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Official portrait of Rep. Rodino, Peter W., Jr. [D-NJ-10]

Rep. Rodino, Peter W., Jr. [D-NJ-10]

United States · Official source

Records

3,267 records where Rep. Rodino, Peter W., Jr. [D-NJ-10] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years

Bill· HRH.R. 5391 (98th)reported

Telecommunications Employees' Protection Act of 1984

United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1984

Telecommunications Employees' Protection Act of 1984 - Extends the agreement providing for the reciprocal recognition of employees' service credit by entities subject to the modified judgment of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia in the case of the United States v. Western Electric, et alia, to cover certain employees who change employment between such entities on or after January 1, 1985.

Bill· HRH.R. 5310 (98th)open

Age Discrimination in Employment Act Public Safety Officers Amendments of 1984

United States · United States Congress · 30 March 1984

Age Discrimination in Employment Act Public Safety Officers Amendments of 1984 - Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to exclude State and local law enforcement officers and firefighters from coverage under the Act.

Law· HRH.R. 5174 (98th)enacted

Bankruptcy Amendments and Federal Judgeship Act of 1983

United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1984

Bankruptcy Amendments of 1984 - Title I: Amendments Relating to Bankruptcy Court - Creates a court of record in each judicial district known as the United States Bankruptcy Court for the district. Directs the President to appoint bankruptcy judges with the advice and consent of the Senate. States that such judges hold office during good behavior and sets guidelines for: (1) salaries; (2) division of business; (3) times and places of holding court; (4) continuation of proceedings during vacant judgeships; and (5) appellate panels composed of bankruptcy judges. Authorizes the Chief Justice of the United States to temporarily assign bankruptcy judges of one circuit for service in a bankruptcy court in another circuit. Prohibits assigning bankruptcy judges for service in courts other than bankruptcy courts. Prescribes retirement benefits for current bankruptcy judges not appointed to bankruptcy courts under this Act. Directs each bankruptcy court to appoint court reporters according to qualifications standards formulated by the Judicial Conference. Prescribes the manner in which such reporters shall record bankruptcy court proceedings. Places such reporters under the supervision of the appointing bankruptcy court and the Judicial Conference. Authorizes the Director of the Administrative Office to contract for additional temporary court reporters if the judicial council of any circuit determines such a need exists. Restricts such contracting authority to amounts provided in advance in appropriations Acts. Grants courts of appeals jurisdiction of appeals from all final decisions of bankruptcy appellate panels and other specified bankruptcy panels and courts. Grants bankruptcy appellate panels jurisdiction of appeals from all interlocutory as well as final decisions of bankruptcy courts. Grants bankruptcy courts original, exclusive jurisdiction of all cases under Title 11 (the bankruptcy code.) Grants such courts original, but not exclusive, jurisdiction of all civil proceedings arising under Title 11 or related cases. Authorizes such courts to abstain from hearing particular matters. Precludes review of such decisions. Vests bankruptcy courts with exclusive jurisdiction over a debtor's property once a case has begun. Delineates venue requirements for cases and proceedings arising under Title 11. Amends the judicial code to furnish guidelines for: (1) removal to bankruptcy courts of specified civil proceedings; (2) provisional remedies; and (3) jury trials. Confers upon bankruptcy courts the powers of equity, law and admiralty. Authorizes bankruptcy courts to issue writs of habeas corpus. Provides for a transition period during which bankruptcy judges and bankruptcy courts will function. Sets a specified date for the transfer to bankruptcy courts of all cases and proceedings pending under either the Bankruptcy Act or Title 11. Authorizes the Supreme Court to issue procedural rules for the transition of functions and records to the new bankruptcy court system. Expresses the sense of Congress that all qualified incumbent bankruptcy judges who hold office immediately prior to enactment of this Act should be considered by the President for appointment to the new bankruptcy system. Directs the Attorney General to recommend to the President nominees for bankruptcy judgeships, including all such incumbent bankruptcy judges. Title II: Amendments to Title 11 of the United States Code - Subtitle A - Amendments Relating to Personal Bankruptcy - Amends the Bankruptcy Code to prohibit any individual from being a debtor under such title who has been a debtor in a case pending any time in the preceding 180 days if: (1) the case was dismissed for failure to abide by orders of the court; or (2) the debtor requested and obtained a voluntary dismissal of the case following the filing of a request for relief from the automatic stay. Requires the court clerk, prior to the commencement of a bankruptcy case by an individual whose debts are primarily consumer debts, to give written notice to such individual that indicates each chapter of such title under which the individual may proceed. Declares that dismissal of a bankruptcy case does not prejudice the debtor with regard to the filing of a subsequent bankruptcy petition. Permits any individual injured by any willful violation of a stay to recover actual damages, including costs and attorneys' fees, and, in appropriate circumstances, punitive damages. Requires an individual debtor whose schedule of assets and liabilities includes consumer debts secured by property of the estate to file a statement with the court clerk concerning retention or surrender of such property. Prohibits debtors who are husband and wife and whose estate are ordered to be jointly administered from each electing to exempt certain property from different alternative property groupings. Sets forth provisions in case the parties cannot agree on the alternative to be elected. Limits exemptions for property held primarily for the personal, family, or household use of the debtor to $4,000 in aggregate value. Limits the exemption for a debtor's aggregate interest in real or personal property to $3,750. Allows an exception to a discharge from any: (1) consumer debt owed to a single creditor and aggregating more than $500 for "luxury goods or services" incurred by an individual debtor on or within 40 days before the order for bankruptcy relief; or (2) cash advances aggregating more than $1,000 that are extensions of consumer credit under an open end credit plan obtained on or within 20 days before the order for bankruptcy relief. Requires a creditor to pay costs if the court finds in favor of the debtor where such creditor requested a determination of dischargeability of a debt, the debt is discharged, but the court finds that the creditor's position is not substantially justified. Provides that a discharge in a bankruptcy case does not operate as an injunction against an action to recover property of the debtor. Requires an agreement concerning a dischargeable debt between a holder of a claim and the debtor to contain a clear and conspicuous statement advising the debtor that the agreement may be rescinded at any time prior to discharge or within 60 days after the agreement is filed with the court, whichever occurs later. Declares that no such agreement prevents a debtor from voluntarily repaying any debt. Prohibits employment discrimination or termination because of any bankruptcy action. Permits a bankruptcy court to dismiss a case filed by an individual debtor whose debts are primarily consumer debts if it finds that the granting of bankruptcy relief would be a substantial abuse of the bankruptcy provisions. Terminates the stay of action by a creditor against a codebtor 20 days after the filing of a request for relief unless the debtor (or codebtor) files and serves upon the creditor a written objection to the taking of the proposed action. Permits the court to convert a chapter 13 (adjustment of debts of an individual with regular income) to a chapater 7 (liquidation) bankruptcy case for failure to comence timely payments. Prohibits a plan for the repayment of debts from discriminating unfairly against any class of unsecured claims, but permits such plan to treat claims for a consumer debt of the debtor if an individual is liable on such consumer debt with the debtor differently than other unsecured claims. Prohibits the court from approving a repayment plan if the trustee or the holder of an allowed unsecured claim objects to the confirmation of the plan, unless certain conditions are met as of the plan's effective date. Requires the debtor, unless the court orders otherwise, to commence making the payments proposed by a plan within 30 days after the plan is filed. Permits modification of the plan at any time after confirmation but before the completion of payments. Amends the Bankruptcy Rules to require the court to give the trustee and all creditors notice by mail of the order for relief not more than 20 days after the entry of such order in a voluntary case commenced under the Bankruptcy Code by an individual debtor whose debts are primarily consumer debts. Revises the Official Bankruptcy Form No. 1 concerning individual debts that are primarily consumer debts. Subtitle B - Amendments Relating to Grain Storage Facility Bankruptcy - Establishes priority in bankruptcy cases for allowed unsecured claims of individuals engaged in the production or raising of grain against a debtor who owns or operates a grain storage facility for grain or the proceeds of grain, to the extent of $2,000 for each such individual. Subjects certain rights and powers of the trustee, in the case of a seller who is a producer of grain sold to a grain storage facility, owned or operated by the debtor, in the ordinary course of such producer's business, to any statutory or commonly-law right of such producer to reclaim such grain if the debtor has received the grain while insolvent. Permits a bankruptcy court to expedite the procedures for the determination of interests in and the disposition of grain and proceeds of grain held by debtors who own or operate grain storage facilites. Allows the shortening of time periods applicable for such procedures and establishment of a timetable for the completion of certain procedures. Permits such time periods and timetable to be modified by the court for good cause shown. Sets forth the criteria by which such time periods may be shortened and the procedures which may be expedited. Requires notice to any appropriate regulatory governmental unit of any request made or ordered into for expedited determinations of interest. Requires the trustee to consult with such governmental unit before taking any action relating to the disposition of grain in the control of the debtor or the estate. Permits the court to extend final disposition period for grain or proceeds of grain if the court finds that certain conditions exist. Declares that unless such an order is stayed pending appeal, the reversal or modification on appeal of an order establishing an expedited procedure or determining any interest in or approving any disposition of grain or its proceeds does not affect validity. Prohibits the court or the trustee from delaying any other proceeding in the particular case on account of the appeal. Permits the trustee to recover from grain and proceeds of grain the reasonable and necessary costs and expenses attributable to preserving and disposing of grain or its proceeds, but the trustee may not recover any other costs or expenses. Subtitle C - Amendments Relating to Rejection of Collective Bargaining Agreements in Bankruptcy - Amends the Bankruptcy Code to permit a trustee to reject or assume a collective bargaining agreement made under the authority of title II of the Railway Labor Act or the National Labor Relations Act only if and after the court approves such rejection or assumption. Requires notice to all parties and a hearing before the court may approve such a rejection. Requires the trustee to: (1) meet and confer in good faith with the authorized representative of the employees who are subject to a collective bargaining agreement; and (2) provide such authorized representative with the relevant financial and other information. Permits the trustee to file a motion for the rejection of a collective bargaining agreement only if certain actions have been taken. Prohibits the court from approving the rejection of a collective bargaining agreement if: (1) the trustee has complied with the requirements of this Act; and (2) absent rejection of such agreement, the jobs covered by such agreement will be lost and any financial reorganization of the debtor will fail. Declares that no provision of this Act shall be construed to permit the trustee unilaterally to terminate or alter any of the wages, hours, terms, or conditions established by a collective bargaining agreement. Subtitle D - Effective Date of Title - Sets forth the effective date for the provisions of this title.

Bill· HRH.R. 5180 (98th)referred

A bill to amend the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to establish separate deductions allowable for dependent care expenses and excess shelter expenses for purposes of determining certain benefit levels under the food stamp program, and to increase the maximum amount of such deductions.

United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1984

Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to establish separate deductions for dependent care expenses and excess shelter expenses for determining eligibility for certain food stamp benefit levels. Increases the maximum amount of such deductions.

Bill· HRH.R. 5143 (98th)referred

Public Employee Pension Plan Reporting and Accountability Act of 1984

United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1984

Public Employee Pension Plan Reporting and Accountability Act of 1984 - Imposes disclosure and reporting requirements upon State and local government pension plans. Establishes fiduciary standards for trustees of public employee pension benefit plans. Provides remedies and access to Federal courts. Specifies employee benefit plans which are exempt from this Act. Title I: Reporting and Disclosure - Requires the administrator of each public employee pension benefit plan to submit a registration statement to the appropriate State Governor within one year of enactment of this Act. Exempts a plan from the reporting and disclosure requirements of this Act if a State Governor certifies to the Secretary of Labor that: (1) State requirements are substantially equivalent to those of this Act; (2) the State can adequately administer its requirements; and (3) the State can adequately collect the requisite reports. Requires the Secretary of Labor to terminate any certification if a State is not meeting Federal requirements. Requires the plan administrator to: (1) publish a summary plan description; and (2) furnish such description to plan participants, beneficiaries, and specified persons. Delineates the contents of such summary plan description. Requires such description to: (1) state the rights of participants and beneficiaries; and (2) include an update whenever material modifications are made to the plan. Requires the plan administrator to publish an annual report. Specifies the contents of such report. Directs such administrator to engage an independent qualified public accountant to ascertain whether the financial statements and schedules in the annual report present fairly and in all material respects the information contained in the annual report. Requires the accountant's opinion to be included in the annual report. Requires the annual report to include a financial statement containing specified information, including the most recent annual statement of assets and liabilities of a common or a collective trust held by a bank or similar institution. Requires each plan to maintain a schedule of: (1) all assets held for investment purposes during each plan year; and (2) each transaction involving a party in interest. Requires annual reports to include, with respect to a defined benefit plan, a complete actuarial statement applicable to the appropriate plan year. Directs the plan administrator to engage an enrolled actuary to prepare such statement. Delineates the contents of the actuarial statement. Requires the annual report to include a statement from an insurance organization if any plan benefits are purchased from or guaranteed by such organization. Details the contents of such statement. Requires the enrolled actuary of the plan to make an actuarial valuation at least once every three plan years. Directs the plan administrator to furnish, upon written request of certain persons, a copy of summary plan descriptions and the status of an individual's plan benefits and contributions. Provides guidelines under which the plan administrator is directed to file the annual report with either the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) or the appropriate State Governor. Authorizes the Secretary or Governor to reject the information filed by the plan administrator, and to take the following actions: (1) retain an independent public accountant to perform an audit; (2) retain an enrolled actuary to prepare an actuarial report; or (3) bring a civil action to enforce this Act. Presents guidelines for notice and review where claims for benefits are denied. Title II: Requirements Relating to Fiduciary Functions - Requires every plan to be established and maintained by written instructions which designate at least one named fiduciary. Details the functions of named fiduciaries and trustees. Establishes fiduciary and trustee liability. Prohibits certain transactions. Authorizes the Secretary to grant specified exemptions regarding such transactions. Imposes personal liability upon fiduciaries who fail to meet the fiduciary requirements, including removal for specified violations. Prohibits persons who have been convicted of, or imprisoned for, certain offenses from holding specified positions. Requires plan fiduciaries to be bonded. Specifies exceptions. Sets forth guidelines for the bonding procedure. Sets a limitation on actions which may be brought regarding failure to meet fiduciary requirements. Title III: Administration and Enforcement - Authorizes civil actions to redress violations of this Act. Imposes personal liability upon: (1) a plan administrator who fails to comply with a request for information; or (2) any person who fails to file required forms. Authorizes a plan to sue or be sued. Grants the United States district courts exclusive jurisdiction of civil actions brought under this Act. Grants concurrent jurisdiction to State courts and Federal district courts for specified actions. Authorizes the Federal district court to award reasonable attorney's fees under certain circumstances. Provides that suits brought against the Secretary may be brought in Federal district court. Authorizes the Secretary or appropriate State official to assess and collect a civil penalty against a party in interest who has engaged in a prohibited transaction. Grants such Secretary and State official investigative powers to determine violations of this Act. Details the extent of such powers. Authorizes the Secretary to prescribe regulations to administer this Act. Directs such Secretary to cooperate with State and local governments regarding the exchange of data and information. Prohibits interference with the exercise of rights by a plan participant or beneficiary. Establishes an Advisory Council on Governmental Plans, comprised of eleven members appointed by the President. Requires Council members to be qualified to appraise the plans falling under this Act. Requires the Council to: (1) report to the President and each House of Congress regarding implementation of this Act with possible recommendations for legislation; (2) advise the Secretary and make recommendations; and (3) monitor the costs incurred by plans under this Act and recommend cost reduction measures. Directs the Secretary to furnish staff services to the Council. States that this Act supersedes any State laws regarding public employee pension benefits plans. Specifies exceptions. Authorizes appropriations.

Bill· HRH.R. 5137 (98th)open

A bill to amend the Clayton Act to temporarily prohibit certain involuntary acquisitions of persons engaged in commerce or in any activity affecting commerce.

United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1984

Amends the Clayton Act to prohibit, for a specified time, any person engaged in commerce or in any activity affecting commerce from obtaining control of another such person by acquiring the stock, other share capital, or assets of such other person if such other person disapproves such acquisition.

Bill· HRH.R. 5081 (98th)open

Fair Trade in Steel Act of 1984

United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1984

Fair Trade in Steel Act of 1984 - Declares that it is the policy of Congress that access to the U.S. market for foreign-produced carbon, alloy, and specialty steel mill products should be on an equitable basis to safeguard national security, insure orderly trade in steel mill products, reduce unfair trade in steel mill products, and alleviate U.S. balance-of-payments problems. Expresses the intent of Congress to: (1) expand the economic viability of the U.S. steel industry and the jobs of its workers; (2) prevent the further decline of the domestic steel industry; and (3) temper the economic hardships resulting from unemployment in steel industry communities by encouraging reinvestment in existing steelmaking facilities. Limits annual imports of specified steel mill product categories to specified percentages of the apparent domestic supply which are based on adjusted average import penetration levels for each such product category for the years 1979, 1980, and 1981. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to allocate global product limitations among foreign countries, groups of countries, or areas. Sets forth guidelines for making such allocations. Requires the Secretary to make an annual determination of the expected apparent domestic supply in each steel mill product category. Requires the Secretary to revise such determination periodically during the year. Directs the Secretary to determine, within 90 days after the effective date of this Act, whether the steel industry companies have plans to use substantially all of the cash flow from the steel sector for reinvestment in and the modernization of the steel sector. Prohibits the import restrictions from taking effect until the Secretary determines that the steel companies have such plans. Directs the Secretary to monitor steel sector investments made and announced by the steel industry and to consult with steel industry representatives and employees in the course of such monitoring. Directs the Secretary to determine annually whether steel companies are using substantially all the cash flow from the steel sector for reinvestment in and modernization of the steel sector. Directs the Secretary to modify or suspend the relevant import restrictions if the Secretary determines that substantially less than all the cash flow from the steel sector is being used for such reinvestment and modernization and that the level of investment is not demonstrably justified by adverse financial conditions within the industry. Directs the Secretary to publish: (1) each annual determination and its rationale; and (2) the total amount of cash flow from the steel sector and the total amount used for reinvestment in and modernization of the steel sector. Requires the steel companies to provide the Secretary with the information necessary for making such determinations. Directs the Secretary to examine the supply and demand situation in the United States for a specified steel product category if requested by affected steel consumers. Sets forth criteria to be used in determining short supply. Directs the Secretary to monitor imports of fabricated steel mill products. Sets forth the method of investigating whether imports of fabricated steel products are rendering ineffective or materially interfering with the objectives of this Act. Limits the quantity of iron ore that may be entered from all sources during any calendar year after the effective date of this Act. Directs the Secretary to allocate global iron ore limitations among foreign countries, groups of countries or areas. Sets forth guidelines for making such allocation. Directs the Secretary, in making such allocations, to attempt first to accommodate the requirements of individual steel mills which have been traditionally dependent on ocean sourced foreign iron ore and the requirements of contractual obligations incurred before January 1, 1984. Authorizes the Secretary to waive the import restrictions on iron ore if necessary to meet the needs of such individual steel mills. Provides for the enforcement and implementation of this Act.

Bill· HRH.R. 5041 (98th)open

Joint Research and Development Act of 1984

United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1984

Joint Research and Development Act of 1984 - Declares that no joint research and development program shall be deemed illegal per se under the Federal antitrust laws or under any similar State law. Excludes from the term "joint research and development program" any activity in which two or more participating parties: (1) exchange information regarding the sales, marketing, or distribution of any product, process, or service; or (2) restrict or require the participation by any party in another research and development program, the production, marketing, or other commercial application by any party of any product, process, or service, or the sale, licensing, or sharing by any party of any invention not jointly developed under the program. Permits any party to a joint research and development program to file with the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) a written notice disclosing: (1) the parties to such program; (2) the nature, objectives, and duration of the program; and (3) the agreements made by the parties under the program. Directs the Attorney General or the FTC, within 60 days after receiving such notice, to publish in the Federal Register a notice identifying the parties to such program and the general nature and duration of such program. Exempts material submitted as part of such notices from public disclosure. Limits the amount that may be recovered in an action brought by a person or by a State on behalf of its residents for an injury to business or property sustained as a result of a violation of a State or Federal antitrust law, to the amount of the actual damages sustained, interest thereon, and the cost of the suit, if: (1) the action is based on conduct under a joint research and development program that is described in the program notice filed with the Attorney General and the FTC; and (2) such action is filed after the notice of such program is published in the Federal Register. Directs the court to award the prevailing party in such action a reasonable attorney's fee. Provides that such recovery limitation shall not apply to any conduct that occurs after an order granting a permanent injunction has been issued against such conduct as a result of an action under Federal or State antitrust law.

Bill· HRH.R. 5017 (98th)open

Youth Incentive Employment Act

United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1984

Youth Incentive Employment Act - Establishes a program to provide part-time school year employment and full-time (or part-time with training) summer employment to economically disadvantaged youths who pursue further education and training. Provides that an individual may qualify to be an eligible youth for program participation purposes if such individual: (1) is 16 to 19 years of age, inclusive, at the time of assignment to a worksite; (2) is economically disadvantaged; (3) is not employed; (4) resides in the service delivery area (SDA) of the administering entity; and (5) has entered into a commitment to pursue further education and training. Requires such individuals to sign a written commitment to: (1) attend either a secondary school for a diploma, an alternative education program for a high school equivalency certificate, a remedial education program, or a skill training program; and (2) meet attendance and performance standards of such school or program and at the worksite to which the individual is referred for employment under this Act. Gives priority for selection under youth incentive plans to eligible youths with documented educational deficiencies. Terminates an individual's status as an eligible youth upon a finding by the administering entity, after an opportunity for a hearing, that the individual has failed to comply with the commitment. Requires that funds provided under this Act be used to establish and assist programs which assist eligible youth with qualifying employment in the form of: (1) part-time employment during the regular school year, not to exceed 20 hours per week; (2) part-time employment, during the months between regular school years, which is combined with remediation, classroom instruction, or on-the-job or apprenticeship training; and (3) full-time employment for a period of at least eight weeks during the months between regular school years, not to exceed 40 hours per week. Permits funds provided under this Act to be used to pay up to the following percentages of the wages and benefits and the costs of any employer-provided instruction and training of an eligible youth: (1) 100 percent during the first six months of qualifying employment; and (2) 75 percent during any succeeding months of such qualifying employment. Prohibits the use of funds provided under this Act to pay any portion of the wages and benefits of any individual: (1) for full-time employment during the months between the regular school year with a for-profit institution or organization unless such employment is a continuation of employment with that employer during the regular school year; or (2) if the employer has failed to develop or enforce attendance and performance standards consistent with youth incentive plan provisions. Sets forth general requirements for receipt and restrictions on the use of funds under this Act. Provides that the administering entity for any SDA under this Act is the same entity selected to administer the job training plan for that SDA pursuant to the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). Requires administering entities to: (1) develop and submit to the Secretary of Labor a youth incentive employment plan; and (2) provide from other Federal or State sources, or from local public or private sources, at least 20 percent of program costs for each program year, in cash or in kind. Requires that, of the funds provided to an administering entity for any program year under this Act: (1) at least 70 percent be expended for wages and benefits for qualifying employment, and child care, transportation, or other supportive service expenses for individuals engaged in such employment; (2) not more than 15 percent be used for the cost of administering programs under this Act; and (3) any remainder be used for worksite supervision, supplies, training aids and alternative or remedial education expenses. Sets forth requirements relating to youth incentive plans. Requires such plan to contain specified provisions, including: (1) provision for outreach services and programs to encourage participation in qualifying employment by eligible youths who are school dropouts, as well as by inschool youths; (2) assurances that special efforts will be made to recruit youth from families receiving public assistance, including parents of dependent children who meet the age requirement of this Act; and (3) a description of any arrangements made with labor organizations to enable youths to enter into apprenticeship training as part of employment provided under this Act. Requires that such plans, before they are submitted to the Secretary, be: (1) approved by the appropriate chief elected officials and the private industry council for the SDA; and (2) submitted for review and comment to the State job training coordinating council, and include any comments of such council and any reasons for nonconformance with such council's suggestions. Directs the Secretary to: (1) approve any plan submitted in compliance with the requirements of this Act; and (2) only disapprove a plan after notice and opportunity for a hearing to the administering entity. Sets forth special conditions relating to activities using funds under this Act. Requires that wage rates under this Act be the higher of the applicable minimum wage or the prevailing rate of pay for individuals employed in similar positions by the same employer, with specified exceptions in cases of labor organization representation. Authorizes the Secretary to prescribe wage rates within specified limits for youth participants for projects financed under $5,000 to which Davis-Bacon Act provisions would otherwise apply. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1985 and succeeding fiscal years for allocation to administering entities for programs under this Act. Directs the Secretary to reserve a specified amount of such appropriations for allotment among Native American eligible entities, on an equitable basis, taking into account the extent to which regular employment opportunities have been lacking for long-term periods among individuals within the jurisdiction of such entities. Requires that the remainder be allocated among administering entities that have in effect an approved youth incentive plan on the basis of numbers in each SDA of: (1) economically disadvantaged youth; (2) unemployed residents; and (3) excess unemployed residents (i.e. those in excess of six and one-half percent of the civilian labor force in the SDA). Requires that such allocations to an administering entity for an SDA be paid to the JTPA grant recipient for that SDA. Provides for a program year basis for funding beginning with FY 1986. Makes FY 1985 appropriations available both to funds activities for the period between October 1, 1984, and July 1, 1985, and for the program year beginning July 1, 1985. Authorizes additional appropriations for the transition to program year funding. Makes specified administrative and enforcement provisions of JTPA applicable to programs under this Act. Requires the administering entity to make quarterly reports to the Secretary on the youth incentive projects authorized under this Act. Requires such reports to include specified topics. Directs the Secretary to compile such reports and submit a summary of the findings to the Congress in the annual report for employment and training programs required under JTPA.

Resolution· HRESH.Res. 451 (98th)referred

A resolution expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to David Phillip Vetter, of Spring, Texas, to be presented to his family in his memory.

United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1984

Declares that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to David Phillip Vetter, of Spring, Texas, to be presented to his family in his memory as the oldest survivor of congenital severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID).

Bill· HRH.R. 5011 (98th)referred

A bill to clarify the intent of Congress in adopting title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, to prohibit any educational institution which receives any federal assistance, direct or indirect, from discriminating on the basis of sex, to provide that federal departments and agencies may terminate or deny all federal financial assistance to any educational institution which discriminates on the basis of sex, and to protect women against sex discrimination by educational institutions receiving any form of federal financial assistance.

United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1984

Amends the Education Amendments of 1972 to include educational institutions receiving Federal financial assistance within the prohibition against sex discrimination.

Bill· HRH.R. 4963 (98th)open

Joint Research and Development Act of 1984

United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1984

Joint Research and Development Act of 1984 - Declares that no joint research and development program shall be deemed illegal per se under the Federal antitrust laws or under any similar State law. Excludes from the term "joint research and development program" any activity in which two or more participating parties: (1) exchange information regarding the sales, marketing, or distribution of any product, process, or service; or (2) restrict or require the participation by any party in another research and development program, the production, marketing, or other commercial application by any party of any product, process, or service, or the sale, licensing, or sharing by any party of any invention not jointly developed under the program. Permits any party to a joint research and development program to file with the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) a written notice disclosing: (1) the parties to such program; (2) the nature, objectives, and duration of the program; and (3) the agreements made by the parties under the program. Directs the Attorney General or the FTC, within 60 days after receiving such notice, to publish in the Federal Register a notice identifying the parties to such program and the general nature and duration of such program. Exempts material submitted as part of such notices from public disclosure. Limits the amount that may be recovered in an action brought by a person or by a State on behalf of its residents for an injury to business or property sustained as a result of a violation of a State or Federal antitrust law, to the amount of the actual damages sustained, interest thereon, and the cost of the suit, if: (1) the action is based on conduct under a joint research and development program that is described in the program notice filed with the Attorney General and the FTC; and (2) such action is filed after the notice of such program is published in the Federal Register. Directs the court to award the prevailing party in such action a reasonable attorney's fee. Provides that such recovery limitation shall not apply to any conduct that occurs after an order granting a permanent injunction has been issued against such conduct as a result of an action under Federal or State antitrust law.

Bill· HJRESH.J.Res. 489 (98th)open

A joint resolution directing the President to secure a full accounting of Americans missing in Southeast Asia.

United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1984

Directs the President to: (1) secure from the Indochina nations a full accounting of Americans captured or missing as a result of the Vietnam conflict; and (2) work for the release of captive Americans and the return of the remains of those American servicemen and civilians who died in Southeast Asia. Requires the President to submit two reports to Congress on American POW/MIAs in Southeast Asia.

Bill· HJRESH.J.Res. 490 (98th)open

A joint resolution authorizing the President's Commission on Organized Crime to compel the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of information.

United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1984

Grants the President's Commission on Organized Crime subpoena power to require attendance and testimony of witnesses before the Commission or to require the production of information relating to a matter under investigation by the Commission. Grants the Federal courts jurisdiction, upon application by the Attorney General on behalf of the Commission, to issue an enforcement order. Provides that failure to comply may be treated by the court as contempt. Establishes a procedure for the Commission to receive testimony of a person in custody. Grants the Commission authority to compel the giving of testimony or production of other information by an individual claiming his privilege against self-incrimination. Provides for the disclosure to the Commission of records of Federal agencies which would otherwise be prohibited by the Privacy Act of 1974. Places limitations upon the use of such information.

Bill· HRH.R. 4906 (98th)referred

Acid Rain Control Act of 1984

United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1984

Acid Rain Control Act of 1984 - Amends the Clean Air Act ("the Act") to provide for reduction of acid deposition through reduction of emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Establishes a program for reduction of total sulfur dioxide emissions in the 48 contiguous States. Provides that such reduction is to be: (1) to a level 10,000,000 tons below the total sulfur dioxide emissions in 1980; and (2) achieved by December 1, 1995. Provides that the requirements of such program are to be in addition to other requirements under the Act. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), within 90 days after enactment of this Act, to compute and publish State aggregate sulfur dioxide emission targets for January 1, 1989, and January 1, 1995. Sets forth formulas for calculating such targets for each State, based on reductions from the 1980 sulfur dioxide emissions levels which would have been achieved if all fossil fuel-fired electric utility steam generating units in the State had complied with specified emissions limitations during 1980 (two pounds per million Btu for the 1989 target and one and two-tenths pounds per million Btu for the 1995 target). Requires each State, by January 1, 1986, to develop and submit State plans for emission limitations necessary to achieve such targets. Allows such plans to provide for compliance through: (1) the use of a technological sytem of continuous emission reduction; or (2) any other continuous emission reduction requirements (applicable to stationary sources) which the State finds appropriate. Directs the Administrator to approve such plans if they are adequate to achieve such targets. Prohibits commencement of construction of any new stationary source of sulfur dioxide if no State plan is submitted by the deadline or if the Administrator disapproves a State plan. Directs the Administrator to promulgate a plan for any State which fails to submit: (1) a plan by the deadline; or (2) a revised plan within six months after disapproval. Provides that the plan promulgated by the Administrator shall only be applicable to fossil fuel-fired steam generating units in the State which are not subject to more stringent emission limitations under any other provision of the Act. Provides that such plan shall require each such unit to comply with an emission limitation of: (1) two pounds per million Btu by January 1, 1989; and (2) one and two-tenths pounds per million Btu by January 1, 1995. Prohibits commencement of construction of any new stationary source of sulfur dioxide in any State which does not meet the 1989 or 1995 target. Provides for crediting toward the State target: (1) emissions reductions credited under a specified trading program; and (2) nitrogen oxide emissions reductions substituted for sulfur dioxide emissions reductions in accordance with a specified ratio. Prohibits the establishment, under any provision of the Act, of any sulfur dioxide emission limitation which would permit any stationary source (or unit) to exceed the sulfur dioxide emissions allowable from it in 1982 under the applicable implementation plan in effect on January 1, 1982. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations to facilitate the trading of emission reduction requirements, and actual reductions, on a State or regional basis under the sulfur dioxide emissions program of this Act. Allows such regulations to provide for emission reduction banks or brokerage institutions. Allows such trading to include trading of sulfur dioxide emissions for nitrogen oxide emissions in accordance with a specified ratio. Allows the State plan to permit any owner or operator of a stationary source of sulfur dioxide emissions to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions in lieu of any sulfur dioxide emissions reduction which would otherwise be required under the plan. Requires that such reduction of nitrogen oxide emissions be at a rate of two units by weight of nitrogen oxides for each unit of sulfur dioxide. Provides that State plan requirements under this Act shall be treated as requirements of applicable implementation plans for specified purposes under the Act. Imposes a fee for each kilowatt hour of electric energy which is either generated by an electric utility in or imported into the contiguous 48 States. Requires that EPA regulations for such fee allow utilities to pass through to customers the cost of the fee and indicate the fee as a separate item on bills. Provides that such fee shall: (1) take effect with respect to electric energy generated, or imported, after December 31, 1984; (2) cease to apply on December 31, 1990; (3) be applied during each calendar quarter at the rate of one and five-tenths mill per kilowatt hour; and (4) not apply to any electric energy (including imported electric energy) which is generated by nuclear or hydroelectric power. Sets civil and criminal penalties for specified violations of such fee requirements. Establishes the Acid Deposition Control Fund in the Treasury. Allows the Fund to be used for: (1) certain loans for capital costs of emission control; (2) specified studies, research, and demonstrations; and (3) assistance to States for acid deposition mitigation programs. Credits to the Fund amounts determined by the Secretary of the Treasury to be equivalent to the amount received into the Treasury from fees imposed under this Act. Directs the Secretary to: (1) report annually to Congress on the Fund; and (2) make investments on behalf of the Fund. Directs the Administrator to: (1) report, within one year after enactment of this Act, to Congress on the expected costs of the construction and installation of technological systems of continuous emission reductions necessary to meet emission limitations; and (2) estimate the amount, and establish a schedule for issuance, of specified notes or other obligations which must be issued to meet such costs. Authorizes the Administrator to issue to the Secretary such specified notes and other obligations, but only in such amounts as may be specified in appropriation Acts. Directs the Administrator to make loans from the Fund, in the five-year period beginning on the date the Fund is established, for capital costs of emission control. Allows owners or operators of stationary sources subject to emission limitations under plans adopted or promulgated under this Act to apply for such loans. Authorizes the Administrator to make such loans only upon determination that loan proceeds will be used only for the costs of the construction and installation of any technological system of continuous emission reduction used to comply with such emission limitations in accordance with requirements which the Administrator deems appropriate. Provides that such loans shall be: (1) made without interest; (2) required to be repaid within such period and under such conditions as the Administrator shall establish. Directs the Administrator to require only such repayment of such loans as is necessary to assure the availability of adequate sums for the Administrator to make payments of principal and interest on specified notes and other obligations issued under this Act. Directs the Administrator, upon expiration of the five-year period beginning on the date of the establishment of the Fund, to report to Congress the amount required to pay such principal and interest. Directs the Administrator to issue regulations establishing the criteria upon which such loans shall be made and the procedures for handling applications. Revises provisions for new stationary source performance standards to direct the Administrator, promptly after the enactment of this Act, to promulgate or revise such performance standards for emissions of: (1) nitrogen oxides from fossil fuel-fired electric utility steam generating units; and (2) sulfur dioxides and nitrogen oxides from other fossil fuel-fired steam generating units which are capable of combusting more than 50,000 pounds per million Btu/hour heat input of fossil fuel (either alone or in combination with any other fuel). Revises provisions for emissions standards for new motor vehicles or engines to direct the Administrator to revise specified regulations applicable to nitrogen oxide emissions from trucks and truck engines manufactured during and after model year 1986 so that total nitrogen oxide emissions will be reduced by 4,000,000 tons by January 1, 1995. Directs the Administrator to conduct a study and report to Congress on the rate-making policies of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and of State public utility regulatory authorities regarding the costs incurred by regulated electric utilities in complying with emission control requirements under the sulfur dioxide emissions program established under this Act. Requires that such study determine the extent to which: (1) such costs are equitably allocated, under rate schedules approved or established by the Commission and such State authorities, among the customers of such utilities; and (2) a disproportionate burden of such costs are borne by customers of any utility who are not located in the State in which the utility is located. Directs the Administrator to undertake studies regarding: (1) formation of acid deposition and interstate transport of acid deposition precursors; (2) effects of acid deposition on human health and the environment, including visibility; (3) adverse effects associated with acid rain in areas outside the northeast; (4) effectiveness of acid deposition mitigation measures; and (5) innovative means to control acid deposition. Directs the Administrator to carry out a demonstration program for clean coal technologies. Directs the Administrator to provide financial assistance to State programs for mitigation of the adverse effects of acid rain. Requires that at least one-third of the total amounts expended by a State for any such program in any fiscal year be derived from non-Federal sources. Limits to one percent of the amounts available in the Fund the amount which may be used to provide such assistance for such State programs.

Bill· HRH.R. 4908 (98th)referred

A bill to amend title 11 of the United States Code to clarify the circumstances under which collective bargaining agreements may be rejected in cases under chapter 11 of such title, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1984

Amends the Bankruptcy Code to permit a trustee to reject or assume a collective bargaining agreement made under the authority of title II of the Railway Labor Act or the National Labor Relations Act only if and after the court approves such rejection or assumption. Requires notice to all parties and a hearing before the court may approve such a rejection. Prohibits the court from approving the rejection of a collective bargaining agreement if, absent the rejection: (1) the jobs covered by such agreement will be lost; and (2) any financial reorganization of the debtor will fail. Declares that a rejection of a collective bargaining agreement constitutes a breach at the time of such rejection. Declares that no provision of this Act shall be construed to permit the trustee unilaterally to terminate or alter any of the terms and conditions of such a collective bargaining agreement.

Bill· HRH.R. 4870 (98th)open

Medicare Solvency and Health Care Financing Reform Act of 1984

United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1984

Medicare Solvency and Health Care Financing Reform Act of 1984 - Adds a new title XXI to the Public Health Service Act entitled "Programs For Reforming the Health Care Financing System." Sets forth part A of such title entitled "State Health Care Programs." Provides that if a State transmits to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, within one year of the enactment of this Act, a statement that the State intends to submit a health care plan (described below), for purposes of making payments to the State under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act the Federal medical assistance percentage shall be 102 percent of such percentage as otherwise determined under Medicaid for such State for up to one year. Directs the Secretary to exempt hospitals in a State from the prospective payment limits established under this Act for certain time periods occurring during the first year of the transition period (defined in part C of title XXI as the 24-month period beginning January 1985) if: (1) the State requests such treatment; (2) the State indicates an intention to have implemented a State plan under title XXI which will provide for a recoupment of any revenues received in excess of the amounts permitted under part A; and (3) the State has agreed, with respect to such hospitals, that if a State plan under this Act is not implemented by the end of the first year of the transition period, then the Secretary shall provide for such adjustment in the prospective payment limits under part I of part B as will provide for recoupment in the subsequent year of any revenues received in excess of amounts permitted. Authorizes a State to apply to the Secretary for the approval of a health care plan for the State for an initial period of up to three years, subject to disapproval. Authorizes extensions of such initial period for up to two additional years. Provides that, for any one-year period, in the case of any State with an approved plan: (1) the transitional period provisions of subpart I of part B of title XXI shall not apply; (2) requirements for reimbursement (other than those relating to beneficiary cost sharing) under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act shall be waived and; (3) for purposes of making payments to a State under Medicaid the Federal medical assistance percentage shall, for the year the plan is in effect, be 103 percent (or 104 percent in the case of an unrestricted Medicaid plan) of the amount of the Federal medical assistance percentage otherwise determined under Medicaid and 102 percent (or 103 percent in the case of an unrestricted Medicaid plan) for any subsequent year (except for any extension period) of the amount of the Federal medical assistance percentage otherwise determined. Defines "unrestricted Medicaid plan" as a State Medicaid plan which does not impose any limitation on the scope or duration of inpatient hospital services other than requiring that such services be medically necessary. Directs the Secretary to annually review each approved plan. Requires the continued approval, for a certain time, of a plan not in compliance, if the State certifies that it will comply within a stated time period. Permits a further extension of approval if there is a trend towards compliance. Provides for the establishment of a Federal program with respect to hospitals for a State which cannot comply. Requires a State plan, in order to be approved, to meet the general requirements set forth below and, if applicable, certain requirements relating to ratesetting plans. Permits a plan, in meeting the general requirements, to be designed in a manner that meets such requirements through a ratesetting system, a voluntary system, or through the use of competitive mechanisms. Requires a plan to be designed in a manner so as to provide, to the satisfaction of the Secretary, that: (1) the amount of the total revenues per discharge for all hospitals in the State for each year beginning before 1987 in which the plan is in effect may not exceed the base general hospital revenues per discharge increased by the sum of the compounded sum of the percentage limits for a year and the previous years for which the State plan was in effect, and the population-discharge factor; and (2) the amount of the total revenues per discharge for all services furnished to hospitals inpatients for all hospitals in the State for each year beginning after 1986 in which the plan is in effect may not exceed the sum of the base general hospital revenues per discharge increased by the sum of the compounded sum of the percentage limits for a year and the previous years for which the State plan was in effect, and the population-discharge factor, plus the base physician-related hospital revenues per discharge increased by the sum of the compounded sum of the percentage limits for a year and the previous years for which the plan is in effect and provided for a limitation under this clause (2), and the population-discharge factor. Authorizes a State, at its option, to apply the test specified in clause (2) instead of the test specified in clause (1) with respect to years prior to 1986. Permits a plan, instead of meeting the above requirements, to meet such other alternative test of constraint of health care costs as the Secretary determines will not result in a greater expenditure of funds under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act and by private payers than would have been made if the plan met the above requirements. Requires a plan to be designed so as to provide that the amount of revenues for inpatient hospital services and physicians' services to hospital inpatients and individuals entitled to benefits under parts A (Hospital Insurance) and B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII of the Social Security Act may not exceed the amount which would otherwise be payable (including copayments and deductibles) for such services under title XVIII. Permits a plan (other than a plan providing for the establishment of rates of hospital reimbursement for hospital inpatient services) to provide that payment under title XVIII for inpatient hospital services and for other services furnished to hospital inpatients shall continue to be made in the amounts and in the manner otherwise provided under Medicare. Requires that the unreimbursed costs incurred by hospitals in providing services to low-income, uninsured or underinsured patients (other than Medicare or Medicaid patients) be paid pursuant to a plan in an amount which must, in the aggregate, be the same proportion of total revenues as such unreimbursed costs are of total costs of patients who are neither Medicare nor Medicaid patients. Provides that such unreimbursed costs shall be paid through distribution of funds pooled at the statewide level, through a higher payment rate, or through another method approved by the Secretary. Requires a plan to have a mechanism for providing fair hearings for hospitals and any other entities aggrieved by determinations made under the plan. Requires a State to provide for the appointment of a panel, consisting of members with expertise in health care economics and service delivery, to advise in the development and implementation of its plan, periodically review and propose modifications to the plan, and establish the methodology for establishing the percentage limit used to compute hospital revenues. Requires such methodology to include the use of appropriate external price indicators, the use of data from major collective-bargaining agreements for nonsupervisory hospital employees, and other appropriate indicators of wage costs. Requires the methodology to be approved by the Secretary. Requires a plan, to the extent that it provides for meeting plan requirements through a system which provides for the establishment of rates for hospital reimbursement for hospital inpatient services by an entity other than the hospital, to meet the following additional requirements: (1) except as provided in clause (2), the plan must provide equitable treatment of all entities that pay for health services covered under the plan, of hospital employees, and of patients; (2) if the plan is established under State law, the plan must take into account the proportion of costs associated with, and services covered by, the different payors, including Medicare and Medicaid, and may not permit undue shifting of proportions of costs among the different payors; (3) the plan may not make available any discount in price to any purchaser unless the discount accurately reflects economic benefits to a hospital resulting from a service arrangement with a purchaser and the discount is made available to all other purchasers who can satisfy such service; and (4) the plan must provide a procedure whereby, upon the request of a hospital, an adjustment can be considered to the rate limitation applicable under the plan to that hospital to reflect a significant change in the inpatient hospital services, increased costs for the compensation of employees, funds necessary to provide for the efficient operation of a hospital which the State has determined should remain in operation, and higher expenses associated with a regional tertiary care institution, teaching hospital, or children's hospital. Directs the Secretary, in reviewing a plan which provides for control of hospital inpatient costs through a competitive mechanism, to take into account the degree to which the plan provides for the following or other measures to improve price competition among providers: (1) the plan provides for open enrollment periods; (2) the plan provides for the dissemination of information concerning different health benefits plans; (3) the plan encourages innovation and public incentives to new forms of health care delivery and financing; (4) there are negotiated prices and risk-sharing between insurers and health care providers; and (5) the laws of the State do not impose legal barriers to competition in negotiated and other arrangements among insurers and health care providers. Sets forth part B of title XXI entitled "Residual Federal Program subpart I of part B entitled "Transition Period." Provides that, subject to the provisions of subpart I, for any accounting period of a hospital subject to subpart I the total revenues for inpatient hospital services may not exceed the total of such revenues that are permitted on the basis of prospective payment limits established under subpart I for the hospital's discharges as classified by diagnosis-related groups. Requires each hospital subject to a limitation on revenues under subpart I to provide for the publication of a price list which establishes the price per discharge which any payor may pay for inpatient hospital services. Requires a hospital to submit its price list to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to determine (for each accounting period) a prospective payment limit for inpatient hospital services for discharges classified by diagnosis-related groups. Sets forth the method for determining and adjusting the limit for each hospital for discharges. Authorizes the Secretary, at the request of a hospital, to increase the allowable revenues for an accounting period or provide for an increase in the base number of discharges otherwise permitted under subpart I to allow for higher revenues than would otherwise be permitted if: (1) a major renovation or replacement of physical plant or significant change in the capacity of the hospital has occurred; (2) the hospital is a sole community provider or provides a disproportionate percentage of its services to low-income or medicare patients, the hospital would otherwise be insolvent, and the State has determined that the hospital should remain open; (3) a larger revenue increase is needed because the hospital is a regional tertiary care institution, teaching hospital, or children's hospital; and (4) there has been a significant change in the characteristics of the hospital's mix of patients. Subjects a hospital which has total inpatient revenues for an accounting period in excess of its applicable limit to a civil penalty, unless the excess is deposited in an escrow account. Permits withdrawals from the account upon the Secretary's certification that the total inpatient revenues of a hospital for an accounting period fall below the applicable limit for that period. Establishes a civil penalty for a physician or other person or entity (other than a hospital) who has charged any person or entity for services which are required by law to be billed to a hospital. Sets forth provisions relating to notice, opportunity for a hearing, and appeal of such penalties. Prohibits a hospital from engaging in an admission practice that results in: (1) a refusal to admit a patient who is unable to pay for inpatient hospital services; (2) the refusal to admit a patient who would be expected to require unusually costly or prolonged treatment; or (3) the refusal to provide emergency services to any person in need of such services. Sets forth penalties, including exclusion from Medicare or Medicaid participation, for hospitals committing such admissions violations. Sets forth subpart II of Part B entitled "Post-Transition Period." Provides that in the case of a State not having a plan approved under part A and in effect for any period beginning after the transition period, the Secretary shall establish and implement a health care plan for such State for such period which meets the requirements of part A, with specified differences. Sets forth definitions under part C of title XXI. Establishes an Advisory Committee on Health Care Technologies and Procedures. Directs the Advisory Committee to examine the appropriateness of the various interventions and the conditions under which they are needed, the safety and efficacy of alternative therapeutic and preventive regimens, and the standards for availability and utilization of various technologies, and to publicly report on whether or not payments should be made for such services and, if so, under what conditions and frequency of service. Exempts individuals enrolled in health maintenance organizations and competitive medical plans from the limits established under title XXI on revenues and discharge of a hospital if: (1) the organization elects such treatment; or (2) the organization annually pays for more than 20 percent of the number of bed-days of care with respect to that hospital. Amends provisions of the Public Health Service Act relating to employees' health benefits plans to provide that if an employer makes a contribution with respect to the costs of a health benefits plan of an employee and the employer offers the option of membership in a health maintenance organization or a competitive medical plan, which membership provides benefits at least actuarially equivalent to those provided under the other health benefits plan, the employer shall: (1) contribute at least as much towards the membership as the maximum amount of the employer's contribution to the other plan; (2) provide for a cash rebate if the contribution with respect to any other health benefits plan exceeds the cost of membership with the organization; and (3) provide information to employees that reasonably compares the benefits and costs of different plans. Exempts from the provisions of the previous sentence employees of an employer represented by a collective bargaining representative or other employee representative selected under any law. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, with respect to health maintenance organizations and competitive medical plans, to provide that the annual per capita rate of payment for each class of members shall be 100 percent in the care of individuals enrolled with an eligible organization in an area where at least 30 percent of the individuals eligible to enroll with an organization are enrolled. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to exempt a health maintenance organization which is a public entity from the requirement that at least 75 percent of its membership be Medicaid eligible or insured under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII or under both parts A (Hospital Insurance) and B of title XVIII. Directs the Secretary, under the prospective payment provisions of title XVIII of the Social Security Act, to provide that in the case of a State health care plan approved under Part A of title XXI of the Public Health Service Act payments with respect to services covered under title XXI: (1) may, at the State's option, be made in accordance with title XXI rather than Medicare; or (2) shall be made in accordance with title XXI rather than Medicare in the case of a plan which provides for the control of hospital costs through a title XXI ratesetting mechanism. Provides for increased Medicare payments to a hospital for its operating costs if the number of admissions for an accounting period exceeds the hospital's admissions during a specified base period. Directs the Secretary to determine a regionally adjusted capital-related prospective payment rate for each inpatient hospital discharge in accordance with a specified formula. Directs the Secretary, for each diagnosis-related group, to estimate the average per discharge amount of charges recognized under part B of title XVIII attributable to items and services furnished to inpatients within such group during 1983. Provides that, subject to the part B deductible and subject to other provisions of the Medicare prospective payment rate provisions, with respect to each individual entitled to benefits under part A and enrolled under part B of title XVIII who is a hospital inpatient and whose discharge is classified within a diagnosis-related group, the Secretary shall provide for payment to the hospital of an amount equal to 80 percent of a specified rate in lieu of payments otherwise made under part B for inpatient services. Requires that: (1) payments for health care services furnished to inpatients be made to or through a hospital as a condition of the hospital's participation in the Medicare payment; and (2) the Secretary provide for notice to the public and to individuals enrolled under part B of title XVIII of the Social Security Act of such requirement. Permits the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund to borrow at any time from other social security trust funds if it can repay the loan within ten years. Provides for the periodic transfer to the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund from the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund of amounts which the Secretary determines to be equal to a specified fraction of the total revenues of the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund for each fiscal year. Directs the Secretary to conduct and report to Congress on seven studies relating to: (1) health care costs, quality, delivery, and services; and (2) the effects of this Act.

Bill· HRH.R. 4884 (98th)open

Atlantic Striped Bass Restoration Act of 1984

United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1984

Atlantic Striped Bass Restoration Act of 1984 - Imposes a three-year moratorium on fishing for Atlantic striped bass in order to allow restoration of such species. Authorizes the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to terminate or extend (for up to 24 months) the moratorium under specified circumstances. Sets forth procedures for consultation, public notice, and opportunity for public comment prior to final determinations of moratorium termination or extension. Exempts such determinations from judicial review. Sets forth civil and criminal penalties for noncompliances with the provision under this Act. Declares that any vessel connected with a violation shall be subject to forfeiture to the United States. Grants jurisdiction to the United States district courts over civil forfeitures. Directs the Administrator to enforce this Act as well as monitor the Atlantic striped bass fisheries in certain waters. Authorizes appropriations.

Bill· HRH.R. 4813 (98th)open

Comprehensive Hazardous Substances Cleanup and Emergency Relief Act of 1984

United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1984

Comprehensive Hazardous Substances Cleanup and Emergency Relief Act of 1984 - Sets forth the finding that in order to adequately protect human health and the environment from hazardous waste it is necessary to: (1) establish a program for the cleanup of hazardous waste sites; (2) establish standards for the cleanup of such sites which will insure the same degree of protection for human health and the environment as are applicable in the case of facilities regulated under hazardous waste management provisions of the Solid Waste Disposal Act and other applicable Federal and State law; (3) establish enforcement standards which require parties responsible for the release or threatened release of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants to assume financial responsibility for injuries of those exposed and for either conducting cleanup or reimbursing government costs of cleanup; (4) establish a full and cooperative Federal-State partnership in the cleanup program; and (5) afford citizens emergency assistance, reimbursement of medical and reimbursement expenses, and an opportunity to participate in the cleanup process. Title I: Cleanup of Hazardous Substances, Pollutants, and Contaminants - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act ("the Act") (also known as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976) to add provisions for cleanup of, and liability for, certain hazardous substances, pollutants and contaminants. Defines "hazardous substance" as: (1) any substance designated under specified provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act; (2) any element, compound, mixture, solution, or substance designated under specified provisions for additional designations under this Act; (3) any hazardous waste having the characteristics identified or listed under specified hazardous waste management provisions of the Act (but not including any other waste the regulation of which under specified hazardous waste management provisions has been suspended by Act of Congress); (4) any toxic pollutant listed under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act; (5) any hazardous air pollutant listed under the Clean Air Act; and (6) any imminently hazardous chemical substance or mixture with respect to which the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ("the Administrator") has taken action under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Provides for designation of additional hazardous substances and reportable quantities under this Act. Directs the Administrator to promulgate and revise: (1) regulations designating as hazardous substances, in addition to those referred to in the definition under this Act, such elements, compounds, mixtures, solutions, and substances which, when released into the environment, may present substantial danger to the public health or welfare or the environment; and (2) regulations establishing that quantity of any hazardous substance the release of which shall be reported under this Act. Allows the Administrator to determine that one single quantity shall be the reportable quantity for any hazardous substance, regardless of the medium into which it is released. Provides that, unless and until superceded by such regulations, the substances designated as additional hazardous substances and the reportable quantities of such substances established under the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (Superfund) (CERCLA) shall be deemed designated and established under this Act. Sets forth a notice requirement relating to releases of hazardous substances from any facility. Defines "facility" as: (1) any building, structure, installation, equipment, pipe or pipeline well, pit, pond, lagoon, impoundment, ditch, landfill, storage container, motor vehicle, rolling stock, or aircraft; or (2) any site or area where a hazardous substance, or pollutant or contaminant, has been deposited, stored, dispensed of, or placed, or otherwise located (but does not include any consumer product in consumer use or any vessel). Requires any person in charge of a facility, as soon as such person has knowledge of any release (other than a federally permitted release) of a hazardous substance from such facility in quantities equal to or greater than those determined as reportable under this Act to immediately notify the National Response Center. Directs the Center to convey the notification expeditiously to all appropriate Government agencies, including the Governor of any affected State. Provides that such notification, or information obtained by exploitation of it, shall not be used against any such person in any criminal case, except a prosecution for perjury or for giving a false statement. Provides that such notice requirement shall not apply to the normal application of a pesticide product under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act or to the handling and storage of such a pesticide product by an agricultural producer. Exempts from such notice requirement any hazardous substance release which: (1) is required to be reported (or specifically exempted from a reporting requirement) under specified hazardous waste management provisions and regulations under the Act and has been reported to the Center; or (2) is a continuous release, stable in quantity and rate, and either is from a facility for which notification has been given under specified provisions of CERCLA or is a release for which notification has been given under the notice requirement of this Act for a period sufficient to establish the continuity, quantity, and regularity of the release. Requires, in the case of such exemptions, that notification be given for releases annually or at such time as there is any statistically significant increase in the quantity of any hazardous substance or constituent thereof released, above that previously reported or occurring. Sets forth response authorities. Authorizes the Administrator, whenever there is a release or substantial threat of release into the environment of any hazardous substance or of any pollutant or contaminant which may present an imminent or substantial danger to human health or the environment, to: (1) remove or arrange for the removal of, and provide for remedial action relating to such hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant at any time (including its removal from any contaminated natural resource); or (2) take any other response measure necessary to protect human health and the environment. Requires that removal actions be consistent with the National Contingency Plan and long-term remedial actions. Allows the Administrator to authorize facility owners or operators or other responsible parties to undertake such response actions. Provides, for purposes of such response authorities, that the term "pollutant or contaminant" shall include, but not be limited to, any element, substance, compound, or mixture, including disease-causing agents, which after release into the environment and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation, or assimilation into any organism either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through food chains, will or may reasonably be anticipated to cause death, disease, behavorial abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutation, physiological malfunctions (including malfunctions in reproduction) or physical deformations in such organisms or their offspring. Sets forth investigation and planning authorities. Authorizes the Administrator to undertake investigations, monitoring, surveys testing, and other information gathering to identify the existence or extent of a release or threat thereof, the source and nature of the hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants involved and the extent of danger to human health and the environment, whenever the Administrator: (1) is authorized to act under response authorities for imminent and substantial danger; or (2) has reason to believe that a release has occurred or is about to occur, or that illness, disease, or complaints thereof may be attributable to exposure to a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant and that a release may have occurred or be occurring. Authorizes the Administrator, in addition, to undertake planning, legal, fiscal, economic, engineering, architectural, and other studies or investigations to plan and direct response actions, recover costs, and enforce cleanup, liability, and funding provisions of this Act. Directs the Administrator, in such information gathering or planning, to assess the risk to human health associated with the release or threatened release. Provides for a six-months limitation on response action. Discontinues obligations, other than those authorized for investigation and planning, from the Hazardous Substances Trust Fund ("the Fund") established under this Act after $1,000,000 has been obligated for response actions or six months after the initial response to a release or threatened release of hazardous substances, unless the Administrator: (1) finds that continued response actions are immediately required to prevent, limit, or mitigate an emergency, there is an immediate risk to human health or the environment, and such assistance will not otherwise be provided on a timely basis; or (2) has determined the appropriate remedial actions and the States in which the source of release is located have complied with provisions for State payment of certain costs. Sets forth provisions for State payment of certain costs. Prohibits the Administrator from providing any remedial actions under response provisions of this Act unless the State in which the release or threatened release occurs first provides certain assurances. Requires the State to assure the availability of a hazardous waste disposal facility for any necessary offsite storage, destruction, treatment, or secure disposition of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. Requires the State to pay or assure payment of: (1) ten percent of the costs of remedial action and ten percent of all future operation and maintenance costs of any onsite remedial action; or (2) at least 50 percent (or such greater amount as the Administrator may determine appropriate, taking into account the degree of responsibility of the State or local government) of costs of remedial action and future operation and maintenance of onsite remedial action at facilities owned or operated by the State or local government at the time of any disposal of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants therein. Directs the Administrator to grant the State a credit for amounts expended or obligated by the State or local government after January 1, 1978, and before December 11, 1980, for any response action costs which are covered by provisions for the Fund and which were incurred at a release listed under National Contingency Plan provisions. Provides for reimbursement to the State of any amount paid by the State, pursuant to a specified contract or agreement at any time after December 11, 1980, in excess of ten percent of remedial action costs at a facility owned, but not operated, by the State or local government. Requires that any amount expended by a State for administrative expenses in carrying out cleanup, liability, and funding provisions of this Act be credited against the required ten percent share. Sets forth provisions for selection of remedial action. Directs the Administrator to select appropriate cost-effective remedial actions in accordance with the National Contingency Plan and with a required protection level. Directs the Administrator to consider permanent solutions and alternative treatment technologies in evaluating the cost-effectiveness. Directs the Administrator to: (1) consult with the affected States before determining the appropriate remedial action; and (2) approve a more protective action if the State or local government assures payment of 90 percent of that portion in excess of the costs of the action chosen by the Administrator. Provides that the selected remedial action shall require a level or standard of control: (1) necessary to protect human health and the environment; (2) as stringent as the most stringent applicable Federal law; and (3) as stringent as the most stringent applicable State law. Authorizes the Administrator to waive the requirements of a protection level as stringent as the most stringent Federal and State laws and to select an alternative remedial action upon a finding that: (1) such an alternative remedial action will provide substantially equivalent protection; or (2) compliance with the requirements of a level of protection necessary to protect human life and the environment at a site or facility will consume such a disproportionate share of Fund resources as to defer or prevent remedial action at other sites or facilities which pose a significantly greater threat. Prohibits permit requirements for any removal or remedial action undertaken pursuant to this Act at the location of the release or threatened release. Authorizes the Administrator to establish the exclusive administrative procedures for making any determination under provisions for required protection level. Authorizes the Administrator to enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with State and local governments to take remedial actions and to be reimbursed for reasonable response costs from the Fund. Provides for enforcement of such contracts and agreements, and of cost-sharing agreements, in Federal district courts. Authorizes the Administrator to provide technical and legal assistance to State or local governments in administering and enforcing contracts and subcontracts in connection with response actions and to intervene in civil actions involving such enforcement. Authorizes the Administrator to treat two or more noncontiguous facilities as one if they are reasonably related on the basis of geography or of threat or potential threat to human health or the environment. Sets forth information gathering and access authorities for purposes of assisting in determining the need for response to a release or enforcing cleanup, liability, and funding provisions of this Act. Requires that access to records and information, including samples of hazardous substances or pollutants or contaminants or substances which may have been hazardous, and samples of containers and labels, be provided to authorized Federal and State officers by any person: (1) who generates, stores, treats, recycles or disposes of such substances; or (2) who generates, stores, transports, or otherwise handles or has handled such substances (where necessary to ascertain facts not available at the facility where such substances are located). Provides for access to the site or facility at which any hazardous substance or pollutant, or contaminant is located, whenever necessary to carry out cleanup, liability, and funding provisions of this Act. Provides for public availability of records, reports, or information obtained, with specified exceptions for data entitled to confidentiality. Requires that all information reported or obtained be made available to any duly authorized congressional committee. Directs the Administrator or the State to require compliance with Federal health and safety standards established in the National Contingency Plan in awarding contracts for response actions. Requires that the prevailing wage rates of the Davis-Bacon Act be paid to all laborers and mechanics for construction, repair, or alteration work funded in whole or part under response action provisions of this Act. Authorizes the President to authorize the use of emergency procurement powers necessary to effect the purpose of the Act. Directs the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), in cooperation with other Federal officials and States, to implement the health related authorities of the Act. Directs the ATSDR Administrator to establish and maintain: (1) national registries of serious diseases and of persons exposed to toxic substances; (2) inventories of research on the health effects of toxic substances; and (3) a complete listing of areas closed to the public or otherwise restricted in use because of toxic substance contamination. Directs the ATSDR Administrator to: (1) provide medical care and testing, or other appropriate assistance to exposed individuals in public health emergencies; and (2) conduct periodic survey and screening programs to determine relationships between exposure to toxic substances and illness. Directs the ATSDR Administrator to prepare toxicological profiles sufficient to establish the likely effect on human health of the 100 hazardous substances which are most frequently found or which pose the most significant threat to human health at facilities listed on the National Priorities List prepared under the National Contingency Plan. Requires that the 100 profiles be completed 48 months after enactment of this Act (at 12-month intervals for four groups of 25 substances). Sets forth provisions for public participation in remedial action planning. Sets forth remedial action schedules. Directs the Administrator to complete remedial investigations and feasibility studies for all releases and threatened releases at sites listed or proposed to be listed on the National Priority List prepared under the National Contingency Plan: (1) within 18 months after the enactment of this Act, at sites listed or proposed to be listed as of such enactment date; and (2) within 12 months after the date of listing, at sites listed or proposed to be listed after such enactment date. Directs the Administrator or the State to complete, within five years after such enactment date, remedial actions for all releases or threatened releases at sites listed or proposed to be listed as of such enactment date. Directs the Administrator to complete by January 1, 1987, a preliminary assessment of all sites listed, as of such enactment date, on the Emergency and Remedial Response Information System. Requires that the National Contingency Plan be revised within 12 months after the enactment of this Act to reflect and effectuate the powers and responsibilities created by this Act, in addition to those matters specified in CERCLA and other applicable law. Requires that the portion of such plan known as "the National Hazardous Substance Response Plan" be revised to provide procedures and standards for response actions consistent with protection level requirements under this Act. Requires that, on or before January 1, 1988, at least 1,000 of the highest priority facilities be designated individually on the National Priorities List as "top priority among known response targets." Requires that plan criteria for determining priorities among releases or threatened releases throughout the United States for purposes of taking remedial action shall take into account (in addition to factors required under CERCLA): (1) the release-associated damage to natural resources which may affect the human food chain; and (2) the release-associated contamination or potential contamination of the ambient air. Sets forth provisions for citizen petitions for site ranking. Directs the Administrator, within 12 months after receipt of a citizen petition, to complete a preliminary assessment of the hazards to public health and environment associated with any actual or threatened release of a hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant. Directs the Administrator, if such assessment indicates a significant threat, to make a prompt evaluation in accordance with the hazard ranking system referred to under specified provisions of CERCLA to determine the national priority of such release or threatened release. Sets forth provisions for abatement actions. Directs the Administrator, upon determining that there may be imminent and substantial danger to human health or the environment because of an actual or threatened release of a hazardous substance or any pollutant or contaminant from a facility, to request the Attorney General, in addition to any other State or local action, to secure relief necessary to abate such danger or threat. Gives the U.S. district court in the district in which the threat occurs jurisdiction to grant such relief as the public interest and the equities of the case may require. Authorizes the Administrator, after notice to the affected State, to take other abatement action including issuing orders necessary to protect human health and the environment. Directs the Administrator, within 18 months after enactment of this Act, and after consultation with the Attorney General, to revise and republish guidelines published under CERCLA for using the imminent hazard, enforcement, and emergency response authorities of this Act and other existing statutes administered by the Administrator to effectuate the responsibilities and powers created by this Act. Requires that such guidelines: (1) be consistent with the National Contingency Plan; and (2) include the assignment of responsibility for coordinating response actions with the issuance of administrative orders, enforcement of standards and permits, information gathering, and other imminent hazard and emergency powers authorized by other provisions of law. Authorizes the Administrator to establish administrative procedures regarding the opportunity for a person to object to an abatement order under this Act. Provides that no court shall have jurisdiction to review any such abatement order in any action other than an action to: (1) enforce such order; (2) recover a penalty for a violation; or (3) recover punitive damages. Sets forth provisions for liability for releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants which cause incurrence of response costs. Makes strictly liable for specified costs and damages: (1) owners or operators of facilities at which hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants were stored, treated, disposed of, or recycled; (2) persons who owned or operated such facilities at the time of such storage, treatment, disposal, or recycling; (3) persons who owned or possessed such substances and who arranged for such storage, treatment, disposal, or recycling by, or for transport for such purposes, by any other party or entity; and (4) persons who accept or accepted any such substances for transport to storage, disposal, treatment, or recycling facilities or sites selected by such persons. Provides that such costs and damages shall be: (1) all Federal and State costs of removal or remedial action and investigation and planning; (2) any other necessary response costs incurred by any other person consistent with the National Contingency Plan; (3) damages for injury to, destruction of, or loss of natural resources, including assessment costs; and (4) costs of specified emergency relief actions and health effects studies. Provides that such liability shall be: (1) joint and several; and (2) according to the standard which obtains under specified provisions of CERCLA and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Provides for recovery of interest on amounts recoverable as costs and damages. Sets forth defenses to such strict liability. Sets forth a limitation on the amount of such liability (the total of all response costs plus $50,000,000 for any damages) but makes the responsible person liable for full and total costs of response and damages in cases involving willful misconduct, willful negligence, or violations of Federal standards (within the privity or knowledge or such person), or failure or refusal to cooperate with requests in connection with response activities with respect to regulated carriers. Provides for punitive damages in an amount three times the amount of any costs incurred by the Fund as a result of a responsible person's failure without sufficient cause to properly provide removal or remedial action upon order of the Administrator. Provides that no person shall be liable under this Act for costs and damages incurred as a result of actions taken or omitted in the course of rendering care, assistance, or advice at the direction of an on scene coordinator, except in cases of gross negligence or intentional misconduct. Sets forth provisions relating to indemnification agreements. Sets forth provisions relating to liability for damages to natural resources. Makes all requirements, including liability, of this Act applicable to all Federal agencies. Prohibits recovery under such liability provisions of this Act for response costs or damages resulting from the application of a pesticide product registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Provides that recovery for response costs or damages resulting from a federally permitted release shall be pursuant to existing law in lieu of such liability provisions of this Act. Provides that, for purposes of abatement actions, the presumption that EPA (or State) laboratory tests are accurate may be overcome if the defendant establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that such test results lack a reasonable basis. Sets forth provisions for financial responsibility. Directs the Administrator to promulgate requirements (for facilities in addition to those under hazardous waste management provisions of the Act) that classes of facilities establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility consistent with the degree and duration of risk associated with the production, transportation, treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous substances. Requires that priority in the development of such requirements be accorded to those classes of facilities, owners, and operators which the Administrator determines present the highest level of risk of injury. Directs the Administrator to publish notice of the identification of those classes for which requirements will be first developed. Requires that the level of financial responsibility be established and adjusted to protect against the level of risk which the Administrator believes is appropriate based on the payment experience of the Fund, commercial insurers, court settlements and judgments, and voluntary claims satisfaction. Directs the Administrator to cooperate with and seek the advice of the commercial insurance industry in developing such financial responsibility requirements. Requires that such financial responsibility requirements be incrementally imposed over a period of between three to six years after promulgation. Provides that, where possible, the financial responsibility level appropriate as a final requirement be achieved through incremental, annual increases in the requirements. Sets forth provisions for consolidated forms of evidence of financial responsibility under specified circumstances. Provides that the requirements for evidence of financial responsibility for motor carriers covered by this Act shall be determined under specified provisions of the Motor Carrier Act of 1980. Sets forth provisions relating to claims against guarantors and the limitation of guarantor liability. Sets forth provisions for penalties for specified violations under this Act. Sets forth provisions relating to employee protection. Prohibits firing or discriminating against any employee or authorized employee representative because he or she has provided information to a State or the Federal Government, or has caused the filing or institution of, or testified, or is about to testify in, any proceeding resulting from the administration or enforcement of this Act. Sets forth procedures for review by the Secretary of Labor of employee allegations of such a firing or discrmination, and for judicial review of the Secretary's orders. Provides for abatement orders, including rehiring or reinstatement with compensation and reimbursement of legal costs and expenses to the employee by the violator. Makes such employee protection provisions inapplicable to any employee who, acting without discretion from the employer (or the employer's agent), deliberately violates any requirement of this Act. Directs the President to conduct continuing evaluations of potential loss or shifts of employment which may result from the administration or enforcement of this Act, including, where appropriate, investigating threatened plant closures or reductions in employment allegedly resulting from such administration or enforcement. Permits employees and their representatives to request investigations. Provides for a public hearing at the request of any party. Directs the President to make investigation reports, findings of fact, and recommendations available to the public. Sets forth provisions for citizen petitions for emergency relief and health effects studies. Directs the Administrator, upon receiving a petition providing reason to believe that the petitioners were exposed to any hazardous substance in a manner which may present a significant risk to human health, to: (1) immediately terminate such risk by provision of alternative drinking supplies, decontamination of soil, or relocation of residents; and (2) perform a health effects study to ascertain the nature, magnitude, scope, and duration of the exposure, including a determination of the source of any groundwater contamination and a toxicological evaluation of the substances involved. Directs the Administrator to also perform a health effects study upon receiving a petition providing reason to believe that one or more persons have been exposed to any hazardous substance and such exposure has abated but previously presented a significant risk to human health. Requires that each health effects study be completed within six months after the date on which the petition is filed, and that the results of such study be made public within ten days after completion. Provides for judicial review of the Administrator's denial of such petitions in the U.S. district court for the district in which the exposure occurred. Sets forth claims procedures. Requires that all claims which may be asserted against the Fund be presented first to the owner, operator, or guarantor of the facility from which a hazardous substance has been released, if known to the claimant, and to any other person known to the claimant who may be liable under this Act. Allows the claimant, in any case where the claim has not been satisfied within 60 days of such presentation, to elect to: (1) commence an action in court against such owner, operator, guarantor, or other person; or (2) present the claim to the Fund for payment. Directs the Administrator to prescribe appropriate forms and procedures for claims filed against the Fund. Directs the Administrator, upon receipt of any claim, to: (1) inform any known affected parties of the claim; and (2) attempt to promote and arrange a settlement between the claimant and any person who may be liable. Provides that, if the claimant and alleged liable party agree upon a settlement, it shall be final and binding upon the parties thereto, who will be deemed to have waived all recourse against the Fund. Provides that where a responsible party is unknown or cannot be determined, the claimant and the Administrator shall attempt to arrange settlement of any claim against the Fund. Authorizes the Administrator to award and make payment of such settlement, subject to proof and procedures promulgated by regulation. Directs the Administrator (except in extraordinary circumstances where inadequate services of private organizations or State agencies make the use of Federal personnel necessary) to use the facilities and services of private insurance and claims adjusting organizations or State agencies in implementing such claims settlement requirements. Sets forth provisions relating to contracts for such facilities and services. Authorizes the Administrator, if no settlement is reached within 45 days after filing of a claim and if the information developed during the claim processing warrants it, to make and pay an award of the claim. Provides for the appeal of such an award in the U.S. district court for the district in which the arbitral hearing took place. Requires that, if the Administrator declines to make an award, the claim be submitted to a member of the Board of Arbitrators established under CERCLA. Sets forth subrogation provisions. Sets forth statute of limitations provisions. Prohibits, with specified exceptions, the presentation of a claim or the commencement of an action for damages under this Act unless that claim is presented or action commenced within three years from the date of the discovery of the loss, whichever is later. Provides that such time limitations shall not begin to run against minors or incompetent persons until a legal representative is duly appointed for them or until the minor reaches 18 years of age or the incompetency ends. Prohibits presentation of claims or commencement of actions for recovery of specified response costs until the date six years after the completion of the response action. Provides that no person who asserts a claim against the Fund pursuant to this Act shall be deemed or held to: (1) have waived any other claim not covered or assertable against the Fund under this Act arising from the same incident, transaction, or set of circumstances; (2) have split a cause of action; or (3) as a result of any determination of a question of fact or law in connection with such claim, be collaterally estopped from raising such question in connection with any other claim not covered or assertable against the Fund. Provides that judicial review of any regulation promulgated under this Act may be had upon application, within 90 days from the date of promulgation, by any interested person only in the Circuit Court of Appeals of the United States for the District of Columbia. Grants the U.S. district courts exclusive original jurisdiction over all other controversies arising under this Act. Sets forth provisions for venue in such cases. Provides that no provision of this Act shall be deemed or held to meet any prior litigation concerning any release of any hazardous substance or pollutant or contaminant or any associated damages. Sets forth provisions concerning the relationship of this Act to other law. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed or interpreted as preempting any State from imposing any additional liability or requirements with respect to the release of hazardous substances or pollutants or contaminants within such State. Bars any person from receiving double compensation for the same removal costs or damages or claims pursuant to this Act and any other Federal or State law. Authorizes States to require any person to contribute to any fund to pay compensation for claims for any response costs or damages or claims which may be compensated under this Act. Prohibits State or local governments from requiring any other evidence of financial responsibility in connection with liability for the release of a hazardous substance from a facility, if the owner or operator establishes and maintains evidence of financial responsibility in accordance with this Act. Authorizes the President and the Administrator to delegate any powers or duties and to promulgate regulations to carry out cleanup, liability, and funding provisions of this Act. Adds provisions for medical and relocation expenses and other recovery to the Act. Sets forth definitions applicable to such provisions. Title II: Establishment and Uses of Hazardous Substance Trust Fund - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act ("the Act") to establish the Hazardous Substance Trust Fund ("the Fund") in the Treasury. Transfers to the Fund amounts determined by the Secretary of the Treasury ("the Secretary") to be equivalent to: (1) the fees imposed under title III of this Act; (2) amounts recovered on behalf of the Fund under specified provisions of this Act; (3) civil penalties assessed under specified provisions of this Act; and (4) punitive damages under specified provisions of this Act. Authorizes appropriations in a specified amount for the Fund for FY 1986 through 1988. Authorizes appropriations for each fiscal year thereafter in an amount equal to not more than 12.5 percent of the amount deposited in the Fund during the second preceding fiscal year which is derived from the fees imposed under title III of this Act. Limits the liability of the U.S. Government to the amount in the Fund. Sets forth provisions for the Secretary's administration of the Fund, relating to method of transfer, management (including an annual report to Congress and investment requirements), and authority to borrow (including limitations on advances and repayment requirements). Sets forth the uses of the Fund. Directs the Administrator to use the money in the Fund for payment of: (1) governmental response costs incurred pursuant to response provisions of this Act; (2) any claim for necessary response costs incurred by any other person as a result of carrying out the revised National Contingency Plan, if such costs are approved in advance of expenditure under that plan and certified by the responsible Federal official; (3) any claim authorized by provisions relating to natural resources damages and finally decided under settlement provisions, including interest, administrative and adjudicative costs, and attorney's fees; (4) medical and relocation expenses; and (5) other specified costs. Directs the Administrator to cooperate with State and local governments in their undertaking of response actions under this Act. Requires that any administrative costs or expenses paid out of the Fund be reasonably necessary and incidental to the implementation of this Act. Sets forth provisions relating to claims for damages to natural resources. Allows claims resulting from a release or threat of release of a hazardous substance from a facility to be asserted against the Fund for injury to, or destruction or loss of, natural resources. Provides that such claims may be asserted only by: (1) the President, as trustee, for natural resources over which the United States has sovereign rights or within U.S. territory to the extent they are managed and protected by the United States; or (2) any State for natural resources within its boundaries belonging to, managed by, controlled by, or appertaining to such State. Provides that the Fund may be used for other specified "included costs" of: (1) natural resources damages assessment; (2) Federal or State efforts to restore, rehabilitate, replace, or acquire the equivalent of the natural resources damaged; (3) a program to identify, investigate, and take enforcement and abatement action against releases of hazardous substances (subject to amounts provided in appropriation Acts); (4) epidemiologic studies, a registry of and long-term health effect studies on persons exposed to hazardous substances, and otherwise unavailable diagnostic services to determine whether persons in populations exposed to hazardous substances in connection with a release or suspected release are suffering from long- latency diseases; (5) providing supplementary equipment and similar overhead and damage assessment capability for any Federal agency involved in strike forces, emergency task forces, or other response teams under the National Contingency Plan (subject to amounts provided in appropriations Acts); (6) a program to protect the health and safety of employees involved in response to hazardous substances releases (subject to amounts provided in appropriations Acts); (7) preparation of toxic profiles by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; (8) evaluation of sites by the Administrator pursuant to citizen petitions; and (9) emergency relief and health effects studies carried out by the Administrator. Provides that the health and safety program for employees involved in response actions shall: (1) be developed jointly by the EPA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; and (2) include measures for identifying and assessing hazards to which persons engaged in the removal or remedy of, or other response to hazardous substances may be exposed, methods to protect workers from such hazards, and necessary regulatory and enforcement measures to assure adequate protection of such employees. Prohibits the use of money in the Fund for: (1) assessment or restoration costs or claim payments where the damage to natural resources and the release occurred wholly before the enactment of this Act; or (2) claim payments for natural resources damages where such expenses are associated with injury or loss resulting from long-term exposure to ambient concentrations of air pollutants from multiple or diffuse sources. Provides that claims against or presented to the Fund shall: (1) not be valid or paid in excess of the total money in the fund at any one time; and (2) become valid only when additional money is collected, appropriated, or otherwise added to the Fund. Directs the Administrator, should the total claims outstanding at any time exceed the current balance of the Fund, to pay such claims, to the extent authorized, in full in the order in which they were finally determined. Limits the portion of money credited to the Fund that shall be available in any fiscal year: (1) to six percent for payment of any claims and related costs for natural resources damages; and (2) to 12 percent for payment of medical and relocation expenses. Provides that no money in the Fund shall be available for remedial actions, other than actions specified under provisions for "included costs" under uses of the Fund, with respect to federally owned facilities. Provides that the following uses of the Fund shall, in the aggregate, be subject to such amounts as are provided in appropriation Acts: (1) payment of governmental response costs; and (2) payment of the specified "included costs." Authorizes the Administrator to delegate authority to obligate money in the Fund or to settle claims to officials of a State operating under a specified contract or cooperative agreement. Directs the Administrator to promulgate appropriate regulations for the notice to be provided to potential injured parties by an owner or operator of any facility from which a hazardous substance has been released. Requires such owners and operators to: (1) provide notice in accordance with such regulations; and (2) until such regulations are promulgated, provide reasonable notice to potential injured parties by publication in local newspapers serving the affected area. Requires that natural resources damages be assessed for purposes of this Act by Federal officials designated by the President under the National Contingency Plan and acting for the President as trustee. Provides that any such determination or assessment of natural resources damages shall have the force and effect of a rebuttable presumption on behalf of any claimant in any judicial or adjudicatory administrative proceeding under this Act. Requires that a plan for the use of funds under this Act for natural resources restoration be developed and adopted by affected Federal agencies and Governors of States sustaining damages to natural resources belonging to, managed by, or appertaining to such States, after adequate public notice and opportunity for a hearing and consideration of all public comment. Requires that such plan be developed and adopted before such funds may be used for such purposes, except in a situation requiring action to avoid an irreversible loss of natural resources or to prevent or reduce any continuing danger to natural resources or to meet a similar need for emergency action. Sets forth provisions for audits by the Inspector General of the EPA. Sets forth provisions relating to foreign claimants. Prohibits any potentially liable claimant from seeking judicial review of any determination to incur any government response costs under response provisions of this Act or to utilize the Fund for payment of any such costs, except in an action to recover such costs under liability provisions of this Act. Directs the President, acting through Federal officials designated by the revised National Contingency Plan, to promulgate regulations for assessment of natural resources damages within six months after enactment of this Act. Sets forth required contents of such regulations. Requires review, and appropriate revision, of such regulations every two years. Provides that, effective on the date of enactment of this Act, specified CERCLA provisions shall be superseded by this Act. Adds provisions regarding medical and relocation expenses to the Solid Waste Disposal Act ("the Act"). Allows individuals who allege that they sustained injury for which relief is payable under this Act to file an application for such relief with the Administrator. Directs the Administrator, within 45 days after the enactment of this Act, to issue a rule or order for the manner of filing such applications. Directs the Administrator to pay relief under this Act if individuals establish by a preponderance of the evidence that they have suffered physical injuries or illnesses caused by exposure to a hazardous substance: (1) from a facility or site at or from which such substance was stored, treated, recycled, disposed of, or migrated; or (2) during transportation to such a facility or site. Directs the Administrator to pay relief under this Act to dependents of any deceased individual who establish to the satisfaction of the Administrator that the death was caused by any such exposure. Provides that such relief to any individual who has suffered such physical injury or illness shall consist of: (1) payment or reimbursement for all medical costs incurred in connection with the physical injury, illness, or death; (2) a monthly payment (not to exceed $2,000 per month) in an amount equal to the injured, ill, or deceased individual's monthly earnings which are lost by reason of such injury, illness, or death during the five-year period following such injury, illness, or death; and (3) reimbursement for expenses incurred in obtaining alternative water supplies or relocating a residence where the individual's exposure (or potential exposure) to hazardous substances caused or significantly contributed to such expenses. Provides that relief to dependents of any such individual shall be equal to all such medical costs incurred, plus the reasonable expenses of burial. Directs the Administrator to promulgate rules for equitable allocation of such relief where there are two or more dependents. Directs the Administrator to compute the amount of relief and determine the method, terms, and time of payment. Requires that payments made pursuant to such provisions for medical and relocation expenses be charged against the Fund. Provides that such claims against the Fund which are in excess of the total money in the Fund shall become valid and be paid in the same manner as provided for other claims against the Fund. Limits to 12 percent that portion of the Fund which may be used for purposes of such payments for medical and relocation expenses. Sets forth the procedure for determination of such claims for medical and relocation expenses. Directs the Administrator, except as otherwise provided, to use the procedures used by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) in determining entitlement to disability insurance benefit payments under the Social Security Act. Directs the Administrator and the Secretary of HHS to arrange to use Social Security Administration personnel and offices for administration and determination of claims filed for medical and relocation expenses under this Act. Authorizes the Administrator to delegate to the Secretary of HHS, or to any HHS employee, any function vested in the Administrator under provisions for medical and relocation expenses under this Act. Provides that the injury, illness, or death shall be presumed to have been caused by the exposure if the applicant provides information sufficient to enable the Administrator to find that: (1) the individual suffered any physical injury, illness, or death; (2) the individual was exposed in any manner to a hazardous substance from a facility or site at or from which such substance was treated, recycled, stored, disposed, or migrated, or during transportation to such site;(3) exposure in such manner to such hazardous substance has a reasonable likelihood of causing or significantly contributing to death or to a personal injury or illness of the type suffered by the individual. Provides that such presumption shall be overcome if the Administrator determines, on the basis of any available information, that it is reasonably certain that such exposure did not cause, or significantly contribute to, the individual's injury, illness, or death. Provides that any information which tends to establish that exposure to the hazardous substance in question causes or contributes to death or to personal injury or illness of the type or class allegedly suffered by an individual, shall be considered relevant to the issues of causation for purposes of determination of such claims for medical and relocation expenses under this Act. Includes among such relevant information: (1) an increase in the incident of injury, illness, or death in the exposed population above that which is otherwise probable; (2) epidemiological studies (without regard to the size of the sample); (3) animal studies; (4) tissue culture studies; (5) micro-organism culture studies; (6) laboratory and toxilogic studies; (7) immunological studies; (8) toxicology profiles prepared under this Act; and (9) health effects studies prepared under this Act. Directs the Administrator to require medical tests or examinations of the applicant to confirm the diagnosis or determination of physical injury or illness. Authorizes the Administrator to investigate and gather other appropriate information in making such claim determinations. Directs the Administrator, upon request by the claimant, to conduct a hearing with respect to any claim which has been denied, in whole or in part. Requires that the involved owner, operator, or transporter be given notice of any proceeding under provisions for claims for medical or relocation expenses, but declares that such persons have no right to participate in such proceedings. Provides for the award of legal costs for such hearings to claimants who prevail. Sets forth subrogation provisions. Provides for deposit in the Fund of any amount so recovered. Sets forth provisions for the judicial review of such claim determinations in U.S. district courts. Provides that a determination of the Administrator shall constitute a final administrative determination for the purpose of such judicial review. Sets forth provisions for additional recovery. Provides that individuals who have recovered any amount under such provisions for medical or relocation expenses shall not be prohibited from recovering an additional amount under this Act at a subsequent time if such individuals establish that an additional physical injury or illness: (1) was caused by such exposure; and (2) was not known to the individual at the time of the prior application. Title III: Funding - Part 1: Fee on Petroleum - Imposes a fee of four and one-half cents a barrel on: (1) crude oil received at a U.S. refinery (to be paid by the operator of the U.S. refinery); and (2) petroleum products entering the United States for consumption, use, or warehousing (to be paid by the person entering the product for such purposes). Imposes such fee (to be paid by the user or exporter) on any domestic crude oil if: (1) it is used in or exported from the United States; and (2) such fee was not imposed before such use or exemption. Provides that such fee shall not apply to any use of domestic crude oil for extracting oil or natural gas on the premises where such crude oil was produced. Sets forth definitions and special rules. Provides that only one fee may be imposed under this part with respect to any petroleum product. Makes such fee effective on October 1, 1985. Part 2: Fee on Certain Chemicals and Metals - Imposes a fee on any assessed chemicals sold (or used) by the manufacturer, producer, or importer thereof. Sets forth a table of assessed chemicals, with a specified fee per ton for each. Sets forth definitions, exceptions, and other special rules. Provides for a refund or credit for certain uses. Makes such fee effective on October 1,1985. Part 3: Waste End Fee - Imposes a fee on the disposal of hazardous substances. Provides that such fee shall apply only to a disposal which is: (1) required to be carried out in compliance with hazardous waste management provisions of the Act; and (2) not specifically exempt under this part. Exempts from such fee the disposal of any substance: (1) by incineration in accordance with the standards applicable to incineration facilities permitted under hazardous waste management provisions of the Act; or (2) by any person in the course of carrying out any removal or remedial actions under this Act. Sets the amount of such fee in the case of: (1) any hazardous substance for which there is in effect under this Act a reportable quantity of one pound or less, at $15 for each metric ton disposed of by underground injection and $30 for each metric ton not disposed of by such method; and (2) all hazardous substances for which there is in effect under this Act a reportable quantity of more than one pound, at $5 for each metric ton disposed of by underground injection and $10 for each metric ton not disposed of by such method. Provides that, in the cases of mixtures of hazardous substances with reportable quantities of one pound or less and those with reportable quantities more than one pound, the entire mixture shall be deemed to have a reportable quantity of one pound or less. Provides for imposing a fraction of the fee in the case of a fraction of a metric ton. Requires the owner or operator of the facility to pay such fee with respect to the disposal of any hazardous substance at a facility for which a permit is in effect under the hazardous waste management provisions of the Act. Requires the person disposing of the hazardous substance to pay such fee with respect to any other disposal of any hazardous substance. Requires, in the case of a fee imposed with respect to the long-term storage of any hazardous substance, that such fee be paid by the owner or operator of the site or facility at which the substance is located on the date one year after the date of generation of such substance. Sets forth provisions concerning the time of fee payment and regulations to carry out this part. Provides that the fee imposed under this part shall apply only with respect to the disposal of hazardous substances after January 1, 1987, and that no period of storage before such date shall be taken into account for purposes of imposition of such fee with respect to long-term storage of hazardous wastes. Provides that, after such date, the fee with respect to long-term storage of a hazardous waste shall: (1) cease to apply on the effective date of a removal of such waste from the list under hazardous waste management provisions of the Act; or (2) take effect after the effective date of a listing or identification of such waste under such provisions. Part 4: Administration and Enforcement; Suspension - Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations for the collection of fees under this title, including reporting and information-gathering regulations. Authorizes the Administrator to use authorities relating to the inspection of records and access under hazardous waste management provisions of the Act for purposes of carrying out this title. Sets forth criminal and civil penalties for specified violations of this title. Requires the suspension of fees imposed under this title during any fiscal year which commences after September 30, 1991, if the Administrator determines (on or before the first day of such fiscal year) that the unobligated balance in the Fund exceeds $3,000,000,000. Provides that such suspension shall continue until the expiration of the fiscal year concerned. Title IV: Citizen Suits and Liability of Certain Persons - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act ("the Act") to revise provisions for citizen suits. Adds provisions for citizen suits against any person, including the United States and any other governmental instrumentality or agency, to the extent permitted by the eleventh amendment of the Constitution, and including any past or present generator, transporter, or owner or operator of a treatment, storage, recycling, or disposal facility who has contributed or is contributing to the past or present handling, storage, treatment, transportation, or disposal of any solid or hazardous waste which may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to health or the environment. Grants the district jurisdiction to immediately restrain any person contributing to such endangerment, to order such person to take other necessary action, and to apply any appropriate civil penalties relating to hazardous waste management violations. Provides that citizen suits for such purposes may not be commenced: (1) if the Administrator has commenced, and is diligently prosecuting, an action under imminent hazard provisions of the Act, or if the State has brought an action under specified provisions of the Act, to immediately restrain any person contributing to such endangerment; or (2) by any person (other than a State or local government) with respect to the siting of a hazardous waste treatment, storage, or disposal facility. Adds provisions to the Act relating to the liability of certain persons for specified damages. Makes the following persons liable for specified damages to individuals (or their dependents) caused by the exposure of such individuals to a hazardous substance: (1) in cases of exposure to such substance from a facility or site at which treatment, storage, recycling, or disposal took place, the owner or operator of such facility or site at the time of such treatment, storage, recycling, or disposal, and any subsequent owner or operator of such facility or site; (2) in cases of exposure to such substance during storage of such substance pending transport for storage or treatment, any person who arranged for treatment, storage, recycling, or disposal, or who arranged for transport for such purposes; and (3) in cases of exposure during the transportation to, or treatment, storage, or disposal at, a disposal or treatment facility or site, any person who accepts or accepted such substance for transport to a treatment, recycling, storage, or disposal facility selected by such person. Provides that such liability shall be: (1) strict liability, with specified exceptions; (2) joint and several; and (3) construed to be the standard of liability which obtains under specified provisions of CERCLA and of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Excuses from such liability any defendant who can establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the exposure to a hazardous substance or the damage resulting from such exposure was caused solely by: (1) an act of God; or (2) an act of war. Makes the following damages compensable under such liability provisions: (1) any medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, or burial expenses due to personal injury, illness, or death; (2) any loss of income or profits or any impairment or loss of earning capacity due to personal injury, illness, or death; (3) any pain and suffering which results from personal injury, illness, or death; and (4) any economic loss and any damages to property, including diminution in value. Sets forth procedural provisions relating to such liability. Provides that no evidence may be introduced in an action under such liability provisions of this Act with respect to the results of any proceeding brought by the plaintiff under specified medical and relocation expenses provisions of this Act. Sets forth provisions relating to a presumption of cause of damages. Sets forth provisions for jurisdiction of U.S. district courts over actions under such liability provisions. Authorizes the court to award appropriate legal fees. Provides that nothing in such liability provisions or in provisions for medical and relocation expenses under this Act shall be construed to preempt, or otherwise affect, any provision of State law regarding liability for damages in connection with any hazardous substance. Sets forth a statute of limitations relating to such liability provisions and to provisions for medical and relocation expenses under this Act. Sets such limitation at three years after: (1) the date the physical injury or illness was first known (or reasonably should have been known) by the applicant or plaintiff to exist, or the date of the individual's death; (2) the date the applicant or plaintiff knew (or reasonably should have known) that the physical injury, illness, or death or other expense was caused or contributed to by exposure to such hazardous substance; or (3) the date of enactment of this Act. Sets forth exceptions to such limitation in the case of minors or incompetents. Sets forth provisions for collateral recovery relating to such liability provisions and to provisions for medical and relocation expenses under this Act. Provides for recovery from other sources and for liens. Prohibits recovery under such liability provisions and under provisions for medical and relocation expenses under this Act of any amount for injury, illness, or death for which compensation is available under a State workers' compensation law. Sets forth criminal penalties for false statements in any application or proceeding under provisions for medical and relocation expenses under this Act. Title V: Law Enforcement Authority - Grants specified law enforcement authority to EPA officers or employees authorized by the Administrator to investigate, or supervise the investigation of, any activity for which a criminal penalty is provided under the Solid Waste Disposal Act ("the Act") or under this Act. Directs the Administrator to request the Attorney General to appear and represent the United States in any civil or criminal action instituted under this Act to which the Administrator is a party. Requires EPA attorneys to appear and represent the United States in a civil action, unless the Attorney General notifies the Administrator within a reasonable time that the Attorney General will appear and represent the United States in such action.