Budget

24 Mr. B. Ahern asked the Minister for Finance the obligations, if any, of programme managers and advisers in relation to official secrecy; and the action, if any, he proposes to take in relation to the leaking of the budget proposals. [3178/95]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 28 February 1995

24 Mr. B. Ahern asked the Minister for Finance the obligations, if any, of programme managers and advisers in relation to official secrecy; and the action, if any, he proposes to take in relation to the leaking of the budget proposals. [3178/95]

Metropolitan Washington Airports Amendments Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1995

Metropolitan Washington Airports Amendments Act of 1995 - Amends the Metropolitan Washington Airports Act of 1986 to revise the term "airport purposes" with respect to real property of the Metropolitan Washington Airports to limit the inclusion of nonprofit, public use facilities to those which are not inconsistent with the needs of aviation. (Sec. 4) Increases the number of people on the board of directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority: (1) from 11 to 15 members; and (2) that the President must appoint, with the advice and consent of the Senate, from one member to five members. Requires board members appointed by the President to be registered voters of States other than Maryland, Virginia, or the District of Columbia. Requires two of the members appointed to the board by the President to serve for a term of four years. Authorizes a member to serve after the expiration of that member's term until a successor has taken office. Requires vacancies on the board to be filled in the manner in which the original appointment was made. Requires any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration of the term for which the member's predecessor was appointed to be appointed only for the remainder of such term. Declares that no more than three members of the board appointed by the President may be of the same political party. Requires nine votes (currently, seven) to approve bond issues and the annual budget. (Sec. 5) Establishes the Federal Advisory Commission of the Airports Authority (thereby effectively replacing the Board of Review of the Airports Authority). (Sec. 6) Requires Airports Authority actions to be submitted to the Federal Advisory Commission (currently, the Board of Review) for review. Requires certain Airports Authority decisions to remain in effect and not be set aside solely by reason of a judicial order invalidating certain functions of the Board of Review. (Sec. 7) Revises requirements for congressional review of Airports Authority actions. (Sec. 8) Provides for the removal of Federal Advisory Commission (previously, Board of Review) members by the Secretary of Transportation (currently, by a two-thirds vote of the board of directors). (Sec. 11) Directs the Airports Authority to continue to enforce certain restrictions contained in the Metropolitan Washington Airports Regulations with respect to the use of the Dulles access highway. (Sec. 13) Prohibits the Secretary from issuing an exemption under specified sections of title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations regarding the allocation of slots at high density airports if such exemption would adversely affect safety.

Guam Commonwealth Act

United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1995

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Political Relationship Title II: Applicability of Federal Law Title III: Foreign Affairs and Defense Title IV: Courts Title V: Trade Title VI: Taxation Title VII: Immigration Title VIII: Labor Title IX: Transportation and Telecommunications Title X: Land, Natural Resources and Utilities Title XI: United States Financial Assistance Title XII: Technical Amendments and Interpretation Guam Commonwealth Act - Title I: Political Relationship - Creates the Commonwealth of Guam. Grants the people of Guam the right of full self-government through adoption of a Constitution and within specified guidelines. (Sec. 102) Recognizes the right of self-determination of the people of Guam. Directs the U.S. Government to promote preservation of the Chamorro culture, enhanced economic, social, and educational opportunities for Chamorros, and training of Chamorros for employment. Directs Guam to establish a land trust for the benefit of the indigenous Chamorro people and to establish residency requirements under the Constitution of Guam for voting and holding elective office. (Sec. 103) Allows this Act to be modified only with the mutual consent of the Governments of the United States and Guam. Title II: Applicability of Federal Law - Makes specified provisions of, and amendments to, the U.S. Constitution applicable to Guam. (Sec. 202) Makes Federal laws, rules, or regulations passed after the date of this Act inapplicable unless mutually consented to by the Governments of the United States and Guam. (Sec. 203) Creates the Joint Commission on the Applicability of Federal Law. (Sec. 204) Authorizes the President to delegate to the Governor of Guam performance of functions now vested in Federal administrative agencies. Title III: Foreign Affairs and Defense - Grants the United States responsibility for authority with respect to matters relating to foreign affairs and defense that affect Guam. (Sec. 302) Prohibits the establishment of military security zones or the stationing of foreign military personnel on the Island of Guam without the approval of the Government of Guam except in time of declared war, or the establishment of military bases without consultation with the Governor. (Sec. 304) Prohibits the United States from using Guam or the water surrounding it for the dumping or storage of nuclear waste or hazardous chemicals. Provides for the cleanup by the United States of chemical dump sites used by the military. Requires the United States to compensate any person injured as a result of hazardous materials stored, used, or disposed of by the U.S. Government in Guam or its waters. Title IV: Courts - Specifies provisions governing the relations between U.S. courts and the local courts of Guam, the jurisdiction of the District Court of Guam, and the applicable district court rules. (Sec. 404) Provides for the appointment of a judge for the District Court of Guam, a U.S. attorney, and a U.S. marshal for Guam. Title V: Trade - Establishes a Guam-United States free trade area. Authorizes Guam to impose, increase, reduce, or eliminate duties and other restrictions on certain imports and exports. Title VI: Taxation - Makes U.S. income tax laws applicable to Guam. Deems such laws to impose a separate tax to be known as the Guam Commonwealth income tax. (Sec. 603) Allows the Government of Guam to provide for the rebate or reduction of taxes in order to assist new industries or economic development. (Sec. 604) Grants Guam the power to determine the nature and amount of taxes imposed upon the income and property of persons within its jurisdiction. Repeals applicable U.S. tax laws one year after Guam has enacted a replacement comprehensive local income tax. (Sec. 605) Exempts all bonds or other obligations issued by Guam from taxation by Federal, State, or local governments of the United States. Title VII: Immigration - Applies the Immigration and Nationality Act and pertinent Federal regulations to Guam for two years from enactment of this Act. Directs Guam to enact a comprehensive law on immigration to become effective at the end of the two-year period. (Sec. 702) Authorizes U.S. consular officials to issue visas for travel only to Guam for any alien seeking to enter Guam as a non-immigrant in order to encourage investors and tourists to come to Guam. Title VIII: Labor - Grants preference to qualified residents of Guam in all Federal civil service vacancies occurring in Guam. (Sec. 802) Grants Guam the authority to enact and enforce all laws regulating or affecting employment in Guam. Title IX: Transportation and Telecommunications - Precludes application of any U.S. law barring the U.S. registration and use of any foreign-built vessel within the waters around Guam for any purpose. Exempts from the coastwise laws of the United States any shipment of fish or fish products from Guam to any U.S. coastwise destination. Directs the Commission to examine the applicability of such laws and to recommend their termination upon determining that such laws constrain Guam's economic development. (Sec. 902) Authorizes the Governor of Guam to sponsor any qualified air service carrier to come to Guam, subject to presidential consultation concerning U.S. foreign policy and security interests. Exempts Guam from all bilateral treaties between the United States and foreign states with respect to scheduling and technical specifications of aircraft, other than safety requirements. (Sec. 903) Defines Guam as "domestic" for Federal Communications Commission rate setting purposes. Title X: Land, Natural Resources and Utilities - Grants the Government of Guam the power of eminent domain. Sets limits on U.S. acquisition of real property on Guam. Exempts Guam from Federal regulations governing the transfer or sale of excess Federal real property. Provides for the transfer of all excess Federal property to Guam, with specified exceptions. (Sec. 1003) Provides for access and use by the residents of Guam of certain retained Federal property, subject to military security requirements. (Sec. 1004) Directs the United States to transfer ownership of island utilities to Guam. Title XI: United States Financial Assistance - Provides for the return of U.S. revenues from taxes and fees collected in Guam to the Government of Guam. Makes U.S. laws providing Federal benefits and financial assistance which are applicable to the States equally applicable to Guam. (Sec. 1104) Directs the Governor of Guam, in preparing an annual budget, to identify the costs and benefits to Guam brought about by its role as one of the principal U.S. military bases. (Sec. 1105) Provides for assistance to aid Guam's transition to a Commonwealth. Title XII: Technical Amendments and Interpretation - Makes technical and conforming amendments. (Sec. 1204) Requires this Act to be submitted to the registered voters of Guam for ratification after being passed by the Congress. Repeals the Organic Act of Guam.

Living Wage, Jobs For All Act

United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1995

A Living Wage, Jobs for All Act - Declares that the Congress affirms the basic economic rights and responsibilities under the 1944 "Economic Bill of Rights," while updating and extending it to include that: (1) every adult American able and willing to earn a living through paid work has the right to a free choice among opportunities for useful and productive part- or full-time paid employment at decent real wages or for self-employment; (2) every adult American unable to work for pay or find employment has the right to an adequate standard of living that rises with increases in the wealth and productivity of the society; and (3) there are certain other rights relating to collective bargaining, a safe working environment, health services, information on trends in pollution sources and products and processes that impact on the well-being of workers throughout the world, voting and campaigning, and personal security. Recognizes specified personal responsibilities of persons benefitting from such rights. Makes it the responsibility of each Federal agency and commission, including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, to perform so as to help establish and maintain conditions under which all adult Americans may freely exercise the economic rights specified in 1944 and in this Act. Prohibits Federal agencies or commissions from directly or indirectly promoting recession, stagnation, or unemployment as a means of reducing wages and salaries or inflation. (Sec. 3) Directs the President to establish a program to implement such basic economic rights and responsibilities. Sets forth policies and projects to be included under such program. Includes such program in the annual submission of budget. (Sec. 4) Requires all budget messages transmitted from the President to the Congress to be based on policies and programs to reduce officially measured unemployment to the interim levels set forth in the Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978 and to include specified impact analyses and other information. (Sec. 5) Provides for Joint Economic Committee oversight of, and annual reports on, actions taken or proposed to be taken under this Act. Requires the Joint Economic Committee to submit an annual Concurrent Resolution on Economic Policy setting forth both in aggregate terms and in detail its proposed goals for employment by type of employment, with special attention to hours, wages, and social benefits, and for reducing unemployment, underemployment, and poverty in urban, suburban and rural areas. Requires these goals to serve as the framework for any concurrent resolutions on the Federal budget. (Sec. 6) Authorizes appropriations.

To prohibit Members of the House of Representatives from using official funds for the production or mailing of newsletters, to reduce by 50 percent the amount which may be made available for the Official Mail Allowance of any such Member, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1995

Prohibits a Member of the House of Representatives from using any official funds for the production or mailing of a newsletter. Amends the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1991 to change the Official Mail Allowance for Members of the House of Representatives to not more than the product of: (1) one and one-half times the single-piece rate applicable to first class mail (currently, three times such rate); and (2) the number of addresses in the congressional district. Requires any unobligated funds remaining in the Official Mail Allowance of a Member of the House at the end of a session of Congress to be deposited into the general fund of the Treasury and applied toward the reduction of the Federal budget deficit.

8 Mr. M. Kitt asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the reservations expressed by the Conference of Religious of Ireland in relation to the increased allocation to APSO in the 1995 budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3836/95]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 23 February 1995

8 Mr. M. Kitt asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the reservations expressed by the Conference of Religious of Ireland in relation to the increased allocation to APSO in the 1995 budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3836/95]

Risk Assessment and Cost-Benefit Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1995

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Risk Assessment and Communication Title II: Analysis of Risk Reduction Benefits and Costs Title III: Peer Review Title IV: Judicial Review Title V: Plan Title VI: Priorities Risk Assessment and Cost-Benefit Act of 1995 - Declares that this Act shall not apply to: (1) an emergency situation, in which case the agency head shall comply with this Act within as reasonable a time as is practical; (2) activities necessary to maintain military readiness; (3) any individual food, drug, or other product label, or any risk characterization appearing on any such label, if the individual product label is required by law to be approved by a Federal department or agency prior to use; and (4) Federal agency approval of State programs or plans. Title I: Risk Assessment and Communication - Risk Assessment and Communication Act of 1995 - Applies this title generally to all significant risk assessment and risk characterization documents, except: (1) screening analyses; (2) health, safety, or environmental inspections; or (3) the sale or lease of Federal resources or regulatory activities that directly result in collection of Federal receipts. (Sec. 104) Requires each covered Federal agency head to apply specified principles in order to assure that significant risk assessment documents and all of their components distinguish scientific findings from other considerations and are, to the extent feasible, scientifically objective, unbiased, and inclusive of all relevant data and rely, to the extent available and practicable, on scientific findings. (Sec. 105) Specifies the requirements that each significant risk characterization document is required to meet. (Sec. 106) Prohibits any covered Federal agency from automatically incorporating or adopting any recommendation or classification made by a non-United States-based entity concerning the health effects value of a substance without an opportunity for notice and comment. Requires compliance with this title by any risk assessment document or risk characterization document adopted by a covered Federal agency on the basis of such a recommendation or classification. (Sec. 107) Directs the President to: (1) issue guidelines for Federal agencies consistent with specified risk assessment and characterization principles; and (2) provide a format for summarizing risk assessment results. Requires such guidelines to include guidance on such subjects such as the evaluation of benign tumors and the use of different types of dose-response models. Requires the President to periodically review and revise such guidelines as appropriate. (Sec. 108) Directs each covered Federal agency head to do the following for periodic reports to the Congress: (1) regularly and systematically evaluate risk assessment research and training needs of the agency; and (2) develop a strategy and schedule for carrying out research and training to meet certain such needs. (Sec. 109) Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to provide for a study using comparative risk analysis to rank health, safety, and environmental risks and to provide a common basis for evaluating strategies for reducing or preventing those risks. Requires the Director to submit to the Congress a report of the National Research Council with recommendations regarding the use of comparative risk analysis and ways to improve the use of comparative risk analysis for decision-making in appropriate Federal agencies. (Sec. 110) Limits covered Federal agencies to: (1) the Environmental Protection Agency; (2) the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; (3) the Food and Drug Administration; (4) the Consumer Product Safety Commission; (5) the Department of Transportation; (6) the Department of Energy; (7) the Department of Agriculture; (8) the Department of the Interior; (9) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; (10) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; (11) the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; (12) the Mine Safety and Health Administration; and (13) other Federal agencies determined by the President, acting through the OMB Director. Title II: Analysis of Risk Reduction Benefits and Costs - Requires the President to require each Federal agency to prepare specified analyses for each new major rule within a program designed to protect human health, safety, or the environment. (Sec. 202) Requires that certain certifications be made in order for a final rule subject to this title to be promulgated. (Sec. 203) Directs OMB to issue guidance consistent with this title to: (1) assist the agencies, the public, and the regulated community in the implementation of this title, including any new requirements or procedures needed to supplement prior agency practice; and (2) govern the development and preparation of analyses of risk reduction benefits and costs. Title III: Peer Review - Requires each Federal agency head to develop a systematic program for independent and external peer review for regulatory programs designed to protect human health, safety, or the environment in connection with any risk assessment or cost analysis forming the basis of any rule likely to result in an annual increase in costs of $100 million or more. Exempts from such requirement any: (1) rule or other action taken by an agency to authorize or approve any individual substance or product; and (2) data or method which has been previously subjected to peer review or any component of any analysis or assessment previously subjected to peer review. Authorizes the OMB Director to order that peer review be provided for any major risk assessment or cost assessment likely to have a significant impact on public policy decisions. Directs the President to appoint National Peer Review Panels to review annually for a report to the Congress the risk and cost assessment practices of each Federal agency for programs designed to protect human health, safety, or the environment. Title IV: Judicial Review - Provides for judicial review under this Act. Title V: Plan - Requires each covered Federal agency to publish a plan to review and, where appropriate, revise significant risk assessment or characterization documents if the agency head determines that application of the appropriate specified principles for risk assessment and risk characterization and communication would be likely to alter significantly the results of the prior risk assessment or characterization. Provides for public participation and consultation in plan development. Title VI: Priorities - Directs the President, in order to assist in the public policy and regulation of risks to public health, to identify specified opportunities to reflect priorities within existing Federal regulatory programs designed to protect human health in a cost-effective and cost-reasonable manner. (Sec. 601) Requires the President to issue biennial reports to the Congress recommending priorities for modifications to, elimination of, or strategies for existing Federal regulatory programs designed to protect public health. Requires an agency to consider the priorities set forth in the report when preparing a budget or strategic plan for any such regulatory program.

Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1995

Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to revise and rename it the Integrated Spent Nuclear Fuel Management Act of 1995. (Sec. 1) Instructs the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) to accept spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste by not later than January 31, 1998. Entitles contract holders to specified remedies for the Secretary's failure to meet service contract obligations, or to accept spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste as mandated under this Act. States that the Nuclear Waste Fund shall fund the execution of service contract and implementation of the Secretary's responsibilities, including the acceptance of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at contract holder sites and transporting such fuel or waste to a private storage facility. Establishes an integrated spent nuclear fuel management system for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, including its storage, transportation, and disposal. Prescribes procedural guidelines for the use of: (1) railroads; (2) transportation planning and requirements; (3) multi-purpose canister systems; (4) interim storage facilities; (5) permanent disposal; (6) land withdrawal; and (7) private storage facilities. Prescribes consultation and assistance guidelines between the Secretary and the State of Nevada. Prescribes budget priorities for purposes of annual requests for appropriations from the Waste Fund. Prescribes a fee schedule for electricity and nuclear fuel used to generate electricity in a civilian nuclear power reactor. Sets forth advance contract prerequisites for utilization or production facility license renewals. Reestablishes the Nuclear Waste Fund and the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish by rule the appropriate portion of the costs of managing high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel allocable to the interim storage or permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel from atomic energy defense activities; and (2) advise the Congress annually of the amount of high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel from atomic energy defense activities requiring management in the integrated spent nuclear fuel management system. Subjects the Secretary to all Federal, State, and local environmental or land use laws and regulations, with specified exceptions. Grants the U.S. courts of appeals original and exclusive jurisdiction over civil actions under this Act. Provides that upon a contract holder's request, the Secretary shall take title to or possession of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste without removing it from the contract holder's designated storage site if the Secretary cannot accept such items within the contract's acceptance schedule. Requires the NRC to promulgate regulatory guidelines for: (1) financial assurances for low-level radioactive waste site closures; and (2) training and qualification of civilian nuclear powerplant personnel. Reestablishes the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to take action as necessary to improve the management of the civilian radioactive waste management program to ensure that it is operated to the maximum extent like a private business. States that the program is not subject to civil service regulations. Abolishes the Interim Storage Fund, the Monitored Retrievable Storage Commission, the Office of Subseabed Disposal Research, and the Office of Nuclear Waste Negotiator. Repeals all references to the Yucca Mountain site. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress whether particular milestones have been reached with respect to: (1) multi-purpose canister systems; (2) land withdrawals; (3) interim storage facilities; and (4) acceptance of spent nuclear fuel from contract holders. Directs the Secretary to: (1) create a value engineering function within the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management; and (2) employ on an on-going basis, integrated performance modeling regarding site characterization. (Sec. 2) Sets forth transition provisions for the continuation of: (1) contracts; (2) Nuclear Waste Fund; (3) Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management; and (4) Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. (Sec. 3) Mandates that amounts in the Nuclear Waste Fund be appropriated exclusively for certain authorized purposes cited in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982. Precludes such appropriations from being taken into account for any budget enforcement procedures under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. Amends such Act to provide that appropriations to the Nuclear Waste Fund are not subject to its discretionary spending limits or to a certain allocation of the Energy and Waster Development Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee. Reduces specified discretionary spending limits under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

1 Ms Keogh asked the Taoiseach the public relations budget which has been allocated to his Department. [3415/95]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 21 February 1995

1 Ms Keogh asked the Taoiseach the public relations budget which has been allocated to his Department. [3415/95]

Regulatory Sunset and Review Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1995

Regulatory Sunset and Review Act of 1995 - Provides that the effectiveness of a regulation issued by a Federal agency shall terminate on the applicable termination date (specified in this Act) unless the head of the agency: (1) reviews the regulation; (2) submits to the Congress and publishes in the Federal Register a preliminary report on findings and proposed recommendations; (3) reviews and considers comments regarding the preliminary report that are transmitted to the agency by the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget and by appropriate congressional committees; and (4) submits to the Congress and publishes a final report on the review and a notice extending the effectiveness of the regulation, with or without modifications, within a specified time frame. Sets forth termination dates of regulations (seven years after this Act's enactment for existing regulations, three years after the regulation takes effect for new regulations, and seven years after publication of a notice for an extension for a regulation that is extended under this Act). Provides for temporary extensions. Requires the head of each agency to: (1) conduct thorough and systematic reviews of all regulations issued by the agency to determine if those regulations are obsolete, inconsistent, or duplicative or impede competition; (2) issue reports on the findings of those reviews, with recommendations for terminating, extending, modifying, or consolidating regulations; and (3) solicit comments from the public (including the private sector) before making determinations and sending a report regarding a regulation. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) criteria for review; (2) preliminary and final reports on reviews of regulations; (3) reports on the schedule for reviewing existing regulations; (4) functions of the Administrator; (5) designation of agency Regulatory Review Officers; and (6) judicial review. Prohibits an agency from modifying, terminating, or extending a regulation unless the agency head, within specified time frames: (1) submits to the Congress notice of the proposal and notice of the final determination to take that action; and (2) reviews and considers comments submitted to the agency by appropriate congressional committees.

Opinion of Mr Advocate General Elmer delivered on 21 February 1995.#SA des Sucreries de Fontaine-le-Dun-Bolbec-Auffay (SAFBA) v Ministre du Budget.#Reference for a preliminary ruling: Cour administrative d'appel de Nantes - France.#Common organization of the market in the sugar sector - System for offsetting storage costs - Chargeable event for storage levy.#Case C-19/94.

European Union · Court of Justice of the European Union · 21 February 1995

Regulatory Reform Commissions Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 16 February 1995

Regulatory Reform Commissions Act of 1995 - Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to establish three commissions to review and report on the regulations issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Labor, and the Department of the Interior. Includes among review standards determinations as to: (1) whether the regulations are within the scope of authority of the underlying statutes, in accordance with original congressional intent, and subject to judicial review; and (2) economic costs and benefits.

Individual Responsibility Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 16 February 1995

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Time-Limited Transitional Assistance Title II: Make Work Pay Title III: The Work First Program Title IV: Family Responsibility and Improved Child Support Enforcement Title V: Teen Pregnancy and Family Stability Title VI: Program Simplification Title VII: Financing Title VIII: SSI Reform Title IX: Effective Date Individual Responsibility Act of 1995 - Title I: Time-Limited Transitional Assistance - Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) require States opting to have work first programs to make ineligible for AFDC any family with a member who has participated in such work program, generally, for two years (and so is prohibited from further participation), while preserving the eligibility of such families for Medicaid; (2) condition eligibility for AFDC on participation in job search activities except during unsubsidized full-time private sector employment; and (3) direct the Secretary of Health and Human Service (Secretary) to establish a database of work first and community service programs participants for use by States opting to have work first programs. Title II: Make Work Pay - Amends SSA titles XIX (Medicaid) and IV part A (AFDC), as well as the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and other specified Federal law, to make various specified changes with regard to certain program aspects, among them: (1) extended Medicaid enrollment for former AFDC recipients; (2) increased AFDC earned income disregards; (3) limited AFDC income and resource disregards of savings for education, first time home purchase, or microenterprise initiatives; (4) child care, including replacement of current Federal child care programs with State-administered block grant programs for child care services, as well as child care for work first program participants; and (5) refundable tax credits for dependent care and other expenses connected with gaining employment in order to enable AFDC recipients to become self-sufficient. Title III: The Work First Program - Amends SSA title IV to replace the current Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program under part F with a new Work First Program that allows participating States to establish one of two types of work programs, with one type similar to the programs operated by Riverside County, California, and the State of Oregon. (Sec. 301) Adds a new part G under which States establishing a work first program have the option to establish community service programs with requirements for securing unsubsidized full-time employment in the private sector. Requires a work supplementation component under such programs that provides for subsidized private sector or State or local government jobs. Requires States to provide program participants with the necessary case management services to ensure integrated benefits and services provided under such programs. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) States should target individuals who have not attained 25 years of age for participation in work first programs; and (2) the Secretary and the States should consider the needs of rural areas in designing State plans under SSA title IV parts F and G. Title IV: Family Responsibility And Improved Child Support Enforcement - Amends SSA title IV parts A and D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) with regard to: (1) AFDC recipient cooperation in establishing paternity of out-of-wedlock children; (2) various State and Federal locate services, including the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) (which, along with the databases accessed by it, is expanded to form a national network based on comprehensive statewide child support enforcement systems); (3) private access to locate and child support enforcement services; (4) availability of parenting social services for new fathers; (5) the $50 child support disregard (which is eliminated); (6) Federal matching payments and State performance-based incentives and penalties; and (7) State law on paternity establishment. (Sec. 401) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) certain actions pursuant to a child support order, such as denial of visitation rights, should be treated as irrelevant in actions brought to enforce other provisions of the order; (2) the Secretary should investigate accessing Federal data banks not linked to FPLS which are more than marginally useful in handling locate requests; (3) the national network for handling such requests should be used to access State records only through the appropriate State agency; (4) social services should be provided in hospitals to women whose pregnancy results from rape or incest; and (5) States should develop programs like the State of Wisconsin's program for noncustodial parents unable to meet support obligations. (Sec. 421) Establishes the National Child Support Guidelines Commission to study, develop, and report to the President and the Congress a national child support guideline, if one proves advisable. (Sec. 422) Provides under State laws for expedited administrative and judicial procedures for establishing paternity and for establishing, modifying, and enforcing support obligations. (Sec. 431) Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a system for enabling child support information to be obtained at the workplace via W-4 form reporting by employees. Amends IRC to require employers to: (1) deduct and withhold child support obligations from employee wages; (2) pay withholdings to the appropriate payee; and (3) include withheld obligations on the employee's W-2 form. Makes various other specified changes to SSA title IV part D and other applicable Federal laws involving: (1) State procedures for comparing information in the national registry of child support orders (NR) established under this title with information obtained from W-4 form reporting, and for imposing monetary penalties on employees who fail to report support obligations; (2) development of uniform withholding orders; (3) garnishment of certain Federal benefits and seizure of lottery winnings and other payouts to satisfy support arrearages; (4) State reporting of support obligations to credit bureaus; (5) liability of grandparents for financial support of children of their minor children; (6) distribution of child support payments through State child support enforcement agencies to former assistance recipients; (7) due process rights of the parties to child support cases; (8) use of social security numbers under State law for recording marriage licenses, divorce decrees, birth records, and child support and paternity orders; (9) interstate enforcement of child support orders; (10) State suspension of driver's and other types of licenses for nonpayment of support or failure to appear at child support proceedings; (11) treatment of support obligations under the bankruptcy code; (12) the mechanism for offsetting past-due support against income tax overpayments, with changes in the order of refund distributions; and (13) the treatment of assigned and non-assigned support arrearages. Title V: Teen Pregnancy and Family Stability - Amends SSA title IV part A with respect to Federal and State roles in reducing teenage pregnancy and promoting family stability, among other things by: (1) giving States the option to deny AFDC for additional children (except those born as a result of rape or incest) of AFDC families while preserving their eligibility for Medicaid; and (2) providing for unmarried minors who are pregnant or who have children to live under adult supervision in order to receive AFDC. (Sec. 503) Directs the Secretary of Education to establish a task force to reduce teenage pregnancy. (Sec. 508) Places restrictions on Federal housing benefits to minors who bear children out-of-wedlock. (Sec. 509) Give States the option of denying AFDC to minor parents. (Sec. 511) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) children should be educated about the risks of early parenthood; (2) reproductive family planning and education should be made available to potential parents; and (3) States should use SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) funds to provide comprehensive services to high-risk youth and work with schools for early identification and referral of such children. Title VI: Program Simplification - Amends SSA titles IV part A and XI, as well as the Food Stamp Act of 1977, among other things to give States increased flexibility in providing AFDC benefits (including restoring those wrongfully terminated) through, among other means, use of electronic benefit transfers, quicker action on waiver requests, and coordination with food stamp rules. (Sec. 631) Expresses the support of the Congress for certain efforts by the Social Security Administration to reduce fraud and abuse in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Program under SSA title XVI. (Sec. 632) Requires the Commissioner of Social Security to study and report to the Congress on the feasibility of issuing a single counterfeit-resistant ID card to replace the current social security card and any health security card issued under health reform legislation. (Sec. 641) Sets forth additional AFDC changes involving: (1) State payment options under the program for dependent children of unemployed parents; (2) State determination of the needs of the dependent child and relative with whom the child is living; (3) "fill- the-gap" budgeting; (4) repeal of the requirement for supplemental payments in States paying less than their needs standards; (5) collection of AFDC overpayments from Federal tax refunds; and (6) disregard of student and nonrecurring lump-sum income. (Sec. 646) Amends SSA title XI to raise the limitations on payments under SSA titles I (Old Age Assistance), X (Aid to the Blind), XIV (Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled), and XVI (Supplemental Security Income)(SSI), and IV parts A and E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance). Title VII: Financing - Amends the SSA, the IRC, and the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to make certain aliens ineligible for AFDC, SSI, Medicaid, and food stamps. (Sec. 711) Sets forth special rules concerning aliens and general public assistance. (Sec. 714) Authorizes grants to States to compensate for resident lawful aliens. Provides for allocation of such financial assistance to each State and the District of Columbia. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 721) Amends SSA title IV part A (AFDC) to revise: (1) the definition of "emergency assistance to needy families with children;" and (2) the limitation on State expenditures for such assistance. (Sec. 731) Amends the National School Lunch Act to: (1) modify family and group day care home reimbursement provisions under the child and adult care food program; and (2) provide grants to States for making grants to family and day care homes. (Sec. 741) Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to make specified downward adjustments in discretionary spending limits under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 for FY 1996 through 1998. (Sec. 751) Amends IRC to: (1) provide for the inclusion of certain Federal assistance in gross income, assistance such as AFDC and food stamps; (2) make payments of certain assistance reportable to the Internal Revenue Service; (3) deny the earned income tax credit to individuals not authorized to be employed in the United States; (4) phaseout the earned income credit for individuals having more than $2,500 of taxable interest and dividends; and (5) provide for the treatment of children receiving AFDC benefits under the earned income credit. Title VIII: SSI Reform - Amends SSA title XVI to limit the payment of SSI benefits for children by reason of disability. Title IX: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.

Homeowners Empowerment and Protection Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 16 February 1995

Homeowners Empowerment and Protection Act of 1995 - Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to establish uniform Federal agency procedures with respect to application and homeowner notice requirements for the conduct of activities that generate pollutants or other adverse impacts with the potential to reduce private home values. Directs each agency to: (1) require any person filing an application to conduct property impacting activity to provide affected homeowners with written notice; (2) provide a toll-free telephone number for homeowner response; and (3) investigate the proposed activity's impact on home values. Creates a homeowner right of action, including class action authority, for certain home value reductions.

Providing amounts for the expenses of the Committee on the Budget in the One Hundred Fourth Congress.

United States · United States Congress · 16 February 1995

Provides amounts for expenses of the House Committee on the Budget for the 104th Congress.

International Peacekeeping Policy Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 15 February 1995

International Peacekeeping Policy Act of 1995 - Prohibits funds made available to the Department of State under the Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities Account or under any law to pay for contributions for United Nations peacekeeping activities from being available to the United Nations for the establishment, expansion, or modification in mission of a United Nations peacekeeping operation unless the President: (1) makes the certification required by this Act; and (2) notifies the Congress, at least 15 days before the approval of the operation by the United Nations Security Council, of the intent to support the operation. Directs the President to certify that the peacekeeping operation meets the following requirements: (1) the operation involves an international conflict in which hostilities have ceased and all significant parties to the conflict agree to the imposition of United Nations forces to seek a solution to the conflict; (2) the percentage of the U.S.-assessed share of the operation is no greater than the percentage of the share for the regular United Nations budget; (3) no U.S. intelligence information involving sensitive sources and methods of intelligence gathering will be provided to support the operation; and (4) with respect to units of the armed forces trained to carry out direct combat missions, the operation advances U.S. national security interests, the units are critical to the success of the operation and will be under the command of the United States, and any armed forces member would be protected by the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

Clean Water Amendments of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 15 February 1995

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Research and Related Programs Title II: Construction Grants Title III: Standards and Enforcement Title IV: Permits and Licenses Title V: General Provisions Title VI: State Water Pollution Control Revolving Funds Title VII: Miscellaneous Provisions Title VIII: Wetlands Conservation and Management Clean Water Amendments of 1995 - Title I: Research and Related Programs - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (the Clean Water Act or CWA) to add national goal and policy provisions with respect to water quality programs. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assess and document alternative regulatory approaches for protecting water quality and to develop regulations and guidance based upon the best obtainable information, including risk reduction benefits achievable by alternatives. (Sec. 102) Authorizes appropriations through FY 2000 for grants to States and interstate agencies for assistance in administering pollution control programs. Title II: Construction Grants - Removes limitations on the use of grants for the construction of publicly owned treatment works and authorizes the use of such grants for purposes for which grants may be made under nonpoint source management and groundwater quality programs. (Sec. 201) Requires grant applicants to demonstrate, along with other existing requirements, that wastewater reduction and other water use efficiency options have been studied and evaluated and, if cost-effective, implemented. (Sec. 202) Authorizes the Administrator to negotiate an annual budget with a State for purposes of administering a closeout of the State's construction grants program. (Sec. 205) Requires value engineering reviews to be conducted for any treatment works construction projected in excess of $25 million (currently, $10 million). Title III: Standards and Enforcement - Revises provisions concerning the use of innovative technology to comply with effluent reduction requirements to authorize the Administrator, if a facility achieves reductions with an innovative system that has the potential for reducing the release of pollutants to other media, to extend the date of compliance for such facility for up to three (currently, two) years if the system has industry-wide application potential. (Sec. 301) Prohibits discharges from, or affected by, remining operations from exceeding State water quality standards except where monitoring demonstrates that the receiving waters do not meet such standards prior to commencement of remining and where the water quality of the receiving stream is projected to be improved by remining. (Current law provides no exception.) (Sec. 302) Directs the Administrator to publish guidance for States on the development and adoption of water quality standards applicable to navigable waters that contain little or no water during low flow periods. Allows city, county, or local government employees or officials to be members of boards that approve discharge permit applications notwithstanding a prohibition on membership for persons who have received a significant portion of income from permit holders or applicants. (Sec. 303) Directs the Administrator or the Secretary responsible for a regulatory requirement, in developing standards, effluent limitations, or other regulatory requirements (other than permit or procedural requirements), to perform risk assessments consistent with guidelines issued by the Administrator. Requires such assessments to be performed in conjunction with any proposed regulation. Prohibits the issuance of any regulatory requirement or guidance where the social, environmental, and economic benefits are not reasonably related to anticipated costs. Provides that such guidelines shall require: (1) use of all relevant and available scientific data and information; (2) identification and discussion of assumptions and models used in the risk assessment as well as alternatives and sensitivity of results to such assumptions and models; (3) a quantitative estimate of the uncertainty inherent in the risk assessment; (4) a comparison of the risk with other risks to human health or the environment; (5) an estimate of the incremental risk avoided by the standard, effluent limitation, or requirement and the anticipated social, environmental, and economic benefits; and (6) an estimate of the social, environmental, and economic costs of complying with the standard, limitation, or requirement. Exempts standards, effluent limitations, or other regulatory requirements that are issued in final form within one year of this Act's enactment date from risk assessment requirements. (Sec. 304) Requires effluent standards for toxic pollutants to take into account the bioaccumulation potential of, and magnitude and risk of exposure to, a pollutant. Directs State Governors or water pollution control agencies to hold public hearings for purposes of reviewing, modifying, or adopting water quality standards at least once every five (currently, three years). Authorizes the Administrator to develop and issue guidance that States may use in: (1) issuing fish consumption advisories and scientific protocols for testing contamination levels of fish; (2) developing a monitoring program for contaminants in fish and shellfish; and (3) monitoring water quality at beaches and issuing health advisories with respect to beaches. (Sec. 305) Permits (currently, requires) a State to be joined as a party to a civil action brought by the United States under the CWA against a municipality located in such State. (Sec. 306) Revises provisions regarding water pollution control at Federal facilities to waive the sovereign immunity of the United States with respect to any requirement, administrative authority, or sanctions that may be imposed for violations. Provides that Federal employees may be subject to criminal sanctions, but exempts Federal agencies from such sanctions. Authorizes the Administrator to commence administrative enforcement actions against Federal agencies under this Act. Includes Federal agencies in the definition of "person." (Sec. 307) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1996 through 2000 for the clean lakes program. (Sec. 308) Revises the required elements of nonpoint source management programs and includes within such programs: (1) a schedule containing interim goals and milestones for making reasonable progress toward the attainment of standards; (2) a description of monitoring or assessment of program effectiveness; and (3) an identification of activities on Federal lands that are inconsistent with such programs. Grants States six (currently, three) months to submit revised programs in cases where modifications are required for approval. Requires the Administrator to prepare nonpoint source management programs for States that fail to do so or whose plans are not approved. Authorizes (currently, requires) the Administrator to make grants to States for preparing and implementing such management programs and preparing assessment reports. Increases the maximum Federal share of the cost of such programs to 75 (currently, 60) percent of the cost incurred by a State in preparing and implementing such reports and programs. Directs the Administrator to establish maximum and minimum grants for any fiscal year to promote equity between States and effective nonpoint source management. Sets forth limitations on the use of such grants. Requires the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on whether the allocation of funds for such grants reflects the costs of nonpoint source control measures for different nonpoint source categories and on options for better reflecting such costs in the allotment of funds. Increases the maximum amount of Federal assistance for grants to States for groundwater quality protection. Extends the authorization of appropriations for grants for assessment reports, nonpoint source management programs, and groundwater protection programs through FY 2000. Directs the Administrator to publish guidance to identify model management practices and measures which may be undertaken under such management programs. Requires compliance deadlines for nonpoint source management requirements to be postponed for one year for each fiscal year for which amounts appropriated to carry out grant programs for nonpoint source pollution and groundwater quality are less than the total amounts authorized to be appropriated. (Sec. 310) Authorizes States to submit watershed management programs to the Administrator for approval. Sets forth minimum requirements for such programs and lists activities that are eligible for assistance under the CWA. Permits States to adopt watershed management plans to be effective for up to ten years and to include planning and implementation schedules with milestones. Authorizes the issuance of pollutant discharge permits with limitations that do not meet applicable water quality standards if: (1) the receiving water is in a watershed with an approved plan; (2) the plan includes enforceable requirements under a State or local law for nonpoint source pollutant load reductions that will meet applicable water quality standards before the plan's expiration date; and (3) the point source does not have a history of significant noncompliance with its effluent limitations under a permit. Sets forth provisions regarding permit terms. Provides that if a State with an approved watershed management program makes a showing satisfactory to the Administrator that the State watershed and nonpoint source management programs will provide for the protection of coastal waters generally and contain other specified elements, such watershed program shall be deemed to be in compliance with the CWA and the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990. Authorizes the Administrator to provide multipurpose grants to States with approved watershed management programs. Permits point source dischargers, as part of an approved watershed management program, to offset the impact of a pollutant discharge by entering into arrangements, including the payment of funds, for the implementation of source controls by another discharger through a pollution reduction credits trading program so long as safeguards are included to ensure compliance with technology based controls and to protect the quality of receiving waters. Directs the Administrator to allocate sums to carry out pollution reduction credits trading programs in selected areas of the country. Title IV: Permits and Licenses - Provides that, for purposes of provisions regarding pollutant discharge permits, waste treatment systems, including retention ponds or lagoons used to meet CWA requirements for concentrated animal feeding operations, are not waters of the United States. Authorizes an existing concentrated animal feeding operation that uses a natural topographic impoundment or structure, which is not hydrologically connected to any other U.S. waters, to continue to use the natural topographic feature for waste storage regardless of its size, capacity, or previous use. (Sec. 402) Revises stormwater discharge permitting provisions. Lists discharges composed entirely of stormwater for which permits are required under this section. Makes other such discharges subject to requirements for nonpoint source management programs. Establishes additional requirements for permits for municipal separate storm sewer systems, including that they: (1) require reasonable progress toward attainment of water quality standards; and (2) have additional requirements for the implementation of cost-effective controls for the control of discharges to attain or maintain such standards if they are renewed after this Act's enactment. Directs the Administrator to issue a consolidated permit for discharges from a storm sewer system owned by a municipality and the stormwater discharges from industrial sources owned by the same municipality. Authorizes the issuance of general or group permits for any discharges, other than those from municipal separate storm sewer systems, if the discharges are similar in nature and application of similar management measures will reduce pollution occurring from such discharges or if the Administrator finds that the issuance of general permits is appropriate. Prohibits the Administrator from requiring, as a permit condition for a discharge from a municipal separate storm sewer system, compliance with a numeric effluent limitation or an applicable water quality standard before December 31, 2009, except to implement management measures under regulations for municipal separate storm sewer systems. Sets forth requirements for regulations regarding permit application requirements for industrial and specified municipal stormwater discharges. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to operators of municipal storm sewer systems for which permits are required for projects for the assessment of cost-effective controls. Extends compliance deadlines with respect to numeric effluent limitations or water quality standards required for specified municipal separate storm sewer systems if such grants total less than $20 million in any fiscal year. (Sec. 403) Requires each permit issued for a discharge from a combined storm and sanitary sewer to conform with the combined sewer overflow control policy signed by the Administrator on April 11, 1994. Authorizes the Administrator, notwithstanding specified compliance schedules and permit limitations, to issue a permit for discharges from such sewers that includes a schedule for compliance with a long-term control plan for a term of up to 15 years. Provides for extensions of such term, as appropriate. Modifies any consent decree or court order issued before this Act's enactment date by a district court that establishes any deadlines or timetables for the construction of treatment works for control of discharges from a municipal combined sewer system to make deadlines or timetables conform with this section's requirements. (Sec. 404) Requires the discharge permit program to provide that an owner or operator of a point source subject to a permit will not be required to remove or reduce the level of pollutants in a discharge if such pollutants are present in or caused by the intake waters for such source. (Sec. 405) Requires the Administrator to issue guidance on the beneficial use of sewage sludge. Title V: General Provisions - Directs the Administrator to involve State, tribal, and local governments in EPA decisionmaking, priority setting, policy and guidance development, and implementation under the CWA. (Sec. 502) Requires the President or head of any agency, in promulgating rules or establishing interpretations, guidelines, standards, or criteria for oil and grease under the CWA or the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, to: (1) differentiate animal fats and vegetable oils from other oils, including petroleum-based oils; and (2) consider differences in the physical, chemical, biological, or other properties and environmental effects of animal fats and vegetable oils from those other oils. (Sec. 503) Requires a CWA cost and needs estimate to be submitted quadrennially (currently, biennially) to the Congress. (Sec. 504) Reauthorizes the CWA through FY 2000. (Sec. 505) Directs the Administrator, prior to issuing any proposed or final regulation or other requirement pursuant to the CWA, to conduct: (1) an analysis of the direct and indirect costs for State and local governments to comply with the requirement in the five-year period following implementation; (2) an estimate of the amounts that will be authorized for providing Federal financial assistance for implementation of and compliance with the requirement for such period; (3) an estimate of the amounts that will be appropriated for such assistance for such period based on funding levels adopted as part of a concurrent resolution setting forth the congressional budget; (4) an assessment of the availability of other sources of funding for State and local governments to comply with such requirement; (5) an estimate of the amounts that will be authorized and appropriated for providing Federal assistance for the requirement for the fiscal year during which the requirement is to be implemented and the two preceding fiscal years; and (6) a certification that the amounts that will be appropriated exceed 90 percent of the costs for State and local governments to comply with the requirement. Requires the Administrator, if such certification is not made, to transmit to specified congressional committees a report explaining the reasons for not making such certification and the likely impacts of not adequately funding State and local governmental efforts to comply with the requirement. Title VI: State Water Pollution Control Revolving Funds - Authorizes State revolving funds (SRFs) to be used for water use efficiency measures whose principal purpose is improving or protecting water quality. (Sec. 602) Requires the Administrator to establish simplified procedures for small systems to obtain assistance from SRFs. (Sec. 603) Provides for an extended repayment period for loans made from SRFs to disadvantaged communities. Authorizes negative interest rates for such loans. Permits SRFs to be used to provide technical, planning, and other specified assistance to small systems. (Sec. 604) Authorizes and allocates appropriations for the SRF program through FY 2000. Title VII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Requires the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on future funding options for financing infrastructure projects under the CWA. Authorizes appropriations. Title VIII: Wetlands Conservation and Management - Comprehensive Wetlands Conservation and Management Act of 1995 - Prohibits, unless such activity is undertaken pursuant to a permit issued by the Secretary of the Army: (1) the discharge of dredged or fill material into U.S. waters; or (2) the draining, channelization, or excavation of wetlands. (Sec. 803) Requires the Secretary, upon receiving permit applications, to: (1) classify as Type A wetlands wetlands that are of critical significance to the long-term conservation of an ecosystem; (2) classify as Type B wetlands wetlands that provide habitat for a significant population of wildlife or provide other significant wetlands functions; and (3) classify as Type C wetlands wetlands that serve marginal functions but exist in such abundance that regulation of activities is not necessary to conserve wetlands values and functions, or are lands that do not serve significant wetlands functions. Permits owners of interests in Type A wetlands to seek compensation for the fair market value of such lands. Provides that title for such lands shall pass to the United States upon acceptance of an offer for compensation. Requires the Secretary to deny a permit authorizing activities in Type A wetlands unless: (1) such activities can be undertaken with minimal alteration or disturbance; (2) there are public interest concerns that require use of the lands for purposes other than conservation; or (3) the proposed use of the land will result in overall environmental benefits. Authorizes the Secretary to issue a permit for activities in Type B wetlands subject to conditions that ensure that the wetland ecosystem does not suffer loss or degradation. Imposes requirements for mitigation when such activities result in permanent wetland loss or degradation. Directs the Secretary to establish a mitigation banking program in each State to ensure compensation for loss and degradation of wetlands. Requires the primary objective of such programs to be to provide for the restoration, enhancement, or creation of ecologically significant wetlands on an ecosystem basis. Exempts specified activities from this Act's requirements. Prohibits more than 20 percent of any county, parish, or borough from being classified as Type A wetlands. Requires wetlands located on agricultural and associated nonagricultural lands to be delineated by the Secretary of Agriculture in accordance with the Food Security Act of 1985. Requires the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to undertake a project to identify and classify U.S. wetlands. Directs the Secretary to establish procedures pursuant to which: (1) landowners may appeal determinations of regulatory jurisdiction over a parcel of property, wetlands classifications with respect to property, or determinations that an activity is not regulated under a general permit; (2) any person may appeal a determination that a proposed activity is not exempt (non-exempt activities require permits); (3) permit applicants may appeal determinations to deny issuance of a permit or to impose a requirement under the permit; and (4) landowners or others required to restore or alter property may appeal an order to do so. Provides that persons who have filed appeals shall not be required to pay penalties or perform mitigation or restoration until the appeal has been decided. Authorizes civil actions and prescribes penalties for permit violations. Authorizes States to administer permit programs for activities covered by this Act, subject to the Secretary's approval. Directs the Secretary, in implementing responsibilities under the regulatory program, to balance the objective of conserving functioning wetlands with the objectives of ensuring continued economic growth, providing essential infrastructure, maintaining strong State and local tax bases, and protecting against the diminishment and value of private property. Requires the Secretary and the heads of Federal agencies to seek to minimize the effects of the regulatory program on the use and value of private property.

To repeal the Medicare and Medicaid Coverage Data Bank, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 15 February 1995

Repeals, effective January 1, 1994, provisions of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 requiring establishment of the Medicare and Medicaid Coverage Data Bank. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study and report to the Congress on how to achieve the former objectives of such entity in the most cost-effective manner.

4 Mr. Cullen asked the Taoiseach the action, if any, he intends to take regarding the leaking of confidential budgetary information in advance of the 1995 Budget; his views on whether cabinet confidentiality was breached; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3206/95]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 14 February 1995

4 Mr. Cullen asked the Taoiseach the action, if any, he intends to take regarding the leaking of confidential budgetary information in advance of the 1995 Budget; his views on whether cabinet confidentiality was breached; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3206/95]

Readjustment Counseling Service Amendments of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 14 February 1995

Readjustment Counseling Service Amendments of 1995 - Includes a Readjustment Counseling Service (RCS) as part of the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Prohibits the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from altering or revising the organizational structure of RCS until the Secretary has notified specified congressional committees and 60 days have elapsed since such notification. Requires RCS budget information to be included annually in the President's budget submitted to the Congress. Outlines eligibility requirements for one of the Assistant Under Secretaries for Health in the Department, including at least three years of clinical experience and two years of administrative experience in RCS or other comparable mental health care counseling service. Makes such a qualified person the director of RCS. Increases from eight to nine the authorized number of Assistant Under Secretaries for Health. Directs the Secretary to furnish readjustment counseling to any veteran who: (1) served on active duty during the Vietnam era; or (2) served on active duty in a theater of combat during a period of war (currently, only after May 7, 1975) in any area in which hostilities occurred. Authorizes the Secretary to furnish such assistance to any other veteran upon request. Directs the Secretary to provide counseling to survivors and dependents of members of the armed forces killed while performing such duty. Allows the Secretary to provide such counseling to the survivors and dependents of other members killed during active duty or from a condition incurred in or aggravated by such service. Establishes in the Department the Advisory Committee on the Readjustment of Veterans to perform advisory services with respect to veterans' readjustment, taking into special account Vietnam era veterans. Requires specified reports from the Advisory Committee and the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to report to the congressional veterans' affairs committees: (1) a plan for the expansion of the Vietnam Veteran Resource Center program; and (2) on the feasibility and desirability of the collocation of Vet Centers and outpatient clinics of the Department as current leases for such centers and clinics expire. Directs the Secretary to carry out and report to the Congress on a pilot program for the provision of health-related services to eligible veterans at readjustment counseling centers.

Regulatory Reform and Relief Act

United States · United States Congress · 14 February 1995

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Strengthening Regulatory Flexibility Title II: Regulatory Impact Analyses Title III: Protections Regulatory Reform and Relief Act - Title I: Strengthening Regulatory Flexibility - Amends Federal civil service law to revise Federal provisions regarding judicial review of regulatory flexibility analyses. (Sec. 101) Authorizes an affected small entity to petition for judicial review within 180 days after the effective date of a final rule which an agency certified would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities or for which an agency prepared a final regulatory flexibility analysis. Specifies that, where a provision of law requires that an action challenging a final agency regulation be commenced before the expiration of such 180 day period, such lesser period shall apply to a petition for judicial review. Requires that, where an agency delays the issuance of a final regulatory flexibility analysis, a petition for judicial review shall be filed not later than: (1) 180 days after the analysis is made available to the public; or (2) a lesser number of days specified by a provision of law that requires that an action challenging a final agency regulation be commenced before the expiration of such 180 day period. Authorizes the court, where the agency: (1) certified that such rule would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, to order the agency to prepare a final regulatory flexibility analysis if the court determines that the certification was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law; and (2) prepared a final regulatory flexibility analysis, to order the agency to take corrective action if the court determines that the analysis was prepared without observance of proper procedure. Authorizes the court to stay the rule or grant such other relief as appropriate, if by 90 days after the court order (or such longer period as the court may provide) the agency fails to prepare the required analysis or to take corrective action. (Sec. 102) Sets forth guidelines governing agency transmittal of proposed rules and initial regulatory flexibility analysis to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration. Authorizes such official to transmit to the agency a statement of the effect of the proposed rule on small entities. Requires publication of such statement and the agency's response in the Federal Register. (Sec. 103) Expresses the sense of the Congress that such official should be permitted to appear as amicus curiae in any action or case brought in a U.S. court for the purpose of reviewing a rule. Title II: Regulatory Impact Analyses - Amends the Administrative Procedure Act to define a major rule as one likely to result in: (1) an annual effect on the economy of $50 million or more; (2) a major increase in costs or prices for consumers, individual industries, government agencies, or geographic regions; or (3) significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or on the ability of U.S.-based enterprises to compete with foreign-based enterprises in domestic and export markets. (Sec. 202) Requires publication in the Federal Register of notices of intent to engage in major rulemaking at least 90 days before publication of the general notice. (Sec. 203) Requires a hearing for any proposed rule, and an extension of the comment period, if more than 100 interested persons acting individually request such things. (Sec. 204) Requires each agency to prepare a regulatory impact analysis for each major rule promulgated by the agency. Prohibits an agency from adopting a major rule unless the final regulatory impact analysis for the rule is approved or commented upon by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). (Sec. 205) Requires the head of an agency, to the extent practicable, to seek to ensure that any proposed major rule or regulatory impact analysis of such a rule is written in a reasonably simple and understandable manner and provides adequate notice of the content of the rule to affected persons. (Sec. 206) Exempts from certain rulemaking requirements of such Act certain regulations pertaining to emergency situations and those for which consideration under such Act would conflict with deadlines imposed by statute or by judicial order. (Sec. 207) Requires the OMB Director to report to the Congress an analysis of rulemaking procedures of Federal agencies and an analysis of the impact of those procedures on the regulated public and regulatory process. Title III: Protections - Directs the President to prescribe regulations for employees of the executive branch to ensure that Federal laws and regulations be administered consistent with the principle that any person shall, in connection with the enforcement of such laws and regulations, be protected from abuse, reprisal, or retaliation, and be treated fairly, equitably, and with due regard for such person's rights under the Constitution.

Expressing the sense of Congress that a proposed cross-border fee for vehicles and pedestrians entering the United States from Canada or Mexico is unwise and should not be enacted.

United States · United States Congress · 14 February 1995

Expresses the sense of the Congress that proposed cross-border entry fees on vehicles and or pedestrians seeking to enter the United States from Canada or Mexico are economically unsound, are likely to cause retaliatory fees, and should not be imposed. Urges the President to remove such proposal from his budget recommendations.

Emergency Supplemental Appropriations and Rescissions for the Department of Defense to Preserve and Enhance Military Readiness Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 10 February 1995

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Title II: Rescinding Certain Budget Authority Title III: Additional Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Further Enhance Readiness Title IV: General Provisions Emergency Supplemental Appropriations and Rescissions for the Department of Defense to Preserve and Enhance Military Readiness Act of 1995 - Title I: Emergency Supplemental Appropriations - Makes emergency supplemental appropriations to the Department of Defense (DOD) for active military personnel in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, as well as reserve personnel in the Army. Makes emergency supplemental appropriations for operation and maintenance (O&M) in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, as well as for defense-wide O&M and O&M for the Navy Reserve. Makes emergency supplemental appropriations for other procurement in the Army and Air Force, as well as for the Defense Health Program. Title II: Rescinding Certain Budget Authority - Rescinds specified funds currently available for: (1) O&M in the Air Force; (2) O&M defense-wide; (3) environmental restoration, defense; (4) former Soviet Union threat reduction; (5) aircraft and missile procurement, Air Force; (6) procurement of National Guard and reserve equipment; (7) Defense Production Act purchases; (8) research, development, test, and evaluation in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and defense-wide; and (9) the National Security Education Trust Fund. Title III: Additional Emergency Supplemental Appropriations to Further Enhance Readiness - Makes emergency supplemental appropriations to DOD for: (1) active and reserve military personnel, as well as Army and Air Force National Guard personnel; and (2) O&M for such personnel. Title IV: General Provisions - Prohibits any part of any appropriation contained in this Act from remaining available beyond the current fiscal year unless expressly provided herein. Requires all funds received by the United States as reimbursement for expenses for which funds are provided in this Act to be deposited in the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.

National Security Revitalization Act

United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1995

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Findings, Policy, and Purposes Title II: Missile Defense Title III: Advisory Commission on Revitalization of National Security Title IV: Command of United States Forces Title V: United Nations Title VI: Revitalization and Expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Title VII: Budget Firewalls National Security Revitalization Act - Title I: Findings, Policy, and Purposes - Sets forth as purposes of this Act to: (1) establish an advisory commission to assess U.S. military needs and address the problems posed by a continuing decline in defense spending; (2) commit to acceleration of the development and deployment of theater and national ballistic missile defense capabilities; (3) restrict deployment of U.S. forces to missions that are in the national interest; (4) maintain U.S. command of U.S. forces participating in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations and to reduce the cost to the United States of such operations; and (5) reemphasize the U.S. commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Title II: Missile Defense - Directs the Secretary of Defense (Secretary) to: (1) develop for deployment at the earliest possible date a cost- and operationally-effective antiballistic missile system to protect the United States against ballistic missile attacks; and (2) develop for expeditious deployment advanced theater missile defense systems. Requires a plan with respect to the deployment of such systems to be submitted to specified congressional committees within 60 days after enactment of this Act. Title III: Advisory Commission on Revitalization of National Security - Establishes the Revitalization of National Security Commission to conduct a comprehensive review of the long-term U.S. national security needs. Requires an interim and final report from the Commission to designated congressional committees on its assessments and recommendations. Prohibits the Secretary of the Army, during the period between the enactment of this Act and the submission of the interim report, from implementing the plan to reorganize the Army Reserve's continental U.S. headquarters that was announced by the Secretary on January 4, 1995. Provides funding. Title IV: Command of United States Forces - Prohibits funds made available to the Department of Defense (DOD) from being obligated or expended for activities of any element of the armed forces that is placed under UN command or control after the date of enactment of this Act. Waives such prohibition if the President, at least 15 days in advance, certifies to the Congress that such command or control is necessary to protect U.S. national security interests. Allows the President, in emergency situations, to allow such UN command or control without the advance notification, but requires congressional notification within 48 hours after such action. Outlines certification requirements. Requires the President to submit to the Congress a memorandum of legal points and authorities explaining why the foreign placement of U.S. military personnel does not violate the Constitution. Excepts ongoing operations in Macedonia and Croatia from the above requirements. (Sec. 402) Amends the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 (the Act) to require approval by the Congress, by law, of any presidential action taken which makes available to the UN Security Council U.S. armed forces for international peace and security activities. Provides exceptions: (l) in the case of presidential certifications, as above; and (2) when such action is authorized by law. Outlines certification requirements and provides an exception for ongoing operations in Macedonia and Croatia. Requires the President to submit to the Congress the same legal memorandum as required above. Title V: United Nations - Amends the Act to specifically limit the U.S. assessment for UN expenditures in support of international peacekeeping operations. Requires crediting for the United States by the UN for the costs of U.S. support for, or participation in, such activities. Directs the President to submit annually to designated congressional committees a report on the total amount of any fiscal year's incremental costs incurred by DOD to support such activities. (Sec. 502) Codifies within the Act specified provisions of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995, concerning the required notification to the Congress of proposed UN peacekeeping activities (excluding intelligence activities reportable under title V of the National Security Act of 1947). Requires within such notification a description of any uncovered U.S. assistance to or support for such activities. Defines a new UN peacekeeping operation as one to be expanded by more than 25 percent during the period covered, or one to be authorized to operate in a country in which it was not previously authorized. (Sec. 503) Requires presidential notification to designated congressional committees within 15 days: (1) after receipt by the United States of a billing request from the UN for the U.S. contribution toward UN peacekeeping activities; or (2) before the U.S. obligates funds for such contributions (except for emergencies, in which case notification is required within 48 hours of such obligation). (Sec. 504) Requires the President to notify designated congressional committees at least 15 days before any agency or entity of the U.S. Government makes available to the UN any assistance or facility to support or facilitate UN peacekeeping activities, with exceptions. Provides the same emergency exception as above. (Sec. 505) Requires, in a report required under the Act, a description of the anticipated budget for the next fiscal year for U.S. participation in UN peacekeeping activities. (Sec. 506) Authorizes the Secretary, in emergency circumstances, to waive the requirement for reimbursement to the United States for in-kind contributions to UN peacekeeping activities. Requires appropriate notification to the designated congressional committees. Directs the Secretary of State to ensure that U.S. goods provided by DOD on a reimbursable basis for UN peacekeeping activities are reimbursed at the appropriate value. Directs the U.S. Permanent Representative to the UN to report to the designated congressional committees on all U.S. action taken to achieve such objectives. (Sec. 507) Prohibits appropriated funds from being used in any fiscal year to pay any U.S. assessed or voluntary contribution for UN peacekeeping activities until the Secretary certifies to the designated congressional committees that the UN has reimbursed DOD directly for all goods and services provided during the previous fiscal year for such activities. Directs the President to establish procedures for the submission to the UN of requests for reimbursement for such goods and services provided on a reimbursable basis. (Sec. 508) States that, beginning October 1, 1995, funds made available to DOD shall be available for UN peacekeeping activities, any U.S. arrearage to the UN, or their related incremental costs only to the extent that the Congress has by law specifically made those funds available for such purpose. (Sec. 509) Codifies within the Act a specified provision which limits the use of funds authorized for Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities for payment of the U.S. assessed contribution for a UN peacekeeping operation to 25 percent of the total amount of all assessed contributions for such operation. Refuses to recognize any arrearages that accumulate as a result of assessments in excess of such percentage. (Sec. 510) Prohibits funds from being obligated or expended for U.S. contributions to UN peacekeeping activities unless the Secretary of State determines and certifies to the designated congressional committees that U.S. manufacturers and suppliers are being given opportunities equal to foreign manufacturers and suppliers to provide equipment, material, and services for such activities. (Sec. 511) Withholds specified percentages of U.S. assessed and voluntary contributions toward UN peacekeeping activities until receipt by the Congress of a certification by the President that the UN, through its Office of Inspector General, has undertaken certain prescribed activities with respect to a financial and management accounting of UN peacekeeping activities. (Sec. 512) Requires the President, before intelligence is provided to the UN by the United States, to ensure that the CIA Director has established guidelines governing the provision of intelligence to the UN which protects intelligence sources and methods from unauthorized disclosure in accordance with provisions of the National Security Act of 1947. Requires periodic reports from the President on the types and purposes of intelligence provided to the UN, and special reports concerning any unauthorized disclosure of intelligence. Directs the Secretary of State to work with the UN to improve the handling, processing, dissemination, and management of all intelligence provided to it by its members. Title VI: Revitalization and Expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization - NATO Expansion Act of 1995 - Declares that it should be U.S. policy: (1) to continue the commitment to an active leadership role in NATO; (2) to join with NATO allies to redefine the role of the alliance in the post-Cold War world, taking into account specified factors; (3) to affirm that NATO military planning should include joint military operations beyond the geographic bounds of the alliance under the North Atlantic Treaty when the shared interests of the United States and other member countries require such actions to defend vital interests; (4) to expeditiously pursue joint cooperation agreements for the acquisition of essential systems to significantly increase NATO crisis management capabilities; (5) that Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia should be permitted to join NATO in the near future as long as each such country meets specified standards and undertakes certain commitments; (6) that the United States and other NATO member nations should furnish appropriate assistance to enable such countries to achieve membership; (7) that certain policy decisions of the North Atlantic Council should be reaffirmed with respect to admitting new NATO members only by amendment to the North Atlantic Treaty; (8) that the expansion of NATO should be defensive in nature and increase stability for all European nations; (9) that NATO and its members should cooperate closely with Russia on security issues and strengthen other structures of security cooperation in Europe; and (10) that other European countries may be in a position to achieve NATO membership at a future date. (Sec. 604) Directs the President to establish a program to assist the transition to full NATO membership of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and any other European country emerging from communist domination that is designated by the President. Outlines types of assistance to be provided. Prohibits the President from providing assistance to any country selling or transferring defense articles to a state that has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism as determined by the Secretary of State. Requires: (1) a report from the President to designated congressional committees prior to providing assistance to a country for the first time under the program; and (2) annual reports from the President to the appropriate congressional committees on the progress made in implementing this section. Title VII: Budget Firewalls - Expresses the sense of the Congress that so-called "budget firewalls" between defense and domestic discretionary spending should be established for each of FY 1996 through 1998.

Congressional Limitation on Executive Bailouts Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1995

Congressional Limitation on Executive Bailouts Act of 1995 - Provides that all existing and future budget authority and credit authority available to the exchange stabilization fund shall be effective only to extent provided in appropriation Acts.

Office of Surgeon General Termination Act

United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1995

Office of Surgeon General Termination Act - Transfers all authorities and personnel of the Office of the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service to the Assistant Secretary for Health of the Department of Health and Human Services. Rescinds all unobligated portions of budget authority allocated for the Office. Terminates the Office and the position of such Surgeon General.

Truth in Budgeting Act

United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1995

Truth in Budgeting Act - Prohibits the receipts and disbursements of the Highway Trust Fund, the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, the Inland Waterways Trust Fund, and the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund from being included in either the Federal budget as submitted by the President or in the congressional budget. Exempts such trust funds from any general statutory budget limitation. (Sec. 3) Amends Federal transportation law to require the Secretary of Transportation to estimate annually what, but for this Act, would be at the close of the next fiscal year: (1) the amount of unfunded aviation authorizations; and (2) the net aviation receipts. Requires the Secretary to: (1) determine the amount by which unfunded aviation authorizations does or does not exceed net aviation receipts; and (2) make appropriate adjustments to amounts authorized to be appropriated and the amounts available for obligation from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund based on the difference. (Sec. 4) Sets forth similar provisions with respect to the Inland Waterways and the Harbor Maintenance Trust Funds.

Rescinding certain budget authority, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1995

Rescinds certain budget authority for the following: (1) the Immigration Emergency Fund of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Department of Justice; (2) the Advanced Technology Program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce; (3) Department of Energy atomic energy defense activities; (4) funds appropriated to the President for contributions to the African Development Fund and assistance for the new independent states of the former Soviet Union; (5) clean coal technology of the Department of Energy; (6) training and employment services of the Department of Labor; (7) school improvement programs of the Department of Education; (8) certain Federal Railroad Administration programs under the Department of Transportation; and (9) wind tunnel construction for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

To require that unobligated funds in the Official Mail Allowance of Members be used to reduce the Federal deficit.

United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1995

Requires any unobligated funds remaining in the Official Mail Allowance of a Member of the House of Representatives at the end of a session of Congress to be deposited in the Treasury and applied toward the reduction of the Federal budget deficit.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1995

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 - Amends the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 to: (1) extend its purview to educational and nonprofit institutions, Federal contractors, and tribal governments; (2) revise the authority and functions of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), specifying information dissemination and related agency oversight responsibilities; and (3) require OMB to conduct pilot projects to test alternative policies and procedures, and to develop a governmentwide strategic information resources management plan. Requires the OIRA Director to establish an Interagency Council on Statistical Policy. Requires each Federal agency to: (1) establish a process, independent of program responsibility, to evaluate proposed collections of information; and (2) ensure that the public has timely, equal, and equitable access to information products and services. Prohibits agencies, except where specifically authorized by statute, from: (1) establishing exclusive, restricted, or other distribution arrangements that interfere with timely and equitable public availability; (2) restricting or regulating the use, resale, or redissemination of public information by the public; (3) charging fees or royalties for resale or redissemination of public information; or (4) establishing user fees that exceed the cost of dissemination. Specifies actions agencies must take with respect to information technology. Replaces the Federal Information Locator System with an agency-based electronic Government Information Locator Service to identify the major information systems, holdings, and dissemination products of each agency. Reauthorizes appropriations for OIRA.

Spending Reduction Enforcement Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1995

Spending Reduction Enforcement Act of 1995 - Establishes the Spending Reduction Commission to propose cost savings and changes in law to achieve at least $45 billion of budget outlay reductions for the budget year and each outyear until a balanced budget is reached. Subjects such reductions to the following guidelines: (1) elimination of redundant and outdated programs, including those whose missions can be accomplished by the private sector; (2) reduction of programs with excessive administrative costs or that can be consolidated with other programs; (3) elimination of programs that provide subsidies that benefit narrow special interest groups at the expense of the national interest; and (4) reduction or elimination of programs that have low priority in meeting a national interest criterion. Sets forth the procedure for implementation of the Commission's recommendations by the Office of Management and Budget, the President, and the Congress. Makes budget outlay reductions permanent. Establishes sequester provisions if the full amount of savings required by this Act have not been achieved in a session of the Congress.

Middle Class Regulatory Relief Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1995

Middle Class Regulatory Relief Act of 1995 - Amends Federal law to define "major rule" as a rule or a group of closely related rules that the proposing agency or the President determines is likely to have an annual effect on the economy of $50 million or more in reasonably quantifiable increased costs, or has a significant impact on a sector of the economy. (Sec. 2) Authorizes an agency proposing the rule or the President to designate as a major rule any rule or group of closely related rules which is likely to result in: (1) a substantial increase in costs or prices for wage earners, consumers, individual industries, nonprofit organizations, Federal, State, or local government agencies, or geographic regions; or (2) significant adverse effects on competition, employment, investment, productivity, innovation, the environment, public health or safety, or the ability of enterprises whose principal places of business are in the United States to compete in domestic or export markets. Requires each Federal agency, before publishing notice of proposed rulemaking for any rule, to determine whether the rule is or should be designated major. Requires the agency to issue at the time of the notice of proposed rulemaking a draft cost-benefit analysis which shall be summarized in such notice. Prohibits an agency from promulgating a rule unless it finds that: (1) the rule's potential benefits to society outweigh its costs; and (2) such rule will provide greater net benefits to society than reasonable alternatives, including certain market-based mechanisms. Subjects agency and presidential rule determinations or designations to judicial review. Authorizes any person subject to a major rule to petition the agency or the President to perform a cost-benefit analysis. Requires an agency, before a major rule can become final, to submit to the Congress a copy of the rule and a report containing a concise statement on the rule, a complete copy of the cost-benefit analysis, and the proposed effective date of the rule. Prohibits a rule from becoming final if the Congress passes a joint resolution of disapproval. Prohibits the promulgation of any rule that expands Federal jurisdiction beyond the level of regulatory action needed to satisfy statutory requirements. Requires a court reviewing a final agency action to affirm an agency's interpretation of the statute granting authority to promulgate the rule if, in applying traditional principles of statutory construction, it finds that the interpretation is clearly the interpretation of the statute intended by the Congress. Requires the head of each Federal agency to prepare: (1) a risk assessment for each proposed major rule relating to human health, safety, or natural resources; and (2) for each such proposed or final rule, an assessment of incremental risk reduction or other benefits associated with each significant regulatory alternative to the rule or proposed rule (including a comparison of any human health, safety, or natural resource risks addressed by such alternatives to other relevant risks chosen by the agency heads). Specifies principles for risk assessment, risk characterization, and risk communication, requiring generally that scientific findings and best estimates of risk be distinguished from other considerations. Requires the President to issue a final regulation for agencies to implement risk assessment and risk characterization principles and provide a format for summarizing risk assessment results. Requires an agency head, subject to presidential review, to determine for each major rule that: (1) the risk assessment is based on a scientific evaluation supported by the best available scientific data; and (2) there is no alternative allowed by statute under which the major rule is promulgated that would achieve an equivalent reduction in risk in a more cost-effective and flexible manner. Requires an agency head to prioritize the use of available resources under laws protecting human health and safety or the environment to address the risks to human health, safety, and natural resources that: (1) the agency determines are the most serious; and (2) can be addressed in a cost-effective manner while achieving the greatest overall net reduction in risks with the public and private sector resources to be expended. Requires such priorities to be incorporated into the agency's budget request to the Congress. Directs the President to develop a systematic program for peer review of work products. Requires the President to: (1) establish procedures for agency compliance with this Act; and (2) monitor, review, and ensure such compliance. Authorizes an affected small entity to petition for the judicial review of a final rule with respect to which an agency: (1) has certified that it would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities; (2) prepared a final regulatory flexibility analysis.

Spending Reduction Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1995

Spending Reduction Act of 1995 - Establishes the Spending Reduction Commission to propose cost savings and changes in law to achieve at least $45 billion of budget outlay reductions for the budget year and each outyear until a balanced budget is reached. Subjects such reductions to the following guidelines: (1) elimination of redundant and outdated programs, including those whose missions can be accomplished by the private sector; (2) reduction of programs with excessive administrative costs or that can be consolidated with other programs; (3) elimination of programs that provide subsidies that benefit narrow special interest groups at the expense of the national interest; and (4) reduction or elimination of programs that have low priority in meeting a national interest criterion. Sets forth the procedure for implementation of the Commission's recommendations by the Office of Management and Budget, the President, and the Congress. Makes budget outlay reductions permanent. Prohibits reductions in direct spending from being treated as a net deficit decrease for sequestration purposes of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Requires the Comptroller General to make a compliance report on this Act at the end of each congressional session.

Risk Management Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1995

Department of Energy Risk Management Act of 1995 - Sets forth the general applicability guidelines for this Act. Directs the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) to: (1) apply certain principles related to human health risks and significant assumptions when preparing risk assessments and risk characterizations; (2) issue a final regulation implementing such risk assessment and characterization principles; and (3) promulgate a plan to review and revise previous risk assessments if certain new information or methodologies become available. Specifies requirements for environmental restoration activity. Directs the Secretary to: (1) prioritize the use of resources available to conduct restoration activities to address the risks to human health, safety, and the environment; (2) incorporate such priorities into the Department's budget, strategic planning, and research activities; and (3) recommend annually to the Congress modifications to legislation to promote such priorities.

Job Creation and Invest in America Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1995

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Physical Capital Investment Subtitle A: Highways and Mass Transit Subtitle B: Airports Subtitle C: Railroads Subtitle D: Water and Sewage Treatment Facilities Subtitle E: Environmental Restoration Subtitle F: Community Development Assistance Subtitle G: Education Infrastructure Subtitle H: Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Title II: Human Capital Investment Subtitle A: Job Training Subtitle B: Education Subtitle C: Head Start Subtitle D: Programs Under Public Health Service Act Title III: Amendments of Internal Revenue Code of 1986 Subtitle A: Reduction in Employee Payroll Taxes; Credit for First-Time Homebuyers Subtitle B: Revenue Increases Title IV: Appropriations Job Creation and Invest in America Act of 1995 - Title I: Physical Capital Investment - Subtitle A: Highways and Mass Transit - Amends the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 to authorize additional appropriations from the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) for interstate maintenance, surface transportation, and bridges. (Sec. 1002) Amends the Federal Transit Act to authorize additional appropriations and make available additional funding from the Mass Transit Account for certain formula grants and discretionary grants transit programs. Subtitle B: Airports - Amends the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982 to make available additional amounts for airport improvement program grants (including grants for airport noise compatibility planning). Subtitle C: Railroads - Amends the Department of Transportation Act to increase and extend the authorization of appropriations for local rail freight assistance. Subtitle D: Water and Sewage Treatment Facilities - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to extend the authorization of appropriations for State water pollution control revolving funds. Subtitle E: Environmental Restoration - Provides funds for environmental restoration at facilities of the Departments of Defense and of Energy. Sets forth various authorizations of appropriations and makes appropriations for such purposes. Subtitle F: Community Development Assistance - Chapter 1: Community Development Block Grants - Authorizes additional appropriations for community development block grants under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. Chapter 2: Community Banking and Economic Empowerment Act - Community Banking and Economic Empowerment Act - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide capital, operating, and technical assistance to community development lenders and certain eligible entities in order to: (1) make credit-related services available to low-income persons inadequately served by traditional lending institutions; and (2) promote development and revitalization of low-income neighborhoods. Delineates the purposes for which the Secretary of HUD may provide assistance to community development lenders and to the eligible entities establishing those lenders. Prescribes guidelines for assisted community development lenders, including assistance agreements and auditing procedures. (Sec. 1520) Amends the Community Reinvestment Act to preclude a regulated financial institution from receiving either an "outstanding" or a "satisfactory" rating for meeting community credit needs solely on the basis of its loans or investments in community development lenders. (Sec. 1521) Requires annual reports to the Congress. (Sec. 1524) Authorizes appropriations for: (1) capital and operating assistance for community development lenders; and (2) technical assistance for organizing and operating community development lenders. Subtitle G: Education Infrastructure - Education Infrastructure Act of 1994 - Directs the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible local educational agencies to meet the National Education Goals through repair, renovation, alteration, and construction of public elementary or secondary school libraries, media centers, or facilities, used for academic or vocational instruction, including certain authorized activities. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1606) Sets forth requirements for: (1) priorities in selection of applications; (2) maintenance of effort, supplementation of non-Federal funds, and general limitations; (3) minority small business participation as project contractors or subcontractors, and payment of wages in accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act; and (4) Federal evaluation. (Sec. 1610) Authorizes the comprehensive regional centers to provide technical assistance to such projects. Subtitle H: Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency - Authorizes additional appropriations to the Secretary of Energy for renewable energy research, development, and demonstration programs described in specified provisions of the Renewable Energy and Efficiency Technology Competitiveness Act of 1989. (Sec. 1702) Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to increase and extend the authorization of appropriations for the Federal Energy Efficiency Fund and the new technology demonstration program. Title II: Human Capital Investment - Subtitle A: Job Training - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to establish an allied health professional job training program. Directs the Secretary of Labor to make grants to institutions of higher education to establish job training assistance programs for at-risk youths and long-term welfare recipients to become allied health professionals. Authorizes appropriations. Increases the authorization of appropriations for the following youth job training programs: (1) Youth Fair Chance under JTPA; and (2) Youthbuild under the Homeownership and Opportunity Through HOPE Act. Subtitle B: Education - Extends and increases the authorization of appropriations for certain programs for educational personnel under the Adult Education Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Subtitle C: Head Start - Amends the Head Start Act to extend and increase the authorization of appropriations for Head Start programs. Subtitle D: Programs Under Public Health Service Act - Chapter 1: Funding Initiative for Programs Providing Health Services - Authorizes additional appropriations for the following programs under the Public Health Service Act: (1) community health centers; (2) migrant health centers; (3) health care for the homeless; (4) preventive services regarding tuberculosis, breast and cervical cancer, lead exposure, HIV disease, and prostate cancer; (5) immunization; (6) cancer registries; (7) comprehensive school health education; (8) prevention and control of sexually transmitted diseases, diabetes, and injuries; (9) child day care health and safety; (10) asthma; (11) environmental health, including response to urgent environmental threats to public health and environmental services regarding the health of individuals in the United States in the vicinity of the Mexican border; (12) block grants for community mental health services, prevention and treatment of substance abuse, and preventive health services; and (13) scholarship and loan repayment programs of the National Health Service Corps. Authorizes additional appropriations for the maternal and child health block grant program under the Social Security Act. Chapter 2: Community Health Advisor Program - National Community Health Advisor Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, for each State or State-designated entity that submits an appropriate application, to award formula grants for the development and operation of community health advisor (CHA) programs. Requires such States to: (1) operate a clearinghouse to maintain and disseminate information on CHA programs; (2) provide technical assistance for training CHAs; and (3) coordinate all CHA activities carried out by the State under the award. Limits administrative costs to 15 percent of the total award. (Sec. 2314) Provides CHA program objectives and goals. Requires funding agreements for such awards to give priority to developing and operating CHA programs for medically underserved communities (poor rural and inner city areas). (Sec. 2315) Requires a State to provide matching funds of 25 percent of award amounts toward such programs. Requires a CHA program in a State to be carried out in at least one urban area and one rural area. Requires ongoing supervision of CHAs involved in the program. Allows for expenditures under the award for training and continuing education programs. Requires reports from State applicants to the Secretary assessing the effectiveness of CHA programs. (Sec. 2317) Provides for the determination of the amount allotted to each chosen applicant, taking into account the population and poverty level of the area involved. (Sec. 2318) Directs the Secretary to establish guidelines for quality assurance and cost-effectiveness of the CHA programs. (Sec. 2319) Requires evaluations of each such program. (Sec. 2320) Prohibits this chapter from being construed to require the Secretary to modify or terminate the Community Health Representative Program of the Indian Health Service. (Sec. 2322) Authorizes appropriations for the CHA program. Title III: Amendments of Internal Revenue Code of 1986 - Subtitle A: Reduction in Employee Payroll Taxes; Credit for First-Time Homebuyers - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to provide a refundable credit for a portion of social security taxes for taxable years 1995 and 1996, equal to 20 percent of the taxpayer's social security taxes for that year, up to a maximum credit of $200, or $400 for a joint return. (Sec. 3002) Allows a nonrefundable personal credit for purchase of a principal residence by a first-time homebuyer. Sets such maximum overall credit at no more than $6,000. Subtitle B: Revenue Increases - Amends the IRC to establish a stock transfer excise tax. (Sec. 3102) Repeals a preferential rate of tax on capital gains. (Sec. 3103) Repeals a credit for foreign taxes. (Sec. 3104) Repeals provisions for a deferral of income of controlled foreign corporations. (Sec. 3105) Requires the use of a formulaic approach to clearly reflect income of multinational corporations. (Sec. 3106) Repeals an increase in the basis of property acquired from a decedent. Provides that such basis is to be determined under rules applicable to gifts. (Sec. 3107) Phases in a capital gains tax on inherited property. (Sec. 3108) Provides for an additional exclusion of gain on the sale of a principal residence acquired from a decedent. Title IV: Appropriations - Appropriates amounts authorized under this Act. (Sec. 4002) Designates the entire amount appropriated under this Act as an emergency requirement under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985.

Biennial Budgeting Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1995

Biennial Budgeting Act of 1995 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to revise the Federal and congressional budget processes by establishing a two-year budgeting and appropriations cycle and timetable. Defines the budget biennium as the two consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of any odd-numbered year. Devotes the first session of any Congress to the budget resolution and to appropriations decisions, retaining current deadlines in most cases. Changes certain deadlines to conform to the biennial scheme. Devotes each second session to authorization activity, subject to specified deadlines. Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to issue four-year projections of congressional budget action. (Current projections are on a five-year basis.) Amends provisions relating to the reconciliation process to: (1) increase from 20 to 100 hours the time of debate permitted in the Senate with respect to reconciliation measures; and (2) make it out of order in both the House and the Senate to consider any reconciliation legislation changing any provision of law other than one relating to new budget or spending authority, revenues, or the public debt limit. Conforms provisions governing the President's budget to the biennial framework. Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to conform to the biennial framework.

Forest Fire and Pest Emergency Act

United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1995

Forest Fire and Pest Emergency Act - Declares that the reduction of natural fuels on Federal lands within California that have been identified as extreme fire risk constitutes an emergency action to prevent or to reduce risk to public health or safety or to serious resource loss. Directs Federal agencies to work with State agencies to identify areas of extreme fire risk and take action to reduce natural fuels. Authorizes the use of emergency fire suppression funds to reduce natural fuels in such areas, provided that reductions in the Sierra forests are consistent with the fuels management guidelines of the California Spotted Owl EA or subsequent EIS and that fuels reduction activities in roadless areas preserve such area's unique characteristics. Directs the Forest Service to prepare a budget request declaring an emergency in areas identified as requiring additional treatments due to drought or pest infestation on national forest lands. Directs Federal agencies to prepare and submit to the Congress a strategic fire plan and annual budget.

Federal Budget Structure Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1995

Federal Budget Structure Act of 1995 - Amends Federal law to require that the budget the President submits to the Congress be a unified budget comprising an operating budget and a capital budget, each presented separately for total funds, Federal funds, and trust funds. Restricts the capital budget to the major activities, projects, and programs supporting the acquisition, construction, alteration, and rehabilitation of capital assets. Includes all other items in the operating budget. Amends the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to require the following reports to specified congressional committees on capital activities and operating activities associated with: (1) roadways and bridges, airports and airway facilities, and mass transportation systems; (2) waste water treatment and related facilities; (3) water resource projects; and (4) public buildings.

Citizens' Tax Protection Act

United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1995

Citizens' Tax Protection Act - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to prohibit the House of Representatives or the Senate from considering any bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report carrying any retroactive tax increase. Requires a three-fifths affirmative vote of Members of the House of Representatives to allow such consideration. Requires a supermajority point of order in the Senate to allow such consideration.

Access to Affordable Health Care Act

United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1995

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Health Insurance Market Reform Subtitle A: Insurance Market Standards Subtitle B: Establishment and Application of Standards Subtitle C: Definitions Title II: Grants to States for Small Group Health Insurance Purchasing Arrangements Title III: Tax Incentives to Encourage the Purchase of Health Insurance Title IV: Incentives to Increase the Access of Rural and Underserved Areas to Health Care Title V: Quality and Consumer Protection Subtitle A: Quality Improvement Foundations Subtitle B: Administrative Simplification Subtitle C: Privacy of Health Information Subtitle D: Health Care Fraud Prevention Title VI: Malpractice Reform Title VII: Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Title VIII: Tax Incentives for Long-Term Care Subtitle A: Tax Treatment of Long-Term Care Insurance Subtitle B: Standards for Long-Term Care Insurance Subtitle C: Incentives to Encourage the Purchase of Private Insurance Subtitle D: Effective Date Title IX: Budget Neutrality Access to Affordable Health Care Act - Title I: Health Insurance Market Reform - Subtitle A: Insurance Market Standards - Prohibits discrimination by a health plan based on health status, except as specified. (Sec. 1002) Provides for guaranteed issue and renewal in both the small and large group market, subject to the following exceptions: (1) capacity limits; (2) nonpayment of premiums; and (3) fraud or misrepresentation. (Sec. 1003) Provides for the development of rating limitations by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). (Sec. 1004) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary), in consultation with the NAIC and others, to establish minimum guidelines for the issuance by each State of delivery system quality standards. (Sec. 1005) Requires each health plan offering coverage in the small group market to participate in a risk adjustment program. Subtitle B: Establishment and Application of Standards - Deems a requirement or standard on a health plan under this Act to be a requirement or standard imposed on the insurer or sponsor of such plan. Prohibits any requirement of this title from being construed as preempting any State law unless such State law directly conflicts with such requirement. Subtitle C: Definitions - Sets forth definitions used in this title and title II. Title II: Grants to States for Small Group Health Purchasing Arrangements - Directs the Secretary to make grants to States that submit applications meeting specified requirements for the establishment and operation of small group health insurance purchasing arrangements. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Tax Incentives to Encourage the Purchase of Health Insurance - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend and increase to 100 percent the deduction for health insurance costs of self-employed individuals. (Sec. 3002) Provides a credit for a percentage of qualified health insurance expenses. Title IV: Incentives to Increase the Access of Rural and Undeserved Areas to Health Care - Provides for a nonrefundable credit of up to $12,000 annually for a primary health services provider who has not received a National Health Service Corps scholarship and who serves in a health professional shortage area. Increases, by $10,000, the amount which may be expensed in the case of health care property used to provide primary health care services in a health professional shortage area. (Sec. 4003) Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary to make grants to federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and other entities submitting applications for the purpose of providing access to services for medically undeserved populations or in high impact areas not being served by a FQHC. Sets forth grant eligibility requirements. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 4004) Revises the authorizations of appropriations for the National Health Service Corps Scholarship Program and area health education centers. (Sec. 4005) Makes the head of the Office of Rural Health Policy an Assistant Secretary. (Sec. 4006) Directs the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission to study the need for legislation or regulations to ensure that vulnerable populations have access to health plans and health care providers and services. Title V: Quality and Consumer Protection - Subtitle A: Quality Improvement Foundations - Directs the Secretary to award demonstration grants for the establishment and operation of quality improvement foundations. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Administrative Simplification - Provides for the establishment of standards and requirements for the electronic transmission of certain health information, including information under the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Sets: (1) timetables for the adoption of such standards and requirements; and (2) penalties for failure to comply with such standards and requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Privacy of Health Information - Sets forth provisions concerning the disclosure of health information generally and for: (1) specific disclosures relating to the patient; (2) oversight, public health, and research purposes; (3) judicial, law enforcement, and administrative purposes; (4) disclosure pursuant to a government subpoena or warrant; and (5) disclosure pursuant to party subpoena. (Sec. 5236) Sets forth procedures for ensuring the security of protected information, including standards for electronic disclosures. (Sec. 5256) Sets forth civil and criminal sanctions for privacy violations. Subtitle D: Health Care Fraud Prevention - Health Care Fraud Prevention Act of 1995 - Directs the Secretary and the Attorney General to establish: (1) an all-payer fraud and abuse control program; and (2) by regulation, standards to carry out the program. Authorizes appropriations as necessary to conduct investigations and audits of such fraud and abuse and to carry out such program. Establishes the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Account from which funds shall be available to carry out the fraud and abuse control program. (Sec. 5312) Amends part A (General Provisions) of Title 11 (General Provisions and Peer Review) of the Social Security Act to provide for the application criminal and civil health fraud and abuse sanctions under such Act to any health plan. (Sec. 5331) Directs the Secretary to establish a national health care fraud and abuse data collection program to report final adverse actions against health care providers, suppliers, or practitioners. (Sec. 5351) Amends Federal criminal law to set penalties for health care fraud and related offenses. (Sec. 5361) Requires each State to establish and maintain a State agency to act as a Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Unit. Sets forth: (1) requirements for such units; and (2) provisions providing for payments to the States for such units. Title VI: Malpractice Reform - Directs the Secretary to establish a program of grants to assist States in establishing alternative dispute resolution systems. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth the requirements for such systems. Directs the Secretary to establish an Alternative Dispute Resolution Advisory Board to advise the Secretary regarding the establishment of such systems. Provides for the establishment of an alternative Federal Dispute Resolution System for States not having a their own certified system. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress concerning such systems. Title VII: Health Promotion and Disease Prevention - Permits an income tax deduction for qualified expenditures for disease prevention and health promotion programs. (Sec. 7002) Directs the Secretary to award grants to States in order to provide assistance to businesses with not to exceed 100 employees for the establishment and operation of worksite wellness programs. (Sec. 7003) Authorizes appropriations to expand comprehensive school health education programs administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the Public Health Service Act. Title VIII: Tax Incentives for Long-Term Care - Private Long-Term Care Family Protection Act of 1995 - Subtitle A: Tax Treatment of Long-Term Care Insurance - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit a deduction for qualified long-term medical care services and insurance covering medical care, if such insurance is provided under a qualified long-term care policy. (Sec. 8102) Provides, under the Internal Revenue Code, for the treatment of: (1) a qualified long-term care insurance policy as an accident and health insurance contract; (2) amounts received under such a policy as amounts received for personal injuries and sickness; (3) amounts paid for such a policy as amounts payments made for medical insurance; and (4) such a policy as a guaranteed renewable contract. Sets forth provisions for the treatment of long-term care coverage provided as a rider on a life insurance contract. (Sec. 8105) Treats distributions from a life insurance contract on the life of a terminally ill individual as amounts paid by reason of the insured's death. Subtitle B: Standards for Long-Term Care Insurance - Provides for the appointment of a National Long-Term Care Insurance Advisory Council. (Sec. 8202) Imposes a specified tax on the issuer of any qualified long-term care insurance policy which fails to meet certain model regulation and disclosure requirements. Subtitle C: Incentives to Encourage the Purchase of Private Insurance - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide for the disregard of certain assets and resources for the purposes of the Medicaid estate recovery provisions. (Sec. 8302) Provides for the exclusion from gross income of distributions from an IRA, if such distributions are used to purchase long-term care insurance by an individual over the age of 59 and one- half. Allows for distributions from qualified retirement plans, without the imposition of the ten percent penalty, if such distributions are for medical care or for the purchase of long-term care insurance. Subtitle D: Effective Date - Sets forth effective date provisions. Title IX: Budget Neutrality - Provides for the budget neutrality of this Act.

Regulatory Reform Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1995

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Regulatory Analysis and Review Title II: Risk-Based Priorities Title III: Regulatory Accounting Title IV: Market Incentives and Economically Efficient Regulation Regulatory Reform Act of 1995 - Title I: Regulatory Analysis and Review - Amends Federal law to define "major rule" as a rule or a group of closely related rules that the proposing agency, the President, or an officer with presidentially delegated authority determines is likely to have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more in reasonably quantifiable direct and indirect costs, or has a significant impact on a subsector of the economy. (Sec. 101) Authorizes an agency, the President, or an officer with presidentially delegated authority to designate as a major rule also any rule or group of closely related rules which is likely to result in: (1) a substantial increase in costs or prices for wage earners, consumers, individual industries, nonprofit organizations, Federal, State, or local government agencies, or geographic regions; or (2) significant adverse effects on wages, economic growth, investment, productivity, innovation, the environment, public health or safety, or the ability of enterprises whose principal places of business are in the United States to compete in domestic or export markets. Excludes from the meaning of major rule under this Act any rule: (1) involving Federal taxes; (2) authorizing the introduction into commerce or recognizing the marketable status of a product under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; (3) exempting from notice and public procedure; or (4) relating to specified aspects of depository institutions with federally insured deposits or accounts. Requires each Federal agency, before publishing notice of proposed rulemaking for any rule, to determine whether the rule is or should be designated major. Provides for such determination by the President or by an officer with presidentially delegated authority. Requires the agency to issue at the time of the notice of proposed rulemaking a preliminary regulatory cost-benefit analysis, summarized in such notice, with specified contents. Requires issuance of a final regulatory analysis with the publication of a final major rule. Allows judicial review of an agency determination of major rule status, but not of such a determination by the President or by an officer with presidentially delegated authority. Prescribes executive oversight requirements and authority. Requires the President to require the heads of certain covered agencies to prepare: (1) a risk assessment for each proposed major rule relating to human health, safety, or the environment; and (2) for each such proposed or final rule, an assessment of incremental risk reduction or other benefits associated with each significant regulatory alternative considered by the agency in connection with the rule. Exempts from such requirements emergency situations and certain screening analyses. Limits covered agencies to: (1) the Environmental Protection Agency; (2) the Department of Labor; (3) the Food and Drug Administration; (4) the Consumer Product Safety Commission; (5) the Department of Transportation; (6) the Department of Energy; (7) the Department of Agriculture; (8) the Department of the Interior; and (9) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Specifies principles for risk assessment, risk characterization, and risk communication, requiring generally that scientific findings and best estimates of risk be distinguished from other considerations. Requires each covered agency to: (1) issue guidelines to implement risk assessment and risk characterization principles; and (2) publish, within 18 months after enactment of this Act, a plan to review and revise any risk assessment published before the end of such 18-month period if the agency determines that significant new information or methodologies are available that could significantly alter the results of the prior risk assessment. Requires an agency head or the President to determine for each major rule that: (1) the risk assessment and incremental benefit analysis are based on a scientific evaluation supported by the best available scientific data; and (2) there is no regulatory alternative allowed by statute under which the regulation is promulgated that would achieve an equivalent reduction in risk in a more cost-effective and flexible manner. Requires the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to: (1) survey periodically how each covered agency is conducting risk assessment; (2) make recommendations to the President and the Congress based on such surveys; (3) establish interagency mechanisms to promote coordination among agencies conducting risk assessment and promote use of state-of-the-art assessment practices; and (4) establish mechanisms between Federal and State agencies, including periodic meetings, to communicate state-of-the-art risk assessment practices and assess Federal-State cooperation. Requires each agency: (1) to identify in the Federal Register existing rules it determines to be major; and (2) to review each such rule, according to certain procedures, and amend, repeal, or renew the rule, with public participation. (Sec. 102) Authorizes each Federal agency head, in the administration of a Federal statute with respect to any State or locality, to adopt as a Federal rule, recordkeeping or reporting requirement, or implementation procedure a State or local rule, requirement, or procedure that is substantively equivalent to or more stringent than its Federal counterpart. Title II: Risk-Based Priorities - Risk Reduction Priorities Act of 1995 - Urges each covered agency to strive to set priorities and use the resources available under applicable laws to address human health, safety, and environmental risks: (1) which the agency considers most serious; and (2) which can be addressed in a cost- effective manner. (Sec. 204) Sets forth general criteria for determining the most serious risks, with review of agency determinations by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Requires each agency head to incorporate such risk-based priorities into budget and planning activities. (Sec. 205) Requires the OMB Director to enter into arrangements with an accredited scientific body to conduct: (1) a study of the methodologies for using comparative risk to rank dissimilar human health, safety, and environmental risks; and (2) a comparative risk analysis according to specified criteria. Requires reports to the President and the Congress. Exempts agency compliance or noncompliance with this title from judicial review. Prohibits judicial consideration of any analysis prepared under this title apart from the requirement, rule, program, or law to which it relates. Title III: Regulatory Accounting - Regulatory Accounting Act of 1995 - Requires the President to submit to Congress biennial accounting statements estimating the costs of Federal regulatory programs and corresponding benefits over the next five fiscal years. Prescribes the general contents of such statements. (Sec. 303) Requires the President, acting through the OMB Director, to submit to Congress along with the accounting statement an associated report containing impact analyses and recommendations for reform. (Sec. 304) Requires the OMB Director to provide guidance to agencies to standardize cost and benefit measures and the format of the accounting statements. (Sec. 305) Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, after each accounting statement and associated report submitted to Congress, to make recommendations to the President for improving such statements and reports. Title IV: Market Incentives and Economically Efficient Regulation - Market Incentives Act of 1995 - Requires agencies to ensure that major rules, especially those that limit the emission of environmental pollutants or otherwise govern the use of natural resources, operate through the application of market-based mechanisms (or comparable alternatives). (Sec. 403) Requires each agency to include in each proposed rule an assessment of market-based mechanisms, which shall be reviewed by OMB.

Public Resources Deficit Reduction Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1995

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: General Provisions Title II: Revenue from Mining Claims Title III: Helium Title IV: Use of Disposal of Federal Natural Resources Title V: National Park Concessions Public Resources Deficit Reduction Act of 1995 - Title I: General Provisions - Prohibits any timber, minerals, forage, or other natural resources owned by the United States, any federally owned water, or hydroelectric energy of a Federal facility from being sold, leased, or otherwise disposed of by any Federal entity for less than fair market value. (Sec. 102) Authorizes the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to establish and collect user fees as necessary to reimburse the United States for expenses incurred in administering programs. (Sec. 103) Requires the revenues from the sale, lease, and transfer of Federal assets to be included in the President's budget submission to Congress. Title II: Revenue from Mining Claims - Requires the holders of mining claims to pay an annual claim maintenance fee of $100 per claim per calendar year. Allows the waiver of such fee for holders of more than ten claims. (Sec. 203) Requires claimholders to pay a royalty of eight percent of gross income for production of locatable minerals on Federal lands. (Sec. 204) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on gross income resulting from the severance of any locatable mineral, or mineral concentrates or products, from a mine or other natural deposit. Makes such tax inapplicable to gross income to which a royalty is imposed. (Sec. 205) Establishes the Abandoned Locatable Minerals Mine Reclamation Fund for the reclamation and restoration of land and water resources adversely affected by past mineral activities on Federal lands. Credits the royalties and excise tax under this title to such Fund. (Sec. 206) Prohibits the issuance of a patent for any mining claim unless the Secretary of the Interior determines that, for the claim concerned: (1) a patent application was filed before January 27, 1995; and (2) all requirements are met under the Revised Statutes for vein or lode claims and for placer claims. (Sec. 207) Requires the Secretary to adjust all dollar amounts under this title for changes in purchasing power every ten years, employing the Consumer Price Index as the basis for adjustment. Title III: Helium - Amends the Helium Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) enter into agreements with private parties for the recovery and disposal of helium on Federal lands; (2) grant leasehold rights to such helium; (3) store and transport crude helium; and (4) maintain and operate existing crude helium storage at the Bureau of Mines Cliffside Field. Directs the Secretary to: (1) cease producing, refining, and marketing refined helium; and (2) dispose of all facilities, equipment, and Federal property interests relating to refined helium activities. Requires the Secretary to impose fees for helium storage, withdrawal, or transportation services. Prescribes guidelines for: (1) the purchase of helium by Federal agencies from certain private persons; and (2) the sale of crude helium by the Secretary. Prohibits the Secretary from making crude helium sales in amounts that will disrupt the crude helium market price. Mandates that proceeds from helium sales be paid to the Treasury. Instructs the Secretary to eliminate helium stockpiles by a prescribed deadline. Repeals the Secretary's authority to borrow under the Helium Act. Title IV: Use or Disposal of Federal Natural Resources - Amends the Federal Land Policy Management Act of 1976 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to National Forest lands in the 16 contiguous Western States, and the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to public domain lands, where domestic livestock grazing is permitted under applicable law, to establish and implement an annual domestic livestock grazing fee equal to fair market value, based on a specified formula. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) abolition of grazing advisory boards; and (2) the U.S. share of receipts. (Sec. 402) Amends the National Forest Management Act of 1976 to prohibit below-cost timber sales from National Forest System Lands. (Sec. 403) Amends the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 to require the Secretary of Agriculture in revising land management plans to take into account the economic suitability of lands for timber production. (Sec. 404) Amends the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 to require that irrigation water from the Bureau of Reclamation used to grow surplus crops be paid for at the full cost for delivery. (Sec. 405) Amends the Food Security Act of 1995 and the Federal Crop Insurance Act to provide for the reduction of payment limitations for persons who receive Federal irrigation water for agricultural purposes. (Sec. 408) Amends the Emergency Livestock Feed Assistance Act of 1988 to repeal the livestock feed assistance program. (Sec. 409) Requires that permits for the use of communications sites on public lands be established at fair market value. (Sec. 410) Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to require that oil and gas rental prices for leases on public lands be established at fair market value. Title V: National Park Concessions - Repeals the Concessions Policy Act of 1965. (Sec. 504) Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to award concession contracts that authorize private persons, corporations, or other entities to provide services to park visitors and to utilize facilities if it is determined that such award is appropriate. (Sec. 505) Requires a concession contract to be awarded to the person submitting the best proposal through a competitive selection process to be established by the Secretary. Allows waiver of such procedures and award of a temporary contract to avoid interruption of services. Requires the Secretary to publish a notice of availability for a prospectus soliciting proposals for contracts for concessions at a Park specifying minimum contract requirements and contract terms and conditions. Requires congressional notification of any proposed contract with anticipated gross receipts exceeding $1 million or of a duration of ten or more years. Prohibits the Secretary from granting a preferential right to a concessioner to renew concession contracts under this Act, with exceptions. Allows such preferential rights to be granted for certain outfitting and guide contracts and certain contracts with annual gross receipts of under $500,000. (Sec. 506) Sets forth criteria for determining franchise fees, including fees for multiple franchise contracts within a park. (Sec. 507) Requires all fees to be: (1) covered into a special Treasury account established for reallocation to NPS units for resource management and protection, maintenance activities, interpretation, and research; or (2) deposited into a Park Improvement Fund established by the concessioner (as directed by the Secretary) from which expenditures shall be made for park activities and projects. Requires: (1) an annual statement from the concessioner to the Secretary reflecting total activity in the Fund for the preceding fiscal year; and (2) an annual report from the Secretary to specified congressional committees concerning Fund expenditures. (Sec. 508) Establishes a maximum: (1) ten-year duration for a concessions contract, provided that the Secretary may award a contract for up to 20 years if determined necessary; and (2) two-year duration for a temporary contract. (Sec. 509) Requires the approval of the Secretary and congressional notification before a concession contract can be transferred, assigned, sold, or conveyed and sets forth conditions that preclude such conveyance. (Sec. 510) Grants possessory interest to: (1) concessioners who have commenced acquisition or construction of any structure on Federal land within a park before the enactment of this Act; and (2) concessioners who construct or acquire an improvement on U.S. land within a Park after enactment of this Act. (Sec. 511) Places limitations on a concessioner's rates and charges to the public. (Sec. 512) Directs the Secretary to: (1) periodically evaluate the performance of each concessioner under contract; (2) terminate a contract if a concessioner fails, within the prescribed time, to meet minimum requirements identified in a notice of unsatisfactory performance; and (3) notify specified congressional committees of each unsatisfactory rating and each contract terminated. (Sec. 513) Provides that the Comptroller General of the United States shall, until the expiration of five calendar years after the close of the business year for each concessioner, have access to and the right to examine any pertinent books, documents, papers, and records of the concessioner related to the contracts. (Sec. 514) Exempts contracts awarded by the Secretary under this Act from certain provisions of Federal law with respect to the leasing of U.S. buildings and properties. (Sec. 516) Requires the Inspector General of the Department of the Interior to submit biannual reports to specified congressional committees on the implementation of this Act and its effect on facilities operated pursuant to concession contracts and on visitor services. (Sec. 517) Authorizes appropriations.

Emergency Spending Control Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1995

Emergency Spending Control Act of 1995 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) and the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to restrict the inclusion of nonemergency spending proposals in emergency spending legislation. Allows such proposals to contain rescissions of budget authority or provisions that reduce direct spending.

A bill relating to the treatment of Social Security under any constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget.

United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1995

Declares that for the purpose of any constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget, the appropriate committees of the House and the Senate shall report to their respective Houses implementing legislation to achieve a balanced budget without increasing the receipts or reducing the disbursements of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund to achieve that goal.

A to Z Spending Cuts Plan

United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1995

A to Z Spending Cuts Plan - Reduces discretionary spending limits for FY 1995 in amounts equal to rescissions under this Act. Declares that reductions in outlays shall not be taken into account for sequestration purposes of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Reduces discretionary spending limits for FY 1995 through 1998 by the amount of rescissions and additional savings under this Act. Expresses the sense of the Congress that each reduction in the discretionary spending caps caused by the spending cuts of this Act shall result in reduction in future spending for that particular program only.

13 Mr. McCreevy asked the Minister for Finance if he is committed to the policy of a permanent elimination of current budget deficits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1580/95]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 25 January 1995

13 Mr. McCreevy asked the Minister for Finance if he is committed to the policy of a permanent elimination of current budget deficits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1580/95]

Omnibus Committee Funding Resolution for 1995 and 1996

United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1995

Omnibus Committee Funding Resolution for 1995 and 1996 - Authorizes expenditures by the following Senate committees from March 1, 1995, through September 30, 1996, and for the period March 1, 1996, through February 28, 1997: (1) Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; (2) Appropriations; (3) Armed Services; (4) Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; (5) Budget; (6) Commerce, Science, and Transportation; (7) Energy and Natural Resources; (8) Environment and Public Works; (9) Finance; (10) Foreign Relations; (11) Governmental Affairs; (12) Judiciary; (13) Labor and Human Resources; (14) Rules and Administration; (15) Small Business; (16) Veterans' Affairs; (17) Aging; (18) Intelligence; and (19) Indian Affairs. Authorizes the transfer of any unexpended balance of any committee for the period ending February 28, 1995, to a special reserve to be available to any committee to meet specified unpaid obligations or expenses. Expresses the sense of the Senate that space assigned to committees covered by this resolution shall be reduced commensurate with the reductions in authorized staff funded herein. States that the Committee on Rules and Administration is expected to recover such space for purposes of equalizing Senators' offices and to consolidate the space for committees to reduce the cost of support equipment and office furniture and accessories.

Risk Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1995

Risk Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis Act of 1995 - Directs the head of each covered Federal agency, in exercising authority under any Federal law to protect human health and the environment, to: (1) conduct risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis for all major rules protecting human health and the environment; (2) demonstrate that for all major rules the benefits to human health or the environment justify the costs; (3) publish with each final rule an identification of the most flexible and cost effective regulatory option and, if those options are not employed, an explanation justifying why; (4) prioritize threats to human health, safety, and the environment according to the seriousness of the risk they pose and the opportunities available to achieve the greatest overall net reduction in those risks with the public and private resources available; (5) prioritize the use of resources available to the agency under those laws to reduce those risks in accordance with such threat priorities (including applying the priorities to the budget, strategic planning, and research activities of the agency); and (6) apply peer review to each risk assessment and each cost-benefit analysis that may have a significant impact on that exercise of authority. (Sec. 5) Establishes in each covered agency an Office of Risk Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis. Sets forth provisions for the Office: (1) Director, who shall be a Deputy Assistant Secretary or Deputy Assistant Administrator of the agency; (2) scientific peer review; (3) use of services and consultation; (4) issuance and use of risk assessment guidelines; (5) use of cost-benefit analysis before issuance any major rule; and (6) research and training in risk assessment, with evaluations and reports. (Sec. 6) Directs the head of each covered agency, acting through the agency's Office Director, to ensure that all risk characterizations make apparent the distinction between data and policy assumptions to facilitate interpretation and appropriate use of the characterization by decisionmakers. Sets forth required minimum contents for risk characterizations. (Sec. 7) Requires the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to carry out specified interagency coordination activities with respect to risk assessment. (Sec. 8) Amends the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 1974 to require the Director of the Office of Science and Technology, rather than the President, to transmit an annual Environmental Quality Report. (Sec. 9) Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to modify any requirement or standard provided for in another provision of law that provides for risk assessment or is designed to protect health, safety, or the environment. (Sec. 10) Defines a major rule as any rule that is likely to result in an annual effect on the economy of $25 million or more. Makes the following covered agencies under this Act: (1) the Environmental Protection Agency; (2) the Consumer Product Safety Commission; (3) the Occupational Health and Safety Administration; (4) the Department of Labor; (5) the Department of Transportation; (6) the Department of Energy; (7) the Department of Agriculture; (8) the Department of the Interior; and (9) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Legislative Line Item Veto Act

United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1995

Legislative Line Item Veto Act - Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to authorize the President to propose to the Congress the cancellation of any budget item provided in any Act. Authorizes the President to transmit a draft bill to the Congress with such a proposal, including the amount of each budget item designated for deficit reduction. Establishes expedited procedures in the Senate and the House of Representatives for consideration of such bill.

A resolution designating the chairmen of certain Senate committees for the 104th Congress.

United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1995

Designates chairmen of the following Senate committees: (1) Budget; (2) Veterans' Affairs; (3) Indian Affairs; and (4) Intelligence.