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United States · Official source
6,479 records where Sen. Kerry, John F. [D-MA] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1991
Designates the week of October 13 through 19, 1991, as National Radon Action Week.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1991
Authorizes the director of each national cemetery to display a prisoner of war/missing in action flag on a flagstaff at that cemetery. Prohibits any officer or employee of the Government from obligating appropriated funds for the purchase of such a flag at a national cemetery.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1991
Commends General Vessey and Foreign Minister Thach, and the Governments of the United States and Vietnam, for agreeing to establish an American POW/MIA office in Hanoi, Vietnam. Calls for the immediate establishment of such office. Expresses the sense of the Senate that such office should be authorized to serve as a liaison between the families of Americans missing in action and the Government of Vietnam through which such families can make arrangements with such Government to investigate the fates of their relatives.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1991
School Readiness Act of 1991 - Title I: Public Health Service Act Provisions - Subtitle A: Comprehensive Primary and Preventive Care for Pregnant Women, Infants and Children - Comprehensive Maternal and Early Childhood Health Care Act - Replaces Public Health Service Act provisions authorizing appropriations for migrant health centers (MHCs) and community health centers (CHCs) with provisions requiring the use of funds appropriated under other provisions to develop, operate, and expand Comprehensive Perinatal and Early Childhood Health Programs in medically underserved areas. Mandates grants to MHCs and CHCs for such programs. Requires the use of funds appropriated under other provisions for planning and developing CHCs to serve medically underserved populations. Amends provisions relating to health services for the homeless to require use of funds appropriated under other provisions to develop, operate, and expand such programs. Mandates grants to grantees under the provisions relating to the homeless for such programs. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), to provide vaccines to the health department of each State or large city that is operating an immunization project for distribution to grantees under specified provisions, federally qualified health centers, and public health professionals. Requires, in determining the quantity of vaccine needed, that the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration make available to the CDC Director data from annual reports from such grantees and federally qualified health centers. Requires the CDC Director to direct the State or city health department to provide the recipients with an adequate supply of vaccine from the allotment provided to the grantee. Amends the Vaccine and Immunization Amendments of 1990 to replace provisions authorizing grants for vaccine outreach programs with provisions authorizing the Secretary, through the CDC Director, to make grants to States for demonstration projects related to immunization. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Public Health Service Act to add substance abuse treatment and prevention services to the list of supplemental health services provided by MHCs and CHCs. Replaces provisions mandating grants for prevention, education, and treatment projects regarding drug and alcohol abuse relating to pregnant and postpartum women and their infants with provisions mandating demonstration grants for substance abuse prevention, education, and treatment projects serving such individuals. Requires that services under the grants be provided at locations accessible to low-income pregnant and postpartum women and in the most appropriate language and cultural context. Requires that services eligible for Medicaid payment be provided by an entity qualified to receive Medicaid payments. Limits fees for services. Requires non-Federal contributions in a specified ratio. Limits grants to five years but allows renewal. Makes grant payments subject to annual approval by the Secretary and to the availability of appropriations. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary, through the CDC Director, to assist the prenatal clinics in the United States in implementing smoking cessation programs to decrease rates of smoking during pregnancy. Authorizes grants to or contracts with State or local health departments and other public entities to assist in implementing programs and policies to prevent and encourage cessation of tobacco use during pregnancy. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Grants for Home-visiting Services for At-Risk Families - Mandates competitive grants for the Federal share of the costs of home visiting services. Requires that the grants be for at least three years. Requires that the services include case management, with a registered nurse or social worker assigned as the case manager for individual cases. Requires that the case manager develop a family service plan for the client. Sets the Federal share of the grants at a specified percentage. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Head Start Act - Amends the Head Start Act to direct (currently, authorize) the Secretary, on application by an agency designated (currently, an agency eligible for designation) as a Head Start agency, to provide, subject to appropriations, financial assistance for Head Start programs. Entitles all eligible children to receive services through a Head Start program. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the Act. Declares that provisions of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (excluding receipts and expenditures of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund from being counted as new budget authority, outlays, receipts, or deficit or surplus for purposes of the U.S. budget, the congressional budget, or the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act)) shall apply with respect to amounts appropriated under this authorization. Directs the Secretary to make a minimum amount available to carry out the Head Start Transition Project Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1991
Driftnet Moratorium Enforcement Act of 1991 - Directs the President to certify to the Congress each country (defining "country" as the Republic of Korea, Japan, and Taiwan) that: (1) has not notified the United States that it will cease large-scale driftnet fishing by a certain date; and (2) has not, by that date, ceased such fishing. Deems certification that a country has failed to give notice of its intent to cease driftnet fishing to be a certification under the Fishermen's Protective Act of 1967 (allowing banning importation of fish products). Directs the President, if a country fails to cease driftnet fishing by the deadline, to prohibit the bringing or importation of fish and fish products from the country. Authorizes the President to impose additional economic sanctions (including duties, import bans, or restrictions, and fees or restrictions on services) if: (1) the U.S. ban on fish imports is insufficient to stop large-scale driftnet fishing; (2) the country engages in such fishing after the deadline; or (3) a country retaliates as a result of a U.S. ban on fish imports. Continues the fish import ban or additional sanctions until the country completely ceases large-scale driftnet fishing.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1991
Cancer Screening Incentive Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable tax credit for expenditures (not paid by insurance or otherwise) incurred by the taxpayer for qualified cancer screening tests.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1991
Designates the month of May 1991 as National Huntington's Disease Awareness Month.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1991
Veterans Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment Act of 1991 - Directs that a veteran diagnosed by the Department of Veterans Affairs as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) be furnished care and services for such disorder by the Department, even if such disorder has not been determined to be service-connected. Makes eligible for such care and services a veteran who served on active duty in a theater of combat operations during World War II, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam era, the Persian Gulf War, or in any other area during a period in which hostilities occurred in such area. Requires a veteran who is referred by a Vet Center to a Department general health-care facility for a determination regarding such veteran's eligibility for PTSD care and services to be evaluated for diagnostic purposes within seven days of such referral. Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, upon request of any eligible veteran, to furnish counseling to assist the veteran in overcoming any psychological problems associated with such service. Directs the Secretary, no later than December 1, 1991, to devise and initiate a plan to: (1) increase the availability of treatment of veterans suffering from PTSD to levels commensurate with their needs; and (2) enhance outreach activities to inform combat veterans (and their families) of the availability of such treatment and to encourage such veterans to participate in such treatment. Directs the Secretary to report to the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees on the description and implementation of such plan. Directs the Secretary, in preparing such report, to consult with the Special Committee on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Advisory Committee on Readjustment of Vietnam Veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1991
World Summit for Children Implementation Act of 1991 - Provides for assistance in implementing the plan of action adopted by the World Summit for Children. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the U.S. Government should commit to increasing participation in the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children under the Child Nutrition Act (the WIC program) by 20 percent per year in FY 1992 through 1996, to reach full participation by the end of FY 1996; and (2) specified amounts should be appropriated for the WIC program in FY 1992 and 1993 to reach such full participation goal. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the commitment to provide full funding for the Head Start Program, contained in the Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1990, should be implemented in order that the goal of full participation of all eligible three- to five- year-old children can be reached by FY 1994; and (2) specified amounts should be authorized for such funding in FY 1992 through 1994. Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to undertake a Children's Vaccine Initiative. Requires that the Director of the National Vaccine Program: (1) plan and coordinate the Initiative; and (2) ensure that the Public Health Service conducts vaccine research, production, and delivery activities under the Initiative in collaboration with non-governmental institutions and with other Federal agencies to ensure the full use of U.S. scientific and industrial capacity to prevent infectious disease. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993 for contributions to the United Nations Children's Fund for activities to promote child health and other assistance programs for children (to carry out specified provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961). Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (the Act) to authorize appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993 for special health needs of children and mothers under the Child Survival Fund. Requires that specified amounts of funds under various provisions for FY 1992 and 1993 be reserved only for such specified child survival activities. Expresses the sense of the Congress that authorization, in such amounts as may be required, should be granted to the President to exercise the (Public Law 480) debt authority with respect to least developed countries that are pursuing reforms to promote long-term economic development (as provided in specified provisions of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, as amended by the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990). Amends the Act to establish a Vitamin A Deficiency Program. Reserves for such Program specified amounts in FY 1992 and 1993 from funds for development assistance for agriculture, rural development, and nutrition. Requires that specified amounts from certain funds authorized for health-related activities under the Act in FY 1992 and 1993 be reserved for replicable community-based comprehensive reproductive health service programs that broaden other health programs by including strategies that specifically address women's reproductive health needs. Sets forth examples of such strategies, as well as congressional intent that such programs be planned and designed in consultation and participation with those whose needs they serve, and congressional encouragement for using international private voluntary organizations in building such programs. Amends the Act to direct the President, in carrying out provisions for development assistance for health-related activities to promote, encourage, and undertake activities relating to research on, and treatment and control of, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in developing countries. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993, for such purpose, to the International AIDS Prevention and Control Fund. Provides that such amounts shall be in addition to other amounts available for such purpose. Amends the Act to reserve specified amounts in FY 1992 and 1993, from funds for development assistance for education and under the provisions of the Act, for international basic education, including early childhood education, primary education, teacher training, other support activities, and adult literacy training. Expresses the sense of the Congress that at least specified minimum amounts should be appropriated for the Migration and Refugee Assistance account, and that at least specified minimum portions of such funds should be reserved for programs of refugee assistance overseas (in addition to amounts available for programs for Soviet, Eastern European, and other refugees resettling in Israel). Amends the Act to replace provisions for certain disadvantaged children in Asia with provisions for assistance to children in exceptionally difficult circumstances. Includes among such children street children, AIDS orphans, other orphaned and abandoned children, and children displaced by armed conflict, poverty, famine, or other disasters. Reserves specified minimum portions of certain funds under the Act in FY 1992 and 1993 for assistance for such children. Requires that such assistance be made available in accordance with policies and general authorities under certain disaster assistance provisions. Directs the President to report annually to the Congress on U.S. contributions to the achievement of the goals of the World Summit for Children, including U.S. efforts to achieve such goals in the United States and in other countries, with an analysis of past, current, and planned funding levels.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1991
Designates the second Sunday in October 1991 as National Children's Day.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1991
Declares that the Senate expresses its: (1) regret that Senator Pryor's illness will require his absence from the Senate Chamber; and (2) heartfelt wishes to him for a speedy and complete recovery, and that he return to his duties, serving the people of Arkansas, in the near future.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1991
Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Adoption and Family Services Act of 1991 - Title I: Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act - Subtitle A: General State Program - Amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to require (currently, authorize) grants to States to assist the States in improving the child protective service system in certain actions (currently, to assist the States in developing, strengthening, and carrying out child abuse and neglect prevention and treatment programs). Replaces provisions allowing waiver of certain State eligibility requirements with provisions requiring a State to annually submit a plan to the Secretary specifying the child protective service system area the State intends to address with funds under the grant. Sets forth required contents of the plan. Modifies the purposes of grants to State to include: (1) neglect as well as abuse; (2) the handling of suspected abuse- or neglected-related fatalities; (3) civil and criminal court handling (currently, prosecution) of abuse and neglect cases; and (4) the handling of cases involving a combination of jurisdictional authorities. Changes the requirements States must meet to be eligible for the grants. Revises the knowledge and experience requirements and the composition requirements for the State multidisciplinary task forces. Requires a State task force study, mandated by current provisions before receiving assistance, to be repeated every three years. Modifies the contents of the study. Subtitle B: Community-Based Prevention Grants - Replaces provisions authorizing Federal challenge grants to encourage States to support child abuse and neglect prevention activities with provisions authorizing community-based child abuse and neglect prevention grants to assist States in supporting such activities. Conditions State eligibility on the State having a trust fund (currently, a trust fund or other funding mechanism) which is available only for those activities. Modifies the allotment formula. Makes the trust fund (currently, the trust fund advisory board) responsible for administering and awarding Federal grants to recipients carrying out such activities. Modifies the required contents of grant applications. Subtitle C: Certain Preventive Services Regarding Children of Homeless Families or Families at Risk of Homelessness - Allows certain demonstration grants for preventive services regarding children of homeless families or families at risk of homelessness to be used, in certain circumstances, for emergency housing-related assistance and temporary rent subsidies. Subtitle D: Child Abuse Treatment Improvement Grants - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Administration for Children, Youth and Families, to make grants to improve the treatment of children exposed to abuse or neglect and the families of such children. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle E: Reauthorization of Certain Programs - Authorizes appropriations for existing programs relating to: (1) services to children whose parents are substance abusers; (2) child abuse and neglect prevention and treatment; (3) community-based child abuse and neglect prevention; and (4) the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of 1990. Title II: Children With Disabilities Temporary Care - Children With Disabilities Temporary Care Reauthorization Act of 1991 - Amends the Temporary Child Care for Children with Disabilities and Crisis Nurseries Act of 1986 (formerly the Temporary Child Care for Handicapped Children and Crisis Nurseries Act of 1986) to authorize appropriations to carry out the Act. Title III: Reauthorization of Programs with Respect to Adoption and Family Violence - Amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1978 to authorize appropriations to carry out the Act. Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to authorize appropriations to carry out the Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1991
Anti-Boycott Passport Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of State to: (1) instruct the U.S. Middle Eastern diplomatic corps to seek an end to the policy of the majority of Arab League nations of rejecting passports of, and denying entrance visas to, persons whose passports or other documents reflect that they have visited Israel; and (2) report to specified congressional committees on the status of efforts to secure an end to such policy. Prohibits the Secretary from issuing any passport that is designated for travel only to Israel. Requires the Secretary to cancel existing passports designated for travel only to Israel. Prohibits the Secretary from issuing more than one official or diplomatic passport to any U.S. Government official for purposes of enabling such official to acquiesce in or comply with the Arab League's passport policy concerning persons who have visited Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend discharge of indebtedness provisions to loan cancellation programs of banks and institutions of higher education. Includes under such program loans made to students by institutions of higher education to repay other loans. Permits the institution to repay such other loans.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1991
Designates October 1991 as Polish American Heritage Month.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 1991
Silvio Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior, through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to designate refuge boundaries within the lands and waters of the Connecticut River basin. Authorizes the Secretary to acquire the lands and waters for inclusion in the refuge. Establishes the Silvio Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge when sufficient property has been acquired that can be effectively managed as a refuge. Directs the Secretary to: (1) identify additional areas outside the refuge but within the basin, the conservation of which would further the purposes of the refuge; (2) identify activities outside the refuge but related to the basin that may adversely affect those purposes; and (3) provide assistance to, education for or with, or enter into cooperative agreements with private and public entities with respect to the wise use and management of those additional areas and activities. Establishes the Silvio Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge Advisory Committee. Authorizes the Secretary to construct, administer, and maintain within the refuge up to four Silvio Conte National Fish and Wildlife Education Centers. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide grants to States to fund eligible State domestic violence coalitions. Makes eligible for such grants nonprofit statewide coalitions whose: (1) membership includes a majority of programs for victims of domestic violence in the State, and is representative of such programs; and (2) purpose is to provide services, community education, and technical assistance to such programs to establish and maintain shelter and related services for domestic violence victims and their children. Includes among authorized uses of grant funds: (1) working with judicial and law enforcement agencies to encourage appropriate responses to domestic violence cases and examine specified issues; (2) working with family law judges, child protective services agencies, and children's advocates to develop appropriate responses to child custody and visitation issues in domestic violence cases, as well as cases of both domestic violence and child abuse; and (3) conducting public education campaigns regarding domestic violence. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth reporting requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Elementary School Counseling Demonstration Act - Authorizes appropriations for the Secretary of Education to make demonstration grants to local education agencies to establish effective and innovative elementary school counseling programs that can serve as national models. Directs the Secretary to establish an Office of School Counseling, headed by a Director, in the Department of Education.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to declare that the Congress recognizes that prompt U.S. assistance is desirable to help alleviate suffering in the Baltic republics. Directs the Administrator of the Agency for International Development to: (1) furnish humanitarian assistance for the relief of the Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian people; and (2) solicit donations of humanitarian assistance for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and cooperate with private relief agencies attempting to provide such assistance. Authorizes the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Transportation Command to provide all necessary airlift and sealift to transport donations of medical supplies to the Baltic peoples. Authorizes appropriations. Urges the President to begin negotiations with the nations surrounding Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, including Poland and the U.S.S.R., regarding the importation of humanitarian assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Designates April 22, 1991, as Earth Day.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Designates December 7, 1991, as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Designates April 22, 1991, as Earth Day.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Designates June 10 through 16, 1991, as Pediatric AIDS Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Expresses the sense of the Senate that neither the President nor the Congress should impose fees, levies, or diversion requirements on imported crude oil and refined petroleum products.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) Antarctica should be subject to a new agreement among the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties that would provide for comprehensive environmental protection of Antarctica, grant Antarctica protective status as a world park, and close Antarctica to commercial minerals development unless a consensus is reached to modify the terms of the Antarctic Treaty for such purposes; and (2) the President, at the upcoming meeting of the Parties in Madrid, Spain, should support efforts to conclude such agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Declares that the Arab League should terminate its boycott against Israel and that the President should encourage U.S. allies and trading partners to enact laws prohibiting businesses from complying with such boycott and penalizing businesses that do comply.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1991
Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to require the Administrator of the Agency for International Development to: (1) furnish humanitarian assistance for the Kurdish people; (2) solicit private sector donations of humanitarian assistance for Kurdish and other refugees fleeing Iraq; and (3) cooperate with private relief agencies attempting to provide such aid. Authorizes the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Transportation Command to provide all airlift and sealift necessary to transport medical supplies. Authorizes appropriations. Urges the President to begin discussions with the nations surrounding Iraq as may be necessary regarding the importation of humanitarian assistance. Permits such assistance to be provided to civilian refugees in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the Allied occupied areas of southern Iraq. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the attacks upon Iraqi civilians constitute a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of August 12, 1949, and a threat to peace and stability in the region; and (2) the United States should request the United Nations Security Council to take measures to prevent these attacks pursuant to the United Nations Charter.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1991
Authorizes the Indian American Forum for Political Education to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor Mahatma Gandhi. Prohibits the United States from paying any expense of establishing the memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1991
Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) accelerate the scheduled phaseout of production of ozone-destroying substances and provide for complete phaseout as early as possible, but not later than 1997 for chlorofluorocarbons and methyl chloroform; and (2) issue regulations providing for the recapture and recycling of ozone-destroying substances used in appliances and motor-vehicle air-conditioners and for the elimination of such substances used in nonessential consumer products. Declares that the President should: (1) urge the United Nations to call a special session of the Contracting Parties to the Montreal Protocol to conclude an agreement accelerating the phaseout of ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons and methyl chloroform and providing for such phaseout by 1997; (2) urge the Contracting Parties to provide for the phaseout of hydrochlorofluorocarbons by 2010; and (3) urge the Contracting Parties to accelerate the compliance of developing countries with the Protocol.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1991
Expresses the sorrow of the Senate at the death of John Heinz, the late Senator from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
Veterans Compensation Improvement Act of 1991 - Increases the rates of: (1) veterans' disability compensation; (2) additional compensation for veterans' dependents; (3) the clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans; (4) dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children; and (5) supplemental dependency and indemnity compensation for disabled adult children. Requires such increases to be the same percentage as the increase in benefit amounts payable under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make consistent adjustments administratively to the rates of disability compensation payable to certain persons who are not in receipt of compensation for service-connected disability or death. Requires the Secretary to publish such increases in the Federal Register at the same time that OASDI benefit increases are required to be published.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States and the Soviet Union should lead an effort to promptly repeal United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 (equating Zionism with racism.)
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
National Energy Efficiency and Development Act of 1991 - Title I: Energy Policy Initiatives - Subtitle A: National Energy Strategy - Requires the first National Energy Policy Plan submitted by the President to the Congress after enactment of this Act to include a least-cost energy strategy prepared by the Secretary of Energy (Secretary). Requires such strategy to contain: (1) a comprehensive inventory of available energy and energy efficiency resources and their costs; (2) a proposed two-year program for assuring adequate supplies of such resources, along with identification of actions possible under existing Federal law; and (3) recommendations for any new Federal authority needed to achieve the purposes of this Act. Subtitle B: Director of Climate Protection - Directs the Secretary to appoint a Director of Climate Protection to: (1) serve as the Secretary's representative for interagency and multilateral policy discussions of global climate change; (2) monitor domestic and international policies for their effects on the generation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases; and (3) have the authority to participate in departmental planning activities. Title II: Measures to Improve the Energy Efficiency of the United States Economy - Subtitle A: Research and Development - Amends the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technology Competitiveness Act of 1989 (REEETCA) to authorize appropriations for energy efficiency research and development. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress triennially on energy efficiency policy options. Subtitle B: Industrial Energy Efficiency - Directs the Secretary to pursue a research and development program and enter into cost-shared joint ventures to improve efficiency in energy intensive industries (such as steel, chemicals, glass, paper, and aluminum). Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to develop, directly or by contract, a voluntary national program to devise standards for energy audits and the installation of insulation in industrial facilities. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to establish (and report to the Congress on): (1) a reporting system for industry to supply annual energy use and energy intensity information; and (2) voluntary energy efficiency improvement targets for energy-intensive industries. Directs the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration to expand the scope and frequency of the data it collects on energy use in the United States; and (2) report annually to the Congress on such data. Subtitle C: Efficiency in Commercial and Residential Buildings and Other Products - Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (NECPA) to direct the Secretary to establish a program to provide technical assistance to States and localities in updating energy efficiency provisions of residential and commercial building codes. Requires each State or locality, by four years after enactment of this Act, to certify that it has reviewed and updated such codes so that they meet or exceed the requirements of the Council of American Building Officials' Model Energy Code (CABO-MEC). Requires each State or locality, by three years after such certification, to further certify that all new residential commercial buildings built during such period meet updated code requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to promulgate procedural guidelines for, and provide technical assistance to, States which adopt residential energy efficiency rating systems. Requires all residential buildings, by five years after enactment of this Act, to have numerical energy efficiency ratings. Requires disclosure to potential purchasers of such ratings. Makes any residential building which fails to meet CABO-MEC standards ineligible for Federal mortgage financing programs. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to advise the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development on energy standards for manufactured housing; and (2) test the performance and cost-effectiveness of manufactured housing built to such standards. Creates in the Treasury the State Energy Efficiency Project Fund to provide for grants to States to undertake energy efficiency projects in State- and locally-owned buildings. Requires an annual report to the Congress on Fund activities. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to provide financial and technical assistance to support the voluntary development of a national window rating program to establish energy efficiency ratings for windows and window systems. Requires the Secretary to establish such a system if no voluntary program succeeds within two years after enactment of this Act. Requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prescribe labeling rules for such rating system, unless labeling is not technologically or economically feasible or is not likely to help consumers make purchasing decisions. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to set minimum energy efficiency standards for certain types of lamps, appliance motors, commercial air conditioning and heating equipment, utility distribution transformers, showerheads, and commercial office equipment. Requires: (1) the FTC to prescribe labeling for such products; and (2) manufacturers to provide labeling meeting FTC requirements. Provides for enforcement of such labeling requirements. Directs the Secretary to establish, for a five-year period, a program to train and certify energy efficiency contractors. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Federal Energy Management - Amends NECPA to require all Federal agencies to install all energy conservation measures which are cost-effective on a ten-year life-cycle cost basis. Permits such agencies to accept gas or electric utility incentives designed to encourage cost-effective energy demand management or energy conservation. Requires the Secretary to develop a simplified method of contracting for shared energy savings contract services that will reduce the administrative effort and cost on the part of the government as well as the private customers. Directs the Administrator of the General Services Administration to analyze significant energy consuming products in the Federal Supply Schedule and develop and implement a method to identify products which offer cost-effective opportunities to reduce energy consumption and costs. Directs the Secretary to establish guidelines for the transfer of up to $1,000,000 per project to encourage Federal agencies to undertake energy efficiency projects in federally owned facilities. Requires annual reports to the Congress on such projects. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to establish a financial bonus program to reward outstanding facility energy managers in Federal agencies. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to direct the President to promulgate rules prohibiting each executive agency from acquiring any automobile with a fuel economy that is not greater than the average fuel economy for that particular model type for the previous model year. Directs the Secretary to submit to the Congress, and update every two years, a plan for demonstrating energy efficiency and renewable energy resource technologies in federally owned facilities. Amends REEETCA to require the Secretary to finance at least one joint venture for the demonstration of fuel cell technology in Federal facilities in order to accelerate commercial application of such cells. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to study and report on the use of Federal purchasing power to encourage the development of more energy efficient products. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle E: Utility Energy Efficiency - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to direct States to require State-regulated utilities to employ a planning and selection process for new energy resources that evaluates the full range of existing and incremental resources in order to meet expected future demand at the lowest possible cost to society. Declares that the rates allowed to be charged by a State-regulated utility shall be such that: (1) the utility's investments in and expenditures for energy conservation, energy efficiency resources, and other demand-side management resources are at least as profitable as those for the construction of new generating equipment or the acquisition of other new supply-side resources; and (2) the utility is encouraged to make investments and expenditures for all cost-effective improvements in the energy efficiency of power generation and supply. States that the full cost of an energy resource shall include specified external costs associated with its use. Requires the Secretary to report annually to the Congress and certify which States have complied with such requirements. Declares that, beginning four years after enactment of this Act, energy efficiency measures shall be considered as "qualifying facilities" eligible for certain PURPA programs in States that have not adopted procedures to meet the requirements of this Act. Directs the Western, Southwestern, and Southeastern Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) to ensure that they and their customer utilities acquire all cost-effective energy efficiency and renewable energy resources. Requires each long-term firm power contract between a PMA and a customer utility to require the utility to develop and implement an energy efficiency and renewable energy program. Requires such PMAs to implement programs directly to acquire cost-effective conservation and renewable energy resources in the region in conjunction with such utility programs. Requires the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to: (1) develop a similar least-cost plan; and (2) execute similar long-term firm contracts with its customer utilities. Requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to: (1) develop an office of energy efficiency to coordinate FERC's energy conservation and efficiency activities; and (2) establish procedures for expedited review of any interstate power sales conducted in accordance with the purchasing utility's least-cost energy plan. Subtitle F: Used Oil Energy Production Act of 1991 - Used Oil Energy Production Act of 1991 - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to require a producer or importer of 100,000 gallons or more per year of lubricating oil to increase annually the percentage (set by the Secretary) of recycled oil either: (1) by refining, rerefining, or reprocessing it into petroleum products (including fuels); or (2) by purchasing certain oil recycling credits. Exempts certain facilities from such requirements. Requires annual reports to specified congressional committees. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) not to list or identify used oil as a hazardous waste for certain purposes. Subtitle G: Tire Recycling Incentives - Tire Recycling Incentives Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require tire producers or importers to increase annually the percentage (set by the EPA Administrator) of scrap tires recycled either: (1) by retreading or processing new tire products; or (2) by purchasing certain tire recycling credits. Requires the EPA Administrator to report to the Congress on scrap tire recycling. Sets forth civil penalties for violations of this subtitle. Directs the EPA Administrator to: (1) publish in the Federal Register minimum requirements for State scrap tire management and procedures under which such requirements shall be incorporated into State solid waste management plans; (2) provide for expedited review of State plans which include specified scrap tire recycling measures; and (3) establish standards to minimize health and environmental damages from the improper disposal and storage of tires. Requires such standards to provide for: (1) bans on the disposal of tires in land disposal facilities and on the intentional infliction of damage on tire casings to preclude casings from being used in retreading; (2) State inventories of scrap tire collection facilities, tire advisory boards, and scrap tire abatement plans; (3) agreements between facilities which distribute more than 1,000 tires annually and licensed tire haulers for the exclusive hauling of scrap tires by licensed haulers; and (4) prohibitions on the transportation of scrap tires by transporters without transportation identification numbers. Specifies exceptions. Directs the Administrator to publish guidelines for States for the issuance of permits to scrap tire collection facilities. Requires the Administrator to promulgate guidelines for States for facility emergency plans. Requires facility owners or operators to notify the State immediately in the event of an emergency with potential offsite impacts. Requires all regulated facilities to have appropriate financial responsibility or insurance to maintain the facility for at least five years after closure. Exempts specified persons from permit requirements. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations for the State to use to issue permits to scrap tire recycling facilities. Requires the Secretary of the Interior, together with the heads of agencies responsible for public lands or military installations, to implement a plan to remediate tire piles. Directs the Administrator to develop a guideline for procuring items that make use of scrap or used tires. Requires Federal departments, if the Administrator fails to promulgate such guideline, to procure items containing at least 75 percent of post-consumer scrap rubber from scrap tires if the rubber is available within a reasonable time at a reasonable price and meets performance standards. Directs the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, to publish standards to determine the life-cycle costs and benefits of items that make use of rubber from scrap or used tires as compared with items that make use of rubber other than from scrap or used tires. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to report to the Congress on: (1) direct worker environmental health effects relating to asphalt made from crumb rubber from scrap tires; (2) the recyclability of asphalt road surfaces made from crumb rubber from scrap tires; and (3) the estimated life of existing asphalt road surfaces made from crumb rubber from scrap tires. Permits States to: (1) enter into consent agreements with owners and operators of scrap tire collection facilities for proper management and abatement of scrap tires; and (2) levy fines on facilities for noncompliance. Imposes fines on tire facilities and landfills for specified violations of this Act. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle H: Insular Areas Energy Assistance - Authorizes the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) to grant financial assistance to Insular area governments to carry out energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Measures to Promote the Use of Renewable Energy - Subtitle A: Renewable Energy Technology Transfers - Amends REEETCA to authorize appropriations for: (1) renewable energy research and development programs; (2) State conservation programs; (3) State research and applied technology transfer programs; (4) Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory information and publications; (5) four pilot programs to demonstrate model technology transfer and design assistance programs; (6) an advanced research and development information computer network; and (7) at least ten photovoltaic demonstration projects of at least ten megawatts in size to supply electric power to a power grid. Directs the Secretary to develop a Strategic Technology Transfer Implementation Plan for the national and international transfer of renewable energy and energy efficiency technology information. Amends the Federal Power Act and PURPA to: (1) make small biomass and hydropower production facilities specifically "eligible facilities" under such Act; and (2) define "alternative power production facility." Subtitle B: Amendments to the Committee on Renewable Energy Commerce and Trade (CORECT) - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to require the Committee on Renewable Energy Commerce and Trade (CORECT) to promote the development and application in lesser-developed countries of specified renewable energy and energy efficiency resource technologies. Authorizes CORECT to establish renewable energy industry outreach offices in the Pacific Rim and in the Caribbean Basin. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on the range of energy efficient and renewable energy technologies available to meet the energy needs of lesser-developed countries. Authorizes appropriations. Earmarks funds to assist U.S. manufacturers of renewable energy and energy efficient technology in exporting their products to lesser-developed countries. Title IV: Measures to Promote the Use of Alternative Motor Vehicles and Fuels - Subtitle A: Alternative Transportation Fuels - Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements and joint ventures to demonstrate the feasibility (including safety of specific vehicle design) of using natural gas or other alternative fuels for mass transit. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to provide financial assistance to encourage the development and commercialization of natural gas and other alternative fuel use in passenger fleets, light duty, and heavy duty trucks. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a training and certification program for technicians who are responsible for vehicle installation of equipment that converts gasoline or diesel-fuel vehicles to the capability to run on natural gas or other alternative fuels. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Energy to carry out a program of research, development, and demonstration on techniques related to improving natural gas and other alternative fuel vehicle technology. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to: (1) institute an awareness program to educate potential purchasers of the costs, emission characteristics, and other features of alternative fuels; (2) report to the Congress on Federal purchasing policies which inhibit Federal purchase of alternative-fuel vehicles; (3) report to the Congress on how Federal, State, and local traffic control measures could promote the use of alternative-fuel vehicles; and (4) develop a plan for establishment of Federal and State trust funds to provide loans to convert vehicles to operate on alternative fuels or purchase alternative-fuel vehicles. Amends the Natural Gas Act to exclude the sale of natural gas as a vehicle fuel from the price regulation jurisdiction of FERC. Declares that a company shall not be considered a natural gas company under the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 solely because it distributes or sells natural gas as a motor vehicle fuel. Exempts from State regulation as a public utility (unless otherwise primarily engaged in business as such) any person or entity transporting or selling alternative vehicle fuels. Directs the Secretary to establish a fund to provide 50 percent of the cost of establishing offices of alternative fuels in State governments, as well as alternative fuel programs launched by such offices. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to study whether the use of alternative fuels in nonroad vehicles and engines would contribute substantially to reduced reliance on imported energy sources. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations requiring, where feasible, nonroad vehicles and engines to use alternative fuels if such study concludes that such use could reduce reliance on imported energy sources by ten percent nationwide within a ten-year period. Subtitle B: Alternative Fuel Fleet Requirement - Requires every person who owns, operates, leases, or otherwise controls a motor vehicle fleet of specified composition in a metropolitan statistical area of over 250,000 population which is also an EPA-classified nonattainment area to increase the percentage of alternative-fueled vehicles in such fleet by specified increments annually until it reaches 90 percent in the year 2000. Directs the Secretary to allocate credits to covered persons who exceed the required quota of alternative-fueled vehicles. Establishes administrative and civil penalties (together with appropriate enforcement procedures) for violations of the requirements or prohibitions of this subtitle. Subtitle C: Electric Vehicle Technology Development and Demonstration - Electric Vehicle Technology Development and Demonstration Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary to identify EPA-classified nonattainment areas in the United States in which the use of conventionally fueled vehicles contributes significantly to that nonattainment and in which the use of electric vehicles could contribute to attainment of applicable National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Directs the Secretary, after identifying such areas, to request applications from, and eventually select, manufacturers to develop, demonstrate, certify, manufacture, sell, warranty, and service electric vehicles in one or more of them. Requires: (1) the selected manufacturers to offer electric vehicle purchasers certain discounts; and (2) the Secretary to reimburse them the amount of such discounts. Requires annual reports to the Congress on such program. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Transportation and Energy Efficiency - Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to establish average fuel economy standards for passenger automobiles and automobiles other than passenger automobiles (light trucks) for model years 1996 and thereafter. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to modify such standards, in response to a petition, according to a specified procedure. Requires the EPA Administrator to report annually to specified congressional committees on a study which: (1) examines the accuracy of fuel economy testing of passenger automobiles and light trucks; and (2) assesses the extent to which fuel economy deteriorates during the lifetime of such vehicles. Directs the Secretary of Energy to distribute at least 100 explanatory booklets each year to every dealer and additional numbers if requested. Requires the Secretary of Transportation to provide for a review and report to the Congress by the National Academy of Sciences on the current state of research and development in light truck fuel economy and passenger automobile fuel economy and an assessment of the potential for improving the fuel efficiency and reducing the energy consumption of passenger automobiles and light trucks. Requires the Secretary of Energy to study and report to the Congress on the future options for regulating the fuel efficiency of such vehicles beyond 2001. Provides for the judicial review of average fuel economy standards (including modifications thereof) established under this Act. Doubles the civil penalty for repeated violations of the fuel economy standard. Requires such penalty to be adjusted for inflation. Title VI: Measures to Displace Petroleum as a Vehicle Fuel - Replacement Fuels and Alternative Fuels Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) to: (1) establish a program to promote the development and use of domestic-produced replacement and alternative fuels; and (2) prescribe the minimum percentage of domestic-produced replacement and alternative fuels, on an energy equivalent basis, to be sold in calendar years 1996 and 1997 by any refiner for use as a motor fuel. Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to authorize the Secretary of Transportation, if the average fuel economy standard for passenger automobiles is increased above 27.5 miles per gallon for any model year, to increase the maximum increase in average fuel economy for a manufacturer attributable to dual energy and natural gas dual energy automobiles until alternative and replacement motor fuel sales indicate that such fuels are displacing conventional petroleum as a motor fuel. Sets forth civil penalties for violations of this Act and a procedure for appealing such penalties. Authorizes appropriations. Title VII: Measures to Promote the Use of Natural Gas - Directs the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) to conduct a program of research, development, and demonstration of cofiring (of natural gas and pulverized coal), including gas reburn technologies (which reduce nitrogen oxide emissions), in electric utility units and large industrial boilers in order to determine optimal natural gas injection levels for both environmental and operational benefits. Provides for financial assistance to or cooperative agreements with public or private entities under such program. Sets the Federal shares of costs at 50 percent. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to expand the program for research, development, and demonstration for natural gas and electric heating and cooling technologies for residential and commercial buildings. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Natural Gas Act to direct FERC to develop an incentive formula for rates and charges for the sale or transportation of natural gas. Sets as the development goals for such formula: (1) allowing natural gas companies to earn a fair rate of return; (2) providing proper price signals to the marketplace; and (3) rewarding pipeline efficiency. Repeals FERC's authority to delay decision-making on ratemaking orders beyond the 30-day rehearing requirement without cause. Requires FERC to take final action on a rehearing application within 60 days after it is filed. Permits natural gas companies to file for FERC approval joint rates negotiated by them for the transportation of natural gas through each of their pipelines in sequence on the way to market. Exempts such rates from coverage under specified antitrust law. Declares that, in the setting of natural gas company rates, a plant shall be recognized so long as it is used and useful in discharging the company's utility business (even if it is already completely depreciated). Declares that pipeline sales rates shall be presumed just and reasonable if workably competitive alternatives exist for such sales. Sets forth conditions under which new natural gas company services (where competitive, certified services already exist) do not need a certificate of public convenience and necessity. Amends the Natural Gas Act to provide automatic abandonment of the sales obligation upon contract expiration, subject to a pipeline's right to extend. Declares that any fixed charge paid by an interstate pipeline to a first seller for gas supply security shall be recoverable on an "as-billed basis" in the pipeline's demand charges, unless FERC determines, after a hearing, that the pipeline does not offer a reasonably competitive alternative to its sales service. Requires the Secretary to condition the approval of any natural gas import application upon FERC action to redress any anti-competitive impacts on U.S. gas producers, including competitive disparities resulting from different rate designs applied to the transportation of domestic gas and imported supplies. Directs the Secretary to expand and continue, through joint ventures, a program of research, development, and demonstration on techniques to increase: (1) intensive recovery of natural gas in place in discovered reservoirs or formations; and (2) economic recovery from nonconventional sources, including tight formation, Devonian shales, and geopressurized brines. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1968 to exempt from Natural Gas Act coverage and FERC jurisdiction the construction or operation of any facilities if the natural gas company constructing such facilities: (1) holds a certificate pursuant to which it has agreed to provide open access transportation service; and (2) the company agrees that such certificate shall apply to any transportation service through the new facilities. Requires all such facilities to be constructed in accordance with applicable environmental protection and safety laws and regulations, except the National Environmental Policy Act of 1978 (NEPA). Directs FERC to create an environmental review process under NEPA providing that pipeline construction projects which are confined to existing utility or highway corridors, and do not involve construction in high value wetland areas, shall be afforded a rebuttable presumption of no significant impact. Makes FERC the lead agency with primary authority for compliance with NEPA in any case where FERC authorization of the construction or operation of facilities or projects under the Natural Gas Act may be deemed a major Federal action. Amends the Natural Gas Act to grant FERC the power to issue certificates of public convenience and necessity in a two-phase process: (1) the first phase, which shall constitute a final order, involving all matters requiring FERC review and approval except environmental matters; and (2) the second phase, addressing required environmental matters only. Directs FERC to revise its environmental review procedures to allow pipelines to submit Environmental Assessments (EAs) at the time of filing for approval of proposed facilities, using general standards specified by FERC. Requires the revised procedures to presume EAs valid subject to FERC review for compliance with its own standards. Requires FERC to permit a certificate applicant to elect a contractor, consultant or other FERC designee to prepare the environmental impact statement at the applicant's expense. Requires FERC to develop procedures to ensure against conflicts of interest in such contracting. Directs the Office of Technology Assessment to study and report to the Congress on: (1) the global trends of production, usage, and transportation of natural gas and the ways in which these trends can affect domestic energy policy and the U.S. natural gas industry; and (2) State and locally imposed institutional and regulatory barriers to increase national natural gas usage. Title VIII: Tax Treatment of Energy Resources - Subtitle A: Renewable Energy Production Incentive - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a renewable energy production credit for electric power plants that operate on solar, wind, and geothermal energy. Sets the credit at two cents (inflation-adjusted annually) per kilowatt hour produced and sold by the taxpayer to an unrelated person. Applies such credit only to facilities built during taxable years 1991 through 1996. Sets forth decreasing credit allowances for 1997 through 2001. Sets the credit for geothermal properties at half the credit for other renewable energy properties. Subtitle B: Transportation - Limits the exclusion from gross income of parking provided by the taxpayer's employer to parking located on the employer's premises only. (Currently the parking may be located on or near the premises.) Requires the employer to operate such facility and restrict substantially all its use to employees. Expands the working condition fringe exclusion from gross income to include up to $75 per month of any van pooling or reimbursement for public mass transit use provided by the taxpayer's employer. Subtitle C: Buildings and Housing Tax Credits - Allows an individual a tax credit of up to $100 of qualified oil retrofit conservation expenditures ($50 in the case of a married individual filing a separate return) for the taxpayer's principal residence. Defines oil retrofit component to include: (1) flame retention burners; (2) insulation measures and water-heater wraps; (3) automatic thermostat controls; and (4) window insulation measures. Subtitle D: Utilities - Excludes from gross income the amount (if in cash) or value (if in kind) of any subsidy (rebate) provided by a public utility to a customer in connection with the purchase, installation, use, or maintenance of any energy or water conservation measure or for energy savings delivered by such measures. Denies any deduction or credit to the extent of any such subsidy excluded from gross income. Declares that this tax exclusion does not apply to any payment to a qualified cogeneration facility or qualifying small power production facility under PURPA. Subtitle E: Automobiles and Trucks - Safe and Efficient Vehicles Incentives Act of 1991 - Establishes: (1) taxes on the sale of each new motor vehicle whose fuel economy is less, or whose composite safety factor is less, than the respective sales-weighted average fuel economy or average composite safety factor of all new motor vehicles within the same class; and (2) rebates for the purchase of each new motor vehicle whose fuel economy is greater, or whose composite safety factor is greater, than the respective sales-weighted average fuel economy or composite safety factor of all new motor vehicles within the same class. Sets forth formulae for the calculation of such taxes and rebates. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to publish in the Federal Register and notify each manufacturer or importer of such formulae annually. Requires labeling boldly displaying such taxes and rebates on all vehicles for sale. Provides for collection of taxes and disbursement of rebates. Sets forth formulae for the calculation of sales-weighted average fuel economies and composite safety factors. Subtitle F: Domestic Oil and Gas Production Incentives - Removes the net income limitation on the percentage depletion allowance deduction for oil and gas wells. Allows a tax credit for up to ten percent of the qualified cost of each barrel of crude oil produced from an economically marginal well (including certain stripper wells) or recovered through a tertiary recovery method. Provides for carryback or carryforward of unused credit. Allows a tax credit for specified percentages of the taxpayer's qualified investment in crude oil and natural gas exploration and development wells. Eliminates intangible drilling costs as tax preference items. Allows deduction of specified drilling costs from the Alternative Minimum Tax calculation. Repeals the taxable income limitation on the percentage depletion allowance. Allows the carryforward of excess depletion allowances. Repeals a specified Revenue Ruling with respect to mineral sharing arrangements. Allows the nonconventional source fuels credit to offset the Alternative Minimum Tax liability. Repeals the January 1, 1993, termination date for such credit, thus making it permanent.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Urban Schools of America (USA) Act of 1991 - Title I: Urban School Improvement - Authorizes appropriations for this title. Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to reserve five percent of specified funds for competitive grant awards to exemplary school programs. Directs the Secretary to allot, from remaining amounts, to each eligible local educational agency (LEA) with an approved application an amount based on that LEA's relative allocation under certain provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for education of disadvantaged children (ESEA title I chapter 1). Provides for annual payments to eligible LEAs with approved applications if they comply with certain data collection requirements to monitor progress toward meeting national education goals, and demonstrate such progress. Requires each such LEA to reserve up to five percent of its allotment to make as many grants as practicable, for authorized activities, to community-based organizations or nonprofit partnerships between the LEA and a city-wide collaborative of private sector businesses. Sets limits on the time and the amount of funds to be used for planning purposes. Requires LEAs to use funds under this title to meet national education goals through programs designed to: (1) increase the academic achievement of urban school children to at least the national average; (2) prepare all urban children for school; (3) increase the graduation rates of urban students to at least the national average; (4) prepare urban school graduates to enter higher education, pursue careers, and exercise their responsibilities as citizens; (5) recruit and retain qualified teachers; and (6) decrease the use of drugs and alcohol by urban students, and enhance their physical and emotional health. Sets forth program accountability requirements: (1) in general, for initial grants, renewal grants, and renewal of school participation; (2) for achievement, including demonstration of improvement; and (3) for data collection to monitor progress in achieving national education goals. Authorizes the Secretary to make, from reserved funds, competitive incentive awards to individual schools participating in projects assisted under this title that demonstrate exemplary progress in meeting specified program requirements. Directs the Secretary, by January 1, 1993, to report on the impact of Federal regulations, guidelines, and policies on urban public schools. Requires LEAs desiring to receive an allotment under this Act to establish a local advisory group to: (1) advise on design and conduct of a needs assessment for participating schools; (2) assist in planning for community-wide collaboration in service delivery for youths in participating schools; (3) advise the LEA and the community on how they can work together to use multiple service providers; and (4) advise and assist program implementation and review program evaluation; (5) review and approve community-based organizations' applications; (6) advise on strategies for increasing parental involvement and the number of school volunteers and role models; and (7) review community-based programs' progress or national education goals. Allows use of a comparable existing local advisory group to comply with such requirement. Sets forth special rules relating to ranking of schools to determine relative need, in general, on the basis of achievement, poverty, and racial isolation. Requires each LEA receiving a grant to serve between ten and 20 percent of its schools. Requires eligible LEAs to have flexibility to serve homeless children, desegregating students, immigrants, migrants, or other highly mobile populations, within the program assisted under this title. Deems any approved program for any school served under certain ESEA title I chapter 1 provisions to be sufficient to meet the application and program accountability requirements of this title. Title II: School Building Repair and Renovation - Authorizes appropriations to assist eligible LEAs in repairing and renovating instructional facilities in city schools. Directs the Secretary to reserve one percent of such funds for monitoring activities under this title. Directs the Secretary to allot the remainder to eligible LEAs, which shall use half of such allotment for programs for school building repair and renovation, and half for programs for school environmental concerns and safety improvements. (Authorizes the Secretary to waive such 50 percent division in certain cases.) Directs the Secretary to allocate such funds on the basis of the number of: (1) children from families below the poverty line; (2) school buildings used for instructional purposes; and (3) school buildings more than 25 years old used for instructional purposes. Limits the period covered by a grant application to three years, and requires annual review by the Secretary. Lists types of programs eligible LEAs must conduct with their allotments for: (1) repair and renovation of school buildings; and (2) improvements related to environmental concerns and safety. Title III: Urban School Research - Authorizes appropriations, to carry out this title, for the National Institute for Urban Education (the Institute), established in the Department of Education by this title. Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to create an Assistant Secretary for Urban Education (the Assistant Secretary), who is to establish the Institute in the Department. Directs the Assistant Secretary to: (1) reserve 20 percent of funds for this title for operation of the Institute; and (2) from the remainder of such funds, make allotments to eligible LEAs on the basis of numbers of students. Directs the Institute to: (1) evaluate and disseminate results of activities under title I; (2) conduct research in urban education; (3) serve as a clearinghouse on urban education research findings, policies, and practices; (4) assist LEAs in developing research and evaluation to assess progress toward meeting national education goals; (5) provide training in research and evaluation; (6) design a research and evaluation strategy for assessing progress under this Act; and (7) design and test both common indicators and new multiple-measures of progress toward national education goals. Provides for an Institute Governing Board. Allows LEAs to use funds under this title for: (1) collaborative and coordinated research and evaluation of educational techniques or approaches in multiple cities served by eligible LEAS; (2) evaluation of projects assisted under title I; (3) dissemination of information on successful projects and approaches under title I; (4) design and implementation of programs for LEA technical assistance to individual schools and teachers involved in title I projects; (5) data and information management services for schools participating in a title I program; (6) staff training in such schools; (7) evaluation of progress in meeting national educational goals by LEAs receiving assistance under this Act; (8) staff training in test interpretation and use for diagnostic purposes; (9) information for parents on test results and interpretation; (10) research and evaluation technology and training; (11) tools for assessment of students in individualized instruction; (12) research on school policies and practices that may be barriers to student success; and (13) new, multiple, alternative assessments of student progress. Title IV: General Provisions - Establishes the Interagency Council on Urban Schools to: (1) review Federal programs to determine effects on urban schools' ability to meet national education goals; (2) track school progress toward such goals; (3) solicit advice and information for urban education experts and urban school representatives on improvement of Federal programs; (4) review Federal regulations for duplication or contradiction; (5) report annually to the Congress and the President on urban school progress; (6) review and recommend improvement or streamlinig of Federal data collection in urban schools; and (7) conduct research to help urban school practitioners improve school performance. Directs the President to conduct a White House Conference on Urban Education before October 30, 1993. Requires the Conference to: (1) develop recommendations and strategies for improving urban education; (2) marshal the forces of the private sector, governmental agencies at all levels, parents, teachers, communities, and education officials to assist urban schools in meeting national goals; and (3) conduct initial planning for a permanent national advisory commission on urban education. Requires a report to the President. Authorizes appropriations for such Conference. Establishes a National Commission on Urban Education (the Commission). Directs the Commission to: (1) study specified issues relating to urban schools; and (2) report, and recommend changes in Federal legislation, to the President and appropriate congressional committees. Terminates the Commission three years after its first meeting. Authorizes appropriations for the Commission. Requires eligible LEAs to use Federal funds received under this Act only to supplement but not supplant non-Federal funds.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Pan-American Cultural Survival Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of State, together with the Administrator of the Agency for International Development (AID), to report to specified congressional comittees on: (1) the numbers of indigenous peoples in each of the Western Hemisphere's republics; (2) the extent to which indigenous peoples are represented within the Western Hemisphere's democratic institutions; (3) current U.S. Government initiatives to promote the well-being of native peoples and to safeguard their property, cultures, and languages; (4) the extent to which such initiatives have sought to promote environmental preservation by safeguarding the rights of such peoples; (5) actions which may be taken to empower indigenous peoples politically as well as to safeguard their property, cultures, languages, and physical well-being; (6) the solicitation of nongovernmental organizations in drawing up strategies for achieving these goals; and (7) the laws and covenants concerning the status of native peoples, on a nation-by-nation basis. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to include in a specified human rights report the treatment and status of indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere. Requires the AID Administrator to establish the position of cultural survival officer in the AID mission in any country in which the indigenous peoples: (1) are underrepresented in the country's political life; or (2) could benefit from the development of measures to preserve areas of ecological or environmental significance. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President, in determining whether to conduct an activity of environmental protection assistance for a Latin American country, to consider the value of such activity in promoting cultural survival of indigenous peoples.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Independent Nuclear Safety Board Act of 1991 - Amends the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 to establish the Independent Nuclear Safety Board. Directs the Board to: (1) investigate events under Nuclear Regulatory Commission jurisdiction which could adversely affect public health and safety; and (2) recommend to the Commission and to the Congress measures to minimize threats to public safety. Requires the Commission to respond in writing to such recommendations, and to provide explanations for its inaction on recommendations it chooses to reject. Authorizes the Board to hold hearings and to issue subpoenas for the attendance and testimony of witnesses. Directs the Board to issue periodic reports to the Congress and various government agencies affected by activities subject to Commission jurisdiction. Requires such reports to contain: (1) specific recommendations to reduce the likelihood of nuclear events similar to those investigated by the Board; and (2) recommended corrective measures to improve safety conditions at nuclear facilities. Transfers to the Board all functions of the Office for the Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data which relate to the Board's functions and authorities, including such personnel as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget determines are necessary. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1997. Terminates such Board at the end of FY 1997.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Designates October 15, 1991, as National Law Enforcement Memorial Dedication Day.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Designates the week beginning on the first Sunday in May 1991 as National Tourism Week.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Designates the week of April 15 through 21, 1991, as National Education First Week.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Designates the weeks of April 14 through 21, 1991, and May 3 through 10, 1992, as Jewish Heritage Week.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Designates the week beginning May 13, 1991, as National Senior Nutrition Week.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Declares that the Senate: (1) extends a warm welcome to His Excellency Lech Walesa, President of the Republic of Poland, upon the occasion of his State Visit to the United States; (2) recalls the historic ties between the people of both countries; (3) applauds his commitment to economic and political reform; (4) reaffirms the Senate's and U.S. people's support for the independence and security of Poland; (5) looks forward to cooperation with Poland on issues relating to security and stability in Europe; and (6) commends the Bush Administration's decision to reduce Poland's debt to the United States, applauds the Paris Club's decision to reduce Poland's foreign debt, and urges Poland's private creditors to do the same.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Recognizes and honors the reserve armed forces for their courage and contribution to the victory in the Persian Gulf through Operation Desert Storm.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Recognizes the role of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) in preserving a national rail passenger system and providing Americans with an energy efficient, environmentally preferable transportation alternative. Declares that the need for a balanced national transportation system dictates that transportation planners consider the many advantages of improved rail passenger services as they look to addressing national and regional transportation concerns.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1991
National Historic Preservation Act Amendments of 1991 - Amends the National Historic Preservation Act to: (1) require the Secretary of the Interior to report, at least once every four years, to the President and to the Congress, on a review of threats to properties included in or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places; (2) revise requirements for Federal and State historic preservation programs; (3)provide for tribal and Native Hawaiian organizations historic preservation programs; (4) provide for matching grants to States and direct grants to Indian tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations to carry out this Act; (5) require development of a comprehensive preservation education and training program; (6) revise requirements for awarding and apportioning grants under this Act; (7) require adaptive use alternatives for Federal agency historic properties; and (8) provide for disposition of archaeological materials. Requires the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to study and report to the Congress on the feasibility of establishing a registration program for artifacts removed from domestic and foreign archaeological sites. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Council to call for and organize U.S. leadership and participation in an international conference on the international antiquities trade. Provides that the conference shall be held in 1992 as part of the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Columbus Discovery Voyage. Amends the National Historic Preservation Act to include within the membership of the council one member of an Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization appointed by the President. Prohibits public access to certain information about historic resources in specified circumstances. Establishes in the National Park Service a National Center for Preservation Technology. Establishes a Preservation Technology Board to: (1) provide leadership, policy advice, coordination, and professional oversight to the Center; (2) advise on priorities and the allocation of funds among Center activities; and (3) submit an annual report to the President and the Congress. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on: (1) the status of the inclusion of artifacts, records, and material remains on the National Register of Historic Places; and (2) the advisability of including traditional cultural practices and lifeways on it.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow penalty-free withdrawals from retirement plans by individuals who are involuntarily unemployed.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1991
Designates November 19, 1991, as National Philanthropy Day.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1991
Tourism Policy and Export Promotion Act of 1991 - Declares it to be the national goal to increase U.S. export earnings from U.S. tourism and transportation services traded internationally and to maintain a travel and tourism export surplus to help eliminate the U.S. trade deficit. Requires the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to improve the survey of international air travelers providing data to estimate the U.S. balance of payments in international travel, and report to the Congress on such efforts. Requires the Secretary to: (1) identify acts, policies, or practices of foreign countries that constitute barriers to, or distortions of U.S. travel and tourism exports; (2) estimate the trade-distorting impact on U.S. commerce of any such act, policy, or practice; and (3) estimate the value of additional U.S. travel and tourism exports that would have been exported to such foreign countries if such acts, policies, and practices did not exist. Requires the Secretary to take appropriate action to ensure that foreign tourists are not unnecessarily delayed when entering the United States. Amends the International Travel Act of 1961 to require the Secretary to submit to the Congress annual tourism trade development plans to stimulate travel to the United States. Requres such a plan to focus on those countries in which tourism trade development has the greatest potential for increasing travel and tourism export revenues. Requires at least one member of the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board to be a city representative knowledgeable of tourism promotion. Revises the length of service of members on the Board. Requires the Board to send its comments to the Congress with regard to a marketing plan to stimulate travel to the United States. Declares that the Congress finds that increased efforts directed at the promotion of rural tourism will contribute to the economic development of rural America. Establishes the Rural Tourism Development Foundation. Authorizes the Secretary to assist the Foundation in the development and promotion of rural tourism. Directs the Secretary to assemble information on economic activity associated with scenic and recreational travel, including case studies of existing scenic byways. Requires the Secretary to study and transmit to the Congress a report on such information. Sets forth specified policy considerations with respect to national tourism. Adds as members to the Tourism Policy Council the Secretary of Agriculture, the Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Commanding General of the Corps of Engineers of the Army, and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 1993.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1991
Designates October 1991 as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1991
General Aviation Accident Liability Standards Act of 1991 - Declares that this Act supersedes any State law regarding liability for general aviation accidents. Establishes guidelines for uniform standards of liability of general aviation manufacturers for general aviation accidents. States that all actions for harm arising out of a general aviation accident shall be governed by the principles of comparative responsibility. Establishes, with specified exceptions, a limitation of actions period of 20 years from delivery of aircraft or harm-causing part to the purchaser for general aviation civil liability brought against a general aviation manufacturer. Declares admissible as evidence certain income tax and payroll tax liability for purposes of establishing financial harm arising out of a general aviation accident. Permits the award of punitive damages if a claimant establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the harm suffered was the direct result of conduct manifesting conscious, flagrant indifference to safety. Establishes a two-year limitation of actions period for actions arising out of a general aviation accident. Declares the intent of the Congress that sanctions be strictly enforced for violations of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, including orders to pay to the other party the reasonable costs of legal fees. Confers original jurisdiction upon the Federal district courts, concurrently with State courts, for all civil actions that exceed $50,000 for harm arising out of a general aviation accident. Provides procedures for removal from State to Federal district courts of such actions.