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United States · Official source
1,913 records where Sen. Exon, J. James [D-NE] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1996
Designates November 1996 as National American Indian Heritage Month.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1996
Constitutional Amendment - Grants victims of crimes of violence and other crimes that the Congress and the States may define by law the right: (1) to notice of, and to not be excluded from, all public proceedings relating to the crime; (2) to be heard, if present, and to submit a statement at a public pre-trial or trial proceeding to determine a release from custody, an acceptance of a negotiated plea, or a sentence (grants such rights at a parole proceeding to the extent they are afforded to the convicted offender); (3) to notice of a release pursuant to a public or parole proceeding or an escape; (4) to a final disposition free from unreasonable delay; (5) to an order of restitution from the convicted offender; (6) to have the victim's safety considered in determining a release from custody; and (7) to notice of the rights established by this amendment. Grants the victim standing to assert such rights. Provides that nothing in this amendment shall provide grounds for: (1) the victim to challenge a charging decision or a conviction, to obtain a stay of trial, to compel a new trial, or to give rise to a claim for damages against the United States, a State, a political subdivision, or a public official; or (2) the accused or convicted offender to obtain any form of relief. Grants power to the Congress and the States to enforce this amendment within their respective jurisdictions by appropriate legislation, including the power to enact exceptions when required for compelling reasons of public safety.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1996
Safer Schools Act of 1996 - Amends the Gun-Free Schools Act of 1994 to require States, as a condition for receipt of Federal funds, to have in effect a State law or regulation providing that evidence that a student brought a weapon to a school under the jurisdiction of the local educational agencies in that State, obtained as a result of a search or seizure conducted on school premises, shall not be excluded in a school disciplinary proceeding on the ground that the search or seizure was in violation of the fourth amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1996
Jackie Robinson Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) mint and issue one-dollar silver coins emblematic of Jackie Robinson in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the breaking of the color barrier in major league baseball; and (2) distribute surcharge proceeds to the Jackie Robinson Foundation to enhance its education and youth leadership programs, and increase the availability of scholarships for economically disadvantaged youths. Prescribes conditions for payment of such surcharges, including a proscription against Foundation compensation to any agent or attorney for services rendered to support or influence legislative action of the Congress relating to the coins minted and issued under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1996
Highway Funding Fairness Act of 1996 - Requires the Secretary of Transportation, for FY 1997, to determine the Federal-aid highway apportionments and allocations to a State without regard to the approximately $1.596 billion credit to the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) of estimated taxes paid by States that was made by the Secretary of the Treasury for FY 1995 in correction of an accounting error made in FY 1994. Requires the Secretary, for each State, to: (1) determine whether the State would have been apportioned and allocated an increased or decreased amount for Federal-aid highways for FY 1996 if such error had not been made; and (2) adjust such amount for FY 1997 by the amount of the increase or decrease and to adjust accordingly the obligation limitation for Federal-aid highways distributed to the State under provisions of the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997. States that nothing in this Act shall affect any apportionment, allocation, or distribution of obligation limitation, or reduction thereof, to a State for Federal-aid highways for FY 1996.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996
Designates the week of November 3, 1996, as National Shaken Baby Syndrome Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996
Designates room S. 131 in the U.S. Capitol Building as the Mark O. Hatfield Room.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1996
Amends the Northern Great Plains Rural Development Act to extend the Northern Great Plains Rural Development Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996
National Motor Vehicle Safety, Antitheft, Title Reform, and Consumer Protection Act of 1996 - Amends Federal transportation law to require States, in licensing a passenger motor vehicle whose ownership has been transferred, to disclose on the certificate of title whenever records indicate that such vehicle was previously issued a title that contained a term or symbol signifying that it was "salvage," "unrebuildable," "parts only," "scrap," "junk," "nonrepairable," "reconstructed," "rebuilt," or that it has been damaged by flood. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations requiring each State in licensing such vehicles to apply specified uniform standards, procedures, and methods for the issuance and control of motor vehicle titles and for information to be contained on such titles. Makes it unlawful for any person knowingly and willfully to: (1) make false statements on an application for a motor vehicle title; (2) fail to apply for a salvage title when such application is required; (3) alter, forge, or counterfeit a certificate of title, a nonrepairable vehicle certificate, a certificate verifying an anti-theft inspection or an anti-theft and safety inspection, or a required decal affixed to a passenger motor vehicle; (4) falsify the results of an inspection; (5) offer to sell any salvage vehicle or nonrepairable vehicle as a rebuilt salvage vehicle; or (6) conspire to commit any of these acts. Sets forth civil and criminal penalties for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1996
Armored Car Industry Reciprocity Improvement Act of 1996 - Amends the Armored Car Industry Reciprocity Act of 1993 with respect to State reciprocity of weapons licenses issued to armored car company crew members. Limits initial licenses and license renewals to periods not to exceed two years. Requires crew members to: (1) have met all other applicable requirements to act as an armored car crew member in the State in which such member is primarily employed by such company; and (2) receive continuing weapons safety and marksmanship training in order to get a weapons license renewed.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 1996
Designates October 10, 1996, as the Day of National Concern About Young People and Gun Violence.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1996
Medicare Cancer Clinical Trial Coverage Act of 1996 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a demonstration project which provides for payment under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act of routine patient care costs for Medicare beneficiaries with cancer who are enrolled in an approved clinical trial program, while still applying the beneficiary cost sharing provisions of such program to project participants. Directs the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on the impact on Medicare of covering such routine patient care costs if coverage were extended to Medicare beneficiaries with a diagnosis other than cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1996
Cattle Industry Improvement Act of 1996 - Amends the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to advance the Fund for Rural America's initial funding date. (Sec. 3) Amends the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 to prohibit noncompetitive practices relating to the price or terms of sale of livestock or meat and meat by-products. (Sec. 4) Amends the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to set forth domestic market reporting requirements for certain persons in the slaughter business. Defines "captive supply." (Sec. 5) Amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 with regard to livestock and meat food products reporting requirements. (Sec. 6) Amends the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 to prohibit retaliation by packers against livestock producers. Provides damages for producers suffering such retaliation. (Sec. 7) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an interagency working group to review whether Federal lending practices are contributing to market concentration in the livestock and dairy sectors. (Sec. 8) Directs the President to prepare a consolidation plan for the U.S. food inspection system. (Sec. 9) Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to require a labeling system for U.S.-produced meat and meat food products. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 10) Directs the Secretary to collect and publicize information on bulk cheese spot transactions.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1996
Designates the balcony adjacent to rooms S-230 and S-231 of the U.S. Capitol Building as the Robert J. Dole Balcony.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1996
Federal Trade Commission Reauthorization Act of 1996 - Amends the Federal Trade Commission Act to authorize appropriations for FY 1997 and 1998 for the Federal Trade Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1996
Designates June 15, 1996, as National Race for the Cure Day.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1996
Honors Admiral Jeremy M. 'Mike' Boorda, the 25th Chief of Naval Operations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1996
Terminates the secondary jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over specified land at the North Platte National Wildlife Refuge in Nebraska. Revokes Executive Order Number 2446, dated August 21, 1916, with respect to the lands.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1996
Temporary Emergency Livestock Feed Assistance Act of 1996 - Amends the Agricultural Market Transition Act to provide temporary assistance for certain livestock producers. Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to obligate specified funds for 1996 livestock feed emergencies. Requires a report on the use of certain commodity reserves for livestock assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1996
United States Tourism Organization Act - Establishes: (1) the National Tourism Board to develop a national travel and tourism strategy for increasing U.S. tourism; and (2) the United States Tourism Organization as a non-Federal nonprofit organization to implement the national travel and tourism strategy developed by the Board. Requires the Secretary of State to cooperate with the Organization and place a high priority on implementing its recommendations. Amends the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 to require the Federal trade promotion plan of the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC) to reflect Board recommendations. Makes the Chairman of the Organization a member of the TPCC. Terminates the Organization and the Board if a plan for the long-term financing of the Organization has not been implemented two years after its incorporation.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1996
National Discovery Trails Act of 1996 - Amends the National Trails System Act to provide that national discovery trails established under the Act shall be components of the National Trails System. Provides that such trails shall be extended, continuous interstate trails located so as to provide for outdoor recreation and travel and to connect representative examples of America's trails and communities. Designates the 6,000-mile American Discovery Trail (established by this Act) as a national discovery trail. Provides that the Trail shall extend from Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware to Point Reyes National Seashore in California, traveling northern and southern routes from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Denver, Colorado. Exempts the Trail from comprehensive national scenic trail plan requirements under the Act, but requires the responsible nonprofit organization for the Trail to consult certain entities and submit to specified congressional committees, within three fiscal years after this Act's enactment, a comprehensive plan for the protection, management, development, and use of the Trail. Provides that the Secretary charged with the overall administration of National Scenic and National Historic Trails shall administer a National Discovery Trail in cooperation with a nonprofit organization.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1996
Constitutional Amendment - Grants victims of violent crimes the following rights: (1) to be informed of, and present at, every proceeding in which the rights to liberty, justice, and due process are extended to the accused or convicted offender; (2) to be heard at any proceeding involving sentencing and to object to a previously negotiated plea or a release from custody; (3) to be informed of any release or escape; (4) to a speedy trial, a final conclusion free from unreasonable delay, full restitution from the convicted offender, reasonable measures of protection from violence or intimidation by the accused or convicted offender; and (5) to notice of such rights. Grants the several States and the Congress the power to implement further this amendment by appropriate legislation.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1996
Provides for observation of a moment of silence at 9:02 a.m. central daylight time on April 19, 1996, in remembrance of the victims of the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Commends the people of Oklahoma and the aid provided by rescuers, Federal agencies, countless volunteers, and Federal employees. Reaffirms trust in our system of justice to ensure that the perpetrators are convicted and punished.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 1996
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat the acquisition by a first-time farmer of land or personal property from a related person as not being an acquisition from a related person. Modifies the definition of "substantial farmland."
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 1996
Designates the week of May 5, 1996, as National Correctional Officers and Employees Week.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1996
Pays tribute to the remarkable life and career of Ronald H. Brown (the late Secretary of Commerce) and to the contributions of all those who perished in the airplane accident on April 3, 1996, while in service to their country on a mission to Bosnia. Extends condolences to the victims' families.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1996
Irrigation Project Contract Extension Act of 1996 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to extend for an additional four years each of ten specified construction repayment and water service contracts entered into under the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 and the Flood Control Act of 1944 as irrigation projects in Kansas and Nebraska as part of the Missouri River Basin Project.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1996
American Jobs Act of 1996 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include imported property income of a controlled foreign corporation within the sums added together to compute foreign base company income. Defines imported income property to include, among other things, income from manufacturing, growing, selling, renting, or leasing imported property, but exempts any foreign oil and gas income or any foreign oil-related income. Provides for a separate application of limitations on the foreign tax credit for imported property income. Allows an employer a credit against tax, during the two-year period beginning with the day an employee starts work, equal to 20 percent of the qualified social security taxes paid or incurred by the employer for such new employee. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to report to the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Finance recommendations on the elimination of, or changes in, business tax preferences.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1996
Designates September 23, 1996, as National Baseball Heritage Day.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1996
Designates June 19, 1996, as National Baseball Day.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1996
Agricultural Act of 1995 - Applies for 1996, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the provisions of the Agricultural Adjustment of 1938, the Agricultural Act of 1949, the Food Security Act of 1985, and the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 and each program authorized or reauthorized by any of the Acts that were applicable on September 30, 1995. Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to: (1) modify planting flexibility requirements; and (2) set forth terms and conditions, applicable to 1995 disasters, for advance deficiency payments. Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to allow inclusion in a conservation reserve program of croplands that will be used to store water for flood control in a closed basin.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1996
Commends the Cornhuskers of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln for having won the 1995 National Collegiate Athletic Association Women's Volleyball Championship.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1996
Commends the Cornhuskers of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln for having won the 1995 National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Championship.
United States · United States Congress · 22 December 1995
Accountable Pipeline Safety and Partnership Act of 1995 - Amends Federal natural gas and hazardous liquid pipeline safety transportation law to revise the exclusion from the meaning of the term "transporting gas" (thus from coverage by such law) of the gathering of gas in a rural area outside a populated, non-rural area to specified locations outside the limits of any incorporated or unincorporated city, town, or village. Extends coverage, however, to the movement of gas through regulated lines, regardless of location. (Sec. 4) Repeals the mandate that Federal minimum safety standards for pipeline transportation and pipeline facilities to include a requirement that all individuals responsible for the operation and maintenance of pipeline facilities be tested for their qualifications. Requires only that they be qualified. Requires such qualifications to address the ability to recognize and react to abnormal operating conditions that may indicate a dangerous situation or a condition exceeding design limits. Directs the Secretary of Transportation, in prescribing minimum safety standards for pipeline transportation and pipeline facilities, to: (1) consider compliance costs and any comments and recommendations received; (2) prepare a risk assessment document assessing costs and benefits under such standards; and (3) submit each such document to either the Technical Pipeline Safety Standards Committee or the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Standards Committee, as appropriate. Requires such committees, serving as peer review panels, to evaluate and report to the Secretary on such documents. Directs the Secretary to review such evaluations and certify that the incremental benefits of a standard will likely justify its incremental costs. Authorizes the Secretary to suspend the application of a standard during an emergency. Requires a report from the Secretary to the Congress on the implementation of the risk assessment requirements of this section. Directs the Secretary, to the extent appropriate and practicable, to update incorporated industry standards that have been adopted as part of the Federal pipeline safety regulatory program. (Sec. 5) Directs the Secretary to establish risk management demonstration projects under which owners and operators of gas pipeline and hazardous liquid pipeline facilities voluntarily demonstrate applications of risk management. Authorizes the Secretary, during a demonstration project, to waive the applicability of all or a portion of safety standards that would otherwise apply. Outlines demonstration project requirements. (Sec. 6) Eliminates the application of certain inspection and maintenance requirements to persons who transport gas or hazardous liquids. Repeals the requirement of biennial pipeline facility inspections (leaving their frequency to the Secretary's discretion). (Sec. 7) Requires the Secretary to prescribe regulations that establish criteria by which operators of hazardous liquid pipeline facilities and gathering lines shall identify each such facility or line that crosses waters where a substantial likelihood of commercial navigation exists. (Currently, such requirement applies to all navigable waters, regardless of such likelihood.) Requires the Secretary, when identifying an area as unusually sensitive to environmental damage if there is a hazardous liquid pipeline accident, to consider including locations that are critical to drinking water, as well as critical wetlands, national parks, wilderness and wildlife preservation areas, wild and scenic rivers, and critical habitat areas for threatened or endangered species. Repeals the mandate to consider earthquake and landslide zones, freshwater lakes, rivers and waterways, and river deltas and other areas subject to soil erosion or subsidence from flooding. (Sec. 8) Authorizes the Secretary to adopt industry accepted performance standards for the performance of excess flow valves used to protect lines in a natural gas distribution system. (Sec. 9) Repeals the requirement that the Secretary promote the adoption of measures to improve the safety of customer-owned natural gas service lines. (Sec. 10) Redesignates the one-call notification system as the underground facility damage prevention program. Repeals the requirement for criminal penalties in regulations establishing a one-call notification system with respect to the safety of pipeline facilities. (Sec. 11) Requires the Technical Pipeline Safety Standards Committee and the Technical Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Standards Committee to serve as peer review committees. Deems such service to be in compliance with the requirements of other applicable Federal statutes. Requires committee members to be experienced in risk management. Requires at least one of the individuals selected for each committee from the natural gas or hazardous liquid industry and from the general public to have education, background, or experience in risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis. Requires the Secretary, when presenting each committee each standard proposed for transporting gas and hazardous liquid and for gas and hazardous liquid pipeline facilities, to include a risk assessment document and other supporting analyses. Requires each committee to meet with the Secretary at least four times (currently, twice) annually. (Sec. 12) Requires each owner or operator of a natural gas pipeline facility to provide a program for educating the public on the use of an underground facility damage prevention program prior to excavation. Repeals the requirement that persons transporting gas conduct public education programs. (Sec. 13) Authorizes the Secretary to enter into grants and other cooperative agreements with any State, local government, or private entity to carry out pipeline safety programs, including the development, improvement, and promotion of "one-call" damage prevention programs, research, risk assessment, and mapping. (Sec. 14) Deems owners and operators of pipeline facilities who participate in risk management demonstration projects to be in compliance with safety standards or regulatory requirements prescribed under such project. (Sec. 15) Subjects to civil and criminal penalties any person who knowingly and willfully excavates and subsequently damages a pipeline facility and does not report such damage promptly to the operator of the pipeline facility and other appropriate authorities. (Sec. 16) Changes from annual to biennial certain required reports from the Secretary to the Congress concerning gas and hazardous liquid transportation safety requirements. (Sec. 17) Directs the Secretary to make available to the appropriate official of each State the land use recommendations contained in the special report entitled "Pipelines and Public Safety." Requires the evaluation and implementation of recommendations contained in such report. (Sec. 18) Directs the Secretary to analyze and report to the Congress on the assessment of pipeline safety user fees based solely on mileage and the Secretary's determinations with respect to such assessment. (Sec. 19) Prohibits any person from excavating for unauthorized disposal (dumping) of solid waste within the right-of-way of an interstate gas or hazardous liquid pipeline facility. (Sec. 20) Authorizes the Secretary to conduct promotional activities relating to prevention of damage to gas and hazardous liquid pipelines. (Sec. 22) Extends and increases annually through FY 1999 the authorization of appropriations for gas and hazardous liquid pipeline safety programs and activities carried out through the Department of Transportation.
United States · United States Congress · 21 December 1995
Makes technical corrections in the enrollment of H.R. 2539 (termination of Interstate Commerce Commission).
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Equal Protection for Victims Title II: Domestic Violence Victim Rights and Domestic Violence Prevention Act of 1995 - Title I: Equal Protection for Victims - Amends: (1) rule 24 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to entitle each side to six peremptory challenges if the offense charged is punishable by imprisonment for more than one year; (2) rule 32 regarding the victim's right of allocution in sentencing; and (3) rule 404 of the Federal Rules of Evidence regarding rebuttal of attacks on the victim's character. (Sec. 104) Enacts Rules of Professional Conduct for Lawyers in Federal Practice. (Sec. 105) Amends: (1) the Federal criminal code to repeal a requirement that notice of release of prisoners be used solely for law enforcement purposes; and (2) the Federal judicial code regarding the balance in the composition of rules committees. Title II: Domestic Violence - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide for the death penalty for fatal domestic violence offenses. (Sec. 202) Amends: (1) rule 404 of the Federal Rules of Evidence regarding evidence of the defendant's disposition towards the victim in domestic violence and other cases; and (2) rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence regarding battered women's syndrome evidence. (Sec. 204) Requires: (1) the testing of defendants for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in sexual assault cases, with exceptions, with disclosure of the results to the court, the victim, the attorney for the Government, and the person tested; (2) that test results disclosed be subject to requirements of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (VCCLEA); (3) that any test result of the defendant given to the victim or the defendant be accompanied by appropriate counseling, unless the recipient does not wish to receive such counseling; and (4) the United States Sentencing Commission to amend existing guidelines for sex crime offenses to enhance the sentence if the offender knew that he was infected with HIV, with exceptions. Revises VCCLEA to authorize the Government to obtain an order requiring that the defendant be tested for the presence of the etiologic agent for acquired immune deficiency syndrome and that the results be communicated to the victim's parent or legal guardian, as appropriate. Modifies requirements to be met by the victim to obtain an order for such test.
United States · United States Congress · 13 December 1995
Expresses congressional support for the United States armed forces (U.S. forces) who are carrying out their missions in support of peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Authorizes the President to fulfill his commitment to deploy such forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina for approximately one year to implement the General Framework Agreement (Agreement) and Military Annex, subject to specified conditions. Requires the President, before acting pursuant to this Act, to make available to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate, his determination that: (1) the mission of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Implementation Force (NATO force) and U.S. forces deployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be limited to implementation of the military provisions of the Military Annex to the Agreement and measures deemed necessary to protect the safety of the NATO force and U.S. forces; (2) an integral part of the successful accomplishment of the U.S. objective in Bosnia and Herzegovina in deploying and withdrawing U.S. forces is the establishment of a military balance which enables the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to provide for its own defense without depending on United States or other outside forces; and (3) the United States will lead an international effort to provide equipment, arms, training, and logistics assistance of the highest quality to ensure that the Federation can provide for its own defense. Directs the President to submit reports to the Congress on: (1) efforts to enable the Federation to provide for its own defense; and (2) military and non-military aspects of implementation of the Agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 29 November 1995
Expresses the condolences of the Senate on the death of the Reverend Dr. Richard Halverson, the 60th Chaplain of the United States Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 28 November 1995
Amends specified Federal law (a joint resolution making further continuing appropriations for FY 1996, Public Law 104-56) to provide for reimbursement to States for federally funded employees carrying out Federal programs during the lapse in appropriations from November 14, 1995, through November 19, 1995.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1995
ERISA Clarification Act of 1995 - Directs the Secretary of Labor to issue guidance on the application of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to insurance company general accounts. Requires such guidance to: (1) be for purposes of determining, in cases where an insurer issues one or more policies to or for the benefit of an employee benefit plan, which assets of the insurer (other than plan assets held in its separate accounts) constitute assets of the plan for purposes of specified provisions of ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code; and (2) provide that assets not treated as plan assets under certain provisions not be treated as plan assets under other provisions. Authorizes the Secretary to exclude any assets of the insurer with respect to its operations, products, or services from treatment as plan assets.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1995
Rural Air Service Survival Act - Directs an eligible public agency that controls a commercial service airport to impose an additional ten cent fee for each enplanement to provide funds to support a national aviation system, rural airspace safety, and rural air service, including the essential air service program. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to require an eligible agency to provide matching funds of up to ten percent for any payments it receives under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 1995
Condemns the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Extends condolences to his family and to all the people of Israel. Expresses admiration for his historic contributions and support for the government of Acting Prime Minister Shimon Peres. Reaffirms a commitment to the process of building a just and lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors. Provides for the adjournment of the Senate as a further mark of respect for Rabin.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Termination of the Interstate Commerce Commission; Repeal of Obsolete and Unnecessary Provisions of Law Subtitle A: Termination of ICC Subtitle B: Repeal of Obsolete, Etc., Provisions Title II: Intermodal Surface Transportation Board Subtitle A: Organization Subtitle B: Administrative Title III: Rail and Pipeline Transportation Title IV: Motor Carrier, Water Carrier, Broker, and Freight Forwarder Transportation Subtitle A: Addition of Part B Subtitle B: Motor Carrier Registration and Insurance Requirements Title V: Amendments to Other Laws Title VI: Authorization Title VII: Effective Date Interstate Commerce Commission Sunset Act of 1995 - Title I: Termination of the Interstate Commerce Commission; Repeal of Obsolete and Unnecessary Provisions of Law - Subtitle A: Termination of ICC - Terminates the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) as an independent executive agency of the U.S. Government upon transfer of specified functions to the Secretary of Transportation and to the Intermodal Surface Transportation Board established by this Act. Subtitle B: Repeal of Obsolete, Etc., Provisions - Amends Federal transportation law to repeal specified provisions relating to the regulation of rail and certain other surface transportation. Title II: Intermodal Surface Transportation Board - Subtitle A: Organization - Amends Federal transportation law to establish the Intermodal Surface Transportation Board (Board) within the Department of Transportation (DOT). (Sec. 201) Declares that the Board shall perform all functions previously performed by the ICC. Subtitle B: Administrative - Sets forth administrative provisions, including authorizing the Board to: (1) obtain certain information from transportation carriers under its jurisdiction; and (2) reopen, on its own initiative because of material error, new evidence, or substantially changed circumstances, any proceeding, or grant a rehearing of or change a Board action. (Sec. 212) Authorizes an interested party to petition to reopen and reconsider a Board action. (Sec. 215) Directs the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) to issue an advance notice of proposed rulemaking with respect to a specified variety of fatigue-related transportation issues. Title III: Rail and Pipeline Transportation - Makes conforming amendments to reflect the Board's jurisdiction with respect to rail and pipeline transportation. (Sec. 302) Declares, among other things, that in regulating the railroad industry it is the policy of the U.S. Government to provide expeditious remedies for traffic and facilities lacking effective transportation competition. (Sec. 303) Revises, for purposes of this title, the term "common carrier" to mean a pipeline carrier or a rail carrier only, eliminating express carrier, sleeping car carrier, motor common carrier, water common carrier, and household goods freight forwarder. (Sec. 306) Revises the requirements for: (1) revocation of an exemption from Federal transportation law; and (2) the calculation of monetary damages in a complaint accompanying a request for revocation that claims a violation of Federal transportation law by a railroad. (Sec. 308) Directs the Board to: (1) complete the pending ICC non-coal rate guidelines proceeding to establish a simplified and expedited method for determining the reasonableness of challenged rail rates in those cases in which a stand-alone cost presentation is impractical; and (2) establish procedures to ensure expeditious handling of challenges to the reasonableness of railroad rates. (Sec. 314) Denies the Board authority to begin, on its own initiative, an investigation to determine whether a proposed rail carrier rate, classification, rule, or practice is reasonable. Authorizes the Board to conduct such an investigation only upon complaint of an interested party. (Sec. 315) Sets forth specified factors the Board shall consider when determining whether a rail carrier rate is reasonable. Authorizes the Board, upon complaint of an interested party, to begin an investigation to determine whether a proposed rate increase is reasonable if such rate results in a revenue-variable cost percentage that is equal to or greater than 20 percentage points above the revenue-variable cost percentage applicable under this title. Requires the Board to set forth its reasons, giving due consideration to specified factors, when determining whether to investigate a rate increase. (Sec. 316) Authorizes the Board, on application of an interested party (but not on its own initiative), to begin a proceeding to determine the lawfulness of any pipeline carrier-proposed new individual or joint rate or individual or joint classification, rule, or practice affecting a rate. (Sec. 317) Requires the Board to consider the availability of other economic transportation alternatives, in addition to any other factors it deems relevant, when making a determination of market dominance in proceedings to determine the lawfulness of a rail carrier rate. Revises provisions with respect to market dominance determinations. (Sec. 318) Requires filing with the Board of a summary of each contract between one or more rail carriers and one or more purchasers for the transportation of agricultural products, including grain. (Sec. 320) Prohibits a carrier from subjecting a freight forwarder to unreasonable discrimination (charge a different rate for the same service) whether or not such forwarder is controlled by the carrier. (Sec. 326) Prohibits a carrier from providing transportation of agricultural products, including grain, (currently, a carrier providing any transportation or service) without a tariff containing the rates, classifications, rules, and practices for such transportation (thus eliminating general filing requirements). Requires such tariff to be published and made available for public inspection. (Sec. 328) Authorizes the Board to require certain employee protection arrangements for transactions involving certain Class II freight rail carriers and Class III freight rail carriers and non-carriers that are not owned or controlled by a Class I rail carrier and that are not a commuter, switching, or terminal railroad. Authorizes the Board, with respect to all transactions involving such carriers which propose to construct or provide transportation over a railroad line, to require an arrangement for the protection of the interest of railroad employees who are adversely affected by such transaction not to exceed one year's salary per affected employee and protection no less than that required under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties. (Sec. 334) Requires a carrier to provide, upon request, common carrier rates and other common carrier service terms. (Sec. 337) Requires the Board to consult with the National Grain Car Council on matters within the charter of that body. (Sec. 346) Requires the Board to collect and keep open for public inspection a railway equipment register. (Sec. 349) Repeals discretionary authority to exempt persons, classes, and transactions from merger, consolidation, and acquisition requirements if certain conditions are met. (Sec. 350) Repeals provision for rail carrier applications for approval of a transaction to furnish motor carrier transportation before or after rail transportation to serve inadequately served shippers located on a railroad other than the applicant carrier. (Sec. 375) Establishes the Rail-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council, which shall advise the Secretary of Transportation, Council Chairman, and relevant congressional transportation policy oversight committees with respect to significant rail transportation policy issues, with particular attention to issues of importance to small shippers and small railroads. Title IV: Motor Carrier, Water Carrier, Broker, and Freight Forwarder Transportation - Subtitle A: Addition of Part B - Amends Federal transportation law to add a new Part B of Subtitle IV, Title 49, U.S. Code, covering the regulation of motor carriers, water carriers, brokers, and freight forwarders. Declares that in order to ensure the development, coordination, and preservation of a transportation system that meets the transportation needs of the United States, it is U.S. policy to provide for the impartial regulation of modes of transportation, including motor carrier transportation and the transportation of passengers by motor carrier. (Sec. 401) Defines "carrier" to mean a motor carrier, a water carrier, and a freight forwarder (including, for registration purposes, foreign motor carriers and foreign motor private carriers). Sets forth administrative provisions with respect to: (1) the powers and jurisdiction of the Secretary and the Board over motor carriers, water carriers, brokers, and freight forwarders; (2) certain requirements for rates, classifications, through routes, rules, and practices with respect to the transportation of household goods or passengers by motor carrier or transportation by water carrier; (3) procedures for resolving claims by a motor carrier of property (other than a household goods carrier) or freight forwarder with respect to unfiled, negotiated transportation rates; (4) rates for the transportation of U.S. property or U.S. officials; (5) nondiscriminatory compensation requirements with regard to the transportation of food and grocery products; (6) certain motor carrier, freight forwarder, and motor carrier broker registration requirements; (7) an on-line Federal registration system for motor carriers; (8) general operation requirements with respect to motor carriers; (9) inspection of records of motor carriers and brokers; (10) security interests in motor carrier vehicles; (11) pooling or division of transportation services or earnings by motor carriers; (12) Federal jurisdiction over interstate and intrastate transportation of passengers by motor carrier and transportation by freight forwarders and brokers; (13) State and local tax discrimination against motor carrier transportation property; (14) State and local income taxation of motor carrier employees; (15) enforcement, investigations, rights, and remedies; and (16) civil and criminal penalties. Subtitle B: Motor Carrier Registration and Insurance Requirements - Requires State plans for the enforcement of Federal and compatible State commercial motor vehicle safety standards to include, among other things, assurances that the State will cooperate in the enforcement of certain motor carrier registration and insurance requirements. (Sec. 453) Directs the Secretary to continue to enforce ICC rules and regulations, as in effect on July 1, 1995, governing the qualifications for approval of a motor carrier as a self-insurer, until it is in the public interest to revise them. Requires any rule revision to provide for continued ability of motor carriers to qualify as self-insurers, including continued qualification of all carriers already qualified. (Sec. 454) Directs the Secretary to establish a Motor Carrier Register that will serve as a clearinghouse and depository of information on compliance with required levels of financial responsibility (insurance), service of process agents, and identification and disqualification of motor carriers required to register with the Secretary. (Sec. 456) Directs the Secretary to require motor carriers of passengers or property to register their motor vehicle operations with DOT. Title V: Amendments to Other Laws - Makes conforming amendments to specified Federal laws. Title VI: Authorization - Authorizes appropriations. Title VII: Effective Date - Makes January 1, 1996, the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 1995
Designates November 1995 as National American Indian Heritage Month.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1995
Livestock Concentration Report Act of 1995 - Directs the President to appoint a Commission on Concentration in the Livestock Industry to review and report on specified meat packing industry matters, including certain studies, effects of antitrust laws, and prices.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 1995
Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1995 - Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make capitalization grants to States to establish State drinking water treatment revolving loan funds. Authorizes State Governors to transfer amounts between such funds and water pollution control revolving funds established under the Clean Water Act. Requires the Administrator to reserve one and one-half percent of drinking water funds for capitalization grants to Indian tribes for the improvement of public water systems. Authorizes the Administrator to make such grants to the District of Columbia and specified U.S. territories. Authorizes: (1) States to reserve a certain amount of such grants for technical assistance for small public water systems; and (2) the Administrator to make grants to Alaska for the benefit of Alaska Native villages. Requires the Administrator, beginning in FY 1999, to withhold a specified percentage (five percent for FY 1999, ten percent for FY 2000, and 15 percent for each subsequent fiscal year) of each capitalization grant made to a State unless the State has met specified requirements under this Act regarding new system capacity. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) projects eligible for assistance, including assistance for disadvantaged communities, and source water quality protection and capacity development; and (2) State loan fund administration, technical assistance, and management. Requires: (1) States to prepare annual intended use plans for funds; (2) priority for the use of funds to be given to projects that address the most serious risk to human health, that are necessary to ensure compliance with specified requirements (including filtration requirements), and that assist most in need on a per household basis according to State affordability criteria; and (3) each State, after notice and opportunity for public comment, to publish and periodically update a list of projects in the State that are eligible for assistance, including the priority assigned to each project and the expected funding schedule for each project. Directs the Administrator to: (1) conduct annual reviews and audits as the Administrator considers appropriate, or require each State to have the reviews and audits independently conducted, in accordance with specified single audit requirements; (2) submit to the Congress a periodic survey and assessment of the needs for facilities in each State eligible for assistance; (3) conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness of the State loan funds through FY 1999; and (4) publish such regulations and guidance as necessary. Specifies that the failure or inability of any public water system to receive funds, or a delay in obtaining the funds, shall not alter the obligation of the system to comply in a timely manner with all applicable drinking water standards and requirements under the Act. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator to reserve: (1) $10 million for health effects research on specified drinking water contaminants, giving priority to research concerning the health effects of cryptosporidium, disinfection byproducts, and arsenic and for the implementation of a research plan for subpopulations at greater risk of adverse effects; (2) $2 million to pay the costs of monitoring for unregulated contaminants; and (3) specified sums for small system technical assistance. (Sec. 4) Requires the Administrator to publish a maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG) and promulgate a national primary drinking water (NPDW) regulation for each contaminant (with exceptions) for which a NPDW regulation has been promulgated as of the date of this Act's enactment if the Administrator determines, based on adequate data and appropriate peer-reviewed scientific information and an assessment of health risks, that the contaminant may have an adverse effect on the health of persons and the contaminant is known to occur, or there is a substantial likelihood that it will occur, in public water systems with a frequency and at levels of public health concern. Directs the Administrator: (1) not later than July 1, 1996, to publish and periodically update a list of contaminants that are known or anticipated to occur in drinking water provided by public water systems that may warrant regulation; and (2) at such time as such list is published, to describe available and needed information and research regarding the health effects of the contaminants, their occurrence in drinking water, and treatment techniques and other feasible means to control the contaminants. Requires (with exceptions) the Administrator, by July 1, 2001, and every five years thereafter, to take one of the following actions for not fewer than five contaminants: (1) publish a determination that information available to the Administrator does not warrant the issuance of an NPDW regulation; (2) publish a determination that an NPDW regulation is warranted and proceed to propose an MCLG and NPDW regulation not later than two years after the date of publication of the determination; and (3) propose an MCLG and NPDW regulation. Sets forth provisions regarding insufficient information to make, and the basis for, such determinations. Requires the Administrator to give priority to those contaminants not currently regulated that are associated with the most serious adverse health effects and that present the greatest potential risk to human health due to their presence in drinking water provided by public water systems. Sets forth provisions regarding public comment and judicial review. Authorizes the Administrator to promulgate an interim NPDW regulation for a contaminant to address an urgent threat to public health. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) schedules for publication of MCLGs and NPDW regulations; (2) substitution of contaminants; and (3) promulgation, by December 31, 1995, of an information collection rule to facilitate further revisions to the NPDW regulation for disinfectants and disinfectant byproducts, including information on microbial contaminants such as cryptosporidium. (Sec. 5) Requires the Administrator, in carrying out the Act, to: (1) use the best available, peer-reviewed science and supporting studies conducted in accordance with sound and objective scientific practices, and data collected by accepted or best available methods; and (2) ensure that the presentation of information on public health effects is comprehensive, informative, and understandable. Directs the Administrator to conduct a cost-benefit analysis for each NPDW regulation containing a maximum contaminant level (MCL) or treatment technique before it is proposed, including consideration of alternative MCLs or treatment requirements. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 6) Permits the MCLG for contaminants that are known or likely to cause cancer in humans to be set at a level other than zero if the Administrator determines, based on the best available, peer- reviewed science, that there is a threshold level below which there is unlikely to be any increase in cancer risk and the Administrator sets the MCLG at that level with an adequate margin of safety. Requires the Administrator, at the time he or she proposes an NPDW regulation, to publish a determination as to whether the benefits of the MCL justify, or do not justify, the costs. Authorizes the Administrator to establish an MCL for a contaminant at a level other than the feasible level if the technology, treatment techniques, and other means used to determine the feasible level would result in an increase in the health risk from drinking water by: (1) increasing the concentration of other contaminants in drinking water; or (2) interfering with the efficacy of drinking water treatment techniques or processes that are used to comply with other NPDW regulations. Authorizes the Administrator, if he or she determines that the benefits of an MCL would not justify the cost of complying with the level, to promulgate an MCL for the contaminant that maximizes health risk reduction benefits at a cost that is justified by the benefits, with an exception. Prohibits the Administrator from establishing an MCL in a Stage I or Stage II NPDW regulation for contaminants that are disinfectants or disinfection byproducts, or to establish an MCL or treatment technique requirement for the control of cryptosporidium. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) judicial review; (2) disinfectants and disinfectant byproducts; and (3) review of standards. (Sec. 7) Requires the Administrator to promulgate NPDW regulations for: (1) arsenic according to a specified schedule and develop and carry out a comprehensive plan for research in support of drinking water rulemaking and take other specified steps regarding assessment, proposed regulation, and final regulation for arsenic; (2) radon, providing for an MCL of 3,000 picocuries per liter; and (3) sulfates. (Sec. 10) Directs the Administrator to propose a regulation that describes treatment techniques that meet the requirements for filtration that are feasible for community water systems serving a population of 3,300 or fewer and noncommunity water systems. (Sec. 12) Directs the Administrator to issue guidance or regulations regarding system treatment technologies. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to institutions of higher learning to establish and operate not fewer than five small public water system technology assistance centers in the United States. (Sec. 13) Revises the variance provisions of the Act to: (1) allow public water systems to receive a variance on the condition that they install and operate best available treatment technology; and (2) authorize the Administrator (or a State with primary enforcement responsibility for public water systems) to grant to public water systems serving a population of 10,000 or fewer a variance for compliance with a requirement specifying an MCL or treatment technique contained in an NPDW regulation if a system cannot afford to comply with the regulation and adequate protection of public health is ensured. (Sec. 15) Requires each State to: (1) obtain the legal authority or other means to ensure that all new community water systems and new nontransient, noncommunity water systems commencing operation after October 1, 1996, demonstrate technical, managerial, and financial capacity with respect to each NPDW regulation in effect, or likely to be in effect, on the date of commencement of operations; (2) prepare, periodically update, and submit to the Administrator a list of community water systems and nontransient, noncommunity water systems that have a history of significant noncompliance and report to the Administrator; and (3) develop and implement a strategy to assist public water systems in acquiring and maintaining technical, managerial, and financial capacity. Directs the Administrator to support: (1) the States in developing capacity development strategies; and (2) the network of university-based Environmental Finance Centers in providing training and technical assistance to State and local officials in developing the capacity of public water systems, including the establishment of a national public water systems capacity development clearinghouse. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 16) Requires public water systems receiving assistance from a State Revolving Loan Fund to be operated by a trained and certified operator. Authorizes the Administrator to withhold funds that would otherwise be allocated to the State, or require the repayment of an amount equal to the amount of any such assistance, for noncompliance. (Sec. 17) Directs each State to: (1) delineate the source water protection areas for community water systems in the State using hydrogeologic information considered to be reasonably available and appropriate by the State; and (2) conduct vulnerability assessments in source water areas determined to be a priority by the State. Authorizes States to establish source water quality partnership petition programs to assist in the local development of a voluntary, incentive-based partnership to reduce the presence in drinking water of contaminants and to obtain Federal and State financial or technical assistance. (Sec. 18) Extends the date for submitting State regulations to retain primacy for new or revised drinking water standards. Grants States interim primary enforcement authority. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 19) Requires the Administrator to review existing monitoring requirements for not fewer than 12 contaminants within two years. Authorizes: (1) States to establish alternative monitoring programs, except for regulations applicable to a microbial contaminant or an indicator of such a contaminant, subject to specified requirements; and (2) the Administrator or a State to suspend quarterly monitoring requirements applicable to small systems for any contaminant (other than a microbial contaminant or such an indicator that causes an acute effect or a contaminant formed in the treatment process or distribution system) that is not detected during the first quarterly sample in a monitoring cycle. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations establishing the criteria for a monitoring program for unregulated contaminants and to list up to 20 contaminants. Requires all systems serving more than 10,000 people to monitor for such contaminants. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Administrator to establish a national database containing information on the occurrence of regulated and unregulated contaminants. (Sec. 20) Requires each owner or operator of a public water system to give notice to those served by the system: (1) of any failure of the system to comply with an applicable maximum contaminant level or treatment technique requirement of, or a testing procedure prescribed by, an NPDW regulation or to perform required monitoring; (2) if the system is subject to a variance granted for an inability to meet a maximum contaminant level requirement or is subject to a granted exemption, of the existence of the variance or exemption and of any failure to comply with the requirements of any schedule prescribed pursuant to the variance or exemption; and (3) of the concentration level of any unregulated contaminant for which the Administrator has required public notice. Directs the Administrator to prescribe the manner, frequency, form, and content for giving notice. Specifies that such regulations shall provide for different frequencies of notice based on the differences between violations that are intermittent or infrequent and violations that are continuous or frequent and shall take into account the seriousness of any potential adverse health effects that may be involved. Permits a State to establish alternative notification requirements. Sets forth reporting requirements. (Sec. 21) Revises enforcement provisions of the Act to permit enforcement actions to be taken by both EPA and a State with primary enforcement responsibility. Directs the Administrator to notify local elected officials before taking enforcement actions against public water systems in nonprimacy States. Authorizes the Administrator or a State to suspend enforcement action with respect to a violation for a two-year period if the violation is to be corrected through a consolidation or restructuring during that period. Requires States to adopt administrative penalties of at least $1,000 per violation for large systems. Increases the maximum amount for an administrative penalty imposed by EPA from $5,000 to $25,000 per violation, but only after a hearing on the record. (Sec. 22) Waives the sovereign immunity of Federal agencies, subject to specified limitations. Allows citizens and States to seek penalties for all violations of the Act at Federal facilities. (Sec. 23) Authorizes appropriations for research with respect to the safe supply of drinking water. Directs the Administrator to: (1) develop and periodically update an integrated risk characterization strategy for drinking water quality; and (2) develop and carry out a research plan to support the development and implementation of rules regarding enhanced surface water treatment, disinfectant and disinfection byproducts, and ground water disinfection. Sets forth reporting requirements. (Sec. 24) Revises the definition of "public water system" to include water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances. Excludes from regulation connections to non-piped systems where alternative water supplies or treatment to levels that are equivalent to NPDW regulations is provided before the water is used for drinking or cooking. (Sec. 25) Authorizes the Administrator to makes grants to States for the development and implementation of State programs for the protection of groundwater resources. Prohibits any such grant from being used for more than half of the cost of the program. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on the extent and seriousness of contamination of private sources of drinking water that are not regulated under this Act. Authorizes the Administrator to reestablish a partnership between the Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory and the National Center for Ground Water Research, a university consortium, to conduct research, training, and technology transfer for groundwater quality protection and restoration. (Sec. 26) Prohibits the use (after June 19, 1986, in the installation or repair of any public water system or in any plumbing in a facility providing water for human consumption) or sale (effective two years after this Act's enactment) of any pipe, or plumbing fitting or fixture, that is not lead free, with exceptions. Directs the Administrator to: (1) provide accurate and timely technical information and assistance to qualified third-party certifiers in the development of voluntary standards and testing protocols for the leaching of lead from new plumbing fittings and fixtures that are intended by the manufacturer to dispense water for human ingestion; and (2) promulgate regulations setting a health effects-based performance standard establishing maximum leaching levels from new plumbing fittings and fixtures that are intended by the manufacturer to dispense water for human ingestion if a voluntary standard is not established within a year. Repeals Federal law encouraging the use of geothermal heat pumps that return water to the distribution lines of public water systems. (Sec. 27) Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue a regulation establishing a quality level for each contaminant in bottled water or make a finding that a regulation is unnecessary to protect the public health because the contaminant is contained in water in the public water systems and not in water used for bottled drinking water. (Sec. 28) Directs the Administrator to: (1) identify and rank sources of pollution with respect to the relative degree of risk of adverse effects on human health, the environment, and public welfare; (2) estimate the private and public costs associated with each source of pollution and the costs and benefits of complying with regulations designed to protect against risks associated with such sources and those associated with major Federal actions selected by the Administrator that have the most significant impact on human health or the environment; (3) identify reasonable opportunities to achieve significant risk reduction through modifications in environmental regulations and programs and other Federal actions with impacts on human health, the environment, or public welfare; (4) identify, explain, and determine research that would reduce uncertainties associated with the risks; and (5) consider and estimate the monetary and other values of the benefits associated with reducing risk to human health and the environment. Sets forth reporting requirements. Directs the Science Advisory Board to conduct a technical review of Administrator's report in public session before submission to the Congress. (Sec. 29) Authorizes the Chief of the Army Corps of Engineers to modernize the Washington Aqueduct. Authorizes appropriations. Modifies the membership of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council to include two members representing small, rural water systems.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1995
Qualified Football Coaches Plan Technical Corrections Act of 1995 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to make technical revisions which allow a qualified football coaches plan to be treated as a multiemployer collectively bargained plan for pension plan treatment purposes under the Internal Revenue Code.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Commodity Programs Title II: Conservation Farm Security Act of 1995 - Title I: Commodity Programs - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 (Act) to direct the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) to establish an Adjustment Account to make payments to wheat and feed grain producers participating in the revised marketing loan program established by this Act and the current marketing loan program. Sets forth revised programs for 1996 through 2002 marketing loans and loan deficiency payments. Requires cost limitations if such programs' costs exceed a specified level. (Sec. 103) Provides for: (1) single crop acreage base for wheat, feed grains, and oilseeds; and (2) crop acreage bases for cotton and rice. (Sec. 104) Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to: (1) revise and extend certain program payment limitations; and (2) replace the three-entity rule (consideration as separate entities for limitations purposes) with a direct attribution rule (based upon ownership percentage). (Sec. 105) Amends the Act to suspend oilseed, wheat, and feed grain price supports through 2002. (Sec. 106) Extends the following provisions: (1) supplemental set-aside and acreage limitation authority; (2) deficiency and land diversion payments; (3) acreage base and yield system; (4) payment limitations; (5) adjustment of established and support prices; (6) normally planted acreage; (7) food security wheat reserve; and (8) National Agricultural Cost of Production Standards Review Board. Title II: Conservation - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to establish an environmental quality incentives program which shall combine into a single program the functions of: (1) the agricultural conservation program; (2) the Great Plains conservation program; (3) the water quality incentives program; and (4) the Colorado River Basin salinity control program. Sets forth minimum funding levels. Directs the Secretary to designate watersheds or regions of special environmental sensitivity as conservation priority areas. Sets forth program provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 1995
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a cooperative organization to elect to apportion pro rata any portion of the small ethanol producer credit among patrons on the basis of the quantity or value of business done with or for the patrons for the taxable year. Provides for the treatment of the organization and the patrons.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 1995
Public Broadcasting Financial Independence and Family Viewing Act of 1995 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require that public telecommunications programs under the purview of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting be suitable for family viewing throughout the broadcast day. (Sec. 3) Prohibits Federal funds from being used to broadcast any program which is indecent or any dramatic program which includes nudity. (Sec. 4) Declares that it is in the public interest that public broadcasting provide educational, cultural, informational, and entertaining programming which is suitable for family viewing. (Sec. 5) Requires the Federal Communications Commission to adopt regulations which would allow public broadcast license holders, under specified conditions, to: (1) make use of their broadcast spectrum for the transmission of ancillary and supplementary services if the licensees provide at least one free schedule of public broadcast programming; and (2) utilize their broadcast schedule between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. to provide on a leased basis non-public broadcast programming for a fee or to provide commercially sponsored programming. (Sec. 7) Revises advertising restrictions to permit a public broadcast station to advertise an offering that is an educational or cultural event sponsored in part by a qualified public broadcasting station or producer or distributor of programming for public broadcast stations. (Sec. 8) Allows Public Broadcasting programming to be distributed to viewers by means of satellite, common carrier, or other forms of telecommunications technology for a fee provided that the proceeds from such distribution go to the exclusive benefit of public broadcasting. (Sec. 9) Authorizes the Commission to approve an exchange of frequencies between a public broadcaster and a commercial broadcaster when the proceeds from such exchange are dedicated to the benefit of the national public broadcasting system. (Sec. 10) Requires the Board of Directors of the Corporation and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) to ensure that agreements for programming include a provision to assure that public broadcasting share in benefits from the sale of any ancillary products, books, recordings, toys, character licensing, or other products related to the broadcast of such programming. (Sec. 11) Requires the General Accounting Office to: (1) review the operations of the Corporation, PBS, Public Broadcasters and their program, and other contractors and make recommendations to the Congress for improving the efficiency and self-sufficiency of public broadcasting; and (2) conduct a feasibility study of merging or coordinating public broadcasting operations and facilities or portions of such with Federal international broadcasting operations. (Sec. 13) Qualifies public broadcast licensees for interstate and intrastate educational telecommunications service rates to the extent such rates are available and to the extent such services are used to provide public broadcasting.