United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1991
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that the Congress shall have the power to set reasonable limits on campaign expenditures by, in support of, or in opposition to any candidate in any primary or other election for Federal office. Declares that the States shall have such power with respect to State or local elections.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code and title II of the Social Security Act (Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) with respect to the social security exemption for election officials and election workers employed by State and local governments to increase the allowed remuneration paid to such workers.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Bonneville Salt Flat Preservation Study Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct and report to the Congress on a study to determine the nature and extent of the salt loss occurring at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, and how best to preserve the resources threatened by such salt loss, including consideration of designating the area as a national conservation or recreation area. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1991
Nutrition Advertising Coordination Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Trade Commission Act to deem a food advertisement misleading if it expressly or by implication characterizes the level of any nutrient, the relationship of any nutrient to a disease or a health-related condition, or the amount of any nutrient in a serving or portion of the food, unless the characterization is in accordance with specified provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Deems a food advertisement misleading if it contains a claim that fails to: (1) disclose the level of fat or saturated fat when a claim characterizes the level of cholesterol; (2) disclose the level of cholesterol when a claim characterizes the level of saturated fat; (3) disclose the level of total fat when a claim is made that the food is high in dietary fiber; or (4) include clearly and conspicuously the statement, "See product label for complete nutrition information."
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
Microenterprise Development Act of 1991 - Authorizes the President, acting through the Administrator of the Agency for International Development (AID), to provide assistance for microenterprises in developing countries. Directs AID to establish specified criteria for determining the financial intermediaries that will receive such assistance. Requires a significant portion of such assistance to be used to support direct credit assistance by, and the institutional development of, financial intermediaries with a primary emphasis on assisting people living in absolute poverty, especially women. Outlines funding sources for such assistance. Permits the President, in order to generate local currencies for providing such assistance, to use development and economic support fund assistance to provide assistance to developing countries on a loan basis repayable in local currencies. Sets forth minimum levels of assistance to be provided under this Act. Requires the Administrator to develop a monitoring system to evaluate AID's microenterprise development activities.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
World Summit for Children Implementation Act of 1991 - Provides for assistance in implementing the plan of action adopted by the World Summit for Children. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the U.S. Government should commit to increasing participation in the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children under the Child Nutrition Act (the WIC program) by 20 percent per year in FY 1992 through 1996, to reach full participation by the end of FY 1996; and (2) specified minimum amounts should be appropriated for the WIC program in FY 1992 and 1993 to reach such full participation goal. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the commitment to provide full funding for the Head Start Program, contained in the Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1990, should be implemented in order that the goal of full participation of all eligible three- and four-year-old children can be reached by FY 1994. Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to undertake a Children's Vaccine Initiative. Requires that the Director of the National Vaccine Program: (1) plan and coordinate the Initiative; and (2) ensure that the Public Health Service conducts vaccine research, production, and delivery activities under the Initiative in collaboration with non-governmental institutions and with other Federal agencies to ensure the full use of U.S. scientific and industrial capacity to prevent infectious disease. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993 for contributions to the United Nations Children's Fund for activities to promote child health and other assistance programs for children (to carry out specified provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961). Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (the Act) to authorize appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993 for special health needs of children and mothers under the Child Survival Fund. Requires that specified minimum amounts of funds under various provisions for FY 1992 and 1993 be reserved only for such specified child survival activities. Expresses the sense of the Congress that authorization, in such amounts as may be required, should be granted to the President to exercise the (Public Law 480) debt authority with respect to least developed countries that are pursuing reforms to promote long-term economic development (as provided in specified provisions of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, as amended by the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990). Amends the Act to establish a Vitamin A Deficiency Program. Reserves for such Program specified amounts in FY 1992 and 1993 from funds for development assistance for agriculture, rural development, and nutrition. Amends the Act to direct the President, in carrying out provisions for development assistance for health-related activities, to promote, encourage, and undertake activities relating to research on, and treatment and control of, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in developing countries. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993, for such purpose, to the International AIDS Prevention and Control Fund. Provides that such amounts shall be in addition to other amounts available for such purpose. Amends the Act to reserve specified amounts in FY 1992 and 1993, from funds for development assistance for education and under other provisions of the Act, for international basic education, including early childhood education, primary education, teacher training, other support activities, and adult literacy training. Expresses the sense of the Congress that at least specified minimum amounts should be appropriated for the Migration and Refugee Assistance account, and that at least specified minimum portions of such funds should be reserved for programs of refugee assistance overseas (in addition to amounts available for programs for Soviet, Eastern European, and other refugees resettling in Israel). Amends the Act to replace provisions for certain disadvantaged children in Asia with provisions for assistance to children in exceptionally difficult circumstances. Includes among such children street children, AIDS orphans, other orphaned and abandoned children, and children displaced by armed conflict, poverty, famine, or other disasters. Reserves specified minimum portions of certain funds under the Act in FY 1992 and 1993 for assistance for such children. Requires that such assistance be made available in accordance with policies and general authorities under certain disaster assistance provisions. Directs the President to report annually to the Congress on U.S. contributions to the achievement of the goals of the World Summit for Children, including U.S. efforts to achieve such goals in the United States and in other countries, with an analysis of past, current, and planned funding levels.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Private Property Rights Act of 1991 - Prohibits any regulation issued by an executive agency from becoming effective until that agency is certified by the Attorney General as being in compliance with Executive Order 12630 or similar procedures to assess the potential for, and minimize, the taking of private property by regulatory activity. Limits judicial review of an action taken pursuant to this Act to the question of certification. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) study the effect this Act will have on the farm economy and agricultural production; and (2) report to specified congressional comittees on necessary actions to limit that effect and on Department of Agriculture procedures to minimize the taking of private property in regulatory procedures.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Educational Equity Act of 1991 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to revise the formula for determining the amount of grants to States under the chapter 1 title I program for educationally disadvantaged children. Replaces the State per pupil expenditure with the national per pupil expenditure, in such formula.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Telecommunications Equipment Research and Manufacturing Competition Act of 1991 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize any Bell Telephone Company (BTC), through an affiliate of such company, to manufacture and provide telecommunications equipment, except that no BTC may engage in such manufacturing with an unaffiliated BTC or affiliates thereof. Allows such manufacturing or provision to be conducted only through an affiliate that is separate from any BTC. Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to prescribe regulations to ensure that: (1) such manufacturing affiliate maintains separate accounts and records from its affiliated BTC which identify all financial transactions with the BTC; (2) neither a BTC nor any of its non-manufacturing affiliates carry out sales, advertising, installation, production, or maintenance operations for a manufacturing affiliate, except under specified conditions, such manufacturing affiliate conducts all of its manufacturing activity within the United States and uses component parts manufactured in the United States unless specified requirements regarding good faith efforts to obtain such component parts in the United States and domestic content are met; (3) such affiliate incurs debt entirely separate from and without recourse against the affiliated BTC; (4) such affiliate shall not be required to operate separately from any other affiliates of its BTC; (5) if an affiliate of a BTC becomes affiliated with a manufacturing entity, it shall be treated as a manufacturing affiliate of the BTC; (6) such affiliate shall make available any telecommunications equipment manufactured by such affiliate to any purchasing carrier, so long as each such purchaser does not manufacture such equipment or agrees to make available to the BTC or any of its affiliates any telecommunications equipment manufactured by such purchasing carrier or any of its affiliates for use with the public telecommunications network by such carrier or any of its affiliates; and (7) such affiliate shall not discontinue or restrict sales to other local exchange telephone companies of any telecommunications equipment until arrangements are made to provide to them the specifications, plans, and tools to allow them to arrange for the manufacture of such equipment by another entity. Directs the FCC to require that each BTC maintain and file with the FCC complete information with respect to the protocols and technical requirements for connections with and use of its telephone exchange service facilities. Prohibits a BTC from disclosing any such information to its affiliates unless such information is immediately so filed. Requires any two or more carriers providing regulated telephone exchange service in the same area to notify each other of the deployment of telecommunications equipment. Requires the FCC to ensure that manufacturers in competition with a BTC's manufacturing affiliate have access to information with respect to the protocols and technical requirements for connection with and use of its telephone exchange service facilities required for such competition that such BTC makes available to its affiliate. Requires the FCC to prescribe regulations to require any BTC which has a manufacturing affiliate to: (1) provide to other manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment that is functionally equivalent to equipment manufactured by BTC affiliates opportunities to sell such equipment to such BTC which are comparable to opportunities the BTC provides to its affiliates; (2) not subsidize its manufacturing affiliate with revenues from its regulated telecommunications service; and (3) only acquire equipment from its manufacturing affiliate at the open market price. Allows a BTC and its affiliates to engage in close collaboration with any manufacturer of customer premises or telecommunications equipment during the design and development of hardware and software relating to such equipment.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Fairness for Adopting Families Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an individual income tax deduction for qualified adoption expenses. Includes as deductible reasonable and necessary expenses that are directly related to a legal adoption of any child if the adoption has been arranged by a State, local, or other nonprofit agency, or through a private placement. Excludes from an employee's gross income any amounts paid on behalf of the employee by an employer pursuant to a qualified adoption assistance program. Limits both the deduction and the exclusion to $5,000 ($7,000 in the case of an international adoption). Reduces the amount when the taxpayer's income exceeds $60,000. Permits an employer to treat an adoption assistance program as a statutory employee benefit plan, thus making the employer's contributions to such a program tax deductible as business expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1991
Amends Federal law to increase the Federal payments in lieu of taxes to units of local government for entitlement land. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to adjust such payments by the rate of inflation according to the Consumer Price Index.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1991
Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to reduce from one year to 30 days the deadline for submitting claims for services provided under such part.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to restore prior law for determining wages subject to employer social security taxes for certain employers whose employees receive income from tips.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1991
Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 to exclude from the definition of "owner or operator," for purposes of limiting liability for releases of hazardous substances, a person who, without participating in the management of a vessel or facility, holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect a security interest in such vessel or facility. Defines "indicia of ownership" as an interest in a vessel or facility acquired either for: (1) securing payment of a loan or indebtedness or the performance of an obligation; or (2) protecting a security interest. Makes liable for any release or threatened release of a hazardous substance attributable to their activities: (1) any person who causes the transfer of a vessel or facility subject to a security interest; or (2) a fiduciary or trustee who acquires ownership or control of a vessel or facility. Makes conforming amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1991
Declares it to be an unfair or deceptive act or practice under the Federal Trade Commission Act to advertise or cause to be advertised through magazines, newspapers, brochures, promotional displays, radio or television broadcasting (including cable broadcasting) any alcoholic beverage unless the advertising includes one of specified warnings. Makes the Secretary of Health and Human Services responsible for establishing and maintaining toll free numbers referred to in some of the warnings. Sets forth requirements for the warnings, including rotating between the warnings.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the treatment of rental and nonrental real estate activities under the limitations on losses from passive activities.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1991
Savings and Investment Incentive Act of 1991 - Title I: Retirement Savings Incentives - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to remove the limitations on deductions for individual retirement plans and provides a cost-of-living adjustment for deductible amounts. Establishes special individual retirement accounts that are nondeductible. Makes such accounts nontaxable if earnings on contributions are held for at least five years. Applies the early withdrawal penalty to distributions made before the end of the five year-period. Title II: Penalty-Free Distributions - Provides exemptions from the ten-percent penalty on early withdrawals from individual retirement plans for: (1) first home purchases; (2) higher education expenses; and (2) financially devastating medical expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1991
Comprehensive Wetlands Conservation and Management Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to revise provisions concerning permits for dredged or fill material. Prohibits, unless such activity is undertaken pursuant to a permit issued by the Secretary of the Army: (1) the discharge of dredged or fill material into U.S. waters; or (2) the draining, channelization, or excavation of wetlands. Authorizes the Secretary to issue permits for such activities. Sets forth permit application procedures. Requires the Secretary, upon receiving applications, to: (1) classify as Type A wetlands wetlands that are of critical significance to the long-term conservation of the ecosystem of which they are a part and which meet specified requirements; (2) classify as Type B wetlands wetlands that provide habitat for a significant population of avian, aquatic, or wetland dependent wildlife or provide other significant wetlands functions; and (3) classify as Type C wetlands wetlands that serve marginal functions but exist in such abundance that regulation of activities is not necessary to conserve wetlands values and functions, or are prior converted cropland, fastlands, or wetlands within intensely developed areas that do not serve significant wetlands functions. Directs the Secretary to notify a permit applicant of the classification. Permits owners of interests in Type A wetlands to seek compensation for the fair market value of such lands. Provides that title for such lands shall pass to the United States upon acceptance of an offer for compensation. Deems such takings to be takings of surface interests in lands only or water rights allocated under State law unless the Secretary determines that the exploration for, or development of, oil and gas or mineral interests is not compatible with conservation of the surface interests in lands that have been classified as Type A wetlands. Authorizes the Secretary to classify such interests as Type A wetlands and to notify the owner that he may receive compensation. Sets forth provisions concerning court jurisdiction and remedies for taking of interests. Requires the Secretary to deny a permit authorizing activities in Type A wetlands unless: (1) such activities can be undertaken with minimal alteration or surface disturbance; (2) there are overriding public interest concerns that require use of the lands for purposes other than conservation; or (3) the proposed use of the land will result in overall environmental benefits. Authorizes the Secretary to issue a permit for activities in Type B wetlands subject to conditions that ensure that the watershed or aquatic ecosystem of which such wetlands are a part does not suffer loss or degradation of wetlands values or functions. Imposes requirements for mitigation when such activities result in the permanent loss or degradation of Type B wetlands where such loss or degradation is not a temporary or incidental impact. Directs the Secretary to establish a mitigation banking program in each State to ensure compensation for loss and degradation of wetlands. Requires the primary objective of such programs to be to provide for the restoration, enhancement, or creation of ecologically significant wetlands on an ecosystem basis. Sets forth requirements of such programs. Permits activities in Type C wetlands to be undertaken without specified authorization. Authorizes the Secretary to issue general permits on a State, regional, or nationwide basis for activities in wetlands if such activities are similar in nature and will not result in the significant loss of ecologically significant wetlands values and functions. Exempts specified activities from this Act's requirements. Permits States or political subdivisions to submit land management plans for identified wetlands for the Secretary's approval. Authorizes and directs the Secretary to establish standards that govern the delineation of lands as wetlands. Prohibits more than 20 percent of any county, parish, or borough from being classified as Type A wetlands. Requires the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to undertake a project to identify and classify U.S. wetlands. Provides for public participation in such project and makes information concerning identification and classification available to the public. Authorizes the Secretary to commence civil actions for permit violations. Prescribes civil penalties for such violations. Authorizes States to administer permit programs for activities covered by this Act, subject to the Secretary's approval.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the President, the Secretary of Commerce, and specified other officials should cooperate in providing assistance to U.S. small businesses seeking to become involved in the rebuilding of Kuwait; (2) the Administrator of the Small Business Administration should conduct a public information campaign to advise U.S. small and minority businesses about becoming involved in such rebuilding; (3) U.S. companies that have been awarded contracts pertaining to such rebuilding should seek to subcontract with U.S. small and minority businesses; and (4) all businesses that have been awarded such contracts should seek to hire veterans of the armed forces.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1991
Sets forth a formula, beginning with the 1991 grazing year, for determining fees for domestic livestock grazing on public rangelands. Bases the formula on the base established by the 1966 Western Livestock Grazing Survey, the Forage Value Index, and the adjusted Beef Cattle Price Index. Prohibits annual fee adjustments greater or less than 25 percent.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1991
United States One Dollar Coin Act of 1991 - Amends Federal currency law to prescribe the color and content of one-dollar coins. Mandates that the obverse side of the one dollar coin have a design recognizing America's veterans. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to cease regular production of one-dollar Federal Reserve notes by a specified date (except for such quantities as are required to meet collectors' needs). Mandates that the seigniorage of the new one-dollar coins be used to offset the reverse seigniorage resulting from the destruction of Susan B. Anthony dollar coins in Government storage.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1991
Entitles executive agency civilian employees ordered to active duty as a member of a reserve component of the armed forces during the Persian Gulf Conflict to special pay equal to the amount by which their final civilian pay exceeds their military pay.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1991
Amends the National Trails System Act to designate as components of the National Trails System: (1) the California National Historic Trail, extending from Independence and Saint Joseph, Missouri, and Council Bluffs, Iowa, to various points in California and Oregon; and (2) the Pony Express National Historic Trail, extending from Saint Joseph, Missouri, through Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Nevada to Sacramento, California. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1991
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to revise its application. Revises minimum wage and maximum hours provisions (as well as provisions for special industry committees for American Samoa) to apply such requirements specifically to employers of employees who in any workweek are engaged in industrial homework and who are either engaged in commerce or in the production of goods in commerce (in addition to any other employees so employed). Revises the scope of the application of requirements relating to: (1) wage rate orders for employers in American Samoa; (2) prohibition of sex discrimination in wage rates; and (3) handicapped workers.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1991
Establishes the Modular Construction Commission to: (1) carry out through the National Evaluation Service of the Council of American Building Officials a modular regulatory construction program; (2) review and propose related regulations; (3) review and approve the program budget; and (4) review and resolve administrative complaints. States that the program shall consist of: (1) codes and standards; (2) approval of buildings, components, and systems; (3) monitoring of compliance assurance programs; (4) selection and monitoring of evaluation and inspection agencies; and (5) certification and labeling of modular construction.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the personal exemption for a dependent child who has not attained age 18 from $2,000 to $3,500. Provides for rounding inflation adjustments to tax tables to the nearest multiple of $10 (currently rounded to the next lowest multiple of $50).
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
National Recreational Trails Fund Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish the National Recreational Trails Trust Fund (Fund). Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to pay into the Fund an amount equivalent to 0.5 percent of total Highway Trust Fund receipts, adjusted triennially to reflect revenues from nonhighway recreational fuel taxes. Requires the Secretary to use such amounts in the Fund to make grants to the States for constructing and maintaining recreational trails. Establishes the National Recreational Trails Act Advisory Committee.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Directs the heads of Federal departments or agencies which hold or receive records and information which have or could possibly have been correlated to U.S. personnel listed as prisoners of war or missing in action after 1940, including from World War II and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, to publicly disclose such records and information, except where such disclosure would compromise national security. Requires the Department of Defense to publicly disclose a complete list of such personnel including those killed in action (body not returned) with each service member's current classification as well as any changes in such classification occurring during or after such hostilities.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1991
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to design and strike a silver commemorative medal for members of the U.S. armed forces who serve in a combat zone in connection with the Persian Gulf conflict.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Construction Safety, Health, and Education Improvement Act of 1991 - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (the Act) to establish in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) an Office of Construction Safety, Health, and Education (the Office) to ensure safe and healthy working conditions in the performance of construction work. Directs the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to: (1) develop mandatory standards for construction safety and health plans and programs established under this Act; (2) assume control of a construction site to both prevent the destruction of any evidence that would assist in the investigation of a fatality, serious injury, or incident, (unless it must be moved or destroyed as a part of rescue operations) and monitor the rescue operations conducted in response to the incident; (3) assist the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health in developing training courses and curriculum for the training of OSHA inspectors and other OSHA employees with duties related to construction safety; (4) advise and consult with construction employer associations, construction employers, construction employees, and labor organizations as to effective means of preventing fatalities and serious injuries in construction work; (5) increase awareness of construction site safety through education, training, and outreach programs; (6) identify construction employers who have high frequency rates of fatalities or serious injuries or patterns of noncompliance with health and safety standards; and (7) carry out specified duties for construction worksite inspections, investigations, reporting, and recordkeeping and for construction safety and health plans and programs. Establishes within OSHA the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Construction who is to: (1) be appointed by the Secretary; (2) coordinate Office activities with those of other offices and directorates within OSHA as they relate to safety, health, and education in the construction industry; and (3) coordinate the activities and advice of the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health with all OSHA activities relating to such matters, ensuring that the Advisory Committee performs its functions under the Act and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act. Directs the Secretary, with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health, to determine the necessary qualifications and training for OSHA inspectors, including: (1) full understanding of the Act and the Secretary's standards and regulations for the construction industry; and (2) at least five years' experience working in the construction industry. Establishes requirements for construction safety and health plans and programs. Requires designation of a project constructor (the constructor) in construction project documents by the construction owner for every construction project covered by the Act. Gives the constructor: (1) responsibility for supervising and controlling all construction work on the worksite; and (2) overall responsibility for the safety and health of all construction employees at the construction worksite, and for performing constructor duties set out in the Act and regulations issued under it. Considers the construction owner as the project constructor if such owner does not designate a constructor. Directs the constructor for a worksite to establish and implement: (1) written safety and health plans by constructors, including the project safety and health programs of construction employers involved in the project; (2) hazard analyses that identify the potential for and provide instructions to prevent hazards in the construction process; and (3) construction process plans that include means to ensure worksite structural stability and worksite inspections. Requires that: (1) constructors designate project safety coordinators (coordinators) for construction projects and notify construction employers of their identity (although such coordinators may not be assigned overall responsibility for project safety); and (2) coordinators, on behalf of constructors, adequately monitor safety at construction sites, prepare project safety and health plans before construction commencement, and ensure construction employers' compliance with reporting requirements. Requires safety and health plans to provide for permit systems under which constructors authorize employers to engage in operations determined to pose a risk of death or serious injury (covered operations). Requires covered operations to include: (1) construction of trenches and excavations; (2) erection and dismantling of scaffolding; (3) demolition of any building or structure; (4) operation of cranes and derricks; (5) operations requiring employees to enter confined or enclosed spaces; (6) operations involving exposure to asbestos and other toxic materials; and (7) other operations designated by the Secretary. Requires constructors, in issuing such permits, to ensure that employers: (1) know of and show intent to comply with requirements of the Act and standards and regulations issued by the Secretary; and (2) have developed safety and health programs that adequately address the hazards of the covered operation. Requires construction employers (employers) involved in construction project worksites to develop and implement project safety programs commensurate with the scope of the work. Requires such programs to require: (1) employers to appoint one competent person for each project to be responsible for general program administration; (2) a competent person to be at each worksite at all times that employers are engaged in construction work; (3) competent persons to inspect worksites frequently and take all necessary actions to eliminate hazards, including work stoppage or removal of affected employees if necessary; (4) provision of prescribed general health and safety training for construction employees; (5) adequate worksite instruction in the recognition of unsafe and unhealthy conditions, applicable standards and regulations, use of construction worksite equipment, and the handling of toxic and harmful substances; (6) emergency evacuation plans, inspection procedures, reporting of incidents, regular safety meetings, and monitoring procedures; (7) a procedure for employees and employee representatives to obtain an immediate inspection or a written evaluation, or both, of a perceived hazardous condition or harmful substance by a qualified person at any time in the construction process; (8) upon determination that such condition or substance presents an imminent danger, for the project constructor to stop work at, or remove affected employees from, the area in which such danger exists; and (9) other requirements, including procedures for monitoring, notification, and safety meetings. Sets forth procedures for emergency waivers of such requirements under specified conditions. Exempts any construction worksite with only one employer and ten or fewer employees from requirements for construction safety and health plans and programs, unless the construction worksite is one at which one of the specified covered operations (under the permit system) occurs. Provides for inspections, investigations, reporting, and recordkeeping. Requires project constructors to submit, before construction work commences, specified types of information necessary for the Secretary to develop and conduct a system of prioritized inspections. Directs the Secretary to establish an effective system for construction worksite inspections. Requires such system to give priority to concentration of enforcement resources on construction worksites and operations with a high potential for fatalities or serious injuries, giving due weight to: (1) employers' and owners' worksite compliance records; and (2) frequency and severity rates of fatalities, serious injuries, and incidents attributable to particular owners and employers and particular types of construction projects, worksites, and operations. Prohibits such priority system from limiting: (1) inspections based on complaints by construction employees on their representatives or complaints of imminent dangers; or (2) inspections following up prior enforcement actions or proceedings. Prohibits the Secretary from excluding from construction worksite inspections any construction owner or employer. Requires project constructors to make and maintain accurate records concerning fatalities, serious injuries, and incidents at a worksite. Requires project constructors to report to the Secretary by telephone or telegraph, within four hours after its occurrence, any incident involving construction work that results in: (1) a serious injury; (2) a fatality; or (3) a structural failure. Requires such reports to specify certain information. Directs the Secretary to conduct site inspections to investigate all such reports of incidents, as the Secretary prescribes. Requires such inspections as soon as practicable or at least within 24 hours after receipt of the telephone or telegraph report, unless site conditions would make inspection dangerous. Requires the project constructor to prevent destruction of evidence. Directs the Secretary to make public a narrative description of the occurrence. Requires the project constructor, at project completion or at one-year intervals during the project, to report to the Secretary all fatalities and serious injuries and all structural failures. Requires such report to provide specified information. Grants the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health specified powers to carry out its functions under the Act and under the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act. Limits the terms of members of such Committee. Directs the Secretary to respond in writing within 60 days to any recommendation made by a majority of members of such Committee. Requires any State construction safety and health plan to comply with specified requirements for State plans under the Act and to provide for development and enforcement of requirements at least as effective as those imposed by the Act and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States for administering and enforcing this Act. Sets forth formulas for determining the Federal share of such grants. Directs the Secretary to report to the President and the Congress: (1) annually on certain general subjects as these relate to the construction industry, including the operation of the Office; and (2) within 120 days after three years of Office operation, on whether specified relevant information supports the continued existence of the Office within OSHA or supports enactment of legislation to establish in the Department of Labor a Construction Industry Safety and Health Administration to be headed by an Assistant Secretary of Labor for Construction Safety and Health.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend the period during which qualified mortgage bonds and mortgage credit certificates may be issued.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1991
Enterprise for the Americas Initiative Act of 1991 - Title I: Enterprise for the Americas Facility - Establishes in the Department of the Treasury the Enterprise for the Americas Facility to support improvement in the lives of the people of Latin America and the Caribbean through market-oriented reforms and economic growth with actions to promote debt reduction, investment reforms, and community based conservation and sustainable use of the environment. Makes eligible for Facility benefits Latin American or Caribbean countries that: (1) have in effect, received approval for, or are making progress toward, specified International Monetary Fund arrangements and structural or sectoral adjustment loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development or the International Development Association; (2) have put in place major investment reforms in conjunction with an Inter-American Development Bank loan or are implementing or making progress toward an open investment regime; and (3) have agreed with commercial bank lenders on a financing program for debt or debt service reduction. Title II: Debt Reduction - Authorizes the President to reduce the amount owed to the United States (as a result of concessional loans made pursuant to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 or predecessor foreign economic assistance legislation) by any country eligible for Facility benefits. Declares that this title supersedes specified provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the International Development and Food Assistance Act of 1975 concerning repayments of loans outstanding after September 19, 1966, and the settlement of debts owed to the United States. Sets forth requirements with respect to the exchange of obligations, repayment of principal, and interest on new obligations issued by beneficiary countries. Title III: Enterprise for the Americas Environmental Funds - Requires beneficiary countries that enter into Environmental Framework Agreements to establish Enterprise for the Americas Environmental Funds. Authorizes the Secretary of State to enter into Environmental Framework Agreements concerning the operation and use of Environmental Funds with countries eligible for Facility benefits. Directs administering bodies in each beneficiary country to administer the Environmental Funds and to make grants for environmental activities. Requires grants from the Funds to be used for activities that link the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources with local community development. Subjects grants of more than $100,000 to veto by the U.S. Government or the government of the beneficiary country. Establishes an Environment for the Americas Board to: (1) advise the Secretary on the negotiations of Environmental Framework Agreements; (2) ensure that a suitable administering body is identified for each Environmental Fund; and (3) review the programs, operations, and fiscal audits of administering bodies. Declares that the President should encourage other official creditors of beneficiary countries whose debt is reduced under this Act to provide debt reduction to such countries. Requires the President to ensure that Environmental Funds are able to receive donations from private and public entities and private creditors of beneficiary countries. Title IV: Reports - Directs the President to report annually to the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate on the Facility.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1991
Older Americans' Freedom to Work Act of 1991 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to remove the limitation on the amount of outside income which beneficiaries who have attained retirement age may earn without incurring a reduction in benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Federal Used Property for Domestic Use Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to authorize the Administrator of the General Services Administration to make available to foreign governments or international relief agencies for humanitarian relief purposes nonlethal surplus personal property not needed by the American National Red Cross or by States or territories for educational or public health purposes. Requires transfer of such property to the Secretary of State for distribution. Authorizes executive agencies having any such property in a foreign country that has not been returned to the United States to make such a transfer. Repeals provisions authorizing the Secretary of Defense to make available for humanitarian relief purposes any nonlethal excess supplies of the Department of Defense.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Social Security Notch Adjustment Act of 1991 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to establish a new formula for computing the primary insurance amount of individuals who attain age 65 in or after 1982 and would otherwise be subject to the benefit computation rules of the Social Security Amendments of 1977. Extends the application of such transitional benefit computation rules to those who become eligible for benefits before 1989. (Currently those who become eligible after 1983 are subject to the benefit computation rules of the Social Security Amendments of 1977.)
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Comprehensive Recycling Act of 1991 - Establishes as national goals: (1) the recycling of municipal waste; and (2) the creation and strengthening of markets for recycled materials. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to provide technical assistance and guidance to States on recycling methods and opportunities. Directs States to develop and implement comprehensive multimaterial recycling programs. Requires such programs to be designed to provide at least 20 percent of a State's population with an opportunity to participate in such programs within two years of this Act's enactment. Provides that such programs must be available to an additional 20 percent of a State's population every two years, until the entire population is provided with such opportunity. Sets forth minimum program requirements. Deems a State or its municipalities to be in compliance with this Act if they have in place an alternative program that meets this Act's requirements. Requires States to include recycling programs in the regional solid waste plan required by the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Makes States with approved plans eligible for Federal assistance for recycling infrastructures. Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require the Administrator to make grants to States for the development of programs to promote the use of recycling techniques by businesses, local governments, or regional waste management authorities.
![Official portrait of Rep. Orton, Bill [D-UT-3]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/o000108_200.jpg)