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Law· SS. 1150 (102nd)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to reauthorize funding for its various programs. Extends through FY 1996 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) program and planning grants, and for national programs, under postsecondary programs for nontraditional students; (2) the Student Literacy Corps; (3) academic library and information technology enhancement; (4) institutional aid; (5) supplemental educational opportunity grants; (6) grants to States for State student incentives; (7) special programs for students from disadvantaged backgrounds; (8) special programs for students whose families are engaged in migrant and seasonal farmwork; (9) the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program; (10) the veterans' education outreach program; (11) special child care services for disadvantaged college students; (12) work-study programs; (13) the income-contingent direct loan demonstration project; (14) direct loans to students in institutions of higher education; (15) educator recruitment retention and development; (16) periodicals published outside the United States; (17) international education programs; (18) business and international education programs; (19) construction, reconstruction, and renovation of academic facilities; (20) the agriculture, strategic metals, minerals, forestry and oceans college and university research facilities and instrumentation modernization program; (21) cooperative education; (22) graduate programs; (23) postsecondary improvement programs; (24) the minority science and engineering improvement program; (25) innovative projects for community service and student financial independence; and (26) partnerships for economic development and urban community service. Extends through FY 1997: (1) the aggregate annual limit on the authorization of appropriations for HEA programs (not including the Pell Grant and the Robert T. Stafford Student Loan programs); and (2) the 85 percent Federal share of awards under the supplemental educational opportunity grants program. Extends through academic year 1997 the annual maximum basic grant amount of $3,100 under the program of basic educational opportunity grants (Pell Grants).
Bill· SS. 1179 (102nd)passed
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
Geologic Mapping Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish and maintain a comprehensive nationwide geologic mapping program, with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as the lead Federal agency. Sets forth program objectives. Mandates: (1) participation by the USGS, the individual State Geological Surveys, and scientists from the academic community; and (2) appointment of a geologic mapping advisory group. Requires that the program include Federal, support, State, and education geologic mapping components. Sets forth objectives for each component, including the support component contributing to national paleontologic, geochronologic, geophysical-map, and geochemical-map data bases. Requires that the USGS prepare an implementation plan covering specified matters. Requires the USGS to establish a national geologic-map data base to be a national archive that includes all maps and data bases developed under this Act. Declares that geologic maps contributed to the National Archives should be standardized so that information can be assimilated, exchanged, and compared efficiently and accurately. Authorizes appropriations for each component.
Bill· SS. 1162 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
International Constitutional Democracy Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary), through the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), to carry out an International Civic Education Exchange Program (the Program). Requires the Program to: (1) make available to Central and Eastern European educators exemplary civic education programs developed in the United States; (2) assist their countries in adapting and implementing such programs; (3) create and implement educational programs for U.S. students which draw upon emerging constitutional democracies' experiences; and (4) provide a means for participating nations' leaders to exchange ideas and experiences in civic education. Authorizes the Secretary to contract with an independent nonprofit educational organization, with specified types of experience, to carry out the Program. Sets forth Program contents for European and U.S. participants, including home stays, other educational exchanges, and international conferences. Requires that the primary participants be leading civic educators, including curriculum and teacher training specialists, scholars in relevant disciplines, and educational policymakers, from the United States and participating Central and Eastern European nations. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· SS. 1149 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to increase payments for direct graduate medical education (DME) costs of primary care residents in the initial residency period. Provides an overall cap on approved Full Time Equivalent resident amounts. Requires hospitals to provide more compensation to primary care residents than to non-primary care residents in order to receive DME funding.
Bill· SS. 1141 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
AMERICA 2000 Excellence in Education Act - Title I: New American Schools - Authorizes financial assistance for creating New American Schools (NAS) in communities that have been designated AMERICA 2000 Communities (A2Cs). Provides that such NAS shall reflect the best thinking about teaching and learning, employ the highest-quality instructional materials and technologies, and be designed to meet the National Educational Goals as well as the particular needs of their students and communities. Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to reserve certain funds for a national program evaluation. Directs the Secretary to allocate the remaining funds among the States (and specified territories) in proportion to their respective numbers of members of Congress. Directs the Governor to nominate A2Cs to create NAS, for at least as many communities as there are members in the State's congressional delegation and at least one community in each congressional district of the State. Requires the Governor's nominations to be based on criteria established by the Secretary on the basis of expert panel advice, including: (1) the community's level of commitment and activity in the A2C initiative; (2) the community's schools' need for new and innovative educational programs; and (3) the quality of their application to the Governor. Sets forth conditions for the Secretary's approval, and for alternative nominations. Directs the Secretary to make NAS grants to selected agencies, organizations, and institutions on behalf of the selected communities. Limits any award to $1,000,000. Encourages grantees to adapt and implement one or more NAS designs developed by research and development teams funded by the NAS Development Corporation. Restricts use of such grant funds to certain special start-up costs associated with the creation and establishment of a NAS. Prohibits the use of such funds for construction or for the grantee's general administrative expenses. Requires each NAS to have obtained necessary State recognition or accreditation and to be fully operating by the start of the 1996-97 school year. Directs the Secretary, within 90 days, to convene an expert panel of educators, representatives of private business, and public representatives to advise on NAS program administration, including criteria for nomination of communities. Directs the Secretary to use reserved funds to conduct a national evaluation of NAS program impact on schools and communities and on education generally. Requires reports to the President and the Congress. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Merit Schools - Authorizes appropriations for Merit School awards to reward public and private elementary and secondary schools and faculties that make documented progress in attaining the National Education Goals, particularly the goal of increasing students' mastery of the core academic subjects. Directs the Secretary to allocate specified funds among the States on the same basis as allocations for education of disadvantaged children under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (the ESEA chapter 1 program). Requires Governors to submit State grant applications for a three-year period, which may be followed by an application for a two-year period. Makes specified provisions of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) inapplicable to this title. Specifies State use of funds for administrative costs (five percent) and Merit School awards (95 percent), with at least 20 percent of the latter earmarked for schools that demonstrate exceptional progress in improving students' performance in mathematics and science. Requires each Governor to: (1) establish a State review panel to assist in selection of Merit Schools; (2) submit annual program reports to the Secretary; and (3) apply specified national and State criteria in selecting schools. Requires each Merit School to use its award for activities to further its educational program, including staff bonus payments, college scholarships for secondary school students, special programs, equipment and materials, parental involvement, community outreach, and program replication. Prohibits State or local reduction of other assistance to the Merit School or its local educational agency. Title III: Teachers and School Leaders - Part A: Governor's Academies for Teachers - Directs the Secretary to make a one-time, five-year grant to each State to establish and operate Governor's Academies for Teachers and to recognize outstanding teachers. Requires a Governor to use the State's grant to make competitive awards to the State educational agency (SEA), local education agencies (LEAs), institutions of higher education, and other public and private organizations or consortia, to establish and operate such Academies. Allows such Academies to be operated in cooperation or consortium with those of other States. Requires each Academy to conduct a program of intensive instruction for current elementary and secondary school teachers, during the summer or the school year, focusing on the core academic disciplines of English, mathematics, science, history, and geography. Directs the Governor to allocate to each Academy funds for a program of cash awards and recognition to outstanding teachers in the core academic subject or subjects covered by the Academy program. Requires Academies to select such teachers from nominations received from various groups. Limits any such award to $5,000, but allows the recipient to choose how to use it. Authorizes appropriations. Part B: Governors' Academies for School Leaders - Directs the Secretary to make a one-time, five-year grant to each State to establish and operate a Governor's Academy for School Leaders. Requires the Governor to make competitive awards to the SEA, LEAs, institutions of higher education, and other public and private organizations or consortia, to establish and operate such an Academy. Allows such academies to be operated in cooperation or consortium with those of other States. Directs each Academy to carry out specified activities relating to school leadership training and development. Authorizes appropriations. Part C: Alternative Certification of Teachers and Principals - Authorizes appropriations to assist States to develop and implement alternative certification requirements to improve the supply of well-qualified elementary and secondary school teachers and principals. Makes certain GEPA provisions inapplicable to this part. Requires States to use such funds to support programs, projects, or activities that develop and implement new, or expand and improve existing, alternative teacher and principal certification requirements. Authorizes States to do so directly, through contracts, or through subgrants to LEAs, intermediate educational agencies, institutions of higher education, or consortia of such agencies. Title IV: Educational Reform and Flexibility - Part A: Educational Reform Through Flexibility and Accountability - Amends the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) to establish a program for flexibility and accountability in education and related services. Directs the Secretary to assist projects for elementary and secondary schools and other service providers to improve achievement of all students and other participants, but particularly disadvantaged individuals, by authorizing waivers by which Governors, SEAs, LEAs, and other service providers can improve performance of schools and programs by increasing their flexibility in use of resources while holding them accountable for achieving educational gains. Authorizes the Secretary, in support of such projects, to waive, with specified exceptions, any statutory or regulatory requirement applicable to any program administered by the Department of Education that may impede a school or service provider from meeting the special needs of such students and other individuals. Authorizes other Federal agency heads, with the Secretary's agreement, to make similar waivers for their programs. Limits duration of projects and associated waivers to a maximum of three years; but authorizes the Secretary to extend a project and any associated waivers for an additional two years if it is making substantial progress in meeting its goals. Requires the Secretary to terminate a project and its associated waivers at any time if acceptable progress is not being made. Grants other Federal agency heads authority to determine extension or termination of their waivers. Grants the Secretary exclusive authority to extend or terminate a project. Requires each project that involves elementary or secondary schools to include participation of an SEA and at least one LEA and two schools. Requires, to the extent possible, project participation by each grade and academic program, including ESEA chapter 1 programs, in a participating school. Prohibits unreasonable concentration of available resources in participating schools, if fewer than all schools in an LEA participate. Requires each project that does not involve elementary or secondary schools to involve at least two programs, at least one of which is administered by the Secretary. Prohibits waiver of requirements: (1) in awarding new competitive grants to agencies participating in such projects; (2) relating to maintenance of effort, comparability, or equitable participation of private school students; and (3) under specified provisions of GEPA, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Education Amendments of 1972, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Sets forth requirements for reports and evaluations. Provides for the budget neutrality of such program. Part B: Amendments to Chapter 2 - Amends chapter 2 (Federal, State, and Local Partnership for Educational Improvement) of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA chapter 2) to provide that part A funding for educational reform and improvement shall be divided equally between State and local programs (50 percent to each, while the current allocation formula requires at least 80 percent to go to local programs and not more than 20 percent to State programs). Reduces the portions of such State-level funds which: (1) may be used for State administration (from 25 to ten percent); and (2) must be used for the effective schools programs (from 20 to eight percent). Revises State application requirements to require approval by the Governor before submission to the Secretary. Includes educational choice programs among local targeted assistance programs of SEAs and LEAs. Includes, among authorized activities of such programs, any activities or expenses directly related to planning, implementing, operating, evaluating, and disseminating information about the LEA's educational choice program, including expenses of parents and children resulting from their program participation. Title V: Parental Choice of Schools - Part A: Findings - Sets forth congressional findings relating to parental choice in education. Part B: Parental Choice and Chapter 1 - Amends chapter 1 Financal Assistance to Meet Special Educational Needs of Children) of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA chapter 1) to provide for chapter 1 services for children participating in educational choice programs. Requires the LEA to provide such services in the form of: (1) supplementary compensatory education services; or (2) if that is not feasible or efficient, payment to parents of a per-child share of the LEA's basic chapter 1 grant. Allows parents to use such funds only for: (1) purchase of supplementary compensatory education services that meet the child's special educational needs from any elementary or secondary school, or any other public or private agency, organization, or institution that the LEA designates; and/or (2) transportation costs related to the child's participation in the choice program. Excludes such payments from the gross income of parents for Federal income tax purposes. Allows an LEA to use chapter 1 funds for the additional transportation costs of children receiving chapter 1 services who are in an educational choice program. Requires that LEAs with educational choice programs explain to parents of chapter 1 participating children: (1) the availability of compensatory education services under various available options; and (2) options available under the educational choice program and the chapter 1 program. Part C: Assistance for Parental Choice Programs - Directs the Secretary to make one-year grants to LEAs that carry out educational choice programs. Authorizes appropriations. Makes an LEA eligible for such a grant if it: (1) will carry out an educational choice program during the year for which assistance is sought; and (2) carried out such a program during the preceding year. Defines an educational choice program, as one adopted by a State or an LEA under which: (1) parents select the school, including private schools, in which their children will be enrolled; and (2) sufficient financial support is provided to enable a significant number or percentage of parents to enroll their children in a variety of schools and educational programs, including private schools. Requires LEAs to use grant funds only for student educational services and parental involvement activities in addition to those that would otherwise be provided from State or local funds. Prohibits use of grant funds for LEA general administrative expenses. Part D: Parental Choice Programs of National Significance - Directs the Secretary to make five-year grants to SEAs, LEAs, and other agencies, institutions, and organizations to conduct and demonstrate nationally significant model programs of educational choice. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary, in any fiscal year for which funds are available to make new awards, to announce the approaches to educational choice that will be considered in the competition for such funding. Requires grant recipients to use such funds only for activities directly related to planning, implementing, operating and evaluating, and disseminating information about, the educational choice demonstration program. Allows such funds to be used to meet expenses of parents and children resulting from their participation in such program. Title VI: National Assessment of Educational Progress - Amends the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) to extend through FY 1996 the authorization of appropriations for the National Center for Educational Statistics and its programs, including the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Requires the NAEP to collect representative data on a national and State basis for those States that choose to participate. Repeals a requirement for data collection on a regional basis. Requires the NAEP to collect and report data: (1) at least once every four years in the core academic areas of reading, writing, mathematics, science, history, and geography; and (2) annually on students at specified ages and in specified grade levels. (Current law varies such deadlines for the different academic subjects and sets a biennial deadline for the age and grade levels.) Removes a confidentiality restriction on NAEP information with respect to individual schools. Removes a prohibition against use of NAEP test items and data to rank, compare, or otherwise evaluate individual students, schools, or school districts. Requires States which choose to enter NAEP agreements to conduct such Assessment at the school level for all schools in the State sample and coordinate within the State, subject to a minimum State contribution of $100,000. Directs the Secretary to pay the State a certain amount for the costs of conducting such Assessment in excess of the minimum State contribution. Title VII: National Commission on Time, Study, Learning, and Teaching - Establishes a National Education Commission on Time, Study, Learning, and Teaching (the Commission). Requires the Commission to examine the quality and adequacy of the study and learning time of U.S. elementary and secondary students in an era when World Class Standards of achievement need to be met, including issues regarding: (1) the length of the school day and year; (2) the extent and role of homework; (3) how time is currently being used for academic subjects (especially the five core subjects of English, mathematics, science, history, and geography); (4) year-round professional opportunities for teachers; and (5) the use of school facilities for extended learning programs. Directs the Commission, within one year after it concludes its first meeting, to subject a final report to the Congress and the President. Requires such report, in addition to the primary issues, to analyze and make recommendations about: (1) use of incentives for students to increase educational achievement in available instructional time; (2) how children spend time outside school; and (3) if appropriate, a model plan for adopting a longer academic day and year for U.S. elementary and secondary schools by the end of this decade, including mechanisms to assist in such transition. Terminates the Commission 90 days after it submits its final report. Authorizes appropriations. Title VIII: Regional Literacy Resource Centers - Amends the Adult Education Act to direct the Secretary to make grants or contracts for operation of regional literacy resource centers in appropriate regions. Makes eligible for such grants or contracts SEAs, LEAs, State literacy offices, volunteer-organizations, community-based organizations, institutions of higher education, or other nonprofit entities. Provides that the Federal share of activity costs shall decline over a five-year period from a maximum of 80 percent to 60 percent. Authorizes appropriations. Title IX: General Provisions - Sets forth definitions for this Act. Makes specified provisions of Federal law permitting consolidation of grants to the Insular Areas inapplicable to funds received by such an area under this Act.
Bill· SS. 1168 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
Directs the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a highway bridge planning and feasibility study for a bridge in the Vermillion, South Dakota-Newcastle, Nebraska area. Authorizes the Secretary, if such study determines such a bridge to be feasible and desirable, to carry out a highway project plan, engineer, and construct a bridge across the Missouri River to improve: (1) the interstate flow of traffic; (2) access to rural health care and higher education; (3) grain and livestock movement; and (4) economic growth and development of the area. Authorizes appropriations. Specifies the Federal and States' shares of the project costs.
Bill· SS. 1159 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
Tropical Forest Consumer Information and Protection Act of 1991 - Prohibits manufacturing or distributing any tropical wood or tropical wood product unless: (1) it bears a label or mark indicating the country in which the wood was grown and the name of the wood; or (2) that information is provided to the buyer at the point of sale. Requires sellers through a catalog or communications media to disclose the country of origin and the name of the wood. Mandates: (1) an annual report on tropical hardwood importation; (2) a program to assess the progress of tropical countries in managing and conserving their forests; and (3) an annual report on the status of forests in each tropical country. Declares that: (1) policies, incentives, and education encouraging the sustainable management of tropical forests and labeling of country of origin should be supported; and (2) it should be U.S. policy to pursue adoption of such measures pursuant to its activities within the International Tropical Timber Organization. Provides for civil monetary penalties for violation of the labeling requirements of this Act.
Bill· SS. 1148 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
Health Professions Training Improvement Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require that, in making competitive grants under provisions relating to health research and teaching facilities and training of professional health personnel or provisions relating to nurse education, priority be given to applicants providing certain services or having certain interactions with medically underserved communities. Requires that, after FY 1994, at least 50 percent of the amounts appropriated for such grants be awarded to institutions which meet requirements regarding the percentage of their graduates practicing in such communities. Mandates grants to health professions institutions to expand training programs targeted at individuals desiring to serve the needs of such communities. Authorizes appropriations. Mandates grants to regional consortia (comprised of at least one medical school and at least one health professions school that is not a medical school) to enhance and expand coordination among various health professions programs, particularly in medically underserved rural areas. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 2465 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
Directs the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a highway bridge planning and feasibility study for a bridge in the Vermillion, South Dakota-Newcastle, Nebraska area. Authorizes the Secretary, if such study determines such a bridge to be feasible and desirable, to carry out a highway project plan, engineer, and construct a bridge across the Missouri River to improve: (1) the interstate flow of traffic; (2) access to rural health care and higher education; (3) grain and livestock movement; and (4) economic growth and development of the area. Authorizes appropriations. Specifies the Federal and States' shares of the project costs.
Bill· HRH.R. 2467 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
National Institute for the Education of At-Risk Students Act - Establishes the National Institute for the Education of At-Risk Students (the Institute), to be administered by a Director and a Board. Provides for three divisions within the Institute, each to be headed by an Assistant Director, for: (1) Innercity Educational Improvement; (2) Rural Educational Improvement; and (3) Minority Language Educational Improvement. Authorizes the Institute to: (1) carry out specified activities to improve and expand the knowledge base, programs, techniques, and materials concerning the educationally at-risk; and (2) assist Federal, State, and local agencies in developing, implementing, and evaluating policy with respect to the education of students at-risk of educational failure by supplementing and refining the national data base with respect to specified programs, assessment measures, priorities and goals, uses of technology, models for training and technical and policy assistance, and systems for replicating, implementing, and coordinating model programs and approaches. Directs the Institute to fund collaborative and coordinated program efforts, and to perform specified functions relating to replication, adaption, and evaluation of exemplary programs for their potential as effective models for interventions for at-risk students. Authorizes the Institute to award fellowships, with stipends and allowances, to attract outstanding researchers and practitioners who have special expertise and experience in the education of rural, bilingual, African-American, and other minorities as well as persons in poverty. Requires such fellowships to be for postdoctoral students as well as those with a distinguished record of work in the field of the education of at-risk students. Sets forth provisions relating to the Board of the Institute, including its Executive Committee and its Education Emergency Task Force. Sets forth administrative provisions relating to the Director, Deputy Director, and staff. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1997.
Bill· HRH.R. 2460 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
AMERICA 2000 Excellence in Education Act - Title I: New American Schools - Authorizes financial assistance for creating New American Schools (NAS) in communities that have been designated AMERICA 2000 Communities (A2Cs). Provides that such NAS shall reflect the best thinking about teaching and learning, employ the highest-quality instructional materials and technologies, and be designed to meet the National Educational Goals as well as the particular needs of their students and communities. Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to reserve certain funds for a national program evaluation. Directs the Secretary to allocate the remaining funds among the States (and specified territories) in proportion to their respective numbers of members of Congress. Directs the Governor to nominate A2Cs to create NAS, for at least as many communities as there are members in the State's congressional delegation and at least one community in each congressional district of the State. Requires the Governor's nominations to be based on criteria established by the Secretary on the basis of expert panel advice, including: (1) the community's level of commitment and activity in the A2C initiative; (2) the community's schools' need for new and innovative educational programs; and (3) the quality of their application to the Governor. Sets forth conditions for the Secretary's approval, and for alternative nominations. Directs the Secretary to make NAS grants to selected agencies, organizations, and institutions on behalf of the selected communities. Limits any award to $1,000,000. Encourages grantees to adapt and implement one or more NAS designs developed by research and development teams funded by the NAS Development Corporation. Restricts use of such grant funds to certain special start-up costs associated with the creation and establishment of a NAS. Prohibits the use of such funds for construction or for the grantee's general administrative expenses. Requires each NAS to have obtained necessary State recognition or accreditation and to be fully operating by the start of the 1996-97 school year. Directs the Secretary, within 90 days, to convene an expert panel of educators, representatives of private business, and public representatives to advise on NAS program administration, including criteria for nomination of communities. Directs the Secretary to use reserved funds to conduct a national evaluation of NAS program impact on schools and communities and on education generally. Requires reports to the President and the Congress. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Merit Schools - Authorizes appropriations for Merit School awards to reward public and private elementary and secondary schools and faculties that make documented progress in attaining the National Education Goals, particularly the goal of increasing students' mastery of the core academic subjects. Directs the Secretary to allocate specified funds among the States on the same basis as allocations for education of disadvantaged children under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (the ESEA chapter 1 program). Requires Governors to submit State grant applications for a three-year period, which may be followed by an application for a two-year period. Makes specified provisions of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) inapplicable to this title. Specifies State use of funds for administrative costs (five percent) and Merit School awards (95 percent), with at least 20 percent of the latter earmarked for schools that demonstrate exceptional progress in improving students' performance in mathematics and science. Requires each Governor to: (1) establish a State review panel to assist in selection of Merit Schools; (2) submit annual program reports to the Secretary; and (3) apply specified national and State criteria in selecting schools. Requires each Merit School to use its award for activities to further its educational program, including staff bonus payments, college scholarships for secondary school students, special programs, equipment and materials, parental involvement, community outreach, and program replication. Prohibits State or local reduction of other assistance to the Merit School or its local educational agency. Title III: Teachers and School Leaders - Part A: Governor's Academies for Teachers - Directs the Secretary to make a one-time, five-year grant to each State to establish and operate Governor's Academies for Teachers and to recognize outstanding teachers. Requires a Governor to use the State's grant to make competitive awards to the State educational agency (SEA), local education agencies (LEAs), institutions of higher education, and other public and private organizations or consortia, to establish and operate such Academies. Allows such Academies to be operated in cooperation or consortium with those of other States. Requires each Academy to conduct a program of intensive instruction for current elementary and secondary school teachers, during the summer or the school year, focusing on the core academic disciplines of English, mathematics, science, history, and geography. Directs the Governor to allocate to each Academy funds for a program of cash awards and recognition to outstanding teachers in the core academic subject or subjects covered by the Academy program. Requires Academies to select such teachers from nominations received from various groups. Limits any such award to $5,000, but allows the recipient to choose how to use it. Authorizes appropriations. Part B: Governors' Academies for School Leaders - Directs the Secretary to make a one-time, five-year grant to each State to establish and operate a Governor's Academy for School Leaders. Requires the Governor to make competitive awards to the SEA, LEAs, institutions of higher education, and other public and private organizations or consortia, to establish and operate such an Academy. Allows such academies to be operated in cooperation or consortium with those of other States. Directs each Academy to carry out specified activities relating to school leadership training and development. Authorizes appropriations. Part C: Alternative Certification of Teachers and Principals - Authorizes appropriations to assist States to develop and implement alternative certification requirements to improve the supply of well-qualified elementary and secondary school teachers and principals. Makes certain GEPA provisions inapplicable to this part. Requires States to use such funds to support programs, projects, or activities that develop and implement new, or expand and improve existing, alternative teacher and principal certification requirements. Authorizes States to do so directly, through contracts, or through subgrants to LEAs, intermediate educational agencies, institutions of higher education, or consortia of such agencies. Title IV: Educational Reform and Flexibility - Part A: Educational Reform Through Flexibility and Accountability - Amends the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) to establish a program for flexibility and accountability in education and related services. Directs the Secretary to assist projects for elementary and secondary schools and other service providers to improve achievement of all students and other participants, but particularly disadvantaged individuals, by authorizing waivers by which Governors, SEAs, LEAs, and other service providers can improve performance of schools and programs by increasing their flexibility in use of resources while holding them accountable for achieving educational gains. Authorizes the Secretary, in support of such projects, to waive, with specified exceptions, any statutory or regulatory requirement applicable to any program administered by the Department of Education that may impede a school or service provider from meeting the special needs of such students and other individuals. Authorizes other Federal agency heads, with the Secretary's agreement, to make similar waivers for their programs. Limits duration of projects and associated waivers to a maximum of three years; but authorizes the Secretary to extend a project and any associated waivers for an additional two years if it is making substantial progress in meeting its goals. Requires the Secretary to terminate a project and its associated waivers at any time if acceptable progress is not being made. Grants other Federal agency heads authority to determine extension or termination of their waivers. Grants the Secretary exclusive authority to extend or terminate a project. Requires each project that involves elementary or secondary schools to include participation of an SEA and at least one LEA and two schools. Requires, to the extent possible, project participation by each grade and academic program, including ESEA chapter 1 programs, in a participating school. Prohibits unreasonable concentration of available resources in participating schools, if fewer than all schools in an LEA participate. Requires each project that does not involve elementary or secondary schools to involve at least two programs, at least one of which is administered by the Secretary. Prohibits waiver of requirements: (1) in awarding new competitive grants to agencies participating in such projects; (2) relating to maintenance of effort, comparability, or equitable participation of private school students; and (3) under specified provisions of GEPA, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Education Amendments of 1972, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Sets forth requirements for reports and evaluations. Provides for the budget neutrality of such program. Part B: Amendments to Chapter 2 - Amends chapter 2 (Federal, State, and Local Partnership for Educational Improvement) of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA chapter 2) to provide that part A funding for educational reform and improvement shall be divided equally between State and local programs (50 percent to each, while the current allocation formula requires at least 80 percent to go to local programs and not more than 20 percent to State programs). Reduces the portions of such State-level funds which: (1) may be used for State administration (from 25 to ten percent); and (2) must be used for the effective schools programs (from 20 to eight percent). Revises State application requirements to require approval by the Governor before submission to the Secretary. Includes educational choice programs among local targeted assistance programs of SEAs and LEAs. Includes, among authorized activities of such programs, any activities or expenses directly related to planning, implementing, operating, evaluating, and disseminating information about the LEA's educational choice program, including expenses of parents and children resulting from their program participation. Title V: Parental Choice of Schools - Part A: Findings - Sets forth congressional findings relating to parental choice in education. Part B: Parental Choice and Chapter 1 - Amends chapter 1 Financal Assistance to Meet Special Educational Needs of Children) of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA chapter 1) to provide for chapter 1 services for children participating in educational choice programs. Requires the LEA to provide such services in the form of: (1) supplementary compensatory education services; or (2) if that is not feasible or efficient, payment to parents of a per-child share of the LEA's basic chapter 1 grant. Allows parents to use such funds only for: (1) purchase of supplementary compensatory education services that meet the child's special educational needs from any elementary or secondary school, or any other public or private agency, organization, or institution that the LEA designates; and/or (2) transportation costs related to the child's participation in the choice program. Excludes such payments from the gross income of parents for Federal income tax purposes. Allows an LEA to use chapter 1 funds for the additional transportation costs of children receiving chapter 1 services who are in an educational choice program. Requires that LEAs with educational choice programs to explain to parents of chapter 1 participating children: (1) the availability of compensatory education services under various available options; and (2) options available under the educational choice program and the chapter 1 program. Part C: Assistance for Parental Choice Programs - Directs the Secretary to make one-year grants to LEAs that carry out educational choice programs. Authorizes appropriations. Makes an LEA eligible for such a grant if it: (1) will carry out an educational choice program during the year for which assistance is sought; and (2) carried out such a program during the preceding year. Defines an educational choice program, as one adopted by a State or an LEA under which: (1) parents select the school, including private schools, in which their children will be enrolled; and (2) sufficient financial support is provided to enable a significant number or percentage of parents to enroll their children in a variety of schools and educational programs, including private schools. Requires LEAs to use grant funds only for student educational services and parental involvement activities in addition to those that would otherwise be provided from State or local funds. Prohibits use of grant funds for LEA general administrative expenses. Part D: Parental Choice Programs of National Significance - Directs the Secretary to make five-year grants to SEAs, LEAs, and other agencies, institutions, and organizations to conduct and demonstrate nationally significant model programs of educational choice. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary, in any fiscal year for which funds are available to make new awards, to announce the approaches to educational choice that will be considered in the competition for such funding. Requires grant recipients to use such funds only for activities directly related to planning, implementing, operating and evaluating, and disseminating information about, the educational choice demonstration program. Allows such funds to be used to meet expenses of parents and children resulting from their participation in such program. Title VI: National Assessment of Educational Progress - Amends the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) to extend through FY 1996 the authorization of appropriations for the National Center for Educational Statistics and its programs, including the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Requires the NAEP to collect representative data on a national and State basis for those States that choose to participate. Repeals a requirement for data collection on a regional basis. Requires the NAEP to collect and report data: (1) at least once every four years in the core academic areas of reading, writing, mathematics, science, history, and geography; and (2) annually on students at specified ages and in specified grade levels. (Current law varies such deadlines for the different academic subjects and sets a biennial deadline for the age and grade levels.) Removes a confidentiality restriction on NAEP information with respect to individual schools. Removes a prohibition against use of NAEP test items and data to rank, compare, or otherwise evaluate individual students, schools, or school districts. Requires States which choose to enter NAEP agreements to conduct such Assessment at the school level for all schools in the State sample and coordinate within the State, subject to a minimum State contribution of $100,000. Directs the Secretary to pay the State a certain amount for the costs of conducting such Assessment in excess of the minimum State contribution. Title VII: National Commission on Time, Study, Learning, and Teaching - Establishes a National Education Commission on Time, Study, Learning, and Teaching (the Commission). Requires the Commission to examine the quality and adequacy of the study and learning time of U.S. elementary and secondary students in an era when World Class Standards of achievement need to be met, including issues regarding: (1) the length of the school day and year; (2) the extent and role of homework; (3) how time is currently being used for academic subjects (especially the five core subjects of English, mathematics, science, history, and geography); (4) year-round professional opportunities for teachers; and (5) the use of school facilities for extended learning programs. Directs the Commission, within one year after it concludes its first meeting, to subject a final report to the Congress and the President. Requires such report, in addition to the primary issues, to analyze and make recommendations about: (1) use of incentives for students to increase educational achievement in available instructional time; (2) how children spend time outside school; and (3) if appropriate, a model plan for adopting a longer academic day and year for U.S. elementary and secondary schools by the end of this decade, including mechanisms to assist in such transition. Terminates the Commission 90 days after it submits its final report. Authorizes appropriations. Title VIII: Regional Literacy Resource Centers - Amends the Adult Education Act to direct the Secretary to make grants or contracts for operation of regional literacy resource centers in appropriate regions. Makes eligible for such grants or contracts SEAs, LEAs, State literacy offices, volunteer-organizations, community-based, organizations, institutions of higher education, or other nonprofit entities. Provides that the Federal share of activity costs shall decline over a five-year period from a maximum of 80 percent to 60 percent. Authorizes appropriations. Title IX: General Provisions - Sets forth definitions for this Act. Makes specified provisions of Federal law permitting consolidation of grants to the Insular Areas inapplicable to funds received by such an area under this Act.
Bill· SS. 1134 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1991
America's Commitment to College Education and Success for All Students Act of 1991 (ACCESS) - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish an Educational Excellence Program: (1) to provide at-risk disadvantaged students with early intervention programs and scholarships to encourage them to finish high school and obtain a college education; and (2) to upgrade secondary school students' course of study. Authorizes appropriations for early intervention programs. Directs the Secretary of Education (Secretary) to make allotments to State educational agencies (SEAs). Requires SEAs to use such funds to award competitive grants or contracts to community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, or elementary or secondary schools to establish or expand early intervention programs which encourage at-risk youth to finish secondary school and obtain a college education. Requires such programs to: (1) serve an entire sixth, seventh, or eighth grade class at an elementary or secondary school; (2) select such classes for program participation on the basis of whether a class has a significant incidence of students at risk of dropping out, as measured by specified factors; (3) include volunteer mentors and compensated program coordinators; (4) include a mechanism to inform all students of availability of assistance early enough to motivate them; and (5) include skills and language assessment, tutoring, academic, personal, and family counseling, and home visits. Authorizes appropriations for a scholarship program to encourage students to finish secondary school and obtain a college education, and to upgrade secondary school students' course of study. Authorizes the Secretary to award such scholarships to eligible students for four years of study at any approved institution of higher education. Bases student eligibility on: (1) participation in an early intervention program, if available; (2) secondary school graduation or its equivalent; (3) admission to or enrollment in an institution of higher education, not later than two years after secondary school graduation or its equivalent; (4) receipt of a Pell Grant; and (5) demonstration of academic achievement and preparation for postsecondary education by completion of specified areas of college preparatory level coursework in secondary school. Excludes from eligibility any individual who has been: (1) awarded an associate or baccalaureate degree; or (2) convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude. Makes persons who have been discharged from a correctional facility, or who have completed probation, eligible for such scholarships two years after such discharge or completion. Requires, in order for students in a State to receive such scholarships, that the SEA agree to ensure that all secondary students in the State have equal and easy access to the college preparatory coursework. Sets forth coursework verification and program advertising requirements. Sets forth scholarship stipend amounts and conditions.
Bill· SS. 1137 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1991
Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise the needs analysis. Revises the eligibility formula for Pell Grants (or basic educational opportunity grants) to refer to the Federal eligibility number under revised family contribution requirements. Repeals separate provisions, with respect to Pell Grants, for family contribution schedules and eligibility determinations (but specifies how general needs analysis provisions are to be applied to Pell Grants). Applies general student assistance needs analysis (need equals the cost of attendance minus the expected family contribution) to the program of grants to States for State student incentives (SSI grants). Applies general student assistance needs analysis cost of attendance requirements to Pell Grants. Includes as a cost of attendance an allowance based on expenses reasonably incurred for room and board costs for all types of student residences. Provides for institutional determination of certain types of costs incurred specifically when correspondence students fulfill a required period of residential training. Revises general student assistance needs analysis provisions for family contribution (and retitles such provisions "Federal eligibility") to include the following adjustments for Pell Grants: (1) exclusion from the family contribution of the standard income contribution and any veterans' educational benefits; and (2) notwithstanding that adjustment, use of any calculated contribution from student income in determining family contribution for Pell Grant purposes. Calls such modified expected family contribution the Federal eligibility number for Pell Grant eligibility purposes. Revises the data elements used in determining expected family contribution. Changes the designations "dependent student" and "independent student" to "student using the Parents First Model" and "student using a Students First model." Limits the number of family members who are at least half-time postsecondary students for whom the family may reasonably be expected to contribute to: (1) the dependent children only of the parents in the Parents First model; and (2) the student, spouse, and student's dependents only in the Students First model. Adds as data elements to be considered in determining expected family contribution: (1) the age of the older parent in the Parents First model and of the student in the Students First models; and (2) (except for Pell Grant determinations) the standard income contribution and the student's veterans' educational benefits. Eliminates as elements for such consideration: (1) unusual medical and dental expenses; and (2) number of dependent children enrolled in a private elementary or secondary institution and reimbursed tuition paid. Revises requirements governing family contribution for dependent students (renaming them "Federal eligibility for Parents First model"). Removes the student's spouse's income from calculation of the student contribution from income. Deems the following to have a zero family contribution: (1) a family receiving public assistance; or (2) a family with a parent's earned income below the earned income limitation for earned income credit purposes under the Internal Revenue Code. Includes only dependent children who will be at least half-time postsecondary students in the formula for determining the parents' contribution from adjusted available income. Eliminates deductions for a medical-dental expense allowance and an educational expense allowance from the determinations of parents' available income. Renames the standard maintenance allowance the income protection allowance. Increases the amount of such allowance in general and for various numbers of dependents in college. Revises, and provides separate tables for, the computation of the adjusted net worth of a business and of a farm. Increases the amount of the asset protection allowance for both two parent and one parent families, at various ages for the oldest parent. Sets the asset conversion rate at 12 percent. Sets the income supplemental amount from assets at zero for families who have a total income of $20,000 or less and have filed specified forms (or are not required to file) under the Internal Revenue Code. Sets the value of the principal place of residence at the lesser of the current market value or three times the total income. Determines the net value of such residence by subtracting from its value any outstanding liabilities or indebtedness against the assets. Revises the schedule for the parents' assessment from adjusted available income to change the rates for certain income levels. Revises the student contribution from available income in the Parents First model. Renames the mandatory self-help amount the standard income contribution. Increases the minimum contribution to $900 for a first-year undergraduate and $1,100 for any other student; but removes requirements for a greater contribution of 70 percent of the student's total income minus an adjustment to student (and spouse) income. Provides for updating of the standard income. Provides, in the Parents First model, for student (and spouse) contribution from assets (replacing provisions for determining their supplemental amount from assets). Sets forth provisions (similar to those for parents' contributions) for determining adjusted net worth of a business and value and net value of a principal place of residence. Provides for adjustment of the student's contribution, in the Parents First model, on the basis of individual circumstances for enrollment periods other than nine months. (Retains current provisions for adjustments of parents' contribution for enrollment periods other than nine months.) Revises requirements for family contribution for independent students without dependents (and renames them Federal eligibility for Students First model without dependent children). Revises the computation formula for such contribution. Requires the contribution from income to be not be less than the standard income contribution of $1,350. Considers a family receiving public assistance to have a zero family contribution. Adds veterans' benefits to such modified and combined income and assets contributions in determining the total expected family contribution. Revises the formula for the student's (and spouse's) contribution from income in the Students First model without dependents. Provides for deductions of specified allowances from total income. Renames the maintenance allowance for periods of nonenrollment the income protection allowance, and revises its amount (on the basis of student marital status and whether student and spouse are both in college). Sets the assessment of available income at 70 percent for all income levels. Revises the formula for the student's (and spouse's) contribution from assets in the Students First model without dependents. Revises the calculation of the student's net worth. Provides for adjustments of the student's contribution based on individual circumstances, for enrollment periods other than nine months, in the Students First model without dependents. Revises requirements for family contribution for independent students with dependents (and renames them Federal eligibility for Students First Model with dependent children). Revises the assessment schedule for adjusted available income. Provides that a family receiving public assistance shall be considered to have a zero family contribution. Renames the standard maintenance allowance the income protection allowance and increases its amount, which is based on family size and number in college. Eliminates a medical-dental allowance and an educational expense allowance, in determining the family's available income. Revises requirements for the family's income supplemental amount from assets, in the Students First model with dependents. Revises and increases the asset protection allowance for families and students, which is based on the student's age and marital status. Revises and provides separate formula tables for determination of adjusted net worth of a business and of a farm. Provides for determination of the value and net value of the principal place of residence by a revised method (similar to that described for the Parents First model). Sets the asset conversion rate at 12 percent for all income levels. Sets forth the revised assessment schedule for adjusted available income. Provides for adjustments of the student's contribution based on individual circumstances, for enrollment periods other than nine months, in the Students First model with dependents. Repeals certain provisions for a simplified needs analysis for low-income families. Allows granting discretionary authority to student financial aid administrators, in special circumstances, to use their discretionary authority to make case-by-case adjustments of the expected student or parent contribution (or both) and of the methodology used to calculate such contributions. Specifies that special circumstances mean conditions pertaining to an individual student. (Current law requires conditions that differentiate an individual student from a class of students.) Repeals certain conditions relating to discretionary adjustments to assets. Revises definitions of total income to include currently excluded: (1) proceeds of a sale of a farm or business assets resulting from foreclosure, forfeiture, bankruptcy, or involuntary liquidation; (2) unemployment compensation received by certain dislocated workers; and (3) college work-study income. Applies the Students First models (with or without dependent children, as applicable) to any student who is: (1) 24 years of age or older by July 1 of the award year; (2) an orphan or ward of the court; (3) a veteran of the U.S. armed forces; (4) a graduate or professional student; (5) one who has legal dependents other than a spouse; or (6) one for whom a financial aid administrator makes a documented determination that the student meets the Students First requirements by reason of other usual circumstances. Applies the Parents First model to any student who does not meet the Students First model requirements. Sets the student's standard income contribution to postsecondary educational expenses at: (1) $900 for first year undergraduates using the Parents First model; (2) $1,100 for all other students using the Parents First model; and (3) $1,350 for all students using one of the Students First models. Provides for updating of such standard income contribution. Revises provisions for forms and regulations to direct the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to prescribe a simplified application form for use in determining need and eligibility for various student assistance programs. Directs the Secretary, to the extent funding is available, to ensure that no student or parent is charged a fee for processing the application form the Secretary prescribes. Allows States and institutions to charge a processing fee for forms not required by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to enter into at least two contracts with States, institutions of higher education, or private organizations to process the prescribed simplified application form and to issue eligibility reports.
Bill· SS. 1133 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1991
Comprehensive Services for Children and Youth Act of 1991 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award grants to eligible entities to pay 80 percent of the costs for activities relating to school-based or community-based coordinated educational and social services programs to strengthen the educational performance and future potential of at-risk youth (both in-school and out-of-school). Requires such grants to be awarded only to programs designed to: (1) co-locate a range of educational and social services; (2) provide multi-year services to at-risk children and youth and their families; (3) serve the specified target population; and (4) be coordinated by the eligible entity with activities under other Federal, State, and local grants received by partnership members for purposes and target populations described in this Act, into an integrated service delivery system co-located at a school or other community-based site accessible to and used by at-risk youth. Gives priority to eligible entities providing comprehensive services extending beyond traditional school or service hours, that may include year-round programs providing evening and weekend services. Allows such grants to be made for up to five years, if recipients make satisfactory progress toward program objectives. Requires an equitable geographic distribution to both urban and rural areas with a high proportion of at-risk youth. Authorizes bonus awards to recipients demonstrating increases in coordination and level of services above those anticipated in the application or interim report. Makes eligible to receive such grants, to serve in-school children and youth, a partnership between a local educational agency (LEA) that is eligible for certain funds for education of disadvantaged children under chapter 1 title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (chapter 1 program), and at least one nonprofit community-based organization with a history of providing social services to low-income at-risk youth and their families, and which: (1) must also include public health, child welfare, social services, job training, public housing agencies or other public agencies providing services to such youth and families; and (2) may include private industry councils, or other relevant planning and program implementation boards providing services to such youth and families. Makes eligible for such grants, to serve out-of-school youth, a partnership between at least one public entity of the types described above, or an LEA eligible for chapter 1 program funds, and at least one nonprofit comunity-based organization described above. Requires the eligible entity, to receive such a grant, to serve the following target population: (1) students enrolled in schools participating in school-wide projects assisted under the chapter 1 program, and their families; (2) students enrolled in schools that are the most economically disadvantaged within the LEA; (3) out-of-school youth at-risk of having limited future options as a result of teenage pregnancy and parenting, substance abuse, recent immigration, disability, limited English proficiency, family migration, illiteracy, being a child of a teen parent, living in a single parent household, or being a high school dropout; or (4) any combination of in-school and out-of-school youth. Allows the eligible entity to serve the families of such students or youth. Includes among authorized activities: (1) one-stop shopping programs in schools or nearby community-based service centers to provide comprehensive educational and social services to the target population and families, support necessary costs (such as rentals, leases, open and lock-up fees, maintenance, security, and operation), and encourage participation of service providers necessary for comprehensive services delivery; (2) unified eligibility procedures, integrated data bases or administrative structures, and secure confidentiality procedures for information-sharing and interagency communications, including various technological developments to improve coordination; (3) integrated needs assessment, case planning, and case management services, through staff support for interagency teams of service providers or hiring school-based social services coordinators or neighborhood youth corps; and (4) integrated social services for at-risk students, for smooth transitions of preschool children to elementary school and of secondary or alternative school students to job training, higher education, or full employment. Sets forth application requirements and limitations for planning grants. Requires grant funds under this Act to be used to supplement but not supplant non-Federal funds. Sets forth grant application requirements. Requires each eligible entity desiring such a grant to establish a coordinated services planning council to develop such application. Directs the Secretaries of Education and of Health and Human Services to jointly review such applications, and to consult with the Secretaries of Labor and of Housing and Urban Development, as appropriate. Requires grant recipients to submit annual interim reports to the Secretary of Education. Amends the Augustus F. Hawkins Human Resources Reauthorization Act of 1990 to direct the Federal Council on Children, Youth, and Families to: (1) identify and eliminate program regulations or practices that impede coordination and collaboration; (2) develop and implement plans for creating jointly funded programs, unified assessments, eligibility, application procedures, and confidentiality regulations that facilitate information-sharing; and (3) make recommendations to the Congress on legislative action needed to facilitate coordination of educational and social services. Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to study grants awarded under this Act to identify: (1) for elimination, regulatory and statutory obstacles encountered; and (2) for replication, appropriate innovative procedures and program designs. Directs the Secretary to evaluate the success of such grants in achieving outcome measures and coordinating services. Directs the Secretary to report, with recommendations, to specified congressional committees on such study. Sets forth requirements for grant payments, Federal and non-Federal shares, technical assistance, and dissemination of information on successful models through the National Diffusion Network. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1996 to carry out this Act.
Bill· SS. 1125 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1991
Rural Primary Care Act of 1991 - Title I: Tax Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a nonrefundable personal income tax credit for any physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner who provides primary health services to residents of a rural health professional shortage area and who does not have certain connections with the National Health Service Corps loan repayment or scholarship programs. Excludes from gross income any payments made on behalf of a taxpayer by the National Health Service Corps loan repayment program. Amends provisions relating to election to expense certain depreciable business assets to specify a higher maximum aggregate cost to be taken into account for property used by a physician in providing primary health services in a rural health professional shortage area. Mandates a study to determine the present number of, and future need for, physician and nonphysician primary care providers in medically underserved urban areas. Requires that the determination form the basis for a study of the feasibility of extending the tax credit provided under this title. Title II: Public Health Service Provisions - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations to carry out provisions relating to area health education centers. Requires set-aside of a minimum amount of funds currently authorized for preventive health and health services block grants for the county health department grants mandated by this title. Requires grants to county health departments for preventive health services in areas within the county that are not urbanized. Requires such grants to be used to: (1) provide immunization services; (2) improve maternal and infant health; (3) reduce adolescent pregnancy and improve reproductive health; and (4) provide other appropriate services. Title III: State Health Service Corps Demonstration Projects - State Health Service Corps Demonstration Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a State Health Service Corps Demonstration Project. Directs the Secretary to make grants under the Project to up to ten States for the Federal share of training and employment of physician and nonphysician providers serving health professional shortage areas. Requires a recipient State to enter into an agreement with an area health education center for the planning, development, and operation of a program of training and employing such providers. Sets forth the responsibilities of a center. Authorizes appropriations. Requires each State carrying out a Project to establish a State Health Service Corps Scholarship Program involving a period of service in the service area or on the clinical staff of an area health education center or a medical school in return for a scholarship. Authorizes the official heading the State agency administering the Program to contract with an educational institution for the payment of scholarship or loan amounts.
Bill· SS. 1140 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1991
Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise the needs analysis. Revises the eligibility formula for Pell Grants (or basic educational opportunity grants) to refer to the Federal eligibility number under revised family contribution requirements. Repeals separate provisions, with respect to Pell Grants, for family contribution schedules and eligibility determinations (but specifies how general needs analysis provisions are to be applied to Pell Grants). Applies general student assistance needs analysis (need equals the cost of attendance minus the expected family contribution) to the program of grants to States for State student incentives (SSI grants). Applies general student assistance needs analysis cost of attendance requirements to Pell Grants. Includes as a cost of attendance an allowance based on expenses reasonably incurred for room and board costs for all types of student residences. Provides for institutional determination of certain types of costs incurred specifically when correspondence students fulfill a required period of residential training. Revises general student assistance needs analysis provisions for family contribution (and retitles such provisions "Federal eligibility") to include the following adjustments for Pell Grants: (1) exclusion from the family contribution of the standard income contribution and any veterans' educational benefits; and (2) notwithstanding that adjustment, use of any calculated contribution from student income in determining family contribution for Pell Grant purposes. Calls such modified expected family contribution the Federal eligibility number for Pell Grant eligibility purposes. Revises the data elements used in determining expected family contribution. Changes the designations "dependent student" and "independent student" to "student using the Parents First Model" and "student using a Students First model." Limits the number of family members who are at least half-time postsecondary students for whom the family may reasonably be expected to contribute to: (1) the dependent children only of the parents in the Parents First model; and (2) the student, spouse, and student's dependents only in the Students First model. Adds as data elements to be considered in determining expected family contribution: (1) the age of the older parent in the Parents First model and of the student in the Students First models; and (2) (except for Pell Grant determinations) the standard income contribution and the student's veterans' educational benefits. Eliminates as elements for such consideration: (1) unusual medical and dental expenses; and (2) number of dependent children enrolled in a private elementary or secondary institution and reimbursed tuition paid. Revises requirements governing family contribution for dependent students (renaming them "Federal eligibility for Parents First model"). Removes the student's spouse's income from calculation of the student contribution from income. Deems the following to have a zero family contribution: (1) a family receiving public assistance; or (2) a family with a parent's earned income below the earned income limitation for earned income credit purposes under the Internal Revenue Code. Includes only dependent children who will be at least half-time postsecondary students in the formula for determining the parents' contribution from adjusted available income. Eliminates deductions for a medical-dental expense allowance and an educational expense allowance from the determinations of parents' available income. Renames the standard maintenance allowance the income protection allowance. Increases the amount of such allowance in general and for various numbers of dependents in college. Revises, and provides separate tables for, the computation of the adjusted net worth of a business and of a farm. Increases the amount of the asset protection allowance for both two parent and one parent families, at various ages for the oldest parent. Sets the asset conversion rate at 12 percent. Sets the income supplemental amount from assets at zero for families who have a total income of $20,000 or less and have filed specified forms (or are not required to file) under the Internal Revenue Code. Sets the value of the principal place of residence at the lesser of the current market value or two times the total income. Determines the net value of such residence by subtracting from its value any outstanding liabilities or indebtedness against the assets. Revises the schedule for the parents' assessment from adjusted available income to change the rates for certain income levels. Revises the student contribution from available income in the Parents First model. Renames the mandatory self-help amount the standard income contribution. Increases the minimum contribution to $900 for a first-year undergraduate and $1,100 for any other student; but removes requirements for a greater contribution of 70 percent of the student's total income minus an adjustment to student (and spouse) income. Provides for updating of the standard income. Provides, in the Parents First model, for student (and spouse) contribution from assets (replacing provisions for determining their supplemental amount from assets). Sets forth provisions (similar to those for parents' contributions) for determining adjusted net worth of a business and value and net value of a principal place of residence. Provides for adjustment of the student's contribution, in the Parents First model, on the basis of individual circumstances for enrollment periods other than nine months. (Retains current provisions for adjustments of parents' contribution for enrollment periods other than nine months.) Revises requirements for family contribution for independent students without dependents (and renames them Federal eligibility for Students First model without dependent children). Revises the computation formula for such contribution. Requires the contribution from income to be not be less than the standard income contribution of $1,350. Considers a family receiving public assistance to have a zero family contribution. Adds veterans' benefits to such modified and combined income and assets contributions in determining the total expected family contribution. Revises the formula for the student's (and spouse's) contribution from income in the Students First model without dependents. Provides for deductions of specified allowances from total income. Renames the maintenance allowance for periods of nonenrollment the income protection allowance, and revises its amount (on the basis of student marital status and whether student and spouse are both in college). Sets the assessment of available income at 70 percent for all income levels. Revises the formula for the student's (and spouse's) contribution from assets in the Students First model without dependents. Revises the calculation of the student's net worth. Provides for adjustments of the student's contribution based on individual circumstances, for enrollment periods other than nine months, in the Students First model without dependents. Revises requirements for family contribution for independent students with dependents (and renames them Federal eligibility for Students First Model with dependent children). Revises the assessment schedule for adjusted available income. Provides that a family receiving public assistance shall be considered to have a zero family contribution. Renames the standard maintenance allowance the income protection allowance and increases its amount, which is based on family size and number in college. Eliminates a medical-dental allowance and an educational expense allowance, in determining the family's available income. Revises requirements for the family's income supplemental amount from assets, in the Students First model with dependents. Revises and increases the asset protection allowance for families and students, which is based on the student's age and marital status. Revises and provides separate formula tables for determination of adjusted net worth of a business and of a farm. Provides for determination of the value and net value of the principal place of residence by a revised method (similar to that described for the Parents First model). Sets the asset conversion rate at 12 percent for all income levels. Sets forth the revised assessment schedule for adjusted available income. Provides for adjustments of the student's contribution based on individual circumstances, for enrollment periods other than nine months, in the Students First model with dependents. Repeals certain provisions for a simplified needs analysis for low-income families. Allows granting discretionary authority to student financial aid administrators, in special circumstances, to use their discretionary authority to make case-by-case adjustments of the expected student or parent contribution (or both) and of the methodology used to calculate such contributions. Specifies that special circumstances mean conditions pertaining to an individual student. (Current law requires conditions that differentiate an individual student from a class of students.) Repeals certain conditions relating to discretionary adjustments to assets. Revises definitions of total income to include currently excluded: (1) proceeds of a sale of a farm or business assets resulting from foreclosure, forfeiture, bankruptcy, or involuntary liquidation; (2) unemployment compensation received by certain dislocated workers; and (3) college work-study income. Applies the Students First models (with or without dependent children, as applicable) to any student who is: (1) 24 years of age or older by July 1 of the award year; (2) an orphan or ward of the court; (3) a veteran of the U.S. armed forces; (4) a graduate or professional student; (5) one who has legal dependents other than a spouse; or (6) one for whom a financial aid administrator makes a documented determination that the student meets the Students First requirements by reason of other usual circumstances. Applies the Parents First model to any student who does not meet the Students First model requirements. Sets the student's standard income contribution to postsecondary educational expenses at: (1) $900 for first year undergraduates using the Parents First model; (2) $1,100 for all other students using the Parents First model; and (3) $1,350 for all students using one of the Students First models. Provides for updating of such standard income contribution. Revises provisions for forms and regulations to direct the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to prescribe a simplified application form for use in determining need and eligibility for various student assistance programs. Directs the Secretary, to the extent funding is available, to ensure that no student or parent is charged a fee for processing the application form the Secretary prescribes. Allows States and institutions to charge a processing fee for forms not required by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to enter into at least two contracts with States, institutions of higher education, or private organizations to process the prescribed simplified application form and to issue eligibility reports.
Bill· SS. 1136 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1991
Public Schools Choice Act of 1991 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to State or local educational agencies (SEAs or LEAs) or consortia of LEAs for planning, implementing, or expanding programs that provide opportunities for parents, particularly parents of educationally disadvantaged children, to select the public schools attended by their children. Limits such planning grants to one year and such operating grants to five years. Requires geographic dispersion of such grants to urban and rural areas. Sets forth provisions for annual grant payments and for matching requirements for LEAs, LEA consortia, and SEAs. Sets forth application requirements and additional requirements for operating grants. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· SS. 1135 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1991
Education USA: School Restructuring, Goals and Results for America's Schools Act of 1991 - Title I: Urban and Rural School Improvement - Authorizes appropriations for this title. Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to reserve five percent of specified funds for competitive grant awards to exemplary school programs. Directs the Secretary to allot, from remaining amounts, to each eligible local educational agency (LEA) with an approved application an amount based on that LEA's relative allocation under certain provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for education of disadvantaged children (ESEA title I chapter 1). Provides for annual payments to eligible LEAs with approved applications if they comply with certain data collection requirements to monitor progress toward meeting national education goals, and demonstrate such progress. Requires each such LEA to reserve up to five percent of its allotment to make as many grants as practicable, for authorized activities, to community-based organizations or nonprofit partnerships between the LEA and a city-wide collaborative of private sector businesses. Sets limits on the time and the amount of funds to be used for planning purposes. Requires LEAs to use funds under this title to meet national education goals through programs designed to: (1) increase the academic achievement of urban and rural school children to at least the national average; (2) prepare all urban and rural children for school; (3) increase the graduation rates of urban and rural students to at least the national average; (4) prepare urban and rural school graduates to enter higher education, pursue careers, and exercise their responsibilities as citizens; (5) recruit and retain qualified teachers; and (6) decrease the use of drugs and alcohol by urban and rural students, and enhance their physical and emotional health. Sets forth program accountability requirements: (1) in general, for initial grants, renewal grants, and renewal of school participation; (2) for achievement, including demonstration of improvement; and (3) for data collection certification and to monitor progress in achieving national education goals. Authorizes the Secretary to make, from reserved funds, competitive incentive awards to individual schools participating in projects assisted under this title that demonstrate exemplary progress in meeting specified program requirements. Directs the Secretary, by January 1, 1993, to report on the impact of Federal regulations, guidelines, and policies on urban and rural public schools. Requires LEAs desiring to receive an allotment under this Act to establish a local advisory group to: (1) advise on design and conduct of a needs assessment for participating schools; (2) assist in planning for community-wide collaboration in service delivery for youths in participating schools; (3) advise the LEA and the community on how they can work together to use multiple service providers; (4) advise and assist program implementation and review program evaluation; (5) review and approve community-based organizations' applications; (6) advise on strategies for increasing parental involvement and the number of school volunteers and role models; and (7) review community-based programs' progress or national education goals. Allows use of a comparable existing local advisory group to comply with such requirement. Sets forth special rules relating to ranking of schools to determine relative need, in general, on the basis of achievement, poverty, and racial isolation. Requires each LEA receiving a grant to serve between ten and 20 percent of its schools. Requires eligible LEAs to have flexibility to serve homeless children, desegregating students, immigrants, migrants, or other highly mobile populations, within the program assisted under this title. Deems any approved program for any school served under certain ESEA title I chapter 1 provisions to be sufficient to meet the application and program accountability requirements of this title. Title II: School Building Repair and Renovation - Authorizes appropriations to assist eligible LEAs in repairing and renovating instructional facilities in urban and rural schools. Directs the Secretary to make allotments to State educational agencies based on relative allocations to LEAs under ESEA title I chapter 1. Directs each SEA, after being allowed to reserve one percent of such funds for administrative expenses, to allot the remainder to eligible LEAs, which shall use half of such allotment for programs for school building repair and renovation, and half for programs for school environmental concerns and safety improvements. (Authorizes the SEA to waive such 50 percent division in certain cases.) Directs the SEA to allocate such funds on the basis of the number of: (1) children from families below the poverty line; (2) school buildings used for instructional purposes; and (3) school buildings more than 25 years old used for instructional purposes. Limits the period covered by a grant application to three years, and requires annual review. Lists types of programs eligible LEAs must conduct with their allotments for: (1) repair and renovation of school buildings; and (2) improvements related to environmental concerns and safety. Title III: Evaluation of Results - Part A: Urban School Research and Evaluation - Authorizes appropriations, to carry out this title, for the National Institute for Urban Education (the Institute), established in the Department of Education by this title. Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to create an Assistant Secretary for Urban Education (the Assistant Secretary), who is to establish the Institute in the Department. Directs the Assistant Secretary to: (1) reserve 20 percent of funds for this title for operation of the Institute; and (2) from the remainder of such funds, make allotments to urban eligible LEAs on the basis of numbers of students. Directs the Institute to: (1) evaluate and disseminate results of activities under title I; (2) conduct research in urban education; (3) serve as a clearinghouse on urban education research findings, policies, and practices; (4) assist LEAs in developing research and evaluation to assess progress toward meeting national education goals; (5) provide training in research and evaluation; (6) design a research and evaluation strategy for assessing progress under this Act; and (7) design and test both common indicators and new multiple-measures of progress toward national education goals. Provides for an Institute Governing Board. Allows urban LEAs to use funds under this part for: (1) collaborative and coordinated research and evaluation of educational techniques or approaches in multiple cities served by eligible LEAS; (2) evaluation of projects assisted under title I; (3) dissemination of information on successful projects and approaches under title I; (4) design and implementation of programs for LEA technical assistance to individual schools and teachers involved in title I projects; (5) data and information management services for schools participating in a title I program; (6) staff training in such schools; (7) evaluation of progress in meeting national educational goals by LEAs receiving assistance under this Act; (8) staff training in test interpretation and use for diagnostic purposes; (9) information for parents on test results and interpretation; (10) research and evaluation technology and training; (11) tools for assessment of students in individualized instruction; (12) research on school policies and practices that may be barriers to student success; and (13) new, multiple, alternative assessments of student progress. Part B: Rural School Research and Evaluation - Authorizes appropriations to carry out this part. Directs the Secretary to establish for each region a National Rural Regional Education Research Center (Center), to be operated by the appropriate regional educational laboratory. Requires each Center to: (1) conduct independent research in rural education and distance learning technologies; (2) evaluate progress toward the national education goals of rural schools receiving funds under title I of this Act; (3) be rural education clearinghouses for research findings, policies, and practices; (4) develop measurements of rural schools' progress; (5) disseminate evaluation and research results to other centers and rural school districts and parents; (6) arrange collaboration and consortia among rural schools in the region for joint research and evaluation; (7) replicate successful models and program approaches; (8) provide technical assistance and outreach services for schools; (9) provide staff training; and (10) develop curricula to assist rural schools in moving toward meeting the national education goals. Requires each Center to reserve 25 percent of funds received under this part for direct grants to rural eligible LEAs within its region, which are participating in a program assisted under title I of this Act, to conduct local school district research and evaluation of efforts toward meeting the national education goals. Title IV: General Provisions - Establishes the Interagency Council on Urban and Rural Schools to: (1) review Federal programs to determine effects on urban and rural school ability to meet national education goals; (2) track school progress toward such goals; (3) solicit advice and information from urban and rural education experts and urban and rural school representatives on improvement of Federal programs; (4) review Federal regulations for duplication or contradiction; (5) report annually to the Congress and the President on urban and rural school progress; (6) review and recommend improvement for streamlining of Federal data collection in urban and rural schools; and (7) conduct research to help urban and rural school practitioners improve school performance. Directs the President to conduct White House Conferences on Urban Education and on Rural Education before October 30, 1994. Requires the Conferences to: (1) develop recommendations and strategies for improving urban and rural education; (2) marshal the forces of the private sector, governmental agencies at all levels, parents, teachers, communities, and education officials to assist urban and rural schools in meeting national goals; and (3) conduct initial planning for a permanent national advisory commission on urban education and on rural education. Requires reports to the President. Authorizes appropriations for such Conferences. Establishes the Augustus F. Hawkins National Commission on Urban Education and the Carl D. Perkins National Commission on Rural Education (the Commissions). Directs the Commissions to: (1) study specified issues relating to urban and rural schools; and (2) report, and recommend changes in Federal legislation, to the President and appropriate congressional committees. Terminates the Commissions three years after their first meetings. Authorizes appropriations for the Commissions. Requires eligible LEAs to use Federal funds received under this Act only to supplement but not supplant non-Federal funds.
Bill· SS. 1131 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1991
American Leadership in Technology Act of 1991 - Title I: Articulation Consortia - Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) (the Director) to award competitive matching grants to eligible consortia for programs which: (1) enable greater numbers of students from two-year institutions of higher education to successfully transfer into science and engineering programs at four-year institutions of higher education; (2) maximize acceptance of credits of students who transfer from two-year to four-year institutions; (3) improve instruction in science, mathematics, and engineering programs through faculty development, including exchanges and symposia among consortium partners; and (4) strengthen career counseling services in two-year institutions for students who seek to major in science, mathematics, or pre-engineering. Limits eligible consortia to a four-year institution of higher education in partnership with two or more two-year institutions which serve the same intrastate region. Limits grant awards to eligible consortia: (1) engaging industries in job training programs at two-year institutions to meet the technical needs of the area; and (2) agreeing among the partners to facilitate the transfer of science and mathematics students from two-year to four-year institutions. Requires the Director: (1) to evaluate such program; and (2) to assist eligible consortia in submitting applications for such grants and in seeking assistance under other related NSF undergraduate programs. Allows applications to be for a period of one or three years. Sets Federal and non-Federal share requirements. Title II: Instructional Technologies - Requires the Director to establish a program to promote and support development and dissemination of innovative technologies, including computer hardware and software, for science and technological literacy instruction emphasizing worker training and retraining for technological skills. Requires the Director, under such program, to solicit proposals from associate-degree-granting institutions, in cooperation with local businesses, for the development and dissemination of innovative technologies to aid instruction of adults in literacy and technical skills relevant to the workplace. Requires the Director to award competitive matching grants to entities with ability or outstanding potential to produce innovative technologies materials. Requires the Director to establish a revolving loan fund to make loans for acquisition and use of innovative technologies to educational institutions and other entities (including on-site, workplace literacy initiatives) providing literacy instruction and technical training. Requires the Director to coordinate such program with analogous programs and policies of other Federal agencies, especially the Department of Education. Sets forth requirements for application for financial assistance and for the Federal and non-Federal share of grants. Title III: Technician Training - Requires the Director to carry out a national advance technician training program of: (1) awarding competitive matching grants to accredited associate-degree-granting colleges which can provide competency-based technical training in designated advanced-technology occupational fields; and (2) establishing and maintaining a readily accessible inventory of advanced technician training programs. Requires the Director to award competitive matching grants to ten centers of excellence among associate-degree-granting colleges: (1) five with exceptional programs of advanced technician training, to serve as national and regional technical education clearinghouses for other colleges; and (2) five that excel in undergraduate education in mathematics and science, to serve as national and regional mathematics and science education clearinghouses for both colleges and secondary schools. Requires the Director to make at least 20 competitive matching grants annually to associate-degree-granting colleges for partnerships in mathematics and science education with secondary schools in the community served by the college. Requires the Director to appoint a National Advisory Council on Advanced Technician Training. Requires the Director and the Council to report annually on the national advanced technician training program. Title IV: Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations for: (1) articulation consortia for FY 1992 through 1994; (2) instruction technologies for FY 1991; and (3) technician training for FY 1992 through 1994.
Bill· SS. 1123 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1991
Health Care Liability Reform and Quality of Care Improvement Act of 1991 - Title I: Findings and Purpose - Sets forth: (1) findings regarding this Act; and (2) the purpose of this Act. Title II: Health Care Liability Reforms - Requires, in order to be eligible to participate in the incentive program provided for in this title, that States have in effect the health care liability reforms set forth in this title. Requires, in any health care liability action, the liability of each defendant for non-economic damages to be several and not joint, with each defendant liable only for the proportion of that defendant's fault and a separate judgment against that defendant in that amount. Prohibits awarding non-economic damages over a certain dollar amount in any health care liability action, subject to waiver. Reduces the total damages received by a plaintiff by the amount of any collateral source benefits. Allows: (1) future economic damage awards to be paid periodically based on when the damages are likely to occur or at the time the damages accrue; and (2) in certain circumstances, the court to require the health care provider to purchase an annuity or fund a reversionary trust to make such periodic payments. Prohibits reopening a judgment awarding periodic payments to contest, amend, or modify the schedule or amount in the absence of fraud or any ground permitting relief after entry of a final judgment. Declares it U.S. policy to encourage alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Requires a State to establish at least one ADR mechanism. Requires a State to: (1) cooperate with Federal research efforts regarding patient outcomes, clinical effectiveness, and clinical practice guidelines; (2) collect, analyze, and supply the Secretary of Health and Human Services with information regarding the performance of State medical boards; and (3) impose continuing education requirements on a disciplined physician. Allows alternatives to these requirements regarding medical boards and continuing education if the Secretary finds the alternatives at least as effective in reducing the incidence of negligence as compliance with the requirements. Allows States three years from the adoption of this Act to enact, adopt, or otherwise comply with the requirements of this title. Requires withholding two percent of payments to States computed under specified provisions of title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act and one percent of payments to hospitals computed under specified provisions of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act and redistribution of the withheld funds to those States and hospitals which have complied with the provisions of this title. Allows waiver of the requirements of this title for any experimental, pilot, or demonstration project which is likely to assist in promoting the objectives of this Act. Title III: Federal Implementation of Health Care Liability Reforms - Amends Federal law to prohibit, in a health care liability action, finding the United States jointly and severally liable for non-economic damages. Allows liability only for those non-economic damages directly attributable to its pro rata share of fault. Reduces damages paid by the United States by the amount of any collateral source benefits. Prohibits awarding non-economic damages, in an action against the United States, over a certain dollar amount. Requires, at the request of the United States when future economic damages are awarded in excess of a specified amount, an order that such damages be paid by periodic payments based on when the damages are likely to occur. Allows the United States, in such cases, to pay the judgment periodically purchase an annuity, or fund a reversionary trust. Prohibits reopening the judgment to contest, amend, or modify the schedule or amount in the absence of fraud or any ground permitting relief after entry of a final judgment. Title IV: Construction of Provisions - Provides for construction of this Act, severability, and the effective date of this Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 2434 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1991
Amends the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) to direct the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to conduct certain trial assessments, and develop other trial assessments for administration, in 1994. Directs the Secretary of Education to provide for the organization that conducts the independent evaluation of assessments under specified GEPA provisions to study and report to the Congress, within 120 days after enactment of this Act, on: (1) the process whereby achievement goals are set pursuant to specified GEPA provisions; and (2) the ability of NAEP to maintain valid data with respect to trends in student performance.
Bill· HRH.R. 2433 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1991
National College Athletics Accountability (NCAA) Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require any higher education institution that offers athletically related student aid to: (1) have an annual audit of the total revenues and expenditures of the entire institution and its athletic department and intercollegiate athletic activities (as well as revenues and direct expenditures by sport); and (2) make reports on such audits available for inspection by the Secretary of Education and the public.
Bill· HRH.R. 2435 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1991
National Council on Education Standards and Testing Act - Establishes the National Council on Education Standards and Testing to advise the American people on whether there can be established: (1) suitable specific education standards; and (2) an appropriate system of voluntary national tests or examinations, with the goal of fostering good teaching and learning as well as monitoring performance. Directs the Council to submit a final report to the Secretary of Education and the Congress by December 31, 1991. Authorizes appropriations. Terminates the Council 90 days after it submits its final report.
Law· HJRESH.J.Res. 259 (102nd)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1991
Designates July 2, 1991, as National Literacy Day.
Law· SS. 1106 (102nd)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1991
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1991 - Amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to allow States to opt to include under the definition of "children with disabilities," for children aged three through five, those who need special education and related services because they are experiencing delays in one or more of the following areas of their development: physical, cognitive, communication, social or emotional, or adaptive. Requires State plans to set forth policies and procedures relating to the smooth transition for those participants in the part H early intervention program who will participate in preschool programs under part B of IDEA, including a method of ensuring development and implementation, by a child's third birthday, of an individualized education program or, if consistent with specified provisions, an individualized family service plan has been developed and is being implemented by a child's third birthday. Revises application requirements to allow the local or intermediate educational agency, if this is consistent with State policy and has the concurrence of parents or guardian, to establish, annually review, and revise an individualized family service plan (as an alternative to an individualized education plan) for each child with a disability, aged three through five. Revises provisions for preschool grants to increase to $1,500 (from $1,000) the maximum limit on a preschool grant to a State per child with a disability, aged three through five. Allows a State to opt to use a certain portion of its preschool grant to provide a free public education to two-year-old children with disabilities who will reach age three during the school year, whether or not they are receiving or have received services under the part H early intervention program (also allows the local or intermediate educational agency to use its preschool grant funds from the State for such purpose, if consistent with State policy). Provides that part H early intervention program provisions do not apply to any child with disabilities receiving a free public education with funds received under part B preschool grants provisions. Revises provisions for early education for children with disabilities, under part C of IDEA, to include program services and activities for: (1) individuals at risk of having substantial developmental delays if early intervention services are not provided; (2) outreach to low-income, minority, rural, and other underserved populations eligible for assistance under parts B and H of IDEA; and (3) supporting statewide projects in conjunction with a State's part H plan and part B application, to change from segregated to integrated environments the delivery of early intervention services to infants and toddlers with disabilities and of special education and related services to preschool children with disabilities. Increases the amounts authorized to be appropriated for FY 1992 through 1994 for part D provisions for training personnel for the education of individuals with disabilities. Revises definitions, under part H provisions for early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities, to include references to the following developmental needs: communication, social or emotional, and adaptive. Includes among early intervention services: vision services, assistive technology devices and services, and transportation and related costs. Includes among qualified personnel: family therapists, orientation and mobility specialists, and pediatricians and other physicians. Requires that early intervention services, to the maximum extent appropriate, be provided in natural environments, including the home, and community settings in which children without disabilities participate. Authorizes differential funding for the fourth or fifth year of grant allotments to States under the part H early intervention program for handicapped infants and toddlers (from birth to age two), thus allowing certain States to continue their participation in such program under specified conditions. Allows States that have not met all or some of fourth or fifth year requirements to request extended participation for such years and, if such request is approved by the Secretary of Education, receive an allotment for such years in an amount set at a specified earlier, lesser rate. Provides for reallotment of the resultant excess funds to States that have met all the requirements for such years and that will consequently be receiving the full grant allotment for such years, as well as such additional funds from their portion of such reallotment. Revises requirements for a statewide system of services, under the part H early intervention program, to include reference to service coordination (rather than case management) services under the individualized family service plan. Requires the part H comprehensive system of personnel development to: (1) include training of paraprofessionals; and (2) be consistent with such system under part B. Revises the lead State agency responsibilities to: (1) include monitoring compliance of programs and activities used by the State to carry out part H, whether or not these are receiving part H assistance; and (2) provide for assignment of fiscal responsibility to the appropriate agencies, in accordance with provisions for State designation of an individual or entity to make such assignment. Revises part H provisions for individualized family service plans to require such plans to also include: (1) a multidisciplinary assessment of the unique strengths and needs of the infant or toddler and the identification of services appropriate to meet such needs; (2) a family directed assessment of family resources, priorities, and concerns and identification of supports and services necessary to enhance the family's capacity to meet their child's developmental needs; and (3) a statement of the natural environments in which early intervention services shall appropriately be provided. Allows the service coordinator to be one who is otherwise qualified to carry out all part H responsibilities. Requires the contents of such plan to be fully explained to the parents or guardian, and their informed written consent to be obtained prior to provision of any or all early intervention services. Revises part H requirements for the State application and assurances. Requires such application to also include: (1) a designation by the State of an individual or entity responsible for assigning financial responsibility among appropriate agencies; and (2) a description of the policies and procedures used to ensure a smooth transition for participants in part H early intervention programs who are eligible to participate in part B preschool programs, including how the families will be included in transitional plans and how the part H lead agency will notify the appropriate local or intermediate educational agency at least 90 days before such child is eligible for the part B preschool program in accordance with State law. Requires the State, beginning in FY 1992, to assure that policies and practices have been adopted to ensure meaningful involvement of traditionally underserved families, including minority, low-income, and rural families, in part H planning and implementation and access of such families to culturally competent services within their local areas. Allows a State to use part H early intervention program funds to provide a free appropriate public education, in accordance with part B preschool program provisions, to children with disabilities in the transitional period from their third birthdays to the beginning of the following school year. Revises part H statewide system procedural safeguards to also include the rights of parents or guardians to: (1) written notice of and written consent to the exchange of personally identifiable information among agencies, consistent with Federal and State laws; and (2) determine whether they, their infant or toddler, or other family members will accept or decline any early intervention service under part H in accordance with State law without jeopardizing other such early intervention services. Revises part H requirements relating to State Interagency Coordinating Council: (1) membership composition and numbers; (2) chairpersons; (3) functions (adding advice and assistance in toddlers' transition to preschool programs and in provision of appropriate services for children from birth through age five); and (4) expenditures (including child care for parent representatives). Extends through FY 1994 the payment of State allotments for part H early intervention program services. Provides that each State shall receive at least a specified minimum amount in such allotment. Extends through FY 1994 the authorization of appropriations for part H early intervention program services. Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to establish a Federal Interagency Coordinating Council, for early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families and preschool services for children with disabilities, to: (1) minimize duplication of programs and activities at Federal, State, and local agency levels; (2) coordinate Federal agency programs and policies and technical assistance and support to States; and (3) identify gaps in programs and services and barriers to Federal interagency cooperation and program operation. Directs the Secretary to: (1) undertake a study to identify alternative formulas allocating part H early intervention program funds, including specified analyses; and (2) transmit the study and a report on it to specified congressional committees by March 1, 1993. Amends both Federal law relating to impact aid and the Defense Dependents Education Act of 1978 to require that IDEA provisions for part H early intervention services and part B preschool public education apply, respectively, to infants and toddlers age birth through two with disabilities and children aged three through five with disabilities who are military dependents served under such law and such Act. Makes various technical amendments and changes in terminology in IDEA, and updates various Federal laws' references to IDEA.
Bill· SS. 1121 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1991
Federal Aid Surface Transportation Act of 1991 - Title I: Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1991 - Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1991 - Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for: (1) the National Highway and Bridge System; (2) the Urban and Rural Highway and Bridge Program; (3) emergency relief; (4) the Federal Lands Highway Program; (5) the University Transportation Centers Program; (6) the Right-of-Way Revolving Fund; and (7) the Territorial Highway Program. Specifies that unobligated balances of funds apportioned or allocated to a State under Federal highway provisions before October 1, 1991, shall be available for obligation in such State under the law, regulations, policies, and procedures relating to the obligation and expenditure of those funds in effect on September 30, 1991. Repeals the FY 1993 authorization under the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. Authorizes appropriations for Interstate construction to complete the Interstate System out of the Highway Account of the HTF for each of FY 1992 through 1995. Provides for certain allocations for Massachusetts for such fiscal years. Sets forth a formula for the apportionment of authorized funds for such fiscal years among the States. Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Account of the HTF for highway projects for the Interstate Substitution Program. Sets forth provisions with respect to obligation ceilings for Federal-aid highway programs, distribution of and limitations on obligation authority, and redistribution of unused obligation authority. Declares that national resources should be focused upon preserving the nation's investment in its Interstate systems, that broad national defense, economic, safety, and international policy goals are advanced by efficient transportation systems, that national transportation investments should increasingly encourage domestic and international commerce and trade, and that, based on congressionally established national transportation policy and objectives, a new Federal high priority highway network should be designated. Establishes the National Highway and Bridge System, to consist of all currently designated Interstate highways, an appropriate portion of the rural and urban principal arterial routes, including toll facilities, and national defense highways, and routes which meet specified criteria (including nationally significant truck routes, routes that provide nationally significant commodities with access to markets, access points to significant national parks, facilities that will provide logical connection between major population centers and the National Highway and Bridge System, and major urban corridors). Specifies that the National Highway System shall be based on a functional reclassification of roads and streets in each State which shall be designated not later than September 30, 1993, in accordance with guidelines issued by the Secretary of Transportation, and that the Secretary may add segments to the National Highway System as necessary to meet National Highway Program objectives. Directs the Secretary to establish criteria for reviewing projects to be funded as part of the National Highway and Bridge System which: (1) define eligible projects to include rehabilitation, resurfacing, restoration, capacity expansion, operational improvement, safety, and new highway construction; (2) ensure as a first priority for the use of available funds the protection of investments made in the Interstate highways in each State and the provision of suitable traveling quality by such highways; (3) permit funding in urbanized areas to be used to improve highway and transit systems, where it can be shown that the improvement will increase the level of service within the corridor of the National Highway and Bridge System; and (4) permit the use of such funds for intercity rail projects and projects for access to ports, airports, and related facilities. Sets forth additional provisions with respect to the discharge of responsibilities by the Secretary for National Highway and Bridge System projects. Directs the Secretary to establish an Urban and Rural Highway and Bridge Program to provide a category of funds that minimizes Federal requirements and provides flexibility in the use of available funds for either highway or transit projects. Specifies: (1) that the Urban and Rural Highway and Bridge Program shall consist of all public highways (including bridges) functionally classified as arterials, urban collectors, and rural collectors other than those designated as part of the National Highway and Bridge System; (2) that each State shall establish guidelines for implementing this program; and (3) eligible highways and projects. Authorizes the Secretary to approve innovative highway- and transit-related immediate action, non-capital intensive projects to help relieve congestion and transportation-related air quality problems in urbanized areas of more than 200,000 population, or projects in rural areas that respond to rural transportation problems through innovative approaches and strategies. Sets forth provisions with respect to project compliance with State and Federal requirements. Requires States to have an ongoing bridge inspection and inventory system. Directs the Secretary to set aside specified funds for Metropolitan and Rural Innovative Bonus Projects. Sets forth provisions with respect to the obligation of funds, and the Federal share of projects, for the construction of toll roads, bridges, tunnels, and ferries. Repeals provisions: (1) requiring each State to certify annually that it is enforcing all speed limits on public highways posted at the national maximum speed limit; (2) requiring the Secretary to withhold project approval in any State that fails to certify accordingly; (3) requiring States to submit to the Secretary compliance data for a 12-month period on the percentage of motor vehicles exceeding 55 miles per hour (mph) on their public highways posted at 55 mph; and (4) establishing a process under which a State could lose up to ten percent of its non-Interstate highway construction funds for the following fiscal year if the State's 12-month compliance data show that more than 50 percent of its motorists exceeded the posted 55 mph limit. Requires the Secretary, in each fiscal year, to allocate among the States amounts sufficient to ensure that: (1) the total of apportionments and minimum allocation for each State in each such fiscal year shall not be less than 90 percent (currently, 85 percent) of the percentage of estimated tax payments into the Highway Account of the HTF attributable to highway users in the State of total apportionments in each such fiscal year and allocations for the prior year; and (2) each State's total apportionment from the Highway Account of the HTF for the year is not less than that made during FY 1991 (excluding any Interstate construction funds in excess of FY 1992 one-half percent minimum, Interstate substitution, and amounts for demonstration or discretionary funding programs or projects). Directs the Secretary to cooperate with State and local officials in urbanized areas in the development of transportation plans and programs which are formulated with due consideration to comprehensive long-range land use plans, development objectives, innovative financing mechanisms, overall social, economic, environmental, and system performance, energy conservation goals and objectives and with due consideration to their probable effect on the future development of the area. Specifies that the transportation planning process, at a minimum, shall cover the existing urbanized area and the area expected to become urbanized within the forecast period, and that it may encompass the entire Metropolitan Statistical Area/Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area at the discretion of the Governor and the affected units of local government. Requires that transportation plans and programs in urbanized areas of more than 200,000 population be based on a continuing transportation planning process which: (1) is carried out by a metropolitan planning organization and is comprehensive to the degree appropriate based on the complexity of transportation problems in the area, including transportation-related air quality problems; and (2) considers all modes of transportation, including intermodal connectivity, the balance between future development and transportation needs, and an areawide multimodal congestion management system. Specifies that in nonattainment areas for transportation-related pollutants, the multimodal congestion management system shall address air quality considerations and be coordinated with the process for development of the transportation element of the State Implementation Plan required by the Clean Air Act. Requires that the costs and impacts of proposed action on both mobility and air quality be evaluated. Bars the Secretary from approving any highway project in urbanized areas of more than 200,000 population that by reconstruction or new construction significantly increases the vehicle carrying capacity of a transportation corridor unless the project is consistent with the congestion management system. Directs the metropolitan planning organization to cooperate with the State in the development of a congestion management, bridge management, pavement management, safety management, and traffic monitoring system. Requires that: (1) a metropolitan planning organization be designated in each urbanized area by agreement among the units of general purpose local government and the Governor to carry out such transportation planning process; (2) such organization develop a transportation improvement program that includes all projects proposed for funding within the study area under the National Highway and Bridge Program, the Urban and Rural Highway and Bridge Program, and the Bridge Program; and (3) in urbanized areas of 200,000 population or less, such organization, the State, and transit operators, at a minimum, meet the requirements of this Act by the development of such a transportation improvement program (including consideration of transportation-related air quality problems). Requires the Federal highway research program to include a coordinated long-term program of research: (1) on Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems; and (2) for the development, use, and dissemination of performance indicators to measure the performance of the surface transportation system. Requires such program to continue those portions of the Strategic Highway Research Program that the Secretary deems important. Directs the Secretary to create and administer the Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program, a program to attract qualified students to the field of transportation engineering and research. Provides for the funding of such program. Directs the Secretary to cooperate with the States in carrying out: (1) statewide transportation planning to support transportation programs and projects funded under this Act; and (2) State highway research. Sets forth provisions regarding State matching fund requirements and waiver of such requirements. Directs the Secretary: (1) in the Secretary's reports regarding future highway needs of the nation, to report as well on the condition and performance of the existing system and on the bridge needs of the nation; and (2) beginning with the report due in January 1995, to include the results of studies of the air quality impacts of transportation programs, including the air quality benefits realized from transportation control measures required under the Clean Air Act. Establishes within the Department of Transportation a Bureau of Transportation Statistics, which shall pursue a comprehensive, long-term program for the collection and analysis of data relating to the performance of the national transportation system. Requires the Director of such Bureau to: (1) produce annually unbiased and comparable estimates of factors, including productivity in the various portions of the transportation sector, traffic flow, travel times, travel costs of intracity commuting and intercity trips, frequency of vehicle and transportation facility repairs, accidents, and collateral damage to the human and natural environment; and (2) submit reports beginning on October 1, 1992, and every 12 months thereafter, to specified congressional committees describing the status of the U.S. transportation system. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) undertake, on a cost-shared basis, collaborative research and development with non-Federal entities, including State, local, and foreign governments; and (2) enter into cooperative research and development agreements, except that the average Federal share in such agreements shall not exceed 50 percent (but allows the Secretary to approve a higher Federal level of participation where there is substantial public interest or benefit.) Authorizes the Secretary to withhold project approvals on National Highway and Bridge Program projects for failure of a State to have a bridge management, pavement management, safety management, and congestion management system. Requires each State to have a traffic monitoring system to provide statistically-based traffic data. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) acquisition of rights-of-way; (2) private, State, and local donations; (3) wetland mitigation, conservation, and enhancement; (4) access to rights-of-way to accommodate needed passenger or commuter rail, high speed ground transportation systems (including magnetic levitation systems), and highway and nonhighway public mass transit facilities; and (5) the definition and scope of the Interstate System. Declares that: (1) the nation must redirect its efforts toward moving people, information, and goods rather than moving vehicles; (2) the new Federal program shall refocus national policies to respond to increasing inter-regional travel, relieving urban congestion, improving rural access, fostering intermodalism, enhancing air quality, conserving energy, and giving priority to projects that offer the best solutions to the transportation problems and environmental considerations of each region; and (3) the essential element for an effective future program is a new Federal, State, and local partnership that provides more funding, greater program flexibility, and greater program management and resource contribution responsibilities at the State and local levels. Sets forth provisions with respect to the apportionment of funds, including apportionment formulas under the: (1) National Highway and Bridge Program, based on the State's rural and urban lane miles, rural vehicle miles traveled, and diesel fuel consumption; and (2) Urban and Rural Highway and Bridge Program, in the ratio of tax payments of the Highway Account of the HTF attributable to the highway users of each State. Requires the Secretary to reduce up to ten percent of a State's apportionment of National Highway and Bridge Program funds in any fiscal year during which heavy vehicles, subject to a heavy vehicle use tax, may be lawfully registered in the State without having presented proof of payment of such tax. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) project agreements and obligations of funds; (2) availability of funds; (3) the Federal share payable with respect to certain projects; (4) project litigation expenses; and (5) the allocation and administration of Federal lands highways funds and the establishment of a coordinated Federal Lands Highways Program. Authorizes (subject to specified limitations): (1) States to use Federal highway funds to construct improved lanes, paths, or shoulders, traffic control devices, shelters, and parking facilities for bicycles and pedestrians, and carry out nonconstruction projects related to safe bicycle and pedestrian use; (2) the Secretary, where a highway bridge deck being replaced or rehabilitated with Federal financial participation is located on a highway on which bicycles or pedestrians are permitted to operate at each end of the bridge and where the Secretary determines that the safe accommodation of bicycles or pedestrians can be provided at reasonable cost, to replace or rehabilitate such bridge, making such accommodations; (3) Federal lands highways funds to be used for the construction of pedestrian walkways and bicycle routes; and (4) a State to expend Urban and Rural Highway and Bridge Program funds for such construction. Repeals a provision requiring that specified highways be free from tolls. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) carry out a transportation assistance program that will provide highway and transportation agencies in urbanized areas of 50,000 to 1,000,000 population and rural areas access to modern highway technology; and (2) make grants to enter into contracts for education and training, technical assistance, and related support services to effectuate such program. Repeals a provision authorizing the Secretary to use photogrammetric methods in mapping and the utilization of commercial enterprise for such services. Authorizes the Secretary to engage in activities to inform the domestic highway community of technological innovations abroad that could significantly improve highway transportation in the United States, promote U.S. highway transportation expertise internationally, and increase transfers of U.S. highway transportation technology to foreign countries. Provides for a temporary waiver of the matching fund requirement for qualifying projects, with increases in the Federal share for any State to be repaid by March 30, 1994. Directs the Secretary to: (1) carry out experimental programs which allow the Federal Highway Administration and the States to demonstrate innovative or nontraditional design, construction, and management practices, or both, for highway projects while utilizing a competitive process for selection of contractors; and (2) evaluate and report on the results of such programs. Provides for: (1) a functional reclassification of all public roads; (2) the transfer of funds for transit projects to, for administration by, the Urban Mass Transportation Administration; and (3) a recodification of Federal highway-related provisions. Requires that construction standards adopted for the National Highway and Bridge System be those approved by the Secretary in cooperation with the State highway departments and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (currently, with respect to construction standards for the Interstate System, cooperation with such Association is not required). Directs the Secretary to issue guidelines for minimizing soil erosion from highway construction. Bars the Secretary from approving projects that will result in the severance or destruction of an existing major route for nonmotorized transportation traffic and light motorcycles, unless the project provides a reasonable alternative route or an alternative route exists. Requires: (1) projects for resurfacing, restoring, or rehabilitating specified highways to be constructed in accordance with standards to preserve and extend highway service life and enhance highway safety; and (2) States to charge, at a minimum, fair market value for the sale, use, lease, or lease renewals of right-of-way airspace acquired as a result of a project funded in whole or in part with Federal assistance made available from the Highway Account of the HTF, with exceptions. Provides that: (1) Indian contractors certified by State transportation or highway departments shall receive preference in the award of contracts on Indian reservations to the maximum extent practicable; and (2) contracts for Urban and Rural Highway and Bridge Program projects may be entered into with the prior concurrence of the Secretary in the award. Authorizes: (1) the State transportation or highway department to include warranty or guarantee provisions in construction contracts which, if used, shall be for a specified construction product or feature and may not include routine maintenance; and (2) projects (currently, requires projects) approved to include the amount of any interest earned and payable on bonds issued by the State to the extent that the proceeds of the bonds have actually been expended in the construction of the project. Authorizes the Secretary, except for projects administered under the Urban and Rural Highway and Bridge Program, to make payments to a State for costs incurred on a project. (Current law authorizes payment to States for construction.) Specifies that total payments shall not exceed total costs incurred by the State for the project. Requires any State transportation or highway (currently, highway) department which submits plans for a National Highway and Bridge Program or Interstate System project (currently, Interstate System project) to make its certification and report, indicating that consideration was given to the economic, social, environmental, and other effects of the plan, highway location or design, and various alternatives which were raised during the hearing or which were otherwise considered. (Current law does not mention the latter requirement.) Authorizes the Secretary to approve for Federal financial assistance from National Highway and Bridge Program funds: (1) projects designed to encourage the use of carpools, subject to specified limitations; and (2) the construction of exclusive or preferential high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, highway traffic control devices, intercity and urban bus passenger loading areas and facilities, and fringe and transportation corridor parking to serve HOVs, intercity bus, and public transportation passengers. Specifies that if fees are charged for the use of any carpool or other publicly owned parking facility constructed pursuant to Federal highway provisions, the revenue in excess of that required for maintenance and operation of the facility and the cost of providing shuttle service to and from the facility, including compensation to any person for operating the facility and for providing shuttle service, shall be used for purposes authorized under Federal highway provisions. Requires that National Highway and Bridge System funds be made available to finance the Federal share of projects for exclusive or preferential HOV, truck, and emergency vehicle routes or lanes. Permits such routes on the Interstate System to have less than four lanes of traffic. Prohibits the approval of HOV projects unless the Secretary has received assurances from the owner or operator of the facility that HOV vehicles will fully utilize the proposed project and that essential operations and enforcement support of the facility will be provided. Specifies that, in any case where sufficient land exists within the publicly acquired rights-of-way of the National Highway System to accommodate needed nonhighway public mass transit facilities and where the accommodation can be accomplished without impairing automotive safety or future highway improvements, the Secretary may authorize a State to make those lands and rights-of-way available without charge to a publicly owned mass transit authority for such purposes wherever the public interest will be served. Directs the Secretary to require assurance from any State desiring to avail itself of benefits under Federal highway provisions that employment in connection with proposed projects be provided without discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, or sex (currently, specifies "without regard to race, color, creed, national origin, or sex"). Requires that not to exceed one fourth of one percent of the funds apportioned to a State be available for highway construction training. Prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex under programs or activities receiving Federal assistance. Repeals a requirement that each State certify that it is enforcing all speed limits on public highways and that the Secretary not approve projects in States failing to make such certification. Requires each State to establish a procedure to certify that highway bridge inspectors meet national qualifications. (Current law requires that standards established by the Secretary include a procedure for national certification of such inspectors.) Directs the Secretary to withhold ten percent of the amount to be appropriated to any State on the first day of each fiscal year in which the purchase or public possession in that State of any alcoholic beverage by a person who is less than 21 years of age is lawful (current law specifies five percent on the first day of the fiscal year succeeding the first fiscal year beginning after September 30, 1985, and ten percent after the second fiscal year beginning after such date). Specifies that funds withheld from apportionment shall be apportioned to the other States in compliance and remain available for the period of time applicable to the category of funds withheld. (Currently, treatment of such funds varies based on whether funds were withheld on or before September 30, 1988.) Directs that construction estimated to cost $50,000 (currently, $15,000) or more per mile or per project for projects with a length of less than one mile on forest development roads and trails be advertised and let to contract, and allows projects with less than such cost, if no acceptable bid is received, to be done by the Secretary of Agriculture. Repeals provisions under the Territorial Highway Program providing that: (1) Federal financial assistance be granted on the basis of a Federal contribution of 100 percent of the cost of any project; and (2) the Governor must agree not to impose any toll, or permit any such toll to be charged, for use by vehicles or persons of any portion of the facilities constructed or operated to qualify for funding. Provides that, in addition to a specified percentage, sums provided (currently, two percent) for each fiscal year may be expended upon request of the Governor with the Secretary's approval under such Program. Requires (currently, authorizes the Secretary to make) expenditures with respect to the reconstruction of the Alaska-Canada international highway. Authorizes the Secretary to give priority of approval to, and expedite the construction of, projects that are recommended as important to the national defense. Modifies provisions regarding the National Highway Institute to: (1) require that private agencies and individuals pay the full cost of any education and training received by them; and (2) authorize the Institute to engage in all phases of contract authority for training purposes authorized under Federal highway provisions and to carry out its authority independently or in cooperation with any other branch of Government, authority, association, or person. Authorizes the Institute to establish and collect fees from any entity and place them in a special account.
Bill· SS. 1119 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1991
Homeowners Higher Education Student Assistance Relief Act of 1991 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to exclude, under provisions for the computation of the expected family contribution in student aid determinations, that portion of the current market value of a family's principal place of residence or a farm on which the family resides which exceeds twice the family's total income.
Bill· HRH.R. 2405 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1991
Rural Clinical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish a program of contracts under which allied health professionals agree to serve in technical positions as employees in clinical laboratories that serve rural areas with shortages of employees in such positions in consideration of the Federal Government paying a limited amount of the principal and interest of the educational loans of the professionals. Authorizes appropriations. Mandates grants and contracts for the education and training of clinical laboratory personnel. Authorizes appropriations. Requires a program for the accreditation of entities engaged in the certification of clinical laboratory personnel. Provides, until establishment of accreditation standards, for a competency-based examination to determine the proficiency of individuals who do not meet formal educational qualifications.
Bill· HRH.R. 2399 (102nd)reported
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1991
Energy Technology Research and Development Authorization Act of 1991 - Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Energy for FY 1992 and 1993 for: (1) supporting research and technical analysis (with amounts for the Basic Energy Sciences Program, including amounts for the Advanced Photon Source, the Energy Research Analysis Program, the Multiprogram Energy Laboratories Facilities Support Program, university and science education, and the Advisory and Oversight Program Direction and Policy Management for Energy Research Activities); (2) nuclear energy (with amounts for the Nuclear Energy Research and Development Program and for a research and development program to mitigate hazards associated with high level radioactive waste and spent fuel from nuclear reactors); (3) fusion energy research and development (with amounts for magnetic fusion energy research and for the Inertial Confinement Fusion Program); (4) the Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation Program; (5) the Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Program; and (6) fossil energy (with amounts for basic and supporting research, advanced technology development, petroleum, natural gas, cooperative research and development, and supporting activities). Sets forth U.S. policy with respect to appropriations for substantial and major construction projects of the Department of Energy (DOE) in civilian energy research and development areas. Directs the Secretary, after the completion of the preliminary design phase of a major construction project, to report to the Congress on: (1) estimates of the total cost of construction, the time required to complete construction, and the annual operating costs of the facility; (2) the intended useful operating life of the facility; and (3) any existing facilities to be closed as a result of the operation of such facility. Requires the Secretary, after the completion of the preliminary design phase of the Advanced Neutron Source and Burning Plasma Experiment major construction projects, to provide the Congress with information on their anticipated costs and schedules. Directs the Secretary to: (1) proceed expeditiously to procure a deployment contractor for the commercialization of the Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation technology; and (2) authorize the University of California and Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., to enter into cooperative research and development agreements with private sector entities to develop non-uranium enrichment applications of such technology. Requires the Secretary to award a contract for further design and engineering with respect to a standardized commercial nuclear power plant design that has been certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Sets forth contract selection criteria. Limits Federal funding for such project and requires 50 percent of the funding to be from non-Federal sources. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress on plans for increasing the participation of historically black colleges in DOE Basic Energy Science programs. Requires the Secretary to establish a research, development, and production center at the Hanford Reservation in Richland, Washington, to be known as the Research Reactor User Complex (RRC). Authorizes the DOE and DOE contractors operating the RRC to enter into agreements with non-Federal entities to use the RRC for: (1) the production of industrial and medical isotopes or steam for use or sale; or (2) irradiation services to support research or commercial objectives. Limits such agreements to a period of 25 years. Requires DOE contractors operating the RRC to: (1) maintain and operate the Fast Flux Test Facility; (2) ensure that all experiments meet applicable safety requirements and criteria; and (3) provide support services to the non-Federal entities that have entered into such agreements. Establishes an RRC Fund in the Treasury. Directs the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on the appropriateness of cost sharing requirements for DOE fossil research and development projects. Requires the Secretary to submit an annual three-year budget estimate for DOE civilian research and development programs to the Congress. Sets forth restrictions on authorizations.
Bill· HRH.R. 2404 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1991
Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1991 - Authorizes appropriations to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for FY 1992 through 1994 for specified environmental research, development, and demonstration activities and for program management and support of the Office of Research and Development. Prohibits the Administrator from using any funds appropriated in this Act for office closings or reductions in force unless a congressional notice and wait procedure has been complied with by the Administrator. Requires the Administrator to establish a separately identified core research program consisting of fundamental ecological, health, and risk reduction research to support efforts to identify, assess, and mitigate serious environmental risks. Directs the Administrator to establish a Research Strategy Council to oversee, review, and ensure adequate funding of the core research program. Requires the Science Advisory Board to review and make recommendations on core research program activities. Directs the Administrator to establish an Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program to conduct comprehensive, long-term environmental monitoring, data collection, and data analysis to assess and respond to the current and long-term status and trends of the ecological resources of the United States. Requires the Administrator to coordinate Program activities with other Federal agencies and to make available to the public and the Congress statistical data summaries and interpretive reports on ecological status and trends developed as a result of the Program. Directs the Administrator to: (1) establish a modernization program to identify, acquire, and maintain modern buildings, facilities, supplies, and equipment needed to conduct high quality research; and (2) conduct studies and make assessments of the adequacy of the equipment and facilities to meet the needs of EPA and to attract well-qualified scientists, engineers, and other appropriate personnel. Repeals a required annual report from the Administrator of a five-year plan for environmental research, development, and demonstration. Requires the Science Advisory Board to submit annual reports to the Congress and the Administrator on the proposed research program described in the President's budget request for research, development, and demonstration activities of the EPA. Requires the Board to conduct periodic evaluations of selected areas of the current and planned activities. Requires concurrent submission to the Congress of any report required from the Board to the Administrator. Directs the Administrator to carry out a program of research and monitoring on regional, national, and global impacts of environmental pollution and perturbation on biological diversity. Authorizes the Administrator to: (1) lease facilities, buildings, and other property to promote the activities authorized under this Act; and (2) enter into cooperative agreements to conduct application reviews and use research funds for such cooperative agreements. Directs the Administrator to: (1) report biannually to the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on the accomplishments of programs authorized under this Act; (2) develop and implement a research program to increase understanding of the health effects of exposure to electric and magnetic fields; and (3) carry out a program of environmental technology transfer and exchange of scientific information to make full use of EPA's research, development, and demonstration efforts. Requires the annual EPA appropriations request to distinguish funding requested for source reduction research and development and demonstration activities. Authorizes the Administrator to undertake multimedia source reduction projects. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Administrator to: (1) identify at least ten research issues correlating to environmental hazards in the category of highest risk to human health and the environment and address such issues as part of an overall strategic planning process; and (2) outline research priorities on efforts aimed at eliminating or minimizing the generation of wastes or pollutants. Directs the Adminstrator to conduct research on methods for evaluating emerging products and techniques for detecting lead in paint films and dust. Requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop protocols, criteria, and minimum performance standards to be used in such evaluation and to ensure reliable and effective lead detection technologies. Requires the Administrator to conduct research on: (1) the short-and long-term efficacy of lead abatement and management techniques for housing based on levels of lead in dust and in occupants' blood; and (2) the performance properties of products for encapsulating or stripping lead-based paint. Directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish performance criteria and standards for encapsulants and strippers. Requires the Administrator to: (1) conduct a long-term research study to establish the sources of lead exposure for children with blood lead levels greater than ten micrograms per deciliter; and (2) sponsor public education and outreach efforts to increase awareness of lead poisoning from household sources and the need for abatement and management actions. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator to provide funds for establishing a voluntary accreditation program to the National Institute for Standards and Technology. Requires the National Institute for Standards and Technology to establish protocols, criteria, and performance standards and implement an accreditation program with respect to laboratory analysis of lead in paint films, soil, and dust. Directs the Administrator to establish a separately identified research program to improve EPA's capability to identify and assess risks to public health and ecosystems resulting from contamination of the environment.
Bill· SS. 1097 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1991
Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow projects which focus on training physicians and dentists who plan to teach geriatric medicine or geriatric dentistry to: (1) be staffed by full-time teaching physicians with experience or training in geriatric psychiatry; (2) be based in a graduate medical education program in psychiatry; and (3) offer a one- or two-year psychiatry fellowship program with emphasis in geriatrics.
Bill· SS. 1099 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1991
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend the authorization of appropriations for library training, research, and development.
Bill· SS. 1088 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1991
Tobacco Product Education and Health Protection Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to add a new title establishing a Center on Tobacco and Health within the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to conduct and coordinate Federal education, research, and law enforcement with regard to tobacco products and to monitor and restrict the use of tobacco additives. Authorizes contracts and cooperative agreements to carry out the title. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the CDC Director, to: (1) conduct certain educational and research activities; and (2) make grants and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements to conduct public information campaigns concerning the use of tobacco products, using any mode of conveying information the Secretary considers appropriate. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary, through the CDC Director, to designate between ten and 20 model States and make grants to them to assist in improving State leadership in activities that prevent initial tobacco use among minors, encourage cessation among youth and others, and enforce a prohibition of tobacco product sales to minors. Declares eligible for the grants those States which have and enforce laws prohibiting sales to minors, laws reducing use of or access to cigarette vending machines by minors, and prohibit (or seek to prohibit) the provision of free tobacco product samples. Mandates that the Secretary, through the Director and on request, provide certain types of assistance with regard to retail establishments, including printed materials, assistance in planning events to educate the establishments, assistance in developing systems to report establishments that consistently sell tobacco products to minors, and assistance in developing systems to notify such establishments. Authorizes appropriations for grants to model States. Directs the Secretary to make grants and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements for educational activities to reduce the incidence of tobacco use among workers with high prevalences of tobacco use. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to carry out a program to inform the public of the health dangers presented by cigarette smoking including, with regard to the health effects of cigarette smoking and passive smoke: (1) conducting and supporting research; (2) coordinating all activities of the Department of Health and Human Services; (3) maintaining liaison with private and public agencies; (4) collecting, compiling, and disseminating information; and (5) establishing an outreach program to youth under the age of 18. Directs the Secretary to establish an Interagency Committee on Smoking and Health. Directs the Secretary to carry out a program to inform the public of health dangers from the use of smokeless tobacco, including educational programs, research, and dissemination of information. Authorizes the Secretary to provide technical assistance and make grants to States to assist in the development and distribution of educational programs and materials, and to assist States in enacting laws and regulations establishing 18 as the minimum age for purchasing smokeless tobacco. Prohibits certain acts, including: (1) acts relating to adulterated or misbranded tobacco products; (2) subject to exception, the using or revealing of any trade secret acquired under these provisions; (3) the false representation or suggestion that an approval of any tobacco product is in effect under certain provisions; and (4) failure to transmit certain product information to any individual on request. Directs the Secretary, in order to carry out the prohibitions, to establish within the Public Health Service, or designate an existing entity within the Service, as an Office of Regulatory Affairs. Provides, with respect to a State designated under this Act as a model State, for denial of delivery and a ban on shipping tobacco products to a retail establishment with a pattern or practice of selling tobacco products to minors. Authorizes U.S. district courts to enforce the prohibitions as described under specified provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Allows an individual, or a class or organization on behalf of an individual, to bring a civil action for injunctive relief, monetary damages, and attorney's fees. Requires manufacturers, importers, or packagers of any tobacco product brand name to provide to the Secretary: (1) a complete list of the levels of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide for each brand and each tobacco additive used and the range of quantities of the additive used in all names manufactured, imported, or packaged by the person; and (2) on request of the Secretary, information regarding the health impact of the additives. Directs the Secretary to prescribe requirements for manufacturers to place information in packages of tobacco products regarding tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide, and additives. Allows spices, flavorings, fragrances, and colorings to be so designated without specifically naming each. Considers a tobacco product misbranded unless it is labeled as required in these provisions. Authorizes the Secretary, if an additive, by itself or in conjunction with any other additive, significantly increases the human health risk of the product, to require the levels of the additive to be reduced, or to prohibit its use. Makes it unlawful to manufacture, import, or package any tobacco product brand name unless the warning labels required by the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act meet certain requirements. Considers a tobacco product adulterated if an additive level exceeds the limit set, or if other conditions are met. Authorizes the Office of Regulatory Affairs to conduct examinations and investigations under these provisions through officers and employees of the Department of Health and Human Services or through any health officer or employee of any State duly commissioned as an officer of the Department. Requires the Center, when a sample of a tobacco product is collected for analysis and on request, to provide a part of the official sample for examination or analysis by any person named on the label of the product, or the owner, or their agent. Considers any product that contains nicotine but is not a tobacco product to be a drug under specified provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Prohibits interpreting anything in the title added by this Act, the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, or the Comprehensive Smoking Education Act of 1984 to relieve any person from liability under common law or State statutory law to any other person. Declares that nothing in the title added by this Act, the Cigarette Labeling Advertising Act, or the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act shall prevent a State or local government from enacting additional restrictions on the sale or distribution of tobacco products or on the placement or location of stationary outdoor or transit advertising of tobacco products. Directs the Secretary, through the CDC Director, to assist schools in the implementation of effective programs and policies to prevent tobacco use. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants or enter into contracts to assist in such implementation. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act to: (1) change the contents of required label warnings; (2) remove certain requirements regarding warning presentation; and (3) remove provisions protecting the confidentiality of information submitted to the Secretary regarding the ingredients added to tobacco. Amends the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1986 to add tobacco use prevention, intervention, and education to the types of activities which may be carried out under State programs. Adds references to tobacco use to provisions specifying the uses of funds for local drug abuse education and prevention programs. Allows materials on drug abuse education and prevention to be disseminated under specified provisions of this Act. Adds references to tobacco to provisions relating to drug use and alcohol abuse education and prevention activities directed to students at all educational levels. Authorizes appropriations to enable the Secretary of Education to make incentive grants to State education agencies to establish smoke free schools, with the grant funds used to disseminate materials to school personnel and students, and to hold conferences and meetings, concerning the health hazards of tobacco uses by students. Repeals provisions of the Comprehensive Smoking Education Act relating to smoking research, education, and information. Repeals specified provisions of the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act of 1986. Mandates a study of pesticides in tobacco products and their effect on human health.
Bill· SS. 1081 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1991
Water Pollution Prevention and Control Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to revise the authorized activities of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency with respect to water pollution control and investigations. Establishes a National Water Quality Research Committee to advise the Administrator on research activities. Requires the Committee to report annually to the Congress on: (1) research conducted in the preceding year; (2) highest priority research needs for the following five-year period; (3) planned research activities; and (4) opportunities to coordinate Federal and State research. Directs the Administrator to conduct research and investigations of, and survey the results of other scientific studies on, the harmful effects of water pollutants on fish, shellfish, and wildlife. Authorizes appropriations for water pollution research and investigations. Earmarks specified amounts of such appropriations for a small flows clearinghouse and for the Committee. Requires the Administrator (currently, the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating) to conduct research concerning solid waste disposal equipment for vessels. Directs the Administrator to conduct research into fresh water aquatic ecosystems and on the nature of river systems (currently, authorizes the Administrator to make grants to colleges and universities and River Studies Centers, respectively, for conducting such research). Removes a limitation on the maximum amounts of grants for river system research. Revises provisions concerning grants for research and development to require the Administrator to establish a program to demonstrate practices for the prevention and control of industrial and municipal sources of water pollution. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants or enter into contracts with persons to develop or demonstrate such practices. Sets forth conditions for the receipt of such assistance. Requires the Administrator to publish annual solicitations for proposals to demonstrate practices which may be effective in controlling sources of water pollution. Sets forth application and approval procedures. Limits the amount of Federal funding for projects. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations for grants to States for water pollution control programs for FY 1991 and 1992. Sets forth minimum requirements for State water pollution control programs. Requires 75 percent of appropriations to be allotted to States on the basis of the water pollution problem in the respective States. Directs the Administrator to assure that the allocation of funds to a State in any fiscal year is not less than the amount allocated to such State in FY 1991. Makes 25 percent of appropriations available for grants to States for innovative programs for the control and prevention of water pollution which have application to other States. Requires States to contribute non-Federal funds to such grants. Authorizes States to reserve up to 20 percent of such grants to support: (1) costs of any interstate water pollution control agency; and (2) participation by substate regional agencies in water quality planning activities. Revises conditions for the receipt of grants and sets forth State reporting requirements. Revises provisions concerning training grants and contracts to require the Administrator to: (1) implement a national program to train persons in the operation of municipal and industrial wastewater treatment works and other facilities whose purpose is water quality control; (2) make grants to, or contracts with, institutions of higher education to support such programs; and (3) publish guidance on the minimum elements of such programs. Directs the Administrator to award training grants to at least ten institutions of higher education in each fiscal year. Provides for the triennial review of such programs. Directs the Administrator to implement a program to certify the proficiency of operators of publicly owned wastewater treatment works. Requires operators and other designated personnel to be certified as proficient by the Administrator. Directs the Administrator to publish: (1) guidelines on minimum standards for certification; and (2) a Treatment Works Operator's Manual. Provides for certification fees. Authorizes the delegation of the authority for a certification program to a State if the State is qualified to operate the program and will provide the Administrator with requested information. Permits the transfer of an individual's certification from one treatment works to another. Makes certifications valid for a five-year period. Permits recertification for an additional five years provided that the individual: (1) complies with in-service training and related education; and (2) has remained in the applicable position for four years of the five-year certification period. Prescribes civil penalties for violations of certification requirements. Requires institutions of higher education, in addition to other requirements for receiving scholarships for persons planning to enter occupations involving treatment works, to have participated in the treatment works training program and to assure representation of minorities and women in the scholarship program. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 and 1992 to carry out the operator training and scholarship programs. Reserves a specified amount of funds for the scholarship program. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants for training in technical matters related to pollution causes, prevention, and elimination. Requires (currently, authorizes) the Administrator to establish research fellowships and maintain a system for forecasting the supply of, and demand for, occupational categories needed for the prevention, reduction, and elimination of pollution. Revises provisions concerning effluent guidelines to require the Administrator to promulgate effluent guidelines applicable to point sources which discharge pollutants into navigable waters. Sets forth requirements for such regulations. Repeals a provision authorizing the modification of a timetable with respect to effluent limitations. Requires effluent guidelines to be reviewed and revised at least every seven years (currently, five years). Directs the Administrator to revise such guidelines on an earlier date if advances in pollution control technology or practices would achieve a significant reduction in the quantity of toxicity of pollutants discharged to navigable waters and such advances are technologically and economically achievable. Requires the Administrator to promulgate or revise standards of performance for new sources in a category whenever effluent guidelines for such category are promulgated or revised. Provides for the review and revision of such standards at least every seven years. Requires sources with pollutant discharge permits and sources introducing pollutants into publicly owned treatment works to pay fees to the Administrator to meet costs of developing effluent guidelines and new source performance standards. Bases the assessment of fees on the volume and toxicity of the discharge. Modifies or waives such fees for small businesses or for reasons of financial hardship. Modifies such fees for sources demonstrating new or innovative technology or allowing the Administrator such access as will facilitate the full development of the guideline or standard. Makes assessments and penalties available only for the development of effluent guidelines and new source performance and pretreatment standards. Makes applicants for permits to operate pursuant to an effluent guideline who have failed to pay applicable assessments liable for penalties. Revises provisions concerning the Effluent Standards and Water Quality Information Advisory Committee. Requires the Committee to: (1) advise the Administrator in the development of effluent standards, new source performance standards, categorical pretreatment standards, secondary treatment standards, and related information and guidelines; and (2) review effluent guideline plans. Directs the Administrator to: (1) publish biennial guidelines for States to follow in issuing contaminated finfish and shellfish consumption advisories to protect recreational and subsistence fishermen; and (2) provide technical assistance to States to support implementation of the guidelines and to educate the public on the risks of consumption of contaminated fish and shellfish. Requires the Administrator, in developing water quality criteria and information, to: (1) consider the factors necessary to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of water bodies; (2) consider the factors necessary to assure the protection of public water supplies, provide for the protection and propagation of a balanced, indigenous population of fish, shellfish, and wildlife, and provide for recreation in and on the water; and (3) identify numerical pollutant concentration limits for varying types of receiving waters sufficient to assure attainment of all designated uses. Authorizes the Administrator to establish biological monitoring and assessment methods for pollutants. Requires the Administrator to publish biennially a list of conventional, nonconventional, and toxic pollutants. Directs the Administrator to submit a plan for the development of water quality criteria and information to the Congress on a triennial basis. Requires the first plan to provide for: (1) publication of criteria and information for at least 20 pollutants for which criteria and information are not currently available in each fiscal year; (2) revision of at least 20 existing criteria documents to address the needs of lakes and marine waters; and (3) publication of at least 20 criteria documents for pollutants in aquatic sediments. Directs the Administrator to publish: (1) at least 60 criteria documents within four years of this Act's enactment date; and (2) a criteria document for whole effluent toxicity. Requires States to designate uses for all water bodies for which uses have not been designated. Includes within the water bodies for which uses shall be designated rivers and streams, lakes, estuarine water bodies, and waters of the contiguous zone. Applies use designations to the waters and aquatic sediments of water bodies. Requires water bodies not currently designated to support the goal of fishable, swimmable waters to be designated by a specified deadline. Authorizes the Administrator to extend a designated use for a water body for three years based on a showing by a State that attainment and maintenance of fishable, swimmable waters: (1) is not feasible because naturally occurring pollutant concentrations prevent attainment of the use or human caused sources of pollution prevent attainment and would cause more environmental harm to correct than to leave in place; or (2) would result in substantial and widespread social and economic impacts. Requires States to adopt water and sediment quality standards adequate to protect designated uses. Sets forth standards requirements. Authorizes States to adopt biological monitoring and assessment methods for a class of pollutants affecting a water body. Directs a State to: (1) adopt standards for pollutants for which water quality criteria and information are published; (2) notify States which border on the waters of such State and States with water bodies located upstream from the State of changes in standards; and (3) report revisions or adoptions of uses or standards to the Administrator. Sets forth approval and review procedures for designations and standards. Requires the Administrator to promulgate uses or standards for States that fail to comply. Directs the Administrator to designate uses of waters of the contiguous zone and the ocean and to adopt standards for such waters for each pollutant for which criteria and information have been published. Provides for the biennial review of a State's water quality planning process. Prohibits the Administrator from making grants for water pollution control programs to States without approved planning processes. Deletes provisions concerning thermal discharges and heat standards. Requires States to implement antidegradation policies. Directs the Administrator to implement such policies for States without approved policies. Sets forth policy requirements. Requires States to implement programs to protect outstanding national resource waters. Directs the Administrator to designate such waters for States that fail to do so. Requires State antidegradation policies to assure that waters of ecological significance meet water and sediment quality standards. Directs States to conduct antidegradation reviews for water bodies: (1) prior to issuing permits to sources authorizing new or increased pollutant discharges to such water bodies; and (2) whenever existing sources increase the mass or concentration of discharges to such water bodies by more than de minimis amounts to assure that the antidegradation policy is not violated. Permits water quality standards to be exceeded in mixing zones. Requires States to establish a schedule (not to exceed five years) for the development of total maximum daily loads for pollutants for which criteria and information are published in water bodies in which designated uses or standards are not attained. Directs the Administrator or an authorized State, in the case of water bodies for which individual control strategies are developed, to: (1) provide that permits issued to point sources discharging to such waters include specified authorities; (2) issue permits for industrial and municipal discharges of stormwater to such waters; (3) prohibit the specification of an area as a disposal site and restrict the use of such area; (4) prohibit the discharge of sewage from vessels; (5) give priority to the selection of such waters for specified management conferences; and (6) prepare management programs for watershed areas of waters for States without approved assessment and/or management programs for an affected water body. Requires States to conduct and report biennially to the Administrator on programs to monitor the quality of navigable waters. Establishes a Water Quality Monitoring Council to assure the coordination of Federal and State water quality monitoring programs. Requires the Administrator to: (1) issue annual guidance for the coordinated implementation of such programs; and (2) submit a strategy for such implementation to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations. Permits the Administrator to prohibit the discharge of specified pollutants from point sources to protect public health or the environment. Directs the Administrator to publish regulations prohibiting the discharge of, and to establish bioaccumulation factors for, the following pollutants: (1) Aldrin/Dieldrin; (2) DDT; (3) Endrin; (4) Toxaphene; (5) Benzidine; (6) polychlorinated biphenyls; (7) 2,3,7,8, TCDD; and (8) mercury. Requires the Administrator to: (1) publish procedures for determining the bioaccumulation factor of toxic pollutants; and (2) publish regulations prohibiting the discharge of highly toxic and bioaccumulative pollutants. Exempts publicly owned treatment works from discharge prohibitions if compliance is technologically infeasible. Permits persons to petition for the prohibition of a pollutant discharge. Prohibits the Administrator from registering a pesticide pursuant to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act until the registrant submits sufficient information to assess the toxicity of the pesticide. Provides for: (1) the addition to, or removal from, such list of pollutants; and (2) the review and revision of such list at least every five years. Requires the Administrator to remove ammonia and chlorine from the list of nonconventional pollutants and to add them to the list of toxic pollutants. Revises provisions concerning pretreatment standards to require the Administrator to promulgate pretreatment standards and local limits for the introduction of toxic and nonconventional pollutants into treatment works. Sets forth requirements for such standards. Directs the Administrator to promulgate pretreatment standards for each category of sources for which effluent guidelines but no pretreatment standards have been promulgated, unless such sources will not introduce pollutants into publicly owned treatment works. Authorizes the Administrator to promulgate pretreatment standards for sources regardless of whether effluent guidelines have been promulgated. Provides for the review and revision of pretreatment standards at least every seven years. Requires compliance with such standards within three years of the date on which the standards are promulgated. Directs control authorities to establish local limits for the pretreatment of all toxic and nonconventional pollutants introduced into a publicly owned treatment works by industrial users. Requires limits to be established for industrial users not subject to a national pretreatment standard. Requires compliance by control authorities within five years of this Act's enactment date. Prohibits the issuance of permits to publicly owned treatment works after such deadline unless such permits include requirements to enforce local limits. Makes it unlawful to introduce pollutants that are hazardous wastes into treatment works. Revises State permit requirements for discharges from publicly owned treatment works. Authorizes civil actions to be brought for past violations of effluent standards or limitations. Grants district courts discretion to order civil penalties to be used for projects to enhance public health or the environment by restoring or improving water quality or wildlife or habitat damaged as a result of the violation. Prescribes civil and criminal penalties for violations of pretreatment requirements. Requires public notice to be provided with respect to noncomplying major dischargers. Authorizes the Administrator to withhold up to 25 percent of funds for water pollution control programs from a State unless the State has adequate authority to abate violations of specified permits and pretreatment requirements applicable to industrial users of publicly owned treatment works. Requires treatment works serving populations greater than 50,000 persons to submit Toxic Reduction Action Programs to the Administrator. Sets forth program requirements. Requires treatment works to give priority to sources violating water quality standards in implementing influent interdiction programs. Sets forth approval procedures. Provides that such programs shall be valid for five years and may be reviewed, revised, and resubmitted after such period. Requires the Administrator to adjust the amount of permit fees for treatment works to reflect the degree of pollutant reduction accomplished. Directs the Administrator to publish guidelines specifying elements of nonpoint pollution management programs. Withholds nonpoint source management grants and Federal highway assistance (with specified exceptions) from States without approved nonpoint source management programs. Extends the authorization of appropriations for such grants and for grants for protecting groundwater quality through FY 1993. Requires priority consideration to be given to watersheds of impaired water bodies in soil conservation programs of the Department of Agriculture. Makes watersheds of such water bodies eligible for enrollment in a specified agricultural water quality protection program. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to acquire easements for cropland located within watersheds of impaired water bodies. Requires the Secretary to designate such watersheds as conservation priority areas. Directs the Administrator to issue regulations concerning the control of nonpoint sources of pollution on all lands managed or owned by the Federal Government. Prohibits the manufacturing and distribution for sale within the United States of any commercial fertilizer without taking precautions for protection of water quality. Sets forth requirements with respect to such fertilizers. Requires the Administrator to prepare an annual list and description of significant water resource areas. Authorizes persons to petition for the inclusion of a water body on such list. Revises provisions concerning rural nonpoint source pollution management. Requires the Administrator to establish management conferences to assess environmental quality in major river systems and develop management plans for such systems. Provides that management conferences shall be convened for periods of up to five years. Directs the Administrator to select river systems for inclusion in the program. Sets forth conditions for priority consideration for the program. Authorizes State Governors to nominate any system within a State as a river system of national significance and request a management conference for such system. Requires the Administrator to give priority consideration for inclusion in the system to the Hudson River, the Susquehanna River, the Delaware River, the Rio Grande, and the Columbia River. Sets forth minimum requirements of conservation and management plans required under such conferences. Authorizes the Administrator to implement: (1) a program of monitoring to determine the physical, biological, and chemical conditions of a river system; (2) a program of ecosystem assessment; and (3) a research program to identify the movement of pollutants through the river system and the impact of pollutants on water quality, the ecosystem, and uses of the waters. Permits the Administrator to make grants to support management conferences. Limits and places conditions on such grants. Prohibits the issuance of a permit unless the applicant demonstrates a need to discharge based on the maximum use of measures to eliminate the discharge or reduce the volume and toxicity of pollutants within the economic capability of the owner or operator. Provides that State permit programs shall insure that permits with remaining terms of three or more years are revised to incorporate new or revised effluent limitations or other standards promulgated after the issuance of such permits. Prohibits the issuance of new permits for new discharges into navigable waters to persons who own, lease, or operate two or more facilities that are not in compliance with permits. Requires new facilities to obtain discharge permits prior to the construction of such facilities. Authorizes the Administrator to deny permits for discharges into the territorial sea, the waters of the contiguous zone, the oceans, or waters not attaining water quality standards if such discharges can be expected to adversely affect the protection and propagation of a balanced, indigenous population of shellfish, fish, and wildlife and recreational activity in and on the water. Deems existing exemptions to limitations concerning biological discharge criteria to be invalid. Adds waters not attaining water quality standards to the list of waters for which the Administrator is required to promulgate guidelines to determine degradation and biological discharge criteria. Requires State permit programs to provide for the termination or modification of a permit if a State other than that in which the source is located provides notice that the permitted discharge is causing a substantial violation of a water quality requirement or adversely affecting public health. Directs the Administrator to take specified actions if a State does not accept the recommendations of the State whose waters are affected by the discharge. Requires States in which there are discharges of overflows from combined storm water and sanitary sewers into navigable waters to submit biennially to the Administrator an inventory of such discharges which shall: (1) identify the location of each discharge and the affected waterbody; (2) identify the entity responsible for the discharge; (3) identify the permit for the discharge; (4) identify the estimated volume and pollutant loading of the discharge over a one-year period; (5) assess the proportion of the volume of the combined discharge to the volume capacity of the appropriate treatment works over a specified time period; and (6) identify the nature and status of any existing programs to eliminate discharges. Directs such entities to submit to the Administrator a program and schedule for the elimination of such discharges. Outlines program requirements and procedures for approval and modification. Makes entities which fail to implement such programs subject to penalties. Directs the Administrator or an authorized State to modify or issue permits for discharges of combined sewers. Requires the Administrator to publish guidance describing best management practices and other measures for the elimination of combined storm water and sanitary sewer overflows. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants for the development of surveys of combined sewer overflows and for the development and implementation of overflow elimination plans. Sets forth grant approval and allocation procedures. Limits the Federal share of the cost of such programs. Provides for the establishment of a water pollution control revolving fund for States which implement a combined storm water and sanitary sewer elimination program. Requires the Administrator to publish information establishing the degree of percentage removal attainable through the application of secondary treatment where a treatment works receives flows from combined sanitary and storm water sewers. Requires States administering discharge permit programs to require owners or operators of point sources subject to permit requirements to pay annual fees to cover at least 60 percent of the costs of administering the point source elements of water quality programs. Sets forth provisions concerning the amount of fees. Requires the Administrator to collect fees if a State is not enforcing a fee program. Makes sources that fail to pay fees liable for payment of fees and penalties. Withholds 50 percent of pollution control assistance from a State that fails to comply with permit fee requirements. Prohibits the firing of, or discrimination against, any employee who refuses to perform duties that would constitute a violation of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act or would result in serious injury to the public. Requires the Administrator to assess the cost of construction of public facilities needed to accomplish the water quality goals of this Act. Increases the amount of sums to be reserved for waste treatment management plans, sewage treatment works, and nonpoint source programs for Indian tribes. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants for such assistance in amounts of up to 100 percent of the project cost. Requires the Administrator to report to the Congress biennially on the need for sewage treatment works to serve Indian tribes. Directs the Administrator to make grants to support the administration of water quality programs by Indian tribes treated as States. Permits the Administrator to make grants to Indian tribes to support development of authorities necessary for such treatment. Sets forth provisions concerning the allocations of such grants and limitations on the Federal share of the costs of such programs. Makes State water pollution control revolving loan funds available to Indian tribes for construction of publicly owned treatment works. Directs the Administrator to issue permits for discharges to navigable waters on Federal Indian reservations unless the Indian tribe has been delegated authority to issue permits. Requires persons with discharge permits who are required to file annual toxic chemical release forms under the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 to conduct environmental audits to establish and improve compliance with permit requirements. Provides that environmental audits shall be conducted by persons certified under this Act. Directs the Administrator to establish requirements concerning such audits and to notify facilities required to prepare audits. Requires the Administrator, in notifying such facilities, to give priority to facilities at which: (1) there is a history of noncompliance with permits; (2) discharges contribute to violations of water quality standards; (3) discharges are of significant volume or toxicity; and (4) there are discharges to several environmental media. Directs the Administrator to publish guidance concerning methods for the design and implementation of environmental monitoring and audits. Prescribes civil or criminal penalties for audit violations. Sets forth provisions concerning the confidentiality of information obtained from facilities subject to audit requirements. Prescribes civil penalties for the disclosure of protected information. Lists information not entitled to protection. Requires the Administrator to develop: (1) programs for the training and certification of individuals conducting audits; and (2) a general manual of methods for environmental monitoring, compliance assessment, and environmental auditing. Limits certifications to a period of ten years. Permits the Administrator to collect fees for training and certification programs. Requires the Administrator to provide for oversight and evaluation of audits and for random tests of the accuracy of data and analyses conducted by organizations certified to conduct audits. Provides for revocations of certifications, or permanent barring, of organizations with repeated audit inaccuracies. Requires the modification of permits based on measures recommended in audits. Directs the Administrator to: (1) negotiate with representatives of the Government of Mexico to establish a program to prevent pollution and to monitor and improve water quality in the U.S.-Mexican border region; (2) determine which water bodies in the region are not in compliance with designated uses; (3) determine the sources of pollutants causing impairment of such water bodies and the amounts of pollutants discharged; and (4) assess the need for sewage treatment works to serve such region and the degree to which such needs will be met through certain funds allotted to States. Extends the general authorization of appropriations for the Federal Water Pollution Control Act through FY 1998. Establishes a Clean Water Fund to support the implementation of specified water pollution control programs. Sets forth Fund allotment requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1992 (currently, FY 1996 and FY 1995, respectively) for implementation of the Long Island Sound Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan and the Lake Champlain Management Conference. Revises a condition on the use of a State water pollution control revolving fund to make loans to provide that the costs of administering the fund shall not exceed four percent of all capitalization grants (currently, all grant awards to the fund). Permits capitalization grants to American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the Trust Territory of Palau (or its successor entity), the Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia to be used for grants for the construction of treatment works. Continues the allotment of funds under the current formula through FY 1996. Requires the Administrator to: (1) reserve a specified percentage of funds for incentive capitalization grants; and (2) make such grants to any State which, after FY 1992, deposits moneys in an amount equal to that deposited in FY 1991 in a water pollution control revolving fund. Directs States to deposit awards in such funds. Adds to the list of conditions under which water pollution control revolving funds may make loans that loans for publicly owned treatment works utilizing innovative treatment processes may be made at or below market interest rates at terms not to exceed 40 years. Prohibits more than five percent of the capitalized value of a fund from being used to provide such assistance. Sets forth provisions concerning the use of unobligated funds. Revises repayment requirements for loans made from State revolving funds to require annual principal and interest payments to commence within three (currently, one) years after completion of a project. Permits such loans to be made to reduce the principal of debt obligations by at least 85 percent where such obligations were incurred after May 15, 1991, and where the State has determined that the municipality, intermunicipality, or interstate agency would not be able to afford to undertake a project with assistance. Requires value engineering reviews to be conducted for any treatment works construction projected in excess of $20,000,000 (currently, $10,000,000).
Bill· HRH.R. 2350 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1991
National Liberty Scholarship and Partnership Act of 1991 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to establish programs for additional financial aid and counseling and other supportive services for low-income students (to be called Liberty Scholarships and Partnerships for Low-Income Students). Authorizes the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to establish such programs through matching payments to States for: (1) State financial aid programs that award grants to low-income students who attain a high school diploma or its equivalent to guarantee them the financial assistance necessary to attend an institution of higher education; and (2) a partnership program (provided by States in cooperation with local educational agencies, postsecondary institutions, and community organizations) of additional and comprehensive mentoring, counseling, outreach, and supportive services for elementary, middle, and secondary students at risk of dropping out of school and for students and their parents regarding college financing options. Requires that grants under such financial aid program be used to reduce the expected family contribution of qualified students. Requires that the maximum amount of such a grant be established by the State, but prohibits such amount from being: (1) more than the average cost of attendance for an in-State student in a four-year program at public institutions in such State; or (2) less than 75 percent of such cost of attendance. Reduces the maximum grant by: (1) the total amount of other grant assistance (but not work-study assistance) for which the student is eligible; and (2) one-half of the amount by which the adjusted gross income of the student's family exceeds the Federal poverty level. Defines "qualified student" as one who: (1) is less than 22 years old at time of first grant award; (2) is receiving a Pell Grant for the academic year of the award or would be eligible for such Pell Grant but for their attendance on a less than half-time basis; (3) receives a high school diploma or equivalent in 1993 or thereafter; and (4) is enrolled in an authorized degree program in the State (States may opt to offer grant program portabiity for recipients at institutions in other participating states). Requires a State to demonstrate, under the partnership program, that it has increased the aggregate amount of its expenditures to provide comprehensive mentoring, counseling, outreach, and supportive services. Directs the Secretary to establish criteria for determining which types of services programs may be counted for such purpose. Lists examples of acceptable activities. Allows the State to incude in such program participation of businesses, religious organizations, community groups, postsecondary educational institutions, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, and other entities deemed appropriate by the Secretary. Sets forth requirements for Federal matching payments to States for such financial aid and partnership programs, with additional payments for limited administrative expenses. Bases State allotments under this Act on their relative allocations under provisions for grants for local educational agencies in counties with especially high concentrations of children from low-income families under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Prohibits any State from using more than 50 percent of its allotment for the comprehensive counseling, outreach, and support services partnership program. Sets forth reallotment provisions. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1996 for grants for matching payments to States for such financial aid and partnership programs, but only if the annual Federal appropriations for the HEA program of Grants to States for State Student Incentives exceed a specified amount. Repeals provisions for School, College, and University Partnerships (part B of title V of HEA) serving low-income students.
Bill· HRH.R. 2363 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1991
Campus Sexual Assault Victims' Bill of Rights Act of 1991 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to require each eligible institution participating in any program under HEA title IV (Student Assistance) to include a statement of policy regarding the rights of victims of sexual assault, that complies with specified requirements, in its disclosure of campus security policy and campus crime statistics. Requires each institution of higher education to establish and implement a written policy establishing a campus sexual assault victims' bill of rights which provides that specified rights shall be accorded to such victims by all campus officers, administrators, and employees of such institution.
Bill· SS. 1066 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1991
Department of Defense Authorization Act, 1992-1993 - Title I: Procurement Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993 to the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, and Air Force for aircraft, missiles, weapons and tracked combat vehicles, ammunition, shipbuilding and conversion, and for other procurement. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) FY 1992 and 1993 for procurement for the defense agencies; (2) FY 1992 for procurement for the Defense Inspector General; and (3) FY 1992 and 1993 for the chemical demilitarization program (the destruction of lethal chemical weapons). Title II: Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993 for research, development, test, and evaluation (R&D) for the armed forces and the defense agencies. Title III: Operation and Maintenance Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993 for operation and maintenance for the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, the defense agencies, the reserves, the National Guard, the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice, the Defense Inspector General, drug interdiction and counter-drug activities, defense, the Court of Military Appeals, environmental restoration, and for humanitarian assistance. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993 for working capital funds for the armed forces and the defense agencies. Title IV: Military Personnel Authorizations for Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 - Part A: Active Forces - Authorizes end strengths for active-duty forces for FY 1992 and 1993. Part B: Reserve Forces - Authorizes end strengths for reserve components of the armed forces for FY 1992 and 1993. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to vary such end strengths in a limited amount. Authorizes end strength reductions for the Selected Reserve for each such fiscal year, as prescribed. Authorizes increases for each such fiscal year in the number of certain personnel authorized to be on active duty in support of the reserve forces. Part C: Military Training Student Loads - Authorizes the average military training student loads for FY 1992 and 1993. Provides for the adjustment of such student loads consistent with manpower strengths as authorized under this Act. Title V: General Provisions - Repeals: (1) a Federal provision requiring a separate budget request for reserve and National Guard procurement in each annual defense budget submitted to the Congress; (2) the current limitation on the number of military and civilian personnel assigned to headquarters and non-management headquarters and support activities within the Department of Defense (DOD); and (3) a requirement for the authorization of civilian DOD personnel by end strength. Revises the submission date of a report required under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991 concerning annual defense outlays. Directs the Secretary of Defense to establish in DOD a Defense Business Operations Fund to finance operations within or among DOD departments and agencies, including: (1) the financing and furnishing of inventories and supplies; and (2) the performance of industrial, commercial, and support activities. Establishes such Fund in the Treasury and provides for debits, credits, and authorized Fund uses. Provides transition provisions for defense working capital funds affected by the creation of the Fund. Establishes in the Treasury the Lease Replacement Fund, Defense (Lease Fund), to be available for the rehabilitation, construction, and renovation of property and facilities owned by DOD which are determined to be suitable, available, or needed for utilization as replacement facilities for facilities being leased by or on behalf of DOD. Authorizes the transfer of appropriations for funding the Lease Fund. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993. Repeals a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 which provides funding for the Navy for the V-22 aircraft program. Repeals a Federal provision requiring the Secretary to establish guidelines for reducing the number of civilian DOD employees employed by industrial- or commercial-type activities. Provides for the determination of the amount of the variable housing allowance to be paid to members and former members of the reserves. Authorizes the provision of special pay to health care officers who: (1) are reserves on active duty other than for training for at least 31 days but less than one year; (2) are involuntarily retained on active duty for at least 31 days; or (3) voluntarily agree to remain on active duty for less than one year while other officers are involuntarily retained on active duty or in cases of other special circumstances as determined by the Secretary. Provides that, in the case of retired officers ordered to active duty who serve on such active duty in a grade higher than their retired grade, such officers shall be advanced on the retired list upon release from such active duty to the highest grade satisfactorily served. States that if such retired list grade is higher than their original retired grade, such service must be for a minimum of three years of total active service. Allows the President to waive such three-year requirement in individual cases. Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 to allow the number of certain intelligence personnel to be adjusted in accordance with certain actions taken by the Secretary of Defense and the Director of Central Intelligence with respect to the revision of priorities and the consolidation of functions. Extends through FY 1993: (1) the period during which an aviation career officer may sign an agreement for an extension of duty, thereby allowing such officer to receive special pay for such extension; and (2) the provision of special pay to enlisted members of the Selected Reserve assigned to certain high-priority units. Extends through FY 1995: (1) a provision which repealed a provision of the Department of Defense Authorization Act, 1984 which disallowed certain service to be considered for purposes of mandatory retirement under the retired reserve; (2) the original appointment period as a reserve medical officer for purposes of grade determination; (3) the promotion authority for certain reserve officers serving on active duty; (4) the initial appointment period for certain health professionals of the Selected Reserve to qualify for education loans through the Secretary of Defense; and (5) the enlistment and reenlistment bonus authority for members of the reserves. Repeals a Federal provision authorizing the temporary promotions of certain Navy lieutenants through FY 1992. Extends through FY 1994: (1) the period during which a registered nurse may sign an agreement for service in such capacity as a commissioned officer, thereby receiving an accession bonus; (2) the period during which a person may sign an agreement as a candidate under the nurse officer candidate accession bonus program; and (3) the provision of special pay for nurse anesthetists serving in a military capacity. Extends through FY 1997 the enlistment and reenlistment bonus authority for active-duty personnel. Authorizes the Secretaries of the military departments concerned to assign such powers, functions, and duties as considered appropriate to the General Counsels of such departments. Authorizes such General Counsels to temporarily perform the duties of the Secretaries of such military departments. Identifies the General Counsels as the chief legal officers of such departments. Establishes the pay grade for General Counsels at Level IV of the Executive Schedule. Establishes within DOD the position of Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy to act for, and exercise the powers of, the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy when the Under Secretary is absent or disabled. Establishes the pay grade for the Deputy Under Secretary at Level IV of the Executive Schedule.
Bill· SS. 1063 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1991
College Honors Program Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Education to allot funds under this Act among institutions of higher education to establish revolving loan funds. Makes an institution ineligible for such an allotment if: (1) its student default rate for loans under this Act is 20 percent or more; or (2) it is ineligible for participation in the Robert T. Stafford Student Loan Program. Allows such education loans to be made for up to four years, at up to $4,000 per year for any student, or at up to $5,000 per year for a student who: (1) has an academic concentration in science or mathematics and agrees to teach such subjects upon graduation; or (2) agrees to teach on an Indian reservation or in an Alaskan native village or in an area with a high concentration of Native Hawaiians, upon graduation. Sets forth student eligibility requirements for such assistance, including maintaining a certain grade level in high school and college, not defaulting on any student loan, and agreeing to pursue a teaching career in a public school. Sets forth loan terms, including cancellation of a portion of principal and interest for each year of full-time employment as a public school teacher. Directs the Secretary to reimburse institutions for the amounts cancelled under such loan program. Sets forth institutional responsibilities. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· SS. 1073 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1991
Children's Investment Trust Act of 1991 - Amends the Social Security Act (SSA) to establish in the Treasury the Children's Investment Trust (CIT). Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to accept and transfer to CIT: (1) for FY 1992 and subsequent fiscal years a mandated general fund appropriation equal to FY 1991 aggregate budget authority before sequestration (adjusted for inflation) for all described children's, youth, and family programs; (2) any additional appropriations made by the Congress; (3) the sum of the Children's Investment Tax; and (4) the sum of any income earned from investment of CIT funds. Provides for quarterly transfers to the Trust based on estimates, and for obligation of CIT funds. Makes the Secretary of the Treasury the Managing Trustee of CIT and chairperson of the Board of Trustees. Provides for investment of CIT funds. Directs the Managing Trustee to make quarterly payments from CIT, in accordance with appropriations Acts, to certain Federal and State programs. Directs the Managing Trustee to report to appropriate congressional committees on proposed methodologies to reimburse the Federal Government for costs associated with CIT administration, any amount of the Children's Investment Tax that may be subject to refund, and other expenses associated with CIT operations. Prohibits any loans between CIT and other trust funds. Requires the President to submit a six-year plan for CIT operation as part of the annual U.S. Government budget submitted to the Congress. Directs the Comptroller General, within 90 days after enactment of this Act, to prepare and submit to the appropriate congressional committees a list of Federal children's, youth, and family programs for which CIT funds may be obligated, as well as the FY 1991 appropriations for each such program. Requires such list to include a description of income tax credits that directly benefit families with children, for which reimbursements to the general fund may be made from CIT. Authorizes provision of funds under this title to an agency or department head as appropriations or as reimbursements to the general fund of the Treasury for costs related to the use of tax credits and reimbursable tax credits. Directs the CIT Coordinator to solicit comments from certain State entities and officials as well as professional and advocacy organizations in preparing the six-year plan. Directs the President to appoint a CIT Coordinator with at least ten years of progressive experience in designing, administering, or evaluating service programs for children, youth, and families. Requires the Director of OMB to provide administrative support to the Coordinator. Prohibits the Coordinator from having any authority to administer the provision of services to children, youth, and families. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes a CIT Planning Council to advise the President on use of CIT funds and methods for simplifying CIT administration and coordinating programs receiving such funds. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to enter into a contract with the National Academy of Sciences to establish a CIT Evaluation Panel of experts and specialists to evaluate Federal children's, youth, and family programs. Requires the Panel to: (1) develop a plan for the evaluation, at least once in every six-year period, of programs, including State programs, that receive CIT funds; and (2) report, at least once in every six-year period, on the results of such evaluation plan to the CIT Planning Council, the President, and the appropriate congressional committees. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a program of entitlement grants to States for the provision of children's, youth, and family services. Entitles a State to such a grant if the Governor certifies that: (1) the grant funds will be used for specified authorized purposes; (2) the State has established an independent State body (as described under the Augustus F. Hawkins Human Services Act of 1990) to coordinate and improve delivery of services to children, youth, and families; and (3) aggregate expenditure of State funds during the fiscal year of the grant, for programs serving children, youth, and families, will not be less than such State expenditures in FY 1990, adjusted for inflation. Allows a State to use entitlement grant funds for: (1) grants for State and local program coordination and integration, and family resource and support; (2) supplements to other Federal funds received by the State under any program eligible for CIT assistance; (3) the matching share required under any program eligible for CIT assistance, to the extent that such matching share results from program expansions or improvements exceeding those required under Federal law at the time of the grant award; and (4) grants for specified types of program innovations and improvements, to local governments, education, health, and social service agencies, and other public and private entities. Requires: (1) States to apply for grant funds for program innovations and improvements; and (2) the Secretary to approve such applications if specified conditions are met. Requires States to report annually to the CIT Coordinator on their activities and accomplishments derived through use of such grant funds. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to make grants to each State for training and technical assistance. Entitles a State to such a grant if the Governor certifies that: (1) the funds will be used to provide training and technical assistance to public and private agencies serving children, youth, and families; and (2) a description of the State's activities and accomplishments derived through use of such grant will be included in the annual report to the CIT Coordinator. Authorizes Federal agencies responsible for children's, youth, and family programs to provide, either directly or by contract, training and technical assistance services on a reimbursable basis to any State or other public or private entity that agrees to pay for such assistance. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to appropriate to the CIT amounts equivalent to taxes received in the Treasury from the Children's Investment Tax. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require that Concurrent Budget Resolutions set forth the aggregate amount to be made available from the CIT for programs and activities under this Act, including amounts for discretionary and for direct programs. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to exempt from reduction by sequestration order amounts made available in appropriations Acts for Federal children's, youth, and family programs and transferred to the CIT.
Bill· SS. 1069 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1991
Lakes Assessment and Protection Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a comprehensive research program concerning the nation's lakes. Directs the Administrator to appoint a Lake Research Advisory Committee. Requires States to designate the use of each publicly-owned lake consistent with the following uses: (1) public drinking water supply; (2) swimming and related body contact recreation; and (3) resource protection. Directs the Administrator to: (1) publish water quality criteria for specified pollutants in lakes; and (2) publish guidance to assist States in the adoption of lake water quality standards for contaminants for which criteria documents have been published. Requires States to establish for publicly-owned lakes numerical standards for water quality parameters to assure the attainment and maintenance of designated uses. Directs the Administrator to establish standards for States that fail to do so. Repeals specified requirements of the State clean lakes program. Authorizes States to apply for grant assistance from the Administrator to: (1) conduct projects to protect the quality of lakes; and (2) develop and implement plans to control pollution in a lake or group of lakes. Limits grant applications to statewide projects to: (1) improve public information and education concerning lake protection; (2) develop State or local requirements concerning lake protection; (3) develop lake assessment and monitoring information; and (4) develop lake protection plans. Limits the Federal share of such grants. Lists priorities for awarding grants. Makes States that fail to comply with clean lakes program requirements ineligible for grant assistance. Extends the authorization of appropriations for such grants through FY 1996. Reserves a specified percentage for lake water quality programs, lake pollution control plans, and lake water quality demonstration programs. Makes assistance from State water pollution control revolving funds available for lake protection programs. Revises requirements for lake water quality demonstration programs. Adds to the priority list for such programs China Lake and Sebago Lake, Maine. Requires the Administrator to issue regulations prohibiting the distribution for sale within the United States of detergents and related products containing phosphate. Directs the Administrator and the Secretary of Agriculture to work cooperatively to assure coordination of agriculture programs and lake protection programs. Requires priority consideration to be given to watersheds of impaired lakes in soil conservation programs of the Department of Agriculture. Makes watersheds of such lakes eligible for enrollment in a specified agricultural water quality protection program. Authorizes the Secretary to acquire easements for cropland located within watersheds of impaired lakes. Requires the Secretary to designate such watersheds as conservation priority areas. Amends the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 to require the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force to undertake a program to prevent the dissemination of Eurasion Milfoil (Myriophyllum Spicatum), a type of aquatic weed. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to declare Eurasion Milfoil to be an injurious species. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· SS. 1048 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1991
Authorizes the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide financial assistance to pay the costs of construction and equipment for an Upper Mississippi River Environmental Education Center, to be located in Winona, Minnesota. Prohibits the provision of financial assistance unless an application is made to the Director. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· SJRESS.J.Res. 146 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1991
Designates July 2, 1991, as National Literacy Day.
Bill· HRH.R. 2336 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1991
Income-Dependent Education Assistance Act of 1991 - Establishes the income-dependent education assistance (IDEA) program of supplemental direct higher education student loans in which a borrower's annual repayment obligation is dependent upon both postschool income level and borrowing history. Title I: System for Making Income-Dependent Education Assistance Loans - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) make IDEA loans to eligible students in accordance with this title; and (2) establish an account for each IDEA loan borrower and collect repayments on such loans using the income tax collection system under specified Internal Revenue Code provisions added by title II of this Act. Sets forth provisions for the terms and enforcement of IDEA program agreements between the Secretary of Education and eligible institutions. Sets forth provisions for the amounts and terms of IDEA loans. Sets annual limits on the amounts of such loans to various categories of students. Sets a limitation on individual borrowing capacity, with adjustments for inflation and with consideration of any outstanding student loan obligations. Limits the duration of individual eligibility for such loans. Sets forth requirements for: (1) agreements to the terms of such loans; and (2) disbursement of the proceeds of such loans. Sets forth the responsibilities of eligible institutions and of the Secretary of the Treasury for certain information requirements relating to the IDEA loan program. Sets forth provisions for interest charges on such loans. Requires such charges to be added to the recipient's obligation account at the end of each calendar year. Bases such charges on an interest rate equal to the lesser of: (1) ten percent; or (2) the sum of the average bond equivalent rates of 91-day Treasury bills auctioned for the previous year, plus two percentage points, rounded to the next higher one-eighth of one percent. Provides for conversion and consolidation of certain other types of student loans as IDEA loans. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, upon request of borrowers who have received federally insured or guaranteed loans under specified provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) (Stafford loans) or of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) (HEAL loans), to make new IDEA loans to such borrowers which are equal to the sum of the unpaid principal of those other loans and which discharge the liability on those other loans. Provides for mandatory conversion of certain defaulted student loans to IDEA loans. Requires IDEA collection treatment of any loan made, insured, or guaranteed under specified provisions of HEA or PHSA after enactment of this Act which is assigned after default for collection by the Secretary of Education or the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Directs such Secretaries to notify: (1) the Secretary of the Treasury of the need to establish or adjust an IDEA account for such loan's borrower; and (2) the borrower of the conversion of the defaulted loan to an IDEA loan and the procedures for collection under the income tax system. Terminates the authority to make additional loans under the HEA programs of supplemental loans for students (SLS) and direct loans to students in institutions of higher education, for any academic year beginning after the date regulations are prescribed by the Secretaries of Education and the Treasury to carry out this title. Authorizes appropriations to: (1) make distributions of IDEA loan funds to eligible institutions; and (2) administer and carry out this title. Bases student eligibility for IDEA loans on their eligibility for student assistance under specified HEA provisions and their carrying at least one-half the normal full-time academic workload. Title II: Collection of Income-Dependent Education Assistance Loans - Amends the Internal Code to add provisions for the collection of IDEA loans. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to notify each IDEA loan borrower of their yearly repayment obligation. Sets forth formulas for computation of the annual IDEA loan repayment amount. Makes such amount equal to the lesser of: (1) 20 percent of the excess of the modified adjusted income of the taxpayer for such taxable year over the standard deduction and exemption (twice for joint returns); or (2) the product of a base amortization amount and a progressivity factor based on the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income. Defines "base amortization amount" as the amount which, if paid at the close of each year for 12 consecutive years, would fully repay (with an eight-percent annual interest rate) the maximum account balance of the borrower. Sets forth progressivity factor tables for various types of taxpayers. Provides that, in general, the repayment obligation of an IDEA loan borrower shall terminate only if there is repaid: (1) in the case of any repayment during the first 12 years for which the borrower is in repayment status, the principal plus interest at an annual rate equal to the otherwise applicable rate plus two and one-half percent; and (2) in the case of any repayment during any subsequent year (or in the case of loans under $3,000 repaid during the first 12 years), the principal plus interest at applicable rates. Requires no repayment after 25 years in repayment status. Sets forth provisions for the determination of years in repayment status. Sets forth the requirements for payment of the amount owing. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to assess and collect any unpaid amount in the same manner as for any delay in the payment of income tax. Provides for discharge, by the Secretary of Education, of the IDEA loan liability of any borrower who dies or becomes permanently and totally disabled. Provides for crediting of amounts paid on a joint return. Sets forth formulas for computation of an alternative annual payment for individuals who have attained age 55. Provides for inflation adjustment in the computation of the progressivity factor. Provides that, in general, an IDEA loan shall not be dischargeable in a case of bankruptcy, but authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to postpone certain portions of the loan liability in such cases. Makes specified provisions relating to finality of assessment and collection applicable to such loans. Includes the amount required to be repaid for IDEA loan uner amounts listed under requirements relating to failure by an individual to pay estimated income tax. Requires individuals who are obligated to make IDEA loan repayments to file income tax returns for the applicable years.
Bill· HRH.R. 2312 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1991
Amends the Follow Through Act and the Head Start Transition Project Act to direct the Secretaries of Education and of Health and Human Services to coordinate the programs under such Acts, including review of applications for funds and issuance of regulations.
Law· HRH.R. 2313 (102nd)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1991
Amends the School Dropout Demonstration Assistance Act of 1988 to extend the authorization of appropriations. Increases the amount of funds reserved for evaluation of programs assisted under such Act. Makes any local educational agency, educational partnership, or community-based organization that has received a grant under such Act eligible for additional funds, subject to the requirements of such Act. Sets the Federal share at 75 percent of project costs in each succeeding fiscal year after the first year. (Current law sets such share only for the second year.) Adds mentoring programs to the list of authorized uses of grants by educational partnerships.
Bill· HRH.R. 2331 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1991
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to permit awarding Pell Grants to less-than-half-time students.
Bill· HRH.R. 2343 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1991
Family Planning Amendments Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to remove provisions allowing the Secretary of Health and Human Services, on request of a family planning project grant recipient, to reduce the amount of the grant by the value of supplies or equipment furnished by the Secretary. Authorizes appropriations for grants and contracts for such projects. Repeals formula grant provisions relating to family planning services. Allows training grants and contracts to be used for technical assistance, training (including clinical training for obstetric-gynecologic nurse practitioners), and training for educators and counselors. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct and to make grants and contracts for research on and evaluation of new or improved contraceptive devices, drugs, and techniques. Authorizes appropriations. Allows research grants and contracts to be made for evaluation as well as for development of contraceptives, and to improve clinical management and direct delivery of family planning services. Authorizes grants and contracts to make available to all persons desiring it information and education to enable responsible choices concerning sexuality, reproductive health, pregnancy, and parenthood. Authorizes appropriations. Requires grant recipients under provisions relating to family planning methods or services to offer women information on pregnancy management options, defined as nondirective counseling and referrals regarding: (1) prenatal care and delivery; (2) infant care, foster care, and adoption; and (3) termination of the pregnancy. Directs the Secretary to annually, through grants and contracts, collect data on: (1) individuals receiving family planning services and the types of services chosen; (2) the number of certain types of individuals at risk of unintended pregnancies; and (3) the sources of funding for subsidized family planning services. Requires a currently-mandated report and five-year plan to be based on the data collected. Authorizes appropriations for administration of population research and family planning programs provisions of the Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 2317 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1991
Indian Development Investment Zone Act of 1991 - Title I: Designation of Indian Development Investment Zones - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the designation of Indian enterprise zones by the Secretary of the Interior for purposes of providing tax relief and increasing the economic stake of tribal residents in their community and its development. Sets forth eligibility requirements and required tribal commitments for such designations. Requires the Secretary to prepare and submit to the Congress every four years a report on the effects of such Indian enterprise zones' designation. Requires that any tax reduction effected by a tribal commitment under the terms of this Act be disregarded for purposes of determining the eligibility of a tribe for Federal assistance or benefits. Title II: Federal Income Tax Incentives - Subtitle A: Credits for Employers - Allows employers located in Indian enterprise zones a nonrefundable income tax credit for qualified increased employment expenditures and for certain wages paid to economically disadvantaged individuals. Subtitle B: Credits for Investment in Tangible Property in Indian Enterprise Zones - Allows businesses an additional investment tax credit for investment in certain tangible property located in Indian enterprise zones. Subtitle C: Sense of the Congress with Respect to Tax Simplification - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of the Treasury should simplify the administration and enforcement of amendments made by this Act. Title III: Establishment of Foreign-Trade Zones in Indian Enterprise Zones - Requires the Foreign Trade Zone Board to consider on a priority basis and to expedite the processing of applications for the establishment of foreign-trade zones within Indian enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to give priority to, and expedite the processing of, applications for the establishment of foreign-trade zones within Indian enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to give priority to, and expedite applications for, the establishment of ports of entry necessary to establish such zones. Title IV: Conflict Resolution in Indian Enterprise Zones - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to approve plans, pursuant to a tribal economic development plan, that include provisions for conflict resolution between enterprise zone parties. Requires that such plans not encumber the trust assets of the tribe. Title V: Amendment to Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act - Amends the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act to permit contractors of a Federal agency additional compensation equal to five percent of certain payments made to a subcontractor or supplier that is an Indian organization or Indian-owned economic enterprise.
Bill· HRH.R. 2340 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1991
Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to repeal provisions relating to limitations on IRA (Individual retirement account) deductions for active participants in certain pension plans and nondeductible contributions to individual retirement plans, thus restoring the prior law for deduction for retirement savings. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from the penalty on early distributions from individual retirement plans distributions for: (1) long-term health care insurance premiums; and (2) educational expenses for higher education or a vocational school. Provides a tax exclusion for distributions from such plans used to acquire a first home. Limits such distribution to $10,000.
Bill· HRH.R. 2311 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1991
Community Mental Health Services Improvement Act of 1991 - Title I: Community Mental Health Services Block Grant - Amends title XIX (Block Grants) of the Public Health Service Act to replace provisions relating to State comprehensive mental health services plans with provisions directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, to make a grant to each State each year for providing, through community mental health centers, comprehensive community mental health services to adults with serious mental illness and to children with a serious emotional disturbance. Includes in the comprehensive package health, mental health, rehabilitation, employment, housing, educational, dental, and other support services. Requires, for such children, a system of integrated social, educational, juvenile, substance abuse, health, and mental health services. Sets forth criteria for the centers, including providing: (1) 24-hour-a-day emergency services; and (2) day treatment or other partial hospitalization services, or psychosocial rehabilitation services. Requires States to establish and maintain a State mental health planning council to: (1) serve as an advocate for individuals with mental illnesses or emotional problems; and (2) review the allocation and adequacy of mental health services in the State. Authorizes appropriations to carry out: (1) this title; and (2) provisions requiring annual data collection on mental illness. Provides, with regard to existing alcohol and drug abuse and mental health services block grant provisions and the provisions added by this title, for: (1) annual independent peer review to assess the quality and appropriateness of treatment services; (2) a single consolidated application for States to request funds; (3) considering programs or activities funded in whole or in part with funds under such provisions as programs or activities receiving Federal financial assistance for purposes of specified civil rights laws; (4) a prohibition of discrimination in such programs or activities on the basis of sex or religion; and (5) a prohibition of the Secretary delegating to the States the primary responsibility for interpreting governing provisions. Title II: Comprehensive Mental Health Services for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances - Directs the Secretary of HHS, through the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, to make grants to States and their political subdivisions for comprehensive community mental health services to seriously emotionally disturbed children. Allows such grants only to those already receiving payments under existing alcohol and drug abuse and mental health services block grant provisions. Requires, in making the grants, special consideration for an entity which agrees to provide non-Federal contributions greater than required. Requires non-Federal contributions in a specified ratio. Requires grantees to establish and operate, through grants and contracts, one system to provide specified mental health services to children under 22 years old, including 24-hour-a-day emergency services, home-based services, day treatment, respite care, and therapeutic foster care. Requires a memorandum of understanding, to facilitate the availability of services, with providers of medical, educational, vocational counseling, vocational rehabilitation, and mental health protection and advocacy services. Prohibits using grant funds or non-Federal contributions made with respect to the grant for such linked non-mental health services. Requires that the system: (1) enter into a memorandum of understanding regarding facilitation of services available under programs such as title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act and specified provisions of the Education of the Handicapped Act; (2) provide case management services; and (3) develop and implement an individualized plan of services for each child admitted to the system. Mandates submission by the States and approval by the Secretary of a system plan. Limits fees for system services. Limits grants to five years. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Mental Health Research - Transfers provisions relating to service research on community-based mental health treatment programs from portions of the Public Health Service Act relating to State comprehensive mental health services plans to portions relating to mental health research. Requires set-aside of a specified percentage of funds appropriated under the Act for mental health research to carry out the transferred provisions. Replaces, in the transferred provisions, references to the Administrator of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration with references to the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health. Title IV: Protection and Advocacy for Mentally Ill Individuals - Amends the Protection and Advocacy for Mentally Ill Individuals Act of 1986 to include in the definition of "mentally ill individual" a person with a significant mental illness or emotional impairment who is imprisoned in a State or Federal facility. Authorizes appropriations to carry out provisions of such Act relating to protection and advocacy systems. Title V: Conforming Amendments - Amends the Public Health Service Act to conform to changes made by this Act. Title VI: Federal Accountability - Declares ineffective any rule or regulation of the Department of Health and Human Services inconsistent with the amendments made by this Act, including a specified regulation recognizing that, under the block grant programs, the States are primarily responsible for interpreting the governing statutory provisions. Title VII: General Provisions - Sets forth the effective date of this Act and the amendments made by this Act.