United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1985
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present gold medals to Jan Scruggs, Robert Doubek, and Jack Wheeler, in recognition of their tireless efforts to give the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to the Nation. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to sell bronze duplicates of the medal. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1985
Young Astronaut Program Medal Act - Commemorates the Young Astronaut Program by directing the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and deliver to the Young Astronaut Council no more than 750,000 medals with emblems, devices, and inscriptions determined by the Secretary. Authorizes the Council to dispose of the medals at a premium and to have them delivered as required in quantities of no less than 2,000. Directs that no medals be struck after December 31, 1987. Directs the Secretary to set the price of the medals at no less than the manufacturing cost plus a surcharge of ten percent of such cost. Requires the furnishing of security sufficient to fully indemnify the United States for such costs. Directs that the medals be struck in gold, silver, and bronze and in such size or sizes as determined by the Secretary. Gives the U.S. Comptroller General the right to examine the records of the Council which are related to the medals.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1985
Toxic Release Control Act of 1985 - Title I: General Provisions - Applies national emission standards under the Clean Air Act only to those hazardous air pollutants for which a standard has been promulgated before this Act's enactment. States that standards promulgated pursuant to this Act supersede standards under the Clean Air Act for any particular pollutant. Identifies hazardous substances. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to publish within one year and revise annually a list of additional substances, including all those listed under the Clean Air Act's national emission standards provision. Requires the listing of substances which are released into the air and cause air pollution which can reasonably be expected to increase mortality, illness, or which are acutely or chronically toxic. Sets forth sources of listed carcinogens to be included. Requires the consideration of other substances listed by various Federal health-conscious sources, including all substances defined as hazardous under Superfund (the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980). Requires the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances to keep revised records of such substances. Permits the petitioning for additions to the list and limited judicial review of list decisions. Title II: Inventory, Monitoring, and Right-to-Know - Requires manufacturers or processors of over a specified amount of a substance listed under this Act to report annually to the Administrator on: (1) the identity, location, and rate of emission for each emmissions unit; (2) aggregate emissions figures; and (3) hazardous substance status sheets. Requires the Administrator to compile annually for each substance an inventory of total amounts released at both the State and national levels. Requires such inventory to be included in the National Library of Medicine Online Data Bank. Requires the Administrator to conduct public hearings on adverse health effects of a release upon petition by 20 or more persons. Requires the Administrator to conduct public hearings on adverse health effects of a release upon petition by 20 or more persons. Requires the Administrator to monitor and measure the ambient concentrations of each released hazardous substance in the air. Requires each covered manufacturer and processor to prepare a hazardous substance fact sheet for each substance, such sheet to include the appropriate chemical properties and emergency response information. Requires the updating of such fact sheet periodically. Requires such manufacturers and processors to prepare hazardous substance status sheets on each hazardous substance at each facility, setting forth the inventory, storage method, amounts released in normal business operations, and the quantity and method for disposing of any wastes containing such substance. Requires that copies of fact and status sheets be provided to the appropriate government official. Requires such manufacturers and processors to provide the appropriate government officials with emergency bulletins in the event of an emergency setting forth all pertinent information as to substance type, quantity, duration, and response taken. Requires that fact and status sheets and emergency bulletins be made available to the public. Directs the Governor of each State to designate the appropriate officials to receive the hazardous substances information, including State and local police and fire and health officials. Requires the manufacturers and processors to keep records of such information and for manufacturers to inform processors of such information. Authorizes the withholding of the name or identity of a substance if it is a trade secret so long as the generic category is disclosed and certain designated officials and health personnel have access to such information in case of any emergency. Sets forth procedures for requesting and substantiating a trade secret claim. Title III: Control of Releases from Stationary Sources - Directs the Administrator of EPA to promulgate leak control, monitoring, vapor recovery, and other equipment requirements to prevent the release of hazardous substances into the air from a manufacturer's or processor's devices or systems. Requires operation and maintenance standards and provides for biannual safety inspecting by the owner or operator of a covered facility. Directs the Administrator to promulgate uniform national mandatory labeling requirements for pipes, storage tanks, or containers used by covered manufacturers and processors, giving appropriate identification and response information. Requires the Administrator to conduct audits at least annually for each stationary source. Directs the Administrator to publish a list of all categories of stationary emissions units which release hazardous substances into the air, to be revised as necessary. Requires the Administrator to promulgate national standards for each category which provide an ample margin of safety to protect human health and safety. Sets forth a timetable for the promulgation of such standards, including the possibility of interim standards where the national standard could not be reached even with the application of all potential emission reduction measures. Limits interim standards to a six year maximum. Requires both interim and national standards to be at least as stringent as the most stringent level of control achievable in practice by any emissions unit in its category, determined by EPA to be achievable, or required under any Clean Air Act permit. Authorizes the Administrator to distinguish within categories of emissions units as to types, sizes, etc. for standards purposes. Requires the Administrator to review this Act's standards every eight years and Clean Air Act standards within four years. Applies this Act's standards for foreign emissions units. Requires covered manufacturers and processors to obtain a permit from the Administrator before modifying or constructing any emissions unit. Requires each unit to comply with the applicable limitation for each substance, with adjustments made for possible cumulative and synergistic effects. Permits interim limitations under the same conditions as apply to interim standards. Requires all existing stationary emissions units to operate under an Administrator's permit, complying with applicable limitations but allowing for cumulative effects, synergistic effects, and the need for interim limitations. Permits two year waivers of compliance with the leak prevention requirements. Permits emergency extensions of such waiver for three years if severe hardship would result from nonextension and compliance can be assured by the end of the extension. Requires the Governor of an affected State to be notified of any extension application. Requires the President to report all granted extensions to the Congress. Requires all permits to include monitoring requirements, including the monitoring of air in the affected community. Requires such information to be reported to the Administrator and made available to the public. Sets forth procedures, conditions, terms, and fee requirements for such permits, allowing one three year renewal of the three-year permit term. Requires permit standards for emissions to be at least as stringent as the applicable interim or national standards. Lists extremely hazardous substances, requiring the Administrator to revise such list. Includes those substances which by their physical and chemical properties present the greater danger to health and safety in their manufacturing, processing, or use. Directs the Administrator to review periodically the manufacturing and processing methods for such substances, evaluating alternative methods and approaches to reduce the risk of release. Directs the Administrator to issue the necessary orders or withhold the necessary permits to assure that releases of such substances are at a level which is as safe as is technologically possible and do not present a danger to health and safety. Title IV: Control of Hazardous Substance Releases From Mobile Sources - Designates specified substances as motor vehicle hazardous substances, requiring the Administrator to revise the list of substances which are released into the ambient air by a motor vehicle and which may cause illness or are acutely and chronically toxic. Makes the duties of the Administrator under these provisions nondiscretionary and therefore enforceable through citizen suits. Requires manufacturers of motor vehicles, their parts and fuels to report to the Administrator on any substance which is generated in normal use and should be on the hazardous substances list. Directs the Administrator to promulgate emissions standards for each substance listed, permitting interim standards where the application of all potential emission reduction measures would not result in compliance. Limits interim standards to six years. Sets forth minimum emission standards for diesel particulates for light and heavy duty vehicles for specified model years. Requires the Administrator to control the use of fuel and fuel additives. Prohibits the use of lead or lead additives in gasoline after 1986. Title V: Liability -Makes liability joint and several for processors and manufacturers releasing hazardous substances into the air. Makes compensable: (1) medical and burial costs; (2) lost income; (3) pain and suffering; and (4) economic loss. Sets forth acceptable proofs of causation of harm. Establishes a three year statute of limitations for such actions, running from the date of reasonable discovery of harm or the date of this Act's enactment. Provides for no preemption of State law in the area of liability. Requires recovery under workers' compensation rather than this Act where possible. Title VI: Emergency Response and Labeling - Requires each covered major manufacturer to develop within two years a comprehensive evacuation and emergency response plan which provides the names and numbers of the appropriate government officials and manufacturing personnel to contact or be contacted in case of a hazardous substance emergency along with a description of measures to be taken to mitigate expected health effects. Requires such plan to evaluate the resources available in the community and to specify emergency evacuation and notification plans. Authorizes each Governor to designate emergency response districts with Emergency Response Committees to evaluate a manufacturer's emergency plan. Directs the Administrator to designate covered major manufacturers within one year of enactment, but considers all manufacturers and processors major in the absence of such designation. Includes Federal agencies and departments where appropriate. Exempts those major manufacturers whose activities in an emergency are otherwise adequately covered by Federal or State law. Title VII: Enforcement - Establishes civil penalties for violations of this Act. Establishes criminal penalties for knowing or willful violation, including the knowing provision of false information. Empowers the Administrator to seek a restraining order through the courts or, if not practicable, to issue orders directly to protect the health of persons from an imminent and substantial endangerment presented by a hazardous substance. Limits the effectiveness of such orders to one day for direct Administrator orders or two days or longer as authorized by the court. Permits citizen action suits for violations of this Act, including actions against the Administrator for failure to act. Requires plaintiffs to notify the Administrator of an intent to file and permits such plaintiffs to intervene in State- or federally-initiated suits as a matter of right. Permits the Administrator or State to intervene in citizen action suits as a matter of right. Awards costs to the substantially prevailing plaintiff. Permits judicial review of this Act's regulations or emergency extension actions in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Title VIII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Authorizes States to establish and enforce stationary source emissions controls, subject to the Administrator's approval, including a State permit program. Requires the Administrator to audit such State programs periodically and provide grants to assist the implementation of such programs. Permits more stringent State disclosure, right-to-know, and emergency response requirements, giving such standards supersedence over otherwise applicable Federal standards. Permits States and local governments to impose fees on covered manufacturers and processors to cover regulatory costs. Exempts the implementation of this Act from otherwise applicable requirements including those of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1985
Superfund Expansion and Protection Act of 1985 - Title I: Provisions Relating Primarily to Response and Liability - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) (Superfund) to include among hazardous substances subject to such Act any petroleum released from an underground storage tank. Includes pollutants and contaminants under Superfund, defining them as any substance which after release into the environment causes disease or abnormalities upon exposure or assimilation, either directly or through the food chain. Excludes petroleum and natural gas except as otherwise indicated under CERCLA. Redefines "release" to include the abandonment of containers containing hazardous substances or pollutants, or contaminants. Includes within remedial action the offsite transport and treatment and storage of hazardous substances and associated contaminated materials. Includes within removal costs the costs of permanent relocation of residents, business debt installments during the evacuation period, and assistance for lost wages. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish reportable quantities for all hazardous substances within six months of this Act's enactment. Requires the Administrator to conduct periodic audits of reported releases and report to the Congress at least annually on such audits. Directs the Administrator to give primary attention to those releases which may present a public health threat. Permits the Administrator to authorize cleanup by the responsible party if the Administrator determines it will be done properly. Prohibits the Administrator from providing removal or remedial actions for releases or threatened releases which are the product of naturally occurring processes, are in a facility of which such substance forms a structural part, or are the result of ordinary use deterioration in a drinking water system. Permits the Administrator to respond despite such prohibition if a public health or environmental emergency exists and no other authority can respond in a timely and competent fashion. Requires removal actions undertaken by the Administrator to contribute to any long-term remedial action necessary for a release or potential release. Requires the Administrator to assess the health effects associated with such release. Exempts response action contractors from liability for any damages caused by a release in the absence of negligence. Limits the 50 percent State cleanup obligation to those facilities which are both owned and operated by the State. Credits States with expenditures made at National Priorities List (NPL) sites on cost-eligible response actions. Revises other State cost-sharing measures. Requires the Administrator to select appropriate cost-effective remedial actions in accordance with the National Contingency Plan, (NCP). Requires remedial actions selected to provide permanent solutions when feasible. Requires the Administrator to provide interim measures which protect human and environmental health until a permanent solution becomes feasible. Requires these Interim Category sites on the NPL to be reviewed at five-year intervals for removal to the NPL when a feasible, permanent solution is possible. Requires a standard of control at least as strict as that provided by any other applicable Federal environmental law such as the Clean Water Act. Requires onsite disposal to be in compliance with the relevant provisions of the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Requires offsite disposal to be made only at facilities in compliance with such Act. Permits the waiver of such requirements as specified. Grants EPA employees or contractors the necessary access to facilities and information to determine if the need for a response action exists. Requires the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to develop toxicological profiles for at least 100 hazardous substances, assessing the current state of knowledge of their deleterious effects. Sets forth a schedule for developing such profiles, funding the process out of Superfund monies. Prescribes a cleanup schedule for Superfund, requiring an evaluation by January 1, 1987, of sites on the Emergency Response and Remedial Investigation System (ERRIS) list for possible inclusion on the NPL. Sets a schedule for the conduct of remedial investigations and feasibility studies (RIFS) for NPL sites, requiring the commencement of remedial action at a rate of not fewer than 150 facilities per year. Requires completion of remedial action within five years of this Act's enactment, requiring published explanations of noncompletions. Directs the Administrator to revise the National Contingency Plan (NCP) within 18 months to reflect this Act's amendments. Authorizes individuals to petition the Administrator for a preliminary assessment of a hazardous substance release. Includes human food chain damage and contamination of the ambient air as factors in the hazard ranking system. Eliminates the requirement that the NPL contain at least 400 sites. Permits a State to designate its highest priority facility on the NPL only once. Directs the Administrator to revise abatement action provisions to comply with this Act. States that there is no judicial review of abatement action orders other than orders enforcing such orders or recovery of penalties and punitive damages. Prohibits the subsequent storage of a hazardous waste at a solid Waste Disposal Act site if such waste has leaked sufficiently to require an abatement action and a certain density of population has been or may be affected. Makes certain investigatory and assessment costs recoverable from the responsible party. Exempts from liability for all but negligent actions of government agencies responding to a hazardous substance emergency. Prohibits the Attorney General from representing any Federal agency other than EPA who may be a defendant in a civil environmental action brought by EPA. Presumes the validity of federally- or State-run lab tests. Permits apportionment of damages among parties. Makes liability for abatement actions strict, joint, and several. Permits defendants to bring contribution actions against other, potential defendants. Makes a party to a judically-approved settlement not liable for claims for contribution. States that cleanup costs incurred in a response action constitute a Federal lien against the property of a responsible party. Sets forth evidentiary requirements for establishing financial responsibility. Permits direct action against a financial guarantor if the person liable is financially or physically unavailable for redress. Entitles such a guarantor to all rights and defenses available to the liable party. Limits the liability of such guarantor to its financial responsibility to the responsible party. Authorizes appropriations to the Hazardous Substance Superfund of not more than $2,020,000,000 for each of FY 1986 through 1990. Authorizes $250,000,000 out of general revenues. Prohibits the use of Superfund monies to satisfy claims for natural resources damage. Requires the Inspector General to audit annually the use of Superfund monies. Requires claims for response costs to first be made to the responsible parties or financial guarantor. Sets forth procedures for claim payment. Establishes a three-year statute of limitations for the initiation of actions for contribution for recovery claims for damages to natural resources. Establishes a six-year statute of limitations for cost recovery actions setting forth special rules for minors and incompetents. Requires the promulgation of natural resource assessment damage claims regulations within six months of this Act's enactment. Authorizes nationwide service of process under CERCLA. Authorizes a State to require contributions to a fund to pay the costs of hazardous substance response actions or damages. Requires the Administrator of EPA to provide a reasonable opportunity for public comment on any proposed plan for remedial action before it is implemented. Requires the Administrator to publish an explanation of any divergences from such plan or public comments. Authorizes the Administrator to make assistance available to affected individuals to help them evaluate and assess technical information and data. Authorizes individuals to petition the Administrator of EPA for a health assessment of a site where evidence of human exposure to hazardous substances exists. Requires the Administrator to either initiate a health effects study or publish an explanation of a determined lack of significant risk. Requires the Administrator to provide alternative household water, relocate individuals, or take such measures as may be necessary to eliminate the risk. Requires Federal agencies to notify buyers or transferees of Federal land where hazardous substances were disposed of or stored for one year or more. Holds responsible parties strictly, jointly, and severally liable in State court actions for personal damages caused by exposure to any hazardous substance release. Establishes a three-year statute-of-limitations for such actions, setting forth special rules for minor and incompetents. Title II: Miscellaneous Provisions - Authorizes citizen suits against violators of this Act, including the Administrator and other government officials who have failed to perform nondiscretionary duties. Permits citizen suits against nongovernment officials in the Federal district court in which the violation occurred. Permits citizen suits against any Federal official only in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Empowers such courts to impose civil penalties and to order the performance of required acts. Requires plaintiffs to give notice to the Administrator, the alleged violator, and the State in which the violation occurred before commencing proceedings. Prohibits citizen suits where the Administrator has commenced and is pursuing an enforcement action. Permits the awarding of court costs to the substantially prevailing party. States that the United States may intervene as a matter of right in all citizen suits to which it is not otherwise a party. Requires the Administrator to commence a study on the adverse effects of drilling fluids, produced waters, and other wastes associated with the production of crude oil or natural gas on human health and the environment within six months of this Act's enactment. Requires the Department of Transportation to promulgate regulations requiring shippers to notify transporters whenever hazardous substances are offered for transport. Increases criminal penalties and adds certain civil penalties for violations of this Act, including failure to provide accurate information at specified times. Requires the Federal Government to provide assurances that it will pay a share of the remedial action and maintenance costs of a cleanup on Indian lands that is otherwise required to be made by a State. Authorizes Indian tribes to recover damages for injury to natural resources from hazardous substance releases, except as specified. Includes Indian tribes on the same basis as States under certain provisions of CERCLA. Terminates the Post-closure Liability Trust Fund's responsibility to fund the cleanup of already closed sites where hazardous waste was stored in compliance with the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Title III: Community Right to Know and Emergency Planning - Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act by adding a new title II concerning the communities' right-to-know, emergency planning, and liability. Requires each covered manufacturer, distributor, user, and importer of a sheet for such substance for distribution to local police, fire, and health officials. Requires the fact sheet to include the name, physical properties of, and hazards posed by the substance, including potential routes of human exposure to such substance, symptoms of such exposure, and appropriate emergency and first aid procedures. Requires status sheets on the same basis as fact sheets, with each status sheet to include the maximum inventory and method of storage of the substance, the quantity of its emission into the environment, and the quantity and method of disposal. Requires the releasor of a covered hazardous substance in an emergency situation to provide an emergency bulletin to the State and local police and other local officials. Requires the bulletin to identify the name and amount of the substance released and the response actions taken. Requires fact and status sheets and emergency bulletins to be made available for public inspection with public notice of such availability at the facility of the potential releasor. Requires the Administrator to publish a uniform format for fact and status sheets. Authorizes a State's Governor to identify local officials to receive covered hazardous substance release information, with the Administrator doing so in the absence of the Governor's identification. Requires the potential releasors to maintain records of information required by this Act. Requires manufacturers or importers to transmit fact sheets to covered distributors or users upon shipping of a covered hazardous substance. Provides protection for trade secrets while continuing to make necessary information available to the appropriate persons. Excludes listed or possible carcinogens from such protection. Sets forth application and substantiation procedures for trade secret claims. Permits affected citizens or government officials to compel disclosure of nonsubstantiated trade secrets through the Federal courts. Authorizes the Administrator to grant exemptions from the basic notification requirements of this Act through specified procedures open to the public based upon a cost-benefits analysis where there is no reasonable likelihood of harm. Directs each covered major manufacturer to develop within two years of the enactment of this Act a comprehensive evacuation and emergency response plan which addresses the health and safety issues applicable to such manufacturer's particular situation. Requires the plan to include designations of the appropriate government officials to be notified, mitigation measures, evacuation routes, notification plans, and evaluation of community support services. Authorizes each Governor to designate emergency response districts within 18 months of the enactment of this Act or the Administrator will do so. Permits each Governor to appoint an Emergency Response Committee per district or the Administrator will be treated as such Committee. Requires such Committees to review the manufacturers' plans, revising them where necessary. Directs the Administrator within 18 months of the enactment of this Act to develop uniform national mandatory labeling requirements for pipes, storage tanks, or containers not otherwise required to be labeled which could reasonably be presumed to release a covered hazardous substance. Requires the label to indicate the appropriate response to a release. Directs the Administrator to designate covered major manufacturers for emergency response purposes within one year of the enactment of this Act. Limits the designation to those whose substances would pose an imminent and substantial danger to health and the environment if released in significant quantities. Includes all persons covered under this Act in lieu of such designations. Includes Federal departments as potentially covered major manufacturers. Exempts those whose emergency activities are sufficiently covered under other Federal or State law. Sets forth categories of substances to be considered covered hazardous substances and procedures for adding additional substances. Directs the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to compile and update a digest of all such substances. Exempts certain substances for this Act's purposes, based upon the form, amount, and other regulation of such substances. Establishes civil and criminal penalties, limiting criminal penalties to the knowing violation of emergency requirements. Authorizes citizens' suits to enforce this Act. Permits States to adopt more stringent right-to-know standards in the workplace context and emergency response requirements. Permits State and local governments to impose fees upon potential releasors to cover administrative costs. Title IV: Internal Revenue Code Provisions - Imposes taxes of $1,077,000,000 for each of FY 1986 through 1990 for deposit in the Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1985
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit willful or malicious interference with the radio communications of any station licensed or authorized by such Act or operated by the U.S. Government.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the executive branch should release appropriations for the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1985
Expedited Funds Availability Act - Requires the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to begin to develop a system to provide that: (1) funds deposited by checks drawn on a local depository institution shall be available for withdrawal the next business day following the day of deposit; and (2) for all other checks, not more than three business days shall pass between the day of deposit and the day on which the funds become available. Requires such system to be implemented no later than five years after the date of enactment of this Act. Requires the Board, not later than six months after the date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter until such goal is achieved, to report to the Congress concerning the actions it has taken. Sets forth time standards for expedited check clearing in any case in which funds are deposited by check in an account at a depository institution. Requires cash deposits to be available on the next business day. Makes exceptions to such standards with respect to: (1) checks drawn on a depository institution or an office of a depository institution located outside of the United States; (2) deposits of checks aggregating more than $5,000 in any account on any business day, excluding cashier's and certified checks beginning two years after enactment of this Act; (3) deposits made by new depositors within the first 30 days after opening an account, excluding cashier's and certified checks beginning two years after enactment of this Act; (4) any account that is overdrawn three times in six months; and (5) emergencies beyond the control of the depository institution. Permits a State to require, or a depository institution to provide for, shorter time periods for deposit availability. Requires interest to accrue on funds deposited in interest-bearing accounts beginning on the business day of deposit. Requires a depository institution to meet specified disclosure requirements concerning its general policy on the availability for withdrawal of funds deposited by check. Authorizes the Board to publish model disclosure forms and clauses for common transactions. Directs the Board to establish a Payments System Advisory Council to advise and consult with it in the exercise of its functions under this Act. Sets forth provisions governing: (1) the administrative enforcement of this Act; and (2) the civil liability of institutions that fail to comply with this title.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1985
National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act of 1985 - Title I: Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research - Establishes a ten-year coordinated program, to be known as the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Program, which will be implemented by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Establishes an Intergovernmental Science Board for Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research to facilitate the management and implementation of such program. Directs the Secretary to appoint an Administrator of Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Program to coordinate such program. Sets forth the functions of the Secretary with respect to such program including: (1) establishing a National Science Foundation administered matching grant program for specified nutritional and dietary purposes; and (2) submitting an annual report to the President and the Congress. Requires the Secretary to prepare and implement a comprehensive National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Plan which shall: (1) assess and report on U.S. nutritional and dietary trends; (2) assess and report on low-income food and household expenditures; (3) sponsor and conduct research; and (4) develop and update a national dietary and nutritional status data bank; (5) assist State and local agencies in developing procedures and networks for nutrition monitoring and surveillance; and (6) focus the activities of Federal agencies. Requires the plan to allocate the project functions and activities among the various Federal agencies and offices involved. Requires the Secretary to provide for and coordinate such scientific research and development as may be necessary to support the coordinated program and comprehensive plan. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: National Nutrition Monitoring Advisory Council - Establishes a 15-member Advisory Council to: (1) provide scientific and technical advice on the development and implementation of all components of the coordinated program and the comprehensive plan; (2) evaluate such program and plan; and (3) submit an annual report to the Secretary.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the administration should comply with the automatic appropriation and earmarking provisions of the Wallop/Breaux Sport Fish Restoration Trust Fund. States that funds owed to the States from such Fund should not be withheld or delayed.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1985
Field Office Closing Justification Act - Requires executive agencies (except the General Accounting Office and the Department of Defense) to report to the Congress prior to any personnel action respecting an employee assigned to any field office which is incidental to a reorganization of such field office. Describes such personnel action as removal, reduction in grade or pay, involuntary reassignment, or furlough.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1985
Nurse Education Act of 1985 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize funds for FY 1986 through 1988 for the nursing special projects programs. Authorizes additional projects that demonstrate: (1) clinical nurse education programs which combine educational curricula and clinical practice; (2) methods to improve access to nursing services in non-institutional settings; and (3) methods to encourage nursing graduates to practice in health manpower shortage areas. Revises the advanced nurse training program to authorize grants and contracts for programs that lead to masters' and doctoral degrees and prepare nurses to serve as nurse educators, administrators, researchers, or to serve in clinical nurse specialties which require advanced education. Authorizes appropriations for such programs for FY 1986 through 1988. Authorizes grants and contracts for schools of nursing and other nonprofit entities to meet the costs of programs for the education of nurse practitioners and nurse midwives. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988. Extends the authority for traineeships for nurse anesthetists. Provides financial assistance to nurse anesthetist faculty members for advanced education. Directs the Secretary to set dates by which schools of nursing must file applications for Federal capital contributions. Describes how such appropriations are to be allotted. Revises the date for the distribution of loan fund assets. Provides for the repayment of a specified portion of the balance of the student loan fund within 90 days when a school terminates its participation in such program. Repeals specified provisions of such Act dealing with Federal construction grants and assistance. Provides for the recovery of Federal construction assistance where such facility is: (1) sold or transferred to an entity which is not a public or nonprofit school; (2) no longer used for the purpose for which it was constructed; or (3) used for sectarian instruction or as a place for religious worship. Allows the Secretary to waive Federal recovery rights for good cause.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1985
Immigration Exclusion and Deportation Amendments of 1985 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make only the following classes of aliens ineligible to receive visas and be permitted admission into the United States: (1) any alien with a communicable disease of public health significance; (2) any alien with a record of behavior or mental impairment that poses a threat to property or safety; (3) any alien convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, with specified exceptions; (4) any alien convicted of two or more offenses for which the aggregate sentences actually imposed were five years or more; (5) any alien convicted of specified drug violations; (6) any alien who has engaged in terrorist activity against the United States or against a citizen of the United States; (7) any alien who participated in Nazi persecutions; (8) any alien deemed by the Attorney General as a probable security risk for certain specified reasons, including terrorist activity; (9) any alien who is likely to become a public economic burden; (10) any alien seeking to enter the United States for the purpose of performing skilled or unskilled labor, with certain qualified exceptions; (11) any alien who is a graduate of a medical school not accredited by a body approved for such purpose by the Secretary of Education, with certain exceptions; (12) any excluded or deported alien who seeks readmission within one year of the event, unless such readmission is consented to by the Attorney General; (13) any alien seeking to enter the United States by fraud or the willful misrepresentation of a material fact; (14) any stowaway alien; (15) any alien who aids any other alien in illegal entry; (16) any immigrant not in possession of a valid immigrant visa and passport at the time of admission; (17) any nonimmigrant not in possession of a valid passport authorizing the alien to return to the country from which he or she came; and (18) any alien ineligible for U.S. citizenship, including a person who left or remained outside the United States to avoid U.S. military service in time of war or national emergency. Repeals provisions dealing with bond and conditions for admission for permanent residence for retarded, tubercular, and mentally ill aliens. Makes deportable by the Attorney General only those aliens within one of the following classes: (1) any alien who at the time of entry was within one or more of the classes of aliens excludable by then existing law; (2) any alien entering the United States without inspection or at a time and place other than as designated by the Attorney General; (3) any alien admitted as a nonimmigrant who has failed to maintain such status; (4) any alien arriving from a foreign contiguous territory or adjacent islands who has not resided in such territory or islands for at least two years prior to such arrival; (5) any alien convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude committed within five years from the date of entry and who is either sentenced or confined for a term of one year or longer; (6) any alien who at any time after entry is convicted of two or more crimes involving moral turpitude; (7) any alien who at any time after entry is convicted of a violation of certain drug laws; (8) any alien who at any time after entry is convicted under weapons-possession laws; (9) any alien who at any time is convicted on any of various specified loyalty laws (e.g. sabotage, treason and sedition, selective service, etc.); (10) any alien who fails to comply with alien registration laws or foreign agent registration laws; (11) any alien convicted of fraud or misuse of visas or other entry documents; (12) any alien engaging in activity which endangers the public safety or national security, including terrorist activity; (13) any alien who within five years after entry has become a public economic burden; (14) any alien who has engaged in terrorist activity against the United States or against a citizen of the United States; or (15) any alien who participated in Nazi persecutions.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1985
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide that nursing care and home health aid services may be provided on a daily basis as home health services for up to 90 days with monthly physician certification of the need for such services, and after the 90 day period on a physician certification of exceptional circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1985
Medicare Vision Reform Act of 1985 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide coverage for all services provided by a doctor of optometry. (Current law permits coverage for optometric services only if related to the condition of aphakia). Requires payment for optometric services to be made on the basis of an assignment.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1985
Long Term Care Insurance Promotion and Protection Act of 1985 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with Federal and State regulatory agencies, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, private insurers, organizations representing consumers and the aged, and providers of long-term health care services, to establish model standards for the regulation of long-term health care insurance policies offered by private entities. Requires such standards to be designed to: (1) limit marketing and agent abuse; (2) assure the dissemination of such information to Medicare beneficiaries as is necessary to permit informed choice; (3) promote policies which provide reasonable economic benefits to such beneficiaries; (4) reduce the purchase of unnecessary duplicative coverage; and (5) improve price competition. Provides that such standards shall apply to long-term health care insurance policies in the same manner as they apply to Medicare supplemental policies. Sets forth reporting requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1985
Designates the week beginning on April 13, 1986, as National Garden Week. Urges the wearing of garden flowers during that week as a symbol of appreciation for the contributions of the Nation's gardeners.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1985
Motor Vehicle Safety Authorization Act of 1985 - Amends the following Acts to authorize appropriations for FY 1986 and 1987: (1) the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966; and (2) the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act with respect to bumper standards, automobile consumer information and odometer requirements. Prohibits the licensing of motor vehicles when the ownership is transferred unless: (1) the application for a new certificate of title is accompanied by the prior owner's title; and (2) the new certificate of title is printed in a specified manner indicating the odometer mileage. Authorizes States to submit alternative mileage disclosure requirements for the approval of the Secretary of Transportation. Provides that auction companies selling motor vehicles must maintain records showing: (1) the name of the most recent owner; (2) the vehicle identification number; and (3) the odometer reading on the date the auction company took possession of the vehicle. Requires such mileage information to be disclosed by the lessee of a leased motor vehicle when the lease ends or is transferred. Increases the civil penalty for violations of the odometer requirements from $1,000 to $2,000, and increases the criminal penalty for such violations from one to three years maximum imprisonment. Amends the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 to authorize a tire dealer or distributor whose business is not owned or controlled by a tire manufacturer to elect to be subject to tire registration requirements. Revises the restrictions on certain imported vehicles that do not conform to Federal standards. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to exempt certain motor vehicles or equipment from such restrictions for purposes of: (1) research, investigation, study, demonstration, training, or national security; (2) completion in the United States of an incomplete foreign-built vehicle or equipment item; or (3) importation by certain uniformed service members for personal use. Requires motor vehicle distributors to furnish dealers with the manufacturer's certification previously furnished to the distributor. Prohibits dealers from selling defective motor vehicles or motor vehicle equipment. Imposes criminal penalties upon manufacturers who knowingly and willfully fail to notify owners or purchasers of motor vehicle safety defects or of failures to comply with motor vehicle safety standards. Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to direct the Secretary to promulgate Federal motor vehicle safety standards, establishing passenger motor vehicle bumper system rating and labeling requirements. Requires that comparative information regarding bumper system impact speed rating be distributed to the public. Directs the Secretary to arrange with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study of the effectiveness of State motor vehicle safety inspection programs in reducing highway accidents and limiting the number of defective or unsafe motor vehicles on the highways. Requires completion of the study and transmittal to the Congress by September 1, 1985.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1985
Korean War Memorial Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to erect and maintain a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor members of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Korean War. Subjects the selected site, design, and plans for the construction of such memorial to the approval of the National Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1985
Space Weapons Treaty Act - Urges the President to seek the negotiation of: (1) a treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union with respect to mutual and verifiable limitations on the testing, production, deployment, and use of space directed or space based weapons systems; and (2) an agreement with the Soviet Union for a moratorium on the testing of anti-satellite weapons. Directs the President to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1985
Establishes in the legislative branch of the Government the Perot Commission on Americans Missing in Southeast Asia to conduct an investigation and report to the Congress its findings with respect to the existence and the release of prisoners of war in Southeast Asia. Sets forth specified administrative procedures and powers of the Commission. Requires the Commission to terminate 30 days after the filing of its report to the Congress or on January 3, 1987, whichever occurs first.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1985
Immigration Reform Act of 1985 - Title I: Control of Illegal Immigration - Part A: Preventing Displacement of Domestic Workers by Unauthorized Aliens - Directs the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Attorney General and with the Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, to submit to the Congress an alien labor enforcement plan for FY 1986. Directs the Secretary to submit to the Congress an updated plan for FY 1987. Authorizes supplemental FY 1986 and 1987 appropriations for such enforcement activities by the Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board. Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act to establish a civil penalty for specified recordkeeping violations. Part B: Improvement of Enforcement and Services - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize supplementary FY 1985 appropriations for Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) enforcement activities. Authorizes FY 1986 and 1987 appropriations for INS. Directs the Attorney General to submit a plan to the Congress for FY 1985 supplemental personnel and resources, and to revise such plan for FY 1986 and 1987. States that increases in enforcement activities should be used predominantly for border area patrol. Establishes criminal penalties for unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens to the United States for commercial advantage or private profit. Directs the Attorney General, jointly with the Secretary of State, to initiate antismuggling program discussions with Canada and Mexico and to report on such discussions to the Congress within one year. Directs the Attorney General to develop an INS immigration emergency plan, and to submit such plan to the appropriate congressional committees. Authorizes the Attorney General to request supplementary appropriations if the President has determined that such an emergency exists. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish an inservice training program to familiarize INS personnel with the rights of citizens and the various cultural backgrounds of persons they may come in contact with; and (2) enhance the INS community outreach program. Permits the owner or operator of an international bridge or toll road to request the Attorney General to inspect and approve measures taken to prevent aliens from illegally crossing into the United States. States that such approved measures shall be prima facie evidence of compliance with obligations under such Act to prevent illegal entries. Part C: Adjudication and Enforcement Powers and Procedures - Creates a seven-member United States Immigration Board as an independent agency within the Department of Justice to hear appeals from: (1) final decisions of administrative law judges (other than voluntary departure); (2) the exercise of certain discretionary authority; (3) imposition of penalties and fines; and (4) determinations respecting bond, parole, and detention. States that the Board's determination shall be binding on all immigration judges, immigration officers, and consular officers unless judicially modified. Requires the President to nominate Board members within 45 days. Replaces the existing special inquiry officer system with a system of immigration judges. Grants such judges responsibility for exclusion, deportation, asylum, and status rescission cases. Limits the Attorney General's authority to arrest and detain an alien pending determination of deportability. Requires such determination proceedings to be open to the public unless requested otherwise by the alien. Requires related bail determination within 24 hours. Sets forth determination factors, including factors requiring release without bond. Provides for an administrative de novo determination. Permits the Attorney General to revoke an alien's bond or conditional release and detain such person for reasonable cause. Permits an immigration officer or employee to stop and temporarily detain a person if the officer has a reasonable belief based on specific, articulable facts, that such person is illegally in the United States. Requires a determination of deportability to be made within 24 hours of arrest. Requires an alien to be advised orally and in writing of the reasons for arrest and his or her rights in English or in such person's native language. Requires advisement of right of counsel and right to remain silent. Provides for both searches with warrants and warrantless searches. Title II: Reform of Legal Immigration and Naturalization - Part A: Immigrants - Increases annual visas: (1) from 20,000 to 40,000 each for Mexico and Canada (with the unused portion available to the other country); and (2) from 600 to 3,000 for the colonies. Makes such increases effective in FY 1986. Requires a comprehensive immigration impact report every three years beginning on January 1, 1988. Requires the House and Senate Judiciary Committees to hold public hearings to review such reports. Includes the relationship between an illegitimate child and its natural father within the definition of "child" for purposes of status, benefit, or privilege under such Act. Exempts certain self-supporting retirees from numerical admissions limitations. Treats university researchers as faculty for certification purposes. States that certain brief absences from the United States by an alien shall not be construed as having failed to maintain continuous physical presence for suspension of deportation purposes. Part B: Nonimmigrant Tourists - Authorizes a three-year tourist visa waiver pilot program with up to eight reciprocating countries. Authorizes a visa waiver program for Guam. Requires a program report to the Congress. Part C: Naturalization - Confers naturalization jurisdiction upon the Attorney General. Authorizes an administrative naturalization procedure in addition to the current judicial procedure. Waives the English language requirement for persons older than 50 years. Eliminates the six-month State residency requirement. Title III: Legalization - Directs the Attorney General to adjust to permanent resident status aliens who: (1) entered the United States before January 1, 1982, and have resided continuously in this country illegally since that date; (2) apply within the prescribed application period; (3) have registered with the draft if so required; and (4) are otherwise admissible. Prohibits the legalization of persons: (1) convicted of a felony (excluding certain re-entry violations) in the United States; or (2) who have taken part in religious, political, or racial persecution. Requires the Attorney General to designate and work with voluntary agencies to disseminate program information and process such aliens. Waives numerical limitations, labor certification, and other specified entry violations for such aliens. Permits the Attorney General to waive other grounds for exclusion (except criminal, most drug-related, security, and Nazi persecution grounds) to assure family unity or when otherwise in the national interest. Provides for a transitional legal status, during such adjustment determination period which prohibits deportation and permits employment. Requires that persons arrested during such legalization program period be notified of their opportunity to adjust, and prohibits deportation until they have been afforded such opportunity. Permits administrative appeal of a status adjustment denial. Directs the Attorney General to establish eligibility requirements and application approval guidelines in consultation with the House and Senate Judiciary Committees and participating voluntary agencies. Direct the Attorney General to construe such adjustment requirements liberally, taking into account the special circumstances to individuals previously residing unlawfully in the United States. Allows the waiver of continuous residence when necessary to avoid undue family hardship. Provides criminal penalties for false application statements. Makes legalized aliens (other than Cuban/Haitian entrants, the aged, blind, and disabled, and persons requiring specified medical assistance) eligible for Federal financial assistance and Medicaid for five years. States that programs authorized under the Public Health Service Act, title V of the Social Security Act, unemployment assistance programs, the National School Lunch Act, the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, the Vocational Education Act of 1963, chapter l of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981, the Headstart-Follow Through Act, the Job Training Partnership Act, and subparts 4 and 5 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 shall not be construed as prohibited assistance. Requires the President to submit to the Congress reports on the implementation and the impact of the legalization program. Provides permanent resident status adjustment for certain Cuban and Haitian nationals who entered the United States before January 1, 1982. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1989 for State legalization assistance. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, subject to available appropriations, to provide full reimbursement to States for costs incurred in providing specified services to aliens during the period they were ineligible for Federal assistance. Requires the Secretary of Education, subject to available appropriations, to assist States in meeting such aliens' added educational costs. Provides for cooperation with State and local governmental advisory groups in implementing this Act. Title IV: National Commission on Immigration - Establishes a 15-member National Commission on Immigration to study and recommend legislative and administrative solutions to specified social, economic, employment, and international immigration problems facing the United States, including the development of economic programs with Latin America. Requires the Commission to assess: (1) the current U.S. temporary worker program; and (2) the causes of the existing preference visa backlog. Sets forth administrative and operating provisions. Requires a report to the Congress within 18 months. Terminates the Commission 30 days after submission of such report. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1985
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a gold medal honoring George Gershwin to his sister, Frances Gershwin Godowsky, and a gold medal honoring Ira Gershwin to his widow, Lenore Gershwin. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the sale of bronze duplicates of the medal. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1985
Authorizes the President to call a White House Conference on Library and Information Services, to be held not later than 1989, to develop recommendations for improvement of such services and their public use. Requires that the Conference be planned and conducted by the National Commission on Libraries and Information Sciences. Authorizes the Librarian of Congress, the Director of the National Library of Medicine, and the Director of the National Agricultural Library, upon request, to detail personnel to the Commission. Requires the Conference to submit a final report to the President within 120 days following its close. Directs that the final report be made public, and within 90 days after receipt by the President, transmitted to the Congress with recommendations. Establishes an advisory committee to assist in planning and conducting the Conference. Includes among its appointed members the Secretary of Education and the Librarian of Congress. Authorizes appropriations as necessary.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the administration should comply with the automatic appropriation and earmarking provisions of the Wallop/Breaux Sport Fish Restoration Trust Fund and support adequate appropriation for the Boating Safety Account in such Fund. States that funds owed to the States from such Fund should not be withheld or delayed.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1985
Food Assistance and Africa Agriculture Act of 1985 - Title I: Authorization of Appropriations - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize appropriations for: (1) the International Fund for Agricultural Development; and (2) the International Fund for Agricultural Development for its Special Program for Sub-Saharan Countries Affected by Drought and Desertification for each of FY 1986 through 1989. Title II: Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1986 - Makes appropriations for FY 1986 for: (1) expenses for agricultural commodities supplied in connection with dispositions abroad pursuant to the famine relief provisions of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954; and (2) the U.S. contribution to the International Fund for Agricultural Development and for the Fund's Special Program for Sub-Saharan Countries Affected by Drought and Desertification.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1985
Public Securities Act of 1985 - Title I: Establishment of a Self-Regulatory Organization with Respect to Municipal and Government Securities - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to expand provisions concerning the registration, regulation, and disciplining of municipal securities dealers to govern all public securities dealers. Defines "public securities" as municipal and Government securities. Reestablishes the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) as the Public Securities Rulemaking Board (PSRB) and increases its membership by two. Empowers the Board to formulate rules regulating: (1) the amount of initial and maintenance margin in connection with the purchase, sale, or carrying of Government securities; (2) the type of deposit or collateral which shall be furnished; (3) the carrying of undermargined accounts for limited periods and under specified conditions; (4) the withdrawal of funds or securities; (5) the substitution or additional purchase of securities; (6) the transfer of accounts from one Government securities broker or dealer to another; (7) special or different margin requirements for delayed deliveries, short sales, repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements, and arbitrage transactions; and (8) the bases and methods to be used in calculating collateral deposits, margins, and market prices. Part B: Conforming Amendments - Sets forth conforming amendments. Empowers the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to prescribe requirements for the initial or subsequent maintenance of a deposit in connection with the purchase, sale, or carrying of a Government security. Directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to consult with the Federal Reserve Board and the Department of the Treasury when prescribing capital requirements for Government securities dealers to assure that such requirements do not adversely affect the efficiency, liquidity, or integrity of Government securities markets. Title II: Transitional and Savings Provisions - Provides for the: (1) transfer and allocation of funds and personnel from the MSRB to the PSRB; (2) termination of the MSRB; and (3) continuation of MSRB authorities, administrative proceedings, and judicial proceedings. Title III: Effective Dates - Makes this Act effective 180 days after enactment. Provides effective dates for appointment and rulemaking authority under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1985
Superfund Expansion and Protection Act of 1985 - Title I: Provisions Relating Primarily to Response and Liability - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA)(Superfund) to include among hazardous substances subject to such Act any petroleum released from an underground storage tank. Includes pollutants and contaminants under Superfund, defining them as any substance which after release into the environment causes disease or abnormalities upon exposure or assimilation, either directly or through the food chain. Excludes petroleum and natural gas except as otherwise indicated under such Act. Redefines "release" to include the abandonment of containers containing hazardous substances or pollutants or contaminants. Requires the President to consider long-range effects when evaluating the cost-effectiveness of offsite remedial actions. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish reportable quantities for all noncarcinogenic hazardous substances within six months of this Act's enactment and all other hazardous substances by November 1, 1986. Requires the Administrator to conduct periodic audits of reported releases and report to the Congress at least annually on such audits. Increases criminal penalties for failure to notify the Federal Governmentu of a hazardous substance release. Authorizes the Administrator to undertake any response action when faced with a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance unless the Administrator determines the responsible party will take appropriate action. Requires the Administrator to assess the health effects associated with such release or potential release. Exempts from liability for the effects of such release any party performing information or engineering services pursuant to an approved response action. Requires a State to pay 50 percent of the cleanup costs only if the State both owned and operated the polluting facility. Credits States with cleanup costs already dispersed as specified. Requires the Administrator to choose remedial actions which are: (1) consistent with the National Contingency Plan (NCP); (2) cost-effective; and (3) permanent whenever possible. Places facilities for which no permanent solution is technologically feasible on an interim National Priorities List (NPL), such list to be reviewed every five years to determine if a permanent solution has become feasible. Eliminates the requirement that pollutant levels be such as to protect human welfare, leaving the requirement that such levels protect human health and the environment. Requires pollutant levels to comply with the other Federal standards applicable. Specifies under what conditions removal actions must comply with the requirements of the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Entitles Federal and State environmental officials to access to the information and premises of any person who generates, treats, or disposes of hazardous substances for purposes of determining the need for a response action. Directs the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to prepare toxicological profiles on the most frequently found or threatening hazardous substances. Entitles the public to participate in the selection of a plan for remedial action. Authorizes the Administrator to provide grants for technical assistance to groups which may be affected by a release from a facility on the NPL. Establishes a schedule for the commencement of remedial investigations and feasibility studies for all facilities on the NPL. Provides for the listing of additional facilities at regular intervals. Requires the commencement of remedial actions at a minimum rate of 200 facilities per year by the start of FY 1987. Requires the Administrator to complete preliminary assessments of all facilities on the Emergency and Remedial Response Information System list by the start of 1987. Requires completion of remedial action for facilities currently on the NPL within five years or requires an explanation of nonperformance. Permits individuals to petition the Administrator for a health effects study where hazardous substances have been removed. Permits Federal authorities to provide the Congress with information on such studies and their conduct without administrative clearance or approval. Authorizes the Administrator to: (1) provide alternative water supplies; (2) relocate individuals; and (3) provide medical care if such studies indicate the necessity of such actions. Requires the Administrator to revise the NCP, consistent with these provisions. Permits an individual to petition the Administrator for a preliminary assessment of a release. Includes damage to the food chain and the ambient air among the factors determining a facility or site ranking under the NCP. Authorizes the Administrator to determine whether and how an individual may object to a nonreviewable abatement action. Includes additional Federal cleanup or abatement activities for which a responsible party would be liable. Requires each Federal agency which may be a defendant under this Act to provide its own counsel rather than the Attorney General. Grants Federally-ordered lab tests the presumption of accuracy. Makes liability strict, joint, and several under this Act for damages and costs resulting from the release and cleanup of hazardous substances. Entitles a defendant to prove such damages are divisible and to seek contribution. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1990 for the Hazardous Substance Superfund, earmarking specified amounts for the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Account. Repeals the ability of any party to recover for damages to natural resources caused by a release. Requires an annual audit of the conduct of Superfund, including comparative reports of actions taken in earlier fiscal years. Establishes a statute of limitations of six years after the completion of the response action, regardless of the date of discovery of the loss. Permits a State to require contributions for response costs compensated under this Act. Title II: Federal Cause of Action - Entitles individuals injured by the disposal of a hazardous substance to recover damages from the responsible parties who will be held strictly, jointly, and severally liable. Entitles such individuals to compensation for expenses related to personal injury, economic injury, and limited pain and suffering. States that this Federal cause of action does not preempt State law regarding liability for damages in connection with any hazardous substance. Establishes a three year statute of limitations, running from the date of knowledge of the injury or the date of enactment of this Act. Prohibits dual recovery through worker's compensation or actions filed in a State court and this Act. Permits additional recovery against the source of the disposal for later manifested injuries. Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Permits citizen action lawsuits against any party, including the Federal Government, involved with hazardous substances in such a way as may present an imminent and substantial danger to health or the environment or against the President for failure to perform a required duty. Requires potential plaintiffs to give 60 days notice to the appropriate Federal and State officials as well as the alleged violator before commencing an action. Prohibits such action if the Administrator or the State has commenced and is prosecuting a court action already or a settlement has been reached. Permits intervention, as a matter of right. Prohibits citizen actions for the siting or issuance of permit to a hazardous waste disposal facility. Authorizes the Federal district court to award costs to any substantially prevailing party. Permits EPA intervention as a matter of right. Includes the disposal of a pollutant or contaminant under CERCLA only as specified. Directs the Administrator to commence the drilling fluids study required by the Solid Waste Disposal Act within six months of this Act's enactment. Directs the Administrator to select ten to 20 areas to establish and operate for three to five years a victim assistance demonstration program for individuals injured through exposure to hazardous substances. Sets forth application and program criteria and conditions for such grants. Requires such programs to include group insurance benefits for medical treatment and disability. Requires the President to report annually to the Congress on the effectiveness of these programs. Requires participating States to report on such as well. Title IV: Community Right to Know and Emergency Planning - Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act by adding a new title II concerning the communities' right-to-know, emergency planning, and liability. Requires each covered manufacturer, distributor, user, and importer of a covered hazardous substance (potential release) to prepare and update a fact sheet for such substance for distribution to local police, fire, and health officials. Requires the fact sheet to include the name, physical properties of, and hazards posed by the substance, including potential routes of human exposure to such substance, symptoms of such exposure, and appropriate emergency and first aid procedures. Requires status sheets on the same basis as fact sheets, with each status sheet to include the maximum inventory and method of storage of the substance, the quantity of its emission into the environment, and the quantity and method for disposal. Requires the releasor of a covered hazardous substance in an emergency situation to provide an emergency bulletin to the State and local police and other local officials. Requires the bulletin to identify the name and amount of the substance released and the response actions taken. Requires fact and status sheets and emergency bulletins to be made available for public inspection with public notice of such availability at the facility of the potential releasor. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to publish a uniform format for fact and status sheets. Authorizes a State's Governor to identify local officials to receive covered hazardous substance release information, with the Administrator doing so in the absence of the Governor's identification. Requires the potential releasors to maintain records of information required by this Act. Requires manufacturers or importers to transmit fact sheets to covered distributors or users upon shipping of a covered hazardous substance. Excludes certain small businesses and research, medical, and household uses from coverage under this Act. Provides protection for trade secrets while continuing to make necessary information available to the appropriate persons. Excludes listed or possible carcinogens from such protection. Sets forth application and substantiation procedures for trade secret claims. Permits affected citizens or government officials to compel disclosure of nonsubstantiated trade secrets through the Federal courts. Authorizes the Administrator to grant exemptions from the basic notification requirements of this Act through specified procedures open to the public, based upon a cost-benefits analysis where there is no reasonable likelihood of harm. Directs each covered major manufacturer to develop within two years of enactment of this Act a comprehensive evacuation and emergency response plan which addresses the health and safety issues applicable to such manufacturer's particular situation. Requires the plan to include designations of the appropriate government officials to be notified, mitigation measures, evacuation routes, notification plans, and evaluation of community support services. Authorizes each Governor to designate emergency response districts within 18 months of enactment of this Act or the Administrator will do so. Permits each Governor to appoint an Emergency Response Committee per district or the Administrator will be treated as such Committee. Requires such Committees to review the manufacturers' plans, revising them where necessary. Directs the Administrator within 18 months of enactment of this Act to develop uniform national mandatory labeling requirements for pipes, storage tanks, or containers not otherwise required to be labeled which would reasonably be presumed to release a covered hazardous substance. Requires the label to indicate the appropriate response to a release. Directs the Administrator to designate covered major manufacturers for emergency response purposes within one year of enactment of this Act. Limits the designation to those whose substances would pose an imminent and substantial danger to health and the environment if released in significant quantities. Includes all persons covered under this Act in lieu of such designations. Includes Federal departments as potential covered major manufacturers. Exempts those whose emergency activities are sufficiently covered under other Federal or State law. Renders the manufacturer or processor strictly liable for damages caused by accidental or abnormal releases, excluding act of God or war. Covers medical, burial, and economic losses as well as pain and suffering (to a limited extent). Includes specified analysis and scientific evidence and studies among the evidence which may be introduced to establish causation. Establishes a three-year statute of limitations from the date of enactment or the date of realization of injury for causes of action for injury from the release of a covered hazardous substance, whichever is later. Provides that this Act does not preempt State or other law in the area of liability for damages. Requires entitled individuals to receive compensation for injuries sustained from a hazardous substance release from workers' compensation rather than under this Act. Sets forth categories of substances to be considered covered hazardous substances and procedures for adding additional substances. Directs the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to compile and update a digest of all such substances. Exempts certain substances for this Act's purposes, based upon the form, amount, and other regulation of such substances. Establishes civil and criminal penalties, limiting criminal penalties to the knowing violation of emergency requirements. Authorizes citizens' suits to enforce this Act. Permits States to adopt more stringent right-to-know standards in the workplace context and emergency response requirements. Permits State and local governments to impose fees upon potential releasors to cover administrative costs. Title V: Amendments of the Internal Revenue Code to 1954 - Superfund Revenue Act of 1985 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase and extend through FY 1990 the environmental excise taxes on petroleum and specified chemicals. Includes an inflation adjustment for computing the tax on chemicals. Exempts exported chemicals from tax liability. Adjusts special rules for certain chemicals. Imposes a waste end tax on: (1) the receipt of hazardous waste at a qualified hazardous waste management unit; (2) the ocean dumping of such waste; and (3) the export of such waste. Sets increasing, per-ton tax rates on the disposal of such wastes. Sets forth reporting requirements and penalties for violations. Establishes in the Treasury the Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund. Establishes within Superfund a separate Leaking Underground Storage Tank Account. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to study the economic impact of the environmental taxes on specified chemicals and report to the Congress on the results by April 1, 1986.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1985
Parental and Disability Leave Act of 1985 - Title I: General Requirements for Parental and Disability Leave - Entitles each employee to disability leave (for nonoccupational medical reasons) of not fewer than 26 workweeks in any one calendar year. Provides that such leave need not be taken consecutively and may consist of unpaid leave. Requires any employer which provides temporary nonoccupational disability leave or benefits, or both, to provide such leave or benefits in such a manner that each employee is entitled to a minimum of 26 workweeks of disability leave in any one calendar year. Provides that, if the benefits provided are paid benefits for a period of less than 26 weeks, the additional weeks of leave which are added to meet the 26-week minimum may be unpaid. Directs the Secretary of Labor to promulgate regulations governing employer verification of employees' eligibility for such leave. Requires that the same standards, procedures, or other requirements so imposed apply to all temporary disabilities. Entitles each employee to parental leave (for birth, adoption, or serious illness of a child) of not fewer than 18 workweeks in any two years upon advance notice to his or her employer. Provides that such leave need not be taken consecutively and may consist of unpaid leave. Requires any employer which provides parental leave or benefits, or both, to provide such leave or benefits in such a manner that each employee is entitled to a minimum of 18 workweeks of parental leave in any two calendar years. Provides that, if the benefits provided are paid benefits for a period of less than 18 weeks, the additional weeks of leave which are added to meet the 18-week minimum may be unpaid. Directs the Secretary of Labor to promulgate regulations governing: (1) employer verification of employees' eligibility for such leave; and (2) the form, content, and timing requirements of the notice to the employer. Entitles each employee who exercises his or her right to a disability leave or a parental leave under this Act, upon expiration of such leave, to be restored by the employer to the position held by the employee when the leave commenced or to an equivalent position. Requires the employer to maintain any existing health benefits of the employee for the duration of such disability or parental leave period. Entitles each employee, at his or her option, to take such disability or parental leave on a reduced leave schedule. Limits to a maximum of 39 consecutive weeks the total time over which such reduced leave schedule may be spread. Sets forth prohibitions against retaliation. Makes it unlawful to interfere with an individual's exercise of rights or participation in proceedings or inquiries under this title. Provides that any negative material change in the seniority, status, employment benefits, pay, or other terms or conditions of the position of an employee which occurs within one year of restoration to the position, or within one year of the termination of proceedings or inquiries, shall be presumed to be prohibited retaliation. Sets forth provisions for enforcement of this title. Gives an employee the right to bring a civil action against an employer to enforce the provisions of this title. Authorizes the Secretary to bring such actions, except against any public agency. Gives U.S. district courts original jurisdiction over such actions. Sets forth venue provisions. Provides for equitable relief, damages, punitive damages, and reasonable attorneys' fee and costs in such actions. Requires that the Secretary be notified of any such action. Gives the Secretary the right to intervene in any such action brought by an employee. Gives any aggrieved person the right to intervene in any such action brought by the Secretary. Sets forth a statute of limitations and a limitation on the period of recovery. Sets forth provisions for attorneys for the Secretary in such actions. Sets forth the investigative authority of the Secretary to determine whether any person has violated or is about to violate any provision of this title or any regulation or order issued thereunder. Limits required submissions, for purposes of such investigations, to an annual basis, unless the Secretary has reasonable cause to believe that there may be a violation. Authorizes the Secretary to prescribe regulations to carry out this title. Authorizes appropriations to enable the Secretary to carry out functions or duties under this title. Sets forth provisions relating to the effect of this title on Federal laws, State and local laws, and existing employment benefits. Title II: Commission to Recommend Means to Provide Salary Replacement for Employee Taking Parental and Disability Leaves - Establishes the Paid Parental and Disability Leave Commission. Sets forth provisions for Commission membership, including provisions to ensure a broad representation of child advocacy, women's rights, labor, management, and academic interests. Directs the Commission to: (1) study domestic and foreign systems, both existing and proposed, which provide workers with full or partial salary replacement or other income protection during periods of nonoccupational temporary disability leave, parental leave, and dependent care leave; (2) produce a comprehensive written analysis of such systems, including recommendations for implementation of such a system for all workers in the United States; and (3) propose legislation to implement a system of salary replacement for temporary nonoccupational disability leave (within two years after the effective date of this Act) and for parental leave. Sets forth provisions relating to Commission powers, administration, and compensation of members. Provides that the Commission shall prepare and submit to the Congress such interim reports as the Commission deems appropriate, but requires that its report and proposed legislation to provide salary replacement for employees on nonoccupational temporary disability be submitted to the Congress within two years of the date of enactment of this Act. Terminates the Commission 30 days after the submission of its final report.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1985
Hazardous Waste Reduction Act of 1985 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on the receipt of: (1) taxable hazardous waste in any qualified hazardous waste management unit; and (2) taxable hazardous waste for export or for disposal in the ocean pursuant to a permit. Provides that the tax rate for all forms of land and ocean waste disposal, except underground injection wells, shall be $20 for each ton of hazardous waste. Provides that the tax rate for each ton of hazardous waste placed in underground injection wells shall be five dollars per ton. Authorizes the Secretary of Treasury to increase the rates of tax on such hazardous waste where the tax revenue falls below projections for any year. Requires the tax to be paid by the owner or operator of the qualified waste management unit at which the taxable waste is received or by the person exporting the taxable hazardous waste or the person holding the permit for transport for ocean disposal. Requires the tax to be paid at the close of the calendar quarter during which the taxable hazardous waste became subject to tax. Imposes a tax of $20 per ton on hazardous waste placed in a facility other than a qualified hazardous waste management unit or pursuant to a permit for export or ocean dumping. Makes the person placing the hazardous material in the facility or location liable for the tax. Provides that such tax will not apply with respect to small quantity generator waste, or with respect to the placement of taxable hazardous waste in any facility, vehicle, or location if such placement is not required to comply with permit, interim status, or manifest requirement under the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Provides that the tax does not apply to the placement of taxable hazardous waste in a vehicle which is required to transport such taxable hazardous waste. Exempts from the tax waste removed from a Superfund site or a closed interim status facility or waste required to be studied. Exempts from the tax qualified wastewater treatment facilities. Provides that the exemption for qualified wastewater treatment facilities shall not apply after November 8, 1988, unless the facility is in compliance with certain minimum technological requirements or meets certain interim status surface impoundments requirements. Permits a tax credit where the taxable hazardous waste is moved from one unit or facility to another. Provides that where the taxable waste is moved from a surface impoundment to an underground injection well, the credit is the difference between the tax on the surface impoundment and the tax on the underground injection. Permits a tax credit for all waste rendered nonhazardous by reason of treatment or conversion within 12 months of receipt at the unit or facility. Prohibits the tax credit for treatment or conversion at a qualified wastewater treatment facility. Prohibits the tax credit for land treatment. Provides that the tax credit will not apply to any treatment or conversion which violates any requirement of Federal or State law relating to the management of hazardous taxable waste. Provides that this tax shall apply for the period from January 1, 1986, through September 30, 1990. Requires every person subject to this tax to keep records, render such statements, make such returns, and comply with such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may require. Provides that the revenues from this tax shall be deposited in the Hazardous Substance Superfund. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to make various reports to the Congress concerning different aspects of this tax on hazardous waste disposal.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1985
Nurse Education Act of 1985 - Amends the Public Health Services Act to reauthorize funds for FY 1985 through 1988 for the nursing special projects program. Authorizes additional projects that demonstrate: (1) clinical nurse education programs which combine educational curricula and clinical practice; (2) methods to improve access to nursing services in non-institutional settings; and (3) methods to encourage nursing graduates to practice in health manpower shortage areas. Revises the advanced nurse training program to authorize grants and contracts for programs that lead to masters' and doctoral degrees and prepare nurses to serve as nurse educators, administrators, researchers, or to serve in clinical nurse specialties which require advanced education. Authorizes appropriations for such programs through FY 1987. Authorizes grants and contracts for schools of nursing and other non-profit entities to meet the costs of programs for the education of nurse practitioners and nurse midwives. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988. Authorizes grants to schools of nursing for post-baccalaureate fellowships for faculty to: (1) investigate cost-effective alternatives to traditional health care modalities; and (2) examine nursing interventions that result in positive outcomes in health status. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988. Extends the authority for traineeships for nurse anesthetists. Provides financial assistance to nurse anesthetist faculty members for advanced education. Directs the Secretary to set dates by which schools of nursing must file applications for Federal capital contributions. Describes how such appropriations are to be allotted. Revises the date for the distribution of loan fund assets. Provides for the repayment of a specified portion of the balance of the student loan fund within 90 days after a school terminates its participation in such program. Repeals specified provisions of such Act dealing with Federal construction grants and assistance. Provides for the recovery of Federal construction assistance where such facility is: (1) sold or transferred to an entity which is not a public or non-profit school; (2) no longer used for the purpose for which it was constructed; or (3) used for sectarian instruction or as a place for religious worship. Allows the Secretary to waive Federal recovery rights for good cause.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1985
Marine Fisheries Improvement Act of 1985 - Repeals the provisions of the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act which excluded highly migratory species of fish from the exclusive fishery management authority of the United States. Requires any owner and operator of a foreign fishing vessel intending to fish within the fishery conservation zone to submit to the Secretary of Commerce a schedule of fishing for every three months, submitted at least 30 days in advance. Requires immediate notification to the Secretary of any changes or variances from such submitted fishing schedules. Prohibits the Secretary from approving a permit for a foreign vessel to fish if the facilities on such vessels for quartering a U.S. observer are so inadequate or unsafe that the health or safety of the observer would be jeopardized. Requires each regional fishery management council to have a representative number of commercial and recreational fishermen including at least one practicing commercial fisherman. Requires contents of fishery management plans to be submitted to the Executive Director of that area's fishery management council, as well as to the Secretary. Requires the same confidentiality of the Executive Director with submitted statistics as is required of the Secretary. Requires any fishery management plan submitted to include certain specified information concerning the habitat involved. Allows such information to be excluded from such plans when habitat conservation, restoration, maintenance, and enhancement is not a significant factor in such plan. Requires recommendations concerning habitat conservation or enhancement to be responded to by the Secretary or other appropriate Federal officials within 60 days of receipt. Requires the Secretary to establish and implement a formal regional habitat planning and coordination process which would identify fishery resources of importance and the major habitat threats to such resources. Requires the Secretary, not less than every three years, to publish the result of the regional processes. Requires the establishment, in a fishery zone having limited access in order to achieve optimum yield, of a dislocation compensation program which compensates fishing vessel owners for the loss or reduction of livelihood caused by the limited access. Establishes in the Treasury the Fisheries Dislocation Compensation Fund to be used for payments made by the dislocation compensation program. Prohibits the Secretary from assessing a final civil penalty for violations which is greater than the penalty first assessed by written notice unless a significant change in information or circumstances occurs. Extends the authorization of appropriations under the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act through FY 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1985
Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide coverage for outpatient occupational therapy services.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1985
Renewable Energy and Conservation Transition Act of 1985 - Title I: Extension of Business Energy Credits - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the energy investment tax credit for solar energy property from 1985 to 1990. Sets the amount of such credit during such period at 15 percent for low temperature solar property and 25 percent for all other solar property. Extends the energy investment tax credit for wind property from 1985 to 1988. Sets the amount of such credit at: (1) ten percent during 1986 and 1987; and (2) five percent during 1988. Extends the energy investment tax credit for geothermal property and biomass property from 1985 to 1988. Extends the energy investment tax credit for ocean thermal property from 1985 to 1990. Revises the definition of "solar property" for purposes of such tax credit. Sets forth special rules for geothermal equipment to qualify for such credit. Title II: Affirmative Commitment Rule to Extend the Business Credit for Certain Long-Term Projects - Extends the time period during which an affirmative commitment must be made in order for long-term energy projects to be eligible for the energy investment tax credit. Allows such extension: (1) from 1990 to 1993 for solar energy property; (2) from 1988 to 1990 for geothermal energy property; and (3) from 1985 to 1990 for hydroelectric generating property. Title III: Extension of Residential Energy Credits - Extends the residential energy income tax credit for solar renewable energy property from 1985 to 1990. Phases out such credit over such period of time. Provides that solar hot water systems and active space heating systems must meet certain additional standards in order to qualify for such credit. Extends the residential energy income tax credit for wind renewable energy property from 1985 to 1988. Phases out such credit over such period of time. Extends the residential energy income tax credit for geothermal renewable energy property from 1985 to 1988. Phases out such credit over such period of time. Revises the definition of geothermal deposits for purposes of such credit. Revises the definition of energy conservation expenditures for purposes of the residential energy income tax credit to limit the amounts taken into account to $700. Limits the energy conservation income tax credit to taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of less than $30,000. Title IV: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to limit participation in the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children (WIC) to States in which State or local sales taxes are not collected on purchases of food under such program.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
Humane Product Testing Act of 1985 - Requires Federal departments and agencies to promote nonanimal alternatives to the LD50 test used in the testing of products. Phases out the use of such test to the degree possible within one year of this Act's enactment. (LD50 is a procedure whereby toxicity is measured in terms of the median dose which will kill 50 percent of the test animals within a specified period.)
![Official portrait of Sen. Wirth, Timothy [D-CO]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/w000647_200.jpg)