United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1975
Administrative Rulemaking Control Act - States that it is the purpose of this Act to establish a procedure whereby Congress may review certain rulemaking activities of executive agencies, thereby exercising greater control and oversight over the operations of such agencies. Provides that an administrative rule, the violation of which subjects an individual to a criminal penalty, shall take effect only: (1) if published in the Federal Register; (2) after the expiration of 30 days of continuous session of Congress after the date on which the rule was published; and (3) if neither House of Congress passes a resolution disfavoring such a rule. Sets forth procedures governing the consideration of such rules by the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1975
Provides that in the administration of any Federal assistance program under which such assistance is allocated or apportioned or otherwise made available on the basis of whether the geographic location of a recipient is within or outside a standard metropolitan statistical area, (SMSA), the head of the department or agency carrying out such program may, upon the request of the Governor of the State in which such area is located, modify the geographic boundaries of such area in order to specify the portions of such area which are and which are not essentially metropolitan. Stipulates that: (1) such modification shall apply only to the specific program with respect to which the request was made; and (2) no such modification may be made in the case of a standard metropolitan statistical area incorporating all or part of more than one State without the consent of the Governors of all affected States.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1975
Stipulates that in any case where, on or before the date of enactment of this Act, a boat dock or similar structure has lawfully been constructed on real property of the United States under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Army in the State of Oklahoma, the person who on the date of enactment of this Act, owns such boat dock, or, if no person owns such boat dock, the person having control of such boat dock, is hereby granted a permanent easement for an unlimited period of time for the construction, maintenance, and use (including replacement) of such boat dock. States that such easement shall be transferable (including transfers by devise or operation of law to the heirs of such person). Stipulates that the Secretary of the Army shall issue such written instruments as may be necessary to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1975
Declares that a greater unity of the Atlantic Community would strengthen the common defense, assure more adequate energy resources and improve commerce. Establishes an eighteen-member delegation authorized to organize and participate in a convention attended by delegations from North Atlantic Treaty parliamentary democracies. States that the convention shall explore the possibility of agreement on the means to transform the relationship of such nations into a more effective unity based on federal principles. Provides for appointment of delegates to the convention. Allows the delegation to maintain a staff. Authorizes the appropriation of $200,000 to carry out the purposes of this joint resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1975
Directs that applications for assistance under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act for bilingual education programs be developed in consultation with both parents of English-speaking children and parents of children of limited English-speaking ability.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 1975
Authorizes the Secretary of Labor, under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, to make visits to the work place of any employer, upon the request of the employer, to consult with and advise the employer concerning the obligations of the employer under such Act States that the Secretary shall give priority to small businesses and hazardous workplaces. Stipulates that no consultative visit made under this Act may serve as an inspection or investigation as otherwise provided for by the Occupational Safety and Health Act, except: (1) in the case of an employer who fails to eliminate a danger disclosed during such a vist; or (2) if conditions are found during such a vist which indicate the probability that death or serious harm could result to employees therefrom, the Secretary may notify the employer of such conditions and afford him a reasonable time to eliminate such conditions. Prohibits the transmission of information obtained during a consultative visit to representatives of the Secretary engaged in enforcement. Directs the Secretary to establish education programs to inform employers and employees of the hazards in particular industries. Authorizes the appropriation of funds through fiscal year 1978 for the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1975
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to acquire the lands, waters and interests to forty-eight-mile segment of the Chattahoochee River in Georgia. Provides that such area be set aside to establish the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. Directs the Secretary to allow owners of land, within the recreation area, used for noncommercial residential or agricultural purposes to retain such land for a definite term not to exceed twenty-five years. Directs the Secretary of administer, protest, and develop the recreation area in accordance with the Atlanta Regional Commission Chattahoochee Corridor Study. Allows the Secretary to enter into written agreements with agencies of the State of Georgia for their participation in the administration and development of the recreation area.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1975
Disapproves the loan of three landing craft (LCM-8's) to Panama, as proposed by the letter from the Department of the Navy of May 5, 1975, to the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1975
Stipulates that no regulation, or modification of a regulation, concerning intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded promulgated by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare pursuant to the Medicaid provisions of the Social Security Act after January 1, 1974, shall be effective prior to July 1, 1976.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1975
Provides that concerted activities on the part of labor organizations or laborers employed in the construction business shall be unfair labor practices within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act when directed at any of several employers on a construction site only if such acts would otherwise be unfair labor practices within the meaning of the Act. Requires ten days' notice to be given to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service of intent to strike a military installation engaged in specified activities.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1975
Broadcast License Renewal Act - Permits the Federal Communications Commission to extend three-year broadcast licenses for an additional two years upon a finding of public interest. Requires in making such determination, considerations of whether different term lengths for radio and television stations and for different categories of licensees are in the public interest. Limits other class licenses to a five-year maximum, prescribing the renewal procedures for such licenses and the criteria to be considered in renewal, including responsiveness and lack of serious deficiencies. Sets guidelines for expeditious action on applications for renewal of broadcasting station licenses by limiting material required to be filed. Requires the Commission to examine the renewal process and report within six months on methods of reducing and consolidating filings and supporting documents.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1975
Provides for the designation of specified lands in the Point Reyes National Seashore, California, which constitute approximately 38,700 acres, as wilderness. Provides that the wilderness designated by this Act shall be known as the Reyes Miwok Point Wilderness, Reyes Esteros Wilderness, and Point Reyes Clem Miller Wilderness. Designates Point Reyes National Seashore as a natural area of the National Park System.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1975
Broadcast License Renewal Act - Permits the Federal Communications Commission to extend three-year broadcast licenses for an additional two years upon a finding of public interest. Requires in making such determination, considerations of whether different term lengths for radio and television stations and for different categories of licensees are in the public interest. Limits other class licenses to a five-year maximum, prescribing the renewal procedures for such licenses and the criteria to be considered in renewal, including responsiveness and lack of serious deficiencies. Sets guidelines for expeditious action on applications for renewal of broadcasting station licenses by limiting material required to be filed. Requires the Commission to examine the renewal process and report within six months on methods of reducing and consolidating filings and supporting documents.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1975
Public Safety Emergency Aid Act - Authorizes appropriations of $250,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1976 and 1977 to the Secretary of Labor for financial assistance under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 to units of general local government to enable them to maintain adequate levels of public safety officers in time of severe financial hardship. Provides a formula for allotment of such funds based on the number of public safety officers laid off since October 15, 1974, by population of the applicant.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1975
Stipulates that no regulation, or modification of a regulation, concerning intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded promulgated by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare pursuant to the Medicaid provisions of the Social Security Act after January 1, 1974 shall be effective prior to July 1, 1976 unless such regulation has been approved by the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1975
Eliminates the requirement, under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, that annual reports with respect to the present value of employee pension benefit plan liabilities describe allocation by termination priority categories. Increases the period of time for determining as a variable the amounts necessary to amortize credits to the funding standard account from 5 to 30 plan years. Requires that changes in actuarial methods be taken into account in determining credits to the funding standard account. States that in situations where the assets of a plan are held by two or more trustees, each shall use reasonable care to prevent a co-trustee from committing a breach of fiduciary responsibility and they shall jointly manage the assets of the plan. Revises the standards and available procedures for determining when liability for the breach of a co-fiduciary attaches. Sets forth amended standards governing fiduciary responsiblity with respect to fund assets. Eliminates restrictions on specified fiduciaries to receive reasonable compensation for services rendered. Makes the development of a system under which risks with respect to contingent liability insurance are equitably distributed between the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and private insurers discretionary with the Corporation. Requires the Corporation to make such insurance available for employers by September 1, 1975.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1975
Public Safety Emergency Aid Act - Authorizes appropriations of $250,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1976 and 1977 to the Secretary of Labor for financial assistance under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 to units of general local government to enable them to maintain adequate levels of public safety officers in time of severe financial hardship. Provides a formula for allotment of such funds based on the number of public safety officers laid off since October 15, 1974, by population of the applicant.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1975
Requires under the Social Security Act the continued application of the 8 1/2 percent nursing salary cost differential which is presently allowed in determining the reasonable cost of inpatient nursing care for purposes of reimbursement to providers under the medicare program.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1975
Defines the term "navigable waters", for purposes of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as it applies to Corps of Engineers responsibility and authority to regulate the discharge of dredged or fill material.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1975
Eliminates any requirement that an institution have in effect a utilization review plan in order to qualify for participation in the medicare, medicaid, or maternal and child health and crippled children's services programs as administered under the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1975
Education for All Handicapped Children Act - States the findings of the Congress, including that: (1) the special educational needs of handicapped children are not being fully met; (2) one million of the handicapped children in the United States are excluded entirely from the public school system and will not go through the educational process with their peers; and (3) it is in the national interest that the Federal Government assist State and local efforts to provide programs to meet the educational needs of handicapped children. Describes the purposes of this Act, including to insure that all handicapped children have available to them special education and related services and designed to meet their unique needs. Defines the terms used in this Act. Directs the Commissioner of Education to make payments to States and local educational agencies for assistance in providing full educational opportunity to all handicapped children. Sets forth the method for determining the allotment from appropriated funds for local educational agencies. Lists additional requirements for State plans for education of handicapped children. Requires each State to form an advisory panel on education of the handicapped. Requires such panels, after October 1, 1978, to evaluate State educational programs and recommend remedies to any noncompliance with Federal requirements which is found. Requires any other Federal aid which is used for education of the handicapped to be used consistently with the provision of a free public and education for all handicapped children, and requires that handicapped children attending private schools as part of a State program to provide them with equal educational opportunity be provided with State supplied education and services. Sets forth standards for eligibility of local educational agencies. Directs State educational agencies to approve any application submitted by a local agency which complies with the eligibility requirements. Authorizes State educational agencies to bypass non-complying local agencies and use the allotment authorized for such local agency directly to provide special education and related services to handicapped children in the school district of such as local agency. Requires that, as soon as practicable after the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner shall prescribe uniform categories and accounting procedures to be utilized by State agencies in submitting an application for assistance under this Act in order to assure equity among the States. Authorizes the Commissioner of Education to make grants to State or local educational agencies to pay part or all of the cost of removal of architectural barriers to the handicapped in existing buildings and equipment.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1975
Provides that rural letter carriers may be paid at a rate of compensation established by any collective bargaining agreement made between the Postal Service and any recognized bargaining representative.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1975
Revises the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 to provide that federally recognized Indian tribes in the State of Oklahoma and Alaska Native Village Corporations shall be eligible applicants for public service employment programs under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1975
Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to make a loan of $100,000,000 to the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad Company. Establishes conditions which shall be required by the Secretary before granting such loan. Empowers the Secretary to approve any modifications of any provision of the loan made under this Act. Directs the Secretary to issue such rules and regulations as are appropriate to carry out the purposes of this Act. Grants the Secretary powers necessary to enforce the provisions and conditions of this Act. Requires the Secretary to report to the President and to the Congress with respect to his activities pursuant to this Act and to make recommendations for additional legislative action. Declares that the Comptroller General of the United States shall have access to such information, books, records, and documents as he determines necessary to audit operations carried out in the administration of this Act. Authorizes the appropriation of such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act in addition to the amount to be loaned.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1975
Provides under title II (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act, that persons who are blind and have at least six quarters of coverage shall be eligible for disability insurance benefits. Outlines those regulations which apply to the amount of benefits to be received. Defines blindness as used in this Act. Continues payment of such benefits as long as the blindness lasts, notwithstanding the amount of the individual's earnings.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1975
Levies a variable import duty fee, under the Agricultural Adjustment Act, upon all milk of dairy cattle, or products of such milk, which may be entered or withdrawn from warehouses, for consumption. Requires a monthly adjustment in the variable import duty fee.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1975
Local Public Works Capital Development and Investment Act - States that the current depressed condition of the national economy has had an especially heavy impact upon local governments, making it no longer possible for them to finance needed public facilities, thereby threatening the health, safety, and general welfare of their citizens. Declares it to be needless and unwise public policy for a vast pool of idle manpower to coexist with a backlog of needed and long overdue local public facilities work. Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce acting through the Economic Development Administration to make grants to any State or local government for local public works projects, including but not limited to: (1) those public works projects of State and local governments for which Federal financial assistance is authorized under provisions of law other than this Act; and (2) the architectural design, engineering, and related planning of local public works projects. Provides that the Federal share of any project for which a grant is made under this Act shall be 100 percent of the cost of such project. Directs the Secretary to prescribe those rules, regulations, and procedures necessary to carry out this Act. States factors that the Secretary shall consider in accordance with the relative needs of the various sections of the country. Authorizes the Secretary to make a grant for the purpose of increasing to 100 percent the Federal contribution to a public works project for which Federal financial assistance is authorized under provisions of law other than this Act. States that not more than 10 percent of all amounts authorized to carry out this Act shall be granted for local public works projects within any one State. Provides that all laborers and mechanics employed by contractors or subcontractors on projects assisted by this Act shall be paid wages a rate not less than those prevailing on similar construction in the locality as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act. Authorizes to be appropriated an amount not to exceed $5,000,000,000 to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1975
Increases from $1,000,000 to $10,000,000 the amount of interest on industrial development bonds which may be excluded from gross income under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1975
Prohibits, except as provided in this Act, the inspection of tax returns and the disclosure of information contained in such returns. Authorizes the inspection of returns by or disclosure to (1) the taxpayer or his representative; (2) employees of the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Justice solely for purposes of enforcement of the tax laws; (3) State agencies charged with administration of the tax laws only for that purpose; (4) the President of the United States in the performance of his official duties; and (5) the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation for statistical purposes only. Increases the criminal penalties for unauthorized disclosure or receipt of information under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1975
Increases the surtax exemption for qualified corporations from the present level of $25,000 to $50,000 for taxable year 1976 and an additional $10,000 per year up to $100,000 in 1980.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1975
New Homestead Act - Provides that in the case of any farm purchase loan to any person who is (1) a nonowner-operator of a farm or (2) an owner-operator of a farm who is not reliant on such farm for his principal source of income, the Secretary of Agriculture may make or insure any such loan up to $100,000 or 90 percent of the value of the farm being purchased, whichever is greater. States that the repayment of any farm purchase loan by any person who was at the time of such loan a nonowner-operator of a farm or an owner-operator of a farm, but not reliant on such farm for his principal source of income, shall, upon the request of such person at the time the loan is made or insured, be made as follows: (1) during the first twelve-month period beginning on the first day of the first month after the loan is made and during each of the next fourteen twelve-month periods, one-eightieth of the total amount to be financed including interest; and (2) (A) during each of the next twenty-five twelve-month periods, one twenty-fifth of an amount equal to the total amount to be financed including interest minus the amount paid pursuant to paragraph (1); or (B) at the close of the fifteenth twelve-month period, the balance of the principal plus an amount of interest which would have been due and payable during the first fifteen twelve-month periods had the forty-year loan been paid in four hundred and eighty equal installments; except that the balance of the loan shall become due and payable if such farm or any interest therin is transferred without the approval of the Secretary to any person ineligible for a loan. Authorizes appropriations of such sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1975
Provides that time spent by American civilians in enemy prisoner-of-war camps and similar places on or after December 7, 1941, shall be creditable (as though it were military service) toward pensions, annuities, or similar benefits under the Social Security Act, the Railroad Act and other specified Federal retirement programs.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1975
Provides that specified submarginal lands of the United States that are now administered by the Secretary of the Interior for the benefit of specified Indian tribes shall be held by the United States in trust for such tribes. Requires that all receipts received prior to the date of enactment of this Act which directly relate to any land conveyed by this Act shall be deposited to the credit of the Indian tribe receiving such land.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1975
Levies a variable import duty fee, under the Agricultural Adjustment Act, upon all milk of dairy cattle, or products of such milk, which may be entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption. Requires a monthly adjustment in such variable import duty.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1975
Authorizes the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to constuct a loop road approximately eight miles long at the Kaw Dam and Reservoir, Osage County, Oklahoma at an estimated cost of $740,000.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1975
American Folklife Preservation Act - Creates an American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress. Provides that the center shall be subject to the supervision and direction of a board of trustees. Specifies the composition of the board, including: four members appointed by the President, eight members appointed by the Librarian of Congress, the Librarian of Congress and the director of the Center. Authorizes the Center to establish and implement a program of contracts, grants, revitalize and scholarships to preserve, protect, revitalize and disseminate American folklife traditions and arts. Provides that no payment shall be made pursuant to this Act to carry out any research or training over a period in excess of two years, with specified exceptions. Provides that no former employee of the Federal government shall be eligible to receive any grant or other assistance under this Act in the two year period following the termination of such employment. Requires the Center to submit to the Librarian of Congress, for inclusion in its annual report to the Congress, an annual report of its operations under this Act. Authorizes to be appropriated to the Center to carry out the provisions of this Act $167,750 for fiscal year 1976, $710,000 for fiscal year 1977, and $1,716,000 for fiscal year 1978.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1975
Energy Transportation Security Act - Requires the Secretary of Commerce to assure that 20 percent of the gross tonnage of oil transported in bulk on ocean vessels for import into the United States shall be carried on privately owned United States-flag commercial vessels, provided that the Secretary finds that such United States vessels as are available will be adequate to carry such quantity. Raises the requirement to 25 percent after June 30, 1976, and to 30 percent after June 30, 1978. Requires the Secretary to make annual reports to the Congress and the President on the implementation of this Act. Exempts from the provisions of this Act refineries whose capacity is less than 30,000 barrels per day.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1975
Provides, under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, that the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health shall be responsible to the Assistant Secretary for Health of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. States that the Director shall not delegate any of his functions to any other officer who is not directly responsible to him.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1975
Provides that specified rural hospitals shall be exempt for a period of 18 months from the requirements and provisions of Title XI of the Social Security Act relating to the establishment of professional standards review organizations and from the provisions of such Act and the regulations governing utilization review and utilization control procedures under the medicare, medicaid, and maternal and child health programs. Directs the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to investigate alternative methods of utilization review and control for rural hospitals. Defines "rural hospitals" for purposes of this Act as meaning a hospital which is located in a community having a population of less than 50,000, but only if: (1) there is no other is no other community which has a population of fifty thousand or more within a ten-mile radius of such hospital; (2) the combined average patient load for all hospitals within such ten-mile radius is less than forty per day; and (3) the number of practicing physicians on the regular staff of such hospital does not exceed seven.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1975
Modifies the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River navigation system to authorize a nine-foot deep auxiliary navigation channel extending approximately ten miles up Big Sallisaw Creek to a five hundred by four hundred-foot turning basin.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1975
Expands the size of Redwood National Park in the State of California. Requires management of the Park to emphasize protection of the resources downstream from the watershed.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1975
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to establish national petroleum reserves on any reserved or unreserved public lands of the United States except lands in the National Park System, the National Wildlife Refuge System, the Wild and Scenic Rivers System, the National Wilderness Preservation System, areas now under review for inclusion in the Wilderness System in accordance with provisions of the Wilderness Act of 1964, and lands in Alaska other than those in Naval Petroleum Reserve Numbered 4. States that no national petroleum reserve that includes all or part of an existing naval petroleum reserve shall be established without prior consultation with the Secretary of Defense. Authorizes the development of the oil and gas in the national petroleum reserves in the contiguous 48 States established pursuant to this Act. Requires competitive bidding procedures with prior public notice for any contract, lease, or operating agreement for development and production of oil and gas from a national petroleum reserve. States that the terms and conditions for such development, which shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, shall be subject to disapproval by Congress. Provides that any oil or gas produced from such petroleum reserves shall, with exceptions, be subject to all the limitations and licensing requirements of the Export Administration Act. Authorizes and directs the Secretary of the Interior to explore for oil and gas on Naval Petroleum Reserve Numbered 4 and to report annually to Congress on his plan for exploration of such reserve.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1975
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to engage in a feasibility investigation of the Seward Project, Logan and Oklahoma Counties, Oklahoma for potential water resource development.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1975
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to construct, operate, and maintain the McGee Creek project, Oklahoma, for the purpose of: (1) storing, regulating, and conveying water for municipal and industrial use; (2) conserving and developing fish and wildlife resources; and (3) providing recreation and controlling floods. Authorizes the appropriation of $40,000,000, plus or minus such amounts as may be justified by reason of ordinary fluctuations in construction costs as indicated by engineering cost indexes applicable to the type of construction involved herein.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1975
Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to make a loan of $100,000,000 to the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad Company. Establishes conditions which shall be required by the Secretary before granting such loan. Empowers the Secretary to approve any modifications of any provision of the loan made under this Act. Directs the Secretary to issue such rules and regulations as are appropriate to carry out the purposes of this Act. Grants the Secretary powers necessary to enforce the provisions and conditions of this Act. Requires the Secretary to report to the President and to the Congress with respect to his activities pursuant to this Act and to make recommendations for additional legislative action. Declares that the Comptroller General of the United States shall have access to such information, books, records, and documents as he determines necessary to audit operations carried out in the administration of this Act. Authorizes the appropriation of such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act in addition to the amount to be loaned.
![Official portrait of Rep. Risenhoover, Theodore M. [D-OK-2]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/r000268_200.jpg)