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United States · Official source
2,614 records where Sen. Mitchell, George J. [D-ME] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1989
Amends rule XXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate to increase the number of Senators on the Committee on Indian Affairs.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1989
Directs the Senate Legal Counsel to represent the Senate, Senators Sanford, Heflin, and Wallop, former Senator Stennis, and Paul Vick (a Senate employee) in the case of Candis O. Ray v. United States Senate, et al.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1989
Authorizes Melanie Bowen and Jan Bennett (Senate employees) to testify in the case of United States v. Gregory Sitzman, et al.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1989
Expresses the Senate's confidence, hope, and trust for those who will serve in the Senate during its third century.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1989
Patient Outcomes Research Act of 1989 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a patient outcomes assessment research program to generate and disseminate information concerning the best methods of managing selected health conditions. Gives priority to significant health conditions that are subject to a variety of management methods among patients in different geographical locations and in different clinical settings. Requires the Secretary to establish a program for the development of practice guidelines to assist health care professionals in adopting those practice patterns determined to be most effective in combating selected health conditions. Authorizes appropriations for the research program and the guidelines program for FY 1990 through 1992. Requires that at least 70 percent of amounts appropriated for a fiscal year be used to fund grants to, and agreements with, non-Federal entities. Sets forth reporting requirements. Directs the Secretary to establish the Independent Advisory Committee on Managing Patient Outcomes to advise and assist the Assistant Secretary in carrying out this Act's provisions. Requires the Assistant Secretary to contract with the Institute of Medicine for an annual review of the findings and recommendations of the research program. Includes, as part of such review: (1) the recommendation of strategic priorities for the research program and practice guidelines; (2) the evaluation of the success of the research program; and (3) the issuance of annual reports summarizing research findings and suggesting improvements to the research program and guidelines program. Authorizes appropriations for the Institute's review activities for FY 1990 through 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1989
Designates July 2, 1989, as National Literacy Day.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1989
Provides for a Bicentennial Session of the Senate on April 6, 1989.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1989
Oil Pollution Liability and Compensation Act of 1989 - Title I: Oil Pollution Liability and Compensation - Establishes the Oil Spill Compensation Fund. Makes vessel owners or operators of onshore or offshore facilities liable for removal costs and for economic or natural resource damages, including: (1) injury or loss of real or personal property or natural resources; (2) loss of use (including subsistence use) of natural resources; (3) loss or impairment of income, profits, or earning capacity; and (4) loss of Federal and State tax, royalty, rental, or net profits share revenue for up to one year. Establishes liability limits for: (1) owners and operators of tankers; (2) other vessel owners; (3) lessees and permittees of Outer Continental Shelf facilities; (4) deepwater port facility owners; and (5) other facility owners. Excludes interest (including prejudgment interest) from such limits. Authorizes the President to establish lower liability limits for other onshore or offshore facilities. Requires the periodic adjustment of liability limits to reflect increases in the Consumer Price Index. Makes the President (or the authorized representative of any State or foreign government) the trustee to act on behalf of the public to recover damages for injury to Federal, State, or foreign government natural resources. Requires the President, acting through the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to promulgate regulations within two years of enactment of this Act for the assessment of damages for injury to natural resources resulting from an oil discharge. Requires that such regulations be reviewed and revised (if necessary) every two years. Makes the owner or operator of a vessel liable under: (1) this Act; (2) maritime tort law; and (3) the Clean Water Act. Directs the President to use the money in the Oil Spill Compensation Fund for specified removal costs and damages. Requires the President to publish regulations regarding implementation of the authority to obligate the Fund or enter into agreements. Authorizes States to obligate the Fund for a maximum of $250,000 per discharge or substantial threat of discharge of oil and to enter into agreements with the President for additional Fund monies. Provides that the Attorney General (upon request of the President) shall commence an action against the responsible foreign government or other responsible party to recover any costs paid from the Fund as a result of oil discharge or substantial threat of discharge from a foreign offshore unit. Requires the owner or operator of certain-size vessels and offshore facilities to establish financial responsibility sufficient to meet the maximum amount of liability to which such persons could be subjected under this Act. Provides for judicial review of regulations and actions under this Act. Grants State courts jurisdiction to hear cases under this Act, as well as under State law. Permits the States to impose additional liability or requirements regarding oil discharges within their borders. Retains the rights of the States to maintain a fund for oil pollution compensation. Authorizes States to enforce the financial responsibility requirements of this Act. Requires the President to consult with affected States regarding removal actions. Requires the President to report to the Congress within one year after enactment of this Act regarding a study on improved methods for oil discharge prevention in restricted waters. Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to direct (current law authorizes) the President to remove oil at any time unless the President finds that such removal will be done properly and promptly by the owner or operator of the vessel or facility. Title II: Conforming Amendments - Makes conforming amendments to the following Acts: (1) the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act; (2) the Intervention on the High Seas Act; (3) the Clean Water Act; (4) the Deepwater Port Act; and (5) the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Amends the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act to abolish the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Liability Fund. Replaces the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Liability Fund and the Deepwater Port Liability Fund with the Oil Spill Compensation Fund of this Act. Repeals the oil spill liability provisions of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Amendments of 1978 (thereby replacing the Offshore Oil Pollution Compensation Fund under that Act with the Oil Spill Compensation Fund established in this Act). Amends the Clean Water Act to: (1) require persons in charge of a vessel or onshore facility who have knowledge of an oil discharge to immediately notify the affected State; and (2) increase from one year to three years the prison term for failure to report such discharge.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1989
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to prescribe minimum penalties that may be assessed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the discharge of oil or hazardous substances into U.S. waters. (Current law provides that such penalties shall not exceed such amounts.) Limits the penalties to specified amounts per barrel. Directs the EPA Administrator to report biennially to the Congress on the adequacy of the National Contingency Plan and any regulations concerning the discharge of oil.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1989
Designates October 1989 as Polish American Heritage Month.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1989
Designates the week of September 10 through September 16, 1989, as National Check-Up Week.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1989
Designates April 28, 1989, as Flight Attendant Safety Professionals' Day.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1989
Directs the Senate Legal Counsel to represent Senator Kerry in the case of Beauchamp v. Kerry, et al.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1989
Directs the Senate Legal Counsel to represent Senator Cranston in the case of Rodney F. Stich v. Senator Alan Cranston, et al. Repeals Senate Resolution 83, 101st Congress, which directed the Senate Legal Counsel to represent several Senators in the case of Rodney F. Stich v. Senator Edward Kennedy, et al.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1989
Indoor Air Quality Act of 1989 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a national research, development, and demonstration program to assure the quality of indoor air, including coordinating and accelerating efforts related to the causes, detection, and correction of contaminated air. Requires such program to include information collection and dissemination, cooperative research, grants, studies, development of techniques, facility construction, and conferences. Requires that research focus on human health effects and the identification of types and levels of contaminants likely to cause harm, including the development of methodology and techniques for detection and control. Authorizes the Administrator to assist technology demonstration activities based on a technology's potential to cost effectively control sources of contaminants. Limits Federal funding to 75 percent of the costs of such projects. Requires the Administrator to publish: (1) general reports on the findings of such demonstration projects; and (2) bulletins assessing technology and management practices for controlling and measuring indoor air contaminants, which shall be provided to the Indoor Air Quality Information Clearinghouse. Directs the Administrator to develop protocols, within six months of this Act's enactment, for the measurement of radon gas in child care facilities and disseminate information regarding techniques for measuring and mitigating radon in such facilities. Authorizes the Administrator to take certain other actions conducive to the detection and reduction of radon in such facilities. Directs the Administrator to publish and biennially revise a list of contaminants known to occur in indoor air. Provides for additions to such list upon application of a State Governor. Requires the Administrator to publish advisory materials addressing the human health effects of listed contaminants which describe the properties, effects, risks, and concentrations of such contaminants. Directs the Indoor Air Panel of the EPA Science Advisory Board to assist in the listing and advisories. Requires advisories to be updated at least once every five years. Directs the Administrator to develop and publish a national indoor air quality response plan to reduce human exposure to the listed indoor air contaminants and reduce, to the fullest extent practicable, indoor air contaminant concentration levels to levels at which there is no known or anticipated human health effect, with an adequate margin of safety. Requires the response plan to identify the contaminant, the basis for the action, the nature of the response, the responsible Federal authority, the necessary financial resources, and the technological or legislative changes required for further reduction of the contaminant. Requires the Administrator and the Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) to develop and implement a program to respond to and reduce indoor air contamination in Federal buildings and to demonstrate methods of reducing indoor air contamination in new Federal buildings. Directs the Administrator of the GSA to prepare a specific response plan for Federal buildings which lists buildings and the reduction and response actions to be taken and identifies those buildings for which there is sufficient evidence of indoor air contamination to warrant their assessment under this Act's Building Assessment Demonstration Program. Exempts specified buildings for national security, demolition, or special use purposes. Requires the Administrator of the GSA to provide a method and format for filing comments and complaints concerning indoor air quality in Federal buildings. Requires response plans to be submitted to the Congress on a biennial basis. Directs the Administrator of the GSA to reserve 0.5 percent of any funds appropriated for construction of new Federal buildings for design and construction of measures to reduce indoor air contaminant concentrations within such buildings. Requires that any new EPA building be designed, constructed, maintained, and operated as a model to demonstrate principles and practices for protecting indoor air quality. Authorizes grants to States for the development and implementation of management strategies and indoor air quality assessment and response programs similar to those of the Federal program. Directs the Administrator to establish the Office of Indoor Air Quality within the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation to implement agency responsibilities under this Act. Establishes a Council on Indoor Air Quality to coordinate Federal indoor air quality activities and review and comment on the national indoor air response program and the Federal building response plan. Requires the Council to report to the Congress on a biennial basis. Directs the Administrator to establish a national indoor air quality clearinghouse which shall operate a toll-free hotline on indoor air quality. Requires the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to implement a Building Assessment Demonstration Program to support the development of methods, techniques, and protocols for assessing indoor air contamination in non-residential, non-industrial buildings and to provide contamination reduction assistance and guidance to building owners and occupants. Sets forth building assessment report requirements. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1989
Grants a Federal charter to the Retired Enlisted Association, Incorporated.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1989
Title I: Statehood Centennial Coin - Statehood Centennial Commemorative Coin Act of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than a specified number of one-dollar silver coins and five-dollar palladium coins in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the statehood of Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming. Sets forth certain features of such coins and provides for their design, issuance, and sale. Requires the Secretary to provide a specified amount of all surcharges to the Documents West exhibition program with the remaining amount of surcharges to be deposited in the Treasury to be used to reduce the national debt. Requires the Secretary to obtain silver for the one-dollar coins only from stockpiles established under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act. Requires the Secretary to obtain palladium for the five-dollar coins by purchase of palladium mined and refined in the United States. Grants the Comptroller General the right to examine records and other data of the Idaho Centennial Commission. Title II: Silver Proof Sets - Silver Coin Proof Set Act - Authorizes the Secretary to mint and issue silver coin proof sets. Sets forth certain specified features of such coins and provides for their sale to the public. Requires the Secretary to obtain silver for such coins by purchase from stockpiles established under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act and from Treasury stocks on hand.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1989
Section 89 Simplification Act - Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to the new nondiscrimination requirements for coverage and benefits under certain statutory employee benefit plans to: (1) prescribe criteria for simplified health arrangements which, if offered by an employer, will be treated as meeting the nondiscrimination requirements of Internal Revenue Section 89; (2) increase from 17 1/2 hours to 25 hours per week (30 hours in 1989, 27 1/2 hours in 1990) the threshold number of work hours triggering requirements with respect to part-time employees; (3) apply noncompliance penalties (taxation of benefits) only with respect to highly compensated employees rather than with respect to all employees; (4) exempt the plans of entities with no highly compensated employees; and (5) revise rules relating to plan testing, aggregation of plans, and coverage valuation.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1989
Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) the only acceptable formula for settlement of the Afghan situation is one which provides for Afghan self-determination, a representative government, restoration of civic order, and a timely return and resettlement of refugees; (2) the United States should not cease, suspend, or diminish lethal assistance to the Afghan resistance until the Soviet Union has terminated its military assistance to, and significant control over, its proxies in Afghanistan and so long as the effects of massive Soviet assistance give such proxy regime an overbearing advantage against the resistance; and (3) the President should seek to increase substantially the level of U.S. emergency humanitarian assistance inside Afghanistan. Urges the President to devote sufficient resources from the cross-border assistance program for the democratic political reconstruction of Afghanistan. Commends the Government of Pakistan for supporting the resistance and caring for refugees. Encourages the President to continue to work closely with such Government. Calls upon the President to: (1) name an ambassadorial-level envoy to the Afghan resistance; and (2) report to specified Senate leaders on the details of current U.S. policy.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Act - Directs the Secretary of the Army and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, with the Governor of Louisiana if the Governor agrees, to enter into an agreement to: (1) set forth a process by which the State of Louisiana agrees to develop a Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Plan; and (2) designate a State agency to develop and submit such Plan to the Secretary and the Administrator for approval. Requires the Secretary to make grants to assist the agency in developing the Plan. Directs the Secretary and the Administrator to provide technical assistance to the State for such Plan. Prohibits conditioning studies or construction of existing projects on payment of a non-Federal cost share. Provides that coastal restoration and conservation projects commenced in Louisiana prior to the signing of the agreement shall not require a non-Federal cost share. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Plan to: (1) establish a program to assure that no net loss of Louisiana coastal wetlands occurs as a result of development activities and require permits for such activities; (2) identify Louisiana coastal wetlands and describe projects to restore such wetlands, including a research program for coastal restoration; (3) implement a system to account for gains and losses of wetlands to evaluate compliance with the goal of no net loss; (4) educate the public of the necessity to conserve wetlands and encourage the use of technology by persons engaged in development activities; and (5) encourage private owners of wetlands to maintain such lands as wetlands. Outlines the authority of the State with respect to the issuance of permits for development activities. Limits such permits to terms of five years and allows termination or modification under certain conditions. Authorizes States whose waters may be affected by the issuance of a permit to submit recommendations with respect to such permit to the State of Louisiana and the Administrator. Directs the Secretary and the Administrator to approve the Plan if: (1) the State has adequate authority to implement and enforce the Plan; and (2) the Plan is in compliance with this Act and was adopted after reasonable notice and hearing. Sets forth modification procedures in the case of noncompliance. Authorizes the State to modify an approved Plan, but makes such modifications subject to approval procedures. Makes certain provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act inapplicable to Louisiana wetlands or coastal waters on the effective date of the permit program. Sets forth sanctions for noncompliance with the permit program, including the suspension of Federal assistance for wetlands conservation and restoration and the revocation of the Plan. Establishes the Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Trust Fund. Appropriates to the Fund five percent of all bonuses, rents, and royalties paid to the United States in connection with leasing activities on the Outer Continental Shelf. Makes Fund moneys available for grants to Louisiana to implement the Plan. Limits the Federal share for restoration projects to 90 percent of the cost. Directs the Governor of Louisiana to report, not less than annually, to the Secretary and the Administrator on the status of programs under this Act. Requires the Secretary and the Administrator to report biennially to the Congress on the status and effectiveness of the Plan. Authorizes the Chief of Engineers of the Department of the Army to carry out projects for the protection, restoration, and creation of vegetated wetlands. Requires such projects to be given equal priority with navigation and flood control projects.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
Authorizes the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity to establish a memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr., in the District of Columbia and its environs. Prohibits the United States from paying any expense of establishing the memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
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 · 16 March 1989
Designates the week of October 1 through October 7, 1989, as National Health Care Food Service Week.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
Designates the week of July 24 to July 30, 1989, as National Week of Recognition and Remembrance for Those Who Served in the Korean War. Authorizes and requests the President to urge that the American flag be flown at half staff on July 27, 1989, in honor of those Americans who died as a result of their service in Korea.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
National Global Warming Policy Act - Declares that it is U.S. policy to: (1) reduce the generation of greenhouse gases in the United States, with an initial goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from 1988 levels by 20 percent by the end of the year 2000; (2) host, in 1989, an international summit meeting on global warming and environmental concerns; (3) encourage, and develop multilateral agreements with, other nations to reduce the generation of such gases; (4) assist in the worldwide protection of tropical rainforests; (5) require Federal agencies to determine the impacts of global warming on their activities and propose greenhouse gas reduction policies; and (6) develop technologies that will provide reliable energy and services while reducing the generation of such gases.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
Designates November 17, 1989, as National Philanthropy Day.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
Designates April 30, 1989, as National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution Centennial Day.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
Commends the Governments of Israel and Egypt for signing the Treaty of Peace on March 26, 1979. Calls upon other Arab nations and the Palestinians to join the peace process, to renounce the state of war, and to enter into peace negotiations with Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
Provides for a recess or adjournment of the Senate from March 17 until April 4, 1989, and an adjournment of the House of Representatives from March 23 or 24 until April 3, 1989.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
National Affordable Housing Act - Title I: General Provisions and Policies - Sets forth a national housing goal and the objectives of a national housing policy. Requires State and local entities receiving direct assistance to submit to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development a comprehensive housing affordability strategy. Title II: Homeownership - Amends the National Housing Act to base Federal Housing Administration (FHA) first-time homebuyer loan ceilings on regional median home prices. Authorizes the insurance of industry accepted mortgages under specified conditions. Requires the Secretary to report annually to the Congress regarding mortgage insurance categories. Title III: Investment in Affordable Housing - HOME Corporation Act - Establishes the Government National HOME Corporation in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Authorizes FY 1990 and 1991 appropriations for activities under this title. Subtitle A: Housing Opportunity Partnerships (HOP) - Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the HOME Corporation, to make funds available for investment in order to expand the affordable housing supply. Directs the HOME Corporation to develop model programs designed to carry out the purposes of this title. Requires participating jurisdictions to target housing for very low- and low-income families. Sets forth affordable housing qualification provisions. Allocates resources by a housing need-based formula and by incentives. Directs the HOME Corporation to establish a housing investment trust fund for each participating jurisdiction. Requires participant matching funds. Sets aside funds for nonprofit community organization housing. Provides penalties for misuse of funds. Subtitle B: Mortgage Credit Enhancement - Authorizes the HOME Corporation to guarantee affordable housing mortgage loan pools. Subtitle C: Other Support for State and Local Housing Strategies - Directs the HOME Corporation to develop the capacity of State and local agencies and profit and nonprofit entities to identify and meet the needs for increased affordable housing, including related housing research. Subtitle D: General Authority of the HOME Corporation - Sets forth operating and authority provisions for the HOME Corporation. Subtitle E: Sets forth administrative provisions for the HOME Corporation. Title IV: Affordable Rental Housing - Subtitle A: Preservation of Affordable Rental Housing - Amends the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act to establish in HUD an Office of Affordable Housing Preservation. Subtitle B: Low-Income Rental Assistance - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to revise the section 8 rental assistance program. Increases FY 1990 and 1991 budget authority for such assistance. Title V: Housing For Persons With Special Needs - Subtitle A: Assistant Secretary for Supportive Housing - Amends the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act to establish in HUD a position of Assistant Secretary for Supportive Housing to administer programs serving elderly, handicapped, or homeless persons, or others with special housing needs. Subtitle B: Supportive Housing for the Elderly - Amends the Housing Act of 1959 to authorize assistance to expand the supply of supportive housing for the elderly. Authorizes FY 1990 and 1991 appropriations. Authorizes assistance to adopt federally assisted housing for the elderly to better meet the needs of frail elderly, handicapped, or temporarily disabled residents. Authorizes FY 1990 and 1991 appropriations. Subtitle C: Supportive Housing for the Handicapped - Authorizes assistance to expand the supply of supportive housing for the handicapped. Authorizes FY 1990 and 1991 appropriations. Subtitle D: Supportive Housing for the Homeless - Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to authorize grants to States and local government units for homeless housing assistance. Sets forth grant allocation provisions. Permits States and local units to use such assistance for approved activities. Requires grantees to provide matching funds. Authorizes FY 1991 and 1992 appropriations. Requires an annual report to the Congress. Sets forth the following approved activities: (1) emergency shelter; (2) transitional housing for the homeless; (3) permanent housing for the handicapped homeless; and (4) supplemental assistance for facilities to assist the homeless. Increases FY 1990 and 1991 budget authority for the section 8 single room occupancy program. Title VI: Public and Indian Housing - Subtitle A: Public Housing Development - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to authorize the development of new and replacement public housing. Subtitle B: Authorization - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to authorize FY 1990 and 1991 public housing appropriations. Increases FY 1990 and 1991 budget authority for rental rehabilitation and development grants. Obligates FY 1990 and 1991 funds for: (1) Indian housing; and (2) the comprehensive improvement assistance program. Subtitle C: Project Independence - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to provide public housing residents with greater access to employment, day care, educational, and other services. Obligates FY 1990 and 1991 funds for such purposes. Subtitle D: National Commission on Severely Distressed Public Housing - Establishes the National Commission on Severely Distressed Public Housing to identify severely distressed public housing projects, evaluate strategies to eliminate unfit housing conditions, and develop a national plan to achieve such objectives. Authorizes FY 1990 and 1991 appropriations. Title VII: Rural Housing - Amends the Housing Act of 1949 to reauthorize through FY 1991: (1) rural housing insured or guaranteed loans; (2) rental assistance payment contract authority; (3) rental housing loan authority; and (4) mutual and self-help housing grant and loan authority. Authorizes deferred mortgage repayments under specified conditions. Sets aside FY 1990 and 1991 funds for targeted underserved areas. Title VIII: Repeals and Conforming Amendments - Sets forth specified conforming and other related amendments.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Marine Research Act of 1989 - Amends the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 to authorize the establishment of regional marine research programs (Programs) to coordinate, plan, and support research, monitoring, and assessment activities concerned with the environmental quality of marine and coastal waters. Authorizes the Governors of a majority of States in a marine research region to develop and submit for approval to the Regional Marine Research Oversight Board (Board) a combined, interstate proposal for a Program which identifies the research organizations which will participate in the Program and the goals of such Program. Requires proposals for a Program to be developed by a Regional Marine Research Organizing Committee consisting of the Director of the Sea Grant Program in each State in the region. Identifies the marine research regions as the Gulf of Maine region, Greater New York Bight region, Mid-Atlantic region, South Atlantic Bight region, Tropical region, Gulf of Mexico region, California region, North Pacific region, Gulf of Alaska, Bering and Arctic Seas region, and Insular Pacific region. Requires each Program to develop and submit for the Board's approval a three-year marine research and assessment plan which: (1) identifies research needs and priorities in the region over the next ten years, with emphasis on the upcoming three-to-five year period; (2) lists and describes research and assessment projects in the region which are expected to receive public or private funding; (3) describes the research and assessment projects to be given priority for funding under this Act; (4) reviews and discusses the coordination of projects addressing issues common to neighboring regions; and (5) lists the equipment and supplies used commonly for research projects in the region. Requires that the plan be updated and resubmitted to the Board at least once every three years. Authorizes each Program which has an approved research plan to submit an application to the Board for annual administrative, research, and equipment grants. Sets forth reporting requirements. Requires each Program to support baseline monitoring of fundamental marine environmental conditions and prepare periodic assessments of marine environmental quality and resources in their region. Requires that such assessments be made available to the public as well as to local, State, and Federal agencies, the Board, and State Governors. Authorizes the establishment of the Regional Marine Research Oversight Board at the Federal level to manage and coordinate the efforts of the Programs and report periodically to the Congress on the activities and findings of such Programs. Authorizes and allocates appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Establishes the Regional Marine Research Trust Fund (Fund) in the Treasury. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer monthly into such Fund any unobligated balance of the Offshore Oil Pollution Compensation Fund in excess of $195,000,000. Authorizes the appropriation of additional sums to the Fund. Makes amounts in such Fund available, as provided in appropriation Acts, for implementing the Marine Research Act of 1988, but not amounts in excess of $33,000,000 for any fiscal year. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress each year on the condition and operations of the Fund during the preceding fiscal year and on the expected condition and operations of the Fund during the next five fiscal years.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
High Risk Occupational Disease Notification and Prevention Act - Establishes a Risk Assessment Board (the Board), within the Department of Health and Human Services, to: (1) review pertinent medical and scientific reports on the incidence of disease associated with exposure to occupational health hazards; (2) identify and designate populations at risk that should receive notification; (3) develop a form and method of notification that will be used by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary); and (4) determine the appropriate type of medical monitoring or beneficial health counseling. Directs the Board, in making determinations, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and health (NIOSH), in giving or coordinating notification, to notify as many employees at risk of disease as appropriations and the best available scientific evidence permit. Directs the Secretary to include a detailed explanation of the reasons for the notification determinations in a specified report. Directs the Secretary to make every reasonable effort to ensure that each individual within a population at risk of disease is notified of the risk. Requires the Secretary, through NIOSH, to direct the required notification. Provides for telephone "hot lines" and other dissemination of information. Provides for judicial review of Board determinations. Authorizes the Secretary to certify a private employer or a State or local government to conduct notification. Requires, in the case of employees not currently exposed, that notification be transmitted to each employee in the designated population at risk of disease who was exposed to the occupational health hazard within 30 years prior to the date of notification. Requires individual notification, but where this is not reasonably possible, requires the notifying entity to make use of public service announcements and other appropriate means of notification. Requires individual notification in the case of employees currently exposed or, where that is not reasonably possible, public service announcements. Allows an employer to apply to NIOSH for a variance exempting that employer's employees from designation as a population at risk, if the existence of significant mitigating factors can be proven. Requires the Secretary to establish and certify ten occupational and environmental health centers to: (1) provide education, training, and technical assistance to personal physicians and other professionals who serve employees notified that they are at risk under this Act; and (2) provide diagnosis, treatment, and medical monitoring for such employees. Directs NIOSH to conduct or provide for research, training, and education aimed at improving the means of identifying employees exposed to occupational health hazards and improving medical assistance to such employees. Authorizes NIOSH to engage the services of experts and consultants. Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary to make grants and contracts for training and curriculum development in occupational medicine or health to schools of medicine and of nursing. Provides that such assistance shall be for projects: (1) at schools with occupational medicine or health programs, for faculty continuing education, curricula and training materials for undergraduate medical or nursing training, and clinical training for residents in graduate medical programs; and (2) at schools without such programs, for faculty training. Directs the Secretary, during FY 1990 through 1992, to make such grants and contracts to at least ten schools of medicine or nursing. Requires that the medical monitoring recommended by the Board be provided by the current employer at no additional cost to the employee if any part of the exposure occurred in the course of employment by that employer. Provides that the employee may be required to meet deductibles or copayments if such monitoring is through an existing employer health plan. Requires employers to provide monitoring for employees who are notified individually under this Act or who the employer has reason to know are members of the population at risk. Sets forth special rules for medical monitoring. Grants the option of being transferred to a less hazardous or nonexposed job to any employee member of a population at risk who is determined by a physician to show evidence of developing the disease described in the notice or other symptoms or conditions increasing the likelihood or incidence of such disease. Requires that the employee maintain earnings, seniority, and other employment rights and benefits of the former job. Requires such transfer to be made if within ten working days after the employee has exercised the option and transmitted to the employer a copy of the initial determination and the employer's medical representative has not requested independent reconsideration of such determination. Provides that the employer, in providing such alternative work assignment, shall not be required to: (1) violate the terms of any collective bargaining agreement; or (2) displace, lay off, or terminate any other employee. Sets forth procedures for independent reconsideration of the initial medical determination. Requires an employer to provide medical removal protection only for employees who are notified individually under this Act or who the employer has reason to know are members of a population at risk. Sets forth special rules for medical removal. Exempts from the requirement of medical removal protection any employer who has 100 or fewer employees in 1989 through 1990, and thereafter 50 or fewer, and who has made or is making a reasonable good faith effort to eliminate the occupational health hazard that is the basis for the medical removal decision. Prohibits discharging or discriminating against employees, or applicants for employment, on the basis that they are or have been members of a population at risk. Makes an exception to such prohibition if the position which the applicant seeks requires exposure to the occupational health hazard which is the subject to the notice. Allows an employer to remove an employee to a less hazardous or nonexposed job if this is determined to be medically necessary and if earnings, seniority, and other employment rights and benefits are maintained. Allows an employer with 100 or fewer employees in 1989 through 1990, and thereafter with 50 or fewer, to transfer an employee who is or has been a member of a population at risk to another job if earnings, seniority, and other employment rights and benefits are as comparable as possible to the old job and if the terms of an applicable collective bargaining agreement are not violated. Makes medical removal protection provisions inapplicable to seasonal agricultural workers, but provides for medical monitoring of such workers. Provides for confidentiality of employee records unless disclosure is authorized by and is necessary to carry out a provision of this Act, or is authorized by the employee. Directs the Secretary to require recordkeeping, by NIOSH or by employers certified to notify employees, necessary to monitor the numbers, types, and results of notification under this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to bring an action in U.S. district court to enjoin an employer from violating this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to bring an action in U.S. district court against an employer certified to notify employees for any act or omission that is a knowing or reckless violation of this Act. Sets forth civil penalties for such violations. Permits employees aggrieved by violations of provisions involving medical monitoring, medical removal, discrimination, and confidentiality to apply, within six months after the violation occurs, to the Secretary of Labor for a review of the alleged violation. Sets forth provisions for investigations, actions, defenses, determinations, and appeals in such cases. Provides for reinstatement and other relief for employees injured by such violations. Sets forth civil penalties for such violations. Prohibits actions against physicians for good faith determinations under medical removal provisions. Directs the Secretary of Labor to report annually to the Congress on the implementation and enforcement of the hazard communication standard. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on the implementation and enforcement of notification under this Act. Requires each Federal agency that conducts epidemiologic studies on occupational disease to establish procedures for notifying subjects of such studies of the findings, including specified information if the subjects are at risk of disease. Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations necessary to carry out this Act. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
National Affordable Housing Act - Title I: General Provisions and Policies - Sets forth a national housing goal and the objectives of a national housing policy. Requires State and local entities receiving direct assistance to submit to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development a comprehensive housing affordability strategy. Title II: Homeownership - Subtitle A: FHA Amendments - Amends the National Housing Act to base Federal Housing Administration (FHA) first-time homebuyer loan ceilings on regional median home prices. Authorizes the insurance of industry accepted mortgages under specified conditions. Requires the Secretary to report annually to the Congress regarding mortgage insurance categories. Subtitle B: Savings for a Downpayment - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) authorize certain retirement plans (401(k) plans) to make equity investments in a participant's principal residence; and (2) authorize individual retirement account funds to be used as loans to purchase a home by a first-time homebuyer. Title III: Investment in Affordable Housing - HOME Corporation Act - Establishes the Government National HOME Corporation in the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Authorizes FY 1990 and 1991 appropriations for activities under this title. Subtitle A: Housing Opportunity Partnerships (HOP) - Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the HOME Corporation, to make funds available for investment in order to expand the affordable housing supply. Directs the HOME Corporation to develop model programs designed to carry out the purposes of this title. Requires participating jurisdictions to target housing for very low- and low-income families. Sets forth affordable housing qualification provisions. Allocates resources by a housing need-based formula and by incentives. Directs the HOME Corporation to establish a housing investment trust fund for each participating jurisdiction. Requires participant matching funds. Sets aside funds for nonprofit community organization housing. Provides penalties for misuse of funds. Subtitle B: Mortgage Credit Enhancement - Authorizes the HOME Corporation to guarantee affordable housing mortgage loan pools. Subtitle C: Other Support for State and Local Housing Strategies - Directs the HOME Corporation to develop the capacity of State and local agencies and profit and nonprofit entities to identify and meet the needs for increased affordable housing, including related housing research. Subtitle D: General Authority of the HOME Corporation - Sets forth operating and authority provisions for the HOME Corporation. Subtitle E: General Provisions - Sets forth administrative provisions for the HOME Corporation. Title IV: Affordable Rental Housing - Subtitle A: Preservation of Affordable Rental Housing - Amends the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act to establish in HUD an Office of Affordable Housing Preservation. Subtitle B: Low-Income Rental Assistance - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to revise the section 8 rental assistance program. Increases FY 1990 and 1991 budget authority for such assistance. Title V: Housing For Persons With Special Needs - Subtitle A: Assistant Secretary for Supportive Housing - Amends the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act to establish in HUD a position of Assistant Secretary for Supportive Housing to administer programs serving elderly, handicapped, or homeless persons, or others with special housing needs. Subtitle B: Supportive Housing for the Elderly - Amends the Housing Act of 1959 to authorize assistance to expand the supply of supportive housing for the elderly. Authorizes FY 1990 and 1991 appropriations. Authorizes assistance to adapt federally assisted housing for the elderly to better meet the needs of frail elderly, handicapped, or temporarily disabled residents. Authorizes FY 1990 and 1991 appropriations. Subtitle C: Supportive Housing for the Handicapped - Authorizes assistance to expand the supply of supportive housing for the handicapped. Authorizes FY 1990 and 1991 appropriations. Subtitle D: Supportive Housing for the Homeless - Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to authorize grants to States and local government units for homeless housing assistance. Sets forth grant allocation provisions. Permits States and local units to use such assistance for approved activities. Requires grantees to provide matching funds. Authorizes FY 1991 and 1992 appropriations. Requires an annual report to the Congress. Sets forth the following approved activities: (1) emergency shelter; (2) transitional housing for the homeless; (3) permanent housing for the handicapped homeless; and (4) supplemental assistance for facilities to assist the homeless. Increases FY 1990 and 1991 budget authority for the section 8 single room occupancy program. Title VI: Public and Indian Housing - Subtitle A: Public Housing Development - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to authorize the development of new and replacement public housing. Subtitle B: Authorization - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to authorize FY 1990 and 1991 public housing appropriations. Increases FY 1990 and 1991 budget authority for rental rehabilitation and development grants. Obligates FY 1990 and 1991 funds for: (1) Indian housing; and (2) the comprehensive improvement assistance program. Subtitle C: Project Independence - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to provide public housing residents with greater access to employment, day care, educational, and other services. Obligates FY 1990 and 1991 funds for such purposes. Subtitle D: National Commission on Severely Distressed Public Housing - Establishes the National Commission on Severely Distressed Public Housing to identify severely distressed public housing projects, evaluate strategies to eliminate unfit housing conditions, and develop a national plan to achieve such objectives. Authorizes FY 1990 and 1991 appropriations. Title VII: Rural Housing - Amends the Housing Act of 1949 to reauthorize through FY 1991: (1) rural housing insured or guaranteed loans; (2) rental assistance payment contract authority; (3) rental housing loan authority; and (4) mutual and self-help housing grant and loan authority. Authorizes deferred mortgage repayments under specified conditions. Sets aside FY 1990 and 1991 funds for targeted underserved areas. Title VIII: Amendment to the Internal Revenue Code - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the low-income housing credit ceiling. Title IX: Repeals and Conforming Amendments - Sets forth specified conforming and other related amendments.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Research and Experimental Credit Extension and Reform Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the income tax credit for qualified research expenditures by repealing the provisions that would terminate the credit for expenses incurred or paid after 1989. Revises the method for computing: (1) base period research expenses, adding a factor reflecting the gross national product growth rate; and (2) the tax credit, adding an alternative computation component. Applies the credit to in-house research expenses that the taxpayer pays or incurs for the principal purpose of using the research results in the active conduct of a future trade or business.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Designates the month of November in 1989 and 1990 as National Hospice Month.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Condemns hostage taking by individuals, groups, or governments. Calls upon all nations to condemn hostage taking and to work for the release of all hostages.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Directs the Senate Legal Counsel to represent Senators Kennedy, Thurmond, Hollings, Gore, Wilson, and Biden in the case of Rodney F. Stich v. Senator Edward Kennedy, et al.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1989
Amends the Department of Veterans Affairs Act to require one of the six Assistant Secretaries of Veterans Affairs to be responsible for monitoring and promoting the access of minority veterans to services and benefits furnished by the Department. Defines "minority veterans" to include blacks, Native Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asian-Pacific Islander Americans, and women veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should take specified actions with respect to the International Space Year (ISY), including directing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to continue to develop ISY activities, with certain emphasis, through the Space Agency Forum on ISY.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1989
Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1989 - Requires the President to report on civil monetary penalty inflation adjustment to specified congressional committees every five years. Requires the report to include modifications to existing law to increase civil monetary penalties by the cost-of-living adjustment. Requires the President to make an annual report to the Congress on the amount and number of civil monetary penalties and legislative recommendations.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1989
Designates the week beginning October 29, 1989, as Gaucher's Disease Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1989
Designates May 1989 as National Digestive Disease Awareness Month.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1989
Commends William D. Mohr for exemplary service to the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1989
Commends Lee H. "Jim" Timberlake for outstanding service to the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1989
Designates the period commencing May 7, 1989, and ending May 13, 1989, as National Correctional Officers Week.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1989
Chlorofluorocarbons and Halon Reduction Act of 1989 - Declares that the objective of this Act is to provide a smooth transition away from the use of ozone-depleting chemicals in order to protect the earth's ozone layer and limit global warming. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to issue regulations to: (1) impose ozone-protection charges on producers and importers of specified ozone-depleting chemicals; and (2) add to the list of such chemicals those known or anticipated to contribute to ozone depletion and whose production or importation should be limited to protect public health and the environment. Directs the Administrator to assure that no charge is imposed on chemicals that are used and entirely consumed in the production of other chemicals. Sets forth production charge procedures and assessment periods for specified ozone-depleting chemicals. Permits modification of such procedures as specified. Establishes the Ozone Layer and Climate Protection Trust Fund. Provides that all charge moneys received by the Secretary of the Treasury shall be deposited in such Fund. Makes specified percentages of Fund moneys available to support research related to substitutes for ozone-depleting chemicals by chemical producers and alternative products that are produced without such chemicals. Requires the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on the operation of the Fund. Sets forth investment duties of the Secretary with regard to the Fund. Directs the Administrator to establish an advisory committee in connection with the research to be conducted pursuant to this Act. Authorizes the Administrator to establish and carry out a grant program for such research. Authorizes appropriations from the Fund for the research grant program.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1989
Stratospheric Ozone and Climate Protection Act of 1989 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to publish a priority list of manufactured substances known or reasonably anticipated to cause atmospheric modification, including stratospheric ozone depletion, and to assign an ozone depletion potential to each substance. Requires the Administrator to list simultaneously and update annually other manufactured substances meeting the same criteria, assigning ozone depletion potentials for each. Includes specified chlorofluorocarbons on each list. Requires producers of substances on either list to report initially and annually to the Administrator on such production until it ceases. Limits production of substances on the priority list to 1986 levels effective July 1, 1989. Requires further scheduled reductions by July 1, 1992, and July 1, 1995. Prohibits the production, effective July 1, 1997, of any quantity of a listed substance unless the Administrator authorizes limited production of such substance for medical purposes. Authorizes the President to issue orders regarding the use of halon-1211, halon-1301, and halon-2402 if the use of such substances is necessary to protect national security interests. Exempts such orders from the requirements of this Act. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations regarding: (1) the use, recapture, recycling, and safe disposal of substances covered by this Act; and (2) the use of any manufactured substance that may exacerbate the problem of human induced global climate change. Prohibits, after 1992, the knowing use, release, or disposal of any substance covered by this Act (with specified exceptions) in a fashion which permits such substance to enter the environment. Exempts from such prohibition releases associated with: (1) the approved use of medical devices and diagnostic products for medical purposes; (2) good-faith attempts to recapture and recycle or safely dispose of such substances; and (3) the servicing or repair of equipment which contains such substances but does not include an aperture which allows the recapture of such substances, if, during the first servicing or repair after the effective date of this Act, an aperture or other such feature is installed. Prohibits, effective July 1, 1997, the introduction into interstate commerce or use of a priority listed substance except for medical purposes and, for a period not to exceed ten years after such date, to maintain and service household appliances. Prohibits the production, effective July 1, 1989, of substances covered by this Act in quantities sufficient for the ozone depletion potential to exceed the level of depletion for any such substance for 1986. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations establishing production limitations for such substances that yield not less than a 95 percent reduction in total ozone depletion in 1997. Provides that if the Administrator fails to promulgate such regulations, it shall be unlawful, effective July 1, 1997, to produce such substances in quantities yielding an ozone depletion potential greater than five percent of the 1986 level of depletion for any such substance. Prohibits imports of such substances or products manufactured using such substances, unless the exporting nation has an equivalent or more stringent production reduction program. Requires the Administrator to certify national programs, such certification to be reviewed annually. Equates imports with production when determining a manufacturer's required reductions. Requires containers of listed substances to carry labeling stating the contents and potential damaging effects. Authorizes the Administrator to assess civil penalties or seek injunctive relief for violations and to revoke any permit for continued noncompliance. Establishes criminal penalties for knowing violations. Sets forth procedures for review of regulations promulgated under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technology Competitiveness Act of 1989 - Sets forth specified national goals for the wind, photovoltaics, and solar thermal energy programs. Requires the President's budget requests for FY 1991 to contain the recommendations of the Secretary of Energy for specified Department of Energy research and development programs for 1995, including biofuels energy systems, solar buildings energy systems, ocean energy systems, and geothermal energy. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 1993 for: (1) the wind energy research program; (2) the photovoltaic energy systems program; (3) the solar thermal energy systems program; (4) the biofuels energy systems program; (5) the solar buildings energy systems program; (6) the ocean energy systems program; and (7) the geothermal energy program. Requires the Secretary to submit an options analysis to the Congress regarding the accelerated commercialization of specified renewable energy technologies. Requires the President's budget requests for FY 1991 and 1992 to include the Secretary's recommendations of amounts to be set aside for energy efficiency research and development and demonstration initiatives. Authorizes appropriations for specified energy efficiency research and development programs for FY 1991 through 1993. Directs the Secretary to establish joint research and development ventures in specified energy technologies and to report to the Congress on the implementation of such plans. Directs the Secretary to establish the following advisory bodies: (1) Advisory Committee on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technology; (2) Advisory Subcommittee on Photovoltaic Energy Technology; (3) Advisory Subcommittee on Wind Energy Technology; (4) Advisory Subcommittee on Solar Thermal Energy Technology; (5) Advisory Subcommittee on Energy Performance in Factory-Made Housing; (6) Advisory Subcommittee on Advanced District Cooling Technology; and (7) Advisory Subcommittee on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technology Exports. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 1993 for such joint ventures. Requires the Committee on Renewable Energy, Commerce, and Trade to report annually to the Congress regarding renewable energy technology exports. Authorizes appropriations for such Committee activities for FY 1991 through 1993. Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to direct the Secretary to establish an information dissemination program for Federal procurement and loan officers on the benefits of solar heating and cooling technology, including site visits and technical briefings. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to include among its special projects incentives, grants, and studies for renewable energy and other small business activities. Requires the Secretary to make annual reports to the Congress regarding the research programs and ventures under this Act. Requires each annual submission of the National Energy Policy Plan to be accompanied by a three-year strategic plan for energy technology research, development, and demonstration, including energy conservation and renewable energy technologies.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
Designates April 8, 1989, as Chief Justice Earl Warren Day.