United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Federal Reserve Reform Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Reserve Act to require the Federal Open Market Committee to consult with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers during a specified period preceding the President's submission of the budget. Directs the President to appoint, with the advice and consent of the Senate, the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board). Mandates that any change in the intermediate targets for monetary policy adopted by the Federal Open Market Committee shall be publicly disclosed on the date of its adoption. Prohibits the Comptroller General from auditing written communications among members of the Board including Federal Reserve System personnel with respect to transactions with a foreign central bank, foreign government, or nonprivate international financing organization. Mandates that the estimated receipts and proposed expenditures of the Board and all Federal Reserve Banks be transmitted by the President (without change) with the budget submitted to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Directs the heads of Federal departments or agencies which hold or receive records and information which have or could possibly have been correlated to U.S. personnel listed as prisoners of war or missing in action after 1940, including from World War II and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, to publicly disclose such records and information, except where such disclosure would compromise national security. Requires the Department of Defense to publicly disclose a complete list of such personnel including those killed in action (body not returned) with each service member's current classification as well as any changes in such classification occurring during or after such hostilities.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1991
Nursing Home Access to Respiratory Therapy Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to include respiratory therapy within covered extended care services.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1991
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to design and strike a silver commemorative medal for members of the U.S. armed forces who serve in a combat zone in connection with the Persian Gulf conflict.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Construction Safety, Health, and Education Improvement Act of 1991 - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (the Act) to establish in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) an Office of Construction Safety, Health, and Education (the Office) to ensure safe and healthy working conditions in the performance of construction work. Directs the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to: (1) develop mandatory standards for construction safety and health plans and programs established under this Act; (2) assume control of a construction site to both prevent the destruction of any evidence that would assist in the investigation of a fatality, serious injury, or incident, (unless it must be moved or destroyed as a part of rescue operations) and monitor the rescue operations conducted in response to the incident; (3) assist the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health in developing training courses and curriculum for the training of OSHA inspectors and other OSHA employees with duties related to construction safety; (4) advise and consult with construction employer associations, construction employers, construction employees, and labor organizations as to effective means of preventing fatalities and serious injuries in construction work; (5) increase awareness of construction site safety through education, training, and outreach programs; (6) identify construction employers who have high frequency rates of fatalities or serious injuries or patterns of noncompliance with health and safety standards; and (7) carry out specified duties for construction worksite inspections, investigations, reporting, and recordkeeping and for construction safety and health plans and programs. Establishes within OSHA the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Construction who is to: (1) be appointed by the Secretary; (2) coordinate Office activities with those of other offices and directorates within OSHA as they relate to safety, health, and education in the construction industry; and (3) coordinate the activities and advice of the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health with all OSHA activities relating to such matters, ensuring that the Advisory Committee performs its functions under the Act and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act. Directs the Secretary, with the advice of the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health, to determine the necessary qualifications and training for OSHA inspectors, including: (1) full understanding of the Act and the Secretary's standards and regulations for the construction industry; and (2) at least five years' experience working in the construction industry. Establishes requirements for construction safety and health plans and programs. Requires designation of a project constructor (the constructor) in construction project documents by the construction owner for every construction project covered by the Act. Gives the constructor: (1) responsibility for supervising and controlling all construction work on the worksite; and (2) overall responsibility for the safety and health of all construction employees at the construction worksite, and for performing constructor duties set out in the Act and regulations issued under it. Considers the construction owner as the project constructor if such owner does not designate a constructor. Directs the constructor for a worksite to establish and implement: (1) written safety and health plans by constructors, including the project safety and health programs of construction employers involved in the project; (2) hazard analyses that identify the potential for and provide instructions to prevent hazards in the construction process; and (3) construction process plans that include means to ensure worksite structural stability and worksite inspections. Requires that: (1) constructors designate project safety coordinators (coordinators) for construction projects and notify construction employers of their identity (although such coordinators may not be assigned overall responsibility for project safety); and (2) coordinators, on behalf of constructors, adequately monitor safety at construction sites, prepare project safety and health plans before construction commencement, and ensure construction employers' compliance with reporting requirements. Requires safety and health plans to provide for permit systems under which constructors authorize employers to engage in operations determined to pose a risk of death or serious injury (covered operations). Requires covered operations to include: (1) construction of trenches and excavations; (2) erection and dismantling of scaffolding; (3) demolition of any building or structure; (4) operation of cranes and derricks; (5) operations requiring employees to enter confined or enclosed spaces; (6) operations involving exposure to asbestos and other toxic materials; and (7) other operations designated by the Secretary. Requires constructors, in issuing such permits, to ensure that employers: (1) know of and show intent to comply with requirements of the Act and standards and regulations issued by the Secretary; and (2) have developed safety and health programs that adequately address the hazards of the covered operation. Requires construction employers (employers) involved in construction project worksites to develop and implement project safety programs commensurate with the scope of the work. Requires such programs to require: (1) employers to appoint one competent person for each project to be responsible for general program administration; (2) a competent person to be at each worksite at all times that employers are engaged in construction work; (3) competent persons to inspect worksites frequently and take all necessary actions to eliminate hazards, including work stoppage or removal of affected employees if necessary; (4) provision of prescribed general health and safety training for construction employees; (5) adequate worksite instruction in the recognition of unsafe and unhealthy conditions, applicable standards and regulations, use of construction worksite equipment, and the handling of toxic and harmful substances; (6) emergency evacuation plans, inspection procedures, reporting of incidents, regular safety meetings, and monitoring procedures; (7) a procedure for employees and employee representatives to obtain an immediate inspection or a written evaluation, or both, of a perceived hazardous condition or harmful substance by a qualified person at any time in the construction process; (8) upon determination that such condition or substance presents an imminent danger, for the project constructor to stop work at, or remove affected employees from, the area in which such danger exists; and (9) other requirements, including procedures for monitoring, notification, and safety meetings. Sets forth procedures for emergency waivers of such requirements under specified conditions. Exempts any construction worksite with only one employer and ten or fewer employees from requirements for construction safety and health plans and programs, unless the construction worksite is one at which one of the specified covered operations (under the permit system) occurs. Provides for inspections, investigations, reporting, and recordkeeping. Requires project constructors to submit, before construction work commences, specified types of information necessary for the Secretary to develop and conduct a system of prioritized inspections. Directs the Secretary to establish an effective system for construction worksite inspections. Requires such system to give priority to concentration of enforcement resources on construction worksites and operations with a high potential for fatalities or serious injuries, giving due weight to: (1) employers' and owners' worksite compliance records; and (2) frequency and severity rates of fatalities, serious injuries, and incidents attributable to particular owners and employers and particular types of construction projects, worksites, and operations. Prohibits such priority system from limiting: (1) inspections based on complaints by construction employees on their representatives or complaints of imminent dangers; or (2) inspections following up prior enforcement actions or proceedings. Prohibits the Secretary from excluding from construction worksite inspections any construction owner or employer. Requires project constructors to make and maintain accurate records concerning fatalities, serious injuries, and incidents at a worksite. Requires project constructors to report to the Secretary by telephone or telegraph, within four hours after its occurrence, any incident involving construction work that results in: (1) a serious injury; (2) a fatality; or (3) a structural failure. Requires such reports to specify certain information. Directs the Secretary to conduct site inspections to investigate all such reports of incidents, as the Secretary prescribes. Requires such inspections as soon as practicable or at least within 24 hours after receipt of the telephone or telegraph report, unless site conditions would make inspection dangerous. Requires the project constructor to prevent destruction of evidence. Directs the Secretary to make public a narrative description of the occurrence. Requires the project constructor, at project completion or at one-year intervals during the project, to report to the Secretary all fatalities and serious injuries and all structural failures. Requires such report to provide specified information. Grants the Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health specified powers to carry out its functions under the Act and under the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act. Limits the terms of members of such Committee. Directs the Secretary to respond in writing within 60 days to any recommendation made by a majority of members of such Committee. Requires any State construction safety and health plan to comply with specified requirements for State plans under the Act and to provide for development and enforcement of requirements at least as effective as those imposed by the Act and the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States for administering and enforcing this Act. Sets forth formulas for determining the Federal share of such grants. Directs the Secretary to report to the President and the Congress: (1) annually on certain general subjects as these relate to the construction industry, including the operation of the Office; and (2) within 120 days after three years of Office operation, on whether specified relevant information supports the continued existence of the Office within OSHA or supports enactment of legislation to establish in the Department of Labor a Construction Industry Safety and Health Administration to be headed by an Assistant Secretary of Labor for Construction Safety and Health.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Mobility Assistance Act of 1991 - Redesignates the Urban Mass Transportation Administration of the Department of Transportation as the Federal Public Transportation Administration. Amends the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 to increase from 8.64 percent to ten percent the amount allocated from block grants for mass transportation projects in urban areas with a population of less than 200,000. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to make grants and loans to eligible entities in urbanized and non-urbanized areas for special mobility assistance transportation projects to meet the needs of the elderly and handicapped. Declares that nothing shall prohibit the leasing of vehicles to local public bodies or agencies to meet the special needs of elderly and disabled passengers. Authorizes the Secretary, based upon a specified formula, to increase the Federal share for construction costs associated with public transportation projects in non-urbanized areas. Limits Mass Transit Account Block Grants for public transportation construction projects in non-urbanized areas. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the apportionment of such funds for State Initiative Block Grants based upon a specified formula to determine entitlement. Prohibits the Federal share for construction projects under this program from exceeding: (1) 80 percent of construction costs; or (2) 50 percent of operating costs for the payment of operating subsidies.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Indoor Air Quality Act of 1991 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a national research, development, and demonstration program to ensure the quality of indoor air and to coordinate and accelerate efforts related to the causes, detection, and correction of contaminated air. Authorizes the Administrator to assist technology demonstration projects which reduce exposure to indoor air contaminants, provided certain conditions are met. Limits Federal funding for such projects to 75 percent of the total costs. Directs the Administrator to consider indoor human exposure to contaminants when developing air quality standards and emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. Requires the Administrator to: (1) conduct a national assessment to survey the seriousness and extent of indoor air contamination in buildings owned by local educational agencies and child care facilities; and (2) establish an advisory group of interested parties to provide guidance and direction in developing such assessment. Directs the Administrator to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology to study and report to the Congress on chemical sensitivity disorders. Requires the Administrator to enter into an agreement with the NAS for the Institute of Medicine to study indoor allergens. Directs the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on the sources of lead exposure for children with blood lead levels greater than 10 micrograms per deciliter. Requires the Administrator and the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to conduct research on indoor air quality in nonresidential, nonindustrial buildings that comply with generally accepted principles of design, maintenance, and operation of ventilation, filtration, and other building systems. Directs the Administrator to publish bulletins providing an assessment of technologies and management practices for the control and measurement of indoor air contaminants. Requires the Director to develop a model indoor air quality training course to provide training in ventilation system operation and maintenance and in identifying and reducing indoor air contaminant exposures. Authorizes the Director to establish a fee for such training. Requires the Administrator to publish health advisories on indoor air contaminants that are known to occur at concentrations which may have adverse human health effects. Provides for the revision of advisories at least every five years. Requires a technology and management practice bulletin to be published concurrently with each advisory addressing a specific contaminant. Directs the Administrator to publish a strategy for a national response to indoor air quality problems. Requires the Administrator to conduct research on radon and radon progeny measurement methods and protocols. Directs the Administrator to issue guidance documents that: (1) provide information on the results of such research; and (2) describe model State radon measurement and mitigation. Requires the Administrator to establish a mandatory program that requires: (1) products offered for sale, or devices used in connection with public services, for radon measurement to meet minimum performance criteria; and (2) operators of devices, or persons employing techniques, used in connection with public services for radon measurement to meet minimum proficiency levels. Directs the Administrator to establish user fees for persons seeking certification under such program. Provides for the deposit of such fees into a Radon Service Account. Requires the national indoor air quality response strategy to evaluate: (1) the range and reliability of indoor air quality diagnostic and mitigation services; and (2) the range of knowledge and mastery of indoor air quality and energy efficiency techniques of ventilation system operators. Provides for the biennial update of such strategy. Requires the Director to: (1) develop a program to evaluate indoor air contamination in Federal buildings; and (2) develop and disseminate to all Federal agencies a model indoor air quality remediation program. Directs Federal agencies responsible for Federal buildings to submit to the Director a specific remediation program for each building, with priority given to buildings based on the health threat and numbers of persons exposed. Requires the Director to review at least five percent of such programs and assess their ability to improve indoor air quality. Directs such agencies to implement systematic programs for the assessment of indoor air quality and the correction of conditions resulting in inadequate air quality. Requires Federal agencies responsible for the design and construction of buildings for Federal occupancy to employ up-to-date design, commissioning, and operating practices for optimal indoor air quality and energy efficiency. Directs persons entering into new leases or lease renewal contracts for Federal buildings to require building owners to demonstrate and guarantee that the building is operating at design specifications for the existing ventilation system and that all portions of the building are accessible for indoor air quality monitoring and evaluation. Provides that buildings that operate at current ventilation rate standards shall be given priority for leasing when available at competitive cost. Requires Federal agencies to designate an Indoor Air Quality Coordinator for each Federal building. Directs Coordinators and their assistants to complete an indoor air training course. Authorizes grants to: (1) States for the development and implementation of indoor air quality management strategies; and (2) States and local air pollution control agencies for air quality response programs. Sets forth grant limitations and selection criteria. Directs the Administrator to establish the Office of Indoor Air Quality within the EPA Office of Air and Radiation. Establishes a Council on Indoor Air Quality to coordinate Federal indoor air quality activities and review and comment on the national indoor air response strategy. Requires the Indoor Air Panel of the EPA Science Advisory Board to be expanded to include technical advisors with expertise in technologies and management practices for the control and measurement of indoor air contaminants. Directs the Administrator to establish a national indoor air quality clearinghouse which shall operate a toll-free hotline on indoor air quality. Requires the Director to implement a Building Assessment Demonstration Program to support the development of methods, techniques, and protocols for assessing indoor air contamination in non-residential, non-industrial buildings and to provide contamination reduction assistance and guidance to building owners and occupants. Sets forth building assessment report requirements. Requires public or commercial buildings receiving permits for construction or renovation to maintain and operate a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system designed to provide a minimum of: (1) 20 cubic feet per minute of outdoor air per occupant to all occupied space in such building; and (2) 60 cubic feet per minute of outdoor air per smoking occupant to rooms where smoking is permitted. Prohibits exhaust air from a room where smoking is permitted from being returned to the general ventilation system. Sets forth recordkeeping requirements with respect to such systems. Directs the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to enforce compliance with such requirements. Prescribes civil and criminal penalties for violations of such requirements. Requires the Administrator to evaluate the need for additional standards related to the level of specific indoor air contaminants present in such buildings to supplement such requirements. Directs the Administrator to issue regulations which: (1) establish standard methods for the measurement and description of indoor air contaminant emissions; (2) identify products that pose significant human health threats through such emissions; and (3) require products that do pose such a threat to be labeled or accompanied by written material informing consumers and commercial purchasers of the indoor air contaminant emissions rate of such products. Makes it unlawful to sell or import into the United States any product which: (1) does not have such a label or written material; or (2) has a label or material containing false information. Requires the Administrator to educate consumers and commercial purchasers about the labeling of such products. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) determine whether standards on workplace indoor air quality are necessary to protect the health and safety of employees; and (2) issue a final standard, as necessary. Repeals the Radon Gas and Indoor Air Quality Research Act of 1986. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Vehicular Natural Gas Jurisdiction Act of 1991 - Declares that for purposes of the Natural Gas Act: (1) natural gas for ultimate use in a motor vehicle fuel (VNG) shall be deemed to be "ultimately consumed" within the State in which physical delivery of such VNG occurs, whether or not physical combustion occurs in another State; (2) a certification from a State commission to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that it has regulatory jurisdiction over the rates, services and facilities of a person (who receives natural gas from another person within or at the boundary of a State which is ultimately consumed within such State) and is exercising such jurisdiction shall constitute conclusive evidence of such jurisdiction; (3) in the case of a sale for resale of VNG by the holder of a service area determination such holder shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the State commission in the State which physical delivery of VNG occurs; (4) in the case of VNG transportation by such holder, the VNG shall be deemed to be "consumed" within the State in which physical delivery occurs; and (5) in the case of both sale for resale of VNG, or VNG transportation, by a holder of a service area determination, such holder shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the State commission of the State in which such sale for resale or transportation occurs.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Environmental Tax Credit Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for a three-year credit period for a percentage of the investment in acid rain control property installed to comply with sulfur dioxide emission limitations under the Clean Air Act. Allows the use of tax-exempt facility bonds to finance acid rain control property. Allows a business credit for a percentage of the expenditures incurred for coal cleaning minerals used to remove or reduce the sulfur content of coal. Excludes from gross income the value of clean air allowances allocated to the taxpayer under the Clean Air Act. Allows a 60-month amortization of acid rain control property.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend the period during which qualified mortgage bonds and mortgage credit certificates may be issued.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1991
Telephone Slamming Prohibition Act of 1991 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to regulate the submission of changes in customers' selections of a primary interexchange carrier (carrier). Requires any carrier that solicits a change in a customer's selection of a carrier to: (1) identify the carrier making the solicitation; (2) state that the purpose of the solicitation is to solicit a change of carrier and that the customer's carrier may not be changed unless and until the sale is confirmed; (3) describe any charge for processing the change that may be imposed by the customer's local exchange carrier; and (4) identify and describe the confirmation that the customer has authorized such change. Bars any interexchange carrier from submitting a carrier change order (other than a customer-initiated carrier change) to a local exchange carrier unless and until it has obtained confirmation of the order. Makes such confirmation ineffective unless: (1) the confirmation is solicited more than 24 hours after the carrier obtains from the customer the initial authorization to submit the change; (2) the carrier provides to the customer an explanation of what occurs when a carrier is changed; (3) the carrier verifies the customer's billing name, address, and each telephone number to be covered by the change order and informs the customer of the amount of and method for collecting the change fee; and (4) the customer verifies the authorization of the change. Sets forth methods for obtaining an effective confirmation of the change, such as by customer signature, by electronic confirmation (as specified), or by an independent third party operating in a location physically separate from the telemarketing representatives of the interexchange carrier obtaining confirmation of the change order. Sets forth recordkeeping requirements by the interexchange carrier, including a provision for inspection by the FCC and the Comptroller General of copies of written contracts with independent third parties used to obtain confirmations. Requires the FCC to prescribe: (1) auditing procedures to ensure compliance with the disclosure and confirmation provisions of this Act; and (2) regulations prohibiting interexchange carriers from engaging in fraudulent or misleading practices with respect to activities soliciting carrier changes, including such procedures as the FCC may require to verify compliance with such regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1991
Long Distance Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 - Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to submit to the Congress a report on its efforts to prevent unauthorized changes in telephone customer selections of long distance carriers, including: (1) an analysis of the procedures established for customer selection of long distance carriers and any defects in such procedures which permit fraudulent changes in such selections; (2) a description of the extent to which such unauthorized changes have occurred; (3) a statement of the remedies which the FCC has applied to abate and prevent such occurrences; and (4) an explanation of the failure by the FCC to conduct and complete rulemaking procedures to implement requirements that will abate and prevent such occurrences. Directs the FCC to prescribe regulations to require local exchange carriers to submit periodic reports (carrier reports) to the FCC on customer complaints alleging fraudulent changes in customer selections, including: (1) the total number of customer complaints alleging cases of unauthorized switching practices, listed by State and zip code, and identified by long distance telephone carrier; (2) the names and addresses of such long distance carriers, or their sales or marketing representatives, which engage in unauthorized switching practices; (3) a description of the false, misleading, or deceptive sales and marketing techniques made in an attempt to induce long distance telephone customers to change their long distance telephone carrier; (4) an estimate of total damages incurred by such customers from false, misleading, or deceptive sales and marketing practices; and (5) the corrective methods taken by such long distance carriers to avoid fraudulent activities. Requires the FCC to annually submit to the Congress a summary and analysis of carrier reports submitted to it.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Volunteer Protection Act of 1991 - Prescribes circumstances under which volunteers working for nonprofit organizations or government entities shall be immune from personal financial liability for acts on behalf of the organization or entity. Sets forth exceptions and conditions that a State may impose on the granting of such immunity. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to increase by one percent the fiscal year allotment which would otherwise be made to a State to carry out the Social Services Block Grant Program under title XX of the Social Security Act if such State has, within two years, certified to the Secretary that it has enacted a State law which provides such immunity. Provides for the continuation of such increase based on an annual recertification.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Veterans PTSD Treatment and Psychological Readjustment Act of 1991 - States that it shall be the policy of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to implement the recommendations of the Chief Medical Director's (CMD) Special Committee on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder to establish and operate specialized inpatient post-traumatic stress disorder units (SIPUs) at Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers. Requires such facilities and services to be available to all eligible veterans, including veterans of the Persian Gulf conflict. Requires the Secretary to gradually increase the number of SIPUs in order to meet a total increase of not less than 30 units by December 31, 1994. Requires the Secretary to direct the Special Committee to identify areas of the country in which there are significant needs for expanding the Vet Center program. Directs the Special Committee to present a list of not less than 40 areas as candidates for new Vet Centers to the Readjustment Counseling Service of the Department no later than September 30, 1991. Requires the Counseling Service to gradually increase the number of existing Vet Centers in order to meet a total increase of not less than 40 by December 31, 1994. Directs the Advisory Committee on Readjustment of Veterans (established under this Act) to prepare a report to be submitted to the Congress on recommendations to increase outreach efforts to veterans of the Vietnam era and thereafter with readjustment counseling needs. Expands eligibility under the Vet Center program to include veterans of the Persian Gulf conflict. Directs the Secretary to make facilities and services of the Vet Centers available to family members of military personnel assigned to duty in the Persian Gulf. Urges the Secretary to fill expeditiously Vet Center staff vacancies caused by reassignment to Department medical facilities in preparation for receipt of casualties from the Persian Gulf conflict. Directs the Secretary to establish the Advisory Committee and seek its advice with respect to: (1) the administration of Department benefits for veterans, particularly Vietnam and post-Vietnam era veterans; (2) reports and studies pertaining to veterans, particularly Vietnam and post-vietnam era veterans; and (3) the needs of all veterans with respect to compensation, health care, readjustment, outreach, and other benefits and programs administered by the Department. Requires the Advisory Committee to report annually to the Secretary pertaining to the social, economic, educational, and psychological readjustment of veterans. Requires the Secretary to submit such reports to the Congress, along with comments and recommendations. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct a pilot program to contract for care and treatment and rehabilitative services in halfway houses, therapeutic communities, psychiatric residential treatment centers, and other community-based treatment facilities for eligible veterans suffering from PTSD. Requires the CMD to plan, design, and conduct such program. Requires the Secretary to approve the quality and effectiveness of a program operated by a contract facility before allowing veterans to be furnished treatment there under the pilot program. Directs the Secretary to: (1) urge all public and private entities to provide appropriate employment and training opportunities to veterans who have been provided treatment and rehabilitative services under this Act for PTSD and who have been determined to be sufficiently rehabilitated to be employable; and (2) provide all possible assistance to the Secretary of Labor in placing such veterans in such opportunities. Requires the Secretary to provide referral services and advice to veterans discharged or released from active service who are not eligible for PTSD treatment and services. Limits participation in the PTSD pilot program to 500 eligible individuals. Directs the Secretary to report to the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees on the operation of the pilot program through FY 1994. Terminates the pilot program after five years of operation. Directs the Special Committee to examine the effectiveness of contracts for the treatment of PTSD with private facilities and therapists. Requires the Special Committee to report its findings and recommendations to the veterans' committees. Requires the Secretary, in administering the Health Professionals Educational Assistance Program, to encourage the participation of individuals who desire to become psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, and other professionals specializing in the treatment of PTSD. Directs the CMD to conduct research programs to consider the most effective treatment for PTSD and the effectiveness of involving the family in the treatment of PTSD and to report his findings to the veterans' committees. Requires such research to be conducted through the National Center on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, with consultation from the Special Committee and the Advisory Committee. States that it shall be the policy of the Secretary to implement the recommendations of the Special Committee to establish and operate post-traumatic stress disorder clinical teams (PCTs) at Department medical centers that provide mental health services. Requires such services to be available to all veterans, including veterans of the Persian Gulf conflict. Directs the Secretary to increase the number of PCTs by 50 units by the end of calendar year 1994. Requires the Secretary, in establishing such new PCTs, to give priority to locations that do not have a SIPU or an affiliated Vet Center. Requires the Secretary to direct the Special Committee to assess the capacity of the Department to provide treatment for PTSD. Requires the Special Committee to report its findings to the Secretary, to be forwarded to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Lead Battery Recycling Incentives Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate regulations for persons who generate, transport, store, recycle, or dispose of spent lead-acid batteries. Requires the Administrator, in developing such regulations, to conduct an analysis of the economic impact of the regulations on the recycling industry. Sets forth required elements of such regulations, including specific requirements for: (1) the storage and transfer of batteries by generators; (2) recordkeeping by battery generators, transporters, and recyclers; and (3) management practices of recyclers. Directs battery retailers to accept from customers spent lead-acid batteries of the same type and quantity of the batteries sold. Requires transporters to acquire an identification number from the EPA or the State enforcing this Act. Directs the Administrator to implement education activities to inform the public about the environmental and safety hazards associated with improper handling and disposal of spent lead-acid batteries. Authorizes appropriations. Applies such requirements to batteries which are transported to or managed by a lead-acid battery recycling facility, a secondary lead smelter, or any facility that prepares batteries for recycling. Requires producers or importers of lead-acid batteries to recycle, for the ten-year period beginning 24 months after this Act's enactment, an amount of spent lead equal to at least the amount determined by multiplying the amount of lead in the batteries produced or imported by such persons by the recycling percentage established by the Administrator. Authorizes compliance with such requirement by: (1) reclaiming lead from such batteries and using it in the production of new batteries; (2) purchasing reclaimed lead from secondary lead smelters for purposes of producing new batteries or shielding; or (3) purchasing recycling credits. Directs producers or importers to report annually to the Administrator on the amount of virgin and secondary lead used in new lead-acid batteries produced or imported by such persons. Sets the recycling percentage at 80 percent. Increases such percentage by two points annually. Authorizes the Administrator to reduce or waive the two percent increase if the rate exceeds 95 percent. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations to allow: (1) producers of lead-acid batteries to create credits for recycling an amount of batteries greater than required; and (2) producers of new batteries to purchase such credits for purposes of complying with this Act. Sets forth minimum requirements for the credit system. Applies battery recycling requirements to persons who produce or import more than 10,000 pounds of new lead-acid batteries annually. Sets the recycling percentage at 90 percent if the Administrator fails to promulgate recycling regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Oil Recycling Incentives Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from identifying used oil or affiliated materials as hazardous wastes under the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Defines "affiliated materials" as used oil filters and any materials used for cleaning up after changing oil that are contaminated with used oil. Provides that any fuel derived from used oil that does not meet used oil specifications established by the Administrator and would otherwise be identified as a hazardous waste shall be deemed to be a hazardous waste. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations for persons who generate, store, transport, recycle, or dispose of used oil. Requires the Administrator, in developing such regulations, to conduct an analysis of the economic impact of such regulations on the used oil recycling industry. Provides that regulations for used oil generators shall: (1) prohibit the storage of used oil in an underground storage tank unless such tank meets requirements under this Act; (2) prohibit the storage of used oil for more than 12 months; (3) require generators to transfer such oil to specified permitted used oil recycling or disposal facilities or transporters; and (4) require generators to keep specified records on such oil. Requires used oil transporter regulations to provide that such transporters: (1) acquire identification numbers from EPA; (2) meet applicable financial responsibility requirements; and (3) keep specified records. Includes intermediate storage requirements in transporter regulations. Provides that used oil recycler regulations shall require recyclers to: (1) keep specified records; (2) test fuel produced from the recycling process before departure from the facility; and (3) obtain certain permits. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations for exempt refineries that recycle used oil as necessary to protect human health and the environment. Sets forth minimum requirements for such regulations. Requires used oil disposal and affiliated material regulations to prohibit mixing used oil with any hazardous waste identified under the Solid Waste Disposal Act unless the mixture is stored, treated, or disposed of at a permitted facility. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations requiring owners or operators of new and existing recycling facilities to have class permits. Sets forth permit requirements. Provides for annual inspections of such facilities to assure permit compliance. Sets forth requirements for interim class permits. Exempts from permit requirements: (1) facilities which refine at least 10,000 barrels daily of crude oil into petroleum products, are classified as S.I.C. number 2911 (pursuant to the Office of Management and Budget Standard Classification Manual) facilities, and at which the amount of refined used oil is equal to no more than the amount of used oil that the owner is required to recycle and the used oil contains less than a specified amount of halogens; and (2) facilities which compound or blend lubricating base oil into finished lubricant products as their principal activity, are classified as S.I.C. number 2899 or 2992 facilities, and whose volume of used oil compounded or blended into such products is no more than ten percent of the lubricating base oil compounded or blended annually. Exempts from used oil regulation requirements on-site activities at facilities classified as S.I.C. number 4911 facilities. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations governing such facilities. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations establishing specification standards for fuel derived from used oil to be burned in furnaces and boilers. Sets forth requirements to be effective if the Administrator fails to promulgate used oil regulations by the applicable deadline. Requires the Administrator to implement education programs to inform the public and small businesses about the environmental and safety hazards associated with improper handling and disposal of used oil and the benefits derived from used oil recycling. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth labeling requirements for oil packages and oil filters to encourage the return of used oil to collection centers. Requires States to develop plans for making information available to the public about recycling of used oil and oil filters. Directs the Administrator to establish a toll-free telephone line to give out information about State used oil recycling programs. Requires producers or importers of lubricating oil to recycle for a period of ten years an amount of used oil equal to at least the amount determined by multiplying the amount of lubricating oil produced or imported that year by such persons by the recycling percentage established by the Administrator. Authorizes such individuals to comply with this Act by: (1) recycling (through re-refining) used oil or purchasing re-refined oil for purposes of producing lubricating oil; or (2) purchasing recycling credits under this Act. Requires producers and importers to report annually to the Administrator on the amount of oil produced or imported by such persons. Requires a producer or importer to be treated as having recycled two units of used oil for each unit of re-refined oil or lubricant base stock purchased. Directs the Administrator to establish a recycling percentage that is two points higher than the existing recycling rate for lubricating oil. Provides for increases in such percentage of two points annually for ten years. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations allowing recyclers to create credits for used oil recycling and producers or importers of lubricating oil to purchase such credits. Provides that such regulations shall require: (1) specified records to be kept by recyclers and by importers or producers; and (2) recyclers to sell or distribute in commerce such oil as specification used oil, off-specification used oil, industrial specification used oil, or re-refined oil. Directs the Administrator to report to the Congress on such regulations and to include: (1) a discussion of the effects of such regulations on the oil industry and the environment; and (2) an evaluation of the level of the recycling percentage and whether such percentage should be increased in future years. Requires an updated version of such report to be submitted within ten years of this Act's enactment. Applies recycling requirements to persons who import or produce more than 100,000 gallons of lubricating oil annually. Sets the recycling percentage at 40 percent if the Administrator fails to promulgate such regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Nontraditional Employment for Women Act - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (the Act) to define "nontraditional employment", as applied to women, to refer to occupations or fields of work where women comprise less than 25 percent of the individuals employed. Requires service delivery area (SDA) job training plans to include: (1) goals for the training of women in nontraditional employment and the training-related placement of women in nontraditional employment and apprenticeship; (2) a description of efforts to be undertaken to accomplish such goals, including efforts to increase awareness of such training and placement opportunities; and (3) procedures for annual reporting of the extent to which the SDA has met such goals and of a statistical breakdown of women trained and placed in nontraditional occupations, including specified types of information. Requires the State Governor's coordination and special services plan to include such goals and descriptions of efforts for training and placement of women in nontraditional employment under the Act and the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act. Directs the State job training coordinating council to: (1) review, summarize, and annually disseminate the results of SDAs' and Governor's efforts to train and place women in nontraditional employment; and (2) obtain from the sex equity coordinator under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act a summary of activities and an analysis of results under that Act and disseminate such summary annually. Requires State education coordination grant recipients to provide statewide coordinated approaches, including model programs, to train, place, and retain women in nontraditional employment. Allows the use of funds under title II (Training Services for the Disadvantaged) for outreach activities relating to education, training, work experience, and retention of women in nontraditional employment. Directs the Secretary of Labor to use a specified portion of funds for national activities under the Act for FY 1992 through 1995 to make grants to States to develop demonstration and exemplary programs to train and place women in nontraditional employment. Limits such grants to no more than six per fiscal year. Allows States receiving such assistance to award grants to service providers and SDAs under specified conditions. Directs the Secretary of Labor to report, with recommendations, to the Congress within five years on the extent of success of States and SDAs, and the effectiveness of such demonstration programs, in training, placing, and retaining women in nontraditional employment. Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to mean that the Congress is taking a position on the issue of comparable worth. Provides that failure to meet the goals in this Act shall not itself constitute a violation of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or any other Federal law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, or age.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to permit alternative methods to testing for qualifying "ability-to-benefit" students for Federal student financial aid. Restores certain options (involving receiving a general education diploma (GED) or certain counseling and remedial or developmental education, or involving a State determination process) for the qualification of ability-to-benefit students. Continues the testing requirement for such students at proprietary institutions (as mandated by the Student Default Initiative Act of 1990). Separates institutional eligibility requirements under student aid programs from compliance with ability-to-benefit provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Elementary School Counseling Demonstration Act - Authorizes appropriations for the Secretary of Education to make demonstration grants to local education agencies to establish effective and innovative elementary school counseling programs that can serve as national models. Directs the Secretary to establish an Office of School Counseling, headed by a Director, in the Department of Education.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Comprehensive Recycling Act of 1991 - Establishes as national goals: (1) the recycling of municipal waste; and (2) the creation and strengthening of markets for recycled materials. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to provide technical assistance and guidance to States on recycling methods and opportunities. Directs States to develop and implement comprehensive multimaterial recycling programs. Requires such programs to be designed to provide at least 20 percent of a State's population with an opportunity to participate in such programs within two years of this Act's enactment. Provides that such programs must be available to an additional 20 percent of a State's population every two years, until the entire population is provided with such opportunity. Sets forth minimum program requirements. Deems a State or its municipalities to be in compliance with this Act if they have in place an alternative program that meets this Act's requirements. Requires States to include recycling programs in the regional solid waste plan required by the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Makes States with approved plans eligible for Federal assistance for recycling infrastructures. Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require the Administrator to make grants to States for the development of programs to promote the use of recycling techniques by businesses, local governments, or regional waste management authorities.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Newsprint Recycling Incentives Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require producers or importers of newsprint to recycle, through methods specified under this Act, an amount of newsprint equal to at least the amount determined by multiplying the amount of newsprint produced or imported annually by such individuals by the recycling percentage established by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Authorizes such individuals to comply with this Act by: (1) recycling (through deinking) newsprint; (2) purchasing recycled newsprint to combine with shipments of virgin newsprint; or (3) purchasing recycling credits under this Act. Requires the recycling percentage to be at least 20 percent. Provides for increases in such percentage of two points annually for the next ten years. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations to allow newsprint producers or importers to create or purchase recycling credits. Provides that such regulations shall require: (1) producers and importers to keep specified records; (2) producers of recycled newsprint to notify EPA of capacity to recycle old newsprint; (3) importers of recycled newsprint to notify the U.S. Customs Service of the amount of newsprint being imported and to have certifications of the accuracy of such amount from the trade representative of the country shipping such newsprint to the United States; and (4) producers and importers to report to the Administrator on the amount of recycled newsprint produced or imported annually and the number of credits purchased from, or sold to, other producers or importers. Directs the Administrator to report to the Congress on such regulations and to include: (1) a discussion of the effects of such regulations on the newsprint and newspaper industry and the environment; and (2) an evaluation of the level of the recycling percentage and whether such percentage should be increased in future years. Requires an updated report to be submitted within ten years of this Act's enactment. Applies recycling requirements to persons who produce or import more than ten tons of newsprint annually. Sets the recycling percentage at 20 percent if the Administrator fails to promulgate such regulations. Prescribes civil penalties for violations of this Act. Directs the Administrator to submit to the Congress and implement a plan for the recycling of post-consumer high grade paper. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Tire Recycling Incentives Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require tire producers or importers to recycle an amount of scrap tires equal to at least the amount determined by multiplying the amount of tires produced or imported that year by the recycling percentage established by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Authorizes compliance by: (1) recycling scrap tires through reintroducing the recovered rubber into a manufacturing process to produce new tires or retread old tire casings; or (2) purchasing recycling credits under this Act. Requires such individuals to report annually to the Administrator on the amount of tires produced or imported. Directs the Administrator to establish a recycling percentage that is five percentage points higher than the existing recycling rate for tires. Provides for increases in such percentage of five points annually in the ten years following the date of enactment of this Act. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations allowing recyclers to create credits for tire recycling and tire producers or importers to purchase such credits. Sets forth: (1) specified recordkeeping requirements for owners or operators of tire sale and installation facilities, scrap tire collection facilities, and tire producers and importers; and (2) the amount of credits allowed for scrap tires. Directs the Attorney General to determine the effects of the credit system on competition within the tire and scrap tire recycling industries and to report annually to the Congress. Sets the recycling percentage at 60 percent if the Administrator fails to promulgate regulations. Prescribes civil penalties for violations of recycling requirements. Considers a scrap tire recycling or disposal facility to be a solid waste disposal facility for purposes of Internal Revenue Code provisions concerning exempt facility bonds. Directs the Administrator to: (1) publish in the Federal Register minimum requirements for State scrap tire management and procedures under which such requirements shall be incorporated into State solid waste management plans; (2) provide for expedited review of State plans which include specified scrap tire recycling measures; and (3) establish standards to minimize health and environmental damages from the improper disposal and storage of tires. Requires such standards to provide for: (1) bans on the disposal of tires in land disposal facilities and on the intentional infliction of damage on tire casings to preclude casings from being used in retreading; (2) State inventories of scrap tire collection facilities, tire advisory boards, and scrap tire abatement plans; (3) agreements between facilities which distribute more than 1,000 tires annually and licensed tire haulers for the exclusive hauling of scrap tires by licensed haulers; and (4) prohibitions on the transportation of scrap tires by transporters without transportation identification numbers, with specified exceptions. Directs the Administrator to publish guidelines for States for the issuance of permits to scrap tire collection facilities. Provides for: (1) limits on the size of scrap tire piles at such facilities; (2) bans on open burning within 50 feet of a scrap tire pile; (3) regulations on vegetation, rodent, and mosquito control at such facilities; and (4) different requirements for collection facilities located in 100-year flood plains or other areas where water resources are critical. Requires the Administrator to promulgate guidelines for States for facility emergency plans. Directs facility owners or operators to maintain and update emergency preparedness manuals. Requires facility owners or operators to notify the State immediately in the event of an emergency with potential offsite impacts. Sets forth specified emergency and operational recordkeeping, reporting, and inspection requirements. Requires all regulated facilities to have appropriate financial responsibility or insurance to maintain the facility for at least five years after closure. Exempts specified persons from permitting requirements. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations for the State to use to issue permits to scrap tire recycling facilities. Requires the Secretary of the Interior, together with the heads of agencies responsible for public lands or military installations, to implement a plan to remediate tire piles. Applies plan requirements to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. Directs the Administrator to develop a guideline for procuring items that make use of scrap or used tires. Requires Federal departments, if the Administrator fails to promulgate such guideline, to procure items containing at least 75 percent of post-consumer scrap rubber from scrap tires if the rubber is available within a reasonable amount of time at a reasonable price and meets performance standards. Directs the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, to publish standards to determine the life-cycle costs and benefits of items that make use of rubber from scrap or used tires as compared with items that make use of rubber other than from scrap or used tires. Requires such standards to be used by Federal departments covered by the procurement guideline. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to determine and report to the Congress on: (1) direct worker environmental health effects relating to asphalt made from crumb rubber from scrap tires; (2) the recyclability of asphalt road surfaces made from crumb rubber from scrap tires; and (3) the estimated life of existing asphalt road surfaces made from crumb rubber from scrap tires. Permits States to: (1) enter into consent agreements with owners and operators of scrap tire collection facilities for proper management and abatement of scrap tires; and (2) levy fines on facilities for noncompliance. Imposes fines on tire facilities and landfills for specified violations of this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Waste Treatment Construction Grants Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize appropriations for FY 1992 through 1995 for waste treatment construction grants. Sets forth an allotment table for sums authorized for such fiscal years. Applies provisions concerning minimum allotments and additional appropriations to such fiscal years.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1991
National Guardianship Rights Act of 1991 - Grants the following rights to allegedly incapacitated individuals with respect to guardianship proceedings: (1) the nonwaivable right of prompt notice that includes specified required contents; (2) the right to a convenient forum; (3) the right to be present at all proceedings, unless disability prevents attendance; (4) the right to counsel; and (5) the right to an independent professional guardianship evaluation team of specified membership to examine the individual, report, and be available for cross examination during the guardianship proceedings. Requires dismissal of the guardianship action if the team determines the individual to be free of any incapacity. Grants the right to a jury in a guardianship proceeding, as well as the right to present evidence, call witnesses, and cross examine. Requires clear and convincing evidence that an individual is incapacitated and that no less restrictive form of intervention is available before a guardianship order may be issued. Discounts age as a basis for determining incapacity. Limits both the scope and duration of transfers of responsibility for the care and protection of an incapacitated person or the management of his or her estate to the minimum necessitated by the particular incapacity. Permits the individual to retain all rights not expressly transferred in the guardianship order. Dissolves the order if its justification ceases to exist. Grants to an incapacitated individual the right to a competent and trained guardian. Prohibits convicted felons from serving as guardians. Permits the right of appeal and the right to a prompt reconsideration of the determination of incapacity, the guardianship order, or the choice of guardian. Requires: (1) guardians to report to the court at least annually on the financial, mental, physical, and personal status of the incapacitated person; and (2) courts to investigate at least annually the well-being of persons protected under their guardianship orders. Directs States to submit to the Attorney General implementation plans indicating compliance with this Act. Describes procedures and timetables associated with these plans, including mandatory sanctions for States that fail to comply. Empowers the Attorney General to make grants to the States to enable compliance with this Act. Enumerates permitted grant uses. Describes application and selection procedures. Authorizes appropriations. Permits States to impose additional or more extensive protections that do not conflict with this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1991
Foreign Agents Compulsory Ethics in Trade Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit the President, the Vice President, certain high-level Federal officials and employees, certain high-ranking active-duty members of the uniformed services, and Members of Congress from representing or advising foreign principals on matters of direct and substantial U.S. interest during the four-year period after cessation of Federal employment. Requires the Attorney General to grant a waiver to such prohibition unless the proposed conduct could harm the national interests or create an undue appearance of conflict of interest. Authorizes the Attorney General, upon reason to believe that a person is engaging in conduct in violation of this Act, to petition the appropriate U.S. district court for an order prohibiting such conduct. Establishes civil and criminal penalties for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1991
Link-up for Learning Demonstration Grant Act - Establishes a program of grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) in partnership with other eligible entities for coordinated educational and other student support services for at-risk youth. Makes eligible to apply for such a grant: (1) an LEA that seeks to plan and implement a coordinated services program for at-risk students with at least one other cooperating public agency; and (2) a consortium, including at least one LEA and one cooperating public service agency, formed to coordinate support services for at-risk students. Allows nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, and private enterprises with experience or expertise in providing services for at-risk students also to participate as a cooperating agency with an LEA or consortium in developing, operating, or evaluating such programs. Makes an LEA that is receiving assistance under the Head Start Transition program also eligible for assistance under this Act if it meets certain criteria. Allows educationally deprived students, in chapter 1 eligible schools or students in chapter 1 schoolwide projects, and their family members, to receive services provided by a project under this Act. Allows an eligible LEA to select any school, grade span, or program area for project services, providing such student eligibility requirements are met and the project design is of adequate size, scope, and quality. Allows such grants to be for up to three years, subject to satisfactory progress. Limits the Federal share of project costs to 80 percent. Establishes a Federal Interagency Task Force consisting of the Secretaries of Education, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development, and other appropriate Federal agency heads, to identify means to facilitate interagency collaboration at Federal, State, and local levels to improve support services for at-risk students. Requires the Task Force to: (1) identify and eliminate program regulations or practices impeding coordination and collaboration; (2) develop and implement plans for jointly funded programs, unified eligibility and application procedures, and confidentiality regulations that facilitate information sharing; and (3) make recommendations to the Congress on legislative action to facilitate coordination of support services. Directs the Secretary of Education to: (1) conduct a study of grantees under this Act to identify regulatory and legislative obstacles to coordinated support services and innovative procedures and programs; and (2) report study results to the Congress with recommendations for legislative action. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1991
National Energy Efficiency Act of 1991 - Title I: Buildings - Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (the Act) to require the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) to establish a program to provide technical assistance to States and localities to update energy efficiency codes and standards for residential and commercial buildings. Requires each State to certify to the Secretary that: (1) it has reviewed and updated its residential and commercial building codes affecting energy efficiency, including a demonstration that such codes meet or exceed the requirements of the Council of American Building Officials' Model Energy Code and the Department of Energy's Commercial Building Standards; and (2) at least 75 percent of the new residential and commercial buildings constructed in such State meet the updated code requirements. Requires the Secretary to establish a task force of representatives from the building construction industry and financial community to advise in the development of the program. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to promulgate procedures to be used by States, local governments, and others to assign energy efficiency ratings to residential buildings. Requires the Secretary to provide technical assistance to any such entities using the energy efficiency rating systems. Directs the Secretary to report to the President and the Congress on such procedures and technical assistance. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Federal Energy Management - Declares it is the purpose of the Act to promote the conservation and efficient use of energy and renewable energy sources by the Federal Government. Requires, to the maximum extent practicable, the installation of energy conservation measures with payback periods of less than ten years (currently, 25 years) in all Federal buildings no later than January 1, 2000. Sets forth specified Federal agency requirements with respect to such measures. Requires each agency to submit to the Secretary a plan describing how it intends to meet such requirements. Directs the Secretary to establish a Federal Energy Efficiency Fund to provide grants to agencies to enable them to meet the energy efficiency requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes and encourages agencies to participate in programs for energy conservation or the management of electricity demand conducted by gas or electric utilities and available to customers of such utilities. Directs the Secretary to establish a financial bonus program to reward outstanding facility energy managers in such agencies. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to study the monetary value of the environmental benefits resulting from energy efficiency improvements in Federal buildings. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to install in Federal buildings commercial energy efficiency technologies developed by entities receiving Federal financial assistance for research and development. Requires the Secretary to prepare and disseminate an evaluation of each energy efficiency technology included in such program, outlining its technical and economic effectiveness. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator of the General Services Administration to conduct a detailed analysis of the energy consuming and conserving products in the Federal Supply Schedule and devise a method to highlight those products that are preferred energy efficient models. Requires the Administrator to: (1) issue guidelines to users of the Schedule to encourage the purchase of such models; and (2) identify manufacturers of energy efficient products not listed on the Schedule and provide such manufacturers with assistance to encourage the inclusion of their products on the Schedule. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to require the President to promulgate rules prohibiting agencies from acquiring automobiles with fuel economies that are not greater than the average fuel economy for the previous year. Amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act to require each agency head to adopt, no later than two years after enactment of this Act, procedures to assure that the construction of new Federal buildings meet or exceed certain energy conservation performance standards. Title III: Electricity and Utilities - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to require rates charged by State-regulated electric utilities be such that prudent investments in conservation and energy efficiency resources are at least as profitable as investments in new generation facilities. Requires the Secretary to report to the President and the Congress: (1) a survey of State laws and policies under which State regulatory authorities require electric utilities to compare energy efficiency and generation investment opportunities to minimize life-cycle costs of electric services to electric customers (least-cost planning); (2) an evaluation of whether such least-cost planning will result in higher or lower electricity costs, enhanced or reduced reliability of electric service, and increased or decreased dependence on particular energy resources; and (3) an evaluation of whether ratemaking methodologies implementing such planning take into account the impact of such measures on electric utilities' costs, operations, and rate of return on investment. Requires unregulated electric utilities to use least-cost planning. Requires each unregulated utility to initiate or expand efforts to ensure that cost-effective energy efficiency and renewable energy resources are acquired by customer utilities. Title IV: Standards and Information - Directs the Secretary to provide financial assistance to support a voluntary, national window rating program to develop window energy ratings and labels. Mandates that such program be administered by the National Fenestration Rating Council which shall report periodically to the Congress and the Secretary regarding the program's status. Directs the Federal Trade Commission to prescribe labeling rules for windows and window systems. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to develop a voluntary national program to devise standards for the proper levels of industrial insulation. Requires the Secretary to: (1) review the status of industrial energy auditing procedures; (2) conduct an educational and technical assistance program concerning the standards and auditing procedures; and (3) report to the Congress regarding such standards, auditing procedures, and educational and technical assistance, including the responsiveness of the industrial sector to the standards. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to determine the feasibility of establishing energy conservation standards for the commercial application of lamps, appliance motors, and small package air conditioners. Provides for enforcement of any standards adopted. Title V: International - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to revise the purposes of the interagency working group to require them to: (1) promote the export of renewable energy and energy technologies produced in the United States; (2) inform other countries of the benefits of such technologies; and (3) foster rural and urban economic development and energy self-sufficiency through their use. Requires such group to: (1) develop a data base and information dissemination system that will provide information on the energy technology needs of lesser-developed countries, the technical and economic competitiveness of various renewable energy and energy efficiency resource technologies, and the status of ongoing technology assistance programs; (2) make such information available to industry, Federal and multilateral lending agencies, nongovernmental organizations, host-country and donor-agency officials, and others; and (3) report to the Congress biennially on the full range of energy and environmental technologies necessary to meet the energy needs of developing countries while reducing the generation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Authorizes the interagency working group to establish renewable energy and energy efficiency industry outreach offices in the Pacific Rim and in the Caribbean Basin. Authorizes the group to sponsor trade missions to help market renewable energy and energy efficient products in other countries. Title VI: Miscellaneous - Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to require the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration to collect annually, on a State-by-State basis, information on renewable energy utilized within such States. Repeals the National Energy Extension Service Act (thus abolishing the Energy Extension Service).
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1991
Authorizes the President to drawdown the Strategic Petroleum Reserve if it would assist in relieving severe economic problems related to a significant increase in the price of petroleum.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1991
Natural Gas Enhancement Act of 1991 - Amends the Natural Gas Act to extend the time within which the Federal Power Commission must take final action with respect to applications for rehearing of Commission orders. Permits applicants who are required to prepare environmental impact statements with respect to the construction or extension of facilities for the transportation of natural gas to elect a contractor, consultant, or other person designated by the Commission to prepare such statement at the applicant's expense. Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to authorize the Commission to utilize rulemaking procedures with respect to the establishment of rates and charges, or the issuance of a certificate of public convenience and necessity, including abandonment of natural gas facilities and services, and the establishment of physical connections under the Natural Gas Act. Amends the Natural Gas Act to declare that the replacement or repair of natural gas facilities for which a certificate of public convenience and necessity has been issued shall not be considered the construction or extension of such facilities unless such replaced or repaired facility has substantially more or less delivery capacity than the original certificated facility, or such replacement or repair results in a reduction or abandonment of service provided by the original certificated facility. Requires the Commission to file notice in the Federal Register of proposed certificates of public convenience and necessity as soon as all required information has been received by it. Deems such certificates to have been issued if no protest or objection has been filed in response to such notice within 60 days after publication of such notice. Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 to authorize the Commission to approve any intrastate pipeline to transport natural gas and to construct and operate natural gas facilities of any size or capacity to be used solely for the transportation of natural gas. Requires rates and charges of interstate natural gas pipelines to be just and reasonable. Amends the Natural Gas Act to authorize the President to designate as a priority project the construction or expansion of natural gas facilities over a specific route, or from a specific gas producing area, or into a specific gas consuming market if it is in the national interest. Requires the Commission to issue a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the construction or expansion of such facilities if the President designates such facilities as a priority project. Declares that a certificate shall not be required for the construction or extension of natural gas facilities if such construction begins after enactment of this Act. Sets forth specified requirements with respect to such construction.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1991
Strategic Petroleum Reserve Enhancement Act of 1991 - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to direct the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) to establish and implement during FY 1992 a minimum (Strategic Petroleum) Reserve fill rate of 200,000 barrels per day until the quantity of crude oil in storage in the Reserve is at least 1,500,000,000. Prescribes implementation guidelines. Requires the Secretary to assess and collect charges from each person who stores petroleum in the Reserve pursuant to such program.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1991
Extends the immediate retirement provisions applicable to Federal law enforcement officers to: (1) revenue officers for the Internal Revenue Service; (2) customs inspectors for the U.S. Customs Service; (3) customs canine enforcement officers for the U.S. Customs Service; and (4) inspectors for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1991
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Tax Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an investment tax credit for renewable electricity which is generated and sold by a qualified taxpayer within the United States using solar, wind, or geothermal energy and which is not used by the taxpayer or a related person. Allows the use of such credit for a ten-year period. Excludes from gross income employer-provided transportation using a commuter highway vehicle (van pooling) and mass transit between the employee's residence and place of employment. Limits such exclusion to $75 per month. Excludes from gross income the amount or value of any subsidy provided by a public utility to a customer in connection with the purchase, installation, use, or maintenance of any energy or water conservation measure or for energy savings delivered by such measures. Disallows any other deduction or credit for such subsidy.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1991
Chance to Go to College Act - Establishes a program to guarantee certain students from selected high schools with high proportions of disadvantaged students a chance to go to college, through early intervention support programs and additional postsecondary student financial assistance. Makes a high school eligible to apply for program participation if it is located in a school district with more than 75 percent of its total enrollment composed of children counted as disadvantaged for purposes of chapter 1 title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), and if it demonstrates: (1) parental involvement potential; (2) tutoring and supplemental instruction in an academic component; (3) role model relationships or other support group interactions; (4) guidance for selection of college preparatory courses before the start of ninth grade; and (5) assistance with college application processes. Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to: (1) give special consideration to schools demonstrating private individual or corporate support or current involvement with Upward Bound or specified other special programs for students from disadvantaged backgrounds (TRIO programs) under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA); and (2) select for program participation, from eligible applicants, 50 high schools representing a broad base of both urban and rural sites. Directs the Secretary to provide financial assistance to such selected high schools to offset their administrative costs of program participation from five percent of program funding. Makes individuals eligible to receive scholarships under the program if they: (1) were a ninth grade student during academic year 1992-1993 in a selected school; (2) are enrolled or accepted at an institution of higher education; and (3) qualify for Pell Grant under HEA to attend such institution. Sets a four-year total maximum and yearly maximum amounts on such individual scholarships. Provides that such scholarship aid shall not be reduced by reason of the individual's receipt of other forms of Federal financial assistance, unless the total of such scholarship and other assistance exceeds the cost of attendance in which case the other assistance must be reduced appropriately. Provides for equitable reduction of scholarship amounts in case of insufficient funding. Directs the Comptroller General to undertake a study to: (1) determine what types of schools have benefitted from such program; (2) evaluate the program's impact on student graduation and matriculation from the selected high schools; and (3) if the study demonstrates significant results, determine what, if any, authorization increases and adjustments should be made to Pell Grants and TRIO programs under HEA and chapter 1 title I programs under ESEA to replicate such results nationwide. Authorizes appropriations in a specified amount to carry out this Act, to remain available for FY 1992 through 2001.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax deduction for interest on certain indebtedness incurred to pay the educational expenses of the taxpayer, spouse, or dependent. (Under current law, such a loan must be secured by an interest in real property.)
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1991
Black Lung Benefits Act Amendments of 1991 - Amends the Black Lung Benefits Act (the Act) to provide special procedures for certain claims due to pneumoconiosis. Sets forth new standards for evidence in claims of death or total disability of a miner due to pneumoconiosis, and of the condition's causation by coal mine employment. Presumes claimants eligible if they: (1) present a single piece of qualifying medical evidence, in the form of specified tests, studies, or medical opinions; and (2) have ten or more years in a coal mine or can prove employment causation through other evidence. Allows the Secretary to rebut such presumptions: (1) of condition, only with evidence showing the claimant is doing, or could actually do, coal mine work; and (2) of causation, only by clear and convincing proof that the miner's pneumoconiosis did not arise, in whole or in part, out of coal mine employment. Provides that such new eligibility standards would apply to: (1) all claims filed after enactment of this Act; and (2) all pending and prior denied claims, after review under new standards. Provides that all benefits payable under any claim determined under such new eligibility standards shall be paid from the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, which is financed by the coal industry (thus eliminating coal operators as defendants with legal counsel in black lung disability cases). Sets forth new rules for judicial review of black lung claims. Allows claimants who file after the enactment of the Act and whose black lung claims are denied by the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board to petition for review in the U.S. District Court where they last worked as coal miners or where they reside. Provides that such review petitions shall: (1) be governed by specified Social Security Act provisions; (2) not be subject to a time limit if the claim was denied by application of a regulation that violates the Act or any other Federal law; and (3) not be denied because administrative remedies have not been exhausted. Requires award of black lung benefits to survivors or dependents of a deceased miner if any of the following conditions are met: (1) the miner worked 25 years or more in one or more coal mines; (2) the death as due in whole or part to pneumoconiosis; (3) the miner was receiving benefits for pneumoconiosis at the time of death; or (4) the miner had a pending claim at the time of death in which existing or additional medical evidence submitted by survivors or dependents, or lay evidence, qualifies under specified new eligibility standards. Permits claimants who have had a black lung claim denied to submit an additional claim, without a showing of a material change, for de novo consideration on the merits. Prohibits the Secretary from: (1) appealing decisions on black lung claims adverse to the Secretary by the Deputy Commissioner, the Office of Administrative Law Judges, the Benefits Review Board, or a U.S. District Court; and (2) reopening a black lung claim under which benefits were awarded and with respect to which no appeal is pending, unless the Secretary offers reasonable evidence to suspect fraud. Amends the Social Security Act to exempt black lung benefits from offsetting certain social security benefits. Amends the Black Lung Benefits Act (the Act) to provide that, when benefits are paid after an initial determination of eligibility, repayment of such benefits will not be required even upon a final determination of ineligibility. Requires, in administration of the Act, that a widow of a miner shall: (1) not be disqualified from receiving benefits upon remarriage; and (2) be entitled to receive benefits without regard to the length of time of marriage to the miner.
![Official portrait of Rep. Wise, Robert E., Jr. [D-WV-2]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/w000654_200.jpg)