United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1994
Persian Gulf War Veterans' Compensation Act of 1994 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) develop and implement a uniform case assessment protocol to ensure thorough assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of all Persian Gulf War (War) veterans suffering from illnesses the origins of which are currently unkown but which may be attributable to service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during such War; (2) develop case definitions or diagnoses for such illnesses; and (3) implement a comprehensive outreach program, including a newsletter and a toll-free telephone number, to inform War veterans and their families of the medical care and other benefits that may be provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs as a result of service in such War. Directs the Secretary to pay compensation to a War veteran suffering from a disability resulting from an undiagnosed illness if such disability becomes manifest to a degree of ten percent or more within three years of separation from active military service. Provides exceptions to the payment of such compensation (i.e., when there is a preponderance of evidence to show that the disability was not incurred during such service or occurred after such service). Allows the Secretary to cease such payments after providing specified congressional committees with a scientific report showing that such disabilities are not connected to service in the War. Directs the Secretary to enter into: (1) an agreement with the Secretary of Defense for access to all clinical data on War veterans who remain on active duty, and to continually compile such data (with a required annual report); and (2) a contract for the conduct of an epidemiological study designed to assess the short- and long-term health consequences of service in such War (with appropriate oversight, a status report, and annual and final reports). Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 through 2000 for such study. Authorizes appropriations to the Department for FY 1995 through 1998 for the conduct of research to advance the understanding of health risks and effects of service in the Gulf during such War and the means of treating such health effects.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1994
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of the Congress, to the Lubavitcher rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a gold medal in recognition of his outstanding and enduring contributions toward world education, morality, and acts of charity. States that no appropriations are authorized to implement this Act. Declares that the medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1994
Airliner Cabin Air Quality Act of 1994 - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to prohibit smoking on all scheduled airline flight segments (currently, just on certain airline flight segments) in air transportation or intrastate air transportation.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1994
Safe Highways and Infrastructure Preservation Act of 1994 - Amends the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 to prohibit States from allowing the operation on federally assisted highways of any trailer, semi-trailer, container, or other cargo carrying unit longer than 53 feet, with specified exceptions. Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect State laws with respect to such vehicles less than 53 feet long. (Sec. 3) Amends Federal highway law to prohibit States from allowing the operation of any vehicle or combination (other than longer combination vehicles) that are not in conformance with the Interstate weight limits, unless the Department of Transportation, another Federal agency, or the State has determined such vehicles could lawfully operate on July 1, 1956 (except in the case of the overall gross weight of any group of two or more consecutive axles on the date of the enactment of the Federal-Aid Highway Amendments of 1974.) Prohibits the operation of such vehicles on the basis that a State law could have authorized such operation at some prior date by permit or otherwise. Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent a State from reducing its gross vehicle weight limitation or its single or tandem axle weight limitations on the Interstate System for operations under the exception; but in no event shall such reduction fall below specified weight limits for vehicles operating on such System. Subjects all vehicles or combinations operating under the exception to routing-specific, commodity-specific, and weight-specific designations in force in a State before January 1, 1994. (Sec. 4) Directs the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to determine the meaning of the term "vehicles and loads which cannot be easily dismantled or divided" (including a commodity-specific definition of such term) as it relates to provisions concerning vehicle weight limitations. Declares that it is the policy of this Act to promote conformity with the Interstate weight limits for the benefit and safety of all motorists. (Sec. 5) Declares that the gross vehicle weight limitations and axle loading limitations with respect to vehicles and combinations on any non-Interstate highway on the National Highway System (NHS) shall be those set by State statute as of January 1, 1994, except that those limitations applicable to non-Interstate segments not in existence upon enactment of this Act shall be the Interstate weight limits. Directs the Secretary to determine and publish a list of: (1) the State's gross vehicle weight limitations and axle loading limitations as of January 1, 1994, with respect to non-Interstate highways on the NHS; and (2) operations not in conformance with such limitations with respect to vehicles and combinations on such highways of such State before January 1, 1994, and which were in lawful operation on a regular or periodic basis, including seasonal operations, before that date. Subjects all vehicles or combinations included on the non-conforming operations list to routing-specific, commodity-specific, and weight-specific designations in force in a State on December 31, 1993.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1994
National Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Act of 1994 - Declares that it is U.S. policy that: (1) Federal, State, and local agencies should plan and implement aquatic ecosystem restoration projects resulting in achievement of the interim goals of a net restoration of ten million acres of wetlands, 400,000 miles of streams and rivers, and one million acres of lakes (excluding the Great Lakes) by the year 2010, and long-term goals published by the National Aquatic Restoration Council (established by this Act); and (2) the Federal Government should provide leadership and technical and financial assistance to State and local governments, tribal organizations, other management entities, and private citizens to plan, implement, monitor, and evaluate aquatic ecosystem restoration. Directs the Council to: (1) monitor achievement of the interim goals; and (2) upon determining that such goals have been achieved, establish and publish long-term goals in the Federal Register. Requires: (1) the President to establish an Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Task Force to develop a National Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Strategy; and (2) the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to seek to implement the Strategy. Sets forth the contents of the Strategy. Directs the Task Force, in developing the Strategy, to consider the national policy and recommendations contained in the National Research Council's 1992 report on Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems and the 1994 National Science Foundation's Freshwater Initiative. Directs the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, subject to the availability of amounts deposited into the Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Fund (established by this Act), to provide financial assistance to a management entity to carry out each aquatic restoration project approved by the Council. Sets forth requirements regarding applications for assistance and review and approval of proposed projects. Requires the Task Force to submit to the President and publish in the Federal Register recommendations for sources of amounts for deposit into the Fund, consisting of fees imposed for use or degradation of water resources. Sets forth provisions regarding presidential and congressional review of the recommendations. Directs that amounts received by the United States pursuant to such recommendations be deposited into the Fund. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1994
Designates September 16, 1994, as National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Requires the display of the National League of Families POW/MIA flag at: (1) all national cemeteries and the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial on May 30, 1994 (Memorial Day), September 16, 1994 (National POW/MIA Recognition Day), and November 11, 1994 (Veterans Day); and (2) the White House and the buildings containing the primary offices of the Secretaries of State, Defense, and Veterans Affairs and the Director of the Selective Service System on September 16, 1994 (National POW/MIA Recognition Day).
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should report to the Congress on: (1) the situation in Kosova, including the manner in which Serbia's policies have affected the economic, social, and cultural rights of the majority in Kosova; (2) measures to provide humanitarian assistance to the population of Kosova and to Kosovar refugees; and (3) his recommendations on what modalities may be pursued to implement international protection of the rights of the people of Kosova, to reestablish an international presence in Kosova to monitor more effectively the situation there, and to secure for such people their right to democratic self-government.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1994
National Community Service Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue one-dollar silver coins to commemorate students who volunteer to perform community service. Mandates that all surcharges received from such coin sales be paid to the National Community Service Trust to fund innovative community service programs at American universities, including the service, research, and teaching activities of the faculty and students involved in such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Amendments to Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act Title II: Amendments to the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act Marine Fish Conservation Amendments of 1994 - Title I: Amendments to Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act - Amends the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act to declare that it is the policy of the Congress to: (1) assure that the national fishery conservation and management program encourages development of practical measures that reduce bycatch (the incidental catch, take, or harvest of certain fish, marine mammals, and other specified animals) to insignificant levels approaching zero; and (2) ensure that all State and Federal actions are consistent with the conservation and management of fisheries under such Act. (Sec. 105) Revises national standards for fishery conservation and management to require conservation and management measures to: (1) provide an adequate margin of safety to act as a buffer against overfishing; and (2) reduce bycatch to the lowest level practicable and avoid unnecessary waste of fish. (Sec. 106) Revises requirements for Regional Fishery Management Councils to direct the Secretary of Commerce to ensure that at least 25 percent of the appointed members of each Council are persons selected for their fisheries expertise, as demonstrated by university, environmental organization, or other non-user group affiliation and by past actions and accomplishments. Provides for removal of a Council member for cause upon the Secretary's determination of a conflict of interest. Requires that each Council decision be recorded by roll call vote registered and forwarded to the Secretary for review. Authorizes each Council to request the Secretary to initiate consultation with a Federal agency about certain agency activity which may affect the essential fishery habitat of a fishery under its jurisdiction designated in a fishery management plan. Revises financial disclosure requirements for Council members to include financial interests held by children, grandchildren, parents, or siblings. Requires any Council member holding a financial interest requiring disclosure to recuse him or herself from voting on or participating in all Council actions that would affect such interest. Authorizes Council members and the public to challenge, in writing to the Secretary, any vote of a Council member alleged to have been made in violation of such recusal requirement. (Sec. 107) Requires any fishery management plan to: (1) specify an objective definition of overfishing for each fish species or population involved in the fishery; (2) contain a recovery plan for any overfished fishery; (3) specify allowable gear types for the fishery, requiring the use of types which minimize bycatch and associated mortality; (4) provide for the stationing on U.S. fishing vessels of observers to gather reliable data; (5) establish a system of fees to pay for plan implementation; (6) assess the bycatch of all gear types used in the fishery; and (7) contain conservation and management measures to minimize or eliminate the adverse impacts of fishing gear and practices on habitat for fish. Requires the Secretary to review each existing fishery management plan for compliance with the definition of overfishing in this Act. (Sec. 108) Specifies plan review, plan preparation, and overfishing determination duties of the Secretary. Mandates the contents of regulations establishing a system to collect fees to pay for fishing vessel observers. Establishes a National Fishery Observer Fund. Directs the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register a list of fish species, populations, and population complexes that are overfished and the objective definition of overfishing used to make that determination. Requires the Secretary to develop a research plan to identify and gather needed data on fish species, populations, and population complexes for which information is insufficient. Revises the approval voting requirements for a management plan for any fishery under the authority of more than one Council. Declares that any Secretary-prepared fishery management plan or amendment addressing a highly migratory species fishery, which was in effect on July 1, 1993, shall remain in effect until superseded by a plan or amendment prepared by the appropriate Councils and approved by the Secretary. Sets forth procedures for adoption of a recovery plan addressing overfishing with respect to fish species, populations, or population complexes subject to a fishery management plan. Directs the Secretary to provide for the elimination of bycatch through fees and incentive programs, including cooperative efforts with the Federal Government on research and development of selective fishing gear and other technological devices for the reduction of bycatch. Directs the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register and submit to the Congress a report on the cumulative impacts on fishery habitats of the actions authorized, funded, or carried out by Federal agencies, including an assessment of how fishery habitats identified in approved fishery management plans are affected. Directs the Secretary to review: (1) the feasibility of establishing a risk sharing pool through a reasonable fee to provide coverage for vessels and vessel owners against liability from civil suits by observers; and (2) the availability of comprehensive commercial insurance for vessel and owner liability against such suits. Requires the Secretary to establish such a pool unless such insurance is available to all fishing vessels and U.S fish processors required to have observers, and it will provide a greater measure of coverage at a lower cost. Requires the Secretary to establish an alternative observation program for vessels on which facilities for quartering of an observer, or for carrying out observer functions, are inadequate to ensure the health or safety of the observer or the safe operation of the vessel. (Sec. 109) Authorizes the Secretary or the appropriate Council (subject to the Secretary's approval) to adopt regulations as an interim measure in the absence of a fishery management plan. Prescribes general requirements for such regulations. Requires the Secretary to comment on and make recommendations concerning any actual or proposed action authorized, funded, or carried out by a State or Federal agency that may result in the destruction or adverse modification of the essential habitat designated in a fishery management plan. Prescribes guidelines for Federal agency response to such comments or recommendations. Authorizes the Secretary to prohibit any such Federal agency actions. Provides for: (1) citizen suits to enforce such Act; and (2) citizen petitions to compel the Secretary to make a finding or determination or take any other action authorized by such Act. Title II: Amendments to the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act - Amends the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975 to require the Director of the National Marine Fisheries Service (or his or her designee) to be one of the three U.S. Commissioners on the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. (Sec. 201) Prohibits any U.S. Commissioner from having a financial interest or from serving as an officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee with an organization with a financial interest in any catching, harvesting, processing, or marketing activity undertaken within any fishery over which the Commission has jurisdiction. Repeals certain knowledge and experience requirements, with respect to commercial and recreational fishing, for non-governmental Commissioners. Allows regulations to carry out Commission recommendations which may have the effect of decreasing any allocation or quota of fish to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1994
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) make the visa waiver program permanent; and (2) authorize the designation of a qualifying European Union nation as a visa waiver program country.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1994
Veterans' Persian Gulf War Benefits Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) develop and expeditiously implement a uniform case assessment protocol that will ensure thorough assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of all Persian Gulf War veterans suffering from illnesses attributed to service in the Persian Gulf theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War; (2) expedite efforts to develop case definitions or diagnoses for illnesses associated with such service; and (3) develop and implement a comprehensive outreach program to inform such veterans and their families of health-care services, including comprehensive medical evaluations, that may be available through the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Directs the Secretary to pay compensation to Persian Gulf War veterans suffering from a chronic disability resulting from an undiagnosed illness that became manifest to a degree of ten percent or more within one year after completion of active duty in the Gulf War, with exceptions. Terminates compensation payments three years after the date of enactment of this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Veterans Affairs for: (1) FY 1995 through 1997 for conducting research of the health risk and effects of service during the Gulf War and the treatment of such effects; and (2) FY 1995 for a survey of Persian Gulf veterans as to the incidence and nature of health problems occurring in such veterans and their families.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1994
Calls on: (1) the Republic of Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabagh to cease all hostilities and begin peace negotiations under the framework established by the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; (2) the parties to the conflict to simultaneously lift all blockades in the region; and (3) the President to take an active role in promoting peace and in monitoring the human rights situation in the region.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Programs of Health Care Financing Administration Subtitle A: Medicare Program Subtitle B: Other Programs Title II: Programs of Public Health Service Title III: Antitrust Provisions Title IV: Commission on Reducing the Burden of Regulations and Paperwork on Small Rural Hospitals Rural Hospital Survival Act of 1994 - Title I: Programs of Health Care Financing Administration - Subtitle A: Medicare Program - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act regarding guidelines for determining a national adjusted DRG (diagnosis-related group) prospective payment rate to instruct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to compute, for rural hospital discharges, beginning FY 1995, the portion of the average standardized amount attributable to wages and wage-related costs. States that the portion of such amount not attributable to wages and wage-related rural hospital costs shall be equal to such portions of such amount for hospitals in another urban area. Requires the Secretary to adjust the proportion of hospitals' costs taking into account only costs attributable to wages and salaries, employee benefits, and professional fees. (This eliminates payment differentials between urban and rural hospitals.) Expresses the sense of the Congress that payment reductions made to providers under Medicare should be adjusted to reduce their disproportionate impact upon providers in rural areas. Subtitle B: Other Programs - Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 to extend through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for rural health transition grants. Title II: Programs of Public Health Service - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary to make grants to public and private entities for demonstration projects for: (1) telecommunications which make medical advice and technologies available to rural area health professionals; and (2) increased access of rural populations to primary health services. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Antitrust Provisions - Provides antitrust exemption guidelines for certain rural hospitals. Title IV: Commission on Reducing the Burden of Regulations and Paperwork on Small Rural Hospitals - Establishes the Advisory Commission on Reducing the Burden of Regulations and Paperwork on Small Rural Hospitals to analyze and report to the Secretary and the Congress on the impact on such hospitals of governmental regulations and paperwork.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Tax Incentives Regarding Rural Health Care Title II: Public Health Service Programs Regarding Rural Health Care Subtitle A: National Health Service Corps Subtitle B: Other Programs Regarding Rural Health Care Title III: Provisions Relating to the Medicare Program Title IV: Treatment of Student Loans for Health Professionals Rural Health Professional Shortage Act of 1994 - Title I: Tax Incentives Regarding Rural Health Care - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income any payment made on behalf of a taxpayer by the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program. Permits a deduction for medical education loan interest incurred by health professionals serving in medically underserved rural areas. Provides a credit for a qualified primary health services provider providing primary health services full time to individuals residing in a rural health professional shortage area and who: (1) is not receiving a National Health Service Corps Scholarship or a loan repayment under the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program; (2) is not fulfilling service obligations under such Programs; and (3) has not defaulted on such obligations. Provides for an increase in the amount which may be expensed as depreciable business assets in the case of rural health care property. Title II: Public Health Service Programs Regarding Rural Health Care - Amends the Public Health Service Act to add additional criteria for use in determining health professional shortage areas by including in the criteria the number of individuals paying for health services through Medicare or Medicaid and the number of individuals who have no health insurance, as well as the number of physicians who will accept Medicare and Medicaid patients. (Sec. 202) Requires that at least five percent of appropriations for the National Health Service Corps be used for special loans for former Corps members to enter private practice in health professional shortage areas. (Sec. 211) Provides increased funding for the Scholarship Program and the Loan Repayment Program. (Sec. 212) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to give priority in making scholarships to individuals from rural backgrounds who are likely, after their service, to serve in a rural health professional shortage area. (Sec. 221) Establishes in the Treasury the Rural Primary Health Care Funds for the purpose of making loans to assist individuals with the costs of attending professions schools if the individuals agree to provide primary health services in an underserved rural area. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 231) Requires a State, in order for the State to receive a grant for an Office of Rural Health, to undertake activities to recruit and train physicians to serve in rural areas. Authorizes appropriations for such Offices. (Sec. 232) Authorizes and increases appropriations through FY 1997 for area health education center programs. Title III: Provisions Relating to the Medicare Program - Amends the Social Security Act to: (1) eliminate the geographic adjustment factor, beginning in 1999, with respect to payment amounts for physicians' services; (2) exempt rural hospitals from anti-kickback penalties for certain incentives provided to a physician, if the incentives are contingent upon the physician practicing in the area; and (3) extend the incentive payment for physicians' services furnished in a shortage area to certain nonphysician providers. Title IV: Treatment of Student Loans for Health Professionals - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to defer certain student loan repayments for a borrower who is serving in an internship or residency program in a health facility located in a rural area.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that any legislation enacted to provide for national health care reform should: (1) prohibit the denial of health insurance coverage to, or limitation of coverage or benefits for, any individual or family on the basis of a preexisting medical condition; (2) prohibit charging an unreasonable amount for such coverage and benefits on the basis of a preexisting medical condition; and (3) include among the individuals and families protected by such prohibitions those who wish to acquire health insurance coverage and benefits from an entity other than their current health care provider.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1994
Theater Missile Defense Act of 1994 - Prohibits the Secretary of Defense from conducting flight testing of theater missile defense interceptors and sensors if the anticipated result of a missile launch under such testing would be the release of debris in a U.S. land area outside of a designated Department of Defense test range.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Countervailing and Antidumping Duty Amendments Title II: Intellectual Property Amendments Title III: Market Opening Measures GATT Fair Trade Enforcement Act of 1994 - Title I: Countervailing and Antidumping Duty Amendments - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to require every importer of record making an entry of merchandise to declare: (1) whether such merchandise is subject to any antidumping or countervailing duty order; and (2) whether the importer disclosed to the manufacturer of such merchandise in the country of exportation that its destination is the United States. (Sec. 101) Requires such importer with respect to merchandise subject to an antidumping duty order to disclose to the manufacturer that such merchandise has been purchased for exportation to the United States, unless at the time of purchase, the importer did not: (1) intend to export the merchandise to the United States; (2) import it for a period of at least six months from the date of purchase; and (3) regularly engage in a pattern of importation of such merchandise. Subjects importers who fail to make such disclosures to Federal prosecution. (Sec. 102) Sets forth an alternative method for determining the exporter's sales price. (Sec. 103) Directs the International Trade Commission (ITC), with respect to the award of compensation, to forward to the Commissioner of the United States Customs Service within 60 days of the issuance of an antidumping or countervailing duty order a list of petitioners and companies that support the petition with respect to the dollar value of their shipments during the last year covered by the original ITC investigation. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to establish a special compensation account composed of all antidumping or countervailing duties, including interest, that are collected under a antidumping or countervailing duty order. (Sec. 104) Declares that diversionary input dumping occurs when: (1) a manufacturer incorporates into merchandise under investigation a component which is the subject of an antidumping duty order, a finding issued under the Antidumping Act, 1921, or an international agreement or agreement to eliminate the injurious effect of imports that is entered into after an affirmative preliminary determination with respect to antidumping; and (2) such manufacturer under investigation purchased such component at a price which is less than the foreign market value. Requires the administering authority to commence an antidumping investigation whenever it has reasonable grounds to believe that: (1) diversionary input dumping is occurring; (2) it has a significant effect on the cost of producing the merchandise under investigation; and (3) subsequent to the imposition of an antidumping duty order or entry into force of an agreement relating to the components in question, U.S.-bound shipments of the merchandise under investigation have increased. Provides for extension of the period of time for preliminary determinations of diversionary input dumping by the administering authority. (Sec. 105) Requires the administering authority to decide that a competitive benefit has been bestowed when the price for the input product is lower than the price that the manufacturer of merchandise which is the subject of a countervailing duty proceeding would otherwise pay for the product in obtaining it from an unsubsidized seller (currently any seller) in an arms-length transaction. Sets forth specified factors to be considered in the determination of such price. (Sec. 106) Revises the method by which the administering authority determines the foreign market value of dumped merchandise with respect to their sale at less than the cost of production in their home market. (Sec. 107) Requires the administering authority, when determining whether imported parts or components are circumventing an antidumping or countervailing duty order or finding, and whether to include such parts or components in such order or finding, to consider, among other things, the value and sources of supply parts or components historically used in completion or assembly of the merchandise subject to such order. Authorizes the administering authority to include within the scope of such order or finding imported parts or components used in the completion or assembly of certain merchandise sold in the United States and subject to such order or finding, provided: (1) such merchandise is completed or assembled in the United States or a foreign country from parts or components supplied by the exporter or producer with respect to which such order or finding applies, from suppliers that have historically supplied the parts or components to that exporter or producer, or from any party in the exporting country supplying parts or components on behalf of such exporter or producer; (2) the difference between the value of such imported parts and components and the total value of all parts or components used in the assembly or completion operation, excluding packing, is significant; and (3) consideration of specified factors established a pattern of circumvention of such order or finding. (Sec. 108) Declares that if an antidumping duty petition alleges its petitioning members of the domestic industry account for 25 percent or more of the total production of the like product produced by it, the administering authority shall not be required to further investigate the standing of such petitioners unless a written objection to initiation is filed by a member of the domestic industry. (Sec. 109) Revises, for purposes of determining the foreign market value of imported merchandise, the method for calculating its constructed value. (Sec. 110) Revises provisions regarding the: (1) administrative review, and period of time for review, of quantitative import restriction agreements and antidumping duty or countervailing duty orders or findings; (2) revocation of such orders or findings; and (3) termination of suspended antidumping duty or countervailing duty investigations. (Sec. 111) Revises provisions regarding: (1) foreign market value determinations with respect to imported merchandise to include the effects of fluctuations in currency exchange rates; (2) sampling and averaging in determining the U.S. price or foreign market value of imported merchandise; (3) market viability as it relates to foreign market value determinations; (4) negligible imports as they affect material injury determinations; (5) captive production as it relates to defining the domestic industry; and (6) adjustments to the calculation of the exporter's sales price of merchandise. Title II: Intellectual Property Amendments - Amends the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 to revise and specify new U.S. objectives with respect to the international protection of intellectual property rights. (Sec. 202) Prohibits the President from negotiating any new free trade agreement with a foreign country, unless such country: (1) has substantially implemented the Uruguay Round Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS); and (2) expresses willingness to negotiate an agreement with the United States to provide intellectual property protection equivalent to that set forth in the Model Intellectual Property Agreement. Requires the President to amend existing free trade agreements to provide greater protection of such rights. Prohibits fast track procedures from applying to any implementing legislation of a free trade agreement if the above-mentioned requirements are not met. (Sec. 203) Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to require the United States Trade Representative (USTR), among other things, to identify those foreign countries that deny non-discriminatory market access opportunities for U.S. persons, including access related to any exploitation or enjoyment of commercial benefits from exercising rights in protected works, fixations, or products embodying protected works. Sets forth additional factors the USTR must take into account in identifying a priority foreign country. Revises provisions regarding a foreign country's denial of: (1) adequate protection of intellectual property rights; and (2) fair market access. Specifies when a foreign country denies non-discriminatory market access opportunities for U.S. persons in respect of establishing business operations or any use, benefit, or exploitation of protected works, fixations, or products embodying protected rights. (Sec. 204) Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to make it unlawful for an owner, distributor, or consignee to sell articles, including semiconductor chip products, in the United States that: (1) infringe a valid U.S. patent or copyright; (2) are made or mined by means of a process covered by a valid U.S. patent; (3) infringe a valid U.S. trademark; and (4) infringe a mask work. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to investigate any violations committed under this Act. Sets forth civil penalties. (Sec. 205) Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to prohibit the President, one year after the effective date of the Uruguay Round Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization, from designating any country a beneficiary developing country if it has not implemented the TRIPS. Authorizes the President to designate: (1) a least developed country a beneficiary developing country for four additional years; and (2) a non-least developed country certified to the Congress to be making significant progress toward implementation of TRIPS a beneficiary developing country for one additional year. (Sec. 206) Requires the USTR to: (1) maintain a Model Intellectual Property Agreement that embodies provisions for intellectual property protection that strengthen the standards contained in TRIPS and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); and (2) review periodically the Model Intellectual Property Agreement to ensure it reflects new developments in intellectual property protection and new technologies. (Sec. 207) Requires the Secretary of State to instruct all heads of U.S. diplomatic missions abroad to include intellectual property protection as a priority objective of the mission. (Sec. 208) Requires the USTR to develop a procedure to ensure the exchange of information between interested U.S. private sector representatives and the USTR in preparation for international intellectual property-related dispute settlement proceedings to which the United States is a party. (Sec. 209) Authorizes the President to undertake specified actions with respect to developing countries to encourage them to improve their protection of intellectual property. (Sec. 210) Urges the USTR to negotiate with foreign countries the implementation of the border enforcement provisions against the importation of infringing goods enumerated in TRIPS, and if warranted, require those countries that chronically violate intellectual property rights to establish an export control monitoring system. Title III: Market Opening Measures - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize the President to impose civil penalties on foreign or domestic persons that engage in restrictive business practices, including price-fixing, bid-rigging, joint restraint of output, market allocation, boycotts, tying arrangements, or similar activities, when such practices foreclose U.S. exports or burden or restrict U.S. foreign commerce. Authorizes the President to negotiate settlement agreements with parties or governments which result in the elimination of: (1) the practice under investigation; or (2) the restriction on U.S. exports or the burden or restriction on U.S. commerce. Provides for the imposition of civil penalties. (Sec. 302) Authorizes the President to take trade action with respect to any area pertinent to relations with a foreign country that is that target of such action, including but not limited to, trade in any goods or services. Declares unreasonable any act, policy, or practice which denies fair and equitable provision of adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights, notwithstanding that the foreign country may have implemented TRIPS or any other bilateral, regional, or multilateral agreement with respect to intellectual property protection. Requires the USTR to initiate an investigation whenever a petition alleges that: (1) a foreign country fails to provide adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights; and (2) acts, policies, or practices of the country either deny benefits to the United States under a trade agreement, or burden or restrict U.S. commerce. (Sec. 303) Expresses the sense of the Congress that every effort be taken to conclude the Multilateral Steel Agreement (MSA) before implementation of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Declares that a principal U.S. negotiating objective in the MSA shall be to obtain rules ensuring the elimination of all injurious subsidies. Requires, prior to implementation of GATT, that U.S. negotiators consider the potential impact the elimination of tariffs on specialty steel products would have on the specialty steel industry absent a successful conclusion of the MSA.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Aviation Investment Act of 1994 Title II: Federal Aviation Act of 1958 Amendments Title III: Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979 Amendments Title IV: General Provisions Title V: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 Title I: Aviation Investment Act of 1994 - Aviation Investment Act of 1994 - Amends the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982 to declare that it is in the national interest to encourage projects that employ innovative technology that promotes safety, capacity, and efficiency improvements in air transportation. (Sec. 103) Makes the acquisition or installation by a public-use airport of explosive detection devices and universal access systems an "airport development" activity. (Sec. 104) Authorizes appropriations for: (1) FY 1994 through 1997 for airport development and airport planning projects; (2) FY 1996 through 1997 for airport improvement projects; and (3) FY 1995 through 1997 for research, engineering and development, and demonstration projects. (Sec. 107) Authorizes the appropriation of the balance of available funds in the Airport and Airway Trust Fund for costs incurred by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in operating the aviation system in a safe and efficient manner. (Sec. 109) Extends through FY 1997 the requirement that any obligation or expenditure of amounts appropriated from the Trust Fund for navigation services and facilities be expressly authorized by amendment of specified law. (Sec. 110) Declares that, if the Congress limits the apportionment for airport development and airport planning projects in any fiscal year to less than $1.9 billion, the total apportionment for primary and cargo service airports shall not exceed 44 percent of such amount. (Sec. 111) Requires not less than five percent (currently, ten percent) of funds for airport development and airport planning to be distributed to reliever airports. Requires not less than 1.5 (currently, 2.5 percent) of such funds to be distributed to: (1) nonprimary commercial service airports; and (2) certain noncommercial service public airports. Makes permanent the set-aside of airport development and airport planning funds for the development of current and former military airports. (Sec. 112) Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to designate one or more military airports to receive such funds. Requires the Secretary in making such designations to consider only those military airports listed in the reports issued by the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission whose conversion would enhance civil airport and air traffic control system capacity. Authorizes the Secretary to designate military airport set-aside participation to obtain grants to operate and repair airport facilities during the transition to civil operations. Limits participants who receive such funds to $250,000 apiece. (Sec. 113) Reduces from two to one the minimum number of airports that may benefit from a State's project application for airport development or airport planning projects. (Sec. 114) Allows as a project cost reimbursable by the U.S. Government airport development and airport planning costs incurred: (1) not more than two years before a project grant agreement was executed; (2) after September 30, 1993; (3) in accordance with an approved airport layout plan and applicable statutory requirements; and (4) after the Secretary's approval. (Sec. 115) Allows the unlimited use of discretionary funds for terminal development at commercial service airports enplaning no more than .05 percent of the total U.S. enplanements (small airports) annually. (Sec. 116) Declares that nothing in such Act shall be construed to prohibit the obligation of amounts for airport development and planning projects pursuant to a letter of intent in the same fiscal year as the letter of intent is issued. (Sec. 117) Extends the State block grant pilot program for airport development and planning through September 30, 1997. Authorizes such program to provide funding for integrated airport system planning. Requires such planning to include at least one primary airport enplanning 0.25 percent or more of the total number of passengers enplanned annually at all commercial services airports. (Sec. 118) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to State and local governments for land use compatibility planning projects that make the use of land areas around airports compatible with aircraft operations. (Sec. 119) Authorizes the Administrator of the FAA to contract with the Center for Aviation Research and Education of the National Association of State Aviation Officials for the collection of airport safety data. (Sec. 120) Revises the term "integrated airport system planning" to include, among other things, the role which airports play in the transportation system in a specific area. Mandates that not less than one percent (currently, one-half of one percent) of airport development and airport planning funds be distributed during each fiscal year to planning agencies for integrated airport system planning. Sets forth certain requirements for the approval of a grant to a planning agency for integrated airport system planning. (Sec. 121) Authorizes the Secretary, in a manner that advances the overall infrastructure needs of the aviation sector of the nation's economy, to enter into innovative financing agreements that produce a greater amount of investment in airport development per dollar of Federal expenditure than generally prevails in the existing Federal airport improvement program. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Federal Aviation Act of 1958 Amendments - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to authorize the Administrator of the FAA to enter into cooperative agreements on a cost-shared basis with Federal and non-Federal entities to promote aviation research, engineering, and development, including the development of prototypes and demonstration models. (Sec. 202) Authorizes the Administrator of the FAA to provide safety-related training and operational services for foreign aviation authorities with or without reimbursement, if it promotes aviation safety or U.S. aviation interests. Requires reimbursed air travel, to the extent practicable, to be provided on U.S. air carriers. (Sec. 203) Authorizes the Administrator of the FAA to collect fees for providing the following aviation services outside the United States: any test, authorization, certificate, permit, rating, evaluation, approval, inspection, or review. (Sec. 204) Revises the mandatory features of a fee proposal the Secretary must find when granting a public agency controlling a commercial service airport the authority to impose a passenger facility fee to finance specific projects. Requires the application for such authority to include adequate justification for each of the specific projects. Title III: Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979 Amendments - Amends the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979 to revise and make uniform the Federal share of costs for airport noise compatibility projects. (Sec. 302) Provides for projects to soundproof residential buildings if specified conditions are met. (Sec. 303) Repeals a certain annual reporting requirement concerning the status of the implementation of collision avoidance systems in the national air traffic control system. Title IV: General Provisions - Requires compensation received by the United States from the transfer of the San Jacinto Disposal Area to the City of Galveston, Texas, to include compensation to the FAA for costs to replace existing airway facilities on such area. (Sec. 402) Amends the Aviation Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 to provide certain waiver authority with respect to foreign air carriers. (Sec. 403) Amends the Airport and Airway Development Act of 1970 to repeal a provision requiring local government approval of airport development projects for general aviation airports that are located astride a line separating two counties within a single State. Title V: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend certain aviation-related taxes and trust fund spending authority.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1994
Amends the Small Business Act to increase, for each of FY 1994 through 1999, the authorization levels for the small business development center program.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
United States Botanic Garden Commemorative Coin Act of 1995 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) issue one-dollar silver coins to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the founding of the United States Botanic Garden; and (2) pay all surcharges received from such coin sales to the National Fund for the United States Botanic Garden.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Applauds the President for maintaining the U.S. nuclear testing moratorium and for taking a leadership role toward negotiation of a comprehensive test ban treaty. Encourages all nuclear powers to refrain from conducting nuclear explosions prior to conclusion of such a treaty. Urges the Conference on Disarmanent to make all possible progress toward a comprehensive test ban treaty by the end of 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
A Child is Waiting Resolution - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) any health care reform legislation include guaranteed full funding for the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children (WIC); and (2) specified amounts should be made available to move toward such full funding goal.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1994
Tobacco Health Tax and Agricultural Assistance Act of 1994 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the excise taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products. Imposes an additional tax on packs of cigarettes containing fewer than 20 cigarettes. Provides an inflation adjustment on such tax rates. Imposes a civil penalty on any person who sells, relands, or receives tobacco products labeled for export. Restricts the importation of previously exported tobacco products. Imposes an excise tax on the manufacture or importation of roll-your-own tobacco. Establishes the Tobacco Conversion and Health Education Trust Fund to: (1) assist farmers in converting from tobacco to other crops; and (2) provide grants to communities and persons adversely affected by the tax increases in this Act. Provides for the transfer to such Fund of amounts received from tobacco tax increases.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
Secure Assurance for Families Everywhere (SAFE) Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) a national registry of all child support orders maintaining an abstract of each order containing certain specified information. (Sec. 2) Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require certain State procedures, including procedures for ensuring that: (1) a copy of each child support order issued, modified, or being enforced in the State is transmitted to the national registry; and (2) a notice of court or administrative review and, under certain conditions, a statement of arrears owed are included with each order transmitted. Requires the national registry, upon the receipt from an employer of a W-4 form completed by an employee, to report to the employer information on: (1) whether the employee is subject to a child support order for wage withholding; and (2) the aggregate amount of support involved. (Sec. 3) Requires the Secretary to establish a system for enabling such information, as well as information identifying the person to whom any child support is owed, to be obtained at the workplace via W-4 form reporting by employees. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) require employers to deduct and withhold child support obligations from employee wages, pay withholdings to the Secretary, forward individual W-4 forms to the national registry, and include withheld obligations on the employee's W-2 form; (2) require individuals with monthly shortfalls in child support payments because of inadequate wage withholding to make payments directly to the Secretary, with the full amount due by the end of the applicable tax year subject to the same collection process and penalties applicable to back taxes; and (3) provide for a tax credit for withholdings and payments in excess of applicable obligations. (Sec. 5) Directs the Secretary to pay to the appropriate payee on a monthly basis a portion of the amount of child support received on account of an obligation payable to such payee, plus a child support assurance benefit for payees cooperating in establishing the support order and child paternity. Disregards the first $100 of such benefit for purposes of AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) benefits. (Sec. 7) Amends SSA title IV part D to require: (1) individuals applying for child support collection or paternity determination services under the State part D plan who are not otherwise eligible for such services to use a new Federal application form in applying for such services; (2) such plans to provide for ongoing outreach programs to persons eligible for plan services; and (3) the separate organizational unit under the direction of the Secretary of Health and Human Services' designee to issue regulations for ensuring State plans for serving underserved populations and accommodations for assisting non-English speaking persons and the hearing impaired. (Sec. 8) Establishes the Commission on Child Support Guidelines to recommend to the Congress national child support guidelines to be followed by State courts and administrative bodies in setting child support award amounts. (Sec. 9) Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish by a certain deadline the requirements already required to be established under current law for the staffing of State child support programs; (2) streamline the process for conducting child support audits; and (3) jointly issue with the Secretary of the Treasury regulations governing coordination of State child support collection activities with those of the IRS. Provides for an increase in the Federal matching rate as an incentive for States increasing paternity establishment and meeting staffing requirements with regard to their child support programs. Adds: (1) maintenance of effort requirements for State child support and AFDC programs; and (2) additional specified requirements with respect to procedures for paternity establishment and paternity acknowledgment affidavits.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1994
National Community Health Advisor Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, for each State or State-designated entity that submits an appropriate application, to award financial assistance for the development and operation of community health advisor (CHA) programs. Requires such States to: (1) operate a clearinghouse to maintain and disseminate information on CHA programs; (2) provide technical assistance for training CHAs; and (3) coordinate all CHA activities carried out by the State under the award. Limits administrative costs to 15 percent of the total award. Provides CHA program objectives and goals. Requires funding agreements for such awards to give priority to developing and operating CHA programs for medically underserved communities (poor rural and inner city areas). Requires a State to provide matching funds of 25 percent of award amounts toward such programs. Requires a CHA program in a State to be carried out in at least one urban area and one rural area. Requires ongoing supervision of CHAs involved in the program. Allows for expenditures under the award for training and continuing education programs. Requires reports from State applicants to the Secretary assessing the effectiveness of CHA programs. Provides for the determination of the amount allotted to each chosen applicant, taking into account the population and poverty level of the area involved. Directs the Secretary to establish guidelines for quality assurance and cost-effectiveness of the CHA programs, requiring evaluations of each such program. Prohibits this Act from being construed to require the Secretary to modify or terminate the Community Health Representative Program of the Indian Health Service.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Research and Related Programs Title II: Construction Grants Title III: Standards and Enforcement Title IV: Permits and Licenses Title V: General Provisions Title VI: State Water Pollution Control Revolving Funds Title VII: Miscellaneous Provisions Water Quality Act of 1994 - Title I: Research and Related Programs - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (the Clean Water Act or CWA) to add national goal and policy provisions with respect to water quality programs. Title II: Construction Grants - Removes limitations on the use of grants for the construction of publicly owned treatment works and authorizes the use of such grants for purposes for which grants may be made under nonpoint source management and groundwater quality programs. (Sec. 201) Requires grant applicants to demonstrate, along with other existing requirements, that water use efficiency options have been studied and evaluated and, if cost-effective implemented. (Sec. 202) Prohibits the approval of a grant for a treatment works unless the applicant has adopted a system of charges that will recover the costs of operation and maintenance (O&M) of treatment works within the jurisdiction. (Current provisions require the applicant to insure adequate construction and O&M.) (Sec. 205) Requires value engineering reviews to be conducted for any treatment works construction projected in excess of $25 million (currently, $10 million). (Sec. 206) Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to make grants under title II of the CWA for the construction of treatment works to specified cities and counties. Title III: Standards and Enforcement - Revises provisions concerning the use of innovative technology to comply with effluent reduction requirements to authorize the Administrator, if a facility achieves reductions with an innovative system that has the potential for reducing the release of pollutants to other media, to extend the date of compliance for such facility for up to three (currently, two) years if the system has industry-wide application potential. (Sec. 302) Directs States to develop antidegradation policies. Requires the Administrator to publish guidance for States to assist in the designation and protection of outstanding national resource waters. (Sec. 303) Authorizes the Administrator to issue regulations to prohibit or restrict the use of mixing zones with respect to chemicals which are persistent, acutely toxic, or bioaccumulative and pose a sufficient health or environmental risk. (Sec. 304) Requires the Administrator to publish guidance for the States on development and adoption of water quality standards applicable to arid areas. (Sec.305) Directs the Administrator to publish regulations providing guidance for effluent limitations for discharges into the ground or groundwater that are subject to permit requirements for groundwater discharges. (Sec. 307) Requires the Administrator to allow States to use a specified amount of funds to carry out citizen water quality monitoring programs. (Sec. 308) Directs the Administrator, in publishing any revised list of toxic pollutants subject to effluent limitations, to take into account the bioaccumulation potential of, and magnitude and risk of exposure to, a pollutant. Requires effluent standards to take such factors into account as well. Authorizes any person to petition the Administrator to limit or prohibit discharges of toxic pollutants or classes of such pollutants which contribute to water quality impairment. Provides that if the Administrator issues chemical-specific numeric water quality criteria for toxic pollutants and a State has not adopted water quality standards for navigable waters within three years of the issuance of such criteria, the criteria shall be: (1) treated as adopted by the State as a water quality standard for purposes of Federal and State law; and (2) applied consistent with designated uses if the State has designated uses for such waters. Requires the Administrator to develop additional criteria for water quality with respect to pollutants entering navigable waters with an emphasis on pollutants entering such waters from nonpoint sources. Authorizes the Administrator to develop and issue guidance that States may use in: (1) issuing fish consumption advisories and scientific protocols for testing contamination levels of fish; (2) developing a monitoring program for contaminants in fish and shellfish; and (3) monitoring water quality at beaches and issuing health advisories with respect to beaches. Directs the National Academy of Sciences to study and report to the Congress on the current scientific knowledge of chemicals which are present in U.S. waters and for which there is evidence that exposure to such chemicals may result in endocrine, immune, or nervous system or developmental health effects in human, fish, or wildlife. (Sec. 309) Revises Federal enforcement and penalty provisions. (Sec.310) Revises provisions regarding water pollution control at Federal facilities to waive the sovereign immunity of the United States with respect to any requirement, administrative authority, or sanctions that may be imposed for violations. Provides that Federal employees may be subject to criminal sanctions but exempts Federal agencies from such sanctions. Authorizes the Administrator to commence administrative enforcement actions against Federal agencies under this Act. Includes Federal agencies in the definition of "person." (Sec. 311) Includes within the required elements of nonpoint source management programs: (1) a description of monitoring and assessment of program effectiveness; (2) a description of program measures that will apply to land owners and a description of land owners, activities, or areas exempt from such measures; (3) an identification of activities for which land owners will be required to implement site-specific management plans; (4) an identification of methods to inform landowners of sources of assistance for developing such plans; (5) designation of watersheds or other areas for which best management practices will be undertaken; (6) a schedule for addressing nonpoint sources of pollution; and (7) an identification of activities on Federal lands that are inconsistent with such programs. Requires the Administrator to prepare nonpoint source management plans for States that fail to do so or whose plans are not approved. Extends the authorization of appropriations for grants for assessment reports, nonpoint source management programs, and groundwater protection programs through FY 2000. Directs the Administrator to publish guidance to identify best management practices and measures which may be undertaken under such management programs. (Sec. 313) Requires the Administrator to establish a schedule under which major nonmunicipal dischargers of pollutants and significant industrial users are required to submit pollution prevention or reduction plans. Directs the Administrator to report to the Congress on innovative and alternative technologies which are available for preventing and reducing pollution of navigable waters. Requires each publicly owned treatment works that is required to develop a pretreatment program and each federally owned treatment works to develop toxic reduction action plans. Directs the Administrator to publish guidance on such plans and on providing technical assistance to small communities to assist them in reducing the introduction of toxic pollutants and hazardous wastes into treatment works. Makes such plans a precondition for issuance or renewal of a national pollutant discharge elimination system permit for a treatment works that is required to have a pretreatment program. (Sec. 314) Authorizes States to submit watershed management programs to the Administrator for approval. Permits States implementing approved watershed management programs to transfer funds for various water pollution control programs between programs (thus, allowing States to use funds for one program for another program). Authorizes the Administrator, in any year in which a State is implementing such a program, to extend the terms of permits for discharges into watersheds or point source discharges into State waters, subject to certain conditions. Title IV: Permits and Licenses - Revises stormwater discharge permitting provisions. (Sec. 402) Makes stormwater discharges that are composed entirely of stormwater subject to requirements for nonpoint source management programs. Adds to the list of discharges for which permits are required: (1) a discharge associated with any industrial activity that is subject to regulation by a State or local stormwater program and is from a construction activity which disturbs fewer than five acres of total land area and is not part of a larger common plan of development or sale; and (2) a discharge from a municipal separate storm sewer system serving an urbanized area with a population between 50,000 and 100,000. Establishes additional requirements for permits for municipal separate storm sewer systems, including that they: (1) require reasonable progress toward attainment of water quality standards as expeditiously as possible, but by no later than December 31, 2009; and (2) have additional requirements for the control of discharges to attain or maintain such standards if they are renewed after this Act's enactment. Authorizes the issuance of general or group permits for any discharges, other than those from municipal separate storm sewer systems, if the discharges are similar in nature and application of similar management measures will reduce pollution occurring from such discharges. Prohibits the Administrator from requiring, as a permit condition, compliance with a numeric effluent limitation or an applicable water quality standard before December 31, 2009, except to implement management measures under regulations for municipal separate storm sewer systems. Sets forth requirements for regulations for permits for urbanized and municipal separate storm water discharges. (Sec. 403) Subjects existing permits for discharges from municipal combined sewer systems resulting from wet weather overflows to this Act's requirements. Directs the Administrator to issue regulations to require permits for such discharges that provide for: (1) technology-based controls for such overflows and set forth a compliance schedule for a long-term control plan; and (2) reasonable progress toward attainment of water quality standards by no later than December 31, 2009. Prohibits such permits from requiring compliance with a numeric effluent limitation or water quality standard before such date. (Sec. 404) Treats a discharge of a pollutant into groundwater as a discharge into navigable waters if: (1) there is a reasonably foreseeable and demonstrable direct hydrologic connection between the ground and surface waters in the proximity of the discharge; (2) a greater than de minimis quantity of the pollutant is able to reach surface waters; and (3) no other Federal law directly addresses the activity resulting in the discharge. Bars penalties for such a discharge unless the person should have known that there is a direct hydrologic connection between the ground and surface waters in the proximity of the discharge. (Sec. 405) Requires the Administrator to issue guidance on the beneficial use of sewage sludge. Title V: General Provisions - Requires a CWA cost and needs estimate to be submitted quadrennially (currently, biennially) to the Congress. (Sec. 504) Reauthorizes the CWA through FY 2000. (Sec. 505) Requires the Administrator to make grants to Indian tribes to pay the full cost of sewage treatment and nonpoint source management projects. Increases amounts to be reserved for Indian tribes for such projects. Permits State water pollution control revolving funds (SRFs) to be used for assistance to Indian tribes. Title VI: State Water Pollution Control Revolving Funds - Authorizes SRFs to be used for water use efficiency measures whose principal purpose is improving or protecting water quality. (Sec. 602) Requires the Administrator to establish simplified procedures for small communities to obtain assistance from SRFs. (Sec.603) Provides for an extended repayment period for loans made from SRFs for service areas in which the average annual residential sewage treatment charge, after completion of a project, will be greater than 1.25 percent of the median family income for such area. Authorizes negative interest rates for such loans. Permits SRFs to be used to provide technical and planning assistance to small communities. (Sec. 605) Extends the authorization of appropriations for the SRF program through FY 2000. Title VII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Authorizes the Administrator to provide financial assistance to States for planning, design, and construction of international wastewater treatment works in the vicinity of the U.S.-Mexican border. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 702) Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to States along such border to provide assistance for planning, design, and construction of treatment works to provide wastewater service to colonias. Makes funds appropriated before this Act's enactment available for such purposes. (Sec. 703) Requires the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on pollutants to navigable waters which originate from mobile sources and impair or threaten water quality and to submit recommendations for reducing pollution from such sources.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
Designates March 23, 1994, the 92d birthday of the Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (leader of the worldwide Lubavitch movement), as Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
Honors James Norman Hall for his outstanding contributions to the United States, France, Tahiti, and the South Pacific. Requests the President to provide for the presentation of a copy of this concurrent resolution to the President of Tahiti Nui (French Polynesia) to be publicly displayed at the James Norman Hall Museum in Tahiti.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1994
Commends: (1) the President of Guatemala, Ramiro de Leon Carpio, and the leaders of the Guatemalan National Revoluntionary Union for establishing a framework for formal negotiations to bring an end to the internal armed conflict and set Guatemala on the road to democracy; and (2) the leaders of the various segments of civilian society, under the leadership of Bishop Rodolfo Quezada Toruno, for their role in articulating the concerns of all sectors of Guatemalan society and for bringing critical issues onto the agenda of the peace negotiations. Calls on: (1) the Group of Friends of the peace negotiations (Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Venezuela, Norway, and the United States) to continue and intensify their support of such negotiations; (2) President de Leon Carpio to develop a measurable and substantive plan to end human rights abuses and disband the Civil Self-Defense Patrols, to ensure the safety of the returnees, and to recognize the civilian character of the Communities of Populations in Resistance; and (3) the executive branch of the U.S. Government to condition all assistance to Guatemala, except for humanitarian and development assistance, on full compliance with recommended measures of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, on continuation of the peace process, on substantive improvement in the protection of human rights, on the dissolution of the Patrols, on the guaranteed safety of refugees, returnees, and the internally displaced, on verifiable resolution of the Devine, Ortiz, and Mack cases, and on the strengthening of the various segments of civilian society.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1994
Fire Safe Cigarette Act of 1994 - Directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission to issue by rule a fire safety standard for cigarettes. Prohibits stockpiling of cigarettes between the issuing and effective dates of the standard. Provides for judicial review of the standard. Prohibits manufacture or importing of cigarettes unless in compliance with such standard. States that this Act and the standard issued under it does not preempt any law of a State which prescribes a more stringent fire safety standard for cigarettes.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1994
Amends the Interstate Commerce Act to direct the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to require a fair and equitable arrangement for protection of the interests of railroad employees who may be affected by an ICC order approving an application for construction or acquisition and operation of a railroad line. Requires such arrangement to be no less fair and beneficial to the interests of such employees than those established under specified provisions for employee protective arrangements in transactions involving rail carriers.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) should be a high priority; (2) all FY 1995 appropriations made for LIHEAP should be expended; and (3) LIHEAP expenditures for FY 1996 should ensure the provision of services at or above the level provided in FY 1995.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1994
Rural Consumer Protection Act of 1994 - Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to extend specified association service curtailment protections to electric loan borrowers. Stipulates that such protections may be limited if: (1) waived by the borrower; or (2) in the public interest.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1994
Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act - Requires the U.S. Government to: (1) disable and dismantle all its nuclear weapons and refrain from replacing them at any time with weapons of mass destruction; (2) undertake vigorous good faith efforts to eliminate war, armed conflict, and all military operations; (3) actively promote policies to induce all other countries to join in these commitments for peace on earth; and (4) redirect resources that are currently being used for nuclear weapons programs to constructive, ecologically beneficial peacetime activities and to address human needs such as housing, health care, education, agriculture, and environmental protection. Makes this Act effective when the President certifies to the Congress that all foreign countries possessing nuclear weapons have established legal requirements comparable to those set forth in this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Child Abuse Accountability Act - Permits the garnishment of an annuity under the Civil Service or Federal Employees' Retirement Systems in order to satisfy a judgment against an annuitant for physically abusing a child.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the President shall not enter into any trade agreement requiring changes in U.S. antidumping laws which would reduce their effectiveness as a remedy against injurious dumped imports; (2) the U.S. Government shall not condone distorting subsidies by foreign governments, including development subsidies, that cause material injury to U.S. industries; and (3) the United States not enter into any trade agreement on dispute settlement contained in the Draft Final Act embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations (Negotiations) of December 21, 1991, unless, with respect to the review of countervailing duty and antidumping duty actions taken by General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) members, the settlement mechanisms and procedures shall not allow specified review actions. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the principal U.S. negotiating objective regarding situations of global structural excess capacity is to negotiate multilateral rules to permit rapid realignment of capacity to demand. Urges the President to review antidumping duty provisions contained in the Negotiations and to seek changes in such provisions that are necessary to maintain the effectiveness of U.S. antidumping laws, including, but not limited to, changes proposed by the United States in December 1992, any changes needed to clarify the right to cumulate and cross-cumulate imports under investigation, and the prohibition of procedures to sunset dumping and countervailing duty orders.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the national policy of the United States should be to: (1) increase energy efficiency, as specified; (2) increase renewable energy technologies to 20 percent of the overall national energy mix by 2010; and (3) achieve these goals by adopting a specified national strategy.
![Official portrait of Rep. Oberstar, James L. [D-MN-8]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/o000006_200.jpg)