The world's political record
Person
![Official portrait of Sen. Baucus, Max [D-MT]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/b000243_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
5,946 records where Sen. Baucus, Max [D-MT] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1989
Commends the Flying Tigers for nearly 50 years of service to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1989
Rural Business Assistance Act of 1989 - Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to establish in the Treasury the Rural Business Incubation Fund to make grants and reduced interest loans to electric and telephone borrowers to promote rural business incubation programs. States that such programs shall serve as a common facility to share technical assistance, equipment, staff, and other related services. Funds such programs through participating businesses and borrowers and Treasury purchases of Fund certificates.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1989
Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to exclude the malting barley price from 1989 and 1990 barley deficiency payment rate determinations.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1989
Designates October 1989 as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1989
National American Indian Museum Act - Establishes within the Smithsonian Institution a memorial to Native Americans to be known as the National Museum of the American Indian to provide for the study, research, collection, and exhibition of Native Americans and their culture. Designates specified areas in the District of Columbia and New York City as the sites of facilities for the Museum. Requires establishment of a facility for the conservation and storage of Museum collections at the Museum Support Center in Suitland, Maryland. Authorizes the Smithsonian to: (1) provide for the transfer of certain assets of the Heye Foundation for the benefit and use of the Museum; (2) construct such facilities; (3) provide for acquisition of Native American objects and artifacts from museums or private collections; and (4) maintain or loan objects and artifacts in the Museum collection. Establishes the Board of Trustees of the Museum. Directs the Board to: (1) recommend annual budgets for the Museum; and (2) assist the Board of Regents on matters relating to the Museum. Grants the Trustees sole authority to: (1) dispose of and acquire additional Museum property; and (2) establish policy with respect to the utilization of the Museum collections. Grants the Trustees authority to: (1) establish policy with respect to restoration, preservation, and maintenance of Museum collections; (2) solicit funds for the Museum; (3) approve expenditures from the Museum's endowment; (4) advise the Museum's Director; (5) provide for the exhibition of Native American objects and artifacts; and (6) conduct research and evaluation and educational programs with respect to the Museum collections. Requires the Trustees to submit annual reports to the Board of Regents and the Congress. Requires the Foundation's employees serving at the time of the transfer to be offered employment by the Smithsonian. Authorizes the Board of Regents to: (1) designate affiliate museums of the Museum in certain U.S. regions and in Alaska and Hawaii; and (2) establish an advisory council within each such region or State to oversee Museum curation and acquisitions and to provide necessary technical assistance for such affiliate museums. Directs the Board of Regents to: (1) identify the geographic and tribal origins of the skeletal remains of Indians and Alaska Natives in the Smithsonian; (2) conduct a study and make recommendations as to the final disposition of such remains; (3) consult with Native American traditional religious leaders in making such recommendations; and (4) report to the Congress within three years after this Act's enactment on the identity of such skeletal remains and the findings and recommendation of such study. Pledges that the United States will provide the funds needed to maintain and operate the Museum. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1989
Low-Income Housing Credit Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the low-income housing income tax credit (under current law the credit will expire after tax year 1989). Permits States a one-year carryover of unused credit authority. Assigns carryovers to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to allocate to eligible States applying for excess credit. Allows the credit only if an extended low-income housing commitment (beyond the current 15-year period) is in effect with respect to any building for the relevant taxable year. Describes procedures to effect transition to a non-low-income use in connection with such extensions. Permits the credit in connection with the acquisition of an existing building only if the taxpayer incurs rehabilitation expenditures of at least $3,000 per unit. Revises rent restrictions to: (1) declare unnecessary a required rent reduction below the initial rent if the median gross income of the area decreases; (2) permit higher rent if units are occupied by higher income individuals and the project has an operating deficit; (3) base income limitations on the number of bedrooms in a unit; and (4) use State median gross income in certain low-income housing status determinations. Broadens categories of existing buildings eligible for a waiver of the ten-year requirement for the low-income housing credit. Revises credit provisions relating to single-room occupancy units and special needs housing. Revises restrictions that limit credit benefits in connection with buildings financed with tax-exempt bonds and below market loans. Permits the credit to be allocated: (1) on a project basis; and (2) in connection with owner-occupied buildings of four units or less if a development plan is submitted. Directs housing credit agencies to adopt plans for allocating credit amounts among projects, prohibiting the credit with respect to any building not included in such a plan. Modifies at-risk rules in connection with buildings subject to the historic rehabilitation credit and those associated with financing provided by certain nonprofit organizations. Sets the tax credit rate on a semiannual basis rather than monthly. Increases the credit in connection with buildings in high cost areas (low-income census tracts or difficult development areas). Establishes special rules for determining the eligible basis and applying at-risk rules in connection with qualified buildings acquired in foreclosures.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that at least four additional members with demonstrated experience in providing or developing rural health care services should be appointed to the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission and that in the future at least 25 percent of the Commissioners should have such experience.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the problem of geographical variation in physician reimbursement under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act needs to be addressed so that only those variations justified by regional differences in the cost of medical practice or the need to maintain access to high quality health care are permitted.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1989
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Reorganization Act of 1989 - Divides the current U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit into the following two circuits: (1) the Ninth Circuit, composed of the States of Arizona, California, and Nevada, consisting of 19 judges, and holding regular sessions in San Francisco and Los Angeles; and (2) the Twelfth Circuit, composed of the States of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, and Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, consisting of nine judges, and holding regular sessions in Portland and Seattle.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1989
Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) Japan has not lived up to the terms of the 1986 agreement regarding the Japanese semiconductor market; (2) the administration should convey this message to Japan; (3) the President, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Commerce should seek full access to the Japanese market for semiconductors; and (4) the President and the USTR should take measures to achieve compliance with such agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1989
Congratulates the United Jewish Appeal on its 50th anniversary.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1989
Rural Access to Capital Act of 1989 - Title I: Public and Private Rural Partnership Fund - Establishes the Rural Partnership Fund as a revolving fund in the Treasury to provide loans to specified public or private entities for capital, loan guarantees, or training, or technical assistance to businesses in rural communities which otherwise cannot obtain credit. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (the Administrator) to conduct a nationwide loan competition for which eligible loan applicants must submit economic development workplans. Requires an applicant to demonstrate through a financial partnership agreement with private sector financial entities that it is prepared to make loans to, or investments in, eligible rural businesses. Requires the Administrator to monitor how recipients administer such loans. Mandates that a loan recipient place all funds into a revolving fund it administers. Limits the amount that may be provided to an eligible business from such fund. Title II: Microbusiness Loan and Technical Assistance Fund - Establishes as revolving funds in the Treasury the Microbusiness Loan Fund and the Microbusiness Technical Assistance Fund to provide: (1) loans to public and private lenders to microbusinesses; and (2) grants to public and private entities which have existing technical assistance programs. Limits the amounts of such loans and grants. Outlines a nationwide competition process under which a loan or grant applicant must submit an economic development workplan. Requires the Administrator to monitor the use of such loans and grants for compliance with this Act. Requires that a loan recipient place all funds into a revolving fund it administers. Limits the amount that may be provided to an eligible microbusiness from such fund. Title III: Transfer of Small Business Lending Company Status - Requires the Administrator to approve a qualified transferee as a Small Business Lending Company within a specified time frame. Title IV: Reports - Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to submit to certain congressional committees an analytical report on the impact on rural communities of laws that affect the supply of an agricultural commodity produced in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1989
Small Business Rural Revitalization Act of 1989 - Title I: Capital Formation - Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to set forth: (1) the capital requirements for small business investment companies operating in designated rural areas; and (2) the maximum amount of Small Business Administration-guaranteed debentures that may be issued by a qualified certified (rural area) development company. Requires that funds obtained pursuant to such debentures be used to establish a revolving fund for specified loans to rural small businesses. Requires that at least 50 percent of a development company's paid-in capital shall be from private investors. Sets forth the maximum aggregate amount of debentures that may be guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA). Title II: Procurement Assistance - Prescribes guidelines under which Federal agencies which allocate funds to States and political subdivisions shall develop mechanisms to facilitate designated rural area participation in Federal procurement activities, Federal research projects, and federally funded construction projects. Amends the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to direct the head of each executive agency to give equal consideration to designated rural areas when determining Federal construction activities. Title III: Business Development - Directs the SBA Administrator to make grants to State-chartered development agencies to acquire property in designated rural areas to be used to headquarter small business incubators. (An incubator is a facility fostering growth of new small businesses in which: (1) more than one business is located; (2) services and equipment are shared; and (3) access to professional, technical, and financial resources is provided.) Conditions such grant upon the: (1) provision of non-Federal matching funds; and (2) use by the small business incubator of SBA management and technical assistance resources. Requires that such grants be used to offset the interest charged in financing obtained to acquire property for use by a small business incubator. Title IV: Regulatory Simplification: Miscellaneous Amendments - Sets forth conditions under which, pursuant to an SBA written request, a regulatory agency may waive or modify its rules pertaining to community development or economic revitalization of a designated rural area. Requires the SBA Administrator to report to the Congress the results of a review of all Federal rural economic development programs and laws whose purpose is the promotion of rural area businesses, community development, and enhanced employment opportunities.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1989
Repeals estate tax provisions of the Revenue Act of 1987 and the Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988 with respect to the inclusion in the gross estate of the value of certain types of transfers with a retained life estate.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Toxics Release Prevention Act of 1989 - Amends the Clean Air Act to revise provisions concerning national emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to include on the list of such pollutants each pollutant listed in committee print 101-XX published by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Directs the Administrator to review and revise such list at least every five years by adding pollutants which present a threat of adverse human health or environmental effects. Provides that no substance or activity regulated under part B of such Act shall be subject to regulation solely due to adverse environmental effects. Permits others to petition for additions to or deletions from such list. Requires the presentation of adequate data concerning health or environmental effects for the addition or deletion of any substance to or from such list. Directs the Administrator to list categories of major sources of hazardous air pollutants and establish a minimum emissions rate for each pollutant emitted by such sources. Limits the minimum annual emissions rate to ten metric tons for any one hazardous air pollutant or 25 metric tons for any combination of such pollutants. Authorizes the Administrator to establish an annual minimum emissions rate of more than ten metric tons for any category and pollutant, provided that a certain health threshold will not be exceeded and no adverse environmental effects will occur. Requires emission standards for such sources to require the maximum degree of reductions that the Administrator determines is achievable. Prohibits emission standards for new sources from being less stringent than those for existing sources in the same category. Permits emissions standards for existing sources to be less stringent than standards for new sources if the Administrator determines that the level of control applicable to new sources is technically or economically infeasible for existing sources. Directs the Administrator to review such standards at least every seven years. Requires the Administrator to establish such standards within: (1) 24 months of this Act's enactment for sources of specified pollutants; and (2) three, five, or ten years of this Act's enactment, based on the quantity of the pollutant and the risk of exposure. Requires standards for all categories to be promulgated within ten years of this Act's enactment. Directs the Administrator, within three years after the initial promulgation of such standards, to evaluate the risks to human health and the environment from emissions remaining after the application of such standards. Requires the revision of such standards if the Administrator determines that such emissions present a significant risk of adverse human health or environmental effects. Directs the Administrator to establish additional emissions regulations for categories of sources of carcinogens or for pollutants for which standards do not reduce emissions to a level at or below the threshold for adverse health effects. Prohibits any consideration of cost, cost-effectiveness, economic, or energy factors or technological feasibility to determine the appropriate level of such standards. Authorizes the Administrator to promulgate design, equipment, work practice, or operational standards for sources under this Act. Requires the Administrator to promulgate such standards when it is infeasible to prescribe or enforce an emission standard for a category of hazardous air pollutants. Permits the use of an alternative means of emission limitations if such alternative achieves a reduction equivalent to that achieved under this Act's requirements. Authorizes the Administrator or a State with an approved program to require owners or operators of facilities which emit hazardous air pollutants to: (1) monitor the presence of such pollutant in the source emissions and ambient air; (2) install and maintain leak detection systems; and (3) keep records and report on the results of such monitoring and leak detection. Requires work practice emissions standards to include, where appropriate, leak prevention, detection, and correction requirements. Sets forth a compliance schedule for emissions standards under this Act. Requires compliance by existing sources within three years of the effective date of such standards. Grants an extension of up to two additional years for such sources under specified conditions. Authorizes the Administrator or a State with an approved program to: (1) exempt existing sources from certain carcinogen emissions standards under specified conditions; and (2) require owners or operators of such sources to conduct research and development on improved technology or management practices as a condition for such temporary exemption or permit renewal. Provides an opportunity for public comment on any proposed exemption. Authorizes the President to exempt any source from emissions standards for up to two years if the technology to implement such standards is unavailable and the operation of such source is required for national security. Authorizes extensions of such exemptions for additional two-year periods. Authorizes the Administrator to exempt any existing major listed source from applicable emissions standards upon a showing that such source has achieved a voluntary emissions reduction of at least 90 percent by December 31, 1992. Waives emissions requirements for sources where emissions are in de minimis amounts and do not pose a risk of adverse human health or environmental effects and where control of such pollutant would require installation of additional and separate control technologies. Makes it unlawful to construct a new source or emit any pollutant subject to standards under this Act, except in compliance with a permit issued by the Administrator or an approved State. Outlines the requirements of the permit program. Limits State permits to five-year periods. Authorizes the issuance of a temporary permit if a source owner or operator certifies that the source will comply with applicable standards. Requires the Administrator or a State, within six months of the issuance of a temporary permit, to review the operations of such source to determine whether a full permit should be issued. Sets forth administrative provisions regarding the issuance of permits. Requires the Administrator to conduct an urban pollution research program to include: (1) ambient monitoring for a range of hazardous air pollutants in a number of urban areas; (2) analysis to characterize the area sources of such pollution and the health risks posed by such pollutants; and (3) consideration of factors which elevate such health risks. Directs States receiving grants for air pollution planning and control which contain a metropolitan area with over 250,000 persons to commence a monitoring program in each such area to measure the ambient concentration of hazardous air pollutants. Requires Governors of such States to report biennially to the Administrator on the results of such monitoring and to make such information available to the public. Requires the Administrator to transmit to the Congress a comprehensive strategy to control hazardous air pollutants released by sources in urban areas. Outlines the requirements of such strategy, including: (1) a schedule for specific actions to reduce emissions of particular hazardous air pollutants; and (2) the identification of research needs in monitoring or pollution control techniques and recommendations for changes in law to further the goals of such strategy. Requires the Administrator to set aside at least ten percent of funds available for grants under this section to support State strategies to reduce risk from source emissions in urban areas. Directs the Administrator, at intervals no later than eight and ten years after this Act's enactment, to report to the Congress on actions taken to reduce risks to public health posed by pollutants from area sources. Requires such report to identify metropolitan areas which continue to experience high risks as the result of emissions from such sources. Directs the Administrator to report to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on health impacts of mobile source benzene emissions and fuel and vehicle-based control strategies. Authorizes States to develop and submit to the Administrator for approval programs for the control of emissions of hazardous air pollutants or for the prevention and mitigation of accidental releases of such pollutants. Permits the Administrator's enforcement authorities to be transferred to a State. Requires the Administrator to publish guidance for use in program development. Requires such guidance to include standards for emissions control as well as registration of facilities handling such pollutants in amounts greater than the threshold quantity. Directs the Administrator to establish and maintain an air toxics clearinghouse, control technology center, and risk information center to provide technical assistance and information to States on emissions reduction. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to States for program development. Requires the Administrator to withdraw approval of a program if it is determined that the State is not administering or enforcing such program. Directs the Administrator to: (1) assess the hazards to public health and the environment resulting from emissions of hydrogen sulfide associated with the extraction of oil and natural gas resources; (2) report the results of such assessment, together with recommendations, to the Congress; and (3) develop and implement a control strategy for such emissions. Requires the Administrator to: (1) review risk assessment methods used by EPA to determine the carcinogenic risks associated with exposure to hazardous air pollutants and source categories; and (2) report the results of such review to the Congress. Directs the Administrator to report annually to the Congress on measures taken by the EPA and States to implement the requirements of this Act. Requires the Administrator to list at least 50 substances which could be released suddenly in concentrations that may cause adverse human health effects. Directs the Administrator to update such list at least every five years. Requires owners and operators of facilities at which such substances are present in amounts greater than a threshold quantity to conduct hazard assessments for each substance present at the facility. Directs the Administrator to publish guidance for the preparation of such assessments. Requires such assessments to include an identification of potential release sources and exposures and to be biennially updated. Directs the Administrator, to the extent practicable, to: (1) coordinate assessment requirements with requirements imposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, including joint promulgation of regulations; and (2) facilitate compliance with such requirements by designing generic hazard identification and assessment tools for owners and operators of hazardous substance facilities. Makes such assessments available to the Administrator, States, the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, local emergency planning entities and, subject to conditions of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, the public. Requires the Administrator to establish a long-term research program to develop and disseminate information on improved hazard assessment methods and techniques. Establishes within EPA a Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board to investigate and report on accidental chemical releases, make recommendations on the safety of chemical production, handling, and storage, and promulgate requirements for the reporting of such releases. Requires the Board to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the National Transportation Safety Board to assure coordination of functions and limit duplication of activities. Authorizes the Board to conduct research and studies with respect to accidental, sudden releases of hazardous substances. Requires the Board to publish a report, along with recommendations, on the use of hazard assessments in preventing and minimizing such releases. Directs the Administrator to set forth reasons for any refusal to implement a recommendation of the Board. Authorizes the Board to hold hearings, secure written reports from any person handling chemicals, and conduct inspections of any facility where an accidental release has occurred. Requires information obtained by the Board, unless it is likely to cause substantial harm to a person's competitive position, to be made available to the public. Directs the Board to report annually to the President and the Congress on accidental releases, recommendations, and priorities for research and investigations. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1994. Authorizes the Administrator to promulgate release prevention, detection, and correction requirements, including requirements for monitoring, recordkeeping, and design, equipment, and operational practices, for extremely hazardous pollutant facilities. Authorizes the Administrator to secure such relief as may be necessary when determined that an actual or threatened release of an extremely hazardous substance poses an imminent and substantial danger to the public health or welfare or the environment. Permits the Administrator to issue orders to protect human health, welfare, or the environment. Establishes daily penalties for violations of such orders. Directs the Administrator to publish guidance for the coordination of such authority with the relevant authorities under other Federal environmental laws. Requires the President to: (1) review release prevention, mitigation, and response authorities of various Federal agencies and coordinate agency responsibilities to assure efficient implementation of such authorities and identify any deficiencies in authority or resources; and (2) report to the Congress on such activities, along with recommendations for changes in law. Authorizes appropriations. Increases and expands the scope of penalties under the Clean Air Act. Repeals certain provisions of such Act concerning the revision of stationary source regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Declares that it is a shared responsibility of both the public and private sectors at the Federal, State, and local levels to take the necessary steps to remove existing barriers to access to quality health care for every child and pregnant woman.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1989
North American Wetlands Conservation Act - Establishes a North American Wetlands Conservation Commission. Sets forth elements to be considered by the Commission in making recommendations for wetlands conservation projects. Requires the Commission to submit annual descriptions to the Secretary of the Interior and the appropriate congressional committees of projects recommended for Federal funding. Directs the Secretary to approve such projects for funding unless such projects should not have been recommended based on the consideration factors. Requires the Secretary to carry out such projects with funding available under this Act and the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act. Requires lands, waters, or other interests acquired by the Secretary to carry out such projects to be included in the National Wildlife Refuge System, except as otherwise provided in this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to convey to States or public or private agencies approved by States any real property interest acquired, managed, or restored with funding provided by this Act, except that no such interest shall, without the Secretary's approval, be converted for uses other than conservation of migratory birds, other fish and wildlife, and the wetland ecosystems on which such species depend. Requires the Secretary to approve such conversion only if the Secretary finds it in accordance with the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (Plan) signed by Canada and the United States in 1986 and only upon such conditions deemed necessary to assure the substitution of comparable wetland ecosystems or other habitats for migratory birds and other fish and wildlife species. Directs the Secretary to grant funds to public and private entities for carrying out wetlands conservation projects in Canada and Mexico. Subjects the granting of such funds to the condition that property interests acquired, managed, or restored with such funds will be administered for the long-term conservation and management of fish and wildlife and will provide for public access and use. Amends the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act to require the Secretary of the Treasury to invest in interest-bearing obligations such portion of the wildlife restoration fund not required for the current year's withdrawals. Sets forth authorized investment activities and the required use of interest held on obligations in such fund. Excludes such interest from revenues to be deducted for administrative expenses. Authorizes the sums of certain penalties or fines received for violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to be appropriated to the Department of the Interior for allocations of funds under this Act. Authorizes additional appropriations. Allocates funds made available under this Act and the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act. Limits the Federal contribution to wetlands conservation projects to 75 percent for projects in Canada and Mexico and 50 percent of the total cost for projects in the United States. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) make progress payments to wetlands conservation projects; and (2) enter into agreements to make payments on initial portions of such projects, subject to the availability of Federal funds. Prohibits the use of moneys allocated under this Act for acquiring lands for inclusion in the National Wildlife Refuge System, except as provided, unless there is appropriated under the Refuge Revenue Sharing Act for such fiscal year an amount equal to the difference between the total amount of net receipts and the aggregate amount of payments to be made to counties. Requires the head of each Federal agency responsible for acquiring, managing, or disposing of Federal lands and waters to cooperate with the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore, protect, and enhance the wetland ecosystems and other habitats for migratory birds, fish, and wildlife within such lands and waters. Directs such agencies, in the consideration of land disposal alternatives, to give priority to transfers of property for conservation purposes. Requires the Secretary to report biennially to the appropriate congressional committees on: (1) the estimated number of wetland acres and habitats that were restored, protected, or enhanced for migratory birds during such two-year period; and (2) trends in the population size and distribution of North American migratory birds. Directs the Secretary to report annually to such committees on the status of wetlands conservation projects and expenditures. Requires the Secretary, in 1991 and quinquennially thereafter, to revise the Plan with appropriate Canadian and Mexican officials. Prohibits funds made available under this Act and the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act from being used for fish and wildlife mitigation purposes under the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act or the Water Resources Development Act of 1986.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1989
Authorizes each State by legislation to prohibit the export of unprocessed logs harvested from land it owns.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1989
Rural Access to Telecommunications Services Act of 1989 - Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to add a new section to such Act concerning rural access to telecommunications services. Expresses as the goal of the United States, acting through the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), to make universal and affordable state-of-the-art telecommunications access available to rural residents, businesses, industries, and other facilities through services such as: (1) voice telephone service; (2) private (not multiparty) telephone service; (3) reliable facsimile document and data transmission; (4) competitive long-distance carriers and value-added data networks; (5) cellular (mobile) telephone service; (6) touchtone telephone service; (7) custom-calling services; (8) voicemail services designed to record, store, and retrieve voice messages; (9) 911 emergency service with automatic number identification; and (10) other telecommunications and information services generally available in urban areas. Establishes in the Treasury the Rural Telecommunications Incentive Fund to serve as a source of capital in providing telecommunications to rural businesses, industries, and public facilities, including schools and hospitals. Directs the Administrator of REA to use the Fund to provide loans to: (1) entities providing telephone service to a rural area; and (2) rural telephone systems eligible for financing under this Act to provide modern telecommunications services to rural businesses, industries, and public facilities. Sets forth repayment terms and interest rates for such loans. Requires the Administrator, in providing such loans, to give priority to projects: (1) that provide telecommunications services to enhance the potential for rural economic development; and (2) for which the investment required cannot produce an adequate return to the borrower without such assistance. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1994. Requires the Administrator to provide grants to persons to conduct pilot projects to test the feasibility of using advanced telecommunications technologies to transmit and receive communications for business or other entities in rural areas of the United States. Authorizes appropriations for such projects for FY 1990 through 1994. Directs the Administrator to report annually to the Congress on the gap, if any, that exists on a State-by-State basis between subscribers served by borrowers from the Fund compared to the total telephone industry. Directs the Administrator to establish a special unit to assist rural telephone systems in eliminating such technology gap. Requires the Administrator to report annually to the Congress on the activities of such special unit. Directs each telecommunications exchange carrier to report annually to either the Administrator or the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on: (1) the type of telecommunications services available to subscribers; and (2) the price of such services to subscribers. Directs the Administrator or the FCC to require each such carrier to compile certain information with respect to its subscribers and the availability of services. Requires the Administrator and the FCC to cooperate and jointly report on the results of a common survey form with respect to the provision of advanced telecommunications services to rural areas. Authorizes the Administrator, in making insured loans under this Act, to charge a less-than-standard interest rate on such loans if the borrower could not receive a sufficient return on investment (in providing telecommunications services to rural areas) to cover expenses and pay the debt service costs of a loan bearing an interest rate of five percent per annum.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1989
Federal Timber Export Restriction Act of 1989 - Prohibits any person who acquires unprocessed timber from Federal lands from exporting such timber from the United States. Sets forth civil penalties for violations under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1989
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to set the Federal share of the cost of obstetrical services furnished by a physician or certified nurse midwife in a rural manpower shortage area at 90 percent if State Medicaid payments for such services equal at least 80 percent of the allowable charge for such services under the State employee health benefit plan.
United States · United States Congress · 6 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 years to 25 years the age limitation with respect to economically disadvantaged youth targeted for credit purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1989
Expresses the Senate's confidence, hope, and trust for those who will serve in the Senate during its third century.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1989
Patient Outcomes Research Act of 1989 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a patient outcomes assessment research program to generate and disseminate information concerning the best methods of managing selected health conditions. Gives priority to significant health conditions that are subject to a variety of management methods among patients in different geographical locations and in different clinical settings. Requires the Secretary to establish a program for the development of practice guidelines to assist health care professionals in adopting those practice patterns determined to be most effective in combating selected health conditions. Authorizes appropriations for the research program and the guidelines program for FY 1990 through 1992. Requires that at least 70 percent of amounts appropriated for a fiscal year be used to fund grants to, and agreements with, non-Federal entities. Sets forth reporting requirements. Directs the Secretary to establish the Independent Advisory Committee on Managing Patient Outcomes to advise and assist the Assistant Secretary in carrying out this Act's provisions. Requires the Assistant Secretary to contract with the Institute of Medicine for an annual review of the findings and recommendations of the research program. Includes, as part of such review: (1) the recommendation of strategic priorities for the research program and practice guidelines; (2) the evaluation of the success of the research program; and (3) the issuance of annual reports summarizing research findings and suggesting improvements to the research program and guidelines program. Authorizes appropriations for the Institute's review activities for FY 1990 through 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1989
Oil Pollution Liability and Compensation Act of 1989 - Title I: Oil Pollution Liability and Compensation - Establishes the Oil Spill Compensation Fund. Makes vessel owners or operators of onshore or offshore facilities liable for removal costs and for economic or natural resource damages, including: (1) injury or loss of real or personal property or natural resources; (2) loss of use (including subsistence use) of natural resources; (3) loss or impairment of income, profits, or earning capacity; and (4) loss of Federal and State tax, royalty, rental, or net profits share revenue for up to one year. Establishes liability limits for: (1) owners and operators of tankers; (2) other vessel owners; (3) lessees and permittees of Outer Continental Shelf facilities; (4) deepwater port facility owners; and (5) other facility owners. Excludes interest (including prejudgment interest) from such limits. Authorizes the President to establish lower liability limits for other onshore or offshore facilities. Requires the periodic adjustment of liability limits to reflect increases in the Consumer Price Index. Makes the President (or the authorized representative of any State or foreign government) the trustee to act on behalf of the public to recover damages for injury to Federal, State, or foreign government natural resources. Requires the President, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to promulgate regulations within two years of enactment of this Act for the assessment of damages for injury to natural resources resulting from an oil discharge. Requires that such regulations be reviewed and revised (if necessary) every two years. Makes the owner or operator of a vessel liable under: (1) this Act; (2) maritime tort law; and (3) the Clean Water Act. Directs the President to use the money in the Oil Spill Compensation Fund for specified removal costs and damages. Requires the President to publish regulations regarding implementation of the authority to obligate the Fund or enter into agreements. Authorizes States to obligate the Fund for a maximum of $250,000 per discharge or substantial threat of discharge of oil and to enter into agreements with the President for additional Fund monies. Provides that the Attorney General (upon request of the President) shall commence an action against the responsible foreign government or other responsible party to recover any costs paid from the Fund as a result of oil discharge or substantial threat of discharge from a foreign offshore unit. Requires the owner or operator of certain-size vessels and offshore facilities to establish financial responsibility sufficient to meet the maximum amount of liability to which such persons could be subjected under this Act. Provides for judicial review of regulations and actions under this Act. Grants State courts jurisdiction to hear cases under this Act, as well as under State law. Permits the States to impose additional liability or requirements regarding oil discharges within their borders. Retains the rights of the States to maintain a fund for oil pollution compensation. Authorizes States to enforce the financial responsibility requirements of this Act. Requires the President to consult with affected States regarding removal actions. Requires the President to report to the Congress within one year after enactment of this Act regarding a study on improved methods for oil discharge prevention in restricted waters. Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to direct (current law authorizes) the President to remove oil at any time unless the President finds that such removal will be done properly and promptly by the owner or operator of the vessel or facility. Title II: Conforming Amendments - Makes conforming amendments to the following Acts: (1) the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act; (2) the Intervention on the High Seas Act; (3) the Clean Water Act; (4) the Deepwater Port Act; and (5) the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Amends the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act to abolish the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Liability Fund. Replaces the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Liability Fund and the Deepwater Port Liability Fund with the Oil Spill Compensation Fund of this Act. Repeals the oil spill liability provisions of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Amendments of 1978 (thereby replacing the Offshore Oil Pollution Compensation Fund under that Act with the Oil Spill Compensation Fund established in this Act). Amends the Clean Water Act to: (1) require persons in charge of a vessel or onshore facility who have knowledge of an oil discharge to immediately notify the affected State; and (2) increase from one year to three years the prison term for failure to report such discharge.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1989
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to prescribe minimum penalties that may be assessed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the discharge of oil or hazardous substances into U.S. waters. (Current law provides that such penalties shall not exceed such amounts.) Limits the penalties to specified amounts per barrel. Directs the EPA Administrator to report biennially to the Congress on the adequacy of the National Contingency Plan and any regulations concerning the discharge of oil.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1989
Indoor Air Quality Act of 1989 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a national research, development, and demonstration program to assure the quality of indoor air, including coordinating and accelerating efforts related to the causes, detection, and correction of contaminated air. Requires such program to include information collection and dissemination, cooperative research, grants, studies, development of techniques, facility construction, and conferences. Requires that research focus on human health effects and the identification of types and levels of contaminants likely to cause harm, including the development of methodology and techniques for detection and control. Authorizes the Administrator to assist technology demonstration activities based on a technology's potential to cost effectively control sources of contaminants. Limits Federal funding to 75 percent of the costs of such projects. Requires the Administrator to publish: (1) general reports on the findings of such demonstration projects; and (2) bulletins assessing technology and management practices for controlling and measuring indoor air contaminants, which shall be provided to the Indoor Air Quality Information Clearinghouse. Directs the Administrator to develop protocols, within six months of this Act's enactment, for the measurement of radon gas in child care facilities and disseminate information regarding techniques for measuring and mitigating radon in such facilities. Authorizes the Administrator to take certain other actions conducive to the detection and reduction of radon in such facilities. Directs the Administrator to publish and biennially revise a list of contaminants known to occur in indoor air. Provides for additions to such list upon application of a State Governor. Requires the Administrator to publish advisory materials addressing the human health effects of listed contaminants which describe the properties, effects, risks, and concentrations of such contaminants. Directs the Indoor Air Panel of the EPA Science Advisory Board to assist in the listing and advisories. Requires advisories to be updated at least once every five years. Directs the Administrator to develop and publish a national indoor air quality response plan to reduce human exposure to the listed indoor air contaminants and reduce, to the fullest extent practicable, indoor air contaminant concentration levels to levels at which there is no known or anticipated human health effect, with an adequate margin of safety. Requires the response plan to identify the contaminant, the basis for the action, the nature of the response, the responsible Federal authority, the necessary financial resources, and the technological or legislative changes required for further reduction of the contaminant. Requires the Administrator and the Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) to develop and implement a program to respond to and reduce indoor air contamination in Federal buildings and to demonstrate methods of reducing indoor air contamination in new Federal buildings. Directs the Administrator of the GSA to prepare a specific response plan for Federal buildings which lists buildings and the reduction and response actions to be taken and identifies those buildings for which there is sufficient evidence of indoor air contamination to warrant their assessment under this Act's Building Assessment Demonstration Program. Exempts specified buildings for national security, demolition, or special use purposes. Requires the Administrator of the GSA to provide a method and format for filing comments and complaints concerning indoor air quality in Federal buildings. Requires response plans to be submitted to the Congress on a biennial basis. Directs the Administrator of the GSA to reserve 0.5 percent of any funds appropriated for construction of new Federal buildings for design and construction of measures to reduce indoor air contaminant concentrations within such buildings. Requires that any new EPA building be designed, constructed, maintained, and operated as a model to demonstrate principles and practices for protecting indoor air quality. Authorizes grants to States for the development and implementation of management strategies and indoor air quality assessment and response programs similar to those of the Federal program. Directs the Administrator to establish the Office of Indoor Air Quality within the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation to implement agency responsibilities under this Act. Establishes a Council on Indoor Air Quality to coordinate Federal indoor air quality activities and review and comment on the national indoor air response program and the Federal building response plan. Requires the Council to report to the Congress on a biennial basis. 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 of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 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. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1989
Title I: Statehood Centennial Coin - Statehood Centennial Commemorative Coin Act of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than a specified number of one-dollar silver coins and five-dollar palladium coins in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the statehood of Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming. Sets forth certain features of such coins and provides for their design, issuance, and sale. Requires the Secretary to provide a specified amount of all surcharges to the Documents West exhibition program with the remaining amount of surcharges to be deposited in the Treasury to be used to reduce the national debt. Requires the Secretary to obtain silver for the one-dollar coins only from stockpiles established under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act. Requires the Secretary to obtain palladium for the five-dollar coins by purchase of palladium mined and refined in the United States. Grants the Comptroller General the right to examine records and other data of the Idaho Centennial Commission. Title II: Silver Proof Sets - Silver Coin Proof Set Act - Authorizes the Secretary to mint and issue silver coin proof sets. Sets forth certain specified features of such coins and provides for their sale to the public. Requires the Secretary to obtain silver for such coins by purchase from stockpiles established under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act and from Treasury stocks on hand.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1989
Global Environmental Protection Act of 1989 - Title I: Elimination and Regulation of Global Change Pollutants - Part A: Chlorofluorocarbons and Related Chemicals - Global Stratospheric Ozone and Climate Preservation Act of 1989 - States that this Act's objectives are to restore and maintain the chemical and physical integrity of the Earth's atmosphere and to protect human health and the global environment from all known and potential dangers due to atmospheric or climatic modification. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to: (1) publish a priority list of manufactured substances which are known, or may reasonably be anticipated, to cause or contribute to atmospheric or climatic modification, including chlorofluorocarbon-11, chlorofluorocarbon-12, chlorofluorocarbon-113, halon-1211, and halon-1301; (2) create and annually update a list of other manufactured substances which meet such criteria; and (3) assign to each listed substance a numerical value representing the ozone depletion potential of such substance. Imposes reporting requirements on producers of listed substances. Phases out, by January 1, 2000, the production or release of listed substances for any use other than medical purposes. Prohibits the use or introduction into interstate commerce of a priority-listed substance after 1993 except for approved medical purposes. Prohibits, after 2009, the production of any listed substance in annual quantities that yield a total ozone depletion greater than five percent of that produced by priority-listed substances in 1986. Directs the Administrator to require a producer of a listed substance to reduce production of such substance more rapidly if new information indicates that expedition is necessary for the protection of human health or the environment or the availability of substitutes makes expedited reductions attainable. Authorizes the President to issue orders exempting from this Act's requirements the production and use of halon-1211 and halon-1301 at any specified site or facility if the President finds that adequate substitutes are not available and the production and use of such substance is necessary to protect national security interests. Prohibits the importation of a priority listed substance, any product containing such substance, or any product manufactured with a process that uses such substance unless the Administrator has certified that the nations in which such substance or product was manufactured and from which such substance or product was imported have programs that require reduced production of such substance and limit the production of other substances covered by this Act pursuant to a schedule and limitations at least as stringent as those applicable under this Act. Deems a person who imports a listed substance or a product containing such substance to have produced such substance for purposes of this Act's requirements. Requires that containers in which listed substances are stored or transported, products containing such substances, and products manufactured with a process using such substances be labeled as harmful to public health and the environment by reason of the effect such substances have on the ozone and climate. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations regarding: (1) the use, recapture, recycling, and safe disposal of substances covered by this Act; and (2) the use of any manufactured substance that may exacerbate the problem of human induced global climate change. Prohibits, after 1992, the knowing use, release, or disposal of any substance covered by this Act (with specified exceptions) in a fashion which permits such substance to enter the environment. Exempts from such prohibition releases associated with: (1) the approved use of medical devices and diagnostic products for medical purposes; (2) good-faith attempts to recapture and recycle or safely dispose of such substances; and (3) the servicing or repair of equipment which contains such substances but does not include an aperture which allows the recapture of such substances, if, during the first servicing or repair after the effective date of this Act, an aperture or other such feature is installed. Part B: Carbon Dioxide - Act to Reduce and Stabilize Atmospheric Concentrations of Carbon Dioxide - Requires the Administrator to revise nonutility stationary source emission standards by January 1, 1990, and express such standards in terms of carbon dioxide emitted per unit or product output. Directs the Administrator to promulgate standards requiring specified reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from cement kilns, iron and steel manufacturing operations, pulp and paper mills, and synthetic fiber plants by January 1, 2000. Amends the Clean Air Act to set motor vehicle carbon dioxide emission standards which require a reduction of such emissions of at least ten percent by 1990, 25 percent by 1995, 50 percent by 2000, and 75 percent by 2010 from 1985 carbon dioxide emission levels. Requires that, after January 1, 1992, new homes which are equipped with a central furnace, central air-conditioner, or hot-water heater be equipped only with one that satisfies the carbon dioxide emission limitation achieved by the best available residential control technology. Requires that each replacement central furnace, central air-conditioner, or hot-water heater installed in a home after 1992 satisfy such limitation. Part C: Methane - Methane Emission Elimination Act - Directs the Administrator to report to the Congress by January 1, 1992, on: (1) the contribution of methane gas to global climate change; (2) the sources and sinks of methane; (3) the methods of controlling methane emissions; and (4) the relationship between methane emissions and concentrations of other trace gases. Requires that State solid waste management plans provide for the minimization of emissions of methane and other gases during the operation and after the closure of sanitary landfills. Prohibits, after 1993, mass releases and flaring of methane. Part D: Miscellaneous Provisions - Authorizes the Administrator to respond to violations of this title's requirements by assessing a civil penalty against violators and/or requiring their immediate compliance, or commencing a civil action in the U.S. district court in the district in which the violation occurred for appropriate relief. Imposes civil and criminal penalties for violations of this title's requirements. Provides for judicial review of the Administrator's final actions. Authorizes citizen suits to enforce any permit, regulation, condition, requirement, prohibition, or order which has become effective pursuant to this title. Title II: Global Change Adjustment and Mitigation - Environmental Adjustment Act of 1989 - Amends the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to add at the end thereof the Atmospheric Protection Act of 1989. Authorizes and directs that, to the fullest extent possible: (1) policies, regulations, and laws of the United States be interpreted and administered in accordance with the Act's policies; and (2) all Federal agencies minimize the impacts of proposed actions on the global environment and prepare environmental impact statements regarding such actions. Title III: International Financing - Amends the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to require environmental impact assessments on proposed actions affecting the quality of the human environment by certain multilateral development banks listed under the Export-Import Bank Act Amendments of 1986. Directs the Council on Environmental Quality to establish the criteria for such assessments. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) take steps to expand international consensus on the importance of environmental issues and to secure support for programs that encourage energy efficiency and conservation and integrated pest management; and (2) report to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries on the progress made by the multilateral development banks in environmental assessment activities. Requires the Federal Government to undertake a systematic and comprehensive survey of all Federal lands and structures, by January 1, 1991, to ascertain their vulnerability to changes associated with global environmental changes. Directs the President to report to the Congress, by January 1, 1993, on the results of such survey, including recommendations for generic and site-specific actions and policies to preclude further public or private investment in susceptible areas and minimize and mitigate the loss or damage likely to occur. Ground Water Recharge Research and Demonstration Act - Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to undertake a program of research, development, and demonstration of artificial groundwater recharge techniques. Requires the Secretary of the Army to submit to specified congressional committees a final report, by May 30, 1993, and a brief interim report, within 30 months of this Act's enactment, on such activities. Title IV: International Cooperation - Directs the President to request the United Nations to promptly establish a temporary new agency, to be headed by the Director of the United Nations Environmental Program, to: (1) coordinate international efforts to minimize and mitigate the effects of unavoidable environmental alterations; and (2) provide financial, technical, and other assistance to developing nations to facilitate improvements in their standard of living while minimizing or eliminating their contributions to global, continental, and subcontinental scale environmental damages. Directs the President to request the United Nations to establish a temporary program of forestation to: (1) assist and encourage nations in halting activities that are destroying forests; and (2) undertake a global reforestation program. Requires the President to instruct U.S. representatives to other bilateral and multilateral organizations to assure that the activities of such organizations are consistent with this Act's goals and objectives. Establishes as a national goal the generation of 50 percent of the national supply of energy from nonpolluting technologies and practices by the year 2000 and 100 percent by the year 2050. Title V: Development of Nonpolluting Energy Sources - Authorizes the Administrator to charter the National New Energy Development Institute, an organization concerned with energy production standards and practices to be incorporated in the District of Columbia. Requires the Institute to promote the use of energy efficient technologies which will: (1) minimize the quantity of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere and the consumption of scarce resources; (2) insure the competitiveness of U.S. industry; and (3) assure that human health and the environment will not be adversely affected. Directs the Institute to establish industry energy technology standards to protect the global climate. Outlines criteria to be considered by the Administrator in granting a charter to the prospective Institute. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to the Institute. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1989
Amends the Federal Unemployment Tax Act to institute discretionary denial of unemployment benefits between academic terms to employees serving educational institutions in nonprofessional positions. (Under current law denial is mandatory.)
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1989
Section 89 Simplification Act - Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to the new nondiscrimination requirements for coverage and benefits under certain statutory employee benefit plans to: (1) prescribe criteria for simplified health arrangements which, if offered by an employer, will be treated as meeting the nondiscrimination requirements of Internal Revenue Section 89; (2) increase from 17 1/2 hours to 25 hours per week (30 hours in 1989, 27 1/2 hours in 1990) the threshold number of work hours triggering requirements with respect to part-time employees; (3) apply noncompliance penalties (taxation of benefits) only with respect to highly compensated employees rather than with respect to all employees; (4) exempt the plans of entities with no highly compensated employees; and (5) revise rules relating to plan testing, aggregation of plans, and coverage valuation.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
National Global Warming Policy Act - Declares that it is U.S. policy to: (1) reduce the generation of greenhouse gases in the United States, with an initial goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from 1988 levels by 20 percent by the end of the year 2000; (2) host, in 1989, an international summit meeting on global warming and environmental concerns; (3) encourage, and develop multilateral agreements with, other nations to reduce the generation of such gases; (4) assist in the worldwide protection of tropical rainforests; (5) require Federal agencies to determine the impacts of global warming on their activities and propose greenhouse gas reduction policies; and (6) develop technologies that will provide reliable energy and services while reducing the generation of such gases.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Pollution Prevention Act of 1989 - Establishes within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) an office to promote pollution prevention through source reduction. Requires the EPA Administrator to develop and implement a source reduction strategy which: (1) establishes standard methods for measuring source reduction; (2) coordinates and promotes source reduction activities and techniques in Federal agencies, businesses, and educational curricula; (3) coordinates and streamlines data collection requirements under existing environmental statutes and identifies data gaps with respect to the measurement of hazardous substances, pollution, or contamination generation and management practices; (4) makes recommendations to the Congress to eliminate barriers to source reduction including the use of incentives; (5) develops and disseminates model source reduction auditing procedures designed to highlight source reduction opportunities; and (6) promotes source reduction for nonhazardous wastes. Directs the Administrator to make matching grants to States for programs to promote source reduction by businesses. Sets forth criteria to be evaluated in the awarding of such grants. Limits the percentage of funds for such programs that may be Federal funds to 75 percent in FY 1990 and 1991, 62.5 percent in FY 1992 and 1993, and 50 percent in FY 1994. Requires the Administrator to establish a Source Reduction Clearinghouse to compile a computer data base which contains information on management, technical, and operational approaches to source reduction. Directs the Administrator to make such information available to the public. Directs owners or operators of facilities required to file annual toxic chemical release forms under the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA) to include with each such filing a toxic chemical source reduction and pollution control report. Sets forth items to be included in such reports, including: (1) the quantity of each chemical entering any waste stream prior to recycling, treatment, or disposal during the reporting year, and the two years thereafter, and the percentage change from the previous year; (2) the source reduction practices used with respect to such chemicals; (3) a ratio of production in the reporting year to production in the previous year; (4) the total volume of each such chemical that was recycled, treated, or disposed during the reporting year; and (5) the amount of any hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants released which resulted from remedial action and not from current production processes. Directs the Administrator to collect certain waste stream information from a sample of facilities drawn from classifications producing the highest volume of toxic chemicals entering the waste stream. Makes provisions of SARA applicable to the reporting requirements of this Act. Directs the Administrator to make data collected under this Act publicly available in the same manner as data collected under SARA. Establishes the National Pollution Prevention Award. Directs the President or the Administrator to make the award to companies or organizations which have benefited the economic or social well-being of the United States through reduction in the generation of hazardous substances, pollutants, contaminants, or nonhazardous solid waste. Authorizes organizations which receive such award and agree to help other American organizations improve source reduction to publicize such award. Makes such organizations ineligible to receive another award in the same category for a period of five years. Authorizes the Administrator to establish categories to make such awards and sets forth application and qualification criteria. Authorizes the Administrator to seek and accept gifts from private and public sources to carry out such program. Requires the Administrator to report to the Congress by September 30, 1991, and biennially thereafter on actions and results of the source reduction strategy. Authorizes and allocates appropriations for FY 1990 through 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Section 89 Small Business Relief Act of 1989 - Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to the new nondiscrimination requirements for coverage and benefits under certain statutory employee benefit plans to: (1) exempt the plans of employers having fewer than 20 employees; (2) delay until 1991 the effective date of the requirements; (3) increase from 17 1/2 hours to 25 hours per week the threshold number of work hours triggering requirements with respect to part-time employees; (4) treat any plan that offers the same benefits to all employees as complying with requirements (under current law compliance is based on the number of employees participating in the plan); and (5) decrease from 80 percent to 65 percent the coverage requirement under the alternative coverage test.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Amends the Temporary Emergency Wildfire Suppression Act to change the short title of such Act to the Wildfire Suppression Assistance Act. Repeals the provision terminating the authority of the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into agreements with foreign fire organizations for wildfire protection, to furnish or accept emergency wildfire protection resources from foreign fire organizations, or to incur obligations for reimbursement to Canada or Canadian organizations in furnishing U.S. wildfire protection resources.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Research and Experimental Credit Extension and Reform Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the income tax credit for qualified research expenditures by repealing the provisions that would terminate the credit for expenses incurred or paid after 1989. Revises the method for computing: (1) base period research expenses, adding a factor reflecting the gross national product growth rate; and (2) the tax credit, adding an alternative computation component. Applies the credit to in-house research expenses that the taxpayer pays or incurs for the principal purpose of using the research results in the active conduct of a future trade or business.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1989
Sole Community Hospital Preservation Act of 1989 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to treat a hospital as a sole community hospital for Medicare payment purposes if it is located: (1) more than 35 miles from other hospitals furnishing short-term, acute care; (2) 15 to 35 miles from other hospitals furnishing short-term, acute care and not more than 50 percent of part A (Hospital Insurance) Medicare beneficiaries in such hospital's service area are admitted to other hospitals within 35 miles of such hospital or, if larger, within such hospital's service area; or (3) 15 to 35 miles from other hospitals furnishing short-term, acute care, if such other hospitals are inaccessible for at least one month each year due to local topography or severe weather conditions. Maintains a sole community hospital classification until there is a change in the circumstances giving rise to such classification or the hospital requests a cancellation of such classification. Requires that Medicare payments to sole community hospitals cover the reasonable operating costs of inpatient hospital services provided by such hospitals.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1989
Chlorofluorocarbons and Halon Reduction Act of 1989 - Declares that the objective of this Act is to provide a smooth transition away from the use of ozone-depleting chemicals in order to protect the earth's ozone layer and limit global warming. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to issue regulations to: (1) impose ozone-protection charges on producers and importers of specified ozone-depleting chemicals; and (2) add to the list of such chemicals those known or anticipated to contribute to ozone depletion and whose production or importation should be limited to protect public health and the environment. Directs the Administrator to assure that no charge is imposed on chemicals that are used and entirely consumed in the production of other chemicals. Sets forth production charge procedures and assessment periods for specified ozone-depleting chemicals. Permits modification of such procedures as specified. Establishes the Ozone Layer and Climate Protection Trust Fund. Provides that all charge moneys received by the Secretary of the Treasury shall be deposited in such Fund. Makes specified percentages of Fund moneys available to support research related to substitutes for ozone-depleting chemicals by chemical producers and alternative products that are produced without such chemicals. Requires the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on the operation of the Fund. Sets forth investment duties of the Secretary with regard to the Fund. Directs the Administrator to establish an advisory committee in connection with the research to be conducted pursuant to this Act. Authorizes the Administrator to establish and carry out a grant program for such research. Authorizes appropriations from the Fund for the research grant program.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1989
Stratospheric Ozone and Climate Protection Act of 1989 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to publish a priority list of manufactured substances known or reasonably anticipated to cause atmospheric modification, including stratospheric ozone depletion, and to assign an ozone depletion potential to each substance. Requires the Administrator to list simultaneously and update annually other manufactured substances meeting the same criteria, assigning ozone depletion potentials for each. Includes specified chlorofluorocarbons on each list. Requires producers of substances on either list to report initially and annually to the Administrator on such production until it ceases. Limits production of substances on the priority list to 1986 levels effective July 1, 1989. Requires further scheduled reductions by July 1, 1992, and July 1, 1995. Prohibits the production, effective July 1, 1997, of any quantity of a listed substance unless the Administrator authorizes limited production of such substance for medical purposes. Authorizes the President to issue orders regarding the use of halon-1211, halon-1301, and halon-2402 if the use of such substances is necessary to protect national security interests. Exempts such orders from the requirements of this Act. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations regarding: (1) the use, recapture, recycling, and safe disposal of substances covered by this Act; and (2) the use of any manufactured substance that may exacerbate the problem of human induced global climate change. Prohibits, after 1992, the knowing use, release, or disposal of any substance covered by this Act (with specified exceptions) in a fashion which permits such substance to enter the environment. Exempts from such prohibition releases associated with: (1) the approved use of medical devices and diagnostic products for medical purposes; (2) good-faith attempts to recapture and recycle or safely dispose of such substances; and (3) the servicing or repair of equipment which contains such substances but does not include an aperture which allows the recapture of such substances, if, during the first servicing or repair after the effective date of this Act, an aperture or other such feature is installed. Prohibits, effective July 1, 1997, the introduction into interstate commerce or use of a priority listed substance except for medical purposes and, for a period not to exceed ten years after such date, to maintain and service household appliances. Prohibits the production, effective July 1, 1989, of substances covered by this Act in quantities sufficient for the ozone depletion potential to exceed the level of depletion for any such substance for 1986. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations establishing production limitations for such substances that yield not less than a 95 percent reduction in total ozone depletion in 1997. Provides that if the Administrator fails to promulgate such regulations, it shall be unlawful, effective July 1, 1997, to produce such substances in quantities yielding an ozone depletion potential greater than five percent of the 1986 level of depletion for any such substance. Prohibits imports of such substances or products manufactured using such substances, unless the exporting nation has an equivalent or more stringent production reduction program. Requires the Administrator to certify national programs, such certification to be reviewed annually. Equates imports with production when determining a manufacturer's required reductions. Requires containers of listed substances to carry labeling stating the contents and potential damaging effects. Authorizes the Administrator to assess civil penalties or seek injunctive relief for violations and to revoke any permit for continued noncompliance. Establishes criminal penalties for knowing violations. Sets forth procedures for review of regulations promulgated under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1989
Directs the Secretary of Education to extend the application deadline for local educational agencies requesting FY 1989 Impact Aid Program funds.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1989
Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to the income tax deduction for the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals to: (1) extend the deduction through 1994 (under current law it will expire after tax year 1989); and (2) increase the allowable deduction from 25 percent to 100 percent.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technology Competitiveness Act of 1989 - Sets forth specified national goals for the wind, photovoltaics, and solar thermal energy programs. Requires the President's budget requests for FY 1991 to contain the recommendations of the Secretary of Energy for specified Department of Energy research and development programs for 1995, including biofuels energy systems, solar buildings energy systems, ocean energy systems, and geothermal energy. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 1993 for: (1) the wind energy research program; (2) the photovoltaic energy systems program; (3) the solar thermal energy systems program; (4) the biofuels energy systems program; (5) the solar buildings energy systems program; (6) the ocean energy systems program; and (7) the geothermal energy program. Requires the Secretary to submit an options analysis to the Congress regarding the accelerated commercialization of specified renewable energy technologies. Requires the President's budget requests for FY 1991 and 1992 to include the Secretary's recommendations of amounts to be set aside for energy efficiency research and development and demonstration initiatives. Authorizes appropriations for specified energy efficiency research and development programs for FY 1991 through 1993. Directs the Secretary to establish joint research and development ventures in specified energy technologies and to report to the Congress on the implementation of such plans. Directs the Secretary to establish the following advisory bodies: (1) Advisory Committee on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technology; (2) Advisory Subcommittee on Photovoltaic Energy Technology; (3) Advisory Subcommittee on Wind Energy Technology; (4) Advisory Subcommittee on Solar Thermal Energy Technology; (5) Advisory Subcommittee on Energy Performance in Factory-Made Housing; (6) Advisory Subcommittee on Advanced District Cooling Technology; and (7) Advisory Subcommittee on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technology Exports. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 1993 for such joint ventures. Requires the Committee on Renewable Energy, Commerce, and Trade to report annually to the Congress regarding renewable energy technology exports. Authorizes appropriations for such Committee activities for FY 1991 through 1993. Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to direct the Secretary to establish an information dissemination program for Federal procurement and loan officers on the benefits of solar heating and cooling technology, including site visits and technical briefings. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to include among its special projects incentives, grants, and studies for renewable energy and other small business activities. Requires the Secretary to make annual reports to the Congress regarding the research programs and ventures under this Act. Requires each annual submission of the National Energy Policy Plan to be accompanied by a three-year strategic plan for energy technology research, development, and demonstration, including energy conservation and renewable energy technologies.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1989
Designates September 3 through September 9, 1989, as National Wilderness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1989
Requires U.S. coins to be redesigned, at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, over the next six years. Requires the reverse side of the first coin redesigned to commemorate the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution for a two-year period. Provides that the design on the obverse side of U.S. coins shall contain the likenesses of those displayed on current coins and shall be considered for redesign. Requires any such obverse redesigns to conform to the inscription requirements of current law. Requires the Secretary, in selecting new designs, to consider specified constitutional concepts. Requires the designs to be selected by the Secretary upon consultation with the United States Commission of Fine Arts. Requires that any profits from the sale of uncirculated and proof sets of U.S. coins be deposited in the Treasury and used solely to reduce the national debt.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1989
Scenic Byways Study Act of 1989 - Declares it to be the policy of the United States to identify, protect, and enhance scenic and historic roads. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to: (1) transmit to the Congress a nationwide, long-term plan for promoting, designating, protecting, and enhancing scenic and historic roads, including an analysis of available studies on a national scenic byways program, guidelines for administration of such a program, and forecasts of significant changes in traffic volumes, safety consequences, and environmental and economic impacts; (2) assemble for the Congress available information on economic activity associated with scenic and recreational travel; (3) conduct a study and make recommendations regarding economic impacts of promoting scenic byways as tourist attractions, techniques for incorporating scenic byways into tourism development and marketing programs, and alternative means to inform the public about scenic byways; and (4) conduct case studies of, and report on, States with existing scenic byway programs. Requires the Secretary to consult with the States on studies under this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct national and regional conferences to ensure public involvement. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1989
COLA Equity Act of 1989 - Provides for all Federal civilian and military retirees to receive the full cost-of-living adjustments in annuities payable under Federal retirement systems for FY 1990 and 1991. (Includes benefits payable under the Civil Service Retirement and Disability System, military retirement and survivor benefit programs, the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System, the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and railroad retirement programs.) Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to exempt railroad retirement supplemental annuities from sequestration.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1989
Designates the month of April 1989 as National Recycling Month.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1989
Medicaid Home and Community Quality Services Act of 1989 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require States to provide Medicaid coverage of community and family support services for severely disabled individuals who became disabled before age 22 and are living in a family home, foster family home, or community living facility. Requires that such services be provided in accordance with a written habilitation plan developed by an interdisciplinary team on the basis of a comprehensive assessment of the individual's strengths and the services and support necessary to: (1) enable such individual to attain or retain capabilities for independence or self-care; (2) promote interaction between disabled and nondisabled individuals within the community; and (3) enable disabled individuals who are over age 18 to engage in paid employment. Increases the age at which newly disabled individuals will be eligible for this Act's coverage so that eventually individuals who become disabled between age 22 and 50 will be covered. Lists the services which may comprise community and family support services, requiring that such services include at a minimum: (1) case management services; (2) individual and family support services; (3) specialized vocational services; and (4) protective intervention services. Excludes from such services: (1) room and board, other than room and board provided for less than six consecutive weeks and less than 12 weeks per year; (2) cash payments as a service; (3) aversive behavior intervention, management, or therapies; (4) services provided to a disabled individual living in a hospital, or skilled nursing or intermediate care facility; (5) educational services which the State makes generally available to its residents without cost and without regard to their income; and (6) services for which payment is made under title XVIII (Medicare), or part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) or B (Child Welfare Services) of title IV of the Act. Requires each State to make certain assurances regarding their provision of community and family support services and submit an implementation strategy to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Requires that such implementation strategies: (1) describe the extent and scope of community and family support services provided to the severely disabled and the extent and scope of services provided to the severely disabled who are institutionalized; (2) set forth the objectives and a five-year strategy for expanding community and family support services for the severely disabled; (3) include certain procedures for transferring severely disabled, institutionalized individuals to family homes, foster family homes, or community living facilities; (4) set forth standards for the provision of community and family support services and a program for licensing and certifying all facilities and programs providing such services; (5) provide for assessments of the provision and affect of community and family support services and the correction of service deficiencies; (6) provide the public with an adequate opportunity to comment on the strategies; (7) set forth methods ensuring that the personnel providing community and family support services receive adequate training and are competent to provide such services; (8) provide that the State has in effect a management information system capable of collecting, storing, and retrieving data on the severely disabled who receive community and family support services; (9) provide an opportunity for an appeal and hearing before a hearing officer to individuals who believe themselves to be inappropriately served or denied an appropriate service, or who are being scheduled for an involuntary transfer from one living arrangement to another; (10) describe the methods to be used in administering community and family support services; and (11) set forth procedures to protect the interests of public employees who will be affected by the transfer of the severely disabled from public institutions. Allows States to provide any new community and family support service for up to three years without meeting the Medicaid requirements that it provide a service on a statewide basis and that the service be comparable in all parts of the State. Requires that intermediate care facility services for the mentally retarded include the ascertainment of the individual needs of each newly admitted individual by an interdisciplinary team within 30 days and the development of a written habilitation plan for each individual. Limits Medicaid payments to States for skilled nursing and intermediate care facility services furnished to individuals under age 65 who became disabled before age 22 to the amount payable for such services in the fiscal year ending after the enactment of this Act, increased if and by the extent to which the percentage increase in the consumer price index exceeds six percent. Makes such limitation inapplicable to facilities which have less than 16 beds or meet the size and location requirements for a community living facility. Requires States to have in effect a system to protect and advocate those rights of the severely disabled who are eligible for medical assistance which relate to the provision of such assistance. Provides Federal Medicaid matching funds for such system. Gives individuals who are adversely affected by a violation of this Act's requirements the right to bring an action to enjoin such violation. Allows States to set payment rates for community and family support services for the severely disabled. Authorizes States to treat severely disabled individuals under age 19 who are not in a medical institution as receiving benefits under title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Act for Medicaid eligibility purposes if they would be eligible for SSI benefits if institutionalized. Requires States to establish a uniform income standard for the severely disabled regardless of whether or not they are in a medical institution. Authorizes States to provide Medicaid coverage of disabled spouses and children who, except for the resources deemed to them, would be eligible for SSI benefits. Removes certain limitations on the Secretary's approval of reduction and correction plans for deficient intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded. Makes individuals who are severely disabled and receiving or deemed to be receiving SSI benefits eligible for Medicaid as long as such qualifications continue to be satisfied. Directs the Secretary to establish, within the Health Care Financing Administration, a Bureau of Developmental Disabilities Services responsible for administering Medicaid programs for the severely disabled. Requires the Secretary to: (1) develop standards and a program for training Federal and State personnel who perform surveys of skilled nursing and intermediate care facilities to determine whether such facilities meet Medicaid participation requirements; and (2) periodically conduct studies of the reliability of such surveys and make the changes necessary to improve such reliability. Directs the Secretary to support the development of: (1) instruments to assess outcomes in the provision of this Act's services; and (2) competency-based personnel standards for agencies and organizations providing services to the severely disabled pursuant to this Act. Requires the Secretary to: (1) conduct an annual assessment of each State's compliance with this Act's requirements; and (2) issue final regulations regarding this Act's amendments prior to the first fiscal year beginning after this Act's enactment. Sets forth reporting requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1989
Designates the week of April 23 through April 29, 1989, and the last full week of April of each subsequent year as National Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1989
Designates January 19, 1990, as National Skiing Day.