United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1985
Council on Industrial Competitiveness Act - Establishes in the executive branch an independent agency to be known as the Council on Industrial Competitiveness. Requires the Council to: (1) gather and analyze information regarding the competitiveness of U.S. industries; (2) create an institutional forum where national leaders will identify economic problems inhibiting the competitiveness of industries, develop long-term strategies to address those problems, and create broad consensus in support of those strategies; and (3) make recommendations on issues crucial to the development of coordinated industrial strategies. Directs the Council to examine and make available to the public all international agreements on foreign trade that have been agreed to by the United States. Directs the Council to monitor, and maintain public records regarding, the effect of imports on domestic industries. Requires the Council, not later than one year after the date of enactment of this title, to transmit a report to the Congress and the President containing recommendations for changes in any Federal policy necessary to implement effective industrial strategies. Requires the Council to make annual reports concerning the major industrial development priorities of the United States. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1985
Field Office Closing Justification Act - Requires executive agencies (except the General Accounting Office and the Department of Defense) to report to the Congress prior to any personnel action respecting an employee assigned to any field office which is incidental to a reorganization of such field office. Describes such personnel action as removal, reduction in grade or pay, involuntary reassignment, or furlough.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1985
Truth in Savings Act - Requires each advertisement, announcement, or solicitation made by any depository institution regarding the rate of interest payable on any account to: (1) state the annual percentage yield and the method of compounding interest; (2) state the annual rate of simple interest and the period such interest is in effect; (3) state the frequency of interest payments; (4) give equal prominence to all annual percentage yields and annual rates of simple interest; and (5) include specified statements explaining how fees and penalties could affect the annual yield and how the yield on accounts which mature in less than one year is determined on the basis of compounding for an entire year. Requires the annual percentage yield to be stated before the annual rate of simple interest. Requires an institution to give a person a written summary of such information concerning an offered account upon request. Requires each depository institution to maintain a written schedule of all fees, charges, and terms and conditions applicable to each type of account and service routinely offered. Requires that such schedule be disclosed to potential customers and requesting individuals and mailed to account holders. Directs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to prescribe: (1) uniform terminology to be used by depository institutions to describe interest rates and other terms affecting account earnings; and (2) uniform methods of calculating annual rates of simple interest and annual percentage yields. Provides for the enforcement of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1985
Preborn Children's Civil Rights Act of 1985 - Prohibits Federal involvement in the performance of abortions, except Federal funds may be used for medical procedures required to prevent the death of the mother or the preborn child. Includes the following activities within the scope of this provision: (1) use of appropriated funds to counsel or encourage an abortion; (2) use of appropriated funds to reimburse or refer for abortions; (3) use of funds for research with respect to abortion; or (4) contracting for insurance which pays or reimburses for abortion. Prohibits any institution receiving Federal funds from discriminating against any employee, applicant, or student because of such person's opposition to abortion. Prohibits the granting of attorney fees in a civil action involving a law, ordinance, or regulation prohibiting abortion. Provides for Supreme Court review with regard to a law, ordinance, or regulation prohibiting abortion which a lower Federal court declares unconstitutional.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1985
Designates the week beginning on April 13, 1986, as National Garden Week. Urges the wearing of garden flowers during that week as a symbol of appreciation for the contributions of the Nation's gardeners.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1985
Korean War Memorial Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to erect and maintain a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor members of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Korean War. Subjects the selected site, design, and plans for the construction of such memorial to the approval of the National Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1985
Authorizes the President to call a White House Conference on Library and Information Services, to be held not later than 1989, to develop recommendations for improvement of such services and their public use. Requires that the Conference be planned and conducted by the National Commission on Libraries and Information Sciences. Authorizes the Librarian of Congress, the Director of the National Library of Medicine, and the Director of the National Agricultural Library, upon request, to detail personnel to the Commission. Requires the Conference to submit a final report to the President within 120 days following its close. Directs that the final report be made public, and within 90 days after receipt by the President, transmitted to the Congress with recommendations. Establishes an advisory committee to assist in planning and conducting the Conference. Includes among its appointed members the Secretary of Education and the Librarian of Congress. Authorizes appropriations as necessary.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1985
Food Assistance and Africa Agriculture Act of 1985 - Title I: Authorization of Appropriations - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize appropriations for: (1) the International Fund for Agricultural Development; and (2) the International Fund for Agricultural Development for its Special Program for Sub-Saharan Countries Affected by Drought and Desertification for each of FY 1986 through 1989. Title II: Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1986 - Makes appropriations for FY 1986 for: (1) expenses for agricultural commodities supplied in connection with dispositions abroad pursuant to the famine relief provisions of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954; and (2) the U.S. contribution to the International Fund for Agricultural Development and for the Fund's Special Program for Sub-Saharan Countries Affected by Drought and Desertification.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1985
Renewable Energy and Conservation Transition Act of 1985 - Title I: Extension of Business Energy Credits - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the energy investment tax credit for solar energy property from 1985 to 1990. Sets the amount of such credit during such period at 15 percent for low temperature solar property and 25 percent for all other solar property. Extends the energy investment tax credit for wind property from 1985 to 1988. Sets the amount of such credit at: (1) ten percent during 1986 and 1987; and (2) five percent during 1988. Extends the energy investment tax credit for geothermal property and biomass property from 1985 to 1988. Extends the energy investment tax credit for ocean thermal property from 1985 to 1990. Revises the definition of "solar property" for purposes of such tax credit. Sets forth special rules for geothermal equipment to qualify for such credit. Title II: Affirmative Commitment Rule to Extend the Business Credit for Certain Long-Term Projects - Extends the time period during which an affirmative commitment must be made in order for long-term energy projects to be eligible for the energy investment tax credit. Allows such extension: (1) from 1990 to 1993 for solar energy property; (2) from 1988 to 1990 for geothermal energy property; and (3) from 1985 to 1990 for hydroelectric generating property. Title III: Extension of Residential Energy Credits - Extends the residential energy income tax credit for solar renewable energy property from 1985 to 1990. Phases out such credit over such period of time. Provides that solar hot water systems and active space heating systems must meet certain additional standards in order to qualify for such credit. Extends the residential energy income tax credit for wind renewable energy property from 1985 to 1988. Phases out such credit over such period of time. Extends the residential energy income tax credit for geothermal renewable energy property from 1985 to 1988. Phases out such credit over such period of time. Revises the definition of geothermal deposits for purposes of such credit. Revises the definition of energy conservation expenditures for purposes of the residential energy income tax credit to limit the amounts taken into account to $700. Limits the energy conservation income tax credit to taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of less than $30,000. Title IV: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
American Footwear Industry Recovery Act of 1985 - Limits the imports of nonrubber footwear into the United States to 450,000,000 pairs per 12 month period for eight years. Directs the Secretary of Commerce (the Secretary) to allocate the import limitations among foreign countries, taking into consideration: (1) average levels of imports for the period 1978 through 1982; (2) findings of unfair trade practices with respect to nonrubber footwear products; (3) recent market trends; and (4) such other considerations as the Secretary deems appropriate. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury to take all necessary actions to enforce this Act. Authorizes the Secretaries to issue such implementing regulations as necessary to effect the purposes of this Act and to enforce its provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to eliminate the benefit disparity between those born before 1916 and those born after 1916 which was effected by the enactment of the Social Security Amendments of 1977. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to recompute the primary insurance amount so as to take into account the amendments made by this Act and to pay to any individual so entitled any additional lump sum amount to which such individual is entitled by reason of this Act. Prohibits the recomputation from reducing any individual's benefit.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
Humane Product Testing Act of 1985 - Requires Federal departments and agencies to promote nonanimal alternatives to the LD50 test used in the testing of products. Phases out the use of such test to the degree possible within one year of this Act's enactment. (LD50 is a procedure whereby toxicity is measured in terms of the median dose which will kill 50 percent of the test animals within a specified period.)
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
World War I Veterans' Service Pension Act - Directs the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to pay a monthly pension of $150 to each veteran of World War I who meets specified service requirements. Requires such veteran, if receiving another pension administered by the Veterans Administration (VA), to elect which pension he will receive. Provides for the payment of a monthly pension of $100 to surviving spouses of World War I veterans who meet certain marriage requirements. Requires such surviving spouses to choose between pensions if they are currently receiving another pension through the VA.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Federal Deposit Insurance Improvements Act of 1985 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to make technical revisions to definitions. Provides that deposits owed to a federally insured depository institution or owned or placed by a Federal agency shall not be eligible for insurance by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Requires the FDIC, in deciding whether to decline to insure a national or State bank that becomes a member of the Federal Reserve System, to base its decision only on such bank's financial and managerial resources. Eliminates as insurance assessment base deductions specified percentages of a bank's adjusted demand deposits and adjusted time and savings deposits. Directs the FDIC to allocate annual assessment credits to insured banks on the basis of the risks each such bank may present to the Permanent Insurance Fund. Eliminates a requirement that the FDIC Board of Directors provide an insured institution and its supervisory authority up to 120 days to correct any violation of law or any unsound or unsafe practice or condition before terminating the bank's insured status. Declares that a temporary cease and desist order issued by the appropriate Federal banking agency may place limitations on the activities or functions of an insured bank or its directors, officers, employees, agents and other persons participating in bank affairs or may bar any such person from conducting bank affairs. Authorizes a Federal banking agency that has removed a person from office at one insured bank to prohibit such person from participating in the affairs of any insured bank without the agency's prior written approval. Authorizes such an agency to proceed against any person who has acted as an officer or director of an insured bank during the year preceding the date on which the agency institutes proceedings against such person or bank. Provides that the FDIC shall have enforcement powers over any insured bank or any insured branch of a foreign bank. Requires the FDIC to notify the appropriate Federal banking agency of its intent to initiate enforcement proceedings involving a national bank, district bank, insured Federal branch, State member bank, or an insured Federal savings bank or any director or officer or other person participating in the conduct of the bank's affairs. Allows the FDIC to proceed unless such agency takes corrective actions within a specified time. Provides for a six-month continuation of the insurance of deposits of an institution insured by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation that are assumed by an FDIC-insured bank. Authorizes the FDIC Board to set reasonable fees for examining or investigating insured banks and bank affiliates (as redefined by this Act to include subsidiaries of insured banks). Sets forth the order of payment of unsecured claims against the estate of a closed bank or branch by the FDIC as receiver of such bank or branch. Subrogates the FDIC to the rights of any depositor of any closed insured bank or any closed insured branch of a foreign bank to the extent of the deposit payments made to such depositor. Eliminates provisions that require new banks (organized by the FDIC to assume the insured deposits of closed banks) to: (1) accept as new deposits only demand deposits aggregating not more than $100,000; and (2) maintain funds in cash, invested in Government or federally-guaranteed obligations, or deposited with the FDIC, a Federal Reserve bank, or an insured bank. Provides that, so long as an executive officer appointed by the FDIC Board has authority to manage such a new bank, such bank shall not be subject to any limitations imposed by law that restrict the activities of a national bank by measuring the amount of investment that the bank may devote to such activities by the amount of the bank's capitalization. Permits the business of such a new bank that has assumed the insured deposits of a closed bank with total assets of $500,000,000 or more to be acquired by, or transferred to, an insured depository institution located in the State where the closed bank was chartered but established by an out-of-State bank or holding company. Deletes the requirement that the stockholders of the closed bank be provided the first opportunity to purchase common stock of the new bank. Extends from two to five years the period within which the stock of a new bank must be sold or its assets acquired. Permits the FDIC to waive its right to receive unclaimed deposits transferred to a new bank or to another insured bank from a closed bank. Authorizes the FDIC to purchase the voting or common stock of an insured bank in order to provide emergency assistance to such bank. Exempts any insured bank: (1) while receiving assistance under an emergency assistance agreement, from any State or local taxes that are determined on the basis of the bank's deposits; and (2) which has received emergency assistance to increase its capital or net worth and which has a net worth exceeding one-half of one percent of assets, from any Federal, State, or local law limiting the authority of the bank to continue operations because of the level of the bank's capital, net worth, surplus fund, or guarantee. Authorizes the merger or acquisition of any insured bank with $500,000,000 or more in total assets if such bank is in danger of closing or has emergency assistance outstanding. Sets forth the conditions under which a representation or warranty made to a borrower by a bank in connection with the investment of the proceeds of a loan shall be valid against the assets of a closed bank acquired by the FDIC. Eliminates the requirement that one Federal banking agency request reports from the other banking agencies when evaluating bank mergers. Requires a State nonmember insured bank to notify the FDIC (current law requires FDIC approval) concerning moving any domestic branch or establishing and operating a new domestic branch. Amends the Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 to repeal the termination dates of specified emergency assistance provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Prohibits interstate and foreign commerce in any article of fur derived from an animal trapped in a steel jaw leghold trap. Establishes criminal penalties for violations of this Act. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to reward nongovernment informers for information leading to a conviction under this Act. Makes the Secretary, with the assistance of appropriate Federal or State personnel, responsible for enforcing this Act. Empowers enforcement officials to detain, search, and seize suspected merchandise or documents and to make arrests with and without warrants. Subjects seized merchandise to forfeiture.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 1985
International Narcotics Control Act of 1985 - Directs the Secretary of State (the Secretary), acting through the Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Matters, to study the feasibility of establishing a regional organization in Latin America which would combat narcotics production and trafficking through regional information-sharing and a regional enforcement unit. Requires the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on the advisability of encouraging the establishment of such an organization. Directs the Secretary to issue a travel advisory warning U.S. citizens of the dangers of traveling in Mexico. Requires the travel advisory to remain in effect until those responsible for the murder of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique Camarena Salazar have been brought to trial and a verdict has been obtained. Directs the President to report to the Congress, within 60 days of enactment of this Act, on why the U.S. armed forces should not exert greater effort in facilitating and supporting interception of narcotics traffickers and in gathering narcotics-related intelligence outside the United States. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to require each report on international narcotics control pursuant to this Act to describe the involvement during the preceding fiscal year of the governments of communist countries in illicit drug trafficking. Provides that the ban on involvement of U.S. personnel in arrest actions and interrogations in narcotics control efforts abroad shall not apply to the extent that the Secretary of State and the government of another country agree. Requires the Secretary to report any such agreement to the Congress before the agreement takes effect. Directs the Secretary to enter into negotiations with Brazil in order to establish a bilateral narcotics control agreement that shall have as a goal a ten percent reduction in illicit coca production in Brazil in 1986. Directs the President to consider, if such an agreement is not reached within three months of enactment of this Act, reassigning ten percent of the U.S. sugar quota for Brazil to designated Caribbean countries. Authorizes providing U.S. narcotics control assistance to Bolivia for FY 1986 and 1987 only if specified conditions relating to limitations on coca production and relating to yearly eradication targets are met by Bolivia. Authorizes making FY 1987 development assistance funds for the Agency for International Development (AID) project in the Upper Huallaga Valley of Peru only if the Administrator of AID, after consultation with the Congress, determines that a comprehensive review of that project has been completed which establishes the effectiveness of that project in reducing coca leaf production, distribution, and marketing. Requires that a specified portion of the Economic Support Fund allocation for Jamaica for FY 1986 shall be withheld until the President certifies to the Congress that Jamaica is committed to a plan for reducing the illicit cultivation and distribution of marijuana. Directs the President to reprogram funds intended for Bolivia, Peru, or Jamaica for other countries if conditions set forth in this Act are not met. Authorizes contributing narcotics control assistance funds to the United Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control only if that organization includes in its crop substitution projects a plan for cooperation with the law enforcement forces of the host country. Prohibits using foreign assistance funds to reimburse persons whose illicit drug crops are eradicated. Authorizes providing a country with narcotics control assistance only if the country agrees to provide at least 25 percent of the costs of any narcotics control program. Permits using narcotics control assistance funds to purchase defensive arms for aircraft used in narcotic control efforts if: (1) the use of funds for that purpose is justified to the Congress in the annual report on international narcotic control assistance; or (2) specified congressional committees are notified of the use of such funds at least 15 days in advance. Directs the Secretary of State to report to the Congress, within 90 days of enactment of this Act, on proposals to improve the staffing of the Bureau of International Narcotics Matters. Provides for information sharing between the Department of State and the Federal law enforcement agencies to ensure that foreign narcotics traffickers are denied visas to enter the United States. Directs the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on steps taken to share such information. Directs the Secretary to increase U.S. efforts to negotiate updated extradition treaties relating to narcotics offenses with each major drug-producing country. Amends the Controlled Substances Act to impose mandatory life sentences for persons who engage in continuing criminal enterprises relating to drug trafficking. Amends the Federal criminal code to increase the penalties for currency reporting violations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1985
Insured Institution Improvements Act of 1985 - Title I: Insurance of Accounts - Savings Insurance Protection Act of 1985 - Amends the National Housing Act to authorize the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC) to establish classes of accounts and to determine whether accounts in any such class constitute insured accounts. Authorizes the FSLIC to assess an additional premium against institutions which engage in activities not authorized for Federal associations or which exceed certain percentage-of-assets limitations. Title II: Enforcement - Savings Institutions Supervisory Act of 1985 - Amends the National Housing Act to extend the authority of the FSLIC concerning cease and desist proceedings to cover institution-related parties that it determines are: (1) engaging in an unsafe or unsound practice in conducting the business of an insured institution; or (2) violating an FSLIC regulation or agreement. Declares that the affirmative actions the FSLIC may order an institution or related party to take to correct the condition resulting from such practice or violation may include restitution, rescission, the disposal of loans or assets, or guarantees against loss. Extends the authority of the FSLIC to any subsidiary corporation wholly or partly owned by an insured institution. Requires the FSLIC to show some dissipation of assets or some weakening of an insured institution (currently a substantial dissipation of assets or a serious weakening) in order to constitute grounds for issuing a temporary cease and desist order. Provides the FSLIC new authority to issue a temporary cease and desist order requiring the cessation of institution activities if the institution's books and records are so incomplete or inaccurate that the FSLIC is unable to determine the institution's financial condition. Revises provisions dealing with the suspension or removal of institution directors and officers and a prohibition from participation in institution affairs by other institution-related parties. Amends the FSLIC's subpoena power to include inquiries into the affairs, assets, or ownership of insured institutions, affiliates thereof, or any entity that was such an institution or affiliate at the time of the transaction or conduct being examined. Sets penalties for failure to comply with FSLIC subpoenas. Prohibits any person who has been suspended from, or prohibited from participation in, the affairs of an FSLIC-insured institution from participating in the affairs of any federally-insured institution without the approval of the appropriate Federal regulatory authority. Prohibits any person who has been convicted of a criminal offense involving dishonesty or breach of trust from serving as an institution-related party without the prior written consent of the FSLIC. Authorizes the FSLIC to apply to U.S. district courts for injunctive relief when administrative remedies are insufficient to deal with violations of the National Housing Act. Amends the Federal Home Owners' Loan Act to make the same changes previously prescribed under this title with respect to Federal savings and loan associations and the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB). Title III: Payment of Insurance - Insurance Amendments of 1985 - Amends the National Housing Act to state that the FSLIC, where it pays insurance on accounts of a defaulted institution, shall be subrogated to all rights of the insured member to the extent of such payment. Permits the FSLIC to withhold payment of insurance to the extent of any liability of an insured depositor to the institution or the receiver (other than a liability as a borrower under a note that has not defaulted). Title IV: Receivership Powers, Automatic Stay, and Priorities - Receivership Improvement Act of 1985 - Amends the National Housing Act to provide that the FSLIC, in connection with its activities as receiver for a defaulted institution, shall not be required to furnish bond, but may employ necessary personnel and pay related expenses from the receivership funds. Sets forth requirements for any valid agreement diminishing the right, title, or interest of the FSLIC as receiver in any asset acquired in such capacity. Declares that any property in which an insured institution in receivership has a legal or equitable interest is property of the receivership estate. Provides, upon the appointment of a receiver by the FHLBB for an insured institution under such Act or the Home Owners' Loan Act of 1933, for an automatic stay on claims against the receivership estate. Excludes from such automatic stay certain security interests of Federal Home Loan Banks. Sets forth the rights and powers of an appointed receiver (which shall include the rights of a lien creditor, bona fide purchaser, or equity receiver) to avoid transfers of property or obligations of the insured institution. Specifies the payment priority of unsecured claims against the receivership estate. Title V: Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation - Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation Improvements Act of 1985 - Redefines the FSLIC (currently a wholly owned Government corporation) as a mixed-ownership Government corporation. Amends the National Housing Act to direct the FSLIC to determine its expenditures without regard to restrictions of any other law concerning personnel or apportionment of expenditures. Authorizes the FSLIC to issue regulations governing risk-taking by insured institutions. Declares that FSLIC expenditures to carry out such Act shall not be deemed to be appropriations. Provides that insured institution funds paid to, or on deposit with, the FSLIC shall not be subject to attachment, garnishment, or other legal process by creditors of such institution. Provides that any action to which the FSLIC is appointed by a State authority as receiver of a State-chartered institution shall be a State matter. Title VI: Holding Companies - Holding Company Amendments of 1985 - Amends the National Housing Act to prohibit savings and loan holding companies and insured institutions from directly or indirectly engaging in the activities of an underwriter or market-maker in: (1) equity securities; or (2) debt securities other than those secured by interests in real estate or that are eligible to be underwritten by national banks. Extends prohibitions on transactions between a savings and loan holding company and subsidiary insured institutions to transactions between subsidiaries of such subsidiary insured institutions and such holding company. Provides for transaction exceptions with respect to service corporation subsidiaries of insured institutions. Prohibits the FSLIC from approving: (1) a transaction which would result in a savings and loan holding company that is itself uninsured or that has control of an uninsured institution, unless certain conditions are met; and (2) an acquisition of an insured institution by a company engaged in the activities of an underwriter or market-maker in equity or debt securities other than those representing interests in real estate or that are eligible to be underwritten by national banks. Authorizes the FSLIC to bring actions in U.S. district court to require the rescission of transactions in violation of the National Housing Act or the restitution to persons suffering damages as a result of such violations. Excludes from the requirement for approval by a State official any emergency acquisition of a federally-chartered insured institution. Title VII: Qualified Thrift Lenders - Qualified Thrift Lender Act of 1985 - Amends the National Housing Act to condition eligibility for FSLIC insurance of non-federal associations and Federal savings banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) upon meeting the definition of a qualified thrift lender. Defines a qualified thrift lender as an institution that maintains at least 60 percent of its assets in certain liquid assets and specified housing and housing-related investments. Provides a 20-year period during which a State-chartered mutual savings bank maintaining at least 50 percent of its assets in such categories (with specified increases every five years) shall qualify as a qualified thrift institution. Prohibits any institution which loses its status as a qualified thrift lender from regaining such status for five years. Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to limit the eligibility for Federal Home Loan Bank advances by members with deposits insured by the FSLIC or the FDIC to qualified thrift lenders. Increases from three to five percent of assets the maximum service corporation investment authority of qualified thrift institutions. Requires a Federal association to be a qualified thrift lender in order to establish and operate a branch outside of its home State. Requires that a bank or bank holding company making an out-of-State acquisition of an insured institution conform to the branching limitations applicable to banks in the State in which the acquired institution is located if the institution is not a qualified thrift lender. Limits the business activities of a savings and loan holding company whose subsidiary insured institution fails to qualify as a qualified thrift lender. Title VIII: Miscellaneous - Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to authorize the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the FSLIC to accept payment from Federal or non-Federal entities for expenses incurred by officers and employees in attending meetings concerning Board or FSLIC activities or functions. Permits Federal associations to accept deposits without limitation. (Currently demand deposits are accepted only from persons with a business relationship with an association.) Allows former employers of participants in the Board's professional accounting fellows programs to pay such participants' actual expenses for relocating to Washington, D.C. Amends the Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 to extend the Deposit Insurance Flexibility Act and the Net Worth Certificate Act for three years. Amends the National Housing Act to set forth provisions concerning the transfer of insurance coverage between the FSLIC and FDIC insurance funds. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to prescribe notification requirements for mergers involving an insured Federal savings bank or an FSLIC-insured institution. Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to authorize the Board to provide for staggered terms for Federal home loan bank directors. Amends the National Housing Act to authorize the FSLIC to define "control" of an insured institution.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1985
Asbestos Workers' Recovery Act - Title I: Supplemental Benefits - Establishes a Federal supplemental benefit program for death or disability caused by occupational exposure to asbestos. Provides guidelines for: (1) the calculation of benefits in proportion to disability; (2) payment methods; and (3) payment priorities. Exempts such supplemental benefits from: (1) any tax or legal process; and (2) any offset for administrative benefits under State or Federal law. Sets guidelines for the offset of supplemental benefits where reorganization or liquidation proceedings occur under Federal bankruptcy laws. Makes supplemental benefits payable only out of the Asbestos-Related Disease Trust Fund established by this Act. Conditions eligibility for supplemental benefits upon such benefits' being the exclusive remedy of an individual for occupational exposure to asbestos. Prescribes guidelines for the filing and payment of asbestos-related disease claims. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to apply by analogy specified portions of the Social Security Act when making determinations of: (1) entitlement to benefits; (2) review of claims; and (3) delegations of authority to State agencies. Directs the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Secretary, in determining eligibility for a supplemental benefit under this Act, to determine annually the average weekly wage for manufacturing workers in each State. Requires such determinations to govern decisions regarding all claims filed in the following calendar year. Requires the Secretary to rely upon: (1) prior court decisions regarding a claimant; and (2) prior determinations by the appropriate workers' compensation program regarding specified eligibility criteria. Specifies exceptions. Requires the Secretary to apply the appropriate workers' compensation law when reviewing supplemental benefit claims. Creates within the Department of Health and Human Services the National Medical Panel on Asbestos-Related Diseases to: (1) decide which diseases belong to the list of asbestos-related diseases; (2) review claims to determine whether a person's disease was caused by asbestos exposure; and (3) publish certain Medical Assessment Guidance Documents. Provides guidelines for the appointment of medical scientists to the Panel from certain organizations. Directs the Panel to promulgate a list of asbestos-related diseases and to provide explanations of any decisions to include or omit a disease from such list. Outlines conditions under which the Panel shall review claims for asbestos-related diseases which do not appear on the panel's list of diseases. Requires the Panel to determine within a specified time whether the disease in the referred claim should be included on such list. Requires the Panel to publish Medical Assessment Guidance Documents including specific medical diagnostic criteria to aid parties and decisionmakers determine whether a death or disability was caused by occupational exposure to asbestos. Title II: Finance - Prescribes guidelines under which: (1) assessments are imposed against each asbestos defendant; (2) assessment allocating factors are assigned to asbestos defendants; (3) assessments are imposed against asbestos insurance policies; and (4) assessments are imposed against companies undergoing Federal bankruptcy proceedings. Sets the aggregate semiannual assessment on defendants on June 30 and December 31 of 1985 and 1986 at $150,000,000. Sets forth formulas for determining the aggregate semiannual assessment on each assessment due date in 1987 and thereafter. Imposes interest upon assessments not paid by the due date. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) conduct studies determining assessment allocation factor amounts and assessment apportionment ratios; and (2) promulgate compliance regulations. States that assessment payments do not prejudice the right to recover or challenge such payments. Treats asbestos-related disease assessments imposed upon either an asbestos defendant or an asbestos insurance policy, for Federal income tax purposes, as ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in carrying on the trade or business, on the one hand, and insurance contract losses, on the other. Treats asbestos-related disease assessments as miscellaneous excise taxes. Establishes in the Treasury the Asbestos-Related Disease Trust Fund (the Trust Fund). Details the manner in which such Trust Fund shall be funded and administered. Makes the Secretary of the Treasury the Managing Trustee, and delineates trustee functions. Provides for repayable initial advances and repayable cash flow advances to the Trust Fund during specified periods of FY 1985. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 and subsequent fiscal years for the Trust Fund. Establishes within the Department of the Treasury the Asbestos-Related Disease Trust Fund Conservation Committee (the Committee) comprised of the Managing Trustee and five public members appointed by the President. Includes among the consultation and review functions of such Committee: (1) claim disposition; (2) grant and contract awards; and (3) claims and assessments analysis. Directs the Committee to submit an annual report to the Congress regarding the performance of its responsibilities. Authorizes the Committee, with the advice and assistance of the Secretary of Labor, to instruct the Managing Trustee to award grants and contracts to specified organizations for the purpose of: (1) improving State workers' compensation programs; (2) assuring the availability of medical specialists to assist government agencies; (3) establishing medical evaluation units to determine occupational sources of asbestos-related diseases; and (4) medical treatment research. Title III: Miscellaneous - Makes the supplemental benefits under this Act and the applicable workers' compensation programs the exclusive remedy for occupational exposure to asbestos. Exempts certain persons from liability for occupational exposure to asbestos. Removes jurisdiction from State or Federal tribunals to adjudicate any claim of liability for occupational exposure to asbestos after enactment of this Act. Confers jurisdiction for judicial review of administrative acts under this Act only upon the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Confers jurisdiction for questions of assessments and constitutionality under this Act only upon a special three-judge district court established in the District Court for the District of Columbia. Requires all administrative costs and expenses of this Act to be paid out of the Trust Fund. Directs the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury, and the Attorney General to submit an analysis and certification of their respective costs under this Act to the Managing Trustee for reimbursement.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1985
Textile and Apparel Trade Enforcement Act of 1985 - Limits the total quantity of 1985 imports of textiles and textile products from a major exporting country to the lesser of an amount equal to 101 percent: (1) of the total quantity of textile products imported from such country if the total had increased by six percent annually (one percent annually for wool products) during 1981 through 1984; or (2) if the United States has an agreement with such country providing for an annual growth rate of less than six percent, of the total quantity of such products from such country imported during 1984. Limits the total quantity of 1985 imports of textiles and textile products from an exporting country to an amount equal to the total quantity of such products imported from such country during 1984 plus: (1) 15 percent of such quantity in the case of a category that is not an import sensitive category; or (2) one percent in the case of an import sensitive category. Provides for changing the classification of a country, except for a Caribbean country, from an exporting country to a major exporting country if the total textile imports from such country equals or exceeds one and one-quarter percent of all textiles imported into the United States. Sets forth a formula for adjusting the growth of textile imports annually. Sets forth certain minimum quantities of textile imports that all countries shall be allowed to export to the United States. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to enforce this Act. Directs the Secretary, within six months of enactment of this Act, to establish an import licensing system under which an importer of textiles will be required to present an import permit as a condition of entry of such textiles. Directs the President to report to the Congress annually on the administration of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1985
Pharmaceutical Assistance to the Aged Act - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to permit a State plan for medical assistance to provide assistance for outpatient prescribed drugs and other items for individuals who are 65 or older and who are either resident U.S. citizens or resident aliens and who have incomes below a certain level and are not otherwise eligible for medical assistance under the State medical plan, if: (1) the State has in effect a law permitting a licensed pharmacist to substitute a less expensive bioequivalent drug for another drug unless a licensed physician states that such a substitution is medically inappropriate; (2) the State plan provides that the amount of payment will not exceed the cost of the least expensive bioequivalent drug; and (3) the State has in effect a program of utilization review for such drugs. Sets forth requirements governing amounts of payments and copayments. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide for informing individuals who are 65 or older and who are entitled to Medicare (title XVIII of such Act) benefits of the benefits available under this Act in States which have elected to have a program of pharmaceutical assistance for the aged pursuant to this Act. Requires the Secretary to promulgate final regulations by September 1, 1985, to provide for State implementation of this Act. Provides that this Act shall apply to medical assistance furnished with respect to outpatient prescribed drugs furnished on or after October 1, 1985. Directs the Secretary to maintain statistical records on State programs of pharmaceutical assistance to the aged to determine the effectiveness and impact of such programs. Directs the Secretary to report to Congress on the programs when the FY 1987 budget for the Department of Health and Human Services is transmitted to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that States which issue handicapped parking stickers for designated parking spaces should also allow motor vehicles with similar parking stickers issued by other States to park in spaces designated for the handicapped.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1985
Polygraph Protection Act of 1985 - Prohibits any employer from using any lie detector test or examination in the work place, for both pre-employment testing and testing in the course of employment. Requires the Secretary of Labor to prepare and have printed notices setting forth this prohibition. Requires employers to post these notices. Provides for remedies for violations of this Act as found in the Fair Labor Standards Act. Exempts Federal, State, and local employees from the Act's coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1985
Anti-Apartheid Act of 1985 - Prohibits any U.S. person from making any loan to South Africa or to any organization owned or controlled by South Africa. Excludes from such prohibition a loan for any educational, housing, or health facility which: (1) is available to everyone on a nondiscriminatory basis; and (2) is located in an area accessible to all population groups. Declares that such prohibition shall not apply to loans for which an agreement is entered into before enactment of this Act. Directs the President to issue regulations prohibiting U.S. persons from making any investment (including bank loans) in South Africa. Excludes from such prohibition: (1) an investment which consists of earnings derived from a business enterprise in South Africa established before enactment of this Act and which is made in that business enterprise; or (2) the purchase of certain securities in such business enterprises. Prohibits any person, including U.S. banks, from importing into the United States any gold coin minted in or offered for sale by South Africa. Authorizes the President to waive the prohibitions against investments in South African businesses and against importing South African gold coins if: (1) the Government of South Africa meets at least one of seven conditions; (2) the President submits to the Congress a determination that such conditions are met; and (3) a joint resolution is enacted approving such determination. Authorizes the President to extend the waivers. Provides for expedited consideration of such joint resolution. Amends the Export Administration Act of 1979 to prohibit exporting computers, computer software, or goods or technology intended to service computers to or for use by South Africa or any organization owned or controlled by South Africa. Excludes from such prohibition donations of computers to primary and secondary schools. Declares that certain termination provisions of the Export Administration Act of 1979 shall not apply to such prohibition. Provides for enforcement of this Act. Sets forth penalties for violations of this Act. Directs the President to attempt to persuade through negotiations other countries to adopt restrictions on new investment in South Africa, on bank loans and computer sales to South Africa, and on the importation of krugerrands. Directs the President to submit annual reports to the Congress on the status of negotiations. Terminates the provisions of this Act and all the regulations issued to carry out this Act upon enactment of a joint resolution approving a determination submitted by the President to the Congress that apartheid in South Africa has been abolished.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1985
Financial Authorities Equity Act - Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to prohibit a bank holding company from providing insurance services (other than those permitted under the Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982) through a subsidiary or affiliated company. Allows a State chartered depository institution to conduct activities which are not authorized under Federal laws or regulations for a national bank, a bank holding company, a Federal savings and loan association or savings bank, or a multiple savings and loan holding company, only within such State for residents of such State. Permits such a State institution which was conducting an unauthorized activity on May 24, 1984, to continue conducting such activity for ten years after enactment of this Act. Authorizes the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to issue and seek enforcement of a cease and desist order against such a State institution which violates this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1985
Age Discrimination in Employment Act Public Safety Officers Amendments of 1985 - Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to exclude State and local law enforcement officers and firefighters from coverage under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1985
High Risk Occupational Disease Notification and Prevention Act of 1985 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct research into improving the means of: (1) surveillance of employees exposed to occupational health hazards; and (2) medical monitoring and treatment of employees exposed to occupational hazards. Provides that such research shall be conducted primarily through the occupational and environmental health centers established under this Act. Lists areas such research is to include (among which are: studying the etiology and development of such diseases; developing means of medical surveillance of exposed employees; and developing educational programs). Directs the Secretary to undertake or sponsor additional epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory research to identify and define additional employee populations at risk of occupational disease. Provides that: (1) this expanded research shall be conducted or sponsored by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH); and (2) in conducting such research, NIOSH shall have access to prior and current employment, occupational, and health-related data and information maintained by Federal agencies. Authorizes the Secretary, in carrying out such research, to employ experts and consultants. Establishes a Risk Assessment Board, within NIOSH, to: (1) review current medical and other scientific studies and reports concerning the incidence of disease associated with employment; (2) report to the Secretary on the state of current research on such diseases; and (3) designate, from such review, employee populations at risk of disease associated with hazardous occupational exposures. Sets forth factors which the Board must consider in identifying such populations at risk. Directs the Board, within ten days of making a finding that a class or category of workers is a population at increased risk (30 percent greater incidence of disease than a comparable worker population not exposed to the hazardous occupational exposure) or a population at high risk (100 percent greater incidence than the comparable worker population not exposed), to recommend to the Secretary that individuals within such populations be notified and, in cases of high risk, be eligible for services and information under this Act. Gives priority for Board review to those employee populations exposed to hazardous occupational exposures for which there already exists a permanent standard under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Requires the Board to transmit to the Secretary its findings and recommendations on these employee populations within one year after the effective date of this Act. Directs the Secretary, upon determination that a given class or category of employee is a population at risk of occupational disease, to notify each individual within such population at risk. Sets forth the required contents of such notification, including counseling information. Directs the Secretary to establish a telephone "hot line" for the personal physicians of employees who have received such notification, to provide additional medical and scientific information concerning the nature of the risk and its associated disease. Directs the Secretary to prepare and distribute other medical and health promotion material and information on any risk subject to such notification requirements and its associated disease as the Secretary deems appropriate. Provides that, in carrying out such notification responsibilities, the Secretary shall have access to information and data contained in any Federal agency records, solely for the purpose of obtaining names, addresses, and work histories of employees subject to such notification. Directs the Secretary to establish and certify occupational and environmental health centers. Provides that such centers shall be selected from: (1) educational resource centers of NIOSH and similar centers of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences; and (2) at a later date, existing health care facilities, in an appropriate number to obtain even regional distribution of such centers throughout the United States. Sets forth criteria for selection of such centers. Requires such centers to be capable of providing research resources, diagnosis, treatment, medical monitoring, and family services for employees notified under this Act who are at high risk of occupational disease. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop criteria governing the most appropriate type of medical monitoring; and (2) develop a program for training of existing personnel and procuring specialized equipment required under criteria for certification of such centers. Prohibits discrimination by any employer, insurance carrier, or any other person against any employee on the basis that the employee has been notified by the Secretary of being at risk of any occupational disease. Requires that the employee retain the same rates of pay, benefits and seniority as in the former job if, based upon sound medical advice or monitoring initiated under this Act, it is determined that the employee should be transferred to a less hazardous or non-exposed job. Prohibits any health care financing system from discriminating against an employee who has been notified by the Secretary under this Act in the payment of the costs associated with a medical monitoring program, or any subsequent treatment, including treatment required by a medical monitoring examination or the onset of disease. Sets forth procedures for review of discrimination complaints. Provides for reinstatement and specified compensation for employees who are discriminated against in violation of this Act. Sets forth civil penalties for persons or institutions that violate such discrimination prohibitions. Provides for injunctive relief against violations of this Act or any rule or regulation promulgated under this Act. Requires each health care financing system (including public and private health insurance programs, and the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and disability benefits under the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance program) to provide appropriate testing, evaluation, and medical monitoring services to employees as required under this Act. Requires that the cost of testing, evaluation, and medical monitoring required by an employee as a result of hazardous occupational exposure and notification under this Act be included as a covered item in any health care financing system available to such employees through their employment or as individual purchasers of health insurance. Provides that any treatment provided by a health care financing system to an employee for a subsequent disease that was subject to a notification under this Act may constitute an insurance subrogation claim against a workers' compensation program or insurance carrier. Provides that notification of risk to an employee under this Act and subsequent medical evaluation and monitoring shall not constitute a workers' compensation claim, nor shall such notice toll any statute of limitations with respect to such a claim, except as specifically provided by law under a workers' compensation statute. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 and subsequent fiscal years.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1985
Amends the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from issuing a permit authorizing the incineration of hazardous waste at sea before the Congress receives a hazardous waste reduction and management feasibility report and plan and recommendations from the Administrator to assure that responsible parties are held liable and pay cleanup costs and damages, and the Administrator issues final permit regulations based upon such report and plan and public comments. Directs the Administrator to contract with the Office of Technology Assessment to prepare within three years of this Act's enactment a hazardous waste reduction and managment feasibility report which includes: (1) descriptive surveys of location and types of hazardous wastes and hazardous waste streams; (2) alternative storage and land-based technologies; (3) an assessment of wastes released into the environment and the impact of at sea incineration on human health and the marine environment; (4) epidemiological studies; and (5) an analysis of the transportation impacts for the land or barge transport of the hazardous wastes to the loading site for ocean incineration. Directs the Administrator to submit to the Congress within three years of the report a hazardous waste reduction and management plan which includes: (1) a comprehensive waste management plan; (2) coordination with Federal agencies for major spills of hazardous waste in port, in transit, and during incineration at sea; and (3) legislation which encourages the development of environmentally sound hazardous waste reduction and treatment technologies. Requires the Administrator to involve the public in formulating this plan through hearings and comment. Directs the Administrator to submit to the Congress transcripts of public hearings together with EPA's written response. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1985
Cancer Patients Employment Rights Act - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to make it an unlawful employment practice for an employer, employment agency or labor organization to: (1) require an employee or prospective employee with a cancer history to meet certain medical standards unrelated to job requirements; or (2) reveal any confidential medical information without consent. Makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to fail to make a good faith effort to explore where reasonable accommodations may be made for an employee with a cancer history. Provides that it shall not be an unlawful employment practice to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge an employee: (1) if the employer demonstrates no reasonable accommodation can be made; or (2) the employee is unable to perform the job safely. Includes cancer history within the protections of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) veterans' disability compensation payments should remain exempt from Federal income taxation; and (2) the President should reject any proposals to tax such payments.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1985
Authorizes the Armored Force Monument Committee, the United States Armor Association, the World Wars Tank Corps Association, the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment Association, the Tank Destroyer Association, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 16th Armored Division Associations, and the Council of Armored Division Associations to erect a memorial in or near Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, to honor and commemorate the American Armored Force. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, with the approval of the National Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission, to select the site and approve the design and plans. Obligates the United States to expenses of maintenance only. Requires the commencement of the erection of the memorial within five years with a certification of sufficiency of funds necessary before commencement.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1985
Construction Work in Progress Policy Act of 1985 - Amends the Federal Power Act to provide that nothing in such Act shall be construed to affect the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's authority to approve the inclusion of the costs of construction work in progress (defined as construction of a facility used to generate electric energy) in the rate base of a public utility with respect to: (1) any pollution control facility; and (2) the conversion of oil or natural gas-fired facilities to the use of other fuels. Permits a public utility whose internal generation of funds during a test period established by the Commission is 30 percent or less of planned construction expenditures during such period to apply for the inclusion of the cost of construction work in progress in the public utility's rate base. Sets forth the items required in such an application. Requires the Commission to hold an evidentiary hearing upon receipt of an application from a public utility. Requires the Commission to approve the inclusion of the costs of construction work in progress in the utility's rate base if: (1) the facility being constructed is reasonably necessary to meet energy demands; and (2) the utility's financial condition would prevent the financing of such facility except at a cost significantly higher than the average cost of financing within the electric utility industry. Sets forth limitations on the amount of the costs of construction work in progress which may be included in a public utility's rate base. Requires public utilities to discontinue the capitalization of allowance for funds used during construction for those construction work in progress costs which are included in the rate base. Requires that revenues derived from construction work in progress be deferred from inclusion in utility rates for a certain period of time when the facility becomes used for public service.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1985
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)).
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1985
Information Dissemination and Research Accountability Act - Establishes in the National Library of Medicine a National Center for Research Accountability to assist in eliminating duplication of effort in Federal research proposals involving live animals. Directs the President to appoint as members of the Center 20 experts in the biomedical information sciences who are currently employed by a Federal agency in a capacity which qualifies them to make determinations as to whether research proposals involving live animals are duplicative of other research efforts. Sets forth provisions for a Director of the Center. Prohibits Federal agencies from carrying out or funding any research proposal involving live animals unless the proposal is submitted to the Center following agency approval. Prohibits Federal funding of any such proposal which the Center determines would duplicate other research completed or in process. Authorizes the Center to contract with private entities to assist in the conduct of comprehensive full-text literature searches. Directs the President to establish rules to preclude any conflict of interest in the awarding of such contracts. Authorizes the President to appoint uncompensated advisors to the Members of the Center. Directs the Center to report annually to the President and the Congress. Provides for modernization of biomedical information storage and dissemination by the National Library of Medicine. Directs the Library to: (1) acquire, in full-text form, all biomedical information owned or available for use by Federal agencies (except information already in the Library or classified for national security reasons); (2) transcribe and store in full-text all such information in its collection, using modern technologies; (3) translate into English all foreign-language biomedical information owned or used by the Library; (4) make available through modern technologies, at cost, to medical libraries all full-text biomedical information in its collection; (5) support, by grants and contracts, the creation of new information for teaching and demonstrations, including audiovisual aids and computer graphics technologies; (6) make available, at cost, such new information to research and teaching institutions; and (7) increase the number of persons trained in modern methods of biomedical information storage and dissemination technologies by making available stipends, awards, and grants to persons engaged in such training. Provides that the cost to those requesting such biomedical or such teaching and demonstration information shall include the Federal expenses incurred in acquiring and making it available. Authorizes the Library to award contracts to the private-sector data recording industry to improve: (1) the development of technologies for storage and dissemination of full-text biomedical information; and (2) dissemination of such information to medical libraries for research use. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to appoint uncompensated advisors to the Library for purposes of this Act. Requires the Library to report annually to the Congress on its progress. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 and thereafter.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1985
Solar Energy and Energy Conservation Bank Reauthorization Act of 1985 - Title I: Reauthorization of Bank - Amends the Solar Energy and Energy Conservation Bank Act to extend the life of the Solar Energy and Energy Conservation Bank until September 30, 1991. (Under current law, the Bank will cease to exist after September 30, 1987.) Requires that 25 percent of the payments by the Bank to financial institutions to provide financial assistance for the installation of solar energy systems in residential, commercial, and agricultural buildings be allocated for active solar energy. Requires an equitable distribution of financial assistance between residential and multifamily residential buildings. Permits all financial institutions to apply directly to the Bank for financial assistance. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1991 for the financial assistance program under the Solar Energy and Energy Conservation Bank Act for the purchase and installation of residential and commercial energy conserving improvements and solar energy systems. Amends the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act to eliminate the condition under which the Board of the Bank would not exercise its authority to purchase loans for energy conserving improvements or to purchase mortgages secured by newly constructed homes with solar energy systems. Title II: Financial Assistance to Promote Construction of Highly Energy Efficient Buildings - Amends the Solar Energy and Energy Conservation Bank Act to authorize the Bank to make payments to financial institutions for financial assistance to builders of newly constructed or substantially rehabilitated highly energy efficient buildings (a residential building which utilizes no more than 60 percent of the energy utilized by a building of a similar size that meets the cost-effective energy conservation standards established by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in effect as of June 30, 1980). Permits financial assistance to be so provided only if the expenditures for new construction or substantial rehabilitation of highly energy efficient buildings are made after the enactment of this Act. Specifies the maximum amount of financial assistance which may be provided for new construction or substantial rehabilitation of highly energy efficient buildings. Sets forth conditions on such financial assistance which are in addition to the general conditions on financial assistance provided by the Bank under such Act. Amends the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act to authorize the Bank to purchase mortgages secured by newly constructed or substantially rehabilitated highly energy efficient buildings.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1985
National Acid Deposition Control Act of 1985 - Title I: Acid Deposition Control and Assistance Program - Amends the Clean Air Act to mandate emission reductions and retrofit technology for the 50 fossil fuel fired electric utility generating plants which the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency identifies and lists as having had the largest total emissions of sulfur dioxide during the calendar year 1980. Permits the owner or operator of such a plant to substitute a fossil fuel fired steam generating unit in the same State or plant for an identified electric utility, subject to the Administrator's approval. Requires substitute units to meet certain performance standards beyond their useful lives. Requires emission limitations compliance schedules to require the use of technological systems of continuous emission reduction for each steam generating unit in the generating plant (other than steam units serving as substitutes) and the reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions to 90 percent or 70 percent of 1980 emissions levels. Determines compliance on a plantwide basis and on the basis of average annual emissions. Subjects substitute unit compliance schedules to the same requirements but evaluates compliance for the unit rather than plantwide. Directs owners or operators of listed plants and substitute units to submit a compliance schedule to the Administrator for approval. Directs the Administrator to promulgate a schedule for listed plants without an approved schedule. Requires schedules to mandate contracts for technological systems by the start of 1993, system installation by 1995, and compliance with emission standards for 1995 and subsequent years. Directs the Administrator to make available 90 percent of a system's construction and installation costs from the Acid Deposition Control Fund, Conditions payments upon minimizing rate increases to the customers of the utility. Directs the Administrator to compute each State's share of the 12 million ton reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions required within ten years of enactment of this Act. Counts a State's excess tonnage from fossil fuel fired electric utility plants and steam generating units and industrial process emitters of sulfur dioxide. Sets forth the formula for determining a State's share of total reductions using such excess tonnage. Permits States to reallocate reductions among themselves so long as total reductions meet specified requirements. Directs each State to submit a plan for Administrator approval, detailing how such State is going to reduce its share of emissions to compliance levels in ten years. Subjects States without an approved plant to back-up emission limitations which represent between a 75 and 80 percent reduction for 1980 emission levels or the national average best available control technology emissions limit for industrial process emissions. Permits States discretion in means of compliance. Sets forth fund availability conditions, including an approved State plan and funding based upon a State's share of the total required emission reductions. Allows States to use such funds to effect the requirements of this Act in whatever way the State deems appropriate. Establishes in the Treasury the Acid Deposition Control Fund to provide funding for emissions reductions from specified appropriations. Sets forth conditions and administrative provisions for such Fund. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to report annually to the Congress on the current and five-year projected financial condition of the Fund. Imposes a fee on each kilowatt hour of electric energy generated by an electric utility in the contiguous States. Exempts electricity generated by nuclear or hydroelectric power. Directs the Administrator to make payments to utilities who provide electricity to low-income individuals in order to reduce rates for such customers. Establishes civil and criminal penalties and empowers the Administrator to bring civil actions against an electric utility in violation of the fee requirement. Terminates the fee after ten years. Directs the Administrator to carry out a demonstration project of the limestone injected multistaged burner (LIMB) technology, using limited funds. Directs the Administrator to make grants and contracts to accelerate research for developing other advanced industrial processes to reduce levels of sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1991. Title II: Control of Nitrogen Oxide Emissions - Directs the Administrator to revise nitrogen oxides emissions standards for electric utility steam generating units which burn bituminous or subbituminous coal. Sets maximum subbituminous emissions at 0.30 pounds per million Btu's and maximum bituminous coal emissions at 0.40 pounds per million Btu's, based on a 30-day rolling average. Requires the Administrator to promulgate emissions standards for new, large fossil-fuel-fired steam generating units. Establishes oxides of nitrogen emissions standards for light duty trucks after model year 1987. Title III: Acid Deposition Damage Mitigation Program - Establishes a grants program for States with Administrator-approved plans for mitigating water quality damage caused by a acid deposition. Limits such grants to 80 percent of State-expended funds for mitigation. Apportions funds among the States upon the basis of need.
![Official portrait of Rep. St Germain, Fernand J. [D-RI-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/s000762_200.jpg)