secretary shall not provide financial assistance for any program or activity under this Act unless he determines that specified goals and requirements will be met by such program or activity. Requires the Secretary to transmit to the Congress at least annually a detailed report setting forth the activities conducted under this Act. Authorizes to be appropriated during each of fiscal years 1974 and 1975 such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1973
Constitutional Amendment - Provides that the people of the several States and the District of Columbia shall elect the President and Vice President. Provides that the pair of persons having the greatest number of votes for such offices shall be elected, if such number be at least 40 percent of the whole vote cast. Provides for a runoff election in any other case.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Authorizes the Commissioner of Education to make grants during the period beginning with the date of enactment of this Act and ending June 30, 1978, to the Deganawidah-Quetzalcoatl University to be used for its development and improvement. States that such grants shall be subject to such terms and conditions as the Commissioner may prescribe. Authorizes to be appropriated $35,000,000 in the aggregate for making grants under this Act during the period ending June 30, 1978.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Establishes an executive department to be known as the Department of Health. Provides for a Secretary of Health, an Under Secretary, 7 Assistant Secretaries, and a Chief Medical Officer, all of whom shall be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. Transfers to the Secretary all functions of the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under specified Federal laws. Transfers various functions of the Secretary of HEW in regard to the Public Health Service. Redesignates the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare as the Department of Education and Welfare. Authorizes the Secretary of Health to appoint and fix the compensation of such officers and employees as are necessary to carry out his functions. Transfers to the Secretary the personnel, property, and authorizations of the Acts and functions listed in this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to establish a working capital fund for expenses necessary for the maintenance and operation of common administrative services and equipment. Authorizes the Secretary to provide for certain services and supplies for employees and their dependents stationed at remote localities. Provides that the Secretary shall appoint such advisory committees as appropriate for consultation with the Department in the performance of its functions. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts with educational institutions and public or private agencies for research into problems related to authorized programs. Establishes the National Advisory Commission on Health Planning to be composed of 19 members, which shall conduct a study of the programs of the Department, and shall submit a comprehensive report of its findings and legislative and administrative recommendations to the President, the Secretary, and the Congress. Provides that the Commission shall also conduct a detailed study of the current and future health needs of the United States, and issue a national health plan for health needs over the next ten years. Authorizes expenditures by the Commission not to exceed $5,000,000. Requires the Secretary to make a report in writing to the President for submission to the Congress on the activities of the Department during the preceding fiscal year. Continues all rules, contracts, and privileges effective under any Act previously listed, until suspended. Provides that this Act shall not affect any proceedings pending at the time of enactment. Makes the provisions of this Act effective 90 days after enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act - States that it is the purpose of this Act to provide for participation by the Federal Government with State and local governments, private individuals, and other interested persons in a comprehensive program to prevent further damage to the lands, waters, and natural resources of the Nation from unregulated or inadequately regulated surface and underground coal mining operations, to stabilize lands damaged by surface coal mining, to promote an effective continuing conservation land-use and management program for the coal mining industry, and to assist any worker adversely affected by this Act. Provides that this Act shall be administered by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Provides that each coal mining operation, the products of which enter interstate commerce, or the operations or products of which indirectly or directly affect interstate commerce, and each operator of such mining operation, shall be subject to this Act. Title I: Environmental Protection Coal Mining Limitation - Provides that no surface coal mining shall hereafter be conducted in any area of the national wildlife refuge system, the national park system, or the national forest system. States that no underground coal mining shall be permitted in any designated wilderness area or in any area under study as a wilderness area. Provides that no operator shall begin or renew any surface coal mining operation in any State on or after the effective date of this Act. States that no operator shall conduct contour surface coal mining operations in any State on and after the effective date of this Act. Provides that any operator who, on the effective date of this Act, is actively carrying out surface coal mining operations, other than contour surface coal mining, may continue to do so as provided in this Act if such operator obtains a permit under this title within six months after such date, and if the Administrator determines that such mining is not in violation of, or will not result in any violation of, any provision of the Clean Air Act, and does not cause, or will not result in, irrevocable or lasting injury to the public health or welfare, or damaging, flooding, or destruction of agricultural land, or dislocation or disturbance of surface or subsurface streams, or destruction of, or damange to, historic values, or destruction or damage to valuable recreational or wildlife areas, or destruction or damage of contiguous areas. States that, within two months after the effective date of this Act, no operator shall engage in surface or underground coal mining operations if he has not applied for a permit under the provisions of this Act. Sets forth the requirements for obtaining such permits. Provides that no permit application shall be approved unless the Administrator finds that the applicable requirements of this title and the rules and regulations adopted thereunder will be observed, and that, in the case of a surface coal mining application, there is probable cause to believe that the stabilization of the area of affected land can be achieved. Provides that a stabilization plan shall accompany every application for a permit for surface coal mining and be made available to the public and be approved in the same manner as a permit. Provides that after a permit application has been approved for surface coal mining but before such a permit is issued, the applicant shall file with the Administrator a bond for performance payable to the United States and conditioned on the operator faithfully performing all the requirements of this Act. Creates in the Department of the Treasury a revolving fund to be known as the Coal Mine Lands Stabilization Fund. Authorizes to be appropriated to the fund initially the sum of $100,000,000, and such other sums as may thereafter be appropriated by the Congress. Provides that moneys in the fund may be expended by the Chief of the Corps of Engineers to acquire by purchase, donation, exchange, or otherwise land which has been affected by surface coal mining operations, has not been fully stabilized prior to the effective date of this Act, and has been abandoned or is declared inactive as determined by him. Authorizes the Chief of the Corps of Engineers to stabilize directly or by contract the lands so acquired. Provides for renewal of licenses issued under this Act. Requires every surface coal mining operator to stabilize the land affected by his mining. Sets forth the required standards for such stabilization. Restricts dumping and the use of explosives on operations authorized under this Act. Requires each mining operator to report to the Administrator on the amount of coal produced, the number of employees, the days worked, the number and location of acres of land mined, number and location of acres of the land stabilized, and a description of the progress made toward the completion of the reclamation plan. Sets forth conditions for the release of bonds filed under this Act. Provides for the periodic inspection of operations authorized under this Act. Allows any person to commence a civil action on his own behalf: (1) against any person, including the United States, and any other governmental instrumentality or agency, who is alleged to be in violation of this title; or (2) against the Administrator and the Chief of the Corps of Engineers where there is alleged a failure of the Administrator or the Chief to perform any act or duty under this title which is not discretionary with the Administrator or the Chief. Provides that no Federal agency may enter into any contract for the procurement of goods, materials, and services with any operator who is convicted of any offense under this title to perform such contract at any coal mining operation at which the violation which gave rise to such conviction occurred. States that no person shall discharge or in any other way discriminate against or cause to be discharged or discriminated against any employee of a surface mine or any authorized representative thereof by reason of the fact that such employee or representative has: (1) notified the Administrator or his authorized representative of any alleged violation or danger, (2) has filed instituted, or caused to be filed, or (2) instituted, any proceeding under this Act, or (3) testified or is about to testify in any proceeding resulting from the administration or enforcement of the provisions of this Act. Authorizes the Attorney General to apply to the appropriate United States district court for injunctions restraining or enforcing compliance with the provisions of this title. Authorizes actions for damages (including attorney fees) by persons injured by violations of this title. Provides for a civil penalty of not to exceed $10,000 for each violation of this title. Prohibits States from enacting mining standards that are less stringent than those established by this Act. Authorizes necessary appropriations to carry out this title. Title II: Assistance to Workers - Provides that payment of a readjustment allowance shall be made to a worker adversely affected by this Act who applies for such allowance for any week of unemployment which begins after the thirtieth day after the date of the enactment of this Act. Provides that such allowance shall be an amount equal to 90 percent of his average weekly wage or to 90 percent of the average weekly manufacturing wage, whichever is greater. Provides for a diminishing of such allowance to the extent that it is supplied through other provisions of law. States that adversely affected workers shall be afforded, where appropriate, the testing, counseling, training, and placement services provided for under any Federal law. Provides for a relocation allowance for any adversely affected worker who is the head of a family and who has been totally separated. Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this title.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Tax Reform Act - Title I: Capital Gains of Individuals and Corporations - Eliminates the twenty-five percent capital gain rate on the first $50,000 of an individual's capital gains. Increases to thirty-five percent (thirty percent in the case of a taxable year beginning after December 31, 1970, and before July 1, 1973) the alternative rate of taxation on capital gains for corporations. Title II: Gain on Certain Property Transferred at Death or by Gift - Provides that in the case of the death of a taxpayer there shall be included in computing taxable income for the taxable period in which falls the date of his death, the gains and losses which would be taken into account if the taxpayer has sold all property, which is considered to have been acquired from or to have passed from the decedent taxpayer, at a selling price equal to its fair market value at death. Makes exceptions to this provision for household or personal items whose total value is less than $2000, and for property which passes or was passed to a surviving spouse. Sets forth rules applicable in determining the the basis for computing gain or loss. Makes provisions and rules for including gains and losses on lifetime property gifts in computing taxable income for the taxable period in which the transfer was made. Requires the filing of a final income tax return for a decendent by April 15 of the year following the taxable year, or 9 months after the date of death, whichever is later. Makes provisions for extension of time for the paying of tax. Title III: Depreciation Revision - Eliminates the provision permitting a variance from any class life for depreciation allowance purposes of up to 20 percent of such life. Title IV: State and Local Bonds - Allows a State or local government to elect to issue obligations without excluding their interest from gross income. Authorizes necessary appropriations to pay a fixed percentage of interest yield on taxable issues, and sets forth procedures for such payment. Title V: Foreign Corporations - Provides that if a foreign corporation is a controlled foreign corporation for an uninterrupted period of 30 days or more during any taxable year, every United States shareholder of such corporation who owns stock in such corporation on the last day in such year or which such corporation is a controlled foreign corporation, shall include in its gross income for its taxable year its pro rata share of the corporation's anyyyyyyy and profits for such year. Excludes from such shareholder's gross income any previously taxed earnings or profits from a foreign corporation. Provides that such shareholders in foreign corporations may be required to maintain records and accounts for purposes of this Act. Makes conforming amendments for this section. Title VI: Income Derived From Extraction of Oil and Gas - Reduces to fifteen percent the depletion rate for oil and gas wells (presently twenty-two percent). Eliminates the granting of an option to deduct as expenses intangible drilling and development costs in the case of oil and gas wells. Title VII: Farm Losses - Provides that, in the case of a taxpayer engaged in the business of farming, the deductions attributable to such business which would be allowable for the taxable year shall not exceed the sum of: (1) the adjusted farm gross income for the taxable year, and (2) the higher of the amount of the special deductions allowable for the taxable year, or $15,000 ($7,500 in the case of a married individual filing a separate return), reduced by the amount by which the taxpayer's adjusted gross income (taxable income in the case of a corporation) for the taxable year attributable to all sources other than the business of farming exceeds $15,000 ($7,500 in the case of a married individual filing a separate return). Provides for a disallowable farm operating loss carryback to each of the three taxable years preceding the loss year and a disallowed farm loss carryover to each of the five taxable years following the loss year. Defines the various terms of this title. States that a taxpayer shall be treated as engaged in the business of farming for any taxable year if: (1) any deduction is allowable for any expense paid or incurred by the taxpayer with respect to farming, or with respect to any farm property held by the taxpayer, or (2) any deduction would otherwise be allowable to the taxpayer for any expense paid or incurred with respect to farming, or with respect to property held for the production of income, which is used in farming. Excludes the raising of timber from the definition of farming. Establishes a formula limiting the amount of deduction, regarding the business of farming, to a controlled group of corporations. Directs that, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary or his delegate, an electing small business corporation which is engaged in the business of farming during its taxable year, and the shareholders of such corporation, shall apply the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code dealing with certain corporation payments to shareholders separately with respect to: (1) income derived from the business of farming by such corporation and deductions attributable to such business, and (2) all other income and deductions of such corporation. Title VIII: Minimum Tax for Tax Preferences - Imposes for each taxable year, with respect to the income of every person, a tax equal to 20 percent (previously 10 percent) of the amount by which the sum of the items of tax preference exceeds $12,000. Repeals the provision allowing tax carry-overs for 7 taxable years for excess taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Establishes, under the Secretary of Commerce, the United States Metric Conversion Coordinating Commission consisting of nine members representing business, labor, education, consumer protection, science, and technology. Authorizes members of the Commission to be compensated at the rate of $100 a day. Charges the Commission with the responsibility of implementing with the voluntary participation of every interested sector in the United States the recommendation issued by the United States metric study including: (1) that the United States change to the metric system; (2) that such change be done through a coordinated program; (3) that there be established detailed plans and time tables be worked out; (4) that priority be given to educational programs in elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher learning designed to enable Americans to think in metric terms; (5) that appropriate representatives of American enterprise participate in international standards; (6) that changeover costs be borne by each individual or group instituting the system; and (7) that the ultimate time for full conversion shall be January 1, 1984. Directs each agency of the Federal Government to convert to the international metric system and provides that such system shall be the sole and official system of weights in the United States by January 1, 1984. Authorizes the Commission to appoint an Executive Director and to employ experts and consultants. Authorizes the Commission to accept, hold, administer, and utilize gifts, donations, and bequests of property, both real and personal, and personal services, for the purpose of aiding or facilitating the work of the Commission. Directs the Commission to transmit to the President and to each House of Congress an interim report not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act and each year thereafter until January 1, 1984. Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Provides that all meetings of any Government agency at which any official action is considered or discussed shall be open to the public. Provides that the above provision shall not apply to that portion of any meeting in which the action or proposed action to be taken, considered, or discussed by an agency: (1) relates to a matter affecting the national security; (2) relates solely to the internal management of such agency; (3) might tend to reflect adversely on the character or reputation of any individual who is subject to any proposed or potential sanction by such agency; or (4) might divulge matters required to be kept confidential under specific statutory provisions. Requires each agency subject to the requirements of this Act to establish, through publication in the Federal Register, procedures for providing public notice of meetings required by this Act to be open to the public. Revises the Legislative Reorganization Act to bring the procedures of the Congress into substantial conformity with the above standards. (Amends 2 U.S.C. 190a). Provides that the district courts of the United States shall have original jurisdiction of actions to render declaratory judgments or to enforce, by injunction or otherwise, the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Repeals provisions relating to the interstate transportation of petroleum products, which provisions are for the purpose of protecting interstate commerce from burdens caused by contracts of oil and of encouraging the conservation of crude oil deposits. (Repeals 15 U.S.C. 715-715m)
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Provides that on or after June 30, 1973, no import quota or other nontariff trade restriction shall be imposed by or pursuant to law with respect to the importation into the United States of petroleum and petroleum products. (Amends 19 U.S.C. 1862)
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
State Technical Services Amendments - Makes municipal governments eligible for technical services under the State Technical Services Act and extends the Act through fiscal year 1976 by authorizing appropriations of $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1974, $40,000,000 for fiscal year 1975, and $50,000,000 for fiscal year 1976. Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to establish a nationwide information system to provide data concerning each State technical services program and the establishment of regional offices to facilitate communications between States.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Pure Foods Act - Declares it to be the purpose of this Act to regulate the safe and efficient manufacturing, processing, and packing of food for sale in interstate commerce by establishing a system for registering and licensing food manufacturers, processors, and packers and authorizing recall and other emergency procedures. Provides for the registration and licensing by the Secretary of Commerce of all persons engaged in the manufacture, processing, or packing of any class of food distributed in interstate commerce. Authorizes the Secretary to license persons registered under this Act for a period of two years. Provides that the Secretary shall grant a license or a renewal of a license only after: (1) the applicant furnishes the Secretary with the name, location, and principle place of his business; (2) the applicant provides the Secretary with a complete list of all foods manufactured, processed, or packaged at his establishment; (3) the applicant for a license informs the Secretary of the process which is employed in preparing foods to be shipped in interstate commerce; and (4) each establishment of the applicant for a license is inspected to insure that the applicant has established all necessary procedures for producing food which is not adulterated. Provides that a licensee shall be required: (1) to process any food he is licensed to produce in containers as required by the Secretary; (2) to retain processing records on all foods manufactured, processed, or packed for a period of not less than five years; (3) to set aside the lot or lots of any food which is believed to have been improperly manufactured, processed, or packed for further evaluation as to any potential health hazard and upon completion of such evaluation to report to the Secretary within seven days in advance of any distribution of the whole or any part of the lot involved; (4) to report to the Secretary any and all instances of manufacturing, processing, or packaging which may pose a potential public health hazard where any lot has in whole or in part entered the stream of interstate commerce; (5) to open all records to inspection; (6) to include as standard equipment on all processing machines adequate sterilizing equipment, temperature, and time control devices and any other equipment the Secretary deems appropriate and to establish warning devices which shall alert the licensee when such equipment is not properly functioning; (7) to meet any educational requirements set by the Secretary for persons working in such plants; (8) to establish a scheme of insuring itself against losses due to the improper manufacturing, processing, or packaging of food sold in interstate commerce as applicable regulation established by the Secretary; and (9) to follow each applicable regulation established by the Secretary under this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to revoke the license of any licensee for violation of the regulations or requirements of this Act according to due process and after a formal investigation. Requires the Secretary to coordinate his activities with those of the relevant State agencies, and to establish a program for the effective correlation and response to information submitted by the public. Provides, upon notification by a licensee or upon reasonable information of a violation involving food in interstate commerce, that the Secretary shall undertake an emmergency investigation to determine the potential public health hazard, and shall make known the results of his investigation to the manufacturers, processers, and packers involved, and also to the public. Authorizes the Secretary, upon determination of a significant potential public health hazard, to recall all or part of the hazardous shipment; embargo any food produced by the violators of the regulations; and suspend the license of any person responsible for the significant potential public health hazard. Increases criminal penalties and provides that any person violating any provision of this section shall be liable to a civil penalty to the United States of a sum which is not more than $10,000 for each such violation. (Amends 21 U.S.C. 344)
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Prohibits discrimination by financial institutions or any other persons on the basis of sex or marital status in connection with federally related mortgage transactions. Requires all parties to any such transaction to submit appropriate reports thereon (containing specified information) for public inspection. Provides civil and criminal penalties for any person who violates this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Prohibits any instrumentality of the United States in its correspondence or records from using as a prefix to the name of any person any title which indicates marital status.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Prohibits discrimination by creditors under the Truth in Lending Act against consumers on the basis of sex or marital status with respect to the extension of credit.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Equal Credit Opportunity Act - Prohibits discrimination by any federally insured bank, savings and loan association, or credit union against any individual on the basis of sex or marital status in credit transactions and in connection with applications for credit. Provides civil and criminal penalties for persons violating this Act. Requires creditors subject to the provisions of this Act to annually prepare and file a report showing the extent of compliance with the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Equality Act - Prohibits, under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, discrimination on account of sex in places of public accommodation, and under color of State law. Provides for civil actions by the Attorney General where there is discrimination on account of sex in public facilities or in public education. Prohibits discrimination on account of sex in federally assisted programs, and in housing sales, rentals, financing, and brokerage services. Provides for equal pay for women in executive, administrative, and professional positions. Authorizes the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to pay up to fifty percent of the cost of State commissions established to study discriminatory measures against women within the States, and to study necessary remedies. Authorizes $2,000,000 for this purpose. Requires the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to make studies and recommendations in specified areas of Social Security Act and Internal Revenue Code concerning women.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Power Plant Siting Act - Proposes to further both national environmental policy and national electric energy policy by facilitating timely, well-planned, and coordinated construction of adequate power supply facilities. Requires all present and prospectial private or Federal owners electric generating facilities capable of producing 200 megawatts or more, or electric transmission lines designed for 200 kilovolts or more to prepare annually long-range plans pursuant to guidelines established by the Federal Power Commission. Provides that such plans may be part of a single regional plan and shall: (1) describe the general location, size, and type of all bulk power supply facilities whose construction will begin in the next ten years, (2) identify the location of tentative sites for the construction of future power plants, (3) identify the general location, considered in the course of the development of regional plans and rejected as not suitable or appropriate, (4) reflect the owner's efforts to coordinate bulk power supply facility plans with those of other owners, and (5) reflect the owners efforts to involve environmental and land-use planning agencies in their planning process. Requires the filing of such plans with the Federal Power Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency and with other governmental or private environmental and resources planning groups who request such plans. Permits States to establish a decisionmaking body at the State or regional level to certify sites and related bulk power supply facilities of any electric entity. Requires such certifying bodies to provide for participation in its decisionmaking processes by environmental protection natural resource planning and electric power service components of the governments involved. Grants the Federal certifying agency, to be designated by the President, exclusive authority to issue certificates of site and facility on the basis of Federal standards if State or regional certifying bodies have not been created within 24 months after the enactment of this Act. Permits States which are dissatisfied with the action of a Federal certifying agency to appeal to the appropriate United States Court of Appeals. Provides that no electric entity shall commence to construct or begin operation of bulk power supply facilities within a State unless it has obtained from the State or Federal certifying agency a certificate of site and facility and no Federal electric entity shall commence to construct or begin operation of bulk power supply facilities unless it has obtained from the Federal certifying agency a certificate of site and facility. Provides that such facilities shall be constructed, operated, and maintained in accordance with the terms and conditions of the certificate. Requires applications for certificates of site and facilities to be filed 2 years before the planned date of commencement of construction. Empowers State regional and Federal certifying bodies to issue certificates of site and facility for bulk power supply facilities, if such bodies find, after considering available alternatives, that use of the site will not unduly impair environmental values and will be reasonably necessary to meet electric power needs. Grants certifying agencies further powers, such as the power to: (1) review and make public information contained in the entities plans; (2) compile and publish a yearly description of proposed powerplant sites and general location of transmission line routes; (3) conduct public hearings concerning proposed power plant sites; and (4) publish a notice in each daily or weekly newspaper serving the affected area, which notice would describe the location of facilities and other pertinent details. Directs the President to publish guidelines for certifying bodies which must include such factors as criteria for the evaluation of projected needs and of environmental effects of proposed sites and alternatives; and procedures to insure full public participation in proceedings. Permits a certified electric entity to acquire needed property by exercise of the right of eminent domain if unable to acquire it otherwise. Exposes violators of the Act to civil and criminal penalties.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Endangered Species Conservation Act - States that the purposes of this Act are to provide a program for the conservation, protection, restoration, or propagation of species and subspecies of fish and wildlife and flora that are threatened with extinction, or are likely within the foreseeable future to become threatened with extinction. Sets forth the procedure by which the Secretaries of Interior and Commerce shall determine if a species or subspecies of fish or wildlife or flora shall be regarded as an endangered species. Lists the following factors to be considered in determining if a species or subspecies is threatened with extinction or will likely become threatened with extinction: (1) the present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range; (2) overutilization for commercial, sporting, scientific, or educational purposes; (3) disease or predation; (4) the inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; or (5) other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence. Provides that the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register, not less than annually, a list by scientific and common name or names of species and subspecies determined to be endangered. Provides that the Secretary may, from time to time, by regulation, revise such list. Provides that the Secretary shall utilize the land acquisition and other authorities of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act, as amended, the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956, as amended, and the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, as appropriate, to carry out a program in the United States of conserving, protecting, restoring, or propagating those species and subspecies of fish and wildlife that he lists as endangered species pursuant to this Act. Provides that, in carrying out the program authorized by this Act, the Secretary shall cooperate to the maximum extent practicable with the several States. States that such cooperation shall include consultation before the acquisition of any land for the purpose of conserving, protecting, restoring, or propagating any endangered species. Authorizes the Secretary to delegate to a State the authority to regulate the taking by any person of endangered species or subspecies when he determines that such State maintains an adequate and active endangered species program consistent with the policies and purposes of this Act. Provides that any person who: (1) imports into or exports from the United States, receives or causes to be so imported, received, or exported; or (2) takes or causes to be taken within the United States, the territorial sea of the United States, Federal lands, or upon the high seas; or (3) ships, carries, or receives by any means in interstate commerce any species or subspecies which is listed as an endangered species; shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of this Act. Allows exceptions from the prohibitions contained in this Act to permit the taking of an endangered species for scientific purposes and for the propagation of such fish and wildlife in captivity for preservation purposes. Sets forth civil and criminal penalties for violations of the provisions of this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to promulgate such regulations as may be appropriate to carry out the purposes of this Act. Provides that any person who engages in business as an importer of fish and wildlife must register with the Secretary of the Treasury his name and address of each place of business at which, and all trade names under which, he conducts such business. Requires each such person to keep such records as will fully and correctly disclose each importation of fish and wildlife made by him and the subsequent disposition of such fish and wildlife. States that the Secretary, through the Secretary of State, shall seek the convening of an international ministerial meeting on fish and wildlife prior to July 1, 1973, to assure the worldwide conservation of endangered species and to avoid unnecessary harm to affected United States industries. Provides that, whenever the Secretary determines that a species of fish or wildlife is an endangered species, the Secretary of Agriculture may use all authorities available to him with respect to research, investigations, conservation, protection, control and management of such endangered species.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Juvenile and Adult Correctional Facilities Improvement Act - Asserts that it is the purpose of this Act to provide financial assistance to the States and localities for the construction of new correctional facilities and for the modernization of correctional institutions. Authorizes the Attorney General in accordance with this Act to make payments to State agencies for the period beginning July 1, 1973 and ending June 30, 1977. Authorizes to be appropriated the sum of $100,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1973; $100,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1974; $200,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975; $300,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1976; and $300,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1977. Provides that from the sums appropriated under this Act the Attorney General shall allot not more than 5 percent thereof among Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Provides that the Attorney General shall allot to each State an amount which bears the same ratio to the remainder of such funds as the number of persons in correctional institutions in such State bears to the number of such persons in all States. Provides for the reallotment of any State's funds if the Attorney General determines that such funds will not be required. Provides that each State which desires to receive its allotment under this Act shall submit a State plan consistent with such criteria as the Attorney General may establish. States that such criteria shall include the general manner in which such State agency shall determine project priority and general standards of construction and equipment for correctional facilities of different classes and in different types of locations. States that payments under this Act from a State's allotment shall equal 50 percent of the cost of construction projects and 75 percent of the cost of modernization projects for any fiscal year. Directs that no payments will be made until the Attorney General has determined that such State will expend for correctional purposes not less than the total amount expended for such purposes during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1969 plus the amount needed for the non-Federal share of projects under this Act. Provides for judicial review of the Attorney General's actions with respect to any State plan. States that the Attorney General shall administer the provisions of this Act through the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Federal Animal Damage Control Act - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to conduct directly or by agreement with qualified agencies or institutions, public and private, a program of research which shall concern the control and conservation of predatory and depredating animals and the abatement of damage caused by such animals. Authorizes to be appropriated for such program not to exceed $1,500,000 for each fiscal year occurring after fiscal year 1972. Authorizes the Secretary to provide financial assistance to any State which may annually propose to administer a program for the control of predatory and depredating animals. Provides that the Secretary may not, except in emergency situations, approve any State program which entails the field use of chemical toxicants for the purpose of killing predatory animals or the field use of any chemical toxicant which causes any secondary poisoning effect for the purpose of killing other mammals, birds, or reptiles. Directs the Secretary to conduct such operational programs for the control of predatory and depredating animals as he may deem necessary or desirable. Authorizes the Secretary to assist the States in their implementation of programs under this Act. Authorizes to be appropriated $3,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1973 and 1974, and $2,000,000 for each succeeding fiscal year thereafter for such control programs. Authorizes to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each fiscal year occurring after fiscal year 1972 for operational programs and for assistance to States in the implementation of their programs. Prohibits any person from making field use of any chemical toxicant on any Federal lands for the purpose of killing predatory animals, or making field use on such lands of any chemical toxicant which causes any secondary poisoning effect for the purpose of killing other mammals, birds, or reptiles. Provides that any person convicted of any violation of this part, or of any regulation promulgated under this Act, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year or both. Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the purpose of this Act other than specific authorizations previously made.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Health Security Act - Title I: Health Security Benefits - Provides that every resident of the U.S. (and every non-resident citizen when in the U.S.) will be eligible for covered services. Permits reciprocal and "buy-in" agreements for groups of non-resident aliens, and in some cases benefits to U.S. residents when visiting in other countries. Entitles every eligible person to have payments made by the Health Security Board for covered services provided within the United States by a participating provider. Provides that all necessary professional services of physicians, wherever furnished are covered, including preventive care, with two important restrictions: (1) specialist services are covered only when performed by a qualified specialist except in emergency situations, and generally only on referral from a primary physician; and (2) psychiatric services to an ambulatory patient are covered only for active preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic or rehabilitative service with respect to mental illness. Provides that comprehensive dental services (exclusive of most orthodontic services) are covered for children under age 15, with the covered age group increasing by two years each year until all those under age 25 are covered. Provides that: (1) inpatient and outpatient hospital services and services of a home health agency are covered without arbitrary limitation; (2) pathology and radiology services are specifically included as parts of institutional services; and (3) custodial care is specifically excluded in specified institutional settings. Limits payment for skilled nursing home care to 120 days per spell of illness, except that this limit may be increased when the nursing home is owned or managed by a hospital and payment for care is made through the hospital's budget. Limits the psychiatric hospital benefit to 45 consecutive days of active treatment during a spell of illness. Provides coverage for two categories of drug use: prescribed medicines administered to inpatients or outpatients within participating hospitals; or to enrollees of comprehensive health service organizations, and drugs necessary for the treatment of specified chronic illnesses or conditions requiring long or expensive therapy. Requires the Board and the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to establish two lists of approved drugs, taking into account the safety, efficacy and cost of each drug. Provides a broad list of approved medicines available for use in institutions and by comprehensive health service organizations and a more restricted list which is available for use outside such organized settings. Provides that the appliances benefit is similar in concept and operation to the drug benefit, subject to a limitation on aggregate cost. Asserts that the professional services of optometrists and podiatrists are covered, subject to regulations, as are diagnostic or therapeutic services furnished by independent pathology laboratories and radiology services. States that health services furnished or paid for under a workmen's compensation law are not covered. Provides that the services of a professional practitioner are not covered if they are furnished in a hospital which is not a participating provider. Requires that participating providers meet standards established in this title or by the Board. Requires that such providers must agree to provide services without discrimination, to make no unauthorized charge to the patient for any covered service, and to furnish data necessary for utilization review by professional peers, statistical studies by the Board, and verification of information for payments. Makes professional practitioners, licensed when the program begins, eligible to practice in the State where they are licensed and requires that all newly licensed applicants for participation meet national standards established by the Board in addition to those required by his State. Establishes conditions of participation for general hospitals similar to those required under Medicare. States that the two requirements not found in the Medicare program are: (1) that the hospital must not discriminate in granting staff privileges on any grounds unrelated to professional qualifications; and (2) that it establish a pharmacy and drug therapeutics committee for supervision of hospital drug therapy. Provides that psychiatric hospitals will be eligible to participate only if the Board finds that the hospital (or a distinct part of the hospital) is engaged in furnishing active diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitative services to mentally ill patients. Establishes conditions of participation for skilled nursing homes similar to those established for extended care facilities under Medicare. Makes provisions for the participation of home health service agencies. Describes as eligible a health maintenance organization which undertakes to provide an enrolled population either with complete health care or with complete health security services (other than institutional services, mental health or dental services) for the maintenance of the health and care of ambulatory patients. Permits a foundation sponsored by a county or other local medical society to participate as a provider of services. Authorizes the Board to deal separately with the primary care portion of a system of comprehensive health care where it is necessary to rely on arrangements with other providers. Permits the Board to contract directly with public or other nonprofit mental health centers and mental health day care services. Specifies the broad and general conditions under which independent pathology laboratories, independent radiological services, and providers of drugs, devices, appliances, equipment, or ambulance services may qualify as providers under Health Security. Requires that a participating skilled nursing home have in effect an agreement with at least one participating hospital for the transfer of patients and medical and other information as medically appropriate. Prohibits in malpractice judgments any damages to be awarded to the injured party for the cost of remedial services which he is entitled to receive under this Act. Excludes the institutions of the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration, and institutions of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare serving merchant seamen or Indians or Alaskan natives, from serving as participating providers, as well as any employee of these institutions when he is acting as an employee. Provides reimbursement for any services furnished by these institutions or agencies to eligible persons who are not a 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, the scope of his permissible practice being governed by the law of the State in which he is practicing. Grants a similar authority to other health professional and nonprofessional 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. Provides that three separate accounts shall be established in the Health Security Trust Fund: a Health Service Account, a Health Resources Development Account, and an Administration Account. Provides that in each of the first two years of the program operation, 2 percent of the Trust Fund shall be set aside for the Health Resources Development Fund; and the allocation shall increase by 1 percent at two-year intervals to 5 percent within the next 6 years. Provides for allocation of the Health Services account among the regions of the country. Provides that the allocation to each region shall be based on the aggregate sum expended during the most recent 12-month period for covered services (with appropriate modification for estimated changes in the consumer price index, the expected number of eligible beneficiaries, and estimated changes in the number of participating providers). Provides that the Board will divide the allocation to each region into funds available to pay: institutional services; physician services; dental services; furnishing of drugs; furnishing of devices, applications, and equipment; and miscellaneous services. Provides that payments for covered services provided to eligible persons by participating providers will be made from the Health Service Account in the Trust Fund. Describes the method to be used in applying, as between practitioners electing the various methods of payment fee for service, the monies available in each health service area for payment to each category of professional providers. Authorizes the Board to experiment with other methods of reimbursement so long as the experimental method does not increase the cost of service or lead to overutilization or underutilization of services. Provides that skilled nursing homes and home health agencies will be paid in the same manner as a general hospital (on an approved annual budget basis). Provides that a health maintenance organization will be paid for covered services, on the basis of a fixed capitation rate multiplied by the number of eligible enrollees. Contains a series of provisions for developing a continuous process of health service planning and for assisting in the recruitment, education, and training of health personnel. 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. Sets forth the responsibilities and duties of the Secretary of HEW and the Board with regard to this title. Creates an administrative structure within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare with exclusive responsibility for administration of the Health Security program. Establishes a five-member full-time Health Security Board serving under the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Provides that the members shall be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, for five-year overlapping terms. Creates the position of an Executive Director, appointed by the Board with the approval of the Secretary. Provides that the Executive Director shall serve as secretary to the Board and shall perform such duties in the administration of the program as the Board assigns to him. Provides that the program will be administered through the regional offices of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Requires the establishment of sub-regional (service area) offices. 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. Provides that the Advisory Council will 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. Charges the Board with responsibility for informing the public and providers about the administration and operation of the Health Security program. Requires the Board to make a continuing study and evaluation of the program, including adequacy, quality and costs of services. Authorizes the Board directly or by contract to make detailed statistical and other studies on a national, regional, or local basis of any aspect of the title; to develop and test incentive systems for improving quality of care, methods of peer review of drug utilization and of other service performances; to develop and test systems of information retrieval, budget programs, instrumentation for multiphasic screening or patient services, reimbursement systems for drugs; and to make such other studies which it considers would improve the quality of services of administration of the program. Grants authority to the Board, in accordance with regulations, to make determinations of who are participating providers of services, determinations of eligibility, of whether services are covered, and the amount to be paid to providers. Allows a provider of services who is dissatisfied with a final Board determination to obtain a hearing before a Board panel, and judicial review of a final decision. 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. Requires continuing professional education by physicians, dentists, optometrists, and podiatrists. Provides for the appointment of a Deputy Secretary of HEW and an Under Secretary for Health and Science. States 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 1 percent on employees and 3.5 percent on employers. Raises the wage base for the employee tax from the present $7,800 to $15,000 or, if higher 125 percent of the contribution and benefit base. Broadens the definitions of covered employment to include foreign agricultural workers, employees of the U.S. and its instrumentalities (other than members of the armed forces and the President, Vice-President, and Members of Congress), employees of charitable and similar organizations, railroad employees, and (for the employee tax only) employees of States and their political subdivisions and instrumentalities. 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. Spells out the precise effective dates of the new payroll tax provisions. Converts the existing Medicare self-employment tax into a Health Security self-employment tax, and raises the rate to 2.5 percent, and raises the maximum taxable self-employment income from $7,800 to $15,000. Adds a new 1 percent Health Security tax on 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 - Establishes in the Department of HEW a Commission on the Quality of Health Care, with the primary responsibility of: (1) initiating and continuing development of methods of assessing the quality of health care furnished under the Health Security Act, and (2) submitting to the Secretary and the Health Security Board its findings and recommendations. Stipulates that in carrying out its duties the Commissioner shall emphasize, and give first 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 various conforming amendments to the medicare, medicaid, vocational rehabilitation, and Federal employees health benefits statutes to bring it into conformity with this Act. Requires that, after the effective date of benefits, no State shall be required to furnish any service covered under Health Security as a part of its State plan for participation under Medicaid, and that the Federal government will have no responsibility to reimburse any State for the cost of providing a service which is covered under Health Security. Provides that funds available under the Vocational Rehabilitation Act or the Maternal and Child Health title of the Social Security Act shall not be used to pay for personal health services after the effective date of benefits, except (to the extent prescribed in regulations by the Secretary of HEW) to pay for services which are more extensive than those covered under Health Security. Title V: Studies Related to Health Security - Authorizes the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Treasury to study the coverage of health services for U.S. residents in other countries. Directs the Secretary of HEW to study the feasibility and desirability of coordinating the Federal health benefit programs for merchant seamen, and Indians and Alaskan natives, and veterans and members of the Armed Forces, with the Health Security Benefit Program.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
National No-Fault Motor Vehicle Insurance Act - Provides that every person suffering loss from injury arising out of maintenance or use of a motor vehicle has a right to basic reparation benefits if the accident causing injury occurs in any State. Defines those persons and their survivors who shall have such right where the accident causing injury occurs outside any State. Provides that basic reparation benefits shall be paid without regard to fault. Provides for a priority of applicability of security for payment of basic reparation benefits. Abolishes tort liability related to motor accidents arising from the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle except as otherwise enumerated in this Act. Sets forth requirements for a minimum tort liability insurance and territorial coverage. Limits the basic reparation benefits payable for work loss, survivor's economic loss, replacement services loss, and survivor's replacement services loss arising from injury to one person and attributable to the calendar week during which the accident causing injury occurs and to each calendar week thereafter to a maximum of $200. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations for the adjustment or apportionment of such benefits where the injured person's earnings or work is seasonal or irregular. Authorizes optional deductibles and exclusions at appropriately reduced premium rates for any basic reparation insurance policy offered under the provisions of this Act. Permits basic reparation insurers to offer optional added reparation coverages. Provides for the establishment in each State of an assigned claims bureau. Sets forth procedures for the assignment of claims. Permits the awarding of a reasonable sum for attorney's fees for a claim against a reparation obligor. Provides that no part of the fee for representing claimants shall consist of a charge against benefits otherwise due the claimant. Provides an exception where the claim is fraudulent. Makes provisions for lump-sum and installment settlements, and requires court approval if the net loss exceeds $2500. Establishes a statute of limitations of two years from the time when injury or loss is known, or four years after the accident, whichever is earlier. Provides for an extended statute of limitations in cases where death results from the accident. Prohibits assignments of right to benefits except in specified circumstances, and provides that benefits are exempt from garnishment, attachment, execution, and any other claim. Permits the reparation obligor to file a petition for a mental or physical examination where appropriate. Sets forth requirements concerning disclosure of facts about an injured person by his employer, his physician or hospital, and the claimant himself. Makes the reparation obligor responsible for the cost of rehabilitation treatment and occupational training where this is necessary for the injured person. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to establish in each State a plan assuring liability and motor vehicle insurance coverage to all applicants who cannot conveniently obtain insurance through ordinary methods. Prohibits termination or modification of insurance by an insurer other than in specified manners and circumstances. Prescribes criminal and civil penalties for violations of this Act. Makes provisions for proportionate reimbursement from other reparation obligors to obligors and to owners suffering uninsured physical damage to their motor vehicles. Establishes methods, rules, and limitations for such reimbursement. Coutinues State authority to make and regulate insurance rates. Sets forth effective dates for the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1973
Consumer Protection Act - Title I: Office of Consumer Affairs - Creates an Office of Consumer Affairs, within the Executive Office of the President, to coordinate Federal consumer protection activities, serve as a clearinghouse for complaints, and publish Government consumer information. Provides that the office shall be headed by a Director appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, and gives the Director powers to carry out the objectives of this Act. Requires the Director to transmit to the Congress and the President an annual report of the activities of the office during the preceding year including a summary of complaints and the need for additional legislation to protect the interest of the U.S. consumer. Provides that it shall be the function of the office to: (1) coordinate the programs and activities of all Federal agencies relating to the interests of consumers in order to achieve effectiveness and avoid duplications and inconsistencies; (2) encourage and assist in the development and implementation of consumer programs and activities in the Federal Government; (3) assure that the interests of consumers are taken into consideration by appropriate Federal agencies both in the formulation of policies with respect to consumers and in the operation of programs that may effect consumer interests; (4) cooperate with and, when requested, provide assistance to the Administrator of the Consumer Protection Agency; (5) advise and make recommendations to all Federal agencies with respect to general policy matters concerning the effectiveness of programs and activities relating to the interests of consumers; (6) submit recommendations to the Congress and the President on the means by which programs and activities relating to the interests of consumers can be improved; (7) conduct conferences, surveys, and investigations concerning the needs, interests, and problems of consumers which are not duplicative in significant degree to similar activities conducted by other Federal agencies; (8) encourage, initiate, coordinate, and participate in consumer education and counseling programs (including credit counseling); (9) encourage, report, and coordinate research and studies leading to improved products, services, and consumer information; (10) cooperate with and give technical assistance to State and local governments in the promotion and protection of consumer interests, including programs relating to the arbitration of disputes between consumers and businessmen and producers; (11) cooperate with and assist private enterprise in the promotion and protection of consumer interests; (12) publish and distribute in a Consumer Register material which will include notices of Federal hearings, proposed and final rules and orders, and other useful information, translated from its technical form into language which is understandable by the public; and (13) keep the appropriate committees of the Congress fully and currently informed of all its activities, except that this paragraph is not authority to withhold information requested by individual Members of Congress. Title II: Consumer Protection Agency - Establishes as an independent agency within the executive branch of the Government the Consumer Protection Agency, headed by an Administrator appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, to advise the Congress and the President as to matters concerning consumer interests and to protect the interest of consumers. Gives the Agency powers to carry out the objectives of this Act and sets out specific functions for the Agency. Asserts that the functions of the Agency shall be to: (1) represent the interests of consumers in proceedings before Federal agencies and courts; (2) encourage and support research, studies and testing leading to a better understanding of consumer products and to improved products, services, and consumer information; (3) submit recommendations annually to the Congress and the President on measures to improve the operation of the Federal Government in the protection and promotion of the consumer interests; (4) publish and distribute material developed pursuant to carrying out its responsibilities which will inform consumers of matters of interests to them; (5) conduct conferences, surveys, and investigations, including economic surveys, concerning the needs, interests, and problems of consumers which are not duplicative in significant degree to similar activities conducted by other Federal agencies; (6) keep the appropriate committees of Congress fully and currently informed of all its activities, except that this paragraph is not authority to withhold information requested by individual Members of Congress; and (7) cooperate with and, when requested, provide assistance to the Director of the Office in the carrying out of his functions. Allows the Agency to intervene and represent the interests of consumers in Federal agencies investigations or hearings where the interests of such consumers would not otherwise be adequately protected. Authorizes the Agency to intervene as a party in a proceeding in a court of the United States involving the review of Federal agency action in a rulemaking proceeding in which the Agency had participated in or an adjudicatory proceeding in which the Agency had intervened, and to the extent that a right of judicial review is otherwise accorded by law. Authorizes the Agency to institute a proceeding in a competent court of the United States to secure such a review. Authorizes the Administrator to request the Federal Agency concerned to initiate such proceedings or to take such other action as may be authorized by law with respect to such agency, when the Administrator determines it to be in the interests of consumers. Authorizes the Office of Consumer Affairs and the Agency to receive information disclosing a probable violation of any law, administrative order, Federal judgment, or other trade practice affecting consumer interests and to take action to prohibit any further violation. Requires the Agency and Office to develop and disseminate data concerning the function and duties of the Agency and Office, consumer problems, and trade practices detrimental to the interests of consumers. Authorizes the Agency to encourage and support development and application of methods and techniques for testing consumer products, to recommend to other Federal agencies with respect to such information within their authority which would be useful and beneficial to consumers, and to investigate and report to Congress on the feasibility of establishing a National Consumer Information Foundation. Authorizes the Agency to conduct studies and investigations of the scope and adequacy of measures employed to protect consumers against unreasonable risk of injuries which may be caused by hazardous household products. Provides for limitations on disclosures to the public of information collected by any instrumentality created by or under this Act. Title III: Consumer Advisory Council; Protection of Consumer Interest In Administrative Proceedings; Miscellaneous Amendments - Establishes a Consumer Advisory Council consisting of 15 members to advise the Director and Administrator on matters concerning consumer interests and to review the effectiveness of Federal programs relating to consumer interest. Requires every Federal agency taking any action affecting consumer interests to provide notice of such action to the Office or Agency and to take action to consider the interests of consumers. Authorizes necessary appropriations to carry out the purposes of this Act.