United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1988
Authorizes the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project, Inc., to construct a statue of a woman Vietnam veteran within the Vietnam Veterans Memorial site in Washington, D.C., to honor and recognize the women of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam conflict. Subjects the location and design of the statue to approval by the Secretary of the Interior, the Commission of Fine Arts, and the National Capital Planning Commission. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the addition of the statue is well within the intent of the law authorizing the establishment of the Memorial; and (2) after the addition of such statue, such Memorial will be complete and no further additions to the site should be authorized or undertaken.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1988
Farmer to Family Nutrition Enhancement Act - Authorizes three-year demonstration projects in seven States to provide coupons (between ten and 20 dollars' worth) to special supplemental food program (WIC) and commodity supplemental food program (low-income elderly) recipients for use at farmers' markets. Requires State matching funds. Establishes minimum and maximum grant levels. Limits the use of funds for administrative costs. Requires: (1) annual State reports to the Secretary of Agriculture; and (2) annual reports by the Secretary to the appropriate congressional committees. Authorizes FY 1989 through 1991 appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1988
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act of require States to extend Medicaid coverage to all pregnant women and infants up to age one whose family income falls below the Federal poverty level.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1988
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from $45,000,000 to $60,000,000 the amount permissible in the Boat Safety Account in the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund without triggering a prohibition of transfers into the Account from the Highway Trust Fund for FY 1988 and thereafter. Extends from April 1, 1989, to October 1, 1999, the date before which expenditures may be made from the Boat Safety Account for recreational boating safety programs. Grants the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating liquidating contract authority with respect to State recreational boating safety programs in an amount equal to one-half (currently two-thirds) of the amount of motorboat fuel taxes transferred to the Boat Safety Account in FY 1988 and thereafter. Increases from one-third to one-half the portion of such funds available for Coast Guard services in connection with recreational boating safety services. Prohibits fiscal year expenditures for Coast Guard expenses from exceeding those for State boating safety programs generally. Amends Federal law to permit a State to use contributions of funds, materials, lands, and services to carry out certain fish restoration and management projects in lieu of paying its share of the activity.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1988
Expresses disapproval of the refusal of the U.S.S.R. to recognize the sovereignty of the Baltic Republics. Designates June 14, 1988, as Baltic Freedom Day. Authorizes and requests the President to submit the issue of the Baltic Republics to the United Nations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1988
Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to regulate above ground petroleum storage tanks. Requires tank owners to notify State or local authorities of the existence of such tank, specifying the age, size, type, location, assembly history, and uses of the tank. Requires each State to inventory above ground petroleum storage tanks in such State, aggregate the data derived from tank owners, and submit such data to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency within two years of this Act's enactment. Directs the Administrator to promulgate petroleum spill prevention, correction, and financial responsibility regulations applicable to tanks which are 30 or more years old, have been reassembled in whole or in part, or have been relocated from their original site. Includes within such regulations requirements for: (1) the granting of operating permits pursuant to periodic tank inspections; (2) immediate reporting of a release and corrective action taken in response to a release; and (3) maintaining evidence of financial responsibility. Requires the Administrator, in promulgating financial responsibility regulations, to conduct a study to determine the appropriate amounts of coverage for the costs and damages of a spill. Permits the assertion of claims against guarantors providing evidence of financial responsibility for claims against insolvent tank owners or operators. Allow the Administrator to waive financial responsibility requirements upon the owner's or operator's demonstration of a secondary containment adequate to hold any release. Permits corrective actions by the Administrator or States to protect human health or the environment, but makes tank owners or operators liable for costs. Authorizes a State to submit for the Administrator's review and approval a program under which such State would assume primary responsibility for the enforcement of regulations pertaining to above-ground storage tanks. Requires that the State program be at least as stringent as the Federal program. Sets forth authorized actions when a facility owner or operator has not complied with or cannot meet financial responsibility requirements. Requires owners or operators of tanks to furnish the relevant government employees with all necessary information, including submitting their facilities to inspection and monitoring. Provides for confidentiality of such information and criminal penalties for prohibited disclosure. Authorizes the use of compliance orders to enforce this Act, providing daily civil penalties for noncompliance. Includes tanks under Federal jurisdiction under this Act, permitting exemptions of up to one year upon the President's specific request. Requires that all exemptions be reported annually to the Congress Directs the Administrator to study above ground petroleum storage tanks and above ground tanks used for the storage of regulated substances and report to the Congress and the President on the results of such studies within one year of this Act's enactment. Requires the Administrator to conduct a study and report to the Congress on the cause and environmental effects of the petroleum spill into the Monongahela River on January 2, 1988. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1988
Child Freedom From Sexual Exploitation Act of 1988 - Title I: Child Pornography - Amends the Federal criminal code to make it illegal to use a computer to transport information in interstate or foreign commerce concerning the visual depiction of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct (child pornography). Establishes criminal penalties for buying, selling, or transferring the custody of a minor: (1) knowing that, as a consequence of the sale or transfer, the minor will be used in child pornography; or (2) with the intent to promote child pornography. States that such sale or transfer must involve: (1) the minor or other actor traveling in interstate or foreign commerce; (2) communications in interstate or foreign commerce; or (3) conduct in a territory or possession of the United States. Requires any person who produces a book, magazine, periodical, film, videotape, or other matter which contains any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct (which is shipped or intended for shipment in interstate or foreign commerce, or contains material shipped in interstate or foreign commerce) to maintain certain records regarding the performers portrayed in such conduct. Directs the Attorney General to issue regulations regarding the maintenance and availability of such records. Permits any minor who is a victim of sexual exploitation or juvenile prostitution to bring a civil action in Federal district court. Provides for treble damages for victims who suffer physical injuries as a result of such violations. Includes the sexual exploitation of children as a predicate offense to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute. Title II: Criminal and Civil Forfeiture for Offenses Involving Sexual Exploitation of Children - Establishes criminal and civil forfeiture procedures with respect to Federal offenses involving the sexual exploitation of children.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1988
Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a National Voluntary Reunion Registry system to facilitate, on a voluntary mutual request basis, the reunion of biological parents and adoptees, biological siblings, or other biological relatives of adoptees through a centralized computer network. Authorizes the Secretary to establish such system by contract with public or private nonprofit agencies or organizations. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on activities under this Act. Sets forth provisions for participation in the Registry and initiation of the matching process. Directs the Secretary to establish procedures to protect the confidentiality and privacy rights and interests of all participants. Provides for the collection of reasonable fees for Registry services. Allows the Registry to include similar State systems under specified conditions. Allows the Registry to include referral to existing programs that provide counseling services. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act for FY 1988 through 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1988
Commends the President, Secretary of State, and Administrator of the Agency for International Development for their response to the drought and food emergency in Ethiopia and other nations of sub-Saharan Africa, and urges them to continue efforts to preclude the onset of famine and to ensure the timely delivery of medical and other emergency relief supplies. Declares that: (1) the Government response to these food emergencies should include initiatives to prevent the dislocation of large numbers of persons across national borders and/or into relief camps; and (2) the plight of the refugees or displaced should be addressed by emphasizing the provision of basic human needs, such as food, water, and shelter.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1988
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the excise tax on diesel and aviation fuels. Declares the tax inapplicable in connection with sales of these fuels for use on a farm for farming purposes. (Although fuel sold for these purposes is tax-exempt under current law, provisions of the Revenue Act of 1987 require purchasers to pay the tax and subsequently apply for a refund based on nontaxable uses of the fuel.)
United States · United States Congress · 22 December 1987
Thanks the Honorable John C. Stennis, President pro tempore, for the manner in which he presided over the Senate during the first session of the 100th Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 21 December 1987
New School Childcare Demonstration Projects Act of 1987 - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to make grants to States to pay the Federal share of the cost of childcare demonstration projects conducted in existing public elementary and secondary school buildings. Reserves specified portions of funds for evaluation and for special demonstration projects. Allots the remainder of funds to States on the basis of population of children under 16 years old. Provides for allotment adjustments and reallotments. Directs the Secretary to provide, through grants and contracts, for continuing evaluation of State and Federal demonstration projects under this Act. Directs the Secretary to publish summaries and results of evaluative research. Directs the Secretary to submit to the appropriate congressional committees copies of all such research studies and evaluation summaries. Sets forth application requirements for demonstration grants and rules for membership of advisory committees to monitor and evaluate such projects. Requires that specified reserved funds be used for grants to public and nonprofit private entities for special demonstration projects to be awarded at the discretion of the Secretary. Sets forth problem areas for the focus of such grants. Sets the Federal share of the demonstration grants to States at 90 percent of the cost of project activities. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1990 to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 December 1987
Global Environmental Protection Act of 1987 - Amends the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to add a new title III, the Atmosphere Protection Act of 1987, to require the Federal Government to make and implement policies and programs so as to minimize environmental contamination and modification of the atmosphere.
United States · United States Congress · 21 December 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to discrimination in health insurance coverage for adopted children. Calls upon State legislatures to encourage health insurers to cover adopted children on the same basis as other dependents.
United States · United States Congress · 17 December 1987
Deplores the Soviet Government's active persecution of religious believers in the Ukraine and its forcible liquidation of the Ukrainian Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholic Churches. Discourages official participation by the U.S. Government in ceremonies of the Millennium of Christianity in Kievan Rus' so long as: (1) individuals are harassed and imprisoned for their religious beliefs and denied access to religious literature and instruction; and (2) the Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox Churches remain outlawed. Sends greetings to the Ukrainian people on the Millennium. Urges the President, the Secretary of State, the U.S. delegation to the United Nations, and the U.S. delegation to the Vienna Review Meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe to continue to speak out forcefully against violations of religious liberty throughout the Soviet Union and, specifically, in the Ukraine. Calls upon the Soviet Government to release all those imprisoned for their religious beliefs and legalize the Ukrainian Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholic Churches.
United States · United States Congress · 17 December 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the United States Trade Representative should initiate an unfair trade practice investigation with respect to the subsidization of European Community soybean products; and (2) the President should use his authority to enforce trade agreements under the Trade Act of 1974 to restore the benefits due to the U.S. soybean industry as a result of the European Community agreement to provide duty-free treatment to U.S. soybean products.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1987
Vocational Rehabilitation Agency Reimbursement Act of 1987 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to require payments for reimbursement of costs for rehabilitation services under the OASDI program to be made for each fiscal year in advance, in the amount of the reasonable and necessary costs of vocational rehabilitation services furnished during the preceding fiscal year ending September 30 of the preceding calendar year, increased or decreased by underpayments or overpayments in the preceding fiscal year. Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act to require that payments for rehabilitation services for blind and disabled individuals under SSI to be made in the same manner and under the same requirements as OASDI payments.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 1987
Delays the imposition of sanctions under the Clean Air Act for eight months (until August 31, 1988). Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to designate nonattainment areas by such date.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 1987
Great Lakes Pollutant Discharge Inventory Act - Directs the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, Department of Commerce, to inventory the categories and quantities of pollutants entering the Great Lakes during a two-year period. Lists the categories of pollutants and sources of pollution that must be included in such inventory. Authorizes agreement with Canada to obtain pollutant information. Requires that such inventory be made public upon completion. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 and 1989.
United States · United States Congress · 4 December 1987
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual a nonrefundable income tax credit for contributions made to a long-term health care savings account established to pay the long-term health care expenses of an individual. Sets the amount of the credit at the lesser of ten percent of the contribution or $200. Includes as legitimate long-term health care benefits those covering diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, rehabilitative, and personal care services that are: (1) required by a chronically ill or disabled individual; and (2) provided by a qualified provider (other than a family member) in a nursing facility, including hospitals and nursing homes, or in a home (if home care is a substitute for care in a nursing facility). Provides that no account may have more than one beneficiary and that no individual may be a beneficiary of more than one account. Disallows the credit in the case of a beneficiary covered under an employee benefit plan that provides similar benefits. Identifies the criteria and requirements applicable to a long-term health care savings account. Excludes from gross income any payments and distributions from a long-term health care savings account as long as the amounts: (1) are used exclusively for the qualified health care expenses of the eligible beneficiary; or (2) are distributions of excess contributions before the due date of the tax return. Exempts the accounts themselves from taxation unless they cease to be proper long-term health care savings accounts because the beneficiary either engages in prohibited transactions or pledges the account as security. Establishes penalties in the form of additional tax when account funds or distributions are used for other than health care purposes. Requires that the trustee of such an account report to the Secretary of the Treasury and to the account's beneficiary on the maintenance of the account. Establishes: (1) a six percent excise tax on excess contributions to a long-term health care savings account; (2) a five percent excise tax on amounts connected with any prohibited transaction with respect to such an account; and (3) a penalty for failure to file required reports concerning the account.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 1987
Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate Wildcat River, New Hampshire, as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a Wildcat River Advisory Commission to assist in implementing this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 1987
Medicaid Risk-Based Health Care Act of 1987 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to define "risk-based health care entity" in the same terms as a qualified health maintenance organization (HMO). Sets forth provisions to encourage States to increase enrollment of individuals receiving Medicaid in prepaid capitation or other risk-based health care plans. Requires each project under this provision to be conducted for a nonrenewable three-year period. Sets forth application requirements for increased Federal financial assistance to a State with respect to a project. Allows a State to restrict, in the case of individuals receiving medical assistance who are included in a project, the period in which requests for termination of enrollment without cause are permitted. Provides a formula for determining the amount of increased Federal assistance. Amends provisions relating to a State option to establish a minimum enrollment period to apply the provisions to individuals enrolled in certain risk-based health care entities, HMOs, and case management systems. (Current law applies the provisions to individuals enrolled in HMOs and certain entities receiving grants under the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965.) Exempts entities having risk-sharing contracts under specified provisions of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act from certain standards for Federal Medicaid payments to States to the extent the payments: (1) are for items and services for individuals eligible for benefits under both Medicaid and Medicare; and (2) meet other requirements. Repeals provisions requiring that health insuring organizations meet standards for risk-based health care entities.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 1987
Deplores the failure of the Haitian interim Government to bring about democratic elections and to secure the safety of the Haitian people, international observers, and journalists. Condemns the disbanding of the Provisional Electoral Council, and holds the National Governing Council responsible for the attacks on civilians and disruption of the election process. Supports the U.S. Government's decision to suspend all nonhumanitarian aid to Haiti and to withdraw all military training personnel. Calls upon the U.S. Government and all nations to cut off all assistance and sales of arms to the Government of Haiti while providing humanitarian assistance to the people through nongovernmental organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 30 November 1987
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the current policies of the Government of Brazil toward the informatics industry (computer software and related equipment and services) impose an unreasonable burden on commerce and have worsened since the initiation of an investigation of such policies under the Trade Act of 1974. Supports the action announced by the President to raise tariffs against certain Brazilian products and to prohibit imports of certain Brazilian informatics products.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1987
Clean Air Standards Attainment Act of 1987 - Title I: Requirement for Nonattainment Areas - Amends the Clean Air Act to authorize States to submit a revised implementation plan for nonattainment areas unable to attain the national primary ambient air quality standard for photochemical oxidants (ozone) and/or carbon monoxide, requiring compliance no later than the end of 1992. Requires such revised plan to include: (1) a vehicle emission control inspection and maintenance program; (2) gasoline vapor recovery of hydrocarbon emissions in certain ozone nonattainment areas; (3) a schedule for implementing the use of alternative fuels or power sources; (4) emissions reductions through the adoption of reasonably available control technology in ozone nonattainment areas; and (5) compliance with the lowest achievable emission rate by new or modified major stationary sources. Requires States to develop an implementation plan for nonattainment areas where ozone exceeds the national primary ambient air quality standard by more than 50 percent and the extended compliance schedule cannot be met by the implementation of the additional requirements. Requires this implementation plan to require the identification and adoption of specific enforceable strategies and transportation control measures, including: (1) restricted vehicle use in emission concentration areas; (2) high occupancy vehicle limitations; (3) improved public transit; (4) the use of cleaner fuels by fleet vehicles; and (5) other traffic flow and ridesharing measures. Requires such ozone nonattainment areas to achieve a specified percent total emissions reduction annually, including major stationary sources. Permits a State to substitute a percentage that will achieve the national primary ambient air quality standard within ten years. Requires per ton fees and excess emissions penalties. Requires monies collected to be used to fund air pollution control programs under this Act. Requires compliance reports at least every three years. Requires offsetting emission reductions in such area to be at least twice as great as the amount of allowable emissions from proposed sources. Requires that the use of technology or emission reduction methods in nonattainment areas should reflect the highest ten percent achieved for the same class or category of source when meeting the lowest achievable emission rate for new or modified sources. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to publish and revise control technique guidelines for specified categories of sources, including wood furniture coating and hazardous waste facilities. Establishes ozone transport regions and commissions within each region to facilitate the attainment of the national air quality standard for ozone in nonattainment areas affected by emissions in other areas. Requires such commissions to identify controllable sources and other measures to attain the ozone air quality standard. Prohibits the construction or modification of a major stationary source or the award of certain Department of Transportation grants in any nonattainment area which remains a nonattainment area or which is not in compliance with plan implementation requirements. Prohibits the introduction of any pollutant into a publicly owned sewage treatment works with a Clean Water Act permit by a source not utilizing such treatment works prior to a plan implementation violation in a nonattainment area, except when the applicable implementation plan provides for an offset. Permits ozone nonattainment areas to delay compliance with the primary national ambient air quality standard for up to three years if all good faith efforts to attain such standard have been made. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to facilitate the implementation of revised standards and plans. Requires activities under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act performed on the Outer Continental Shelf to comply with the requirements of the Clean Air Act as they would apply to the adjacent State. Authorizes States to control emissions from vessels within their jurisdiction. Title II: Acid Deposition Control - Amends the Clean Air Act to require each State to adopt Administrator-approved enforceable measures to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions in three stages between 1993 and 2000, and to reduce oxides of nitrogen emissions by 1996. Requires covered stationary sources in each State to certify the means of compliance and to be in compliance by specified dates. Prohibits emission increases from newer sources without a corresponding net reduction not otherwise required. Authorizes States with actual utility emissions at specified levels to substitute other standards and enforceable measures. Requires States to submit to the Administrator electric load forecasts and emission reduction contingency plans. Sets emissions limitations for States without enforceable measures. Sets forth methods which may be used, including: (1) energy conservation as the first priority; (2) least emissions dispatch; (3) source retirement; (4) trading of reduction requirements within State; and (5) precombustion cleaning of fuels. Prohibits interstate trading of emissions reductions except in areas served by a utility service territory in more than one State. Directs the Secretary of Energy, acting jointly with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, to carry out a program of construction and operation of facilities to develop experience in the commercial deployment of clean coal technologies which significantly reduce air emissions of sulfur dioxide or oxides of nitrogen from the generation of electricity or industrial process steam. Includes within such program the solicitation, selection, supervision, monitoring, and dissemination of information about results of proposed projects to deploy such technologies. Requires project selection to be based on applicability to existing coal-fired sources of emission, reductions achievable, and cost-effectiveness, including the ability to use feedstock coal mined in the United States. Prohibits the application of reductions achieved through this program to reductions required under a State implementation plan. Limits Federal funds to 50 percent of costs over a two-year period. Directs the Secretary and the Administrator to establish a Clean Coal Technologies Advisory Committee to select projects. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1992. Requires primary nonferrous smelters to be in compliance with applicable emission standards by 1988. Directs the President to negotiate with Canada and Mexico to establish cooperative efforts in controlling transboundary air pollution, including uniform standards of performing to control air pollutant emissions. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to study and report to the appropriate congressional committees on a system of tariffs on emissions to encourage reductions. Directs the National Academy of Sciences to evaluate and report to the Congress on research priorities for sources and the long-range transport of air emissions. Directs the Administrator to report to the appropriate congressional committees on the feasibility and effectiveness of acid deposition standards to protect sensitive and critically sensitive aquatic and terrestrial resources, including an identification of such resources and impediments to implementing such a control program. Title III: Mobile Source and Other Federal Controls - Sets emission standards for light-duty vehicles and engines: (1) for hydrocarbons after model year 1992; (2) for oxides of nitrogen after model year 1990; and (3) for particulates after model year 1989. Sets emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles and engines for oxides of nitrogen during and after model year 1991 and model year 1995. Sets standards for particulates from heavy-duty diesel vehicles and engines for model years 1991 and 1994. Sets emission standards for light-duty trucks and engines during and after model year 1990 for oxides of nitrogen, hydrocarbons, particulates, and carbon monoxide. Requires motorcycles and motorcycle engines to comply with the standards for light-duty vehicles during and after model year 1992. Requires onboard hydrocarbon control technology for light-duty vehicles during and after model year 1991. Requires the Administrator to regulate formaldehyde emissions. Directs the Administrator to prohibit the manufacture and sale of engines requiring leaded gas. Requires additional regulation of carbon monoxide emissions. Doubles the useful life of light-duty vehicles and engines for purposes of standards established by this Act. Requires each of a manufacturer's vehicles and engines, not the average, to meet each of the emission standards of this Act. Directs the Administrator to add an idle test mode to the Federal Test Procedure for light-duty vehicles. Requires certificates of conformity to be suspended or revoked if fewer than 90 percent of new vehicles or engines tested in a sampling period conform with applicable regulations. Requires the Administrator to use State information when making determinations of nonconformity. Requires the Administrator to establish a testing center for high altitude conditions. Prohibits the sale of devices designed to be installed in a motor vehicle to defeat pollution control and other devices required by this Act. Sets forth procedures for determining civil penalties. Requires States with vehicle inspection and maintenance programs to adopt quality control audits. Requires new vehicles to be labeled with pollution control warranty costs. Sets standards for sulfur content in diesel fuel after July 1, 1990. Sets standards for Reid vapor pressure of gasoline sold during warm weather months following April 1, 1990. Requires the sale of oxygenated fuels in nonattainment areas. Directs the Administrator to report to the appropriate congressional committees on the use of such fuels. Sets forth procedures for determining civil penalties. Prohibits the use of fuels or additives in a motor vehicle not designed for such fuels or additives. Requires the Administrator to establish emission limitations, or standards of performance, composition, or application for hydrocarbon emissions associated with specified categories of sources, including solvents, coatings, and pesticide application. Increases criminal penalties for the knowing violation of certain provisions of this Act, including provisions relating to applicable implementation plans, and for the making of false statements. Directs the Administrator to promulgate performance standards for emission of specified air pollutants, including particulate matter, oxides of sulfur, and lead, from new or modified municipal waste incineration units. Requires such standards to reflect the best level of emission limitation achieved in practice by similar units under optimal conditions. Makes available specified technologies, including dry and wet scrubbing, fabric filtration, and source reduction and source separation. Establishes specific, minimum requirements for degree of thermal destruction of combustibles, reductions of emissions of certain pollutants, and outlet gas concentrations of certain pollutants. Requires jurisdictions served by a municipal incineration unit to have an enforceable solid waste management plan before a State program may issue a permit for a new or modified unit. Requires such plan to reflect the operation of the new or modified unit. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations requiring existing units to meet the emissions standards promulgated under this Act according to a timetable which requires compliance within six years. Requires the shutdown of units which fail to meet certain outlet gas concentration limitations by specified dates. Requires owners or operators of municipal waste incineration units to monitor emissions at the point such emissions move into the ambient air and at other points as necessary to protect human health and the environment. Requires such owners or operators to pay for a program to detect impacts of the unit on humans or the environment, including the testing for and reporting of significant levels of contaminants. Requires such owners or operators to comply with certain reporting requirements under Superfund. Sets monitoring standards, including continuous and periodic monitoring. Requires unit permits to be reviewed every five years after their issuance for compliance with emissions and other requirements of this Act. Permits States to submit for Administrator approval a State program of enforcement, treating the State as an enforcing entity under this Act. Authorizes the Administrator to withdraw such authority if the State is not adequately enforcing these requirements. Directs the Administrator to establish a model State program for the training and certification of municipal waste incinerator personnel. Requires operating personnel to pass such training or be certified by an authorized State program. Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to direct the Administrator to develop and promulgate criteria and testing procedures for managing municipal incinerator bottom and fly ash controlled by flue gas emissions control equipment which presents a substantial hazard to human health or the environment. Requires the installation of liners, a leachate collection system, and groundwater monitoring. Requires such criteria and procedures to determine leaching, total chemical analysis, respirability, and toxicity. Requires owners or operators of each such unit to separately test the bottom and fly ash, if possible. Authorizes corrective action for releases of hazardous constituents from such facilities, including post-closure monitoring. Title IV: Ambient Air Quality Standards - Amends the Clean Air Act to require the Administrator to periodically review and revise criteria and standards for each pollutant to reflect the latest available research. Directs the Administrator to report annually to the appropriate congressional committees on such review process. Directs the Administrator to promulgate additional national primary ambient air quality standards for ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, fine particles, and acid aerosols based upon concentrations over different time periods and different conditions. Authorizes a substitution of standards for particulate matter. Requires the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee to advise the Administrator on high-altitude concentrations of carbon monoxide. Title V: Hazardous Air Pollutants - Requires the Administrator to promulgate, review, and revise emission standards for listed categories of pollutants every three years. Provides for the addition and deletion of substances to and from such list. Directs the Administrator to list categories of sources emitting listed toxic pollutants. Requires emission standards for such pollutants from such sources to be at least equivalent to the most stringent levels achieved in practice. Directs the Administrator to promulgate leak detection and correction requirements to protect human health and the environment which may require annual audits and safety inspections. Sets forth a schedule for promulgating such emission standards based upon quantities and toxicity. Requires the Administrator to list and report to the Congress on categories of area sources of air pollutants subject to control under these requirements to require reductions of emissions according to a prescribed schedule. Revises the national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants. Expands the scope of hazardous air pollutants to include air pollutants which may have adverse environmental as well as human health effects. Requires the Administrator's list of such pollutants to include categories of the source emitting such pollutants. Directs the Administrator to develop criteria to assess air pollutants or classes of pollutants for addition to such list. Requires that decisions to list or not to list a pollutant be subject to public comment. Requires a final determination within five years of an initial determination that insufficient information exists to judge a pollutant as hazardous or nonhazardous. States that the emitters of such pollutant may be required to finance the research to determine its status. Requires such standards to protect human health with an ample safety margin unless a more stringent standard is required to protect the environment. Prohibits consideration of cost and technological feasibility when setting such standards. Permits more stringent interim standards for suspected carcinogens. Grants existing sources up to three years to meet applicable standards (current law allows 90 days). Permits an exemption for up to eight years for a source emitting a pollutant for which there is no health effects threshold where the owners or operators would experience extraordinary economic hardship. Requires such sources to comply with an alternative emission limitation resulting from the application of the best available technology. Imposes emissions standards and other requirements for stationary sources through permits. Authorizes each State to develop and submit to the Administrator for approval programs for control of emissions of toxic and hazardous air pollutants from stationary sources or for the prevention and mitigation of releases of extremely hazardous air pollutants from facilities in such State. Authorizes States to assume the Administrator's authorities to control such pollutants, either in whole or in part. Directs the Administrator to publish guidance for such programs within one year. Includes procedures and standards for emissions control as well as registration of all facilities handling any listed extremely hazardous air pollutant. Directs the Administrator to establish an air toxics clearinghouse to provide information and assistance to States. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to States to assist in program development. Offers States an opportunity to modify unapproved programs. Requires the Administrator to withdraw approval of any State program which is not administering or enforcing its program. Requires the Administrator to list extremely hazardous substances which may cause acute or chronic adverse human health effects as a result of non-sudden or episodic events. Requires owners or operators of facilities or devices where such releases might take place to carry out hazardous assessments. Establishes within EPA the Chemical Safety and Hazards Investigation Board, an independent safety board to investigate and report on chemical accidents, evaluate hazard assessment techniques, and make recommendations to the Administrator on the safety of chemical production, handling, and storage. Requires the Administrator to explain any refusal to implement such a recommendation. Authorizes the Board to hold hearings, secure data and written reports from any person handling chemicals, and conduct inspections where extremely hazardous substances are produced, handled, or stored. Grants the Board an independent budget. Requires that Board-collected information, other than trade secrets, be made available to the public. Requires the Board to report annually to the President and the Congress on accidents, recommendations, and priorities for research and investigations. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1992. Authorizes the Administrator to promulgate release prevention, detection, and correction requirements for extemely hazardous air pollutant facilities. Includes monitoring, recordkeeping, and other design, equipment, and operational practices. Authorizes the Administrator to secure injunctive or other relief when an extremely hazardous air pollutant from a facility poses an imminent and substantial endangerment to the public health or welfare or the environment. Establishes per day civil 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. Authorizes the Administrator to require owners or operators of facilities emitting hazardous or toxic air pollutants or producing or handling extremely hazardous listed air pollutants to monitor emissions from the source and in the vicinity, maintaining records of the results. Directs the Administrator to assess and report to the Congress on hazards associated with emissions of hydrogen sulfide, benzene, and aromatic hydrocarbons.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1987
Repeals provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 relating to the taxation of individual capital gains. Provides that the Internal Revenue Code shall be applied and administered as if such provisions had not been enacted. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the method of calculating the deduction for capital gains of noncorporate taxpayers. Allows a capital gains deduction equal to: (1) 80 percent for assets held eight years or longer; (2) 60 percent for assets held for between six and eight years; and (3) 40 percent for assets held for between four and six years. Increases the holding period required for long-term capital gain tax treatment.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1987
Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) all parties in Haiti should refrain from violence and that the National Governing Council (NGC) should bring to justice those responsible for attacks against officials of the Provisional Electoral Council (PEC); (2) the NGC should cooperate fully with the PEC to assure a fair election, free from intimidation and fear; (3) the NGC should provide security and protection, as well as administrative and logistical support, to the PEC; and (4) the President should suspend all military assistance for the Government of Haiti if he determines that the NGC fails to take such steps to assure a free and fair election.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1987
Welcomes Vladimir and Maria Slepak to the United States and salutes their courage and that of all Soviet activists fighting for human rights in the Soviet Union.
United States · United States Congress · 12 November 1987
Tax-Exempt Bond Reform Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to increase the volume cap applicable to a State's private activity bonds to the greater of $125 per resident or $400,000,000 (currently $50 per resident or $150,000,000). Excludes from such volume cap exempt facility bonds used to fund qualified residential rental projects. Excludes these same bonds as a tax preference item for purposes of the alternative minimum tax. Increases from ten percent to 25 percent the amount of tax-exempt government bond proceeds that may be used by a nongovernmental entity for private purposes without triggering treatment of the bond issue as a taxable private activity bond. Repeals the two percent restriction on issuance costs financed by an issue in connection with private activity bonds. Extends through 1993 the period during which qualified mortgage bonds may be issued. (Under current law, authority to issue these bonds expires as of 1989.) Increases the income eligibility criterion with respect to mortgagors under such bonds from 115 percent to 120 percent of median family income. Repeals provisions prescribing termination dates with respect to various small issue bonds. Provides for adjustments to the State bond volume cap to: (1) increase the ceiling when the amount of bond proceeds used to finance projects in economically depressed areas exceeds the amount of bond proceeds used in non-economically depressed areas; and (2) decrease the ceiling when the opposite occurs. Adds bonds used to finance air or water pollution control facilities to the IRC list of tax-exempt facility bonds. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to provide by January 1, 1988, under the State and Local Government Services program that: (1) State and local governments be allowed to declare a split investment between demand-deposit and time-deposit securities; and (2) the weekly interest rate on the former be based on an index of short-term municipal rates unreduced by administrative fees. Revises the low-income housing income tax credit to set the credit for qualified low-income buildings at: (1) nine percent for new buildings not federally subsidized, including buildings financed by tax-exempt State and local government bonds; and (2) three percent for new federally subsidized buildings and for existing buildings. (The credit is currently based on specified percentages of present value.) Permits a housing credit agency a three-year carryover of unused housing credit dollar amounts. Extends the low-income housing credit through 1994. (Under current law the credit is due to expire as of 1990.)
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1987
Authorizes the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project, Inc., to establish a statue of a woman Vietnam veteran within the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, to honor and recognize the women of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam war. Expresses the sense of the Congress that after the addition of such statue, no further additions to the site should be authorized or undertaken. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to select a site for the statue within the Memorial. Makes the design proposal subject to the approval of the Secretary and the National Capital Planning Commission. Prohibits the United States or the District of Columbia from paying any expense of establishing the statue. Provides that authorization for the statue shall lapse unless: (1) the establishment of such statue is commenced within five years of the date of approval of this resolution; and (2) the Secretary certifies that sufficient funds to complete the statue are available prior to groundbreaking. Makes the Secretary responsible for the statue's maintenance and care. Exempts the Secretary from the requirement of seeking the approval of the Commission of Fine Arts in implementing this resolution.
![Official portrait of Sen. Durenberger, Dave [R-MN]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000566_200.jpg)