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United States · Official source
4,407 records where Sen. Cranston, Alan [D-CA] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 1991
Designates 1992 as the Year of Reconciliation Between American Indians and Non-Indians.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 1991
Forced Labor Products Investigation Act - Directs the President to investigate, determine, and report to the Congress on whether Chinese forced labor-made goods are being imported into the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 1991
Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to issue regulations requiring the use of child safety restraint systems on commercial aircraft. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization should seek an international standard to require that airline passengers be restrained on takeoff and landing and when directed by the captain of such aircraft.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1991
Designates 1993 as the Year of American Craft: A Celebration of the Creative Work of the Hand.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1991
Authorizes establishment of the National Voluntary Reunion Registry to facilitate on a voluntary mutual request basis the reunion of adopted persons with birth parents, siblings, and grandparents. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Pay Equity Technical Assistance Act - Directs the Secretary of Labor to develop and implement a continuing program of information dissemination, research, and technical assistance to public and private entities with respect to correction of wage-setting practices, and reduction or elimination of wage disparities, to the extent that they are based on the sex, race, or national origin of the employee, rather than on the work performed and other appropriate factors.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Designates 1992 as The Year of the American Indian.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should continue to support the full protection of the African elephant through an unqualified listing of all populations of the African elephant on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 1991
Congratulates Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the Burmese people on her award of the Nobel Peace Prize. Expresses the Senate's continued condemnation of the Burmese military junta, and support for Kyi and the Burmese people in their struggle for peaceful and democratic change. Calls upon the President, the Secretary of State, and the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations to: (1) publicly congratulate Kyi on her award; (2) take the strongest possible action, including support for international sanctions and arms and trade embargoes, against such junta; (3) encourage the restoration of democracy and condemn human rights violations in Burma; and (4) advocate the immediate and unconditional release of Kyi from house arrest.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1991
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to sell loans made by the Secretary under the Small Reclamation Projects Act to the Redwood Valley County Water District, California. Requires such Water District to pay all reasonable fees and expenses incurred relative to such sale. Terminates the authority to sell such loans one year after the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1991
Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to require the United States Trade Representative to include in the National Trade Estimate information with respect to the Arab boycott of U.S. persons who do business with or invest in Israel, or who do business with a person who does business with or invests there.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1991
White House Commemorative Coin Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) issue up to 500,000 silver one-dollar coins to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of the White House; and (2) obtain silver for such coins from stockpiles established under the Strategic and Critical Mineral Stock Piling Act. Specifies that: (1) all amounts received from the sale of coins issued under this Act shall be deposited in the coinage profit fund; and (2) the Secretary shall pay amounts from a ten-dollar surcharge per coin into the White House Endowment Fund. Directs the Secretary to take such actions as necessary to ensure that the minting and issuance of such coins do not result in any net cost to the Government. Bars the issuance of such coins unless the Secretary has received full payment or adequate security for payment. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1991
Designates May 16 through 22, 1992, as National Awareness Week for Life-Saving Techniques.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1991
Condemns the use of force by the parties in Yugoslavia to resolve their political differences. Urges the President to: (1) support efforts at the United Nations to promote and maintain a ceasefire; (2) support by any appropriate actions the resolutions of the Security Council; (3) advocate the furtherance of human and civil rights for all minority groups; and (4) support the European Community and other international efforts to find a just peace in Yugoslavia.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1991
Condemns Syria's denial of Syrian Jews' right to travel freely and calls upon the Syrian Government to: (1) immediately grant Syrian Jews the right to travel freely without imposing a fee; and (2) release all Jewish prisoners who were charged or suspected of traveling illegally. Urges the President to encourage U.S. allies and trading partners to make similar pleas to the Syrian Government. Calls upon the United Nations to send an official delegation to Syria to investigate the present condition of Syrian Jews.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 1991
Allows the city of Pittsburg, California, to use a specified parcel of land conveyed to the city by the United States for a fire station or other public purposes, or to transfer such land to another governmental entity for such purpose, notwithstanding certain restrictive covenants otherwise applicable.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 1991
Medicare Physician Payment Reform Implementation Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to increase the conversion factor for physicians' services for each of the years after 1993 through 1996 by one-fourth of the percentage by which the conversion factor may have been decreased due to an adjustment for asymmetry in 1992; (2) prohibit the Secretary, in determining the conversion factor for 1992, from assuming that changes in the volume and intensity of physician services in response to the implementation of the new payment system for such services would increase the estimated aggregate physician expenditures by more than one percent; (3) make any reduction to the conversion factor due to assumed volume and intensity changes equally applicable to the adjusted historical payment base; (4) permit separate payment to physicians for interpretation of electrocardiograms (EKGs) provided during office vists; (5) direct the Secretary to: (a) establish separate fee schedule amounts for the interpretation of EKGs; (b) adjust the relative values in the fee schedule for physician visits to reflect separate payments for EKG interpretation; (c) establish EKG practice guidelines for dissemination to physicians along with other educational information relating to EKG use; (d) develop a profile for EKG use by physicians; and (e) study EKG utilization and costs for a report to the Congress; and (6) make the new payment system for physicians nonapplicable to services furnished on or after January 1, 1992, by a physician who was in his or her first, second, or third year of practice in 1991 and to whom the payment rules under the new system did not apply in that year. Prohibits the Secretary from issuing final regulations before July 1, 1993, which change the methodology for determining: (1) the amount of time that may be billed for anesthesia services; and (2) the amount paid for drugs and biologicals furnished incident to physicians' services. Requires the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment to conduct a study and report to the Congress on whether payments for anesthesia services should be based on a particular unit of time according to the medical procedure with respect to which the service is furnished. Requires the Secretary to: (1) conduct a study and report to the Congress with respect to payment for drugs and biologicals furnished incident to physicians' services and payment for multiple surgical procedures; and (2) provide for pilot projects for developing Medicare volume performance standards other than at the national level. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the pilot projects.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Consumer Credit Protection Amendments of 1991 - Title I: Fair Credit Reporting Amendments - Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to place additional restrictions on the permissible purposes of consumer reports. Adds dwelling rental applications and check cashing privilege applications to the list of permissible uses. Prohibits, subject to exception, a consumer reporting agency (CRA) from furnishing certain reports in connection with any credit or business transaction which is not initiated by the consumer. Prohibits a CRA from reporting Chapter 13 bankruptcy information that is more than seven years old and other bankruptcy information that is more than ten years old. (Current law prohibits reporting any bankruptcy information, including Chapter 13, that is more than ten years old.) Provides for graduated periods of obsolescence for information relating to overdue payments. Repeals exemptions to obsolete information reporting prohibitions relating to credit, life insurance, or employment involving amounts over specified sums. Prohibits a CRA from prohibiting any report user from disclosing the contents of a report to the consumer. Requires a CRA to maintain certain records regarding: (1) accuracy assurance procedures; and (2) the certified purpose for which any information relating to any consumer is requested by any person. Requires any CRA, on request of any person, to disclose specified information about itself. Requires that: (1) certain disclosures by a CRA to a consumer required by current law be in writing; (2) all information in the consumer's file (currently, the nature and substance of all information) be disclosed to the consumer; (3) certain information be disclosed to the consumer regarding identification of any person who had access to any information in the consumer's file; and (4) any disclosure by a CRA to any consumer under specified provisions include a summary of all the consumer's rights and remedies under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Requires that such a summary be included in disclosures relating to: (1) investigative consumer reports; and (2) reports focusing on public record information for employment purposes. Requires reinvestigations in case of disputed accuracy to be completed within a reasonable time, not to exceed 30 days. (Current law requires completion within a reasonable time.) Requires CRAs to keep certain records regarding reinvestigation procedures. Sets forth requirements regarding: (1) notice upon a determination that a dispute is frivolous or irrelevant; (2) notice upon completion of a reinvestigation; and (3) reinvestigations which cannot be completed in 30 days. Eliminates the option for a CRA to include in a report a codification or summary of a consumer's statement regarding disputed accuracy rather than the statement itself. Requires that a CRA: (1) notify of a consumer dispute any person designated by the consumer who has received a non-employment report within the last year (currently, within the last six months); and (2) disclose to the consumer the recipients of any such report within the last year (currently, within the last six months). Sets a dollar limit on charges which may be imposed by a CRA for certain disclosures and makes other changes regarding when charges may be made. Requires a CRA which furnishes a consumer report for employment purposes to notify the consumer of the specific source of the information. Revises the duties of users of consumer reports, including requiring the user to provide: (1) the name and address of the three largest CRAs; and (2) the written summary of the consumer's rights and remedies prepared under specified provisions. Makes any person who furnishes information to any CRA (as well as CRAs and users of reports) civilly liable for willful noncompliance and for negligent noncompliance with the Act. Makes all functions and powers of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) under the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA) available to the FTC to enforce compliance. (Current law links enforcement to specified provisions of the FTCA.) Makes persons who furnish information to CRAs subject to certain administrative enforcement provisions, as enforced by bodies other than the FTC. Requires any person who regularly furnishes information to a CRA to give notice of such fact in writing to the consumer before providing information about the consumer to the CRA. Requires any person, when that person, in the course of conducting business, furnishes information about any consumer to a CRA, to follow reasonable procedures to assure the accuracy of the information. Title II: Credit Repair Organizations - Credit Repair Organizations Act - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to prohibit any credit repair organization (any person who provides a service for the purpose of improving a consumer's credit record) from: (1) charging or receiving any money prior to the completion of its services (unless it has obtained a $50,000 surety bond); (2) charging or receiving money solely for the referral of a customer to a retailer if the credit which may be extended to the buyer is upon substantially the same terms as those available to the general public; (3) advising any client to make an untrue or misleading statement; or (4) using any untrue or misleading statement. Requires the organization to provide the consumer with a written disclosure statement which includes a description of: (1) the consumer's rights; (2) the services to be provided by the organization; and (3) the total amount the consumer will be charged. Sets forth contract requirements and the rights of the consumer with regard to cancellation of such contract. Subjects any organization which fails to comply with any provision of this Act to Federal civil liability. Provides for the administrative enforcement of this Act by the FTC, as provided in the FTCA.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Designates March 12, 1992, as Girl Scouts of the United States of America 80th Anniversary Day.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1991
Amends the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978 to authorize the disclosure to the Department of Veterans Affairs of the names and addresses of those persons receiving payments, by means of direct deposit or electronic funds transfer, of compensation, dependency and indemnity compensation, or pension benefits, when such disclosure is necessary for proper administration of those programs.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Breast Cancer Screening Safety Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require certification in order for a facility to perform or interpret mammograms, inspect equipment, perform needle localizations or other procedures using mammography equipment, or conduct quality assurance oversight related to mammography. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue and renew certificates for up to two years. Allows the Secretary to approve a private nonprofit organization to be an accreditation body which meets certain requirements, including inspecting facilities. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish standards for facilities to assure the safety and accuracy of mammography; (2) specify organizations eligible to certify individuals to perform radiological procedures; (3) specify boards eligible to certify individuals to interpret screening mammograms; (4) establish standards regarding the qualifications for individuals to interpret screening mammograms; and (5) specify boards eligible to certify individuals to inspect screening mammography equipment and oversee quality assurance practices. Directs the Secretary to conduct annual announced and unannounced inspections of certified facilities. Provides for: (1) intermediate sanctions for certain violations; (2) suspension, revocation, and limitation of certificates; and (3) injunctions. Requires fees for certificate issuance and renewal, and for inspections, sufficient to cover costs. Requires annual publication of a list of facilities convicted of fraud and abuse, false billings, or kickbacks, facilities that have had certificates revoked, suspended, or limited, and facilities that have been the subject of a sanction or other similar matters. Allows the Secretary to exempt facilities in a State or locality with more stringent requirements from compliance with this Act. Directs the Secretary to: (1) make grants for research on new methods of establishing a Mammography Registry; and (2) based on the research, establish the Registry. Authorizes grants to enhance the capacity of health personnel in the area of breast cancer mortality prevention. Allows grant funds to be used to establish a breast cancer mortality prevention regional training center and develop a training curriculum. Authorizes appropriations. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require that screening mammographies paid for under Medicare be performed by a facility: (1) certified under this Act; and (2) in compliance with specified provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Semiconductor Investment Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to classify the depreciable life for semiconductor manufacturing equipment as three-year property.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Designates December 1 through 7, 1991, and November 29 through December 5, 1992, as National Adoption Week.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Designates October 15, 1991, as Up With People Day.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) the President should make clear that the United States supports the restoration of the democratically elected government of President Aristide in Haiti; (2) all U.S. assistance to the Haitian Government should remain suspended until democratic government is restored; (3) the Haitian military should respect the human rights of the Haitian people; (4) the Organization of American States should be commended for condemning the coup and for its Santiago commitment creating a new automatic mechanism to respond to the interruption of legitimate elected government; and (5) the international community should take all appropriate action to restore democratic government in Haiti.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1991
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to design and strike a silver commemorative medal for members of the U.S. armed forces who serve in a combat zone in connection with the Persian Gulf conflict.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1991
Designates November 16, 1991, as Dutch-American Heritage Day.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1991
Declares that the Senate recommends that all health insurance plans cover mammography screening as part of basic coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Requires the President to approve any application for a license to authorize the receipt and transmission of direct telephonic communications between the United States and Vietnam.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Designates October 1991 as Crime Prevention Month.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1991
Makes technical corrections in the enrollment of S. 868 (veterans' educational, employment, and training assistance).
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1991
Employer Sanctions Repeal Act of 1991 - Repeals specified provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), and the United States Code relating to the unlawful employment of aliens. Repeals specified provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act and IRCA relating to unfair immigration-related employment practices. Continues the duties of the Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices regarding unfair immigration-related employment practices for one year after enactment of this Act, such duties thereafter to be assumed by the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. Increases FY 1992 Border Patrol funding and personnel levels. Provides Border Patrol personnel training with respect to the rights and varied cultural backgrounds of aliens and citizens. Requires the Attorney General, in developing such training, to consult with organizations familiar with the varied cultural backgrounds of, or which have experience providing services to, such aliens and citizens. Authorizes appropriations. Increases FY 1992 personnel levels for: (1) the Wage and Hour Division within the Employment Standards Administration of the Department of Labor; (2) the Assistant United States Attorneys employed by the Department of Justice; and (3) the anti-smuggling program of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to increase penalties for bringing in or harboring certain aliens. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Attorney General should initiate discussions with Mexico and Canada with regard to the smuggling of aliens into the United States. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1991
Judicial Naturalization Amendments of 1991 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to confer naturalization authority upon the Attorney General and eligible naturalization courts under specified conditions. (Current law provides the Attorney General with sole naturalization authority.)
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1991
Designates December 4, 1991, as Hawaii Remembrance Day, to recognize contributions provided by Federal civilian employees during the attack on Pearl Harbor and during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1991
Declares that the Congress acknowledges and appreciates the commitment, devotion, and sacrifices of present and former military families. Designates November 25, 1991, as National Military Families Recognition Day.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1991
Declares that the President should award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Martha Raye in honor of her service in the form of entertainment and nursing care to members of the U.S. armed forces.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 - Establishes an emergency unemployment compensation program. Allows any State to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under which the State agency which administers the State unemployment compensation law will make payments of emergency unemployment compensation: (1) to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under State law, have no rights to such regular compensation or any additional State or Federal compensation, and are not receiving Canadian compensation; and (2) for any week of unemployment beginning in the individual's eligibility period. Sets forth provisions relating to exhaustion of regular benefits and weekly amount of emergency benefits equal to regular benefits. Authorizes a State Governor, in a period of a seven or eight percent total unemployment rate in that State (as defined under this Act), to elect to trigger off an extended compensation period to provide emergency unemployment compensation to individuals who have exhausted their rights to regular compensation under State law. Requires a State, under such an agreement, to establish an emergency unemployment compensation account with respect to the benefit year of each eligible individual who files an application. Limits benefit payments to not more than the amount in the individual's account. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount in such account. Provides that the applicable limit in such account shall be equal to: (1) 20 for an eight-percent period, i.e. one triggered by a total unemployment rate (TUR) of eight percent or more in the State, seasonally adjusted, for the most recent six calendar months with available data; (2) 13 for a seven-percent period; (3) seven for a six-percent period; and (4) four for any other period. Sets forth special rules relating to such applicable limits. Requires reduction in such account by the amount of extended benefits received by the individual relating to the same benefit year under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. Sets the weekly benefit amount at the amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable under the State law to the individual for such week for total unemployment. Provides for determination of periods and applicable triggers. Provides for a minimum period of at least 13 weeks. Provides, in general, that no emergency unemployment compensation shall be payable to any individual under this Act for any week beginning: (1) before the later of October 6, 1991, or the first week following the week in which an agreement under this Act is entered into; or (2) after July 4, 1992. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions for the eligibility of certain individuals for such benefits, as exceptions to such general rule. Provides for payments to States having such agreements for emergency unemployment compensation. Sets forth financing provisions. Requires that funds in the extended unemployment compensation account of the Unemployment Trust Fund be used to make payments to States having agreements under this Act. Sets forth provisions relating to fraud and overpayments. Defines the eligible period under this Act. Provides that in no event shall an individual's period of eligibility include any weeks after the 39th week after the end of the benefit year for which the individual exhausted rights to regular compensation or extended compensation. Amends specified Federal law to repeal certain limitations on payment of unemployment compensation to former members of the armed forces. Reduces the length of required active duty by reserves for purposes of such payment. Amends the Social Security Act to establish an Advisory Council on Unemployment Compensation. Directs the Secretary to establish such a council by February 1, 1992, and every fourth year thereafter. Requires each such council to evaluate the unemployment compensation program. Sets forth membership and staff provisions. Requires each council to report to the President and the Congress by Feburuary 1 of the second year following the year in which it is required to be established. Requires the first Council report to include findings and recommendations on determining eligibility for extended unemployment benefits on the basis of unemployment statistics for regions, States, or subdivisions of States. Designates as emergency requirements, pursuant to the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act), all direct spending amounts provided, and all appropriations authorized by this Act (for all fiscal years). Provides that this Act shall not take effect unless, by its enactment date, the President submits to the Congress a written designation of all such direct spending amounts and authorized appropriations as such emergency requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Designates October 1991 as Ending Hunger Month.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Declares that the U.S. Government should support the struggle of the Armenian people to achieve freedom and independence.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1991
Establishes a Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States' Democratic Party (Commission) to coordinate ceremonial events and related activities during the calendar year of 1992. Directs the Commission to report on its activities to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate at the time of its termination on February 13, 1993.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1991
Urges the President to: (1) communicate to the leadership of the Government of the People's Republic of China the concern of the Congress and the American people for Wang Juntao and Chen Ziming and to call for their immediate release from prison; and (2) request the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) to urge Beijing officials to provide quality medical care for them and for all political prisoners and to dispatch representatives of the UN Human Rights Commission to China to assess and report on the treatment of political prisoners and the condition of Chinese prisons.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 1991
Government Securities Offering Enforcement Act of 1991 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit a government securities dealer, broker, bidder, or purchaser from knowingly or willingly making false or misleading written statements with respect to any bid or purchase of such securities (including the omission of necessary facts which results in such a statement).
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 1991
National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Act - Establishes the National Fallen Firefighters' Foundation. Declares that the Foundation is: (1) a charitable and nonprofit corporation to be organized under the laws of the State of Maryland; and (2) not an agency or establishment of the United States. Provides that the Foundation is to: (1) primarily encourage, accept, and administer private gifts of property for the benefit of the National Fallen Firefighters' Memorial and its annual memorial service; (2) provide financial assistance to the families of firefighers who die in the line of duty; and (3) assist in the recognition of such firefighters. Sets forth provisions for establishment and membership of a Board of Directors of the Foundation. Makes the Administator of the U.S. Fire Administration of the Federal Emergency Management Agency an ex officio nonvoting member of the Board, who shall appoint Directors of the Board. Sets forth rights and obligations of the Foundation, including having its principal offices in the State of Maryland. Authorizes the Administrator to: (1) provide, and accept reimbursements for, personnel, facilities, and other administrative services to the Foundation; and (2) accept the services of the Foundation, the Board, and the Board's officers and employees as volunteers in performing functions authorized under this Act. Sets forth requirements relating to audits and annual reports. Provides for relief for certain Foundation acts or failures to act. Provides that the United States is not liable for any debts, defaults, acts, or omissions of the Foundation. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
National Flood Insurance, Mitigation, and Erosion Management Act of 1991 - Title I: Definitions - Defines specified terms under the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 and the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. Title II: Compliance and Increased Participation - Amends the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 to prohibit the waiver of current mandatory flood purchase insurance requirements with respect to financial assistance for property in a flood hazard area. Expands flood insurance purchase requirements. Requires lenders to review outstanding loans to determine whether they are in compliance with mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements. Authorizes lenders to charge borrowers a fee for such service. Exempts lenders from such requirement who have a specified accuracy for flood hazard determinations for outstanding loans, or who have conducted satisfactory loan reviews, or have regularly provided for escrow of flood insurance premiums. Requires residential real estate lenders to establish flood insurance premium escrow accounts. Imposes a fine for lenders failing to require flood insurance or to give proper notice under the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. Requires the seller-transferor of a residential-secured loan in a flood hazard area to so notify the purchaser-transferee unless a flood hazard determination has been made within the previous five years. Revises flood insurance notice requirements. Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to require the development of a standard hazard determination form. Amends the Federal Financial Institutions Examinations Council Act of 1978 to direct the Financial Examinations Council to coordinate with Federal entities for lending regulation to develop uniform lender standards. Title III: Ratings and Incentives for Community Floodplain Management Programs - Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to provide for a community rating system and incentives for community floodplain management. Provides program funding. Title IV: Mitigation of Flood and Erosion Risks - Amends the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to establish an Office of Mitigation Assistance to carry out flood and coastal erosion mitigation activities under the Federal Insurance Administrator. Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to make mitigation assistance grants available to eligible States, communities, and individuals. Includes among eligible grant activities property elevation, relocation, flood-proofing, and acquisition. Prohibits assistance for activities within a designated erosion-prone area in a community that has not adopted specified land management measures. Authorizes mitigation activity technical assistance. Establishes in the Treasury the National Flood Mitigation Fund to be available for such mitigation assistance grants. Provides for an insurance premium mitigation surcharge to be paid into such Fund. Authorizes a mitigation transition pilot program to be carried out through the Office of Mitigation Assistance. Repeals (with a transition period) the current program for the purchase of certain insured properties. Establishes a program to reduce coastal erosion hazards. Makes: (1) assistance available only to specified structures; and (2) structure relocation or demolition eligible as erosion mitigation activities. Limits flood insurance payments and prohibits future insurance coverage for failure to relocate or demolish a structure. Authorizes specified annual amounts from the National Flood Insurance Fund for erosion mitigation assistance. Repeals (with transition periods) current provisions for claims for imminent collapse and subsidence through flood insurance claims. Sets forth erosion setback limitations on flood insurance availability and rates. Requires the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to conduct a riverine erosion study. Title V: Flood Insurance Task Force - Establishes a two-year interagency Flood Insurance Task Force which shall: (1) develop standardized flood insurance enforcement procedures and guidelines; and (2) conduct a study of the extent to which the secondary mortgage market can assist enforcement. Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to: (1) increase flood insurance coverage amounts for nonresidential, single family, and multifamily structures; (2) permit flood insurance private sector participation; and (3) require at least every five years an assessment (and revision if necessary) of flood insurance maps.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
San Gabriel Basin Demonstration Project Act of 1991 - Authorizes any public agency, with the prior approval of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Board (Regional Board), to carry out a plan to construct facilities to assist in the restoration of the San Gabriel Aquifer whether or not the demonstration project authorized by this Act is being implemented. Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to direct the EPA Administrator to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Regional Board to provide water treatment to remove volatile organic compounds and other contaminants from water in the San Gabriel Aquifer. Requires the agreement to provide for consultation with specified regional water districts and authorities. Directs the Regional Board, pursuant to the agreement, to: (1) withdraw, treat, and reinject water from the San Gabriel Valley Groundwater Basin (Basin); or (2) provide treatment for water withdrawn from the Basin by qualified public water systems. Provides for such treatment without reimbursement from the owners or operators of such systems. Denies treatment pursuant to the agreement until the Administrator finds that: (1) State and local governments have made commitments to provide advance reimbursement for ten percent of total costs incurred by the Administrator in carrying out this Act; (2) the State has established a board to enforce rules governing the location of wells used to withdraw water from the Basin and governing the quantity of water to be withdrawn (prohibits more than 50 percent of a board's members from being representatives of persons entitled to withdraw water); and (3) 85 percent of potentially responsible parties (persons who may be liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (Superfund) for the cleanup of hazardous substances in the Basin and who represent 80 percent of the anticipated revenue from all identified parties) have entered into contracts providing for annual reimbursements to the Administrator for costs incurred in carrying out this Act. Designates persons entering into contracts as participating parties. Requires participating parties entering into such contracts to: (1) conduct environmental audits of all of their property in the San Gabriel Valley; and (2) carry out removal and remedial actions with respect to hazardous substances in the soil of such property to comply with Superfund standards. Directs the Administrator to establish a cost allocation formula for such parties. Bases the share of costs to be paid by a party on the following: (1) the Standard Industrial Code Number (SIC) of the party and the Administrator's estimate of the likelihood that industrial operations having the SIC Number contributed to contamination of the Basin; (2) the gross sales of the party in a baseline year established by the Administrator; (3) the ability of the party to pay; and (4) prior expenditures made by the party for groundwater remediation in the Basin. Requires the total contribution of such parties to equal 80 percent of the costs of carrying out the treatment project, except that the maximum obligation of a party shall not exceed 200 percent of such party's share of estimated total costs. Requires water treatment to be adequate to insure compliance with standards applicable to drinking water under the Safe Drinking Water Act or any more stringent State law. Authorizes appropriations to the Administrator to cover ten percent of the costs of carrying out this Act. Makes Federal and State costs under this Act recoverable under Superfund from potentially responsible parties not participating in contracts. Absolves participating parties of liability for the removal or response costs with respect to hazardous substances in the Basin or for damages to natural resources to the extent that releases occurred before the enactment of this Act and are identified in site assessments. Removes the exemption from liability if the party: (1) has failed to make any portion of the contribution required by the contract or to carry out required activities; or (2) has filed a suit against another person for contribution of costs. Prohibits participating parties from bringing actions against other persons for contributions of costs. Absolves owners or operators of public water systems of liability in suits for recovery of response costs brought by potentially responsible parties who are not participating in the project under this Act. Sets forth requirements for environmental audits.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Authorizes and requests the President to designate January 1, 1992, as National Ellis Island Day.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Designates November 1991 as National Red Ribbon Month.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1991
Audio Home Recording Act of 1991 - Amends Federal copyright law to: (1) set forth definitions relating to digital audio recording devices and media; and (2) prohibit certain copyright infringement actions based on the manufacture, importation, or distribution of a digital or analog audio recording device or medium, or the use of such device or medium for making phonorecords, except when done for commercial advantage. Sets forth a mandatory recordation and filing procedure for the importation, manufacture, or distribution in the United States of digital audio recording devices or media. Requires importers and manufacturers to file quarterly and annual statements of account with the Register of Copyrights (the Register). Mandates Register verification of such statements. Sets forth verification guidelines. States that verification audit costs shall be borne by interested copyright parties. Sets forth confidentiality guidelines with respect to such mandatory statements of accounts. Prescribes royalty payment guidelines for digital audio recording devices and media imported, manufactured, or distributed in the United States. Requires that royalty payments be deposited into the Treasury. Identifies interested copyright parties entitled to royalty payments. Prescribes royalty payment allocation and distribution procedures. Permits alternative royalty collection and distribution arrangements to be negotiated among interested copyright and manufacturing parties. Maintains the Copyright Tribunal jurisdiction over such negotiated arrangements insofar as nonparticipant interests are affected. Prohibits: (1) the importation, manufacture, and distribution of any digital audio recording device or audio interface device that does not conform to certain standards and specifications to implement the Serial Copy Management System; and (2) the circumvention of such System. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to publish in the Federal Register a certain Technical Reference Document which sets forth the standards and specifications pertinent to the Serial Copy Management System. Authorizes the Secretary to implement such System according to the prescribed guidelines. Sets forth civil remedies for violations of this Act, including impoundment, remedial modification and destruction of non-complying devices, and binding arbitration.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1991
Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, upon receipt of a written application during any period for which the Secretary determines that it is administratively and actuarially sound for each program of insurance, to apply any National Service Life Insurance dividend credits and deposits of an insured to purchase paid up insurance. (Currently, such credits and deposits could be used in such manner upon application made by the insured before February 1, 1973.)
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1991
Provides that if a Federal agency releases an employee from a position in the competitive service through a reduction in force (RIF) and, within two years, seeks to fill that position or a position in the same competitive area, it: (1) must offer such employee reemployment in such position before offering it to anyone else; (2) may not replace such employee with a contract or temporary employee; and (3) must offer positions to released employees on a seniority basis before offering the positions to anyone else. Requires an agency that seeks to establish a position in the excepted service within two years after a RIF to provide a written notification and justification to the Office of Personnel Management and the Congress which includes a list of all employees released under the RIF. Outlines similar protections to be afforded to released Senior Executive Service personnel.