United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1989
Worker's Option Act of 1989 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to eliminate the limitation on the amount of outside income which beneficiaries who have attained retirement age may earn without incurring a reduction in benefits. Increases the delayed retirement credit rate for individuals who work beyond retirement age. Eliminates the recomputation of an individual's primary insurance amount when such individual has wages or self-employment income after entitlement to old-age or disability insurance benefits. Charges off an individual's excess earnings by eliminating such individual's entitlement to retroactive OASDI benefits for months preceding such individual's attainment of retirement age. Authorizes the appropriation of revenues received by reason of this Act's amendments to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund from 1990 through 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that legislation should be considered as soon as practicable that would equalize payments under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to rural and urban hospitals.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1989
Clean Air Restoration Act of 1989 - Title I: General Provisions for Nonattainment Areas - Amends the Clean Air Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to publish guidelines for enhanced State monitoring of ozone, oxides of nitrogen, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide, and particulate matter 10 (PM 10) and for improved inventories of emissions of such substances. Directs the Administrator to establish emissions factors for estimating emissions of such substances from stationary sources which emit less than 25 tons per year of such pollutants. Requires State plan revisions submitted after this Act's enactment for ozone, carbon monoxide, or PM 10 nonattainment areas to provide for the maintenance of the attainment standard for 20 years after such submission. Directs the Administrator to periodically review and revise such plans, as necessary, to insure the maintenance of such standard. Revises the boundaries of ozone and carbon monoxide nonattainment areas which are classified as Extreme or Severe and are located within Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) or Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Areas (CMSA) to include the entire MSA or CMSA. Authorizes the Administrator to modify nonattainment areas classified as Moderate or serious for ozone, carbon monoxide, or PM 10 to encompass the entire MSA or CMSA if such modification is necessary to attain the air quality standard. Requires permits issued in nonattainment areas for stationary sources to provide for: (1) quarterly reports to the permitting authority on monitoring measures; and (2) annual certifications to such authority demonstrating compliance with such permit. Prohibits the issuance of any permit unless such authority has conducted an on-site inspection of the source or emissions unit. Allows new or modified stationary sources to comply with any offset requirement for increased emissions of any air pollutant by obtaining enforceable emissions reductions of such pollutant from other sources in the same nonattainment area. Requires such reductions to be in effect by the time such sources commence operation and to insure that the total tonnage of increased emissions is offset by a greater reduction in the actual emissions from other area sources. Title II: Provisions Applicable to Ozone Nonattainment Areas - Classifies ozone nonattainment areas as Moderate, Serious, Severe, or Extreme, based upon the percentage by which the air quality standard is exceeded in the area. Authorizes the Administrator to adjust the classification of areas which would be classified in another category if the ozone level in such areas were ten percent greater or less. Requires the Administrator to promulgate special rules for rural nonattainment areas where area sources do not make significant contributions to the ozone concentration in such areas. Directs States with classified ozone nonattainment areas to submit compliance strategies to the Administrator. Requires such strategies to provide for: (1) meeting an initial milestone for emissions reductions; (2) improved monitoring of ozone, oxides of nitrogen, and VOCs; (3) annual statements from owners or operators of stationary sources showing emissions of oxides of nitrogen and VOCs; and (4) annual emissions inventories to be submitted to the Administrator. Waives the requirement for owners or operators of stationary sources which emit less than 25 tons annually of VOCs if the State provides an inventory of emissions of such sources. Applies requirements for State permits with respect to air quality standards to statements for stationary sources which emit 25 tons or more annually of oxides of nitrogen or VOCs. Deems such sources to be major stationary sources. Establishes fees to be collected by States for each ton of emissions of such substances and approval procedures for compliance strategies. Directs the Administrator to publish oxides of nitrogen and VOC emissions reduction targets for Serious, Severe, and Extreme ozone nonattainment areas. Provides for reductions or increases in such targets based upon percentage reductions or increases over a 1988 emissions inventory. Directs the Administrator to publish a VOC emissions reduction milestone for such areas to require a 20 percent reduction in emissions within four years of this Act's enactment based upon the 1988 emissions inventory. Requires additional milestones to be achieved within eight and 12 years of this Act's enactment. Sets forth attainment dates of four, eight, 12, and 16 years, respectively, for Moderate, Serious, Severe, and Extreme areas. Requires State implementation plans for Serious, Severe, and Extreme areas to be revised to include measures for meeting targets and milestones, conforming with compliance strategies, and attaining and maintaining revised ozone standards. Sets forth approval procedures for such plans. Requires the Administrator to audit biennially and, if necessary, revise such plans to assure compliance. Includes specified ratios for offsets of increased emissions by new or modified sources in permit requirements for Moderate areas. Requires compliance strategies or revised implementation plans for Serious and Severe areas to contain a permit program covering the construction and operation of certain new or modified emissions units. Requires certain emissions offsets by the time such units enter operation. Provides that such plans or strategies shall: (1) contain a motor vehicle inspection and maintenance program to reduce in-use emissions of VOCs and oxides of nitrogen in Serious areas; and (2) require the use of fill nozzles in such areas which prevent vapor discharge and vehicle fuel tank overflows on nozzle disconnect. Applies the nozzle requirement only to facilities which sell more than 10,000 gallons of gasoline per month (50,000 gallons per month in the case of certain independent small business gasoline marketers). Waives such requirement when the Administrator determines that onboard emissions control systems are in widespread use throughout the motor vehicle fleet. Requires such plans or strategies to require all buses which are purchased or leased by State or local governments after January 1, 1992, (for which such governments enter into contracts or for which engines are replaced after such date) and which are used for public transportation in Serious areas to be low-emission vehicles using low-emission fuels. Requires permits for the operation of certain existing stationary sources in Serious, Severe, and Extreme areas. Requires such strategies or plans to establish a schedule requiring at least 30 percent of the new motor vehicles registered in Severe areas by 1998 to be low-emission vehicles using low-emission fuels. Prohibits the use of an emissions reduction trading program to comply with the reasonably available control technology requirement applicable to such sources under the Clean Air Act. Requires tanks used for motor vehicle liquid fuel storage in such areas to be capable of storing methanol. Prohibits the use of Federal funds for transportation planning in such areas unless the Administrator determines that such planning uses all available techniques for reducing aggregate vehicle emissions. Requires all new motor vehicles owned or operated by persons owning or operating 15 or more vehicles in a Severe area after 1992 to be low-emission vehicles using low-emission fuels. Provides that compliance strategies and State implementation plans for Extreme areas shall contain the same requirements as those for Severe areas. Provides that, eight years after this Act's enactment, each electric utility and industrial and commercial boiler emitting more than 25 tons annually of oxides of nitrogen in such areas shall: (1) burn natural gas, methanol, or ethanol (or a comparably low polluting fuel) as a primary fuel; or (2) use advance control technology for reduction of such emissions. Establishes a schedule for increasing in annual increments the percentage of new motor vehicles registered in such areas which are low-emission vehicles. Requires all model year 2000 vehicles to be low-emission vehicles. Authorizes the establishment of traffic control measures during heavy traffic hours to reduce the use of high polluting vehicles in such areas. Allows an Extreme area to apply for a four-year extension of the attainment date. Directs the Administrator to grant such extension if the area is reasonably expected to meet minimum emissions reduction targets and the implementation plan is adequate to meet the attainment standard by the extended date. Sets forth procedures to be applied in the case of noncompliance with plan and compliance strategy requirements, including emissions offsets for new or modified stationary sources or emissions units at a ratio of three to one and a prohibition on the approval of, or awarding of Federal funds for, highway projects in non-complying areas. Sets forth deadlines for States to demonstrate that all measures in compliance strategies have been implemented and that milestones have been met. Provides for reclassification of areas or the implementation of additional measures, including economic incentive programs in Severe and Extreme areas, if a State fails to meet emissions reduction milestones or to submit a demonstration. Directs the Administrator to establish guidelines for such programs. Sets forth administrative procedures for making determinations, including provisional determinations, of attainment of air quality standards during a three-year period. Directs the Administrator to reclassify Moderate, Serious, or Severe areas which fail to meet attainment deadlines into the next, more stringent, category. Requires States with Extreme areas failing to meet such deadlines to submit plan revisions providing for: (1) emissions offsets at a ratio of three to one for new or modified sources or emissions units in such areas; and (2) an economic incentives program to aid in reducing the total tonnage of VOC and oxides of nitrogen emissions by at least five percent annually prior to attainment of the standard. Establishes an ozone transport region comprised of coastal States on the east coast between Maine and Maryland and the CMSA including the District of Columbia. Authorizes the creation of additional regions, as necessary. Directs the Administrator to establish an ozone transport commission for each region. Requires each State within a region to submit to the Administrator a revised implementation plan which requires compliance with emission levels as if the region were classified as a Serious area for ozone. Exempts regions within a State that do not contribute significantly to ozone concentrations in Serious, Severe, or Extreme areas. Permits States or subdivisions to petition the Administrator for the inclusion of another State or portion of a State within an ozone transport region. Requires the Administrator to develop criteria for determining transboundary pollution for ozone. Authorizes the Administrator to pay up to 100 percent of the program costs of such commissions for two years. Directs the Administrator to: (1) list all categories of commercial and consumer solvents, architectural and other surface coatings, pesticide applications, traffic coatings, and military specification coatings which release significant evaporative emissions of VOCs; and (2) promulgate standards biennially, for eight years, to reduce emissions from the highest priority group of such substances to the lowest feasible emissions rate. Requires the Administrator to publish a list of the 12 categories of stationary sources for which control technologies have not been published and which make the most significant contribution to the formation of ozone air pollution. Directs the Administrator to publish guidance for such sources, including guidelines for monitoring emissions of VOCs and oxides of nitrogen, and review and, if necessary, update such guidelines. Requires owners or operators of sources emitting ten tons or more of VOCs annually to reduce such emissions by a specified percentage if guidance for such source has not been published. Directs the Administrator to publish a control technology document regarding control of VOC emissions from the loading of petroleum products on or off of vessels. Provides that such emissions shall be considered to be direct emissions of the onshore terminal. Title III: Provisions Applicable to Carbon Monoxide Nonattainment Areas - Classifies carbon monoxide nonattainment areas as Moderate, Serious, or Severe. Authorizes the Administrator to adjust such classifications under conditions parallel to those for ozone nonattainment areas. Requires the Administrator to publish carbon monoxide concentration milestones for Serious and Severe areas to be achieved within four and eight years of this Act's enactment, respectively. Sets forth attainment dates of four, eight, and twelve years, respectively, for Moderate, Serious, and Severe areas. Sets forth requirements parallel to those for ozone nonattainment areas for State plan revisions, content, approval, and auditing. Requires plans for Serious and Severe areas to include: (1) motor vehicle inspection and maintenance programs to reduce in-use carbon monoxide emissions; and (2) provisions requiring the use of oxygenated fuels for all gasoline-powered motor vehicles during periods identified as having carbon monoxide concentrations potentially in excess of air quality standards. Directs the Administrator to promulgate guidelines allowing the use of marketable oxygen credits from fuels with higher oxygen contents than required to offset the sale or use of fuels with lower contents than required. Waives the oxygenated fuel requirement upon a demonstration that the use of such fuels would prevent or interfere with an area's attainment of a standard for any other air pollutant. Requires persons selling oxygenated fuel to label the fuel dispensing system accordingly. Sets forth requirements parallel to those for ozone nonattainment areas for: (1) permit programs and emissions offsets in Severe areas; (2) persons owning or operating more than 15 vehicles in such areas; and (3) funding for transportation planning. Provides for a $5 per vehicle annual registration fee in such areas. Makes registration revenues available to the State air pollution control agency for developing carbon monoxide emissions reduction strategies. Sets forth requirements parallel to those for ozone nonattainment areas for noncompliance procedures and State demonstrations. Provides for the implementation of an incentives program to reduce vehicle miles traveled in Severe areas if milestones or demonstration requirements have not been met. Provides for reclassification and plan revision procedures parallel to those required for Severe and Extreme ozone nonattainment areas. Title IV: Provisions Applicable to PM 10 Nonattainment Areas - Classifies PM 10 nonattainment areas as Serious or Severe. Sets forth attainment dates of four and eight years after this Act's enactment, respectively, for Serious and Severe areas. Directs the Administrator to publish PM 10 concentration milestones for Severe areas to require a 50 percent reduction in concentrations within four years of this Act's enactment. Sets forth requirements parallel to those for ozone and carbon monoxide nonattainment areas for: (1) State plan revisions, content, approval, and auditing; and (2) permit programs for Serious and Severe areas. Requires permits for the operation of: (1) certain existing sources in Severe areas; and (2) new, modified, and existing sources of PM 10 precursors where such emissions contribute significantly to PM 10 concentrations in nonattainment areas. Sets forth requirements parallel to those for ozone and carbon monoxide nonattainment areas for noncompliance, State demonstrations, reclassifications, and plan revisions. Allows States which have submitted plan revisions for Severe areas to apply for a two-year extension of the attainment date. Provides that three to one offset requirements shall not apply to areas granted such extensions. Waives any PM 10 requirements if determined that anthropogenic sources of PM 10 do not contribute significantly to the violation of the PM 10 standard in the area. Directs the Administrator to: (1) list all important categories of PM 10 emissions and precursors; and (2) publish biennial guidelines concerning the best available control technology for PM 10 emissions from stationary sources in the highest priority group. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations for PM 10 emissions reduction from existing diesel buses in Severe areas to require the use of lower polluting fuels. Requires State plans to include annual PM 10 emissions inventories to be submitted to the Administrator. Provides for revisions of such plans if air quality standards are modified. Requires plans to contain measures to improve the ambient monitoring of PM 10. Title V: Mobile Sources - Sets standards for emissions of hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and particulates from: (1) passenger cars and light duty trucks manufactured after 1991; and (2) heavy duty trucks and buses manufactured after 1990. Directs the Administrator to promulgate standards for vehicles using low-emissions fuel. Requires the Administrator to evaluate and, if necessary, revise such standards at least every four years. Directs the Administrator to establish a minimum percentage of new motor vehicles to be certified as low-emissions vehicles. Requires the Administrator to promulgate emissions standards for internal combustion engines used in any vehicle or machine manufactured after January 1, 1993. Requires such standards to be proportional to those for motor vehicle engines of comparable horsepower using the same fuel. Directs the Administrator to add an idle test to the Federal Test Procedure for emissions from light duty vehicles manufactured after 1991. Permits only ten percent of vehicles manufactured after 1990 in a selective enforcement audit to fail motor vehicle testing. Requires the Administrator to review and revise, as necessary, testing regulations to insure that vehicles are tested under circumstances reflecting actual current driving conditions. Requires each vehicle and engine to comply with the applicable emissions standard (Current law permits averaging). Provides that the useful life of vehicles and engines manufactured after 1994 shall be ten years or 100,000 miles. Makes technical amendments to prohibitions on tampering with vehicle emission control devices. Directs the Administrator to require the use of best available technology to control evaporative emissions from motor vehicles for a vehicle's useful life. Sets standards for emission of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and evaporative hydrocarbons from motorcycles manufactured after 1991. Requires the installation of onboard emission diagnostic equipment on motor vehicles. Directs the Administrator to: (1) promulgate regulations to reduce evaporative emissions from motor vehicle fuels; and (2) establish a standard for gasoline volatility. Requires new light duty motor vehicles manufactured in the second year after standards are promulgated to be equipped with onboard evaporative emissions control systems. Provides for carbon monoxide emissions testing at 20 degrees Fahrenheit of passenger cars and light duty trucks manufactured after model year 1992. Sets emissions standards at such temperature. Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Requires the Administrator to establish requirements to control air pollution from Outer Continental Shelf sources. Authorizes States adjacent to such sources to submit to the Administrator procedures for enforcing such requirements. Directs the Administrator to delegate enforcement authority to States with adequate procedures. Authorizes the Administrator to substitute maximum allowable increases in particulate matter smaller than or equal to ten micrometers (PM 10) for maximum allowable increases in such matter specified under the Clean Air Act. Authorizes the Administrator to: (1) treat Indian tribes as States under the Clean Air Act; (2) delegate to such tribes primary responsibility for assuring air pollution control; and (3) provide such tribes grant and contract assistance to carry out such functions. Outlines requirements for such authorization. Authorizes the Administrator to promulgate other means for administering such authorities where such treatment is inappropriate. Directs the Administrator to list nonattainment areas for air pollutants other than those covered by this Act when a new or revised air quality standard is promulgated. Applies the PM 10 standards, excepting attainment deadlines and provisions relating to diesel buses, to such areas. Requires the Administrator to make information regarding emissions control technology available to States and the public through a central database. Repeals provisions concerning enforcement orders and violations by owners or operators of major stationary sources. Requires States to submit plan revisions for nonattainment areas failing to meet attainment deadlines for air pollutants other than those covered by this Act. Requires new or modified sources of such pollutants to comply with provisions of this Act and applies an emissions offset ratio of three to one to such pollutants. Directs the Administrator to conduct biennial audits of motor vehicle inspection and maintenance programs in Severe or Extreme ozone or carbon monoxide nonattainment areas. Increases and expands the scope of penalties and violations of the Clean Air Act. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the valuation of farmland for estate tax purposes to eliminate the limit on the reduction in fair market value of certain farmland if such land continues to be farmed for up to 30 years.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1989
Constitutional Amendment - Requires the Congress and the President, prior to each fiscal year, to agree on an estimate of total receipts (except those derived from borrowing) for that fiscal year by enactment of a joint single subject resolution. Prohibits outlays for that year (except those for repayment of debt principal) from exceeding this amount unless the Congress, by a three-fifths roll call vote of each House, authorizes a specific excess of outlays over receipts. Requires a three-fifths roll call vote of each House to increase the public debt. Directs the President to submit a balanced budget to the Congress. Requires the approval of a majority of the total membership of each House by roll call vote before any bill to increase revenue may become law. Waives these provisions when a declaration of war is in effect.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1989
Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to repeal the requirement that before a nursing facility uses a nurse aide for over four months such aide must complete a State-approved training and/or competency evaluation program.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1989
Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to make training requirements imposed on nurse aides employed at nursing facilities inapplicable to individuals employed as nurse aides before July 1, 1989.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1989
Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize appropriations for FY 1990 and 1991 for health and child survival programs in developing countries.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) India should schedule negotiations with Nepal as soon as possible to resolve the problems which led to the closing by India of the Nepalese-Indian border, immediately open such border, and resume the sale of Indian-refined petroleum products in Nepal; and (2) the Secretary of State should continue to monitor the dispute and provide regular briefings to the Congress on the effect of the dispute on U.S. interests in Nepal and the Indian subcontinent.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1989
White House Conference on Small Business Act - Calls upon the President to conduct a National White House Conference on Small Business once every four years to: (1) increase public awareness of the contributions of small business; (2) identify small business problems; (3) examine the status of minority and women small business owners; (4) assist small business in carrying out its role as the Nation's job creator; (5) develop specific recommendations for executive and legislative action; and (6) review the status of recommendations adopted at the preceding Conferences. Directs Federal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities to provide support and assistance to the planning of such Conferences. Requires a final report of each Conference, within six months from the date a Conference is convened, to be submitted to the President and the Congress. Requires the Small Business Administration to report annually to the Congress following the submission of the final report of the Conference. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1989
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1989 - Title I: General Prohibition Against Discrimination - Declares that it shall be discriminatory, on the basis of disability, to deny opportunities or to afford them unequally, to provide opportunities less effectively (or differently or separately, unless necessary for effectiveness), to assist an organization or individual that discriminates, or to otherwise limit opportunities enjoyed by others. Prohibits the use of standards, criteria, or administrative methods that have the purpose or effect of discrimination or perpetuate discrimination. Declares it discriminatory to deny equal opportunities because of the relationship or association of an individual with another individual with a disability. Allows as a defense to a charge of discrimination that an application of standards or criteria has been demonstrated to be both necessary and substantially related to the ability of an individual to take advantage of the essential components of the opportunity, and that the taking advantage cannot be accomplished by reasonable accommodations, modifications, or the provision of auxiliary aids or services. Title II: Employment - Prohibits discrimination by any employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee against any qualified individual with a disability in job application procedures, hiring or discharge, compensation, advancement, training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. Lists types of actions construed to be discrimination. Makes the remedies set forth in specified provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other specified Federal law available to any individual who believes that he or she is being or is about to be subjected to discrimination in violation of this Act. Title III: Public Services - Declares that no qualified individual with a disability shall be excluded from the participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination by a State, or by an agency, political subdivision, or other instrumentality of a State. Lists types of actions deemed, for purposes of this Act and specified provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to be discrimination with regard to public transportation. Makes the remedies and rights set forth in specified provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 available to any individual who believes that he or she is being or is about to be subjected to discrimination in violation of this Act. Title IV: Public Accommodations and Services Operated by Private Entities - Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in the enjoyment of any place of public accommodation. Lists types of actions construed to be discrimination. Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in public transportation services provided by a private entity that is primarily engaged in transporting people, but that is not in the principal business of air transportation. Lists types of actions construed to be discrimination. Makes specified provisions of the Fair Housing Act relating to enforcement available, subject to exception, to any aggrieved individual. Title V: Telecommunications Relay Services - Defines "telecommunications relay services" to mean services that enable simultaneous communication between individuals who use telecommunications devices for the deaf (TDDs) or other nonvoice terminal devices and individuals who do not use such devices. Declares it discriminatory for any common carrier that offers telephone services to the public to fail to provide interstate or intrastate telecommunication relay services that are equal to those provided to their customers who are able to use voice services, except in any State in which services are provided through an entity designated by the State. Declares it discrimination by a State that makes such a designation if the State fails to provide interstate or intrastate relay services that are equal to those provided to their voice customers. Makes specified provisions of the Fair Housing Act relating to enforcement available, subject to exception, to any aggrieved individual. Requires the Federal Communications Commission to enforce this title. Makes specified provisions of the Communications Act of 1934 apply with respect to the enforcement of this title. Provides for cease and desist orders by the Commission and for monetary penalties. Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Prohibits retaliatory discrimination against any individual because of actions related to this Act. Declares that a State shall not be immune under the 11th Amendment to the Constitution from an action in Federal court for a violation of this Act. Requires the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board to issue minimum guidelines to supplement the existing Minimum Guidelines and Requirements for Accessible Design. Allows the awarding of reasonable attorney's fees, in certain circumstances, in any action or proceeding under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1989
Farm Crop Acreage Base Flexibility Act of 1989 - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to make mandatory the current discretionary authority of the Secretary of Agriculture to make upward crop base adjustments. Increases the maximum acreage percentage of such adjustment.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1989
Infectious Disease Control Act of 1989 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a National Program for Tropical Medicine to achieve optimal prevention of human infectious diseases originating in the tropics and to plan and coordinate governmental and non-governmental activities. Requires the Program to be administered by a Director selected by the Secretary. Sets forth Program responsibilities of the Director and requires the Director to prepare a plan for the implementation of those responsibilities. Establishes the National Committee on Tropical Medicine to advise the Director. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1989
Incinerator Ash Amendments of 1989 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate regulations, within six months of this Act's enactment, for the safe management of municipal incinerator ash. Requires that landfills into which such ashes are disposed provide for groundwater monitoring and: (1) have two or more liners and a leachate collection system above and between such liners; or (2) are monofills having a single liner and are designed to assure that there will be no future migration of any constituent into ground or surface water. Provides that alternatively-designed landfills shall meet such requirements if demonstrated that such landfills prevent migration of hazardous constituents as effectively as those required under this Act. Allows such regulations to permit bottom ash or combined bottom ash and flue which has been treated to be placed in sanitary landfills meeting current criteria. Directs the Administrator, in developing regulations for the management of municipal incinerator ash, to issue criteria and testing procedures for identifying the characteristics of such ash which may pose a hazard to human health or the environment. Authorizes the Administrator to require the owner or operator of a municipal incinerator or any facility involved in ash management to test the ash in accordance with such criteria and testing procedures. Prohibits any facility involved in the management of municipal incinerator ash from receiving such ash three years after issuance of the Administrator's regulations unless such facility has received a permit or prior approval under a State's solid waste management program and the State program requires facility compliance with such regulations or more stringent State requirements. Gives States which are making a good faith effort to effect such compliance an additional year to do so. Provides public notice and the opportunity for an informal public hearing prior to the issuance of a permit to an ash management facility. Authorizes the Administrator to issue a corrective action order when there has been a release of a hazardous ash constituent. Directs the Administrator to conduct a research and development program to develop environmentally safe means to reuse municipal incinerator ash.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1989
Precludes veterans entitled to benefits under the All-Volunteer Force Educational Assistance Program from receiving other veterans' educational assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1989
Oil Spill Resource Restoration Act - Requires the Commandant of the Coast Guard, in the case of a major spill on navigable water, the Secretary of the Interior, in the case of any other spill, and the Governor of the State in which the spill occurs to submit to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency petitions for the initiation of an expedited damage assessment proceeding. Authorizes trustees and any persons affected by such spill to submit petitions to the Administrator. Directs the Administrator, upon receiving a petition, to immediately initiate an expedited assessment of the damages to natural resources caused by the spill. Requires the Administrator to issue an order making a finding whether the spill is a major spill and, upon finding that it is a major spill, to: (1) designate lead Federal and State trustees, based on which Federal and State trustees' natural resources are most likely to be severely affected by such spill; (2) establish a natural resources trustee commission to be composed of such trustees and the Administrator; and (3) direct the responsible parties to establish a trust fund which is accessible to such commission and in an amount adequate to pay costs incurred by the commission in conducting a full assessment of the damages to natural resources and preparing a restoration and replacement plan. Authorizes the Administrator to revise such order upon submission of a petition asserting that the amount deposited in the trust fund is insufficient to carry out a full damage assessment. Requires the commission to present a final claim to the responsible parties for the cost of repairing and replacing natural resources damaged by a spill. Authorizes the Commission to amend such claim upon receiving new information regarding the nature or extent of damages or destruction caused by such spill. Requires the responsible parties to deposit the final claim amount into the trust fund. Terminates the commission on a finding that natural resources were not significantly destroyed or damaged or that such resources have been restored to the extent practicable. Provides for automatic termination of the commission six years after the commission presents its final claim unless the commission finds specific reason to continue assessment and oversight functions. Provides for judicial review of any order, final claim, or termination of the commission pursuant to this Act. Creates a rebuttable presumption that such orders and final claims shall be valid unless proven to be arbitrary, capricious, or otherwise not in accordance with law. Makes responsible parties who fail to meet the requirements of this Act liable for specified punitive damages. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to disallow any income tax deduction for oil or hazardous substances cleanup costs, including related legal expenses, unless: (1) the Secretary of the Treasury receives certification from the relevant authority that the taxpayer has made a good faith effort to comply with specified Federal environmental law; or (2) the discharge was caused by an act of God, an act of war, negligence on the part of the U.S. Government, or an act or omission of a third party.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1989
Head Start Improvement Amendments of 1989 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that all Head Start programs should provide, as authorized by the Head Start Act, more than one year of Head Start services to children from age three to the age of compulsory school attendance in the State where the program is located. Amends the Head Start Act to define "full-working-day" as at least six hours per day. Requires each Head Start agency to provide full-working-day Head Start services throughout the year (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and applicable legal public holidays). Authorizes appropriations under the Head Start Act from FY 1990 through 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1989
Designates the Labor Day weekend beginning on September 2, 1989, as National Drive for Life Weekend. Calls on people to observe that weekend with a pledge to not drink and drive.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to grant tax-exempt status to health insurance organizations that meet specified criteria, including requirements that the organization provide continuous open enrollment for individuals and small groups and offer policies covering preexisting conditions of high-risk individuals without a price differential within a community. Repeals the current income tax deduction available to Blue Cross and Blue Shield organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1989
Precludes veterans entitled to benefits under the All Volunteer Force Educational Assistance Program from receiving other veterans' educational assistance. Terminates other veterans' educational assistance as of June 30, 1993.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1989
Designates September 8, 1989, as National Pledge of Allegiance Day. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Jubilee Commission should include the centennial observance of the Pledge of Allegiance in its commemorative activities.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 1989
Urban and Community Forestry Act of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to submit an urban and community forestry report to the Congress. Amends the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act to provide for an expanded urban forestry education and technical assistance program. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish an urban and community forestry matching grant program; (2) make plants available to urban areas and assist in their selection, planting, and maintenance; and (3) establish a National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council which shall prepare a national urban and community forestry action plan for the Secretary and the Congress. Authorizes FY 1990 through 1999 appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 1989
Requires the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to establish a special joint committee to coordinate the investigations of the individual committees of Congress into the bombing of Pan American flight number 103. Requires such committee to report to the House and the Senate on its investigation.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income any distribution from an individual retirement plan if: (1) the payee has attained age 59 1/2 on or before the date of distribution; and (2) the distribution is used during the taxable year to pay premiums for a long-term health care insurance policy covering necessary diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, rehabilitative, maintenance, or personal care services for the payee or a spouse meeting the same 59 1/2 year age requirement.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1989
Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions governing the income tax deduction for the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals to: (1) make the deduction permanent (under current law it will expire after tax year 1989); and (2) phase in an increase in the allowable deduction, reaching 100 percent for taxable years beginning in 1994 and thereafter.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of an individual otherwise taxable amounts derived from the whole or partial surrender, cancellation, or exchange of any life insurance policy if: (1) the individual is age 65 or older on the date of the transaction; and (2) the amounts in question are used to pay premiums for an insurance policy covering at least 12 months of medically necessary nonemergency care for the individual or a spouse meeting the same 65-year age requirement.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1989
Anti-Corruption Act of 1989 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prescribe criminal penalties to be imposed against anyone who uses any facility of, or affects, interstate or foreign commerce to deprive or defraud the inhabitants of a State or political subdivision of: (1) the honest services of a government official or employee; or (2) a fair and impartially conducted election process through the use of fraudulent ballots or voter registration forms or the filing of fraudulent campaign reports. Prescribes criminal penalties to be imposed against anyone who deprives or defrauds the inhabitants of the United States of the honest services of a public official. Prescribes criminal penalties to be imposed upon any official who: (1) uses interstate commerce to deprive or defraud the inhabitants of any State or political subdivision of the right to have government affairs conducted on the basis of complete, true, and accurate information; or (2) in order to carry out or conceal any scheme or artifice to defraud, discriminates, harasses, or takes adverse action against any employee or official of the United States or any State or political subdivision. Authorizes such an adversely affected employee or official to obtain relief through a civil action, provided such person did not participate in the scheme or artifice. Amends mail fraud provisions to prohibit use of any facility of interstate or foreign commerce in the execution of a scheme or artifice to defraud.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the targeted jobs income tax credit through 1992 (under current law the credit will expire after December 31, 1989). Amends the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 to authorize appropriations through FY 1992 in connection with the targeted jobs credit. Raises from 23 to 25 years the age limitation with respect to economically disadvantaged youth targeted for credit purposes. Adds as a targeted group under the credit economically disadvantaged individuals who have completed a qualified drug rehabilitation program.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1989
Declares that it is the sense of the Congress that: (1) any proposal to distribute needles to drug addicts in order to curb the spread of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) should be rejected; and (2) Federal AIDS policy should include a strong public education component and discourage behavior which increases exposure to the AIDS virus.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Onondaga Lake Restoration Act of 1989 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to convene a management conference for the restoration, conservation, and management of Onondaga Lake, New York. Calls for cataloging, assessing, and coordinating research on the lake and development of a plan with corrective action priorities and pollution control schedules. Requires assessments of projects relating to the levels of dissolved oxygen, the presence of mercury, untreated sewage discharges, and high plankton levels in lake waters. Requires the plan's implementation to be coordinated with the State of New York and other groups. Authorizes grants for research, modeling, and other plan activities. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1989 through 1994. Directs the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works to assess the cost, feasibility, duration, and effectiveness of strategies regarding the lake's restoration.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Organ Transportation Good Samaritan Act - Limits to gross negligence the liability of persons who without compensation transport by air in interstate commerce human transplant organs.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Employee Educational Assistance Act of 1989 - Repeals provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that: (1) terminated the income tax exclusion of amounts paid under employee educational assistance programs as of tax year 1989; and (2) deny benefits in connection with graduate work.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) every effort should be undertaken to bring those responsible for the bombing of Pan American flight 103 to justice; and (2) steps should be taken to ensure the future safety of airline passengers.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1989
Holloway-Schulze Toddler Tax Credit Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the custodial parent a refundable income tax credit for each dependent child under the age of six (five in 1990 through 1993). Establishes the credit amount as the lesser of $1,000 or 12 percent of income below $10,000 for a single qualified dependent. Limits application of the credit to two eligible dependents. Reduces the credit for taxpayers earning more than $10,000. Makes this credit and the employment-related dependent care credit mutually exclusive. Applies phase-in amounts for tax years beginning in 1990 through 1993. Indexes post-1994 credit amounts. Provides for advance toddler tax credit payments by employers to employees who provide certification of eligibility. Requires taxpayers to file information returns to reflect these payments. Reduces the amount of the employment-related dependent care credit for taxpayers with adjusted gross income above $50,000. Disallows application of the credit with respect to a taxpayer's dependent under age 13 who is physically and mentally capable of self-care. Repeals the income tax exclusion applied in connection with amounts furnished to an employee in accordance with an employer dependent care assistance program.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1989
Authorizes the Raoul Wallenberg Tribute Committee to establish a work to honor Raoul Wallenberg on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs. Prohibits the United States from paying any expense of the establishment of the work.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should: (1) give the highest priority to fully accounting for the Americans still missing in Southeast Asia and to negotiating the return of Americans still held captive; (2) maintain an ongoing dialogue with Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao officials so that the prisoners of war issue may be resolved; (3) continue joint field investigations with such officials; and (4) heighten public awareness of the prisoners of war issue through the dissemination of factual data.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1989
Recycling Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require all paper and paper products procured by Federal and State agencies and certain businesses under contract with Federal agencies to be composed of the highest percentage practicable of recovered materials. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to prepare guidelines for the implementation of such requirement. Requires each procuring agency that enters into a construction contract to give preference to the contractor that proposes to use the highest percentage of recovered materials in carrying out such contract, provided that such materials are of a reasonable price. Directs the Administrator to prepare guidelines to include minimum content standards for at least five items used in construction contracts that can be produced with recovered materials. Requires the Administrator to issue annual guidelines that specify standards for five additional items that may or may not be used in such contracts. Requires each Federal agency with office facilities of more than 35 office workers to carry out a recovery program of newsprint and corrugated and high-grade paper. Requires such materials to be separated at the source of generation, separately collected, sold for the purpose of recycling or used by the Government. Authorizes funds received from such sales to be retained by the agency that generated the sold item. Prohibits any State or municipality from receiving any form of Federal assistance in connection with facilities for the processing, separation, resource recovery, or reduction of solid waste unless the Administrator certifies that such State or municipality has implemented and met the targets for a program: (1) for the collection, separation, and processing of recyclable materials which provides for graduated increases in the amount of waste stream to be made available to markets for recovered materials; and (2) that requires preferences for the procurement of goods containing recovered materials. Sets forth additional requirements for State solid waste disposal plans, including: (1) the separation, collection, and recycling of tires, lead-acid batteries, and major household appliances; and (2) the separation, collection, and safe disposal of household hazardous wastes. Authorizes the Administrator to provide low-interest loans or loan guarantees for constructing and operating facilities and equipment for the collection, separation, or processing of recyclable materials. Permits the Administrator to provide technical assistance and grants to State and local governments for recycling and waste reduction programs. Authorizes appropriations. Requires all paper and paper products, effective five years after this Act's enactment, to contain the minimum percentage of recovered materials specified by the Administrator under the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Extends the date by which the Secretary of Commerce is required to take actions regarding the development of markets for recovered materials. Requires the Secretary, no later than six months after this Act's enactment, to develop a program to promote the selling of recyclable solid waste from the United States in international markets. Requires manufacturers of plastic items or packaging to label such items to indicate the type of plastic used in such materials. Prohibits any plastic, effective one year after the promulgation of regulations regarding this section, from containing, or being manufactured in a process that uses, chlorofluorocarbons. Directs the EPA Inspector General to report annually to the Congress on compliance with this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1989
Coast Guard License Verification Act - Amends the National Driver Register Act of 1982 to authorize applicants for new and renewed merchant seamen licenses and certificates of registry to serve on or operate a commercial vessel to request the chief State driver licensing official to transmit to the Commandant of the Coast Guard information regarding such applicants' motor vehicle driving records. Prescribes the use of such information by the Commandant. Precludes access to information that was entered more than three years before the date of request unless it relates to revocations or suspensions which are still in effect on the date of request. Directs the Commandant to initiate a rulemaking to require each applicant to make available to the Commandant information regarding the motor vehicle driving record of the applicant.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an individual taxpayer who files a timely return to elect to pay part or all of his or her income tax liability in three equal installments. Makes the entire amount of unpaid tax due and payable upon the notice and demand of the Secretary of the Treasury when an installment is not timely paid. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into a written agreement with a taxpayer under which the taxpayer may pay any tax liability in installments when the Secretary determines that the agreement will facilitate collection of the tax.
![Official portrait of Rep. Walsh, James T. [R-NY-25]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/w000099_200.jpg)