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![Official portrait of Sen. Riegle, Donald W., Jr. [D-MI]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/r000249_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
4,376 records where Sen. Riegle, Donald W., Jr. [D-MI] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1991
Designates 1993 as the Year of American Craft: A Celebration of the Creative Work of the Hand.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1991
Authorizes establishment of the National Voluntary Reunion Registry to facilitate on a voluntary mutual request basis the reunion of adopted persons with birth parents, siblings, and grandparents. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act (the Act) to make it unlawful for a consumer reporting agency (CRA) to furnish a consumer report other than under specified circumstances. Permits a CRA to furnish such a report to another CRA. Requires that the file of any consumer at a CRA include: (1) the date on which any inquiry was made which involved such consumer; (2) the identity of the person making the inquiry; (3) the nature of the inquiry; and (4) the identity of any person to whom information from the consumer's file at that CRA has been sold or otherwise transferred by any person. Provides that: (1) whenever a CRA reinvestigates the completeness or accuracy of information contained in a consumer's file the CRA shall follow reasonable procedures to assure the completeness and accuracy of such information; and (2) such procedures shall require the CRA to review any relevant information provided by the consumer in the course of conducting the reinvestigation. Requires that reinvestigations of disputed consumer reports be carried out within 30 days. (Specifies that: (1) if the CRA fails to complete the reinvestigation within such period it shall provide a report to the consumer explaining the reason for the failure; and (2) upon completion of a reinvestigation the CRA shall provide a report to the consumer describing any action taken by the CRA with respect to the disputed information, the reasons for any such action or failure to act, and the name and address of any person contacted in the course of such reinvestigation.) Revises procedures for notifying recipients of inaccurate information. Directs that if any information is deleted from or corrected in any consumer's file or any notice of the existence of a dispute and the consumer's statement of the dispute is added to such file: (1) a copy of the complete file after the deletion or correction of information or the addition of the notice and the consumer's statement be provided to the consumer; and (2) a complete description of the deletion or correction or a copy of the notice and the consumer's statement be provided to specified designated recipients by the consumer. Provides that if information deleted from a consumer's file is subsequently restored to such file the CRA shall promptly provide written notice to the consumer of the restoration of such information. Requires: (1) the CRA, if a consumer disputes the accuracy or completeness of information in such consumer's file, to promptly provide notice of the dispute to the person who furnished such information to the CRA and request verification of the completeness and accuracy of the information; and (2) such person to reinvestigate the information and report such person's findings to the CRA. (Specifies that if such person verifies the completeness and accuracy of the disputed information the agency shall promptly report such fact and the name and address of such person to the consumer, but if such person deems the information to be inaccurate or incomplete, or such information continues to be disputed by the consumer, such person shall notify each CRA to which the person furnished the information that such information is incomplete, inaccurate, or disputed by the consumer.) Requires the CRA, before the end of the 30-day period beginning on the date it receives notice of a dispute regarding the completeness or accuracy of information in the consumer's file, to disclose (in writing and in a clear and conspicuous format) to the consumer: (1) the right of the consumer to: submit information to the CRA in connection with the reinvestigation required under the Act, submit a statement of the nature of the dispute to the CRA if the reinvestigation does not resolve the dispute, receive a copy of the consumer's complete file, require the CRA to provide a description of the deletion or correction of any information in the consumer's file and the notice of the dispute with respect to such information to a person designated by the consumer, dispute the completeness or accuracy of such information with the person who furnished the information to the CRA, and require such person to notify each CRA to which the person furnished such information that the information is incomplete, inaccurate, or disputed by the consumer; (2) the name and address of any person who received a report on such consumer which contained the information in dispute for employment purposes during the two-year period, and which contained such information for any purpose other than employment, during the one-year period ending on the date the CRA received such notice from the consumer; (3) the remedies available to the consumer for violations of the Act; (4) other rights of the consumer under the Act which the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shall, by regulation, require to be included in the disclosure; and (5) the Federal agencies responsible for enforcing requirements of the Act and the addresses and telephone numbers of such agencies. Requires CRAs to provide to consumers free consumer credit reports without charge upon request at least once each calendar year. Revises the duties of users of consumer reports, including requiring the user to provide: (1) written notice of the adverse action to the consumer; and (2) the consumer with the name and address of the CRA which furnished the report to such person. Makes any credit repair organization and any person who furnishes information to any CRA (as well as CRAs and users of reports) civilly liable for willful noncompliance and for negligent noncompliance with the Act. Makes any person who obtains information on a consumer from a CRA under false pretenses civilly liable to such consumer. Makes all functions and powers of the FTC under the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA) available to the FTC to enforce compliance. (Current law links enforcement to specified provisions of the FTCA.) Makes credit repair organizations and persons who furnish information to CRAs subject to certain administrative enforcement provisions, as enforced by bodies other than the FTC. Directs the FTC to prescribe regulations which require that: (1) in the event any person takes an adverse action with respect to a consumer based on information contained in a consumer report, the CRA that made such report promptly provide the consumer with a copy of the report on which the adverse action was based and a written summary of the consumer's rights and remedies under the Act; and (2) CRAs audit their procedures for maximum possible accuracy of information contained in consumer reports and prepare an annual report to the FTC on such audits. Requires: (1) any person, when that person, in the course of conducting business, furnishes information about a consumer to a CRA, to follow reasonable procedures to assure the accuracy of the information; and (2) each such person to maintain detailed records of the procedures established and followed and make such records available upon the request of the FTC. Prohibits a credit repair organization from charging or receiving any money or other valuable consideration prior to completion of the specified services that such organization has agree to perform for the consumer. Sets forth provisions with respect to the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to change the period for the U.S. Trade Representative to identify trade liberalization priorities to no later than September 30 of each of the calendar years 1992 through 1997. Sets forth the procedure for a congressional committee to file a petition with the Trade Representative to investigate barriers and market distorting practices of a foreign country.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Designates 1992 as The Year of the American Indian.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1991
White House Commemorative Coin Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) issue up to 500,000 silver one-dollar coins to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of the White House; and (2) obtain silver for such coins from stockpiles established under the Strategic and Critical Mineral Stock Piling Act. Specifies that: (1) all amounts received from the sale of coins issued under this Act shall be deposited in the coinage profit fund; and (2) the Secretary shall pay amounts from a ten-dollar surcharge per coin into the White House Endowment Fund. Directs the Secretary to take such actions as necessary to ensure that the minting and issuance of such coins do not result in any net cost to the Government. Bars the issuance of such coins unless the Secretary has received full payment or adequate security for payment. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1991
Designates May 16 through 22, 1992, as National Awareness Week for Life-Saving Techniques.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 1991
Medicare Physician Payment Reform Implementation Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to increase the conversion factor for physicians' services for each of the years after 1993 through 1996 by one-fourth of the percentage by which the conversion factor may have been decreased due to an adjustment for asymmetry in 1992; (2) prohibit the Secretary, in determining the conversion factor for 1992, from assuming that changes in the volume and intensity of physician services in response to the implementation of the new payment system for such services would increase the estimated aggregate physician expenditures by more than one percent; (3) make any reduction to the conversion factor due to assumed volume and intensity changes equally applicable to the adjusted historical payment base; (4) permit separate payment to physicians for interpretation of electrocardiograms (EKGs) provided during office vists; (5) direct the Secretary to: (a) establish separate fee schedule amounts for the interpretation of EKGs; (b) adjust the relative values in the fee schedule for physician visits to reflect separate payments for EKG interpretation; (c) establish EKG practice guidelines for dissemination to physicians along with other educational information relating to EKG use; (d) develop a profile for EKG use by physicians; and (e) study EKG utilization and costs for a report to the Congress; and (6) make the new payment system for physicians nonapplicable to services furnished on or after January 1, 1992, by a physician who was in his or her first, second, or third year of practice in 1991 and to whom the payment rules under the new system did not apply in that year. Prohibits the Secretary from issuing final regulations before July 1, 1993, which change the methodology for determining: (1) the amount of time that may be billed for anesthesia services; and (2) the amount paid for drugs and biologicals furnished incident to physicians' services. Requires the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment to conduct a study and report to the Congress on whether payments for anesthesia services should be based on a particular unit of time according to the medical procedure with respect to which the service is furnished. Requires the Secretary to: (1) conduct a study and report to the Congress with respect to payment for drugs and biologicals furnished incident to physicians' services and payment for multiple surgical procedures; and (2) provide for pilot projects for developing Medicare volume performance standards other than at the national level. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the pilot projects.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Designates March 12, 1992, as Girl Scouts of the United States of America 80th Anniversary Day.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1991
Provides, unless specified conditions are met relating to Serbia's armed conflict with the other ethnic peoples of Yugoslavia, for the: (1) restriction of U.S. assistance to Serbia or any part of Yugoslavia controlled by it; (2) suspension of U.S. air travel to and from such locations; (3) suspension of multinational assistance; and (4) imposition of a U.S. trade embargo.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Breast Cancer Screening Safety Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require certification in order for a facility to perform or interpret mammograms, inspect equipment, perform needle localizations or other procedures using mammography equipment, or conduct quality assurance oversight related to mammography. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue and renew certificates for up to two years. Allows the Secretary to approve a private nonprofit organization to be an accreditation body which meets certain requirements, including inspecting facilities. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish standards for facilities to assure the safety and accuracy of mammography; (2) specify organizations eligible to certify individuals to perform radiological procedures; (3) specify boards eligible to certify individuals to interpret screening mammograms; (4) establish standards regarding the qualifications for individuals to interpret screening mammograms; and (5) specify boards eligible to certify individuals to inspect screening mammography equipment and oversee quality assurance practices. Directs the Secretary to conduct annual announced and unannounced inspections of certified facilities. Provides for: (1) intermediate sanctions for certain violations; (2) suspension, revocation, and limitation of certificates; and (3) injunctions. Requires fees for certificate issuance and renewal, and for inspections, sufficient to cover costs. Requires annual publication of a list of facilities convicted of fraud and abuse, false billings, or kickbacks, facilities that have had certificates revoked, suspended, or limited, and facilities that have been the subject of a sanction or other similar matters. Allows the Secretary to exempt facilities in a State or locality with more stringent requirements from compliance with this Act. Directs the Secretary to: (1) make grants for research on new methods of establishing a Mammography Registry; and (2) based on the research, establish the Registry. Authorizes grants to enhance the capacity of health personnel in the area of breast cancer mortality prevention. Allows grant funds to be used to establish a breast cancer mortality prevention regional training center and develop a training curriculum. Authorizes appropriations. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require that screening mammographies paid for under Medicare be performed by a facility: (1) certified under this Act; and (2) in compliance with specified provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Semiconductor Investment Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to classify the depreciable life for semiconductor manufacturing equipment as three-year property.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Designates December 1 through 7, 1991, and November 29 through December 5, 1992, as National Adoption Week.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Designates October 15, 1991, as Up With People Day.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should: (1) recognize Ukraine's independence and take steps toward the establishment of full diplomatic relations with Ukraine should the December 1, 1991, referendum confirm the Ukrainian parliament's independence declaration; and (2) use U.S. assistance, trade, and other programs to support the Government of Ukraine and encourage the further development of democracy and a free-market.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1991
Designates November 16, 1991, as Dutch-American Heritage Day.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Apprenticeship Improvement Act of 1989 - Amends the National Apprenticeship Act to direct the Secretary of Labor to establish and maintain a national information collection system for apprenticeships and apprenticeship programs. Requires the Secretary to assure that, from the amounts appropriated to carry out such Act in each fiscal year, at least one percent shall be available to establish outreach recruitment activities to increase the participation of women and minorities, handicapped individuals, displaced workers, and disadvantaged individuals in the apprenticeship programs. Establishes the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training (the Bureau) in the Department of Labor, under the direction of the Administrator of the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training. Transfers to the Bureau all functions of the Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training Administration with respect to the promotion of labor standards of apprenticeship, including research, information, and publications. Transfers to the Bureau all functions related to apprenticeship, including appropriate administrative and program support services, together with necessary personnel and related funds. Authorizes the Secretary to appoint necessary employees for the administration of this Act. Directs the Secretary to increase the force within the Bureau to a specified number of full-time employees by January 1, 1990. Limits the authority to conduct reductions in force within the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress within six months on whether the apprenticeship program complies with regulations governing equal opportunity.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1991
Prohibits Yugoslavian-made defense articles that are on the United States Munitions List from being imported into the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1991
Public Health Clinic Prudent Pharmaceutical Purchasing Act - Amends title XXI (Vaccines and Certain Drug Purchases) of the Public Health Service Act to provide for rebates from drug manufacturers to entities receiving financial assistance under the Act in an amount determined under a specified formula. Defines "drug" to include a drug as defined under the Social Security Act and any over-the-counter drug or birth control device. Prohibits reducing grants to such entities as a result of the rebates. Prohibits such an entity from reselling a drug or biological for which it has received a rebate.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1991
Designates December 4, 1991, as Hawaii Remembrance Day, to recognize contributions provided by Federal civilian employees during the attack on Pearl Harbor and during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 - Establishes an emergency unemployment compensation program. Allows any State to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under which the State agency which administers the State unemployment compensation law will make payments of emergency unemployment compensation: (1) to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under State law, have no rights to such regular compensation or any additional State or Federal compensation, and are not receiving Canadian compensation; and (2) for any week of unemployment beginning in the individual's eligibility period. Sets forth provisions relating to exhaustion of regular benefits and weekly amount of emergency benefits equal to regular benefits. Authorizes a State Governor, in a period of a seven or eight percent total unemployment rate in that State (as defined under this Act), to elect to trigger off an extended compensation period to provide emergency unemployment compensation to individuals who have exhausted their rights to regular compensation under State law. Requires a State, under such an agreement, to establish an emergency unemployment compensation account with respect to the benefit year of each eligible individual who files an application. Limits benefit payments to not more than the amount in the individual's account. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount in such account. Provides that the applicable limit in such account shall be equal to: (1) 20 for an eight-percent period, i.e. one triggered by a total unemployment rate (TUR) of eight percent or more in the State, seasonally adjusted, for the most recent six calendar months with available data; (2) 13 for a seven-percent period; (3) seven for a six-percent period; and (4) four for any other period. Sets forth special rules relating to such applicable limits. Requires reduction in such account by the amount of extended benefits received by the individual relating to the same benefit year under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. Sets the weekly benefit amount at the amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable under the State law to the individual for such week for total unemployment. Provides for determination of periods and applicable triggers. Provides for a minimum period of at least 13 weeks. Provides, in general, that no emergency unemployment compensation shall be payable to any individual under this Act for any week beginning: (1) before the later of October 6, 1991, or the first week following the week in which an agreement under this Act is entered into; or (2) after July 4, 1992. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions for the eligibility of certain individuals for such benefits, as exceptions to such general rule. Provides for payments to States having such agreements for emergency unemployment compensation. Sets forth financing provisions. Requires that funds in the extended unemployment compensation account of the Unemployment Trust Fund be used to make payments to States having agreements under this Act. Sets forth provisions relating to fraud and overpayments. Defines the eligible period under this Act. Provides that in no event shall an individual's period of eligibility include any weeks after the 39th week after the end of the benefit year for which the individual exhausted rights to regular compensation or extended compensation. Amends specified Federal law to repeal certain limitations on payment of unemployment compensation to former members of the armed forces. Reduces the length of required active duty by reserves for purposes of such payment. Amends the Social Security Act to establish an Advisory Council on Unemployment Compensation. Directs the Secretary to establish such a council by February 1, 1992, and every fourth year thereafter. Requires each such council to evaluate the unemployment compensation program. Sets forth membership and staff provisions. Requires each council to report to the President and the Congress by Feburuary 1 of the second year following the year in which it is required to be established. Requires the first Council report to include findings and recommendations on determining eligibility for extended unemployment benefits on the basis of unemployment statistics for regions, States, or subdivisions of States. Designates as emergency requirements, pursuant to the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act), all direct spending amounts provided, and all appropriations authorized by this Act (for all fiscal years). Provides that this Act shall not take effect unless, by its enactment date, the President submits to the Congress a written designation of all such direct spending amounts and authorized appropriations as such emergency requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Disability Determination Fairness Act - Amends titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to promulgate regulations which provide for the State Disability Determination Service to conduct personal appearance interviews of applicants with a mental, cardiovascular, or musculoskeletal disability who, on the basis of an initial examination, are subject to potentially unfavorable determinations of benefit eligibility. Grants an applicant who is denied benefits on the basis of such an interview an immediate right to appeal directly to an administrative law judge without going through the reconsideration stage.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Designates October 1991 as Ending Hunger Month.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Declares that the U.S. Government should support the struggle of the Armenian people to achieve freedom and independence.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1991
Establishes a Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States' Democratic Party (Commission) to coordinate ceremonial events and related activities during the calendar year of 1992. Directs the Commission to report on its activities to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate at the time of its termination on February 13, 1993.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1991
Urges the President to: (1) communicate to the leadership of the Government of the People's Republic of China the concern of the Congress and the American people for Wang Juntao and Chen Ziming and to call for their immediate release from prison; and (2) request the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) to urge Beijing officials to provide quality medical care for them and for all political prisoners and to dispatch representatives of the UN Human Rights Commission to China to assess and report on the treatment of political prisoners and the condition of Chinese prisons.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 1991
Government Securities Offering Enforcement Act of 1991 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit a government securities dealer, broker, bidder, or purchaser from knowingly or willingly making false or misleading written statements with respect to any bid or purchase of such securities (including the omission of necessary facts which results in such a statement).
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 1991
National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Act - Establishes the National Fallen Firefighters' Foundation. Declares that the Foundation is: (1) a charitable and nonprofit corporation to be organized under the laws of the State of Maryland; and (2) not an agency or establishment of the United States. Provides that the Foundation is to: (1) primarily encourage, accept, and administer private gifts of property for the benefit of the National Fallen Firefighters' Memorial and its annual memorial service; (2) provide financial assistance to the families of firefighers who die in the line of duty; and (3) assist in the recognition of such firefighters. Sets forth provisions for establishment and membership of a Board of Directors of the Foundation. Makes the Administator of the U.S. Fire Administration of the Federal Emergency Management Agency an ex officio nonvoting member of the Board, who shall appoint Directors of the Board. Sets forth rights and obligations of the Foundation, including having its principal offices in the State of Maryland. Authorizes the Administrator to: (1) provide, and accept reimbursements for, personnel, facilities, and other administrative services to the Foundation; and (2) accept the services of the Foundation, the Board, and the Board's officers and employees as volunteers in performing functions authorized under this Act. Sets forth requirements relating to audits and annual reports. Provides for relief for certain Foundation acts or failures to act. Provides that the United States is not liable for any debts, defaults, acts, or omissions of the Foundation. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Keweenaw National Historical Park Establishment Act - Title I: Establishment of Park and Preservation District - Establishes as a unit of the National Park System the Keweenaw National Historical Park (the Park) in Michigan which shall include: (1) the Calumet National Historic Landmark District; (2) the Village of Calumet; (3) the Osceola #13 mining properties; and (4) the Quincy Mining Company National Historic Landmark District. Establishes within the Park the Calumet Historic Preservation District (Preservation District), which shall consist of the areas described in numbers one, two, and three of the preceding sentence. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) take any necessary action to provide an owner of property with national historic or cultural significance with emergency assistance to prevent an imminent decrease in the value of the property; and (2) disapprove an action of the Keweenaw Historic Preservation Commission (the Commission). Requires Federal entities conducting or supporting activities directly affecting the Park or Preservation District to consult, cooperate, and coordinate such activities with the Secretary and the Commission. Title II: Duties of the Secretary - Directs the Secretary to prepare and submit to the Congress a general management plan for the Park taking into account the Park preservation plan. Sets forth procedures for plan revisions. Authorizes the Secretary to acquire property within the Park's boundaries by specified means. Allows property owned by the State of Michigan or any of its political subdivisions to be acquired only by donation or with donated or appropriated funds. Prohibits any acquisition of property without the owner's consent. Requires the Park's headquarters and a visitor center to be located within the Calumet National Historic Landmark District, and a second visitors center to be located within the Quincy Mining Company Complex. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into agreements with owners of property with national historic or cultural significance within the Park or Preservation District to provide for interpretive exhibits or programs. Authorizes and loans grants by the Secretary relating to property within the Quincy Mining Company National Historic Landmark District. Authorizes technical assistance relating to the Park. Title III: Keweenaw Historic Preservation Commission - Establishes the Keweenaw Historic Preservation Commission (the Commission) to: (1) administer the Preservation District in accordance with the Park preservation plan; and (2) provide certain services for the Park. Directs the Secretary to appoint Commission members with specified characteristics. Directs the Commission to submit to the Secretary a preservation plan for the Park, with specified components including interpretation of specified aspects of the copper industry. Sets forth procedures for review of such plan by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to submit the approved plan to the Congress. Authorizes loans and grants by the Commission relating to property within the Preservation District. Authorizes technical assistance by the Commission relating to the Park. Authorizes the Administrator of General Services to provide administrative support services to the Commission on request and on a reimbursable basis. Title IV: Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Indian Tribal Government Waste Management Act of 1991 - Declares that the Congress recognizes the inherent authority of an Indian tribal government, subject to standards and criteria under this Act and the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA), to develop, construct, operate, close, maintain after closure, license, and regulate facilities for solid and other waste generated on Indian lands over which an Indian tribal government exercises governmental authority. Authorizes any Indian tribal government that conducts activities or is responsible for facilities that are not in compliance with this Act and SWDA to submit to the Secretary of the Interior a remedial plan (including a specific sequence of actions or operations intended to result in compliance within a maximum five-year period). Directs the Secretary to review and approve such plan if it is reasonable likely to succeed. Makes such Indian tribal government immune from any actions to enforce certain standards and criteria under SWDA during the period the plan is being carried out, unless the Secretary finds that the Indian tribal government has failed to comply with a material requirement of the approved plan. Directs the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in cooperation with the Secretary and the Director of the Indian Health Service, to: (1) inventory and report to the Congress on Indian lands on which hazardous waste has been stored or disposed of, including open dumps; (2) assist Indian tribal governments in upgrading open dumps to comply with the requirements of this Act and SWDA; and (3) establish a program of technical assistance for Indian tribal governments and Alaska Native Village and Regional Corporations to address solid and hazardous waste issues on Indian lands. Recognizes the inherent authority of Indian tribal governments to develop, construct, operate, close, maintain, license, and regulate facilities for waste generated outside of Indian lands under the tribe's jurisdiction under specified circumstances. Authorizes an Indian tribal government to import interstate waste if it is not lawfully prohibited by the State in which the tribal lands are located. Permits the Indian tribal government to import solid waste if it imposes conditions on such importation substantially similar to those lawfully imposed by such State. Authorizes an Indian tribal government to enter into any vendor contract or agreement for the development, construction, operation, management, closure, and maintenance after closure, of a waste facility on Indians lands within its jurisdiction. Requires the Secretary to review such vendor contract and approve it if certain standards are met. Deems such contract approved if the Secretary fails to approve or disapprove it within a specified time. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations to: (1) authorize Indian tribal governments to establish by contract a system of graduated penalties for vendor contract violations; (2) establish criteria for determining the fair market value of land used for the development and operation of a waste management facility; and (3) implement this Act. Sets forth penalties for violations of this Act. States that it is the intent of the Congress that the remaining sections or provisions of this Act shall continue in full force and effect if any provision of this Act is held invalid. Authorizes appropriations. Provides for judicial review of the Secretary's decisions relating to this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
National Flood Insurance, Mitigation, and Erosion Management Act of 1991 - Title I: Definitions - Defines specified terms under the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 and the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. Title II: Compliance and Increased Participation - Amends the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 to prohibit the waiver of current mandatory flood purchase insurance requirements with respect to financial assistance for property in a flood hazard area. Expands flood insurance purchase requirements. Requires lenders to review outstanding loans to determine whether they are in compliance with mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements. Authorizes lenders to charge borrowers a fee for such service. Exempts lenders from such requirement who have a specified accuracy for flood hazard determinations for outstanding loans, or who have conducted satisfactory loan reviews, or have regularly provided for escrow of flood insurance premiums. Requires residential real estate lenders to establish flood insurance premium escrow accounts. Imposes a fine for lenders failing to require flood insurance or to give proper notice under the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. Requires the seller-transferor of a residential-secured loan in a flood hazard area to so notify the purchaser-transferee unless a flood hazard determination has been made within the previous five years. Revises flood insurance notice requirements. Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to require the development of a standard hazard determination form. Amends the Federal Financial Institutions Examinations Council Act of 1978 to direct the Financial Examinations Council to coordinate with Federal entities for lending regulation to develop uniform lender standards. Title III: Ratings and Incentives for Community Floodplain Management Programs - Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to provide for a community rating system and incentives for community floodplain management. Provides program funding. Title IV: Mitigation of Flood and Erosion Risks - Amends the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to establish an Office of Mitigation Assistance to carry out flood and coastal erosion mitigation activities under the Federal Insurance Administrator. Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to make mitigation assistance grants available to eligible States, communities, and individuals. Includes among eligible grant activities property elevation, relocation, flood-proofing, and acquisition. Prohibits assistance for activities within a designated erosion-prone area in a community that has not adopted specified land management measures. Authorizes mitigation activity technical assistance. Establishes in the Treasury the National Flood Mitigation Fund to be available for such mitigation assistance grants. Provides for an insurance premium mitigation surcharge to be paid into such Fund. Authorizes a mitigation transition pilot program to be carried out through the Office of Mitigation Assistance. Repeals (with a transition period) the current program for the purchase of certain insured properties. Establishes a program to reduce coastal erosion hazards. Makes: (1) assistance available only to specified structures; and (2) structure relocation or demolition eligible as erosion mitigation activities. Limits flood insurance payments and prohibits future insurance coverage for failure to relocate or demolish a structure. Authorizes specified annual amounts from the National Flood Insurance Fund for erosion mitigation assistance. Repeals (with transition periods) current provisions for claims for imminent collapse and subsidence through flood insurance claims. Sets forth erosion setback limitations on flood insurance availability and rates. Requires the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to conduct a riverine erosion study. Title V: Flood Insurance Task Force - Establishes a two-year interagency Flood Insurance Task Force which shall: (1) develop standardized flood insurance enforcement procedures and guidelines; and (2) conduct a study of the extent to which the secondary mortgage market can assist enforcement. Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to: (1) increase flood insurance coverage amounts for nonresidential, single family, and multifamily structures; (2) permit flood insurance private sector participation; and (3) require at least every five years an assessment (and revision if necessary) of flood insurance maps.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Directs the Secretary of Energy to require the National Academy of Sciences to report to the Congress the results of a study regarding electrical and electromagnetic leakage known as stray voltage. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to revise the tariff classification of certain flat goods with an outer surface of plastic sheeting.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Nuclear Decommissioning Reserve Fund Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) decrease the rate of tax imposed on the income of any Nuclear Decommissioning Reserve Fund from 34 percent to 22 percent for taxable years beginning after December 31, 1990, and before January 1, 1993, and to 20 percent for taxable years beginning after December 31, 1992; and (2) remove restrictions on permitted investments of Fund monies.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Federal Prison Industries Competition in Contracting Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to require that: (1) a decision by Federal Prison Industries (FPI) to produce a new prison-made product or to expand the production of an existing product be made by the Board of Directors of FPI (the Board) in conformance with the public notice and comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act; and (2) the corporation prepare and furnish to the Board a detailed analysis of the probable impact on industry and free labor of any proposal to authorize the production and sale of a new prison-made product or to expand production of a currently authorized product (such proposal). Requires such analysis to identify and consider factors including: (1) the number of vendors that currently meet Federal requirements for the specific product; (2) the proportion of the Federal market for the product currently furnished by small and disadvantaged businesses and businesses in labor surplus areas during the previous three fiscal years; (3) the share of the Federal market for the product projected for FPI for the fiscal year in which production will commence (or expand) and the subsequent three fiscal years; (4) whether the industry producing the product in the private sector has an unemployment rate higher than the national average, a rate of employment for production workers that has consistently shown an increase during the previous five years, or has an import to domestic production ratio of 25 percent or greater; (5) whether the specific product is an import-sensitive product; (6) the projected growth in the Government for the specific product and the capability of such demand to sustain both FPI and private vendors; and (7) whether authorizing the production of the new product will provide inmates with the maximum opportunity to acquire knowledge and skill in trades and occupations that will provide them with a means of earning a livelihood upon release. Bars the Board from approving such proposal if the product is: (1) produced in the private sector by an industry which has reflected during the previous year an unemployment rate above the national average; or (2) an import-sensitive product. Directs the Board to: (1) give additional notice of such proposal in a publication designed to most effectively provide notice to private vendors and labor unions representing private sector workers who could reasonably be expected to be affected by approval of such proposal; (2) solicit comments on the analysis required under this Act from trade associations representing private sector workers who could reasonably be expected to be affected by its approval; and (3) afford an opportunity, upon request, for a representative of private industry to present comments on such proposal directly to the Board. Requires the corporation to provide the Board with its recommendations regarding action on the proposal, taking into consideration the comments received. Requires: (1) the various Federal departments and agencies (agencies) to offer to purchase from FPI any product authorized to be offered for sale and listed in the UNICOR Schedule of Products (whenever it has a requirement for an FPI product); and (2) FPI to publish and periodically revise such Schedule. Sets forth provisions with respect to the solicitation of offers from FPI and contract awards to FPI on either a competitive or sole source basis. Prohibits the cancellation or withdrawal of a solicitation solely for the purpose of affording an agency buying activity the opportunity to enter into noncompetitive negotiation with FPI unless the Attorney General determines that FPI cannot reasonably expect to receive the contract award on a competitive basis and that such award is necessary to: (1) maintain work opportunities otherwise unavailable at the penal facility at which the contract is to be performed to prevent circumstances that could reasonably be expected to significantly endanger the safe and effective administration of such facility; or (2) permit diversification into the labor-intensive manufacture of a specific product that has been approved by the Board. Specifies that: (1) a timely offer received from FPI shall be considered eligible for award (even if the competition is restricted); and (2) FPI shall be required to perform its contractual obligations to the same extent as any other contractor. Repeals a provisions under which any dispute relating to the price, quality, character, or suitability of FPI products shall be arbitrated by a board consisting of the Comptroller General of the United States, the Administrator of General Services, and the President, or their representatives. Specifies that: (1) a decision by a contracting officer regarding the award of a contract to FPI or relating to the performance of such contract shall be final, unless reversed on appeal (but authorizes the Director of FPI to appeal to the head of a Federal agency an adverse determination made by a contracting officer, in which case the decision of such agency head shall be final); and (2) a dispute between FPI and a buying activity regarding contract performance shall be subject to final resolution by the board of contract appeals having jurisdiction over the buying activity's contract performance disputes under the Contract Disputes Act of 1978. Requires that the amendments made by this Act be implemented through modifications to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) within 180 days. Makes FAR subject to provisions of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (which assure publication in the Federal Register and the opportunity for public comment before the promulgation of a final regulation). Requires each Federal agency reporting to the Federal Procurement Data System through the General Services Administration to report all acquisitions from FPI. Amends the Federal criminal code to require the Board, in its annual report to the Congress, to include: (1) an analysis of the corporation's total sales for each specific product sold to Federal agencies, the total purchases by each agency of each specific product, the corporation's share of such total Government purchases by specific product, and the number and disposition of disputes submitted to agency heads; (2) an analysis of the inmate workforce, including the number of inmates employed, the number and percentage of employed inmates by the term of their incarceration, and the various hourly wages paid to inmates employed with respect to the production of the various specific products authorized for production and sale; and (3) data concerning employment obtained by former inmates upon release to determine whether the employment provided by FPI during incarceration provided such inmates with knowledge and skill in a trade or occupation that enabled such former inmate to earn a livelihood upon release. Directs that copies of such annual report be made available to the public at a price not to exceed the cost of printing. Authorizes the Department of Defense (DOD) to count toward the attainment of the goal set out in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1987 for participation by small disadvantaged businesses, historically Black colleges and universities, and minority institutions in DOD contracting opportunities, the value of any purchase of supplies or services made by FPI from an entity described in such Act for the performance of a contract with DOD.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Authorizes and requests the President to designate January 1, 1992, as National Ellis Island Day.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Designates November 1991 as National Red Ribbon Month.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Designates October 1991 as Country Music Month.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1991
Comprehensive Occupational Safety and Health Reform Act - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) with respect to occupational safety and health programs, committees, employee representatives, coverage, standards, enforcement, antidiscrimination, training and education, hazard and illness evaluation, State plans, and victims' rights. Title I: Safety and Health Programs - Amends OSHA to establish requirements for each employer to set up and carry out a written occupational safety and health program that includes methods and procedures for: (1) identifying, evaluating, and documenting hazards; (2) correcting them; (3) investigating work-related illnesses, injuries, and deaths; (4) providing occupational safety and health services, including emergency response and first aid procedures; (5) employee participation in implementing such program, including, where applicable, a safety and health committee; (6) responding to such committee's recommendations; (7) providing safety and health training and education to employees and committee members; (8) designating an employer representative qualified to and responsible for identifying hazards and initiating corrective action; and (9) at a worksite where employees of two or more employers work, protecting employees from hazards under the other employers' control. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to modify the application of such requirements to classes of employers where, in light of the risks faced by the employer's employees, such a modification would not reduce their safety and health protection. Directs the Secretary to issue final regulations on the required employer occupational safety and health programs, covering employee training and education as well, including annual refresher courses. Title II: Safety and Health Committees and Employee Safety and Health Representatives - Amends OSHA to require each employer of 11 or more employees to provide for: (1) safety and health committees; and (2) employee safety and health representatives. Requires, in general, such employers to establish such a committee at each worksite, but authorizes the Secretary to modify application of this requirement to: (1) an employer whose employees do not primarily report to or work at a fixed location; (2) covered employers at worksites where less than 11 of their employees are employed; and (3) worksites where employees of more than one employer are employed. Requires committee membership to consist of elected or appointed employee representatives and up to an equal number of employer representatives. Requires the committee to be cochaired by an employer representative and an employee representative. Grants each committee the reasonable right to: (1) review occupational safety and health related employer programs, incidents of death, injury, or illness, complaints of hazards, the employer's work injury and illness records (other than personally identifiable medical information), and other related reports and documents; (2) conduct worksite inspections (and related employee interviews) at least once every three months and in response to complaints; (3) conduct meetings at least once every three months; (4) observe the measurement of employee exposure to toxic materials and harmful physical agents; (5) establish procedures for exercising committee rights; (6) make advisory recommendations for improvements and corrections; and (7) accompany the Secretary's representative during certain physical inspections of the worksite. Requires the employer to permit committee members to take such time from work as is reasonably necessary to exercise committee rights, without any loss of pay or benefits for such time. Directs the Secretary to issue final regulations for the establishment and functioning of such committees. Sets forth procedures for selection of employee representatives by and from nonmanagerial employees. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations on safety and health representatives, including specified numbers and selection procedures. Title III: Coverage - Revises the OSHA definition of employer to include the Federal Government (except certain congressional employees) and State and local governments, thus extending OSHA coverage to public employees. (Includes under such OSHA coverage the executive and judicial branches and the following agencies of the legislative branch: the Botanic Garden, the General Accounting Office, the Government Printing Office, the Library of Congress, the Office of Technology Assessment, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Copyright Royalty Tribunal.) Authorizes the Secretary to cede OSHA jurisdiction to a Federal agency with respect to specified standards or regulations affecting occupational safety and health of some or all employees within that agency's regulatory jurisdiction, if the agency has promulgated and is enforcing standards and regulations so that its employees are being protected at least as effectively as they would be by the Secretary. Declares that nothing in OSHA shall apply to working conditions covered by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. Applies OSHA to employment performed in the Federal nuclear facilities under the control or jurisdiction of the Department of Energy. Extends an employer's duties under OSHA to all employees working at the place of employment (even if they are not the employer's employees). Title IV: Occupational Safety and Health Standards - Revises provisions for OSHA standards. Requires specified timeframes for setting such standards after the Secretary has received: (1) a recommendation of an advisory committee, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), or the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; or (2) a petition from an interested person setting forth with reasonable particularity the facts claimed to establish that a standard should be promulgated, modified, or revoked. Directs the Secretary, within 90 days after such receipt, to publish a response stating whether the Secretary intends to publish a proposed rule with respect to such standard, or if not, the reasons for the decision not to publish such a rule. Directs the Secretary, if such rule is intended to be published, to do so within 12 months after the receipt of the recommendation or petition. Directs the Secretary to: (1) afford interested persons a period of at least 30 days to submit written data or comments after publication of a proposed rule promulgating, modifying, or revoking an OSHA standard; and (2) issue a final rule within 180 days after the public comment period (or within 180 days after a required public hearing on objections to such rule). Allows any adversely affected person to petition for judicial review, in the U.S. court of appeals for the appropriate circuit, of the Secretary's refusal or failure to issue such rules or standards. Requires that such petition be filed within 60 days after publication of such determination. Requires set-aside of the Secretary's determination if it is found to be arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law. Allows a petition to appeal the Secretary's failure to publish a proposed rule within the required 12-month time frame to be filed at any time after such time period has elapsed. Directs the reviewing court to compel the Secretary to take any such action that is found to have been unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed. Provides that the withholding or delaying of action shall not be justified by the Secretary's desire to consult with, or receive approval from any other Federal agency or executive official, except where required by applicable law and pursued in timely fashion. Revises the definition of "occupational safety and health standard" to mean a standard which addresses a significant risk to the safety or health of employees by requiring conditions, or the adoption or use of one or more practices, means, methods, operations, or processes that most adequately assure, to the extent feasible, safe and healthful employment and places of employment. Requires each OSHA standard also to prescribe requirements for recording or reporting a work-related illness determined as a result of a medical examination or test conducted under the standard. Directs the Secretary to place in the public record all written comments and communications and a summary of all verbal communications with parties outside the Department of Labor (DOL) (including communications with executive branch officials) regarding promulgation, modification, or revocation of an OSHA standard. Directs the Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of HHS and in addition to other OSHA standards, to modify and establish exposure limits for toxic materials and harmful physical agents on a regular basis in a specified manner. Directs the Secretary of HHS, acting through the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), to: (1) regularly evaluate available scientific evidence, data, and information to determine if such exposure limits should be modified or established to protect exposed employees from material impairment of health or functional capacity; and (2) at least every three years, on the basis of such evaluation, develop and transmit to the Secretary recommendations identifying materials and agents for which exposure limits should be modified or established to protect employees from such impairment. Directs the Secretary: (1) within 30 days of receipt of such recommendations, to publish them and provide a 30-day public comment period; (2) within six months of their receipt, evaluate them and the public comments and publish a proposed rule for the exposure limits of each material and agent for which the Secretary of HHS has made a recommendation (explaining why any proposed limit is not the same as a recommended limit); (3) within one year of publication of the proposed limits, issue a final standard (explaining why any final limit is not the same as the recommended limit); and (4) establish or modify such limits whenever warranted, in addition to a periodic review. Directs the Secretary, within two years after the effective date of this Act, to promulgate final standards on exposure monitoring and medical surveillance programs, including specified requirements. Directs the Secretary to issue a final standard on ergonomic hazards to protect employees from work-related musculoskeletal disorders, including specified requirements. Sets forth timetables for the Secretary to issue various OSHA final standards. Title V: Enforcement - Revises OSHA enforcement provisions. Provides that time spent by an employee in accompanying the Secretary's representative on an OSHA inspection shall be deemed to be hours worked, with no loss of pay, benefits, or seniority. Requires the Secretary to notify employees or their representative within 30 days after receipt of their request for inspection that there are no reasonable grounds to believe a violation or danger exists. Directs the Secretary also to make a special inspection after determining that there are reasonable grounds to believe that an imminent danger or serious violation exists in a place of employment, upon notification from any other source (as well as upon notification by an employee or employee representative as in current law). Directs the Secretary to establish and carry out a special emphasis inspection program for conducting inspections of industries or operations where existing hazards or newly recognized or new hazards introduced into work sites warrant more intensive inspections. Requires annual designation of the industries and operations for such program and the number of inspections planned and enforcement personnel required. Requires that special emphasis inspections be in addition to other programmed and complaint inspections conducted under OSHA before the effective date of this Act. Requires a report on such program in the Secretary's annual OSHA report to the Congress. Requires the Secretary to investigate any work-related death or serious incident (i.e. one resulting in hospitalization of two or more employees). Requires the employer to: (1) notify the Secretary of any death or serious incident occurring in a place of employment covered by OSHA; and (2) prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence that would assist in investigating such death or incident. Requires OSHA citations to state if the Secretary or the Secretary's representative believes that an alleged violation is serious and presents such a substantial risk to the safety or health of employees that initiation of review proceedings should not suspend the running of the period for correction of the violation. Revises the correction period to make it begin to run from the date of receipt of the citation, with specified exceptions. Requires employers to verify the abatement of a serious, willful, or repeated violation in writing to the Secretary within 30 days after the correction period has expired. Requires employers, within ten days after verification of abatement, to prominently post notice of such abatement at or near each place the violation occurred and to make a copy of the verification available to employers and employee representatives. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations implementing such abatement verification and notice requirements. Grants employees the right to contest: (1) citations' designations of the character of the violation or of the OSHA provision, standard, rule, regulation, or order violated (in addition to contesting the abatement period, as in current law); and (2) proposed penalties as inadequate. Grants employee representatives the right to participate in other proceedings (as well as hearings) conducted under specified OSHA enforcement procedures. Requires, if the Secretary intends to withdraw or modify a citation as a result of any agreement with the employer, the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (Commission) rules of procedure to provide for prompt notice to affected employees or their representatives. Grants employees or their representative, regardless of whether they have previously elected to participate in the proceedings, the right to file a notice alleging that the proposed agreement fails to effectuate the purposes of OSHA within 15 days after receipt of notice of the agreement. Directs the Secretary to consider the matter and, upon determination to proceed with the agreement, respond with particularity to the objections. Grants employees or their representative, within 15 days after the Secretary's response, the right to a hearing upon request to the Commission. Provides that if the Commission determines the proposed agreement fails to effectuate the purposes of OSHA, the proposed agreement shall not be entered as a Commission order and the citation shall not be withdrawn or modified in accordance with the proposed agreement. Revises OSHA provisions for restraining imminent dangers. Directs the Secretary to inform the employer and the affected employees and request that a condition or practice that poses an imminent danger be corrected immediately or that employees be immediately removed from exposure to such danger. Requires such actions if the Secretary determines, on the basis of an inspection or investigation, that a condition or practice in the place of employment is such that an imminent danger to safety or health exists which could reasonably be expected to cause death, serious physical harm, or permanent impairment of health or functional capacity of employees if not corrected immediately. Directs the Secretary to determine whether to post a notice in the workplace if the employer refuses to comply with the Secretary's request. Requires that such notice identify the source of the imminent danger. Grants employees the right to refuse to perform a duty that has been identified as the source of an imminent danger by such a notice, and prohibits discrimination against them for such refusal. Subjects an employer to a civil penalty of from $10,000 to $50,000 for each day during which an employee continues to be exposed if the employer does not immediately correct the hazard referred to in the posted notice or remove all employees from exposure to it, unless the Commission determines that the condition or practice is not covered by such imminent danger provisions. Revises OSHA criminal penalties to increase the maximum amount of fines and the length of prison terms for specified violations, including those for a willful violation causing death, an improper advance notice of an inspection, or a false statement. Establishes criminal penalties for a willful violation that causes serious bodily injury. Prohibits a penalty or fine which is imposed on a director, officer, or agent of an employer from being paid out of the employer's assets on behalf of that individual. Provides that nothing in OSHA shall preclude State and local law enforcement agencies from conducting criminal prosecutions in accordance with State or local laws. Title VI: Protection of Employees from Discrimination - Revises OSHA antidiscrimination provisions to extend coverage to an employee's: (1) reporting any injury, illness, or unsafe condition to the employer, employer's agent, safety and health committee, or employee safety and health representative; and (2) refusing to perform duties when reasonably apprehensive that doing so would result in serious injury to himself/herself or other employees, after having sought and been unable to obtain from the employer corrections of the circumstances causing such refusal. Revises procedures for consideration of complaints of discrimination. Increases the period for filing such complaints from 30 to 180 days after the alleged discrimination. Requires the Secretary, within 60 days after receipt of the complaint, to investigate and notify the complainant and the alleged violator of the findings. Requires such findings to be accompanied by a preliminary order providing relief, if the Secretary has concluded that there is reasonable cause to believe a violation has occurred. Allows the alleged violator or the complainant to file, within 30 days, objections to the findings and/or the preliminary order, and to request a hearing on the record. Provides that such filing of objections shall not operate to stay any reinstatement remedy in the preliminary order. Requires such hearings to be conducted expeditiously. Deems the preliminary order a final order not subject to judicial review if a hearing is not timely requested. Directs the Secretary to issue a final order within 120 days after the conclusion of such hearing. Allows such proceedings to be terminated at any time in the interim on the basis of a settlement agreement by the Secretary, the complainant, and the alleged violator. Requires the Secretary, upon determination that a violation of antidiscrimination provisions has occurred, to order: (1) correction of the violation; (2) reinstatement to the former position with all compensation (including back pay), terms, conditions, and privileges of such employment; and (3) compensatory damages. Authorizes the Secretary, upon request of the complainant, to assess against the person against whom such order is issued all costs and expenses (including attorney's fees) incurred by the complainant in connection with bringing the complaint. Allows adversely affected or aggrieved persons to petition within 60 days to obtain review of such orders in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit. Directs the Secretary to file a civil action in the appropriate U.S. district court to enforce such orders against persons who fail to comply. Authorizes such court to grant appropriate relief. Provides that the legal burdens of proof that prevail under the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 shall govern adjudication of protected activities under OSHA antidiscrimination provisions. Title VII: OSHA and NIOSH Training and Education - Revises OSHA provisions for training and education. Includes education programs for employees and members of safety and health committees, as appropriate, among those programs which the Secretary of HHS is to conduct through NIOSH. Requires the Secretary (of Labor) to develop training materials, model curricula, and programs to assist employers in: (1) providing the training and education required under the new provisions for employer occupational safety and health programs; and (2) complying with OSHA standards. Title VIII: Recordkeeping and Reporting - Revises OSHA provisions relating to statistics to require the Secretary to collect information and conduct analyses that identify: (1) industries, employers, processes, operations, and occupations that have a high rate of injury or illness; (2) factors that cause or contribute to injuries and illnesses; and (3) workers' compensation costs associated with the injuries and illnesses. Requires such data to be publicly available in a form suitable for further statistical analysis, and to be used in setting safety and health standards, targeting inspections of individual establishments, and evaluating standard setting and enforcement programs. Directs the Secretary to require each employer covered by OSHA to report: (1) each work-related death of an employee immediately upon knowledge; and (2) each serious incident resulting in hospitalization of two or more employees within 24 hours of the incident. Revises OSHA requirements for employer records and reports to include (in addition to work-related deaths, injuries, and illnesses) suspected work-related illnesses, including a work-related illness reported by an employee or an employee's physician, unless the employer makes a reasonable determination that the illness is not work-related. Provides that all such employer records and reports shall be made available to the Secretary, the Secretary of HHS, employees, and employee representatives. Title IX: NIOSH - Revises OSHA provisions relating to duties of the Secretary of HHS acting through NIOSH. Includes under hazard evaluation reports an evaluation of whether any hazardous condition or harmful physical agent found in the place of employment poses a risk to exposed employees. Directs the Secretary of HHS, if a final determination of hazard is not made within six months of a request, to provide to the employer and employees an interim report on the known or suspected hazards, a recommendation for control, and an estimate of the time in which a final determination will be made. Directs the Secretary of HHS to identify major factors contributing to occupational injuries and deaths through accident investigations and epidemiological research. Directs the Secretary of HHS to carry out a program to identify and notify employees at increased risk of occupational illnesses, injuries, and deaths, including public information and education programs, and recommendations for appropriate medical surveillance. Requires notification, if they are found to be at increased risk, of subjects of studies funded or conducted by the Secretary of HHS under such program. Specifies that the authority of the Secretary of HHS, and of NIOSH, to inspect records extends to the Secretary's designees and contractors. Directs the Secretary of HHS, through NIOSH (and in cooperation with other HHS agencies and the Secretary of Labor), to establish a national surveillance program to identify cases of occupational illnesses, deaths, and serious injuries. Requires coordination with State health agencies and Federal and State workers' compensation agencies under such program. Directs the Secretary of HHS to collect data each year on the number and characteristics of all occupational deaths and selected occupational illnesses and injuries. Requires, in making such selections, consideration of known frequency and severity of the disorder and of the size of the population at risk. Directs the Secretary of HHS to report on and analyze the occupational deaths, illnesses, and injuries collected under such program, and transmit such information to the Secretary of Labor, State health agencies, employers, employees, and other interested parties. Authorizes the Secretary of HHS to require an employer, through a physician or health professional employed by or under contract to the employer, to report information on occupational deaths, illnesses, and injuries. Establishes NIOSH as a separate agency within the U.S. Public Health Service in the Department of HHS. Title X: State Plans - Revises OSHA requirements for State plans to provide for: (1) development of safety and health programs and safety and health committees and training programs that are at least as effective as those under the new OSHA requirements; and (2) reporting requirements, protection of employee rights, and access to information that are at least as effective as those under OSHA or other Federal laws governing access to information related to OSHA. Requires the State to enforce the Federal standard until a State standard at least as effective is in effect, if a State fails to adopt or promulgate such a standard within six months after the Federal standard is promulgated. Requires the Secretary (of Labor) to: (1) promptly investigate complaints against a State plan if there are reasonable grounds to believe a deficiency exists; (2) investigate complaints alleging a deficiency in a State enforcement action within 30 days of receipt; and (3) within 30 days of completion of the investigation, transmit findings and recommendations for correction to the State and complainant (or notify the complainant if there are no reasonable grounds to believe a deficiency exists). Requires a State to respond as to what action it has taken on the Secretary's findings and recommendations within 30 days of their receipt. Directs the Secretary to issue a citation with reasonable promptness if, after receipt of the State's response, the Secretary believes a serious violation of OSHA exists for which the State has failed to issue a citation. Requires the Secretary, upon determination that there are reasonable grounds to conclude there is a failure to comply substantially with any provision or assurance of the State plan, to: (1) notify the State and allow six months for correction of deficiencies; (2) institute proceedings for withdrawal of approval of the State plan, if the State has not corrected the deficiencies within six months (unless there are exceptional circumstances); and (3) during the pendency of such proceedings, exercise concurrent jurisdiction with the State over the safety and health issues that are subject to the State plan. Requires States operating State safety and health plans to modify them to conform to this Act. Title XI: Victim's Rights - Sets forth provisions for victims' rights under OSHA. Defines a victim as: (1) an employee who has sustained a work-related injury or illness which is the subject of an OSHA inspection or investigation; or (2) the family member of an employee who either is killed or cannot reasonably exercise victim's rights as a result of such an injury or illness. Grants victims the right, on request, to: (1) meet with the Secretary or a representative respecting the inspection or investigation before the Secretary's decision to issue a citation or to take no action; (2) receive a free copy of any citation or report issued as a result of the inspection or investigation; (3) be informed of any notice of contest filed; (4) be provided an explanation of the rights of employees and employee representatives to participate in OSHA enforcement proceedings; and (5) be provided an opportunity to appear and make a statement before the parties conducting any settlement negotiations before the Secretary agrees to withdraw or modify the citation. Provides that a victim shall have the same rights as an employee under OSHA enforcement procedures. Entitles a victim, if such victims' rights are violated, to declaratory relief, injunctive relief, recovery of costs of securing specified documents, and reasonable attorney's fees and costs. Directs the Secretary to take reasonable actions to inform victims of these rights. Title XII: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1991
Audio Home Recording Act of 1991 - Amends Federal copyright law to: (1) set forth definitions relating to digital audio recording devices and media; and (2) prohibit certain copyright infringement actions based on the manufacture, importation, or distribution of a digital or analog audio recording device or medium, or the use of such device or medium for making phonorecords, except when done for commercial advantage. Sets forth a mandatory recordation and filing procedure for the importation, manufacture, or distribution in the United States of digital audio recording devices or media. Requires importers and manufacturers to file quarterly and annual statements of account with the Register of Copyrights (the Register). Mandates Register verification of such statements. Sets forth verification guidelines. States that verification audit costs shall be borne by interested copyright parties. Sets forth confidentiality guidelines with respect to such mandatory statements of accounts. Prescribes royalty payment guidelines for digital audio recording devices and media imported, manufactured, or distributed in the United States. Requires that royalty payments be deposited into the Treasury. Identifies interested copyright parties entitled to royalty payments. Prescribes royalty payment allocation and distribution procedures. Permits alternative royalty collection and distribution arrangements to be negotiated among interested copyright and manufacturing parties. Maintains the Copyright Tribunal jurisdiction over such negotiated arrangements insofar as nonparticipant interests are affected. Prohibits: (1) the importation, manufacture, and distribution of any digital audio recording device or audio interface device that does not conform to certain standards and specifications to implement the Serial Copy Management System; and (2) the circumvention of such System. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to publish in the Federal Register a certain Technical Reference Document which sets forth the standards and specifications pertinent to the Serial Copy Management System. Authorizes the Secretary to implement such System according to the prescribed guidelines. Sets forth civil remedies for violations of this Act, including impoundment, remedial modification and destruction of non-complying devices, and binding arbitration.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1991
Monetary Policy Reform Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Reserve Act to establish the Federal Open Market Advisory Committee to advise the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on the conduct of open-market operations.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1991
Extends nondiscriminatory treatment (most-favored-nation treatment) to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania upon conclusion of the Agreement on Trade Relations between the United States and the Soviet Union granting it most-favored-nation status.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1991
Recognizes and grants a Federal charter to the Military Order of the World Wars, a nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of the District of Columbia.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1991
Medicare Enrollment Improvement and Protection Act of 1991 - Title I: Improving Enrollment - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services' annual notice to Medicare beneficiaries to inform certain low-income Medicare beneficiaries of the requirements to qualify for Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) payment of their premiums, deductibles, and copayments under Medicare and how to apply for such benefit. Requires the notice described above to be prepared in a manner suitable for posting and distributed to physicians, hospital offices, and other medical facilities. Requires the Secretary to establish a toll-free telephone number for information about such benefit. Amends the Medicaid program to require the Secretary to develop a simplified form for applying for such benefit for processing at social security offices. Amends the Medicare program to provide for mandating direct enrollment of part A (Hospital Insurance) eligibles. Directs the Secretary to make grants to State agencies and approved organizations for the provision of outreach assistance to older individuals who may be eligible for such benefit. Authorizes appropriations to fund such grant program. Title II: Retroactivity - Amends the Medicaid program to permit retroactive payments of medical costs incurred by certain low-income Medicare beneficiaries in or after the third month before the month in which such an individual applied to have Medicaid cover such costs. Title III: Refunds - Allows those individuals whose incomes would have qualified them for Medicaid payment of Medicare costs, but who were not eligible for such benefit because they did not apply, to apply to have such costs refunded. Title IV: Report - Directs the Secretary to submit reports to the Congress on Department activities to ensure enrollment and full implementation of the program under the Social Security Act for Medicaid payment of Medicare costs and the effectiveness of each such activity, along with any recommendations for appropriate legislation.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1991
Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility and Home Health Benefit Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) eliminate the requirement that extended care services be provided within a certain period following hospitalization in order to be covered under the Hospital Insurance Program; and (2) cover nursing care and home health aid services provided or needed on an intermittent basis.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1991
Designates November 1991 as National Accessible Housing Month.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1991
Designates the week beginning September 1, 1991, as National Campus Crime and Security Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 1991
Fruit and Vegetable Producers Emergency Assistance Act of 1991 - Title I: Emergency Crop Loss Assistance - Subtitle A: Fruits and Vegetables - Provides disaster payments for and prevented planting credit for fruit and vegetable producers who suffered 1991 crop reductions due to 1990 or 1991 adverse weather conditions. Bases payment rates on crop loss percentages. Makes payments on a crop-by-crop basis. Prohibits 1991 payments unless a producer agrees to obtain 1992 and 1993 crop insurance, with specified exceptions. Authorizes 1991 crop quality reduction payments for producers incurring specified crop production deficiencies. Limits the Federal share of such assistance to 50 percent. Reduces disaster payments for producers receiving Federal crop insurance payments. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) program fund transfers; (2) de minimis yields; and (3) producer eligibility. Prohibits double payments on replanted acreage. Subtitle B: Administrative Provisions - Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) timing and manner of assistance; (2) use of the Commodity Credit Corporation; (3) duplicative payments; and (4) authorization of emergency designation of outlays. Title II: Other Emergency Provisions - Provides disaster assistance loan guarantees (through the Rural Development Insurance Fund) for rural businesses adversely affected by 1990 or 1991 weather conditions. Limits: (1) individual guarantees to $500,000; and (2) aggregate program guarantees to $300,000,000. Amends the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to authorize disaster assistance for rehabilitation or restoration of damaged trees. Increases assistance limits. Amends the emergency grants for low-income migrant and seasonal worker program to: (1) increase assistance limits; (2) include packing house workers; and (3) provide housing cost assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 1991
Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 - Establishes an emergency unemployment compensation program. Allows any State to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under which the State agency which administers the State unemployment compensation law will make payments of emergency unemployment compensation: (1) to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under State law, have no rights to such regular compensation or any additional State or Federal compensation, and are not receving Canadian compensation; and (2) for any week of unemployment beginning in the individual's eligibility period. Sets forth provisions relating to exhaustion of regular benefits and weekly amount of emergency benefits equal to regular benefits. Requires a State, under such an agreement, to establish an emergency unemployment compensation account with respect to the benefit year of each eligible individual who files an application. Limits benefit payments to not more than the amount in the individual's account. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount in such account. Provides that such amount shall be equal to the lesser of: (1) 100 percent of the total amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable to the individual with respect to the most recent regular benefit year; or (2) the applicable limit times the average weekly benefit amount for the benefit year. Sets the applicable limit at: (1) 20 for an eight-percent period, i.e. one triggered by a total unemployment rate (TUR) of eight percent or more in the State, seasonally adjusted, for the most recent six calendar months with available data; (2) 13 for a seven-percent period; (3) seven for a six-percent period; and (4) four for any other period. Sets forth special rules relating to such applicable limits. Requires reduction in such account by the amount of extended benefits received by the individual relating to the same benefit year under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970. Sets the weekly benefit amount at the amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable under the State law to the individual for such week for total unemployment. Provides for determination of periods and applicable triggers. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions for the eligibility of certain individuals for such benefits. Provides for payments to States having such agreements for emergency unemployment compensation. Sets forth financing provisions. Requires that funds in the extended unemployment compensation account of the Unemployment Trust Fund be used to make payments to States having agreements under this Act. Sets forth provisions relating to fraud and overpayments. Amends specified Federal law to repeal certain limitations on payment of unemployment compensation to former members of the armed forces. Reduces the length of required active duty by reserves for purposes of such payment. Sets forth reachback provisions. Amends the Social Security Act to establish an Advisory Council on Unemployment Compensation. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish such a council by February 1, 1992, and every fourth year thereafter. Requires each such council to evaluate the unemployment compensation program. Sets forth membership and staff provisions. Requires each council to report to the President and the Congress by January 1 of the second year following the year in which it is required to be established. Designates as emergency requirements, pursuant to the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, all direct spending amounts provided, and all appropriations authorized, by this Act (for all fiscal years). Provides that this Act shall not take effect unless, by its enactment date, the President submits to the Congress a written designation of all such direct spending amounts and authorized appropriations as such emergency requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1991
Securities Investor Protection Act of 1991 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to provide that private rights of action may be brought either: (1) five years from the date on which violations of this Act occurred; or (2) two years from the date on which such violation was discovered or should have been discovered through reasonable diligence.