United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2015
Veterans Dignified Burial Act Directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): (1) upon confirming the veteran status of a deceased veteran in the custody of a local medical examiner, funeral director, county service group, or other similar entity, to request from that entity the specific date of the veteran's scheduled interment; and (2) during each 30-day period following the request to repeat it until the entity confirms the scheduled internment date or that the veteran has been interred. Requires the VA, by March 1 of each year, to report to the House and Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees on unclaimed deceased veterans interred after the 30-day period following the initial VA request.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 2015
Opposes politically motivated acts of boycott, divestment from, and sanctions against Israel. Calls on the Administration to increase the use of its influence in international organizations and forums to oppose such acts. Supports state efforts to enact measures that oppose such acts. Reaffirms support for a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2015
Designates the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 836 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, California, as the "Special Warfare Operator Master Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Louis 'Lou' J. Langlais Post Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2015
Veterans Emergency Treatment Act or the VET Act This bill declares that, if a veteran who is enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care program requests a medical examination or treatment at an emergency department of a VA medical facility, the veteran shall be provided with: a medical screening examination to determine whether an emergency medical condition exists; and if an emergency condition exists, stabilizing medical treatment or transfer to another VA or non-VA medical facility. If a non-stabilized emergency medical condition exists the VA hospital may not transfer the veteran unless the veteran, after being made aware of the risks, makes a written transfer request, or a physician (or a qualified medical person if a physician is not present) certifies that the medical benefits of a transfer outweigh the risks. The VA may not take adverse action against a VA employee because the employee refuses to authorize the transfer of an enrolled veteran with a non-stabilized emergency medical condition or because the employee reports a violation of a requirement of this Act. A VA or non-VA medical facility may not delay provision of an appropriate medical screening examination or further medical examination and treatment required in order to inquire about the payment method or insurance status of an enrolled veteran.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2015
Employee Rights Act Amends the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to make it an unlawful labor practice for a labor organization or its agents to interfere with the rights of employees to organize and select representation to collectively bargain. Adds a requirement that representatives be selected by secret ballot in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) by a majority of the employees in a unit. Defines "majority" for purposes of determining the majority of employees in an election to mean the majority of all employees in the unit, and not the majority of employees voting in the election. Requires the NLRB, in cases where an existing certified or voluntarily recognized bargaining unit experiences turnover, expansion, or alteration by merger of more than 50% of the unit's employees, to conduct a secret paper ballot among the unit employees: (1) between the 120th day and 110th day before the collective bargaining agreement's expiration or before the end of three years, if there is an agreement between the labor organization and the employer; or (2) within 30 days, if there is no agreement between such parties. Requires the NLRB to decide, before the election of a labor organization as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of all employees of an appropriate unit, whether such unit shall be the employer unit, craft unit, plant unit, or subdivision unit. Requires the NLRB to give 14 days advance notice before a hearing when it is investigating an election petition if it has reasonable cause to believe that a question of representation affecting commerce exists. Revises the requirement that the NLRB direct an election by secret ballot, and certify its results, whenever it finds upon the record of such a hearing that a question of representation exists. Adds a requirement that the NLRB also review all post-hearing appeals before finding that such a question exists. Requires an employer to provide the NLRB a list consisting only of employee names and home addresses of all eligible voters within 7 days after an NLRB determination of the appropriate unit or following any agreement between the employer and the labor organization regarding eligible voters. Prohibits an election after the filing of a petition unless and until: (1) a hearing is conducted before a qualified hearing officer on any and all material, factual issues regarding jurisdiction, statutory coverage, appropriate unit, unit inclusion or exclusion, or eligibility of individuals; and (2) the issues are resolved by a regional Director, subject to appeal and review, or by the NLRB. Declares that election results shall not be final nor any labor organization be certified as a bargaining representative unless the NLRB has ruled on: (1) each pre-election issue not resolved before the election; and (2) the NLRB conducts a hearing and resolves each issue pertaining to the conduct or results of the election. Makes any labor organization found to have interfered with, restrained, or coerced employees in the exercise of their rights to form or join a labor organization or to refrain from forming or joining (including the filing of a decertification petition) liable for lost wages and unlawfully collected union dues and fees, if any, and an additional amount as liquated damages. Amends the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (Landrum-Griffin Act) to permit an election by secret ballot to be conducted through votes cast by electronic ballot cast in the privacy of a voting booth. Requires every employee in a bargaining unit represented by a labor organization, regardless of membership status, to have the same right as members to vote by secret ballot to ratify a collective bargaining agreement with, or to engage in, a strike or refusal to work of any kind against their employer. Prohibits the use of an employee's union dues for any purpose not directly related to the labor organization's collective bargaining, unless that employee authorizes such expenditure in writing. Prohibits a strike without the consent of a majority of all unit employees affected, determined by a secret ballot vote conducted by a neutral, private organization chosen by agreement between the employer and the labor organization. Requires each labor organization to make the independently verified annual audit report of its financial condition and operations available to all of its members and represented nonmembers. Makes it unlawful for a person to use force or violence, or threaten the use of force or violence, to restrain, coerce, or intimidate a person, or attempt to, in order to obtain from any person any right to represent employees, compensation, or other term or condition of employment. Subjects persons who willfully violate such prohibitions to both civil and criminal penalties.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2015
Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption Act or the PRIME Act This bill amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to expand the exemption of custom slaughtering of animals from federal inspection requirements. Under current law, the exemption applies if the meat is slaughtered for personal, household, guest, and employee uses. The bill expands the exemption to include meat that is: slaughtered and prepared at a custom slaughter facility in accordance with the laws of the state where the facility is located; and prepared exclusively for distribution to household consumers in the state and restaurants, hotels, boarding houses, grocery stores, or other establishments in the state that either prepare meals served directly to consumers or sell meat and food products directly to consumers in the state. The bill does not preempt any state law concerning the slaughter of animals or the preparation of carcasses, parts thereof, meat and meat food products at a custom slaughter facility, or the sale of meat or meat food products.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 2015
This bill prohibits action involving any measure of statutory sanctions relief by the United States unless the Senate provides its advice and consent to ratification of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA) under article II, section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. (The JCPA is the agreement signed at Vienna July 14, 2015, by Iran, China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and all related implementing materials and agreements.)
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2015
Safer DC Act of 2015 This bill requires the District of Columbia, upon an individual's arrest, to give the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) information necessary to determine the individual's citizenship and immigration status, including name, aliases, and fingerprints. Upon receiving this information DHS shall: issue a detainer requiring the District to detain the alien for up to 48 hours after the conclusion of any criminal or other legal proceeding under District law, or after completion of any term of imprisonment to which the alien may be sentenced under District law; and take the alien into custody upon release from District custody. Upon receipt of a DHS detainer the District shall hold an arrested alien for up to 48 hours: (1) following conclusion of the District's charging or dismissal proceeding, or (2) after the alien has completed the his or her sentence. If DHS fails to issue a detainer, no DHS political appointee may perform certain functions until the alien in question has been taken into custody. Any District officer, acting in his or her official capacity, who knowingly violates the notification or detention requirements under this Act shall pay a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 for each such violation.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 2015
Arrest Statistics Reporting Act of 2015 This bill requires U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to publish annually and make publicly available a report that includes for each person arrested during the preceding year, and for whom a request was submitted to the Law Enforcement Support Center or any potential matches forwarded under the information sharing program between the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, the following information: the person's nationality and immigration status, and the offense for which the person was arrested. The Federal Bureau of Investigation shall: revise the Uniform Crime Reports to require that each arrest report shall include such published arrest information, and publish a summary of the data which shall include a table containing the National Crime Information Center offense codes and the corresponding occurrences for each nationality and immigration status category.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2015
Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2015 This bill prohibits, for a one-year period, the availability of federal funds for any purpose to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., or any of its affiliates or clinics, unless they certify that the affiliates and clinics will not perform, and will not provide any funds to any other entity that performs, an abortion during such period. The restriction will not apply in cases of rape or incest or where a physical condition endangers a woman's life unless an abortion is performed. The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture must seek repayment of federal assistance received by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., or any affiliate or clinic, if it violates the terms of the certification required by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2015
Enforcement Transparency Act of 2015 This bill requires the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to issue and publish on its website guidelines relating to the calculation of civil fines for violating provisions of the Animal Welfare Act regarding the transportation, sale, and handling of certain animals. USDA must update the guidelines on a quarterly basis, provide notice on its website prior to making the updates, and publish the updates in the Federal Register.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 2015
Reaffirms the trust status of land taken into trust by the United States pursuant to the Indian Reorganization Act before the date of enactment of this Act for the benefit of an Indian tribe that was federally recognized on the date the land was taken into trust. Ratifies and confirms any action taken by the Department of the Interior for the purpose of acquiring and taking land into trust under such Act as if such action had been taken under a federal law specifically authorizing or directing it. Makes this Act applicable to all claims pending on, or filed on or after, the date of enactment of this Act. Requires any land taken into trust that has been ratified and confirmed pursuant to this Act to remain Indian country.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 2015
Expresses disapproval of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreed to by the P5+1 and Iran on July 14, 2015. Reaffirms the commitment of the House of Representatives to: (1) prevent Iran from ever acquiring a nuclear weapons capability, and (2) encourage global stability and security by strongly supporting strategic regional allies.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 2015
Requires that all U.S. interests in approximately 80 acres of specified U.S. Forest Service land located in Tuolumne County, California, be held in trust for the benefit of the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians for nongaming purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 2015
TELEmedicine for MEDicare Act of 2015 or the TELE-MED Act of 2015 This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to allow a Medicare provider to provide telemedicine services to a Medicare beneficiary who is in a different state from the one in which the provider is licensed or authorized to provide health care services. The licensing or authorizing state has jurisdiction to enforce its licensure or other legal authorization requirements with regard to such a provision of service.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 2015
It is the sense of Congress that: (1) the U.S. government should officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and (2) the U.S. embassy in Israel should be located in Jerusalem.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2015
National 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center Act This bill designates the National September 11 Memorial located at the World Trade Center in New York City, New York, as a national memorial. The Department of the Interior may award a grant of not more than $25 million each fiscal year to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center Foundation, Inc., for the operation and maintenance of the memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 2015
Tribal TANF Fairness Act of 2015 This bill amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to allow a tribal government (including one participating in an intertribal consortium) to lease land held in trust or in fee, at a fair market rate, for the administration of a tribal family assistance grant by the tribal government or the intertribal consortium.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 2015
Merchant Marine of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill requires the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal to the U.S. Merchant Marine of World War II, in recognition of their dedicated and vital service during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 2015
Right to Try Act of 2015 Bars the federal government from prohibiting or restricting the production, manufacture, distribution, prescribing, dispensing, possession, or use of an experimental drug, biological product, or device that is: (1) intended to treat a patient who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness; and (2) authorized by, and in accordance with, state law. Defines an "experimental drug, biological product, or device" as one that: (1) has successfully completed a phase 1 clinical investigation; (2) remains under investigation in a clinical trial approved by the Food and Drug Administration; and (3) is not approved, licensed, or cleared for commercial distribution under the Federal Food, Drug, or Cosmetic Act or the Public Health Service Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 2015
Establishing Mandatory Minimums for Illegal Reentry Act of 2015 or Kate's Law This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to increase penalties applicable to aliens who unlawfully reenter the United States after being removed.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 2015
E nforce the Law for Sanctuary Cities Act Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make a state or local subdivision ineligible for state criminal alien assistance program funding if it: (1) has in effect any law, policy, or procedure prohibiting or restricting communication with the Immigration and Naturalization Service or other government entity regarding an individual's citizenship or immigration status; or (2) prohibits state or local law enforcement officials from gathering information regarding an individual's citizenship or immigration status. Withholds specified Department of Justice funds under parts Q and E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 from such states or local subdivisions.
United States · United States Congress · 8 July 2015
Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal Act of 2015 or the CLEAR Act of 2015 States that: (1) state and local law enforcement personnel, in the course of their routine duties, have the inherent authority to investigate, apprehend, or transfer to federal custody aliens in the United States (including interstate transportation of such aliens to detention centers) in order to assist in the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws; and (2) effective two years after enactment of this Act, a state that has in effect a statute, policy, or practice prohibiting such law enforcement assistance shall not receive certain federal incarceration assistance. Provides for the listing of immigration violators in the National Crime Information Center database. Directs states and localities to provide the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with specified information about apprehended aliens who are believed to be in violation of U.S. immigration laws. Provides federal reimbursement for related state and local costs. (States that such provision shall not require state or local enforcement officials to provide DHS with information related to a victim of a crime or witness to a criminal offense.) Directs DHS to make grants to states and political subdivisions that enforce immigration laws in the course of their routine law enforcement duties for special equipment and facilities related to arresting, detaining, or transporting illegal aliens. Directs DHS to: (1) construct or acquire 20 additional detention facilities for aliens detained pending removal (or a decision on removal), and (2) consider the transfer of military installations under base closure laws for such purposes. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act regarding illegal aliens apprehended by state or local authorities to provide for: (1) federal custody upon state or local request, and (2) state or local compensation for related incarceration and transportation costs. Directs the Department of Justice or DHS to ensure that the detention of an alien subject to removal is in an adequate state or local prison, detention center, or other comparable facility prior to his or her removal examination. Directs DHS to establish immigration-related training for state and local personnel. Provides: (1) personal liability immunity to the same extent as corresponding federal immunity for state or local personnel enforcing immigration laws within the scope of their duties under this Act, and (2) civil rights money damage immunity for state or local agencies enforcing immigration laws unless their personnel violated criminal law in such enforcement. Continues the institutional removal program, which shall be expanded to all states. Authorizes state or local detention of an illegal alien after completion of such alien's prison sentence for: (1) up to 14 days to facilitate federal transfer, or (2) until transfer to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Authorizes appropriations for FY2016 and subsequent fiscal years for the state criminal alien assistance program.
United States · United States Congress · 7 July 2015
Nullifies the rule submitted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency relating to the definition of "waters of the United States" under the Clean Water Act and published on June 29, 2015.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Condemns the practice of state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting in China. Calls on China and the Communist Party of China to end the practice of organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience. Encourages the U.S. medical community to help raise awareness of unethical organ transplant practices in China. Demands an end to the persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual practice and the release of all Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience. Calls on the Department of State to: (1) conduct a more detailed analysis on state-sanctioned organ harvesting from non-consenting prisoners of conscience in the annual Human Rights Report, and (2) report annually to Congress on implementation of the immigration provision prohibiting visas to Chinese and other nationals engaged in coerced organ or bodily tissue transplantation.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Centennial Monetary Commission Act of 2015 This bill establishes the Centennial Monetary Commission to: (1) examine how U.S. monetary policy since the creation of the Federal Reserve Board in 1913 has affected the performance of the U.S. economy in terms of output, employment, prices, and financial stability over time; (2) evaluate various operational regimes under which the Board and the Federal Open Market Committee may conduct monetary policy in terms achieving the maximum sustainable level of output and employment and price stability over the long term; and (3) recommend a course for U.S. monetary policy going forward. The Commission shall evaluate as a tool of monetary policy: (1) macro-prudential supervision and regulation, and (2) the lender-of-last-resort function of the Board.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Western Water and American Food Security Act of 2015 Defines: (1) "Delta" as the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the Suisun Marsh; and (2) "negative impact on the long-term survival" as an appreciable reduction in the likelihood of the survival of a listed species in the wild by reducing the reproduction, numbers, or distribution of that species. TITLE I--ADJUSTING DELTA SMELT MANAGEMENT BASED ON INCREASED REAL-TIME MONITORING AND UPDATED SCIENCE Requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), by October 1, 2016, and at least every five years thereafter, to cooperate with federal, California, and local agencies to use updated scientific and commercial data to modify the calculation of incidental take levels for adult and larval/juvenile Delta smelt in the biological opinion for the Central Valley Project (CVP) and the State Water Project (SWP) issued by the USFWS on December 15, 2008. Directs the USFWS to implement and make appropriate amendments to the reasonable and prudent alternative described in that smelt biological opinion. Requires the Department of the Interior to make all significant decisions in writing under the smelt opinion and any successor opinions affecting the CVP or the SWP. Requires Interior, on an annual basis, to determine: (1) the extent that adult Delta smelt are distributed in relation to certain levels of turbidity or other environmental factors that may influence salvage rate, and (2) how the CVP and SWP may be operated to minimize salvage while maximizing export pumping rates without causing a significant negative impact on the long-term survival of the Delta smelt. Requires Interior, if suspended sediment loads from the Sacramento River appear likely to raise turbidity levels in specified areas during each period from December through March, to conduct daily monitoring to determine how increased trawling can inform real-time CVP and SWP operations. Directs Interior, by January 1, 2016, and at least every five years thereafter, in collaboration with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), the California Department of Water Resources, public water agencies, and other interested entities, to implement new targeted sampling and monitoring specifically designed to understand Delta smelt abundance, distribution, and habitats during all life stages. Requires Interior, in implementing the smelt biological opinion pertaining to reverse flow in the Old and Middle River (OMR), to maximize CVP and SWP water supplies by managing export pumping rates to a reverse flow rate of -5,000 cubic feet per second, unless Interior provides documentation concluding that a less negative OMR flow rate is necessary to avoid a negative impact on the long-term survival of Delta smelt. Directs Interior to manage a more negative OMR flow rate if it can be established without an imminent negative impact. Requires the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) and the USFWS to execute a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to ensure that the smelt biological opinion is implemented in a manner that maximizes water supply while complying with applicable laws and regulations. Provides a framework under which reinitiation of consultation is unnecessary if any changes that the MOU makes to the biological opinion will not have a significant negative impact on the long-term survival on listed species and would not be a major change to implementation of the biological opinion. Prohibits procedural changes that do not create a significant negative impact on long-term survival from altering application of the take permitted by the incidental take statement in the biological opinion. Directs Interior, for purposes of increasing CVP and SWP water supplies, to revise the method of calculating reverse flow in the OMR for implementation of the reasonable and prudent alternatives in the USFWS's smelt biological opinion, the salmonid biological opinion issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on June 4, 2009, and any succeeding opinion. TITLE II--ENSURING SALMONID MANAGEMENT IS RESPONSIVE TO NEW SCIENCE Establishes a process for Reclamation and the Assistant Administrator of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for Fisheries to provide for implementation of the reasonable and prudent alternative described in the NMFS's salmonid biological opinion to be adjusted as new scientific and commercial data is developed. Requires Interior and the Department of Commerce, annually, to direct Reclamation and the Assistant Administrator to implement certain recommended adjustments to project operations that, in the exercise of the adaptive management provisions of the salmonid biological opinion, will reduce water supply impacts of the salmonid biological opinion on the CVP and the SWP. Requires implementation of adjustments for which: (1) the net effect on listed salmonid species and the Delta smelt is equivalent to those of the underlying project operational parameters in the salmonid biological opinion, and (2) the effects of the adjustment can be expected to fall within incidental take authorizations. Requires Reclamation and the Assistant Administrator to evaluate potential species survival improvements likely to result from other measures that, if implemented, would offset adverse effects. Requires the Assistant Administrator to compare existing measures to increase through-Delta survival of salmonid through restrictions on export pumping rates to possible alternative management measures to increase salmonid survival through: (1) physical habitat restoration improvements, (2) predation control programs, (3) installation of temporary barriers or management of Cross Channel Gates operations, (4) salvaging near Clifton Court Forebay, or (5) conservation hatchery programs. Directs Reclamation to implement such an alternative measure in order to increase export rates if the Assistant Administrator determines that: (1) the alternative measure is technically feasible and within federal jurisdiction, or (2) California or a local agency has certified that it has the authority and capability to implement the alternative measure. Requires Commerce and California's Oakdale and South San Joaquin Irrigation Districts to conduct a nonnative predator fish removal program to remove nonnative striped bass, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, black bass, and other nonnative predator fish species from the Stanislaus River. Requires the districts to be responsible for 100% of the cost of the program. TITLE III--OPERATIONAL FLEXIBILITY AND DROUGHT RELIEF Requires the Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Commerce, and the Interior to approve projects and operations to provide the maximum quantity of water supplies practicable (to all individuals or districts that receive CVP water under water service or repayment contracts, water rights settlement contracts, exchange contracts, or refuge contracts or agreements, to SWP contractors, and to any other tribe, locality, water agency, or municipality in California) to address the emergency drought conditions for the period of time such that in any year that the Sacramento Valley Index is 6.5 or lower, or at California's request, and until two succeeding years after either of those events has been completed where the final index is 7.8 or greater. Provides for: (1) temporary barriers or operable gates to be designed so that formal consultations under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) are not necessary; (2) adoption of a 1:1 inflow to export ratio under specified conditions, as measured as a three-day running average at Vernalis during the period beginning on April 1, and ending on May 31, absent a determination in writing that a more restrictive inflow to export ratio is required to avoid a significant negative impact on the long-term survival of a listed salmonid species under the ESA; and (3) water transfers through the C.W. "Bill" Jones Pumping Plant or the Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant from April 1 to November 30 if the transfers comply with California law. Provides expedited procedures for consideration of requests by the California governor relating to federal, state, or local projects or operations to provide relief for emergency drought conditions. Allows USDA, Commerce, or Interior to deem alternative arrangements for a project to be in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) during emergency drought conditions if immediate implementation is necessary to address: (1) human health and safety, or (2) a specific and imminent loss of agriculture production upon which an identifiable region depends for 25% or more of its tax revenue used to support public services. Sets forth requirements concerning: (1) development of drought plans; (2) operation of the Delta Cross Channel Gates; (3) the averaging period of the Delta Export/Inflow ratio pursuant to California State Water Resources Control Board decision D1641; (4) use of groundwater resources, implementation of offsite upstream projects in the Delta and upstream of the Sacramento River and San Joaquin basins, management of reverse flow in the OMR, and actions to expedite CVP water transfers; (5) a program to allow certain agricultural, refuge, municipal, and industrial water service contractors to reschedule water provided for under CVP contracts from one year to the next; and (6) implementation of the Modified Lower American River Flow Management Standard to improve water supply reliability for CVP American River water contractors and resource protection in the lower American River during consecutive dry years under current and future demand and climate change conditions. Repeals the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act and the related settlement. Deems certain fish and game requirements to be satisfied by the existence of a warm water fishery in the San Joaquin River that has an environment suitable for species of fish other than salmon and trout. TITLE IV--CALFED STORAGE FEASIBILITY STUDIES Establishes deadlines for water storage feasibility studies concerning specified dams and reservoirs under Calfed Bay-Delta Authorization Act. Requires Interior, if it finds the Temperance Flat Reservoir Project on the Upper San Joaquin River to be feasible, to manage land recommended in the Bakersfield Field Office, Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan (dated December 2014) for designation under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, regardless of whether Interior submits any official recommendation to Congress. Allows Reclamation to partner or enter into an agreement on certain water storage projects identified in the Water Supply Reliability and Environmental Improvement Act with local joint powers authorities formed pursuant to state law by irrigation districts and other local water districts and local governments within the applicable hydrologic region. Authorizes Interior to carry out feasible projects, but prohibits federal funds from being used for construction. TITLE V--WATER RIGHTS PROTECTIONS Directs Interior to confer with the CDFW on potential impacts to any consistency determination for operations of the SWP resulting from the implementation of this Act. Requires Interior, in the operation of the CVP, to adhere to California laws governing water rights priorities and honor water rights senior to those held by the United States for operation of the CVP, regardless of the source of priority, including any appropriative water rights initiated prior to December 19, 1914. Requires Interior to ensure that actions taken to comply with environmental laws do not: (1) result in the involuntary reduction of water supply or fiscal impacts to recipients of water from either the SWP or the United States, or (2) cause redirected adverse water supply or fiscal impacts to those within the Sacramento River or San Joaquin River watersheds or the SWP service area. Directs Interior, in the operation of the CVP, to allocate water provided for irrigation purposes to existing CVP agricultural water service contractors within the Sacramento River Watershed in compliance with specified allocation percentages. Makes Interior's allocations subject to: (1) the priority of individuals or entities with Sacramento River water rights, (2) the U.S. obligation to make a substitute supply of water available to the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors, and (3) Interior's obligation to make water available to managed wetlands pursuant to the Central Valley Project Improvement Act. Declares that Interior's allocation authority shall not be deemed to: (1) modify any provision of a water service contract that addresses municipal and industrial water shortage policies; (2) affect or limit Interior's authority to adopt, modify, or implement municipal and industrial water shortage policies; (3) affect allocations to CVP municipal and industrial contractors, including the utilization of such allocations as primary water sources for such contractors for purposes of calculating municipal and industrial water shortages; or (4) result in the involuntary reduction in contract water allocations to individuals or entities with contracts to receive water from the Friant Division. Requires Interior to develop and implement a program to allow existing CVP agricultural water service contractors within the Sacramento River Watershed to reschedule water, provided for under their water service contracts, from one year to the next. Declares that nothing in this Act preempts or modifies any existing obligation of the United States under federal reclamation law to operate the CVP in conformity with state law, including established water rights priorities. TITLE VI--MISCELLANEOUS Includes the Kettleman City Community Services District within the CVP's authorized service area. Requires Interior to enter a long-term contract with such district for the delivery of up to 900 acre-feet of CVP water for municipal and industrial use, limited to the minimal quantity necessary to meet immediate needs if local supplies or SWP allocations are insufficient. Amends the Central Valley Project Improvement Act to establish an advisory board to make recommendations to the Secretary of the Interior regarding expenditures from the Central Valley Project Restoration Fund. Sets forth requirements concerning: (1) the accounting of CVP water credited to the quantity of CVP yield, and (2) implementation of an updated plan to increase the yield of the CVP by the amount dedicated to fish and wildlife purposes. Prohibits Interior and Commerce from distinguishing between natural-spawned and hatchery-spawned or otherwise artificially propagated strains of a species in making any determination under the ESA that relates to any anadromous or pelagic fish species that resides in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta or tributary rivers. Directs Interior to negotiate with interested local water and power providers to transfer ownership, control, and operation of the CVP's New Melones Unit to interested local water and power providers in California. Directs Reclamation, in carrying out the climate change adaptation program, to expand opportunities and expedite assessments, with nonfederal partners, of risks to the water supply of sub-basins and watersheds within major Reclamation river basins. Requires Reclamation to ensure timely decision and expedited implementation of adaptation and mitigation strategies developed through the special study process. Makes nonfederal partners responsible for 100% of the special study costs. Prohibits Interior, in operation of the CVP's Trinity River Division, from making releases from Lewiston Dam in excess of the volume for each water-year type (i.e., critically dry, dry, normal, wet, extremely wet) required by Interior's record of decision in the Trinity River Mainstem Fishery Restoration Final Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report dated December 2000. Restricts the definition of "anadromous fish" under the Central Valley Project Improvement Act to mean only native stocks of salmon (including steelhead) and sturgeon that were present in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers as of October 30, 1992, and that ascend those rivers and their tributaries to reproduce after maturing in San Francisco Bay or the Pacific Ocean. TITLE VII--WATER SUPPLY PERMITTING ACT Water Supply Permitting Coordination Act Establishes Reclamation as the lead agency for purposes of coordinating all reviews, analyses, opinions, statements, permits, licenses, or other approvals or decisions (reviews) required under federal law to construct qualifying projects (defined as new surface water storage projects in the states covered under the Act of June 17, 1902, and Acts supplemental to and amendatory of that Act on lands administered by Interior or USDA, exclusive of any easement, right-of-way, lease, or any private holding). Directs Reclamation: (1) upon receipt of an application for a qualifying project, to identify any federal agency that may have jurisdiction over a required review; and (2) to notify such agency that it has been designated as a cooperating agency unless the agency notifies Reclamation that the agency has no jurisdiction or authority over the project, has no expertise or information relevant to the project or any associated review, or does not intend to submit comments other than in cooperation with Reclamation. Requires each cooperating agency to submit to Reclamation: (1) a time frame for completing the agency's authorizing responsibilities, (2) all environmental review material produced in the course of carrying out activities required under federal law consistent with the project schedule, and (3) all relevant project data. Allows a state in which a qualifying project is being considered to choose to: (1) participate as a cooperating agency; and (2) make subject to the processes of this title all state agencies that have jurisdiction over the project, that are required to conduct or issue a review, or that are required to make a determination on issuing a permit, license, or approval for the project. Lists as Reclamation's principal responsibilities under this title: (1) to serve as the point of contact for applicants, state agencies, Indian tribes, and others regarding proposed qualifying projects; (2) to coordinate preparation of unified environmental documentation that will serve as the basis for all federal decisions necessary to authorize the use of federal lands for qualifying projects; and (3) to coordinate all federal agency reviews necessary for the development and construction of qualifying projects. Authorizes Interior to accept and expend funds contributed by a nonfederal public entity to expedite the evaluation of a permit of that entity related to a qualifying project. Directs Interior to ensure that all final permit decisions are made available to the public, including on the Internet. TITLE VIII--BUREAU OF RECLAMATION PROJECT STREAMLINING Bureau of Reclamation Project Streamlining Act Sets forth provisions governing feasibility studies for water projects initiated by Interior under the Reclamation Act of 1902 (project studies). Requires a project study initiated after enactment of this title to: (1) result in the completion of a final feasibility report within three years; (2) have a maximum federal cost of $3 million; and (3) ensure that personnel from the local project area, region, and Reclamation's headquarters levels concurrently conduct the required review. Sets forth factors for extending such time line for complex projects. Requires Interior, within 90 days after the initiation of a project study, to: (1) initiate the process for completing reviews, including environmental reviews, required to be completed as part of such study; (2) convene a meeting of federal, tribal, and state agencies required to act; and (3) provide information that will enable required reviews and analyses to be conducted by other agencies in a thorough and timely manner. Directs Interior to: (1) expedite the completion of any ongoing project study initiated before the enactment of this title; and (2) proceed directly to preconstruction planning, engineering, and design of a project that it determines is justified. Sets forth requirements applicable to: (1) project studies initiated after enactment of this title for which an environmental impact statement is prepared under NEPA; (2) other project studies initiated before such enactment for which an environmental review process document is prepared under NEPA; and (3) any project study for the development of a nonfederally owned and operated surface water storage project for which Interior determines there is a demonstrable federal interest and that is located in a river basin where other Reclamation water projects are located, that will create additional water supplies that support Reclamation water projects, or that will become integrated into the operation of Reclamation water projects. Requires Interior to: annually prepare a list of all such studies that do not have adequate funding for study completion; develop and implement a coordinated environmental review process for the development of such studies; identify early all federal, state, and local government agencies and Indian tribes that may have jurisdiction and that may be required to act, which the federal lead agency shall invite to become participating or cooperating agencies; issue guidance regarding the use of programmatic approaches to carry out the environmental review process; and establish an electronic database and issue reporting requirements to make publicly available the status and progress with respect to compliance with applicable NEPA requirements and other action required for a project study. Sets forth the authorities and responsibilities of the joint lead agency, which may be a project sponsor, and the federal lead agency in the environmental review process, including: (1) the preparation and use of environmental documents; (2) establishing a plan for coordinating public and agency participation; (3) working with cooperating and participating agencies to identify and resolve issues that could delay process completion or result in the denial of any approval required for the project study; and (4) establishing, upon request, memoranda of agreement with the project sponsor, Indian tribes, and state and local governments to carry out the early coordination activities. Requires a federal lead agency to serve in that capacity for the entirety of all nonfederal projects that will be integrated into a larger system owned, operated, or administered by Reclamation. Directs Interior, upon determining that a project can be expedited by a nonfederal sponsor and that there is a demonstrable federal interest in expediting the project, to advance it as a nonfederal project. Requires a federal jurisdictional agency to complete any required approval or decision for the environmental review process on an expeditious basis. Provides for a reduction of funds for such an agency that fails to render such a decision by a specified deadline. Directs Interior to: (1) survey the use by Reclamation of categorical exclusions in projects since 2005 and propose a new categorical exclusion for a category of activities if merited, and (2) establish a program to measure and report on progress made toward improving and expediting the planning and environmental review process. Requires Interior to develop and submit annually a Report to Congress on Future Water Project Development that identifies: (1) the costs and benefits of, the nonfederal interests associated with, and the support for project reports, proposed project studies, and proposed modifications to authorized water projects and project studies that are related to Reclamation's missions and authorities, that require specific congressional authorization, that have not been congressionally authorized, that have not been included in any previous annual report, and that, if authorized, could be carried out by Reclamation; and (2) any project study that was expedited under this title. Specifies surface water storage, rural water supply, wastewater, and groundwater projects to be included in such studies and reports. TITLE IX--ACCELERATED REVENUE, REPAYMENT, AND SURFACE WATER STORAGE ENHANCEMENT Accelerated Revenue, Repayment, and Surface Water Storage Enhancement Act Directs Interior to convert certain existing water service contracts between the United States and water users' associations to repayment contracts to allow for prepayment of such contracts, upon the request of the contractor. Specifies the manner of conversion and the terms and conditions of prepayment. Requires a specified percentage of certain receipts generated from prepayment of contracts under this title, beyond amounts necessary to cover the amount of receipts forgone from scheduled payments under current law for the 10-year period following the enactment of this title, to be directed to the Reclamation Surface Water Storage Account. Requires the Secretary to allocate amounts in such Account to fund the construction of surface water storage for: increased municipal and industrial water supply; agricultural floodwater, erosion, and sedimentation reduction; agricultural drainage improvements; agricultural irrigation; increased recreation opportunities; and reduced adverse impacts to fish and wildlife from water storage or diversion projects within watersheds associated with water storage projects funded under this Act. TITLE X--SAFETY OF DAMS Amends the Reclamation Safety of Dams Act of 1978 to authorize Interior, subject to a feasibility study, to develop additional project benefits (including additional conservation storage capacity) through the construction of new or supplementary works when it exercises its authority to modify Reclamation dams and related facilities to preserve their structural safety, provided that: (1) the additional project benefits will promote more efficient management of water and water-related facilities, (2) the feasibility study is authorized under the Federal Water Project Recreation Act of 1965, and (3) the costs are allocated to the authorized purposes of the structure and repaid consistent with federal reclamation law. TITLE XI--WATER RIGHTS PROTECTION Water Rights Protection Act Prohibits Interior and USDA from: conditioning or withholding the issuance, renewal, amendment, or extension of any permit, approval, license, lease, allotment, easement, right-of-way, or other land use or occupancy agreement (permit) on the limitation or encumbrance of any water right or the transfer of any water right to the United States or any other designee or on any other impairment of any water right under state law by federal or state action; requiring any water user (including a federally recognized Indian tribe) to apply for or acquire a water right in the name of the United States under state law as a condition of such a permit; asserting jurisdiction over groundwater withdrawals or impacts on groundwater resources, unless consistent with state groundwater resource laws, regulations, and policies; or infringing on the rights and obligations of a state in evaluating, allocating, and adjudicating state waters originating on or under, or flowing from, land owned or managed by the federal government.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Adoptive Family Relief Act This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to declare that if an immigrant visa was issued on or after March 27, 2013, for a child who has been lawfully adopted, or who is coming to the United States to be adopted, by a U.S. citizen, any statutory immigrant visa fees relating to a renewal or replacement of such visa may be waived or refunded if: the child was unable to use the original immigrant visa during the period of its validity as a direct result of extraordinary circumstances, including the denial of an exit permit; and such inability was attributable to factors beyond the control of the adopting parent or parents.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Sensenbrenner-Scott Over-Criminalization Task Force Safe, Accountable, Fair, Effective Justice Reinvestment Act of 2015 or the Sensenbrenner-Scott SAFE Justice Reinvestment Act of 2015 This bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to: (1) compile and publish federal law violations with criminal penalties, (2) reduce over-federalization of criminal conduct and over-incarceration due to pretrial detention, (3) create a online complaint process to challenge prosecutions and (4) create training and best practices for prosecutors and law enforcement officers that reduce the inaccuracy and unreliability of evidence in criminal cases. It prohibits sentencing courts from considering defendant's acquitted conduct and grants discretion to disregard manipulated conduct involving the Controlled Substances Act. It reauthorizes the Innocence Protection Act of 2001 for FY2016-FY2021. The bill expands pre-judgment probation, safety valve, and compassionate release eligibility. It creates problem-solving courts, establishes a presumption of probation for certain non-violent first-time offenders, and limits prior drug offenses that trigger enhanced mandatory minimum prison terms. It limits application of drug offense mandatory minimums to drug trafficking organization leaders, organizers, or employees. (Drug offenses include unlawful import, export, manufacture, or distribution of, or possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.) It also reduces from life to 35 years the maximum mandatory minimum for certain drug offenses. The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 applies retroactively to permit resentencing of a convicted crack cocaine offender sentenced before August 3, 2010. DOJ must develop a post-sentencing risk and needs assessment system. The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) must provide residential substance abuse treatment to all eligible offenders. The bill establishes a standardized graduated sanctioning system for supervised release or probation violations. It eliminates mandatory revocation for certain minor violations and creates a performance-incentive funding program for judicial districts. BOP may grant 54 days of good time credit regardless of satisfactory GED progress. Probation officers may award positive reinforcement (e.g. discharge credits) for compliance with terms of supervision. The bill adds one non-voting, public defender member to the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Stop Catch and Release Act of 2015 This legislation amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require mandatory detention of any alien who is unlawfully present in the United States and arrested for inadmissible or deportable crimes. The bill transfers release authority from the Department of Justice to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS may release the alien to an appropriate authority for proceedings related to the arrest, but DHS must resume custody for any period that the alien is not in custody of the appropriate authority. If the alien is not convicted of crimes for which the alien was arrested, then DHS must continue to detain the alien until removal proceedings are completed. DHS must complete the removal proceedings within 90 days.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
SCOTUScare Act of 2015 This bill amends the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to limit the health plans the federal government may make available to Supreme Court Justices and Supreme Court employees to those that are created under PPACA or offered through a health insurance exchange.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 2015
Sound Dollar Act of 2015 Amends the Federal Reserve Act (FRA) to direct the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to: (1) pursue the goal of long-term price stability, and (2) establish metrics to evaluate whether long-term price stability is being achieved. Prescribes procedures for the establishment and evaluation of such metrics. Directs the Board and the FOMC to: (1) make such information available to the public on a website, and (2) report to Congress each time such metrics are set or revised. Directs the Board to include in its semiannual report to Congress: (1) the results of the evaluation process, (2) whether the goal of long-term price stability is being met, (3) the main monetary policy instruments and strategy used by the Board and the FOMC to achieve long-term price stability, and (4) an analysis of how the policies of the Board and the FOMC are affecting the foreign exchange rate value of the U.S. dollar. Directs the Board to clearly articulate its lender-of-last-resort policy. Revamps FOMC membership to consist of one representative from each of the Federal Reserve banks (in addition to members of the Board). Directs the FOMC to release meeting transcripts to the public within three years after each meeting. Redesignates the Department of the Treasury stabilization fund as the Special Drawing Rights Fund. Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to liquidate all property in the Fund (other than Special Drawing Rights) and to use all such amounts to reduce the public debt. Limits the availability of the Fund solely to stabilize exchange rates and arrangements. Repeals Treasury authority to deal in U.S. instruments of credit and securities. Permits only Special Drawing Rights to be deposited into the Fund. Requires funds that would otherwise have been deposited into the Fund to be paid, instead, to the Treasury to reduce the public debt. Amends the FRA to authorize the FOMC, in unusual and exigent circumstances, by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of its members, to grant any Federal Reserve bank emergency authority to buy and sell U.S. debt obligations and revenue bonds in anticipation of the collection of taxes or the receipt of assured revenues by any state or local governmental entity, as well as obligations of, or guaranteed by, a foreign government or agency. Amends the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to repeal: (1) Board funding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as determined by the CFPB, and (2) the CFPB Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 2015
Condemns the adoption of a resolution or policy by any institution of higher education or scholarly association that formally calls for or establishes the restriction of discourse, cooperation, exchange, or any other involvement with academic institutions or scholars on the basis of their connection to Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 2015
Dams Accountability, Maintenance, and Safety Act Amends the Reclamation Safety of Dams Act of 1978 to authorize the Department of the Interior, subject to a feasibility study, to develop additional project benefits (including additional conservation storage capacity) through the construction of new or supplementary works when it exercises its authority to modify Bureau of Reclamation dams and related facilities to preserve their structural safety, provided that: (1) the additional project benefits will promote more efficient management of water and water-related facilities, (2) the feasibility study is authorized under the Federal Water Project Recreation Act of 1965, and (3) the costs are allocated to the authorized purposes of the structure and repaid consistent with federal reclamation law.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 2015
Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue gold, silver, half-dollar clad, and proof silver coins in recognition and celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first manned landing on the moon. Treasury may issue coins minted under this Act for only a one-year period, beginning January 1, 2019. All sales of coins minted under this Act shall include a surcharge of $35 per gold coin, $10 per silver coin, $5 per half-dollar clad coin, and $50 per proof silver coin. All of the surcharges received from the sale of such coins shall be paid as follows: one-half to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum's "Destination Moon" exhibit; one-quarter to the Astronauts Memorial Foundation; and one-quarter to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, to aid its missions by providing college scholarships for the very best and brightest students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM).
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 2015
Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin Act This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue up to 50,000 $5 gold coins, 400,000 $1 silver coins, and 750,000 half-dollar clad coins emblematic of the fight against breast cancer. The Treasury shall: select the design for the coins based upon the winning design from a juried, compensated design competition following certain specifications; and issue the coins only during the one-year period beginning on January 1, 2018. All such coin sales must include the following surcharges: $35 per $5 gold coin, $10 per $1 dollar silver coin, and $5 per half-dollar coin. The Treasury shall pay received surcharges promptly to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation according to a specified distribution formula.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 2015
Lawful Purpose and Self Defense Act Amends the federal criminal code to modify the definition of "armor piercing ammunition" for purposes of federal firearms provisions to: (1) include a projectile that is designed and intended by the manufacturer or importer for use in a handgun (currently, a projectile that may be used in a handgun); (2) repeal the exclusion of a projectile that the Attorney General finds is primarily intended for sporting purposes; and (3) exclude a projectile that is primarily intended by the manufacturer or importer to be used in a rifle or shotgun and a handgun projectile that is designed and intended by the manufacturer or importer to be used for hunting, recreational, or competitive shooting. Repeals a prohibition on assembling from imported parts a semiautomatic rifle or shotgun that is identical to one prohibited from importation as not being suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes. Repeals the condition that in order for a licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer to be permitted to ship to a member of the U.S. Armed Forces on active duty outside the United States or to clubs whose entire membership is composed of such members, and for such members or clubs to be permitted to receive, a firearm or ammunition intended for the lawful personal use of such members or club, the firearm or ammunition must be determined by the Attorney General to be generally recognized as particularly suitable for sporting purposes. Includes among the categories of firearms or ammunition that may be authorized for importation into the United States by the Attorney General, within 30 days after receiving an application therefor: (1) ammunition that is not armor piercing ammunition; (2) a firearm or ammunition that is being brought in for the use of a federal, state, or local government agency; and (3) a firearm or ammunition that is being imported for the purpose of exportation. Amends the National Firearms Act to modify the definition of "destructive device" to exclude: (1) a shotgun or shotgun shell which the Department of the Treasury finds is generally recognized as particularly suitable for lawful (currently, sporting) purposes; and (2) an antique or a rifle which the owner intends to use for (currently, solely for) sporting purposes. Authorizes the temporary interstate transfer of a firearm for lawful (currently, sporting) purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2015
Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015 This bill shall apply whenever the Department concerned, either the Department of Agriculture (USDA) with respect to National Forest System land or the Department of the Interior with respect to public lands, prepares an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) for a forest management activity that: is developed through a collaborative process; is proposed by a resource advisory committee; or is covered by a community wildfire protection plan. In such an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement, the Department concerned shall study, develop, and describe only these two alternatives: the forest management activity proposed, and the alternative of no action. In the case of the alternative of no action, the Department concerned shall evaluate: the effect of no action on forest health, habitat diversity, wildfire potential, and insect and disease potential; and the implications of a resulting decline in forest health, loss of habitat diversity, wildfire, or insect or disease infestation on domestic water costs, wildlife habitat loss, and other economic and social factors. A categorical exclusion is made available to the Department concerned to: (1) expedite specified critical response actions, (2) expedite salvage operations in response to catastrophic events, and (3) meet forest plan goals for early successional forests. (A "categorical exclusion" under NEPA is a category of actions which do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment and which have been found to have no such effect in procedures adopted by a federal agency in implementing environmental regulations and for which, therefore, neither an Environmental Assessment nor an Environmental Impact Statement is required.) Any environmental assessment for a salvage operation or reforestation activity proposed to be conducted on National Forest System lands or public lands impacted by a large-scale catastrophic event shall be completed within three months after that event. Any plaintiffs challenging a forest management activity developed through a collaborative process or proposed by a resource advisory committee shall be required to post a bond or other security. Repeals the Merchantable Timber Contracting Pilot Program under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. The Department concerned shall ensure that at least 50% of the project funds reserved by a participating county for carrying out a special project on federal land or certain nonfederal land under the same Act shall be made available only for projects that: include the sale of timber or other forest products; and implement stewardship objectives that enhance forest ecosystems or restore and improve land health and water quality. The membership of a new resource advisory committee may lower from 15 to a minimum of six during a specified period ending September 30, 2020. The Forest Service shall conduct a self-sustaining resource advisory committee (RAC) program under which 10 RACs will propose projects intended to: accomplish forest management objectives or support community development, and generate receipts. A participating county shall be allowed to use certain funds to: (1) reimburse the county for law enforcement patrols performed on federal land, and (2) cover training costs and equipment purchases directly related to emergency services. The Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 may obligate funds to cover potential cancellation or termination costs for an agreement or contract for stewardship end result contracting projects. Monies from an agreement or contract for a stewardship contracting project shall be available for expenditure without further appropriation to cover up to 25% of the cost of planning additional such projects. The Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Fund shall be used to pay up to 50% of the costs of planning ecological restoration treatments on National Forest System land for each proposal selected under the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program. The State-Supported Forest Management Fund is established in the Treasury to cover the costs of the Department concerned to plan, carry out, and monitor a forest management activity on National Forest System or public land which is developed through a collaborative process, proposed by a resource advisory committee, or covered by a community wildfire protection plan. The Department of the Interior shall take specified administrative action under the Tribal Forest Protection Act of 2004 within 120 days of receiving a request from an Indian Tribe to enter into an agreement or contract to carry out a project to protect Indian forest land or rangeland (including bordering or adjacent federal land). The Secretary concerned may treat federal forest land as Indian forest land for purposes of planning and conducting forest land management activities under the National Indian Forest Resources Management Act if the federal forest land is located within a specified area. Courts reviewing an agency action shall balance short- and long-term effects of forest management activities in considering injunctive relief. The Forest Supervisor of a National Forest System unit must perform certain tasks when considering whether to decommission a defined maintenance level one or two system road within a designated high fire-prone area. USDA may not apply to National Forest System lands any of the amendments to forest plans adopted in the Eastside Screens requirements. USDA shall require, under the Knutson-Vanderburg Act, each purchaser of national-forest timber to make certain deposits of money in addition to the payments for the timber to cover the cost to the federal government of certain forest land management activities. National Wilderness Preservation System lands meeting certain criteria are exempt from this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 2015
American Health Care Reform Act of 2015 This bill repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective January 1, 2016. Provisions amended by repealed provisions are restored. This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax standard deduction for health insurance. Provisions regarding health savings accounts (HSAs) are revised, including to raise contribution limits and to expand the products and services that may be paid for using an HSA. Group health plans may vary premiums and cost-sharing based on participation in a wellness program. This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide grants to states for high risk health insurance pools. Individual health insurance coverage is governed by the laws of the state designated by the health insurance issuer. This bill amends title XI (General Provisions) of the Social Security Act to require the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to publish Medicare claims and payment data. This bill amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide for association health plans, which are group health plans sponsored by certain business associations. Veterans with certain service-related disabilities or who have been awarded a medal of honor must be provided access to medical services though specified entities other than the Department of Veterans Affairs. HHS must publish clinical practice guidelines. Independent medical review panels must review health care lawsuits in which the defendant alleges adherence to clinical practice guidelines. Federal courts have jurisdiction over health care lawsuits. This bill amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to revise non-security discretionary spending limits.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 2015
Roads Not Roses Act This bill repeals the authority of the Secretary of Transportation to approve as part of the construction of federal-aid highways the costs of landscape and roadside development.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2015
Citizens' Districts Preservation Act Requires each of the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, New Jersey, and Washington to retain the congressional redistricting plan in effect in such state as of the first day of the 114th Congress until such state carries out a redistricting plan in response to the apportionment of Representatives resulting from the regular decennial census conducted in 2020.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 2015
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: gains made in border security in the Border Patrol's Yuma Sector and positive trends in recidivism rates are of critical importance to those living and working in the border region and to the nation; refusing to prosecute first time illegal border crossers will jeopardize those gains and the executive branch should remove any policy or direction to cease prosecuting first time illegal border crossers under Operation Streamline; the border security steps that have led to some measure of improvement on the border, such as the historical implementation of Operation Streamline, should be preserved.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 2015
Constitutional Amendment This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment requiring federal expenditures and receipts to be balanced, excluding expenditures for payment of debt and receipts derived from borrowing. The requirement may be met over more than one year to accommodate economic conditions. In emergency situations, two-thirds of the House of Representatives and the Senate may authorize expenditures to exceed receipts for a limited time. Debts from emergency expenditures must be paid as soon as practicable. Congress may enforce the article with legislation, which must require compliance within 10 years of ratification.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2015
Sportsmen's Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act of 2015 or the SHARE Act This bill revises a variety of existing programs to expand access to, and opportunities for, hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting. Hunting, Fishing, and Recreational Shooting Protection Act Components of firearms and ammunition and sport fishing equipment and its components (such as lead sinkers) are exempted from regulations of chemical substances under the Toxic Substances Control Act. The authority of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to regulate the use of ammunition and fishing tackle based on its lead content is limited. Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act The Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act is amended to: (1) increase the proportion of funding from the Act that states may use for acquiring land for public target ranges, and (2) delay by 10 years until 2026 the date after which interest from the wildlife conservation and restoration fund is available for apportionment. Polar Bear Conservation and Fairness Act of 2015 Interior must issue permits to allow a hunter to import polar bear parts (other than internal organs) if the bear was legally harvested in Canada from an approved population before the May 15, 2008, listing of the polar bear as threatened. Recreational Lands Self-Defense Act of 2015 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may not prohibit individuals from possessing a firearm in public areas of a water resources development project. Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act Federal public land management officials must facilitate hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting on certain federal public land. Hunter and Farmer Protection Act The bill revises standards for determining what a baited area is for purposes of the prohibition on taking migratory game birds. The National Park Service (NPS) may not prohibit individuals from transporting bows and crossbows if certain requirements are met. The NPS may establish hunter access corridors. Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act Reauthorization of 2015 This bill revises the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act to extend the authority provided to Interior under the Act. African Elephant Conservation and Legal Ivory Possession Act of 2015 This bill revises and reauthorizes the African Elephant Conservation Act through FY2020. This bill provides special rules to expand access to federal land and waterways for film crews of five people or fewer.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2015
Special Inspector General for Monitoring the ACA Act of 2015 or the SIGMA Act of 2015 Establishes the Office of the Special Inspector General for Monitoring the Affordable Care Act to conduct, supervise, and coordinate audits and investigations of the implementation and administration of programs and activities established under, and payment system changes made by, the Affordable Care Act (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010). Requires the Special Inspector General to be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Requires the Special Inspector General to appoint an Assistant Inspector General for Auditing and an Assistant Inspector General for Investigations. Places the Special Inspector General under the supervision of the Department of Health and Human Services, but prohibits federal agencies involved in implementing or administering the Affordable Care Act from preventing or prohibiting the Special Inspector General from initiating, carrying out, or completing any audit or investigation.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2015
This bill amends the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to repeal country of origin labeling requirements for beef, pork, and chicken. Country of origin labeling requirements are administered by the Department of Agriculture and require a retailer to inform consumers of the country of origin of a covered commodity.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 2015
Nutritious Options for Meals Act of 2015 This bill amends the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to apply nutritional standards for the Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to foods purchased for USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program), with the addition of lean meat and poultry. Foods purchased for SNAP must be of the kind prescribed by USDA in implementing WIC requirements that: (1) food contain nutrients determined by nutritional research to be lacking in the diets of pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, infants, or children; or (2) food promote the health of the population served by the program. Examples of foods acceptable under the bill include vegetables, fruits, milk, juice, breakfast cereal, cheese, eggs, yogurt, peanut butter, legumes, whole grain bread, and lean meat or poultry.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 2015
Empowering Patients First Act of 2015 This bill repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of their enactment. This bill replaces those provisions with amendments to the Internal Revenue Code, the Public Health Service Act, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to address health care coverage. The bill provides for refundable tax credits for health insurance coverage and health savings account (HSA) contributions. The bill raises the annual HSA contribution limit, expands eligibility for tax-deductible HSA contributions, and allows HSAs to be used to pay periodic or capitated primary care fees. A limit is placed on the amount of an employer's contribution to health coverage that can be excluded from the employee's taxable income. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must provide a grant to each state for high-risk pools or reinsurance pools to subsidize health insurance for high-risk populations and individuals. Funds authorized, tax credits, and tax deductions under this Act may not be used to pay for an abortion or health coverage that includes abortion, with exceptions. This bill provides for the establishment and governance of independent health pools, entities that form risk pools to offer health insurance coverage to their members. Small Business Health Fairness Act of 2015 This bill provides for the establishment and governance of association health plans, which are group health plans sponsored by business associations that meet certain ERISA certification requirements. Health insurers offering individual coverage may deny coverage to an individual, outside of open enrollment periods. Preexisting conditions may be excluded from coverage under certain conditions. Individual health insurance coverage is governed by the laws of a state designated by the health insurance issuer. HHS must issue clinical practice guidelines. The bill specifies how these guidelines may be used in a health care lawsuit. HHS may not use comparative effectiveness research or patient-centered outcomes research to deny coverage of an item or service under a federal health care program. This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to permit Medicare beneficiaries to contract with a physician or practitioner for covered health care and submit a claim for payment under Medicare. Health care professionals are exempted from federal and state antitrust laws in connection with negotiations with a health plan to provide health care items or services.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 2015
End Warrantless Surveillance of Americans Act Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) and the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 to prohibit federal officers or employees from searching for a particular U.S. person (other than a corporation) in: (1) a collection of communications acquired under an authorization by the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence to target persons located outside the United States; or (2) nonpublic telephone or electronic communications, including communications in electronic storage, retained in an intelligence collection activity not authorized by court order, subpoena, or similar legal process that is reasonably anticipated to result in the acquisition of communications to or from a U.S. person without the consent of a party to the communication. Provides exceptions that allow searches of such communications for a particular U.S. person if: (1) the U.S. person is the subject of certain orders or emergency authorizations for electronic surveillance or physical search under FISA or the federal criminal code for the effective period of that order, (2) the life or safety of such U.S. person is threatened and the information is sought for the purpose of assisting that person, or (3) the U.S. person consents. Prohibits a federal agency from requiring or requesting a manufacturer, developer, or seller of any computer hardware, software, or electronic device made available to the general public to design or alter the security functions in such products to allow the surveillance of any user or the physical search of such product by any agency. Exempts from such prohibition products used by law enforcement agencies for electronic surveillance as authorized under the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act.
![Official portrait of Rep. McClintock, Tom [R-CA-5]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m001177_200.jpg)