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Bill· SS. 672 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1991
Petroleum Marketing Practices Amendments Act of 1991 - Amends the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act to modify the definition of "contract" to include any contract between specified parties which is economically necessary to the operation of the franchise. Provides that the termination or non-renewal of a franchise relationship, upon expiration of an underlying lease for marketing premises, is reasonable if specified conditions exist.
Bill· HRH.R. 1452 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1991
National Magnetic Levitation Research and Development Act of 1990 - Directs the President to designate a lead Federal agency or agencies, in collaboration with other specified Federal agencies, to develop a national strategic plan for research, development, and demonstration leading to a national magnetic levitation transportation system. Requires such lead agency or agencies to conduct a national competition in which grants shall be awarded for research and development of a design for such system. Sets forth criteria for the selection of a design. Requires the Secretary of Energy, in collaboration with the lead agency or agencies, to establish a long-term, advanced magnetic levitation research and development program. Requires the Secretary to designate one of the National Energy Laboratories as the Lead Magnetic Levitation Research and Development Center with responsibility for the research and development program. Provides for the protection of trade secrets and other information resulting from activities under this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 1418 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1991
Farm and Forestry Energy Conservation Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Soil Conservation Service, to establish a Federal energy conservation program with respect to: (1) tillage practices; (2) chemical and fertilizer use; (3) irrigation management; (4) livestock management; (5) horticulture; and (6) wood utilization. Directs the Secretary to make grants to individuals or institutions for eligible energy conservation projects. Limits such grant amounts, but authorizes a higher limit for institutions converting their heating systems to wood burning ones. Requires an eligible State to establish a State energy conservation review panel. Directs the Secretary to provide demonstration projects and make educational and technical assistance available. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 1411 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1991
Used Oil Recycling Act of 1991 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from listing or identifying as a hazardous waste any: (1) recycled oil; (2) used oil transferred to a person who certifies that such oil will be rerefined, processed, or reclaimed for a beneficial purpose or stored less than 12 months prior to such transfer; and (3) used oil which has been removed from the engine of a light duty motor vehicle or household appliance by the owner, transferred to a service station dealer, and stored by the dealer for less than 12 months. Requires the Administrator to determine whether to list as a hazardous waste used oil which is a solid waste and does not satisfy the above-listed criteria. Directs the Administrator to establish management standards for the storage, testing, transportation, treatment, exportation and importation, and processing of used oil. Requires such standards to be designed to protect human health and the environment by encouraging and expanding reliance on recycling of used oil. Exempts generators of used oil from recordkeeping or reporting requirements if such generators: (1) enter into an agreement for delivery of such oil to a recycling facility whose owner or operator certifies compliance with such standards or recycles such oil; (2) do not mix the oil with any hazardous wastes; and (3) maintain necessary records relating to the oil. Prohibits mixing used oil with any hazardous waste identified under such Act except where: (1) such mixing involves an identified hazardous waste and the resulting mixture does not exhibit a characteristic identified in such Act; and (2) the used oil mixture is burned to recover useful energy such that protection of human health and the environment is assured. Deems owners or operators of facilities which process used oil for fuel to have permits for recycling activities if in compliance with management standards. Directs the Administrator to conduct inspections of such facilities to determine compliance with such standards. Requires the Administrator to implement educational programs to inform the public about the environmental and safety hazards associated with improper handling of used oil and the benefits of used oil recycling. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations concerning the procurement of used oil fuel by Federal agencies subject to the requirements of the Solid Waste Disposal Act.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 109 (102nd)passed
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1991
Elects Representative Frederick S. Upton to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Bill· SS. 610 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1991
Surface Transportation Assistance 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 Program; (2) the Urban and Rural Program; (3) the Bridge Program; (4) the Right-of-Way Revolving Fund; (5) emergency relief; (6) the Federal Lands Highway Program; (7) the University Transportation Centers Program; and (8) highway use tax evasion projects. 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 (IS) 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. Defines the National Highway System (NHS) as: (1) the highways of the IS; (2) other urban and rural principal arterials, including toll facilities; (3) highways of the Strategic Highway Network (SHN) (defined as a network of highways that constitutes an important factor in U.S. strategic defense policy); and (4) major Strategic Highway Network Connectors (SHNCs) (which provide access from major military installations to the SHN). Makes the following activities, subject to specified conditions, eligible for funding: (1) construction; (2) operational and highway safety improvements; (3) modifications to existing facilities necessary to accommodate other modes; (4) transportation planning; (5) highway safety research and development; (6) technology transfer activities; (7) control of junkyards and outdoor advertising; (8) projects that enhance rural and urban accessibility and mobility; and (9) startup costs for traffic management and control. Specifies that: (1) designation of the NHS, other than the IS, SHN, and SHNCs, shall be by the State in cooperation with local officials; (2) in urbanized areas, local officials shall act through the designated metropolitan planning organization; (3) the NHS 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 (4) the Secretary shall have the authority to approve, in whole or in part, the NHS and may add segments to the NHS as necessary to meet National Highway Program objectives. Sets forth further specifications with respect to the use of the NHS by trucks, the selection of projects by the States, and new construction or major reconstruction of NHS beltways and bypasses. Directs the Secretary to establish an Urban and Rural 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 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. Declares it to be in the vital interest of the nation that a program be established to enable the States and Federal agencies to replace and rehabilitate highway bridges over waterways, other topographical barriers, other highways, or railroads when the State or Federal agencies and the Secretary find that a bridge is important, that it is unsafe and poses a safety hazard to highway users, that its replacement or rehabilitation would minimize disruptions, delays and costs to users, or that its replacement or rehabilitation would provide more efficient routes for emergency services. Directs the Secretary to: (1) inventory all highway bridges; (2) assess each bridge from the standpoint of safety and adequacy to serve traffic, based upon level-of-service criteria set by the Secretary; (3) assign each bridge not meeting such criteria to an improvement category (i.e., replacement or rehabilitation); and (4) determine the cost of improving each bridge based on such category. Sets forth requirements and procedures for Federal participation in, and approval of, bridge replacement and rehabilitation projects. Makes funds available to the States under a Major Bridge Discretionary Program. Sets forth criteria and requirements under such program. Makes provisions of the General Bridge Act of 1946 applicable to bridges authorized to be replaced, in whole or in part, by this Act, with exceptions. Specifies the Federal share (up to 75 percent) of bridge construction. Directs the Secretary to: (1) implement programs, in a manner that encourages the inventory, retention, rehabilitation, adaptive reuse, and future study of historic bridges; and (2) require each State to complete an inventory of all bridges on and off the Federal-aid system to determine their historic significance. Makes funds available for the repair or reconstruction of highways which the Secretary finds to have suffered serious damage as the result of a natural disaster over a wide area or a catastrophic failure from any external cause in any part of the United States, subject to specified restrictions. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) assist the territorial governments of the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in a program for the construction and improvement of a system of arterial highways and necessary inter-island connectors designated by the Governor of each territory; and (2) provide technical assistance for the establishment of an appropriate agency to administer on a continuing basis highway planning, design, construction, and maintenance operations. Makes funds available for engineering and economic surveys and investigations, planning of future highway programs, studies of the economy, safety, and convenience and the desirable regulation and equitable taxation of highway usage, and for research and development. Establishes a coordinated Federal Lands Highways Program consisting of forest highways, park roads and parkways, and Indian reservation roads. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) engage in research, development, and technology transfer activities on motor carrier transportation and all phases of highway planning and development; (2) enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with the National Academy of Sciences, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or any State agency, authority, organization, or person, for such purposes; (3) make grants for research fellowships for such purposes; (4) engage in research, development, technology transfer, and other activities related to Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems; and (5) undertake on a cost-shared basis collaborative research and development with non-Federal entities. Directs the Secretary to establish and operate in the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) a National Highway Institute to develop and administer training programs for FHWA State and local transportation and highway department employees, State and local police, public safety and motor vehicle employees, and U.S. citizens and foreign nationals engaged in highway work of interest to the United States. Sets forth provisions with respect to the Federal share of the cost of tuition and direct educational expenses. Authorizes the Secretary to 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 in rural areas with access to modern highway technology. 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 and promote U.S. highway expertise internationally, and increase transfers of U.S. highway transportation technology to foreign countries. 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, system performance, and 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 Program, the Urban and Rural 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). 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. Requires the States and the Federal agencies to exercise effective control of the erection and maintenance of outdoor advertising signs, displays, or devices in areas adjacent to the NHS and rural arterials located outside of urbanized areas, and of the establishment and maintenance of junkyards outside of urbanized areas adjacent to the NHS. Encourages, and authorizes the Secretary to allocate funds to, States to initiate or expand efforts for planning and program development for scenic byways. Directs the Secretary to issue guidelines for evaluation of congestion pricing measures proposed in response to air quality problems for operational tests in designated urbanized areas. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the availability and apportionment of funds for the various programs, including specifications of the Federal share of certain projects; (2) administration of Federal lands highways funds; (3) acquisition of rights-of-way; and (4) private, State, and local donations. Specifies that the State matching share for a project with respect to which Federal assistance is provided out of the Highway Account of the HTF may be credited with the fair market value of land incorporated into the project and lawfully donated to the State after April 2, 1987, and the fair market value of land owned by the State or a local government and incorporated into the project. Authorizes the Secretary to withhold project approvals on National Highway 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 such systems, as well as a traffic monitoring system to provide statistically-based traffic data. Requires any State transportation or highway department which submits plans for: (1) a National Highway Program project involving the bypassing of, or going through, any city, town, or village, to certify to the Secretary that it has had public hearings or the opportunity for hearings and has considered the economic, social, and environmental effects and its consistency with the goals and objectives of urban planning promulgated by the community; and (2) an IS project to make a similar certification to enable persons in rural areas who have property contiguous to the highway or property through which the highway will pass to express objections they may have to the proposed locations of the highway. Requires the State transportation or highway department to prepare a record of the hearing. Sets forth NHS standards which, at a minimum, enable National Highway Program projects to accommodate the types and volumes of traffic anticipated for the project for a 20-year period, with exceptions. Sets forth additional provisions with respect to: (1) sign, curb, and pavement marking and traffic signal standards; (2) highway and railroad grade crossing safety standards; (3) soil erosion guidelines; (4) consideration of economic, social, and environmental effects; and (5) highway noise level standards. Directs the Secretary: (1) to develop and promulgate guidelines to assure that highways constructed pursuant to this title are in conformity with any approved plan for the implementation of any ambient air quality standard for any air quality control region designated pursuant to the Clean Air Act, as amended; (2) not to approve projects involving bridge approaches if the project and bridge will significantly affect the traffic volume and the highway system of a contiguous State without first taking into full consideration the views of such State; and (3) not to approve 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 that projects for resurfacing, restructuring, or rehabilitating any highway, other than a fully access-controlled highway, in which Federal funds participated be constructed in accordance with standards to preserve and extend the service life of highways and to enhance highway safety, and that projects on fully access-controlled highways be constructed in accordance with new construction and major reconstruction standards. Sets forth: (1) procedures for submission and approval of State transportation or highway department plans, specifications, and estimates for proposed projects; (2) alternate project procedures; and (3) provisions with respect to right-of-way agreements, including commercial use and management of rest areas, vending machines, and the use of income from right-of-way airspace. Establishes guidelines with respect to highway construction, including: (1) limitations on the use of convict labor; (2) State warranty or guarantee provisions; (3) bidding requirements; (4) wages; (5) equal employment opportunity provisions, including the prohibition of discrimination based on sex; (6) highway construction training, including training of disadvantaged businesses to achieve proficiency to compete for contracts and subcontracts; (7) Indian employment; and (8) provisions with respect to utility facilities. Makes it the duty of the State transportation or highway department to maintain NHS projects and the IS. Authorizes the Secretary to approve as an NHS project the acquisition of land adjacent to the right-of-way for the construction of carpool and other publicly-owned parking facilities, to encourage carpools, for exclusive or preferential high occupancy vehicle lanes, and to accommodate needed rail (included high speed ground transportation and magnetic levitation systems) or non-highway public mass transit facilities, subject to specified conditions. Authorizes: (1) the State 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, subject to specified limitations; and (2) the Secretary to approve as part of highway construction the costs of landscaped and roadside development. Declares it to be Government policy that special effort should be made to preserve the natural beauty on the countryside, public park and recreation lands, wildlife and waterfowl refuges, and historic sites. Authorizes the Secretary to approve certain transportation programs or projects requiring the use of publicly-owned land of a public park, recreation area, wildlife and waterfowl refuge, or historic site only if: (1) there is no prudent and feasible alternative to using such land; and (2) the program or project includes all possible planning to minimize harm to such park, recreation area, wildlife and waterfowl refuge, or historic site resulting from such use. Authorizes the use of National Highway Program and Urban and Rural Program funds to participate in wetland mitigation banks or to contribute to statewide programs that create, conserve, or enhance wetland habitat. Authorizes the Secretary, in an emergency, to use certain Department of Transportation appropriations for medical assistance necessary for the immediate relief of FHWA employees engaged in hazardous work. Declares it to be in the national interest to utilize small business enterprises to the fullest practicable extent in highway construction. Authorizes the Secretary to provide for: (1) the construction and maintenance of defense access roads (including bridges, tubes, and tunnels) to military reservations, defense industries and industry sites, and the sources of raw material when the roads are certified to the Secretary as important to the national defense; and (2) necessary reconstruction of the Alaska-Canada International Highway. Directs the Secretary to report to specified committees periodically regarding the condition and performance of the existing system and estimates of the future highway and bridge needs of the nation, including the results of studies of the air quality impacts of transportation programs. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out experimental programs which allow the FHWA and the States to demonstrate innovative and nontraditional design, construction, and management practices, or both, for highway projects while utilizing a competitive process for selection of contractors. Directs the Secretary to evaluate such projects and report on the results. Transfers funds made available for transit projects under this Act or under Federal highway provisions to, and for administration by, the Mass Transportation Administration. Lists Federal highway provisions, as amended by this Act, which are designed to promote clean air, such as: (1) the Research and Technology Program (to enable States to more effectively assess environmental impacts and the effectiveness of mitigation strategies); (2) the Urbanized Area Planning Program (requiring consideration of long-range land use plans, development objectives, and overall social, economic, and environmental impacts; consideration of all modes of transportation, including intermodal connectivity; and development of a multimodal congestion management system); (3) a right-of-way airspace provision permitting the use of income from such right-of-way without charge for high speed rail, magnetic levitation systems, and other transit use; and (4) provisions permitting bicycle and pedestrian projects with National Highway, Urban and Rural, and Federal Lands Highways Program funds. Waives matching fund requirements of qualifying projects between October 1, 1991 and September 30, 1993. Specifies that the Federal share shall be the percentage of the construction costs as the State transportation or highway department requests, up to 100 percent, but that the total amount of increased Federal share per fiscal year which may be obligated for qualifying projects in any State shall not be greater than 25 percent of the total amounts apportioned for the National Highway, Urban and Rural, and Bridge Programs in FY 1992. Requires States to repay the total amount of increases in the Federal share on or before March 30, 1994. Repeals provisions of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1978 prohibiting the expenditure of Federal funds for highway signs relating to speed limit, distance, or other measurement solely using the metric system. Sets forth limitations on obligations for Federal-aid highway program for FY 1992 through 1996 and provisions regarding the redistribution of unused obligation authority. Title II: Highway Safety Act of 1991 - Highway Safety Act of 1991 - Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Account of the HTF for: (1) FHWA highway safety programs; (2) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) highway safety programs and highway safety research and development; (3) a National Driver Register; (4) traffic and motor vehicle safety programs; and (5) motor vehicle information and cost saving programs. Directs the Secretary to periodically conduct a rulemaking to determine those programs most effective in reducing highway crashes, injuries, and deaths. Specifies that: (1) any rule issued pursuant to such rulemaking shall be developed in cooperation with the States; and (2) when such a rule takes effect, only the programs established by the rule as most effective in reducing highway crashes, injuries, and deaths shall be eligible to receive Federal financial assistance. Requires the State highway safety agency to coordinate its highway safety plan with the motor carrier safety plan developed under this Act. Directs each State to submit to the Secretary such speed-related data as the Secretary determines is necessary for each 12-month period ending on September 30, including data on citations and travel speeds on public highways with speed limits posted at or above 55 miles per hour (mph). Specifies that: (1) the annual apportionment to the Secretary of the Interior (for Indians in identified areas) shall not be less than three-quarters of one percent of the total apportionment of funds to the States; and (2) the Federal share for highway safety programs shall not exceed 60 percent of the total program costs, with exceptions. Authorizes the Secretary to award safety bonus funds to States that take specific actions to advance highway safety. Establishes criteria and eligibility requirements for, and formulas for determining the amount of, alcohol, safety belt use, and fatality rate bonuses and other safety bonuses (such as having programs that emphasize pedestrian, bicycle, and motorcycle safety; provision for a lead agency at the State level for emergency medical services with adequate powers and equipment; and public information and education programs on significant highway safety problems). Requires the Secretary to periodically report to the Congress on the States' efforts to qualify for safety bonus funds. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) engage in research on all phases of highway safety and traffic conditions, including the effect thereon on State laws and activities related to Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems; (2) test, develop, or assist in the testing and development of any material, invention, patented article, or progress; (3) use appropriated funds for training or education of highway safety personnel, research fellowships in highway safety, development of improved accident investigation procedures, emergency service plans, demonstration projects, and related research and development activities; and (4) carry out safety research on the relationship between the consumption and use of drugs and their effect upon highway safety and drivers of motor vehicles, driver behavior research, and biomechanics research. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) undertake, on a cost-shared basis, collaborative research and development with non-Federal entities; and (2) enter into cooperative research and development agreements, except that the Secretary may agree to provide not more than 70 percent of the cost of any such research and development project and must establish a procedure to consider the views of experts and the public concerning the project areas. Bars a State from having: (1) a maximum speed limit on any public highway within its jurisdiction in excess of 55 mph other than on a highway on the IS located outside of an urbanized area; and (2) a maximum speed limit of 65 mph on any highway within its jurisdiction on the IS located outside of an urbanized area, or under other specified circumstances. Requires each State to annually certify to the Secretary that it is enforcing all speed limits on public highways, after considering the speed-related data it submits to the Secretary. Bars the Secretary from approving projects in any State which has failed to make such certification. Requires the Secretary to withhold ten percent of National Highway, and Urban and Rural, Program funds apportioned to any State on the first day of each fiscal year in which the purchase or public possession in such State of any alcoholic beverage by a person who is less than 21 years of age is lawful. Provides for apportionment of withheld funds to other States which are in compliance with such provision. Requires that all facts contained in any report of a Federal department, agency, officer, employee, or agent relating to a highway traffic crash or investigation be made available for use in any civil, criminal, or other judicial proceeding arising out of the crash. Specifies that: (1) any such officer, employee, or agent may be required to testify in such proceedings as to the facts developed in the investigation; and (2) this and other specified reports shall be made to the public in a manner which does not identify individuals. Directs the Secretary to establish and maintain a National Driver Register to assist chief driver licensing officials of participating States in exchanging information regarding the motor vehicle driving records of individuals. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) the contents of such Register; (2) responsibility for accuracy of information; (3) cut-off dates for maintaining information; (4) State participation in the Register; (5) reports by such officials to the Secretary; and (6) accessibility of Register information. Establishes: (1) criminal penalties for unauthorized disclosure of such information and for requesting and obtaining Register information under false pretenses; and (2) a National Driver Register Advisory Committee. Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Account of the HTF to carry out highway and alcohol safety programs under the safety bonus provisions of this Act. Makes such funds available until expended and not subject to any obligation limitation for State and community highway safety programs. Requires the Secretary to establish: (1) national bridge inspection standards for the proper safety inspection and evaluation of all highway bridges; and (2) a program designed to train governmental employees to carry out highway bridge inspections. Bars the admission into evidence (or use for other purposes) in Federal or State court of reports and surveys compiled to identify, evaluate, or plan the safety enhancement of potential accident sites, hazardous roadway conditions, or railway-highway crossings, for the purpose of developing any highway safety construction improvement project which may be implemented utilizing Federal highway funds. Sets forth provisions regarding the use of automotive crash test dummies. Repeals the annual report requirement of the Highway Safety Act of 1966. Title III: Motor Carrier Act of 1991 - Motor Carrier Act of 1991 - Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Account of the HTF for the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program and for the motor carrier safety functions of the FHWA. Prohibits States from enacting or enforcing laws denying reasonable access to commercial motor vehicles between the NHS and terminals, facilities for food, fuel, repairs, and rest, and points of loading and unloading for household good carriers and for any truck tractor-semitrailer combination in which the semitrailer has a length not to exceed 28 1/2 feet and which generally operates as part of a specified vehicle combination, with exceptions (but allows State or local governments to impose reasonable restrictions, based on safety considerations, on any such combination). Bars States from establishing, maintaining, or enforcing any regulation of commerce which imposes a vehicle length limitation of less than 48 feet on the length of the semitrailer unit operating in a truck tractor-semitrailer combination, and of less than 28 feet on the length of any semitrailer and trailer operating in such a combination, on any segment of the NHS. Sets forth: (1) additional provisions with respect to semitrailer and trailer combinations, and truck tractors; and (2) NHS segment exemptions (and procedures), such as where the Governor of a State transmits to the Secretary notification of specific evidence of safety problems. Sets forth analogous provisions limiting commercial motor vehicle width to 102 inches on NHS segments. Directs the Secretary: (1) within 12 months, to conduct a review of information systems utilized by one or more States or jurisdictions pertaining to the collection of and accounting for fees and taxes for vehicle registration, motor fuel use, or other purposes; (2) within 24 months, to establish an information system to serve as a clearinghouse and depository of information pertaining to the collection of and accounting for fees for registering commercial motor vehicles and taxes charged by States for motor fuel used by such vehicles, with the maintenance of the system to be supported by user fees; and (3) to establish standards to ensure uniform data collection and reporting by all States. Makes funds available for such purpose. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States: (1) for the development and implementation of a program to register and collect commercial motor vehicle fuel taxes according to standards established under this title; and (2) to carry out a project to demonstrate methods of linking safety fitness of the registrant or the motor carrier responsible for the operation of the commercial motor vehicle when registering such vehicle. Makes funds available for such purposes. Authorizes the Secretary to promulgate regulations barring States from registering commercial motor vehicles under the standards established under this title if the State or Secretary determines that the registrant or the motor carrier responsible for the operation of such vehicle has not demonstrated the safety fitness required to operate such vehicle. Authorizes and directs the Attorney General to institute a civil action for injunctive relief that may be appropriate to assure compliance with provisions under this title. Authorizes the court to issue specified injunctive relief as appropriate. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States (including the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories) for the development and implementation of programs for the enforcement of Federal rules, regulations, standards, and orders applicable to commercial motor vehicle safety, vehicle size, and maximum weight, and commercial motor vehicle awareness and enforcement, and compatible State rules, regulations, standards, and orders. Directs the Secretary to formulate procedures for a State to submit a plan where the State agrees to adopt, and assume responsibility for, enforcing such Federal rules. Sets forth requirements for State plans, including ensuring that the State will devote adequate resources for administering the plan and providing a right of entry and inspection to carry out the plan. Directs the Secretary to: (1) reject any State plan that does not provide that the aggregate expenditure of funds of the State and political subdivisions for commercial motor vehicle safety, drug awareness and enforcement, and size and weighing activities will be maintained at a level that does not fall below the average level of expenditures in such State for the last full fiscal year; (2) make a continuing evaluation of the manner in which each State is carrying out its State plan; and (3) withdraw approval under appropriate circumstances (subject to specified procedures and judicial review). Authorizes the Secretary to reimburse a State up to 75 percent of the costs incurred by such State in the development and implementation of programs for the enforcement of such rules, regulations, standards, and orders, and up to 100 percent of such costs if the Secretary determines that such programs are particularly beneficial to all jurisdictions. Sets forth additional provisions with respect to deductions of funds for administration, allocation criteria, the availability, release, and reallocation of funds, obligation of funds, and payments to States. Prohibits States, political subdivisions, or interstate agencies from enacting or enforcing laws or rules relating to interstate or intrastate rates, routes, or services of any motor carrier providing transportation of passengers or property in interstate commerce, or the leasing, rental, or other sourcing of commercial drivers and motor vehicles by interstate motor carriers. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations to establish uniform standards for: (1) the registration of commercial motor vehicles; and (2) the collection and distribution of taxes charged by States for motor fuel used by such vehicles (which, at a minimum, provide for single base State collection with proportional sharing of the motor fuel taxes charged within the States where the commercial motor vehicle is operated, reciprocity among the agreeing States, and uniform, simplified tax reporting requirements). Bars any State from having in effect or enforcing a law or regulation which: (1) limits operation of any commercial motor vehicle within its borders by reason of such vehicle's not being registered in the State when it is registered in another State; and (2) imposes a tax upon the use of motor fuel by commercial motor vehicles, except as may be imposed upon the purchase of fuel within such State, unless the State is in compliance with the requirements established under this title. Authorizes the Secretary to promulgate regulations to establish uniform standards for the collection and distribution of taxes and fees exclusively associated with the purchase, use, and operation of commercial motor vehicles. Sets forth provisions regarding State vehicle size and weight limitations, including a formula for the maximum gross weight to be allowed by any State for vehicles using the IS. Repeals: (1) various provisions of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, including provisions regarding grants for enforcement programs for commercial motor vehicle safety, length and width limitations, and access to the IS, as well as certain unobligated authorizations; and (2) provisions relating to required State registration of operating authority granted by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). Revises Federal provisions with respect to the registration of motor carriers by a State to prohibit any State from requiring an interstate private or former motor carrier or interstate broker of property to prove the lawfulness of specified interstate transportation activity, such as requiring such carrier or broker to: (1) file and maintain a certificate or permit issued to such carrier or broker by the ICC; (2) register more vehicles operated under such a certificate or permit; (3) display or carry on any vehicle any means of identification evidencing the lawfulness of such transportation activity; or (4) pay a fee or a tax with respect to such activities. Title IV: Federal Mass Transportation Act of 1991 - Federal Mass Transportation Act of 1991 - Amends Federal law to rename the Urban Mass Transportation Administration of the Department of Transportation the Mass Transportation Administration. Amends the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 (the Act) to make the following projects eligible to receive discretionary capital grants under the Act: (1) public highways (other than those functionally classified as local or rural minor collectors); (2) the deployment of innovative techniques and methods in the management and operation of public transportation services; and (3) mass transportation services to meet the special needs of elderly and handicapped persons. Authorizes the obligation of such grants for full funding contracts. Revises the eligibility criteria for discretionary capital grants or loans for construction of new fixed guideway systems to provide that such systems: (1) be based upon a thorough assessment of the feasibility of using a variety of innovative financing mechanisms as well as its overall capital plan; and (2) are included in a specified report. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1996. Prohibits the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) from approving an application for discretionary capital grants or loans for the construction of highway transportation projects unless an authorization is made for the fiscal year in which such application is being sought. Authorizes the Secretary to approve innovative highway- and transit-related, immediate action, noncapital-intensive projects to help relieve congestion and transportation-related air quality problems in certain urbanized areas or projects in rural areas that respond to rural transportation problems through innovative approaches and strategies. Sets forth project requirements. Changes from 75 percent to no more than 60 percent the Federal share of net costs for highway transportation projects, except for construction of a new fixed guideway system and extension to a fixed guideway system which shall be up to 50 percent of net project cost. Declares that it is in the national interest to encourage and promote the development of transportation systems that will effectively serve the States and local communities. Directs the Secretary to cooperate with State and local officials in urbanized areas in the development of transportation programs which are based upon long-range land use plans and economical and environmental concerns, including their probable effect on the future development of the area. Requires a metropolitan planning organization to be designated in each urbanized area to develop a transportation improvement program. Authorizes the Secretary to contract for and make grants to States and local agencies, or enter into working agreements with other Federal agencies, for the planning, engineering, design, and evaluation of public transportation projects, and for other technical studies. Makes a specified amount of block grant transportation funds available based on a specified formula for expenditure in certain urbanized areas. Eliminates certain percentage requirements from such formula based grants. Requires recipients of such grants to assure that the proposed program of transportation projects provides for the maximum feasible coordination of public transportation services assisted under the Act with transportation services assisted by other Federal sources. Revises eligibility requirements with respect to such grants. Changes from 80 percent to no more than 60 percent the Federal share of net costs for construction of transportation projects, except for noncapital expenses which shall be 50 percent of net project cost. Authorizes the Secretary, in lieu of the Federal environmental review procedures under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, to approve projects by recipients of assistance under the Act who assume responsibilities for environmental review, decisionmaking, and other action that would apply to the Secretary if such projects were undertaken as Federal projects. Requires each recipient to submit a certain annual certification with respect to the approval of such projects. Includes research on transportation safety as a responsibility of each university transportation center established under the Act. Requires the Secretary to coordinate the research, education, training, and technology transfer in such centers, the dissemination of the results of the research, and a clearinghouse between the centers and the transportation industry. Directs the Secretary to make grants to universities to establish three additional National Centers for Transportation Management, Research, and Development as a means to accelerate the involvement of minorities and women in transportation-related professions, particularly in the science, technology, and engineering disciplines. Authorizes the Secretary to make funds that are appropriated to the Department of Transportation for transportation research available to one or more of the centers for research that is compatible with the research conducted in such centers pursuant to authorizations under the Act or the HTF. Authorizes the Secretary to transfer facilities and equipment that are acquired by a recipient of Federal transportation funds and are no longer needed by the recipient to any public body to be used for any public purpose for no less than five years after such transfer. Sets forth specified determinations to be made by the Secretary with respect to the transfer of such assets for purposes other than for mass transportation. Requires funds that are available under the Act for public highway projects to be transferred to the FHWA. Requires construction employees who work on transportation construction projects in excess of $250,000 to be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing on similar construction in the locality. Prohibits any person from dividing any project into contracts of $250,000 or less if such project would not have been divided but for avoiding such minimum wage rate requirement. Revises provisions of the Act relating to Federal transportation assistance for mass transportation projects that meet the special needs of elderly persons and individuals with disabilities. Changes from 95 percent to no more than 60 percent the Federal share of net costs for such projects. Authorizes the Governor of a State to allocate certain Federal transportation funds for construction of highway projects to certain urbanized areas. Requires the Secretary to evaluate the performance of each Governor in allocating such funds every three years. Limits the amount of formula based grants for transportation projects in nonurbanized areas that may be used for operating assistance. Changes from 80 percent to no more than 60 percent the Federal share of net costs for public transportation construction projects in nonurbanized areas. Makes public highways (other than those functionally classified as local or rural minor collectors) eligible construction projects to receive Federal transportation formula based grants for nonurbanized areas provided specified conditions are met. Authorizes States to transfer facilities and equipment acquired with such assistance to recipients eligible to receive assistance under this Act so long as such assets continue to be used for transportation purposes. Authorizes the Secretary to retain funds returned to him or her in connection with grants or contracts for human resources projects that involve public transportation. Authorizes appropriations from the Mass Transit Account of the HTF for FY 1992 through 1996 for mass transportation projects. Sets forth a formula for allocation of such funds. Authorizes the Secretary to issue regulations requiring as a condition to receiving mass transportation assistance that a recipient certify that it has established alcohol and drug abuse control and testing programs for itself or for its workers who are involved in safety sensitive functions. Prohibits the Secretary from using more than three-quarters of one percent (currently, one-half of one percent) of funds for mass transportation projects to contract with persons to oversee the construction of such projects. Earmarks one-third of the funds appropriated from the Mass Transit Account of the HTF for grants or contracts for mass transportation projects. Authorizes the Secretary to charge and retain fees, tuition, or other related amounts resulting from conferences, seminars, and training sessions for the development of transit technology. Authorizes the Secretary to establish a program of transit technology development. Directs the Secretary to establish an Industry Technical Panel consisting of representatives of transportation suppliers and operators and others involved in technology development to assist him or her in the identification of priority technology development areas and in establishing guidelines for project development, project cost sharing, and project execution. Allocates on a specified formula funds from the HTF for State and local transit cooperative research and planning programs. Title V: Highway Revenue Act of 1991 - Highway Revenue Act of 1991 - Extends for three years: (1) HTF taxes and related exemptions; and (2) HTF appropriations and authorizations. Makes amounts in the Highway Account of the HTF available for specified traffic safety and cost savings programs. Makes conforming amendments to the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) reduce Federal gasoline, and diesel and special motor fuels, taxes; and (2) reduce the amount transferred by the Secretary of the Treasury to the Mass Transit Account as the mass transit portion of the amount appropriated to the HTF which are attributable to taxes under the Code imposed after March 31, 1983.
Bill· HRH.R. 1351 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1991
Surface Transportation Assistance 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 Program; (2) the Urban and Rural Program; (3) the Bridge Program; (4) the Right-of-Way Revolving Fund; (5) emergency relief; (6) the Federal Lands Highway Program; (7) the University Transportation Centers Program; and (8) highway use tax evasion projects. 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 (IS) 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. Defines the National Highway System (NHS) as: (1) the highways of the IS; (2) other urban and rural principal arterials, including toll facilities; (3) highways of the Strategic Highway Network (SHN) (defined as a network of highways that constitutes an important factor in U.S. strategic defense policy); and (4) major Strategic Highway Network Connectors (SHNCs) (which provide access from major military installations to the SHN). Makes the following activities, subject to specified conditions, eligible for funding: (1) construction; (2) operational and highway safety improvements; (3) modifications to existing facilities necessary to accommodate other modes; (4) transportation planning; (5) highway safety research and development; (6) technology transfer activities; (7) control of junkyards and outdoor advertising; (8) projects that enhance rural and urban accessibility and mobility; and (9) startup costs for traffic management and control. Specifies that: (1) designation of the NHS, other than the IS, SHN, and SHNCs, shall be by the State in cooperation with local officials; (2) in urbanized areas, local officials shall act through the designated metropolitan planning organization; (3) the NHS 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 (4) the Secretary shall have the authority to approve, in whole or in part, the NHS and may add segments to the NHS as necessary to meet National Highway Program objectives. Sets forth further specifications with respect to the use of the NHS by trucks, the selection of projects by the States, and new construction or major reconstruction of NHS beltways and bypasses. Directs the Secretary to establish an Urban and Rural 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 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. Declares it to be in the vital interest of the nation that a program be established to enable the States and Federal agencies to replace and rehabilitate highway bridges over waterways, other topographical barriers, other highways, or railroads when the State or Federal agencies and the Secretary find that a bridge is important, that it is unsafe and poses a safety hazard to highway users, that its replacement or rehabilitation would minimize disruptions, delays and costs to users, or that its replacement or rehabilitation would provide more efficient routes for emergency services. Directs the Secretary to: (1) inventory all highway bridges; (2) assess each bridge from the standpoint of safety and adequacy to serve traffic, based upon level-of-service criteria set by the Secretary; (3) assign each bridge not meeting such criteria to an improvement category (i.e., replacement or rehabilitation); and (4) determine the cost of improving each bridge based on such category. Sets forth requirements and procedures for Federal participation in, and approval of, bridge replacement and rehabilitation projects. Makes funds available to the States under a Major Bridge Discretionary Program. Sets forth criteria and requirements under such program. Makes provisions of the General Bridge Act of 1946 applicable to bridges authorized to be replaced, in whole or in part, by this Act, with exceptions. Specifies the Federal share (up to 75 percent) of bridge construction. Directs the Secretary to: (1) implement programs, in a manner that encourages the inventory, retention, rehabilitation, adaptive reuse, and future study of historic bridges; and (2) require each State to complete an inventory of all bridges on and off the Federal-aid system to determine their historic significance. Makes funds available for the repair or reconstruction of highways which the Secretary finds to have suffered serious damage as the result of a natural disaster over a wide area or a catastrophic failure from any external cause in any part of the United States, subject to specified restrictions. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) assist the territorial governments of the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in a program for the construction and improvement of a system of arterial highways and necessary inter-island connectors designated by the Governor of each territory; and (2) provide technical assistance for the establishment of an appropriate agency to administer on a continuing basis highway planning, design, construction, and maintenance operations. Makes funds available for engineering and economic surveys and investigations, planning of future highway programs, studies of the economy, safety, and convenience and the desirable regulation and equitable taxation of highway usage, and for research and development. Establishes a coordinated Federal Lands Highways Program consisting of forest highways, park roads and parkways, and Indian reservation roads. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) engage in research, development, and technology transfer activities on motor carrier transportation and all phases of highway planning and development; (2) enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with the National Academy of Sciences, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or any State agency, authority, organization, or person, for such purposes; (3) make grants for research fellowships for such purposes; (4) engage in research, development, technology transfer, and other activities related to Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems; and (5) undertake on a cost-shared basis collaborative research and development with non-Federal entities. Directs the Secretary to establish and operate in the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) a National Highway Institute to develop and administer training programs for FHWA State and local transportation and highway department employees, State and local police, public safety and motor vehicle employees, and U.S. citizens and foreign nationals engaged in highway work of interest to the United States. Sets forth provisions with respect to the Federal share of the cost of tuition and direct educational expenses. Authorizes the Secretary to 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 in rural areas with access to modern highway technology. 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 expertise internationally, and increase transfers of U.S. highway transportation technology to foreign countries. 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 Program, the Urban and Rural 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.) 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. Requires the States and the Federal agencies to exercise effective control of the erection and maintenance of outdoor advertising signs, displays, or devices in areas adjacent to the NHS and rural arterials located outside of urbanized areas, and of the establishment and maintenance of junkyards outside of urbanized areas adjacent to the NHS. Encourages, and authorizes the Secretary to allocate funds to, States to initiate or expand efforts for planning and program development for scenic byways. Directs the Secretary to issue guidelines for evaluation of congestion pricing measures proposed in response to air quality problems for operational tests in designated urbanized areas. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the availability and apportionment of funds for the various programs, including specifications of the Federal share of certain projects; (2) administration of Federal lands highways funds; (3) acquisition of rights-of-way; and (4) private, State, and local donations. Specifies that the State matching share for a project with respect to which Federal assistance is provided out of the Highway Account of the HTF may be credited with the fair market value of land incorporated into the project and lawfully donated to the State after April 2, 1987, and the fair market value of land owned by the State or a local government and incorporated into the project. Authorizes the Secretary to withhold project approvals on National Highway 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 such systems, as well as a traffic monitoring system to provide statistically-based traffic data. Requires any State transportation or highway department which submits plans for: (1) a National Highway Program project involving the bypassing of, or going through, any city, town, or village, to certify to the Secretary that it has had public hearings or the opportunity for hearings and has considered the economic, social, and environmental effects and its consistency with the goals and objectives of urban planning promulgated by the community; and (2) an IS project to make a similar certification to enable persons in rural areas who have property contiguous to the highway or property through which the highway will pass to express objections they may have to the proposed locations of the highway. Requires the State transportation or highway department to prepare a record of the hearing. Sets forth NHS standards which, at a minimum, enable National Highway Program projects to accommodate the types and volumes of traffic anticipated for the project for a 20-year period, with exceptions. Sets forth additional provisions with respect to: (1) sign, curb and pavement marking, and traffic signal standards; (2) highway and railroad grade crossing safety standards; (3) soil erosion guidelines; (4) consideration of economic, social, and environmental effects; and (5) highway noise level standards. Directs the Secretary: (1) to develop and promulgate guidelines to assure that highways constructed pursuant to this title are in conformity with any approved plan for the implementation of any ambient air quality standard for any air quality control region designated pursuant to the Clean Air Act, as amended; (2) not to approve projects involving bridge approaches if the project and bridge will significantly affect the traffic volume and the highway system of a contiguous State without first taking into full consideration the views of such State; and (3) not to approve 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 that projects for resurfacing, restructuring, or rehabilitating any highway, other than a fully access-controlled highway, in which Federal funds participated be constructed in accordance with standards to preserve and extend the service life of highways and to enhance highway safety, and that projects on fully access-controlled highways be constructed in accordance with new construction and major reconstruction standards. Sets forth: (1) procedures for submission and approval of State transportation or highway department plans, specifications, and estimates for proposed projects; (2) alternate project procedures; and (3) provisions with respect to right-of-way agreements, including commercial use and management of rest areas, vending machines, and the use of income from right-of-way airspace. Establishes guidelines with respect to highway construction, including: (1) limitations on the use of convict labor; (2) State warranty or guarantee provisions; (3) bidding requirements; (4) wages; (5) equal employment opportunity provisions, including the prohibition of discrimination based on sex; (6) highway construction training, including training of disadvantaged businesses to achieve proficiency to compete for contracts and subcontracts; (7) Indian employment; and (8) provisions with respect to utility facilities. Makes it the duty of the State transportation or highway department to maintain NHS projects and the IS. Authorizes the Secretary to approve as a NHS project the acquisition of land adjacent to the right-of-way for the construction of carpool and other publicly-owned parking facilities, to encourage carpools, for exclusive or preferential high occupancy vehicle lanes, and to accommodate needed rail (included high speed ground transportation and magnetic levitation systems) or non-highway public mass transit facilities, subject to specified conditions. Authorizes: (1) the State 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, subject to specified limitations; and (2) the Secretary to approve as part of highway construction the costs of landscaped and roadside development. Declares it to be Government policy that special effort should be made to preserve the natural beauty of the countryside, public park and recreation lands, wildlife and waterfowl refuges, and historic sites. Authorizes the Secretary to approve certain transportation programs or projects requiring the use of publicly-owned land of a public park, recreation area, wildlife and waterfowl refuge, or historic site only if: (1) there is no prudent and feasible alternative to using such land; and (2) the program or project includes all possible planning to minimize harm to such park, recreation area, wildlife and waterfowl refuge, or historic site resulting from such use. Authorizes the use of National Highway Program and Urban and Rural Program funds to participate in wetland mitigation banks or to contribute to statewide programs that create, conserve, or enhance wetland habitat. Authorizes the Secretary, in an emergency, to use certain Department of Transportation appropriations for medical assistance necessary for the immediate relief of FHWA employees engaged in hazardous work. Declares it to be in the national interest to utilize small business enterprises to the fullest practicable extent in highway construction. Authorizes the Secretary to provide for: (1) the construction and maintenance of defense access roads (including bridges, tubes, and tunnels) to military reservations, defense industries and industry sites, and the sources of raw material when the roads are certified to the Secretary as important to the national defense; and (2) necessary reconstruction of the Alaska-Canada International Highway. Directs the Secretary to report to specified committees periodically regarding the condition and performance of the existing system and estimates of the future highway and bridge needs of the nation, including the results of studies of the air quality impacts of transportation programs. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out experimental programs which allow the FHWA and the States to demonstrate innovative and nontraditional design, construction, and management practices, or both, for highway projects while utilizing a competitive process for selection of contractors. Directs the Secretary to evaluate such projects and report on the results. Transfers funds made available for transit projects under this Act or under Federal highway provisions to, and for administration by, the Mass Transportation Administration. Lists Federal highway provisions, as amended by this Act, which are designed to promote clean air, such as: (1) the Research and Technology Program (to enable States to more effectively assess environmental impacts and the effectiveness of mitigation strategies); (2) the Urbanized Area Planning Program (requiring consideration of long-range land use plans, development objectives, and overall social, economic, and environmental impacts; consideration of all modes of transportation, including intermodal connectivity; and development of a multimodal congestion management system); (3) a right-of-way airspace provision permitting the use of income from such right-of-way without charge for high speed rail, magnetic levitation systems, and other transit use; and (4) provisions permitting bicycle and pedestrian projects with National Highway, Urban and Rural, and Federal Lands Highways Program funds. Waives matching fund requirements of qualifying projects between October 1, 1991 and September 30, 1993. Specifies that the Federal share shall be the percentage of the construction costs as the State transportation or highway department requests, up to 100 percent, but that the total amount of increased Federal share per fiscal year which may be obligated for qualifying projects in any State shall not be greater than 25 percent of the total amounts apportioned for the National Highway, Urban and Rural, and Bridge Programs in FY 1992. Requires States to repay the total amount of increases in the Federal share on or before March 30, 1994. Repeals provisions of the Federal-aid Highway Act of 1978 prohibiting the expenditure of Federal funds for highway signs relating to speed limit, distance, or other measurement solely using the metric system. Sets forth limitations on obligations for the Federal-aid highway programs for FY 1992 through 1996 and provisions regarding the redistribution of unused obligation authority. Title II: Highway Safety Act of 1991 - Highway Safety Act of 1991 - Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Account of the HTF for: (1) FHWA highway safety programs; (2) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) highway safety programs and highway safety research and development; and (3) a National Driver Register. Directs the Secretary to periodically conduct a rulemaking to determine those programs most effective in reducing highway crashes, injuries, and deaths. Specifies that: (1) any rule issued pursuant to such rulemaking shall be developed in cooperation with the States; and (2) when such a rule takes effect, only the programs established by the rule as most effective in reducing highway crashes, injuries, and deaths shall be eligible to receive Federal financial assistance. Requires the State highway safety agency to coordinate its highway safety plan with the motor carrier safety plan developed under this Act. Directs each State to submit to the Secretary such speed-related data as the Secretary determines is necessary for each 12-month period ending on September 30, including data on citations and travel speeds on public highways with speed limits posted at or above 55 miles per hour (mph). Specifies that: (1) the annual apportionment to the Secretary of the Interior (for Indians in identified areas) shall not be less than three-quarters of one percent of the total apportionment of funds to the States; and (2) the Federal share for highway safety programs shall not exceed 60 percent of the total program costs, with exceptions. Authorizes the Secretary to award safety bonus funds to States that take specific actions to advance highway safety. Establishes criteria and eligibility requirements for, and formulas for determining the amount of, alcohol, safety belt use, and fatality rate bonuses and other safety bonuses (such as having programs that emphasize pedestrian, bicycle, and motorcycle safety; provision for a lead agency at the State level for emergency medical services with adequate powers and equipment; and public information and education programs on significant highway safety problems). Requires the Secretary to periodically report to the Congress on the States' efforts to qualify for safety bonus funds. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) engage in research on all phases of highway safety and traffic conditions, including the effect thereon on State laws and activities related to Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems; (2) test, develop, or assist in the testing and development of any material, invention, patented article, or process; (3) use appropriated funds for training or education of highway safety personnel, research fellowships in highway safety, development of improved accident investigation procedures, emergency service plans, demonstration projects, and related research and development activities; and (4) carry out safety research on the relationship between the consumption and use of drugs and their effect upon highway safety and drivers of motor vehicles, driver behavior research, and biomechanics research. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) undertake, on a cost-shared basis, collaborative research and development with non-Federal entities; and (2) enter into cooperative research and development agreements, except that the Secretary may agree to provide not more than 70 percent of the cost of any such research and development project and must establish a procedure to consider the views of experts and the public concerning the project areas. Bars a State from having: (1) a maximum speed limit on any public highway within its jurisdiction in excess of 55 mph other than on a highway on the IS located outside of an urbanized area; and (2) a maximum speed limit of 65 mph on any highway within its jurisdiction on the IS located outside of an urbanized area, or under other specified circumstances. Requires each State to annually certify to the Secretary that it is enforcing all speed limits on public highways, after considering the speed-related data it submits to the Secretary. Bars the Secretary from approving projects in any State which has failed to make such certification. Requires the Secretary to withhold ten percent of National Highway, and Urban and Rural, Program funds apportioned to any State on the first day of each fiscal year in which the purchase or public possession in such State of any alcoholic beverage by a person who is less than 21 years of age is lawful. Provides for apportionment of withheld funds to other States which are in compliance with such provision. Requires that all facts contained in any report of a Federal department, agency, officer, employee, or agent relating to a highway traffic crash or investigation be made available for use in any civil, criminal, or other judicial proceeding arising out of the crash. Specifies that: (1) any such officer, employee, or agent may be required to testify in such proceedings as to the facts developed in the investigation; and (2) this and other specified reports shall be made to the public in a manner which does not identify individuals. Directs the Secretary to establish and maintain a National Driver Register to assist chief driver licensing officials of participating States in exchanging information regarding the motor vehicle driving records of individuals. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) the contents of such Register; (2) responsibility for accuracy of information; (3) cut-off dates for maintaining information; (4) State participation in the Register; (5) reports by such officials to the Secretary; and (6) accessibility of Register information. Establishes: (1) criminal penalties for unauthorized disclosure of such information and for requesting and obtaining Register information under false pretenses; and (2) a National Driver Register Advisory Committee. Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Account of the HTF to carry out highway and alcohol safety programs under the safety bonus provisions of this Act. Makes such funds available until expended and not subject to any obligation limitation for State and community highway safety programs. Requires the Secretary to establish: (1) national bridge inspection standards for the proper safety inspection and evaluation of all highway bridges; and (2) a program designed to train governmental employees to carry out highway bridge inspections. Bars the admission into evidence (or use for other purposes) in Federal or State court of reports and surveys compiled to identify, evaluate, or plan the safety enhancement of potential accident sites, hazardous roadway conditions, or railway-highway crossings, for the purpose of developing any highway safety construction improvement project which may be implemented utilizing Federal highway funds. Sets forth provisions regarding the use of automotive crash test dummies. Repeals the annual report requirement of the Highway Safety Act of 1966. Title III: Motor Carrier Act of 1991 - Motor Carrier Act of 1991 - Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Account of the HTF for the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program and for the motor carrier safety functions of the FHWA. Prohibits States from enacting or enforcing laws denying reasonable access to commercial motor vehicles between the NHS and terminals, facilities for food, fuel, repairs, and rest, and points of loading and unloading for household good carriers and for any truck tractor-semitrailer combination in which the semitrailer has a length not to exceed 28 1/2 feet and which generally operates as part of a specified vehicle combination, with exceptions (but allows State or local governments to impose reasonable restrictions, based on safety considerations, on any such combination.) Bars States from establishing, maintaining, or enforcing any regulation of commerce which imposes a vehicle length limitation of less than 48 feet on the length of the semitrailer unit operating in a truck tractor-semitrailer combination, and of less than 28 feet on the length of any semitrailer and trailer operating in such a combination, on any segment of the NHS. Sets forth: (1) additional provisions with respect to semitrailer and trailer combinations, and truck tractors; and (2) NHS segment exemptions (and procedures), such as where the Governor of a State transmits to the Secretary notification of specific evidence of safety problems. Sets forth analogous provisions, limiting commercial motor vehicle width to 102 inches on NHS segments. Directs the Secretary: (1) within 12 months, to conduct a review of information systems utilized by one or more States or jurisdictions pertaining to the collection of and accounting for fees and taxes for vehicle registration, motor fuel use, or other purposes; (2) within 24 months, to establish an information system to serve as a clearinghouse and depository of information pertaining to the collection of and accounting for fees for registering commercial motor vehicles and taxes charged by States for motor fuel used by such vehicles, with the maintenance of the system to be supported by user fees; and (3) to establish standards to ensure uniform data collection and reporting by all States. Makes funds available for such purpose. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States: (1) for the development and implementation of a program to register and collect commercial motor vehicle fuel taxes according to standards established under this title; and (2) to carry out a project to demonstrate methods of linking safety fitness of the registrant or the motor carrier responsible for the operation of the commercial motor vehicle when registering such vehicle. Makes funds available for such purposes. Authorizes the Secretary to promulgate regulations barring States from registering commercial motor vehicles under the standards established under this title if the State or Secretary determines that the registrant or the motor carrier responsible for the operation of such vehicle has not demonstrated the safety fitness required to operate such vehicle. Authorizes and directs the Attorney General to institute a civil action for injunctive relief that may be appropriate to assure compliance with provisions under this title. Authorizes the court to issue specified injunctive relief as appropriate. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States (including the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories) for the development and implementation of programs for the enforcement of Federal rules, regulations, standards, and orders applicable to commercial motor vehicle safety, vehicle size and maximum weight, commercial motor vehicle awareness and enforcement, and compatible State rules, regulations, standards, and orders. Directs the Secretary to formulate procedures for a State to submit a plan where the State agrees to adopt, and assume responsibility for, enforcing such Federal rules. Sets forth requirements for State plans, including ensuring that the State will devote adequate resources for administering the plan and providing a right of entry and inspection to carry out the plan. Directs the Secretary to: (1) reject any State plan that does not provide that the aggregate expenditure of funds of the State and political subdivisions for commercial motor vehicle safety, drug awareness and enforcement, and size and weighing activities will be maintained at a level that does not fall below the average level of expenditures in such State for the last full fiscal year; (2) make a continuing evaluation of the manner in which each State is carrying out its State plan; and (3) withdraw approval under appropriate circumstances (subject to specified procedures and judicial review.) Authorizes the Secretary to reimburse a State up to 75 percent of the costs incurred by such State in the development and implementation of programs for the enforcement of such rules, regulations, standards, and orders, and up to 100 percent of such costs if the Secretary determines that such programs are particularly beneficial to all jurisdictions. Sets forth additional provisions with respect to deductions of funds for administration, allocation criteria, the availability, release, and reallocation of funds, obligation of funds, and payments to States. Prohibits States, political subdivisions, or interstate agencies from enacting or enforcing laws or rules relating to interstate or intrastate rates, routes, or services of any motor carrier providing transportation of passengers or property in interstate commerce, or the leasing, rental, or other sourcing of commercial drivers and motor vehicles by interstate motor carriers. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations to establish uniform standards for: (1) the registration of commercial motor vehicles; and (2) the collection and distribution of taxes charged by States for motor fuel used by such vehicles (which, at a minimum, provide for single base State collection with proportional sharing of the motor fuel taxes charged within the States where the commercial motor vehicle is operated, reciprocity among the agreeing States, and uniform, simplified tax reporting requirements). Bars any State from having in effect or enforcing a law or regulation which: (1) limits operation of any commercial motor vehicle within its borders by reason of such vehicle's not being registered in the State when it is registered in another State; and (2) imposes a tax upon the use of motor fuel by commercial motor vehicles, except as may be imposed upon the purchase of fuel within such State, unless the State is in compliance with the requirements established under this title. Authorizes the Secretary to promulgate regulations to establish uniform standards for the collection and distribution of taxes and fees exclusively associated with the purchase, use, and operation of commercial motor vehicles. Sets forth provisions regarding State vehicle size and weight limitations, including a formula for the maximum gross weight to be allowed by any State for vehicles using the IS. Repeals: (1) various provisions of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982, including provisions regarding grants for enforcement programs for commercial motor vehicle safety, length and width limitations, and access to the IS, as well as certain unobligated authorizations; and (2) provisions relating to required State registration of operating authority granted by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). Revises Federal provisions with respect to the registration of motor carriers by a State to prohibit any State from requiring an interstate private or former motor carrier or interstate broker of property to prove the lawfulness of specified interstate transportation activity, such as requiring such carrier or broker to: (1) file and maintain a certificate or permit issued to such carrier or broker by the ICC; (2) register more vehicles operated under such a certificate or permit; (3) display or carry on any vehicle any means of identification evidencing the lawfulness of such transportation activity; or (4) pay a fee or a tax with respect to such activities. Title IV: Federal Mass Transportation Act of 1991 - Federal Mass Transportation Act of 1991 - Amends Federal law to rename the Urban Mass Transportation Administration of the Department of Transportation the Mass Transportation Administration. Amends the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 (the Act) to make the following projects eligible to receive discretionary capital grants under the Act: (1) public highways (other than those functionally classified as local or rural minor collectors); (2) the deployment of innovative techniques and methods in the management and operation of public transportation services; and (3) mass transportation services to meet the special needs of elderly and handicapped persons. Authorizes the obligation of such grants for full funding contracts. Revises the eligibility criteria for discretionary capital grants or loans for construction of new fixed guideway systems to provide that such systems: (1) be based upon a thorough assessment of the feasibility of using a variety of innovative financing mechanisms as well as its overall capital plan; and (2) are included in a specified report. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1996. Prohibits the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) from approving an application for discretionary capital grants or loans for the construction of highway transportation projects unless an authorization is made for the fiscal year in which such application is being sought. Authorizes the Secretary to approve innovative highway-related and transit-related, immediate action, noncapital-intensive projects to help relieve congestion and transportation-related air quality problems in certain urbanized areas or projects in rural areas that respond to rural transportation problems through innovative approaches and strategies. Sets forth project requirements. Changes from 75 percent to no more than 60 percent of the Federal share for net costs of highway transportation projects, except for construction of a new fixed guideway system and extension to a fixed guideway system which shall be up to 50 percent of new project cost. Declares it is in the national interest to encourage and promote the development of transportation systems that will effectively serve the States and local communities. Directs the Secretary to cooperate with State and local officials in urbanized areas in the development of transportation programs which are based upon long-range land use plans and economical and environmental concerns, including their probable effect on the future development of the area. Requires a metropolitan planning organization to be designated in each urbanized area to develop a transportation improvement program. Authorizes the Secretary to contract for and make grants to States and local agencies, or enter into working agreements with other Federal agencies, for the planning, engineering, design, and evaluation of public transportation projects, and for other technical studies. Makes a specified amount of block grant transportation funds available based on a specified formula for expenditure in certain urbanized areas. Eliminates certain percentage requirements from such formula based grants. Requires recipients of such grants to assure that the proposed program of transportation projects provides for the maximum feasible coordination of public transportation services assisted under the Act with transportation services assisted by other Federal sources. Revises eligibility requirements with respect to such grants. Changes from 80 percent to no more than 60 percent the Federal share of net costs for construction of transportation projects, except for noncapital expenses which shall be 50 percent of net project cost. Authorizes the Secretary, in lieu of the Federal environmental review procedures under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, to approve projects by recipients of assistance under the Act who assume responsibilities for environmental review, decisionmaking, and other action that would apply to the Secretary if such projects were undertaken as Federal projects. Requires each recipient to submit a certain annual certification with respect to the approval of such projects. Includes research on transportation safety as a responsibility of each university transportation center established under the Act. Requires the Secretary to coordinate the research, education, training and technology transfer in such centers, the dissemination of the results of the research, and a clearinghouse between the centers and the transportation industry. Directs the Secretary to make grants to universities to establish three additional National Centers for Transportation Management, Research, and Development as a means to accelerate the involvement of minorities and women in transportation-related professions, particularly in the science, technology, and engineering disciplines. Authorizes the Secretary to make funds that are appropriated to the Department of Transportation for transportation research available to one or more of the centers for research that is compatible with the research conducted in such centers pursuant to authorizations under the Act or the HTF. Authorizes the Secretary to transfer facilities and equipment that are acquired by a recipient of Federal transportation funds and are no longer needed by the recipient to any public body to be used for any public purpose for no less than five years after such transfer. Sets forth specified determinations to be made by the Secretary with respect to the transfer of such assets for purposes other than for mass transportation. Requires funds that are available under the Act for public highway projects to be transferred to the FHWA. Requires construction employees who work on transportation construction projects in excess of $250,000 to be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing on similar construction in the locality. Prohibits any person from dividing any project into contracts of $250,000 or less if such project would not have been divided but for avoiding such minimum wage rate requirement. Revises provisions of the Act relating to Federal transportation assistance for mass transportation projects that meet the special needs of elderly persons and individuals with disabilities. Changes from 95 percent to no more than 60 percent the Federal share of net costs for such projects. Authorizes the Governor of a State to allocate certain Federal transportation funds for construction of highway projects to certain urbanized areas. Requires the Secretary to evaluate the performance of each Governor in allocating such funds every three years. Limits the amount of formula based grants for transportation projects in nonurbanized areas that may be used for operating assistance. Changes from 80 percent to no more than 60 percent the Federal share of net costs for public transportation construction projects in nonurbanized areas. Makes public highways (other than those functionally classified as local or rural minor collectors) an eligible construction project to receive Federal transportation formula based grants for nonurbanized areas provided specified conditions are met. Authorizes States to transfer facilities and equipment acquired with such assistance to recipients eligible to receive assistance under this Act so long as such assets continue to be used for transportation purposes. Authorizes the Secretary to retain funds returned to him or her in connection with grants or contracts for human resources projects that involve public transportation. Authorizes appropriations from the Mass Transit Account of the HTF for FY 1992 through 1996 for mass transportation projects. Sets forth a formula for allocation of such funds. Authorizes the Secretary to issue regulations requiring as a condition to receiving mass transportation assistance that a recipient certify that it has established alcohol and drug abuse control and testing programs for itself or for its workers who are involved in safety sensitive functions. Prohibits the Secretary from using more than three-quarters of one percent (currently, one-half of one percent) of funds for mass transportation projects to contract with persons overseeing the construction of such projects. Earmarks one-third of the funds appropriated from the Mass Transit Account of the HTF for grants or contracts for mass transportation projects. Authorizes the Secretary to charge and retain fees, tuition, or other related amounts resulting from conferences, seminars, and training sessions for the development of transit technology. Authorizes the Secretary to establish a program of transit technology development. Directs the Secretary to establish an Industry Technical Panel consisting of representatives of transportation suppliers and operators and others involved in technology development to assist him or her in the identification of priority technology development areas and in establishing guidelines for project development, project cost sharing, and project execution. Allocates on a specified formula funds from the HTF for State and local transit cooperative research and planning programs. Title V: Highway Revenue Act of 1991 - Highway Revenue Act of 1991 - Extends for three years: (1) HTF taxes and related exemptions; and (2) HTF appropriations and authorizations. Makes amounts in the Highway Account of the HTF available for specified traffic safety and cost savings programs. Makes conforming amendments to the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) reduce Federal gasoline, diesel and special motor fuels taxes; and (2) reduce the amount transferred by the Secretary of the Treasury to the Mass Transit Account as the mass transit portion of the amount appropriated to the HTF which are attributable to taxes under the Code imposed after March 31, 1983.
Bill· HRH.R. 1319 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1991
Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to require the approval of the affected State before Federal approval of a proposed offshore leasing development, exploration, or production plan becomes effective.
Bill· SS. 570 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1991
National Energy Strategy Act - Title I: Residential, Commercial, and Federal Energy Use - Subtitle A: Consumer and Commercial Products - Amends the Energy Policy Conservation Act to expand the list of commercial products covered by the Act. Directs the Federal Trade Commission to prescribe labeling rules for such products. Prohibits the Secretary of Energy from prescribing energy conservation standards for certain electric lights or commercial products listed in the Act. Subtitle B: Federal Energy Management - Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to authorize Federal agency participation in private sector energy demand management or application of conservation measures to Federal buildings. Title II: Natural Gas - Subtitle A: Natural Gas Pipeline Reform - Amends the Natural Gas Act to authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to direct a natural-gas entity (pipeline) to interconnect physically with other facilities at the applicants expense, in order to receive natural gas from the other facilities for transportation in the pipeline. Declares that, for purposes of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, a FERC certification of public convenience and necessity with respect to a natural gas facility is the only major Federal action requiring a detailed environmental impact statement. Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978: (1) to authorize an interstate pipeline to construct facilities incidental to transportation service upon 30 days notice to the affected State commission; and (2) require FERC to authorize any interstate pipeline to transport natural gas on behalf of any person. Amends the Natural Gas Act to declare that a mutually agreed-upon natural gas transportation rate between a natural-gas company and its customer is deemed just and reasonable, and in compliance with such Act. Sets forth expedited certification procedures for natural gas transportation and related facilities construction. Provides for the construction and operation of natural gas transportation facilities with an option not to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity (thus taking such facility out of the Act's jurisdiction). Authorizes FERC to issue an order finding that if a natural-gas company's market is competitive and its transportation or sales services charges are not unduly discriminatory such charges are not subject to its jurisdiction. Subtitle B: Natural Gas Import/Export Deregulation - States that neither FERC nor a State may prohibit or condition the importation or exportation of natural gas or treat exported or imported natural gas differently from any other natural gas while it is within the United States. Authorizes the President to: (1) waive any law relating to natural gas importation or exportation upon finding that the national interest requires it; or (2) specify when such natural gas importation or exportation law is considered satisfied if the appropriate Federal or State agency has not taken final action. Subtitle C: Structural Reform of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission - Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to abolish FERC and establish within the Department of Energy the Natural Gas and Electricity Administration to be headed by an Administrator appointed by the President. Transfers to the Secretary of Energy the functions of the Federal Power Commission and FERC. Sets forth rulemaking procedures for rates and charges with respect to natural gas and electricity. Title III: Oil - Subtitle A: Alaska Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing - Arctic Coastal Plain Competitive Oil and Gas Leasing Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary) to establish and implement a competitive oil and gas leasing program on the Coastal Plain. Declares that this Act is the Secretary's sole legislative authority for authorizing and conducting such a program (whether competitive or noncompetitive). Requires the Secretary to issue regulations encompassing environmental protection of the Coastal Plain. Declares that the Department of the Interior's Legislative Environmental Impact statement is compatible and consistent with the major purposes and policies of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and therefore no further environmental analysis or documentation is required for the issuance of regulations. Prescribes procedural guidelines for land lease sales on the Coastal Plain, and for exploration, development and production plans. Sets forth bonding requirements, and lease suspension and cancellation guidelines. Directs the Secretary to require lessees to unite with each other in collectively adopting and operating under a unit plan of development, including the construction of a common carrier pipeline to transport oil and gas to the exterior boundary of the Coastal Plan. Requires lessees and permittees to provide the Secretary with certain geological and geophysical data obtained from exploration or development activities. Sets forth remedies and penalties for violations of this Act. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress about the leasing program. Repeals certain limitations applicable to subsurface interests owned by certain Alaskan corporations. Provides for expedited judicial consideration of any claims for relief by them. Directs the Secretary to promulgate environmental protection regulations which ensure that Coastal Plain activities will avoid significant adverse effects on fish and wildlife, their habitat, and the environment. Requires site-specific assessment and mitigation. Designates the Sadlerochit Spring Special Area as a special area for wildlife conservation and environmental protection. Authorizes the Secretary to exclude such area from leasing and to designate other Coastal Plain areas as special areas requiring protection. Directs the Secretary to prepare and periodically update a facilities construction and siting plan for oil and gas development and transportation. Authorizes the Secretary to grant rights-of-way and easements across the Coastal Plain in a manner that does not adversely affect fish, wildlife, and the environment. Requires the Secretary to conduct additional studies to monitor the human, marine, and coastal environments. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations providing for bi-annual facility inspections for compliance with environmental and safety regulations. Makes leaseholders fully responsible and liable for land reclamation within the Coastal Plan and other Federal lands adversely affected by lease activities. Requires establishment of the Coastal Plan Liability and Reclamation Fund within six months of a commercial discovery within the Coastal Plain. Directs the Secretary to collect fees based upon the crude oil volume leaving the Coastal Plain. Prescribes revenue collection and expenditure procedures. Mandates that oil and gas revenues be deposited into the Treasury. Subtitle B: Naval Petroleum Reserve Leasing - Naval Petroleum Reserve Leasing Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) to lease Naval Petroleum Reserve Numbered 1 (California) if it is not necessary for national defense purposes. Sets forth leasing and antitrust guidelines. Mandates the use of competitive leasing procedures, minimum royalty payments, and crude oil set asides for sale to small refiners by Reserve lessees. Authorizes the Secretary to take certain steps to arrange and conduct a leasing action. Authorizes the Secretary to acquire privately owned lands or physical improvements within a Naval Petroleum Reserve if a lease of Naval Petroleum Reserve Numbered 1 cannot be arranged. Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to authorize the Secretary to store within the Strategic Petroleum Reserve a Defense Petroleum Inventory of petroleum products (in addition to any other acquisition and storage for such Reserve required by law). Directs the Secretary to obligate the United States share of funds available in the Naval Petroleum Reserve Lease Proceeds Special Account (created by this Act) for the acquisition of 10,000,000 barrels of crude oil for the Defense Petroleum Inventory. Declares that upon request of the Secretary of Defense: (1) crude oil acquired for or dedicated to the Defense Petroleum Inventory shall be drawn down and distributed by the Secretary of Energy for the Department of Defense for use, sale, or exchange; and (2) the Secretary of Energy shall replace in the Defense Petroleum Inventory crude oil drawn down on behalf of the Department of Defense. Requires the Department of Defense to reimburse the Department of Energy for services rendered under this Act. Establishes the Naval Petroleum Reserve Lease Proceeds Special Account in the Treasury to implement this Act. Funds such Special Account with amounts realized from the lease of any United States interest in Naval Petroleum Reserve Numbered 1. Sets forth a payment scheme under which lease proceeds shall be used to make payments to the State of California. Declares that: (1) the authority to lease under this Act extends to specified sections within Naval Petroleum Reserve Numbered 1; and (2) this Act does not affect the withdrawal of lands provided for in certain school land grants. Subtitle C: Oil Pipeline Deregulation - Oil Pipeline Regulatory Reform Act - Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to terminate FERC jurisdiction over oil and other pipelines except the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Authorizes the Attorney General to petition the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) for an adjudication of whether FERC rate regulation of an existing pipeline in any market is in the public interest. Prescribes adjudication guidelines. Provides that pipeline rates for service to markets which are not identified in a mandatory published adjudications list will no longer be subject to FERC regulatory jurisdiction. Prescribes adjudication guidelines under which the Secretary shall find that regulation of a pipeline is in the public interest only if it is demonstrated that such regulation is necessary to constrain the exercise of substantial market power in the supply and demand of products transported by the pipeline in that market. States that new pipelines shall not be subject to existing Commission regulatory jurisdiction or rate regulation, but shall be subject to common carrier regulation under such Act. States that Commission rate regulation shall be prospective only. Prohibits terminated Commission regulatory jurisdiction from reverting to any other Federal agency. Confers exclusive, original jurisdiction over any petition for judicial review upon the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Precludes from such judicial review any action of the Attorney General under this Act, including adjudication petitions. Outlines the parameters within which pipelines are required to operate as common carriers. Requires pipelines to file terms of carriage schedules (except carriage rates) with the Commission. Sets forth guidelines for maximum FERC rates on a market by market basis, subject to price cap regulation based on base rates and cumulative changes in a Competitive Pipeline Price Index. Precludes a pipeline from conditioning its services upon entering into other transactions or on taking or refraining from any action. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress regarding the results of this Act five years after the conclusion of all adjudications. Retains the applicability of antitrust laws to pipeline transportation of crude oil or refined oil products. Title IV: Electricity Generation and Use - Subtitle A: Public Utility Holding Company Act Reform - Sets forth regulatory guidelines for exempt wholesale generators and qualifying facilities. Subtitle B: Power Marketing Administration Repayment Reform - Power Marketing Administration Timely Payment Act - Mandates that each power marketing administration provide for timely repayment to the Treasury of principal and interest for power investments. Prescribes repayment guidelines. Title V: Nuclear Power - Subtitle A: Licensing Reform - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to provide procedural guidelines for issuance by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of a combined construction and operating license. Mandates that such combined license applications include a State, local, or utility emergency plan. Requires the NRC to propose implementing regulations under this Act within one year of its enactment. Subtitle B: Nuclear Waste Management - Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to declare that, for purposes of site characterization activities, the appropriate Federal agency shall administer the pertinent rules and regulations without regard to whether such administration has been or could be, delegated to a State or superseded by comparable State law. Declares State, local or tribal laws inapplicable to site characterization activities under this Act. Directs the Secretary to implement site characterization activities in spite of any refusal by either State, local or tribal authorities to act upon requested authorizations to proceed with related site characterization activities. Sets forth a 60-day deadline within which actions to contest the constitutionality of this Act must be brought. Prohibits a court from enjoining site characterization activities in such actions except as part of a final judgment. Title VI: Renewable Energy - Subtitle A: PURPA Size Cap and Co-Firing Reform - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to direct FERC to prescribe rules requiring electric utilities to offer to purchase electric capacity from alternative power production facilities only through competitive acquisition. Makes alternative power production facilities eligible for exemptions from PURPA, the Federal Power Act, and State law if they meet certain requirements. Subtitle B: Hydroelectric Power Regulatory Reform - Amends the Federal Power Act to include as part of the hydroelectric power licensing procedure an applicant's plan concerning studies to be undertaken in connection with the licensing process, and a summary of the applicant's consultation activities with Federal and State agencies and Indian tribes. Sets forth guidelines for additional licensing procedures. Directs FERC to coordinate a single, consolidated licensing review (including review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969) of a hydropower project license application that is subject to Federal, State, or Indian tribal review. Removes from FERC jurisdiction hydropower projects with installed capacities of five megawatts or less that have not received a license by the date of enactment of this Act. Title VII: Alternative Fuel: Subtitle A: Alternative and Dual Fuel Vehicle Credits - Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to eliminate limits on the credit toward complying with the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards available to manufacturers for the production of light duty alternative fuel vehicles and certain dual fuel vehicles. Subtitle B: Alternative Transportation Fuels - Sets forth acquisition and credit allocation guidelines for alternative fuel vehicles. Requires persons who own or otherwise control a fleet of motor vehicles of different types and sizes to make a specified percentage of annual vehicle acquisitions alternative fuel vehicles. Prescribes civil and administrative penalties for noncompliance with this Act. Title VIII: Innovation and Technology Transfer - Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to allow each Federal agency to: (1) secure copyright on behalf of the United States in any computer software prepared in whole or in part by U.S. employees under a cooperative research and development agreement or other authority, notwithstanding provisions of Federal copyright law; and (2) grant in advance to a collaborating party licenses or assignments for the copyrights, or options thereto, retaining specified rights. Adds references to software and its author to provisions governing the distribution of royalties received by Federal agencies.
Bill· HRH.R. 1301 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1991
National Energy Strategy Act - Title I: Residential, Commercial, and Federal Energy Use - Subtitle A: Consumer and Commercial Products - Amends the Energy Policy Conservation Act to expand the list of commercial products covered by the Act. Directs the Federal Trade Commission to prescribe labeling rules for such products. Prohibits the Secretary of Energy from prescribing energy conservation standards for certain electric lights or commercial products listed in the Act. Subtitle B: Federal Energy Management - Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to authorize Federal agency participation in private sector energy demand management or application of conservation measures to Federal buildings. Title II: Natural Gas - Subtitle A: Natural Gas Pipeline Reform - Amends the Natural Gas Act to authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to direct a natural-gas entity (pipeline) to interconnect physically with other facilities, at the applicants expense, in order to receive natural gas from the other facilities for transportation in the pipeline. Declares that for purposes of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, a FERC certification of public convenience and necessity with respect to a natural gas facility is the only major Federal action requiring a detailed environmental impact statement. Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 to: (1) authorize an interstate pipeline to construct facilities incidental to transportation service upon 30 days notice to the affected State commission; and (2) require FERC to authorize any interstate pipeline to transport natural gas on behalf of any person. Amends the Natural Gas Act to declare that a mutually agreed-upon natural gas transportation rate between a natural-gas company and its customer is deemed just and reasonable, and in compliance with such Act. Sets forth expedited certification procedures for natural gas transportation and related facilities construction. Provides for the construction and operation of natural gas transportation facilities with an option not to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity (thus taking such facility out of the jurisdiction of the Act.) Authorizes FERC to issue an order finding that if a natural-gas company's market is competitive and its transportation or sales services charges are not unduly discriminatory such charges are not subject to its jurisdiction. Subtitle B: Natural Gas Import/Export Deregulation - States that neither FERC nor a State may prohibit or condition the importation or exportation of natural gas or treat exported or imported natural gas differently from any other natural gas while it is within the United States. Authorizes the President to: (1) waive any law relating to natural gas importation or exportation upon finding that the national interest requires it; or (2) specify when such natural gas importation or exportation law is considered satisfied if the appropriate Federal or State agency has not taken final action. Subtitle C: Structural Reform of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission - Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to abolish FERC and establish within the Department of Energy the Natural Gas and Electricity Administration to be headed by an Administrator appointed by the President. Transfers to the Secretary of Energy the functions of the Federal Power Commission and FERC. Sets forth rulemaking procedures for rates and charges with respect to natural gas and electricity. Title III: Oil - Subtitle A: Alaska Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing - Arctic Coastal Plain Competitive Oil and Gas Leasing Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary) to establish and implement a competitive oil and gas leasing program on the Coastal Plain. Declares that this Act is the Secretary's sole legislative authority for authorizing and conducting such a program (whether competitive or noncompetitive). Requires the Secretary to issue regulations encompassing environmental protection of the Coastal Plain. Declares that the Department of the Interior's Legislative Environmental Impact statement is compatible and consistent with the major purposes and policies of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and therefore no further environmental analysis or documentation is required for the issuance of regulations. Prescribes procedural guidelines for land lease sales on the Coastal Plain, and for exploration, development and production plans. Sets forth bonding requirements, and lease suspension and cancellation guidelines. Directs the Secretary to require lessees to unite with each other in collectively adopting and operating under a unit plan of development, including the construction of a common carrier pipeline to transport oil and gas to the exterior boundary of the Coastal Plan. Requires lessees and permittees to provide the Secretary with certain geological and geophysical data obtained from exploration or development activities. Sets forth remedies and penalties for violations of this Act. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress about the leasing program. Repeals certain limitations applicable to subsurface interests owned by certain Alaskan corporations. Provides for expedited judicial consideration of any claims for relief by them. Directs the Secretary to promulgate environmental protection regulations which ensure that Coastal Plain activities will avoid significant adverse effects on fish and wildlife, their habitat, and the environment. Requires site-specific assessment and mitigation. Designates the Sadlerochit Spring Special Area as a special area for wildlife conservation and environmental protection. Authorizes the Secretary to exclude such area from leasing and to designate other Coastal Plain areas as special areas requiring protection. Directs the Secretary to prepare and periodically update a facilities construction and siting plan for oil and gas development and transportation. Authorizes the Secretary to grant rights-of-way and easements across the Coastal Plain in a manner that does not adversely affect fish, wildlife, and the environment. Requires the Secretary to conduct additional studies to monitor the human, marine, and coastal environments. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations providing for bi-annual facility inspections for compliance with environmental and safety regulations. Makes leaseholders fully responsible and liable for land reclamation within the Coastal Plan and other Federal lands adversely affected by lease activities. Requires establishment of the Coastal Plain Liability and Reclamation Fund within six months of a commercial discovery within the Coastal Plain. Directs the Secretary to collect fees based upon the crude oil volume leaving the Coastal Plain. Prescribes revenue collection and expenditure procedures. Mandates that oil and gas revenues be deposited into the Treasury. Subtitle B: Naval Petroleum Reserve Leasing - Naval Petroleum Reserve Leasing Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary)) to lease Naval Petroleum Reserve Numbered 1 (California) if it is not necessary for national defense purposes. Sets forth leasing and antitrust guidelines. Mandates the use of competitive leasing procedures, minimum royalty payments, and crude oil set asides for sale to small refiners by Reserve lessees. Authorizes the Secretary to take certain steps to arrange and conduct a leasing action. Authorizes the Secretary to acquire privately owned lands or physical improvements within a Naval Petroleum Reserve if a lease of Naval Petroleum Reserve Numbered 1 cannot be arranged. Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to authorize the Secretary to store within the Strategic Petroleum Reserve a Defense Petroleum Inventory of petroleum products (in addition to any other acquisition and storage for such Reserve required by law). Directs the Secretary to obligate the United States share of funds available in the Naval Petroleum Reserve Lease Proceeds Special Account (created by this Act) for the acquisition of 10,000,000 barrels of crude oil for the Defense Petroleum Inventory. Declares that upon request of the Secretary of Defense: (1) crude oil acquired for or dedicated to the Defense Petroleum Inventory shall be drawn down and distributed by the Secretary of Energy for the Department of Defense for use, sale, or exchange; and (2) the Secretary of Energy shall replace in the Defense Petroleum Inventory crude oil drawn down on behalf of the Department of Defense. Requires the Department of Defense to reimburse the Department of Energy for services rendered under this Act. Establishes the Naval Petroleum Reserve Lease Proceeds Special Account in the Treasury to implement this Act. Funds such Special Account with amounts realized from the lease of any United States interest in Naval Petroleum Reserve Numbered 1. Sets forth a payment scheme under which lease proceeds shall be used to make payments to the State of California. Declares that: (1) the authority to lease under this Act extends to specified sections within Naval Petroleum Reserve Numbered 1; and (2) this Act does not affect the withdrawal of lands provided for in certain school land grants. Subtitle C: Oil Pipeline Deregulation - Oil Pipeline Regulatory Reform Act - Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to terminate FERC jurisdiction over oil and other pipelines except the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Authorizes the Attorney General to petition the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) for an adjudication of whether FERC rate regulation of an existing pipeline in any market is in the public interest. Prescribes adjudication guidelines. Provides that pipeline rates for service to markets which are not identified in a mandatory published adjudications list will no longer be subject to FERC regulatory jurisdiction. Prescribes adjudication guidelines under which the Secretary shall find that regulation of a pipeline is in the public interest only if it is demonstrated that such regulation is necessary to constrain the exercise of substantial market power in the supply and demand of products transported by the pipeline in that market. States that new pipelines shall not be subject to existing Commission regulatory jurisdiction or rate regulation, but shall be subject to common carrier regulation under such Act. States that Commission rate regulation shall be prospective only. Prohibits terminated Commission regulatory jurisdiction from reverting to any other Federal agency. Confers exclusive, original jurisdiction over any petition for judicial review upon the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Precludes from such judicial review any action of the Attorney General under this Act, including adjudication petitions. Outlines the parameters within which pipelines are required to operate as common carriers. Requires pipelines to file terms of carriage schedules (except carriage rates) with the Commission. Sets forth guidelines for maximum FERC rates on a market by market basis, subject to price cap regulation based on base rates and cumulative changes in a Competitive Pipeline Price Index. Precludes a pipeline from conditioning its services upon entering into other transactions or on taking or refraining from any action. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress regarding the results of this Act five years after the conclusion of all adjudications. Retains the applicability of antitrust laws to pipeline transportation of crude oil or refined oil products. Title IV: Electricity Generation and Use - Subtitle A: Public Utility Holding Company Act Reform - Sets forth regulatory guidelines for exempt wholesale generators and qualifying facilities. Subtitle B: Power Marketing Administration Repayment Reform - Power Marketing Administration Timely Payment Act - Mandates that each power marketing administration provide for timely repayment to the Treasury of principal and interest for power investments. Prescribes repayment guidelines. Title V: Nuclear Power - Subtitle A: Licensing Reform - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to provide procedural guidelines for issuance by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of a combined construction and operating license. Mandates that such combined license applications include a State, local, or utility emergency plan. Requires the NRC to propose implementing regulations under this Act within one year of its enactment. Subtitle B: Nuclear Waste Management - Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to declare that, for purposes of site characterization activities, the appropriate Federal agency shall administer the pertinent rules and regulations without regard to whether such administration has been or could be, delegated to a State or superseded by comparable State law. Declares State, local or tribal laws inapplicable to site characterization activities under this Act. Directs the Secretary to implement site characterization activities in spite of any refusal by either State, local or tribal authorities to act upon requested authorizations to proceed with related site characterization activities. Sets forth a 60-day deadline within which actions to contest the constitutionality of this Act must be brought. Prohibits a court from enjoining site characterization activities in such actions except as part of a final judgment. Title VI: Renewable Energy - Subtitle A: PURPA Size Cap and Co-Firing Reform - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to direct FERC to prescribe rules requiring electric utilities to offer to purchase electric capacity from alternative power production facilities only through competitive acquisition. Makes alternative power production facilities eligible for exemptions from PURPA, the Federal Power Act, and State law if they meet certain requirements. Subtitle B: Hydroelectric Power Regulatory Reform - Amends the Federal Power Act to include as part of the hydroelectric power licensing procedure an applicant's plan concerning studies to be undertaken in connection with the licensing process, and a summary of the applicant's consultation activities with Federal and State agencies and Indian tribes. Sets forth guidelines for additional licensing procedures. Directs FERC to coordinate a single, consolidated licensing review (including review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969) of a hydropower project license application that is subject to Federal, State, or Indian tribal review. Removes from FERC jurisdiction hydropower projects with installed capacities of five megawatts or less that have not received a license by the date of enactment of this Act. Title VII: Alternative Fuel: Subtitle A: Alternative and Dual Fuel Vehicle Credits - Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to eliminate limits on the credit toward complying with the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards available to manufacturers for the production of light duty alternative fuel vehicles and certain dual fuel vehicles. Subtitle B: Alternative Transportation Fuels - Sets forth acquisition and credit allocation guidelines for alternative fuel vehicles. Requires persons who own or otherwise control a fleet of motor vehicles of different types and sizes to make a specified percentage of their annual vehicle acquisitions alternative fuel vehicles. Prescribes civil and administrative penalties for noncompliance with this Act. Title VIII: Innovation and Technology Transfer - Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to allow each Federal agency to: (1) secure copyright on behalf of the United States in any computer software prepared in whole or in part by U.S. employees under a cooperative research and development agreement or other authority, notwithstanding provisions of Federal copyright law; and (2) grant in advance to a collaborating party licenses or assignments for the copyrights, or options thereto, retaining specified rights. Adds references to software and its author to provisions governing the distribution of royalties received by Federal agencies. Title IX: Tax Incentives - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to postpone from December 31, 1991, to December 31, 1992, the termination date for energy investment tax credits. Repeals the termination dates (thus making permanent) for the credit for increasing research activities, including the credit for clinical testing expenses for certain drugs for rare diseases or conditions (orphan drugs).
Bill· HRH.R. 1306 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1991
California Fish and Wildlife Protection Act of 1991 - Title I: Upper Sacramento River - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish a ten-year program to restore salmon and steel head trout populations, reestablish a continuous riparian ecosystem, and meet specified goals for anadromous fisheries along the Sacramento River, and its California tributaries, and its drainage basin above the confluence with the Feather River. Establishes the Upper Sacramento River Fisheries Task Force to assist the Secretary and coordinate activities with governmental and private anadromous fish restoration projects within the basin. Terminates the Task Force on September 30, 2000. Title II: Central Valley of California - Directs the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to implement a program to restore the population and habitat of migratory birds and anadromous fisheries in the Central Valley, California. Requires that the Secretary, every three years, review and make such adjustments to assure that fish, wildlife, and habitat restoration goals are met and provide a copy of such review to specified congressional committees. Requires the Secretary to deliver dependable water supplies of suitable quality to certain Central Valley refuges, including additions to refuges or refuges in the Central Valley not included in the Refuge Water Supply Report. Requires the Secretary to complete plans for the recovery of endangered species in the Central Valley. Authorizes the Secretary to provide water to other Federal, State, and private wetlands and other fish and wildlife habitats in the Central Valley. Title III: Commission on Central Valley Fish and Wildlife Restoration - Establishes the Commission on Central Valley Fish and Wildlife Restoration to examine and make recommendations on Federal and State actions to restore fish and wildlife in the Central Valley to meet the goals of this Act. Terminates the Commission on January 1, 2000, or earlier if the Secretary determines the goals of this Act have been substantially completed. Requires, on termination, that all records and materials of the Commission be transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration. Title IV: General Provisions - Declares the national interest with regard to water conservation in the Central Valley. Requires a report on administrative inhibitions on water conservation by Central Valley Project contractors, and actions which could remove barriers to conservation. Authorizes the Secretary to encourage water conservation by contractors through incentives, pricing, and other measures. Authorizes the Secretary of Energy, acting through the Administrator of the Western Area Power Administration, to utilize power from the Central Valley Project power generation facilities to meet the requirements of this Act. Reserves a minimum portion of the transmission capacity of the Harold T. (Bizz) Johnson California-Pacific Northwest Intertie line to serve the needs of Department of Energy laboratories and wildlife refuges in California. Provides for citizen suits to enforce this Act. Requires fish and wildlife habitat lost as a result of construction or operation of the Project to be replaced with ecologically equivalent habitat before or at the same time as it is lost. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to study and implement cost allocations of the Project, including the provisions of this Act.
Law· HRH.R. 1281 (102nd)enacted
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1991
Dire Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Consequences of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Food Stamps, Unemployment Compensation Administration, Veterans Compensation and Pensions, and Other Urgent Needs Act of 1991 - Title I: Emergency Supplemental Appropriations - Designates all funds provided under this title as emergency requirements for purposes of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Makes emergency amounts available for FY 1991 for additional costs resulting from Operation Desert Shield/Operation Desert Storm for: (1) the Department of Commerce; (2) the Department of Justice; (3) the Department of State; (4) the United States Information Agency; (5) the Department of Defense-Military; (6) the District of Columbia; (7) the Agency for International Development; (8) the Economic Support Fund; (9) the Capitol Police Board; (10) the Panama Canal Commission; (11) the Department of the Treasury; and (12) the Department of Veterans Affairs. Title II: Supplemental Appropriations - Makes supplemental appropriations for: (1) the Department of Commerce; (2) the Department of Justice; (3) the Department of State; (4) the Judiciary; (5) the Board for International Broadcasting; (6) the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; (7) the Federal Communications Commission; (8) the Federal Trade Commission; (9) the Legal Services Corporation; (10) the Securities and Exchange Commission; (11) the Small Business Administration; (12) the Department of Defense-Military; (13) the Federal payment to the District of Columbia; (14) the Civil Corps of Engineers of the Department of Defense; (15) the Department of the Interior; (16) the Department of Energy; (17) the Delaware River Basin Commission; (18) the Susquehanna River Basin Commission; (19) the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor; (20) the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Social Security Administration; (21) the Department of Agriculture, including the Food Stamp Program; (22) the Department of Transportation; (23) the Department of Veterans Affairs; and (24) the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Amends Federal law to allow the Attorney General to use unobligated balances remaining in the Asset Forfeiture Fund to fund: (1) a program for State and local public agencies for correctional options that provide alternatives to traditional modes of incarceration and offender release programs; and (2) enhanced training and the procurement of vehicles and equipment by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Prohibits the use of funds by the Department of Justice to pay fact-witness fees. Allows incentive special pay for certain flag officer medical personnel. Directs the Navy to begin obligating funds for the F-14 remanufactured program not later than 30 days after enactment of this Act. Directs the Department to obligate previously appropriated funds for the V-22 Osprey aircraft. Directs the Secretary of Defense to transfer funds among various prior year AOE combat support ship programs. Advances the availability of funds for grants to tribally controlled postsecondary vocational institutions. Makes a payment to the widow of Silvio O. Conte, late a Representative from Massachusetts. Authorizes the Architect of the Capitol to lease temporary storage and warehouse space for the Library of Congress. Extends the availability of certain unliquidated obligations for the books for the blind and physically handicapped account of the Library of Congress. Declares that the Congress disapproves the deferrals relating to the Department of Defense moratorium/prohibition on contracts for military construction and family housing. Prohibits the General Services Administration from obligating or expending any funds for the award of contracts for the construction of the Northern Virginia Naval Systems Command Headquarters without the advance approval in writing of the House Committee on Appropriations. Rescinds certain funds made available for annual contributions for assisted housing. Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to increase the number of persons who can reside in a facility developed under the supportive housing for persons with disabilities program. Exempts housing funds for urban development action grants from the requirement to cancel obligated and unobligated balances of appropriations five years after the end of fund availability. Title III: General Provisions - Amends the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1991 to change from mandatory to discretionary the Secretary of Transportation's authority to revise the distribution of certain Federal-aid highway obligational authority. Allows Coast Guard funding to initiate a multiyear contract for the Medium Range Recovery Helicopter (HH-60J) program. Prohibits the Department of Labor from implementing or administering certain regulations concerning: (1) a specified category of workers; and (2) apprenticeship programs in the construction industry.
Bill· HRH.R. 1262 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1991
Makes supplemental appropriations for FY 1991 to provide an additional amount for State unemployment insurance and employment service operations from the Employment Security Administration account in the Unemployment Trust Fund. Makes such amount available only as necessary for increased administrative costs resulting from increases in the number of unemployment insurance claims filed and paid. Rescinds specified amounts of budget authority provided for FY 1991 for: (1) Legislative Branch accounts; (2) special purpose grants for housing projects; (3) the Commission on National and Community Services; (4) Environmental Protection Agency research and development funds earmarked for the National Academy of Sciences study on the feasibility of the National Institutes of Environmental Research; (5) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration space station program; (6) the Cooperative State Research Service Building and Facilities fund earmarked for specified programs; (7) new construction under the Federal buildings fund limitation program; (8) the Energy Supply, Research and Development Activities made available for specified facilities; (9) the Corps of Engineers Investigation Fund earmarked for the Jackson Metro Area, Mississippi, and a West Virginia study of a part of the Ohio River; (10) the Corps of Engineers Operation and Maintenance Fund earmarked for the Manasquan River in New Jersey, and for the Charlestown Riverfront Park in West Virginia; and (11) the Bureau of Reclamation account earmarked for the Nebraska Loup River Basin Water Management Study.
Bill· SS. 533 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Department of the Environment Act of 1991- Title I: Elevation of the Environmental Protection Agency to Cabinet Level - Department of the Environment Act - Redesignates the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the Department of the Environment, an executive agency to be administered by a Secretary of the Environment. Encourages the Secretary to: (1) assist the Secretary of State in participating in international environmental protection agreements and organizations; (2) conduct research on international environmental problems and develop responses to such problems; and (3) provide technical and other assistance to foreign countries and international bodies to improve the environment. Provides for the continuance of specified EPA positions without renomination or reconfirmation. Establishes: (1) a Bureau of Environmental Statistics within the Department; and (2) an Advisory Council on Environmental Statistics to advise the Bureau on statistics and analyses. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Environment to make grants to, and enter into contracts with, State and local governments to assist in data collection. Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences for a study and report on the adequacy of the Department's data collection procedures and capabilities. Sets forth administrative provisions concerning the acquisition of gifts, property, copyrights, and patents by the Department. Provides that the EPA seal shall be the official departmental seal until the Secretary approves another seal. Prescribes civil and criminal penalties for unauthorized uses of the seal. Authorizes the Secretary to promulgate regulations governing advisory committee standards of conduct and compensation. Sets forth conflict-of-interest disclosure requirements for persons entering into contracts or other arrangements for the provision of services with the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations requiring public notice to be given when the award of a contract, agreement, or other arrangement may result in a conflict-of-interests. Title II: Environmental Role of the United States in International Organizations to Which It Belongs - Urges the Secretary of State to convene international conferences to encourage the exchange of information on energy efficiency and environmentally acceptable renewable energy sources. Requires the President to encourage the establishment of an international office to monitor annual generation of carbon dioxide and trace gases on a country-by-country basis. Title III: Establishment of the Commission on Improving Environmental Protection - Establishes the Commission on Improving Environmental Protection to make recommendations on the implementation of Federal environmental laws to protect human health and the environment. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
Bill· SS. 528 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to raise from 100,000 to 300,000 tons the eligibility threshold for a small surface coal mine operator for Federal assistance for designated mining-related activities upon the operator's written request in connection with a permit application. Provides that the records and information generated pursuant to such activities shall be for the sole use of the pertinent regulatory authority and coal operator. Mandates that the regulatory authority: (1) provide or assume the cost of training coal operators in permit preparation and program compliance; and (2) ensure that coal operators are aware of the assistance available under this Act. Mandates that a coal operator reimburse the program administrator for services rendered if the administrator finds that such operator's total actual and attributed annual coal production exceeds 300,000 tons.
Resolution· SRESS.Res. 66 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Amends rule XXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate to revise current committee structure by designating the following standing committees of the Senate: (1) National Priorities; (2) Agricultural Policy; (3) Defense Policy; (4) Commercial Policy; (5) Economic Policy; (6) Energy Policy; (7) Environmental Policy; (8) Foreign Policy; (9) Governmental Policy; (10) Judicial Policy; (11) Social Policy; (12) Native American Programs; (13) Senior American Programs; (14) Veteran American Programs; and (15) Entrepreneurial American Programs. Maintains the committees on Rules, Ethics, and Intelligence. Sets forth procedures for making committee assignments. Provides that each standing committee shall be responsible for appropriations legislation.
Bill· HRH.R. 1208 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Military Construction Authorization Act, 1992 and 1993 - Subdivision 1: Fiscal Year 1992 - Title I: Army - Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to acquire real property and carry out military construction projects at specified installations and locations. Authorizes the Secretary to construct or acquire military family housing units, to carry out architectural and engineering services and construction design, and to improve existing military family housing units in specified amounts at specified installations. Authorizes appropriations to the Army for fiscal years beginning after 1991 for military construction projects, unspecified minor construction projects, architectural and engineering design services, the construction of defense access roads, military family housing functions within the Department, and for the homeowners assistance program. Limits the total cost of construction projects authorized by this title. Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 to increase the authorization for a military construction project at Fort Riley, Kansas. Extends certain prior-year military construction projects. Title II: Navy - Authorizes the Secretary of the Navy to acquire real property and carry out military construction projects at specified installations and locations. Authorizes the Secretary to construct or acquire military family housing units, to carry out architectural and engineering services and construction design, and to improve existing military family housing units in specified amounts at specified installations. Authorizes appropriations to the Navy for fiscal years beginning after 1991 for military construction, land acquisition, and military family housing functions of the Department. Limits the total cost of construction projects authorized by this title. Title III: Air Force - Authorizes the Secretary of the Air Force to acquire real property and carry out military construction projects at specified installations and locations. Authorizes the Secretary to construct or acquire military family housing units, to carry out architectural and engineering services and construction design, and to improve existing military family housing units in specified amounts at specified installations. Authorizes appropriations to the Air Force for fiscal years beginning after 1991 for military construction, land acquisition, and military family housing functions of the Department. Limits the total cost of construction projects authorized by this title. Extends certain prior-year military construction projects. Title IV: Defense Agencies - Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to carry out military construction projects and acquire real property in specified amounts at specified installations and locations. Authorizes the Secretary to construct or acquire military family housing units and to improve existing military family housing units in specified amounts at specified installations. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to make contributions for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Infrastructure program, and authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for fiscal years after 1991 for such contributions. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Defense (DOD) for fiscal years beginning after FY 1991 for military construction, land acquisition, and military family housing functions of the Department. Limits the total cost of construction projects authorized by this title. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to enter into contracts for the design and construction of military construction projects at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Authorizes the Secretary to transfer excess NATO Infrastructure programs, and authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for fiscal years after 1991 for such contributions. Title V: Guard and Reserve Forces Facilities - Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years after 1991 for acquisition, architectural and engineering services, and construction of facilities for the Guard and Reserve forces in specified amounts. Title VI: Expiration of Authorizations - Terminates all authorizations contained in titles I through IV of this Subdivision on October 1, 1993, or the date of enactment of the Military Construction Authorization Act for FY 1994, whichever is later, with specified exceptions. Subdivision 2: Fiscal Year 1993 - Title I (SIC): Army - Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to acquire real property and carry out military construction projects at specified installations and locations. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out architectural and engineering services and construction design, and to improve existing military family housing units in specified amounts at specified installations. Authorizes appropriations to the Army for fiscal years beginning after 1992 for military construction projects, repair of real property, unspecified minor construction projects, architectural and engineering design services, and military family housing functions. Limits the total cost of construction projects authorized by this title. Title II: Navy - Authorizes the Secretary of the Navy to acquire real property and carry out military construction projects at specified installations and locations. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out architectural and engineering services and construction design, and to improve existing military family housing units in specified amounts at specified installations. Authorizes appropriations to the Navy for fiscal years beginning after 1992 for military construction projects, unspecified minor construction projects, repair of real property, architectural and engineering design services, and military housing functions. Limits the total cost of construction projects authorized by this title. Title III: Air Force - Authorizes the Secretary of the Air Force to acquire real property and carry out military construction projects at specified installations and locations. Authorizes the Secretary to construct or acquire military family housing units, to carry out architectural and engineering services and construction design, and to improve existing military family housing units in specified amounts at specified installations. Authorizes appropriations to the Air Force for fiscal years beginning after 1992 for military construction projects, unspecified minor military construction projects, repair of real property, architectural and engineering design services, and military family housing functions. Limits the total cost of construction projects authorized by this title. Title IV: Defense Agencies - Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to acquire real property and carry out military construction projects at specified installations and locations. Authorizes the Secretary to make contributions for the NATO Infrastructure program, and authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for fiscal years after 1992 for such contributions. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Defense (DOD) for fiscal years beginning after 1992 for military construction, repair of real property, land acquisition, and military family housing functions. Limits the total cost of construction projects authorized by this title. Authorizes the Secretary to transfer excess NATO Infrastructure funds (if any) to fund authorized defense agency projects, or to transfer unobligated defense agency funds to the NATO Infrastructure program. Title V: Guard and Reserve Forces Facilities - Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years after 1992 for acquisition, architectural and engineering services, repair of real property, and construction of facilities for the Guard and Reserve forces. Title VI: Expiration of Authorizations - Terminates all authorizations contained in titles I through IV of this subdivision on October 1, 1994, or on the date of enactment of the Military Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995, whichever is later, with specified exceptions. Subdivision 3 - Title VII: General Provisions - Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to contribute amounts to States for the acquisition or construction of facilities for use by the reserve forces. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out certain facilities projects that cost $300,000 or less (currently, $200,000) using operation and maintenance funds. Extends through FY 1993 (currently 1991) the authority of the Secretary concerned to enter into: (1) long-term facilities contracts; and (2) contracts for the leasing of military family housing facilities. Authorizes the heads of defense agencies (currently, only the Secretaries of the military departments) to use one-step turn-key selection procedures to enter into contracts for the construction of authorized military construction projects. Repeals provisions which: (1) prohibit the Secretary of Defense from entering into any more than three such contracts during a fiscal year; and (2) terminate the authority to enter into such contracts after October 1, 1991. Provides that certain defense contract limitations shall not apply to the acquisitions of military or family housing projects obtained through governments of NATO subsidiary bodies for elements of the armed forces deployed in Europe and adjacent waters. Increases the amounts authorized to be expended for minor military construction projects not otherwise authorized by law. Excludes up to 300 square feet from the applicable maximum net floor space allowances permitted for certain military pay grades for military housing for the provision of recreation space within existing space at locations in Alaska. Extends permanently (currently terminates as of FY 1991) the authority to expend funds under the homeowners assistance program. Extends benefits under such program to military personnel with dependents (currently, must be unaccompanied by dependents) and to personnel who are transferred due to a base closure within three years of such closure (currently, within 15 months). Authorizes the Secretary of the military department concerned to carry out a military construction project not otherwise authorized by law if the Secretary determines that the project: (1) is vital to the protection of the quality of the environment, health, or safety; and (2) is so urgent that deferral of such project until the next Military Construction Authorization Act would be inconsistent with the protection of health, safety, and environmental quality. Requires the Secretary concerned to report to the appropriate congressional committees when a decision is made to carry out a construction project under this section. Limits the maximum amount to be obligated by a Secretary in any fiscal year on such projects. Directs the Secretary of Energy to convey to the Secretary of Defense jurisdiction and control of a tract of land in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. Empowers the Secretary of a military department to lease a property (currently, only acquisitions or options to acquire are permitted) for a military project. Amends the Military Construction Authorization Act, 1984 to authorize the Secretary of a military department to enter into agreements for up to 2,000 family housing units under the Military Housing Rental Guarantee program, such units being in addition to the acquisition of any units currently permitted under the program. Extends the authority to enter into such agreements through FY 1993 (currently 1991). Repeals a Federal provision requiring the Secretary of a military department to provide a member of the armed forces with notice and an opportunity for hearing and record inspection before being permitted to withhold amounts from such member's pay for a breach of a rental housing lease or for damages caused to such housing by such member.
Bill· HRH.R. 1207 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Establishes the National Atomic Museum on the grounds of the Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. Authorizes the Secretary of Energy to establish permanent or temporary advisory committees to provide studies, consultation, advice, or assistance to the museum.
Bill· HRH.R. 1184 (102nd)reported
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Nuclear Powerplant Standardization and Licensing Reform Act of 1991 - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to grant: (1) design certifications for standardized production or utilization facilities or discrete subsystems of such facilities; and (2) early site permits for site approval for production or utilization facilities. Directs the Commission to issue a combined construction and operating license for a production or utilization facility if certain conditions are met. Requires the Commission to specify in any such license the emergency preparedness requirements that shall apply and the standards for meeting such requirements.
Bill· HRH.R. 1196 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Title I: Federal Programs - Directs the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) to establish the Federal Energy Efficiency Fund to provide financing to enable Federal agencies to install energy conservation measures. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress detailing funds allocation and the projected energy savings from installed measures. Authorizes appropriations. Sets deadlines by which Federal agencies must: (1) report to the Secretary a list of energy conservation projects that will meet a ten-year payback criterion; and (2) substantially complete energy conservation projects. Permits exceptions for reasons of impracticability. Exempts from this program Federal facilities engaged in either electric energy generation or transmission or uranium enrichment activities. Provides for the continued availability of appropriations for energy conservation purposes through the following fiscal year to agencies that achieve energy cost savings. Authorizes Federal entities to participate in certain gas and electric utility energy management programs (including acceptance of utility financial incentives). Sets forth guidelines under which the Secretary shall develop a simplified method of contracting for shared energy savings contract services. Directs the Secretary to establish a financial bonus program to reward outstanding energy managers at Federal plants. Requires the Administrator of the General Services Administration to ensure that the average fleet fuel efficiency in each class of federally purchased vehicles is at least equal to the average fuel economy level for that class in the previous model year. Sets a deadline by which the Secretary must establish an energy efficiency technologies demonstration program at Federal facilities that have received Federal financial assistance for research and development. Title II: Utilities - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to declare that gross income does not include the value of a subsidy (rebate) provided by a public utility to a customer for the purchase or installation of any energy conservation measure. Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to provide that the rates allowed to be charged by a State-regulated electric utility shall be such that its investments and expenditures for energy conservation and energy efficiency resources are as profitable as its investments and expenditures for the construction of new generation facilities. Requires the Secretary to report to the President and the Congress on: (1) the extent to which State regulatory practices require least-cost planning by electric utilities; and (2) an evaluation of likely results of least-cost energy planning. Prohibits the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) from approving interstate electric power sales by a utility unless the utility has adopted a least-cost plan complying with State requirements. Requires the purchaser or transferee of an interstate electric power sale to furnish FERC with a statement that such transfer is the least costly means by which it can obtain power. Requires the Tennessee Valley Authority to adopt a least-cost plan. Prohibits the Western Area Power Administration from selling power to a purchaser that does not have a least-cost plan in effect. Requires the Secretary of Energy to devise plans for the implementation of: (1) energy conservation standards and labeling for specified electric appliances and window systems; and (2) an insulation value rating system. Title III: Building and Housing - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish an income tax credit for granting oil retrofit conservation expenditures. Outlines standards for the Secretary of Energy and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to develop energy efficiency rating guidelines for new and existing residential buildings. Permits certain residential buildings with heating, cooling, or hot water systems operated directly by renewable energy sources to have their energy usage credited toward the building's energy efficiency rating. Directs the Secretary to establish a five-year program to provide technical and financial assistance to State and local organizations for residential energy efficiency rating systems. Requires the Secretary of Energy to ensure that Federal mortgage assistance is not permitted unless certain small family dwellings have met with minimum residential energy efficiency ratings. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Energy to: (1) recommend improved commercial building energy efficiency standards to State and local governments for adoption in their building codes; (2) initiate a three-year technical assistance program to promote adoption of such standards; (3) develop model incentives for increasing energy efficiency in commercial buildings beyond the energy efficiency ratings program; and (4) establish a task force to assist in the development of the energy efficiency program and review its results. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Improvement of Industrial Audits and Voluntary Guidelines For Industrial Insulation - Directs the Secretary to: (1) select and assist a nonprofit organization to develop industrial insulation guidelines; (2) review the status of industrial energy auditing procedures; (3) conduct an education and technical assistance program concerning such procedures; and (4) report to the Congress on the program. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: International Market Assessments and Export Promotion - Directs the Secretary to: (1) issue an annual report on at least three countries detailing the market potential for energy efficiency technologies; (2) issue a biannual report on the research and development of energy efficiency technologies in major industrialized countries; (3) conduct a specified number of trade missions to countries identified as good markets for energy efficiency technologies; (4) conduct a training and technical assistance program to assist other countries in policy design and program development to accelerate the adoption of energy efficiency technologies; and (5) present a program evaluation report to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations. Title VI: Transportation - Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to present guidelines under which the Secretary of Transportation shall by regulation establish a program encouraging the removal from the marketplace of motor vehicles manufactured before model year 1980. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit employer deductions for parking expenses on behalf of employees unless the employer provides either a cash or a mass transit, car pool, or van subsidy alternative.
Bill· HRH.R. 1140 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Energy Price and Supply Information Act of 1991 - Directs the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration of the Department of Energy to conduct and publish weekly surveys on a national, State, and PADD (Petroleum Administration Defense District) basis during each winter season with respect to: (1) home heating fuel; (2) natural gas; and (3) automotive fuel. Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish recommended adequate inventory levels for home heating fuel, natural gas and automotive fuel on a national, State, and PADD basis. Requires the Secretary to: (1) notify the Congress, the President, and State energy offices before October 1 of each year whether such inventory levels will be met for the winter heating season; and (2) make recommendations for legislative and administrative actions necessary to restore inadequate inventories if they fall below the recommended levels. Requires the Secretary to report the results of a study of the effect of interruptible natural gas contracts on the demand and supply of home heating fuel during the 1989-1990 winter heating season.
Bill· HRH.R. 1142 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from issuing any new oil or gas lease on any submerged lands of the Outer Continental Shelf located within a specified geographical area off the coast of California and located within specified portions of: (1) the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary; and (2) the Channel Islands Area.
Resolution· HCONRESH.Con.Res. 79 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Calls upon the President to work with all nations of the western hemisphere to create and implement a Western Hemisphere Energy Policy.
Bill· SS. 481 (102nd)reported
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1991
Water Research Act of 1991 - Declares it U.S. policy to provide for: (1) the development of a means of producing, from saline or biologically impaired waters, water of a quality suitable for agricultural, industrial, municipal and other uses; and (2) related research on a scale sufficient to determine the feasibility of large scale development. Defines "saline water" to mean sea water, brackish water, and other mineralized or chemically impaired water. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a basic research and development program as Phase I of the water research program established by this Act. Specifies the activities to be included in Phase I, including activities involving research grants and contracts. Directs the Secretary to endeavor to obtain results in Phase I, within three years after enactment of this Act, sufficient to support recommendations to the Congress. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct additional basic research and development concurrently with Phase II demonstration activities. Directs the Secretary to conduct a demonstration program as Phase II of the water research program established by this Act. Specifies the activities to be included in Phase II. Requires the results of research under this Act, with exceptions for national defense and patent rights, to be available to the public. Applies specified provisions of the Federal Nonnuclear Energy, Research and Development Act of 1974 (FNERDA) relating to patents and inventions to any invention conceived in the course of any contract under this Act, but states that such application does not affect the application of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act to research under this Act that is performed at a Federal laboratory. Applies provisions of FNERDA relating to antitrust laws to activities under this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) accept technical and administrative assistance from public or private agencies in connection with work relating to the desalting of water; (2) enter into contracts or agreements; and (3) provide for cost sharing. Authorizes the Secretary to take other actions in carrying out this Act, including making grants and contracts. Directs the Secretary to dispose of water and byproducts resulting from operations under this Act consistent with environmental law. Requires, notwithstanding other law, moneys received from the dispositions to be deposited in a separate account in the Treasury, to be known as the Water Research Fund. Makes amounts from the Fund available as provided in appropriations Acts. Directs the President to instruct the Agency for International Development (AID) to sponsor an international desalination conference. Allows funding for the conference to come from operating or program funds of AID. Requires AID to encourage financial and other support from other nations, including those that have desalination technology and those that might benefit from it. Authorizes appropriations for Phase I.
Bill· HRH.R. 1111 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1991
Anti-Apartheid Act Amendments of 1991 - Title I: Sanctions Against Investment in, and Exports to, South Africa and Other Measures (Except Import Restrictions) to End Apartheid - Part A: Amendments to the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 and Other Laws - Amends the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 to prohibit any investments in South Africa by U.S. persons. Makes exceptions to such prohibition for: (1) investments in a business enterprise 90 percent owned and controlled by South Africans economically and politically disadvantaged by apartheid; and (2) investments made by certain individuals during any period and to the extent that such investments are considered South African emigrant non-resident assets and subject to transfer or disposition restrictions. Authorizes a person to apply for, and the President to grant for good cause, a waiver of such prohibition for up to 180 days. Requires U.S. controlled South African entities that are subject to the investment prohibition and that employ more than 24 South Africans economically and politically disadvantaged by apartheid to: (1) notify employees and employee organizations not less than 90 days prior to termination of the U.S. investment in such entity; and (2) enter into good faith negotiations with representative trade unions regarding the terms of such termination. Prohibits the exportation or reexportation to South Africa of any goods or technology subject to U.S. jurisdiction. Prohibits any such exportation or reexportation by any person subject to U.S. jurisdiction. Exempts from such prohibition publications, donations of food, clothing, and medical supplies, commercial sales of agricultural commodities and products, and goods and technology for use in the gathering or dissemination of information by news media organizations subject to U.S. jurisdiction. Makes such prohibitions inapplicable to: (1) any goods that are the direct product of technology of U.S. origin under a written agreement entered into on or before April 20, 1988, and that are exported within one year of the enactment of this Act; (2) economic assistance or human rights programs for disadvantaged South Africans, South African blacks or other nonwhite South Africans, or victims of apartheid in South Africa; and (3) contributions to charitable organizations engaged in social welfare, public health, religious, educational, or emergency relief activities in South Africa. Repeals specified provisions of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 that: (1) prohibit certain exports to, imports from, and investments in South Africa; (2) set forth U.S. policy toward the recruitment and training of black South Africans; and (3) prohibit U.S. intercession with any foreign government regarding export activities of certain U.S. nationals in South Africa who are not implementing the Code of Conduct. Revises the definition of "loans" for purposes of such Act to prohibit short-term trade financing, sales on open account, and rescheduling of existing loans. Adds other definitions for purposes of such Act. Prohibits any U.S. agency or entity involved in intelligence activities from engaging in any form of cooperation with the Government of South Africa (specifically including the authorities administering Namibia so long as Namibia is illegally occupied). Prohibits any U.S. agency or entity from engaging in any form of cooperation with the armed forces of South Africa. Prohibits funds made available by the Congress from being obligated or expended for any expense related to any prohibited cooperation. States that the President should not: (1) assign or detail any member of the U.S. armed forces to serve as a defense or military attache in South Africa; or (2) accredit any individual to serve as a defense or military attache at a South African diplomatic mission in the United States. Repeals provisions of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1987 concerning restrictions on intelligence agency cooperation with South Africa. Prohibits the Secretary of Energy from authorizing any person to engage, directly or indirectly, in the production of special nuclear materials in South Africa. Revises penalty provisions of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986. Establishes within the Department of State a Coordinator of South Africa Sanctions who shall be responsible to the Secretary of State for matters pertaining to the implementation of sanctions against South Africa. Directs the Coordinator to place emphasis on activities related to strategically important trade in oil, coal, computers, specialized machinery and arms, and to financial credits. Sets forth the responsibilities of the Secretary of State in leading and coordinating the activities of other agencies in implementing and enforcing the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 and in monitoring other nations' economic relations with South Africa. Requires the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on actions to monitor and enforce such Act and on economic relations between South Africa and each of its trading partners. Establishes an Interagency Coordinating Committee on South Africa to coordinate and monitor the implementation of such Act. Revises provisions of such Act regarding the Code of Conduct and expanded participation in the South African economy. Requires Federal agencies to make efforts to assist businesses more than 90 percent (currently, 50 percent) owned by black or nonwhite South Africans. Amends the Export Import Bank Act of 1945 to require the Bank to insure or participate in the extension of credit to businesses more than 90 percent owned (currently, majority owned) and controlled by black or nonwhite South Africans. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to permit the use of a specified amount of funds authorized for economic development assistance for assistance to disadvantaged South Africans. Specifies that such assistance may include scholarships, the promotion of the participation of disadvantaged South Africans in trade unions and private enterprise, alternative education and community development programs, and training and other assistance (including legal aid) for South African journalists. Lists major trade union federations in South Africa as examples of recipients of U.S. assistance to the labor movement. Earmarks a specified amount of such funds for refugee education and assistance for South Africans. Prohibits any U.S. person from providing transport to South Africa of a commercial quantity of crude oil or refined petroleum products. Includes in such prohibition transport on a vessel of U.S. registry or on a vessel owned by a U.S. person. Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from issuing any mineral lease to any national of the United States which is controlled by any foreign person who purchases, acquires, owns, or holds any investment in South Africa or who exports crude oil or refined petroleum products to South Africa. Authorizes the President to waive such prohibitions under specified conditions. Part B: Policy Statements; Reports; Studies; and Other Miscellaneous Provisions - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should: (1) direct the Attorney General to conduct an antitrust investigation of the South African controlled international diamond cartel; (2) direct the Secretary of Commerce and the Commissioner of Customs to study the feasibility of identifying at the port of entry the national origin of diamonds entering the United States; and (3) ensure effective and rigorous enforcement of a prohibition on the importation into the United States of uncut South African diamonds by taking specified measures. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the President should eliminate all honorary consuls of South Africa in the United States and forbid expansion of South Africa's embassy staff; and (2) approval of temporary U.S. visas should be granted on a case-by-case basis after considering South Africa's record of allowing its citizens, including apartheid opponents, to travel to the United States. Requires the President to study and report to the Congress on measures to reduce South Africa's foreign exchange earnings from gold. Directs the Secretary of State to report to the Congress on South Africa's involvement in international terrorism. Title II: Sanctions Against South African Imports Into the United States - Prohibits the importation into the United States of any article from South Africa, except: (1) strategic minerals which the President certifies to the Congress are essential for military or economic purposes and are not available from alternative reliable suppliers or through improved manufacturing processes, conservation, recycling, and economical substitution; and (2) publications. Specifies that such prohibition includes: (1) krugerrands or any gold coin minted in South Africa or offered for sale by the Government of South Africa; (2) uranium hexafluoride that has been manufactured from South African uranium or uranium oxide; and (3) fish or seafood which are products of South Africa. Exempts from such prohibition any imports from business enterprises in South Africa that are wholly-owned by persons economically or politically disadvantaged by apartheid. Requires the President to confer with other industrialized democracies in order to reach cooperative agreements to impose sanctions against South Africa to bring about the dismantling of apartheid. Requires the President to report to the Congress concerning such efforts. Requires (currently, encourages) the President to seek United Nations Security Council adoption of the same sanctions against South Africa as are imposed by the United States. Requires (currently, authorizes) the President to impose penalties against foreign persons taking significant commercial advantage of U.S. sanctions against South Africa or comparable sanctions of other industrialized democracies. Includes as such a penalty the restriction of such a person from contracting with U.S. Government entities. Allows the President to waive such penalties for foreign persons of an industrialized democracy that is a party to a cooperative agreement to impose sanctions against South Africa. Requires the President to revoke such waiver if the industrialized democracy is not adequately enforcing the measures provided for under the agreement. Requires that information concerning the extent to which import restrictions are being enforced by other industrialized democracies be included in the Secretary of State's annual report to the Congress. Sets forth provisions pertaining to committee referral in the House of Representatives of joint resolutions pertaining to import restrictions. Requires the President, through the Secretary of Commerce, to submit periodic reports to the Congress setting forth the average amounts of imports of coal or any strategic and critical material entering the United States from each member and observer country of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. Requires the President to report annually to the Congress on the program to reduce U.S. dependence on strategic minerals from South Africa. Requires the President to confer with the governments of the African "frontline" states on measures to prevent the circumvention of the import restrictions on South African products imposed under the authority of this Act. Title III: General Provisions - Makes conforming amendments and sets forth the effective date of this Act.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 92 (102nd)passed
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1991
Makes available from the contingency fund of the House of Representatives certain amounts for expenditures by the following House committees in the first session of the 102d Congress: Aging; Agriculture; Armed Services; Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs; Children, Youth, and Families; District of Columbia; Education and Labor; Energy and Commerce; Foreign Affairs; Government Operations; House Administration, including the House Information Systems; Hunger; Intelligence; Interior and Insular Affairs; Judiciary; Merchant Marine and Fisheries; Narcotics Abuse and Control; Post Office and Civil Service; Public Works and Transportation; Rules; Science, Space, and Technology; Small Business; Standards of Official Conduct; Veterans' Affairs; and Ways and Means. Limits the use of such funds to investigations and studies, including procurement of consultant services and specialized training for professional staff. Directs the Committee on House Administration, through the House Information Systems, to develop, operate, and improve computer and information services for the House of Representatives.
Bill· SS. 477 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1991
National Atomic Museum Act of 1991 - Recognizes the National Atomic Museum within Kirtland Air Force Base (East), New Mexico, as the official atomic museum of the United States with the sole right to have and use the name "National Atomic Museum." Declares as the mission of the museum to provide for the public a freely available central repository of information and items reflecting the Atomic Age, making available unclassified or declassified data, materials, or other items pertaining to nuclear science. Requires the museum to continue to be located at its present site and managed by the Department of Energy.
Resolution· SRESS.Res. 62 (102nd)passed
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1991
Omnibus Committee Funding Resolution for 1991 and 1992 - Authorizes expenditures by the following Senate committees from March 1, 1991, through February 28, 1992, and for the period March 1, 1992, through February 29, 1993: (1) Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; (2) Appropriations; (3) Armed Services; (4) Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; (5) Budget; (6) Commerce, Science, and Transportation; (7) Energy and Natural Resources; (8) Environment and Public Works; (9) Finance; (10) Foreign Relations; (11) Governmental Affairs; (12) Judiciary; (13) Labor and Human Resources; (14) Rules and Administration; (15) Small Business; (16) Veterans' Affairs; (17) Aging; (18) Intelligence; and (19) Indian Affairs. Authorizes the transfer of any unexpended balance of any committee to a special reserve to assist such committee during the transition to a biennial budget. Earmarks a minimum amount to be reserved for each Committee.
Bill· SS. 466 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for the production of electricity with qualified technologies property. Describes such property to include the use of solar thermal, photovoltaic, wind, geothermal, biomass, and other renewable energy technologies. Extends the solar and geothermal energy credit until December 31, 1996 (currently, such credit terminates December 31, 1991).
Bill· SS. 458 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Procurement Ethics Reform Act - Amends the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to: (1) revise provisions suspended by the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 governing the conduct of certain individuals involved in procurement-related activities; and (2) repeal certain conflict-of-interest restrictions. Replaces provisions prohibiting procurement officials and competing contractors from, respectively, disclosing and obtaining proprietary and source selection information during any stage of a Federal agency procurement with provisions prohibiting anyone: (1) who had access to contractor bid or proposal information or source selection information while employed by the Federal Government or while acting for or advising the Government from knowingly and willfully disclosing such information before the award of a Federal agency procurement contract to which the information relates; (2) from knowingly and willingly obtaining contractor bid or proposal information or source selection information before such an award; and (3) from knowingly and willingly violating a protective order issued by the Comptroller General or the board of contract appeals of the General Services Administration in connection with a protest against the award or proposed award of such a contract by disclosing such information. Defines "contractor bid or proposal information" as currently defined "proprietary information." Specifies the categories of such information, including information marked by the contractor as "contractor bid or proposal information" in accordance with applicable law. Redefines "source selection information" as information prepared for use by a Federal agency to evaluate a bid or proposal to enter into such a contract. Specifies the categories of such information, including information that is marked "source selection information" the disclosure of which (based upon a case-by-case determination of the agency head or the contracting officer) would jeopardize the integrity or successful completion of the Federal agency procurement to which the information relates. Specifies that contractor bid or proposal information and source selection information must not have been previously made available to the public. Repeals provisions regarding contractual penalties. Authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil action in a U.S. District Court against any person who violates prohibitions against disclosing or obtaining such information or a protective order issued during a contract award protest. Establishes separate civil penalties of $50,000 for individuals and $500,000 for organizations convicted of violating such a prohibition plus twice the amount of compensation the individual or organization received or was offered for the prohibited conduct. Establishes criminal penalties of a fine or imprisonment for not more than one year or both for a violation of such a prohibition and of a fine or imprisonment for not more than five years or both for such a violation involving the exchanging of such information for anything of value or obtaining or giving to anyone a competitive advantage in awarding such a contract. Revises provisions regarding administrative actions to allow Federal agencies that receive information that a contractor has engaged in such a violation to declare void and rescind the contract involved where there has been a conviction of such offense or where the agency head determines that such a violation has occurred based on clear and convincing evidence. Entitles the United States to recover the amount expended under the contract in addition to any penalty if such a contract is declared void and rescinded. Specifies that such a violation affects the present responsibility of a Government contractor or subcontractor to facilitate initiation of debarment or suspension proceedings. Requires Government-wide regulations and guidelines to carry out the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act to be issued in the Federal Acquisition Regulation by the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in coordination with the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council. Repeals provisions regarding: (1) restrictions on gratuities; (2) restrictions on seeking employment; (3) restrictions on post-employment activities of former procurement officials; (4) certification; (5) ethics advice; and (6) training. Repeals the following provisions suspended by the Ethics Reform Act of 1989: (1) provisions of the Department of Energy Organization Act regarding reporting requirements on prior employment for newly-appointed supervisors, postemployment and participation prohibitions and associated reporting requirements for former supervisors, and violations of postemployment prohibitions and associated reporting requirements considered in deciding the outcome of Department proceedings; (2) miscellaneous procurement requirements relating to private employment contacts between certain Department of Defense (DOD) procurement officials and defense contractors and certain former DOD procurement officials and the limitations on their employment by contractors; and (3) criminal code provisions imposing restrictions on retired military officers in certain matters affecting the Government. Repeals certain miscellaneous procurement provisions not suspended by the Act regarding reporting requirements for employees and former employees of defense contractors and requirements on defense contractors regarding former DOD officials.
Bill· HRH.R. 1096 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Authorizes appropriations for the programs, functions, and activities of the Bureau of Land Management for FY 1992 through 1995. Amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to add riparian areas as a priority for the Secretary of the Interior's inventory of all public lands and their resource and other values. Provides for congressional disapproval of certain decisions by the Secretary to implement land use plans by the enactment of a joint (currently, concurrent) resolution. Requires that land use plans be developed for all public lands outside Alaska no later than January 1, 1997, and for all public lands no later than January 1, 1999. Requires that such plans be revised at least every 15 years. Requires the Secretary, in the development and revision of land use plans, to: (1) evaluate the feasibility of measures, consistent with the principles of multiple use and sustained yield, that would enhance the extent to which the public lands can support increases in the numbers and types of plant communities and fish and wildlife populations located on or supported by such lands; (2) give priority to identification, protection, and enhancement of the ecological, environmental, fish and wildlife, and other resources and values of riparian areas; and (3) include recreational and other nonconsumptive uses when considering present and potential uses of the public lands. Changes the title of the Associate Director of the Bureau of Land Management to Deputy Director. Adds the positions of State Directors of the Bureau which the Secretary may appoint as necessary. Prohibits, after May 1, 1989, the appointment of any person as Deputy Director of the Bureau or as an Assistant Director or State Director who is not at the time of appointment either a career appointee or in the competitive service. Increases the fine for violation of any regulation issued by the Secretary to implement the provisions of the Act with respect to the management, use, and protection of public lands from a maximum of $1,000 to a maximum of $10,000. Requires the Secretary in managing the public lands: (1) to minimize adverse environmental impacts on such lands and their resources resulting from use, occupancy, or development; and (2) to prevent impairment or derogation of the resources and values of conservation system units. Adds protection of environmental quality, the management and enhancement of fish and wildlife populations and habitat, and outdoor recreation as citizens' concerns to be represented through appointments to the Secretary's advisory councils. Requires the provision of an opportunity for interested members of the public to suggest persons for appointment to such councils. Requires the Secretary, in promulgating rules and regulations with respect to the public lands, to: (1) provide for appropriate management of areas of critical environmental concern; and (2) provide an opportunity for the public to propose specific areas for designation as areas of critical environmental concern. Changes the dates on which the Secretary must submit a request for the authorization of appropriations for all programs, functions, and activities of the Bureau to January 1, 1993, and January 1 of each second odd-numbered year thereafter. (Current law requires such requests beginning May 15, 1977, and not later than May 15 of each second even numbered year thereafter.) Prohibits funds that are appropriated for purposes of land acquisition from being expended for any other purpose. Prohibits subleasing with regard to the grazing on public lands or National Forest lands covered by a grazing permit of domestic livestock which are not both owned and controlled by the holder of the grazing permit. Provides penalties for a violation of such prohibition. Provides that no regulation shall impose liability without fault with respect to a right-of-way granted, issued, or renewed under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to a nonprofit entity or an entity qualified for financing under the Rural Electrication Act of 1936 if such entity uses such right-of-way for the delivery of electricity to parties having an equity interest in such entity. Authorizes the sale of public lands in excess of 2,500 acres unless the Congress enacts a joint (currently, concurrent) resolution disapproving such sale.
Bill· HRH.R. 1078 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
National Coal and Extractive Energy Strategy Act of 1991 - Title I: Coal Remining - Amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to authorize any State with an approved abandoned mine reclamation program to establish, upon the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, a State Remining Program, including a State Remining Fund. Outlines Program and Fund requirements. Declares that penalties shall not be imposed on qualified permittees under the Program for any violation which results from an unanticipated event or condition. Sets forth special rules applicable to remining operations. Requires the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary) to publish in the Federal Register proposed regulations establishing: (1) environmental protection performance and reclamation standards; and (2) a separate permit system for abandoned coal refuse piles. Requires the Secretary to report to certain congressional committees on such standards and permit system. Direct the Secretary to increase from 50 percent to 80 percent the amount of total State reclamation costs which may be reimbursed with Federal grants if: (1) the State has insufficient fiscal resources to adequately implement its Program; or (2) the State has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Secretary for the implementation of the Applicant Violator System settlement agreement. Title II: Metallurgical Coal Development - Directs the Secretary to establish as a separate program within the Bureau of Mines a metallurgical coal mining experimental program to develop techniques leading to enhanced utilization of metallurgical coal resources. Requires the Director of the Bureau of Mines to transfer technologies developed under the experimental program to the private sector for commercial application. Establishes the Metallurgical Coal Development Commission to advise on increased development and utilization of metallurgical coal resources. Requires the Commission to report to the Congress and the President. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to construct and maintain a mining experimental station facility in a region with a history of intensive metallurgical coal mining. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Coalbed Methane Development - Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to allocate the rights of ownership among surface estate and subsurface rights owners and lessees of coalbed methane gas where the rights of ownership and leasing have been severed from the surface estate. Title IV: Federal Coal Leasing Amendments - Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to permit the extension of a coal lease for up to five years when coal is not being produced in commercial quantities at the end of ten years if: (1) the lessee has made bona fide efforts to produce coal in commercial quantities; and (2) payments in lieu of diligent development are made. Prohibits the Secretary from issuing any coal lease: (1) if it would have a significant adverse effect on coal produced from private lands due to its displacement from historical markets; or (2) to any person or entity engaged in coal production in a foreign country, or the importation of such coal into the United States. Directs the Secretary to report to the President and the Congress on possible specified effects of current Federal coal royalty rates, and on certain alternative royalty bases. Title V: Federal Mineral Receipts Management - Amends the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to prescribe the manner in which payments shall be made by the Secretary to the States with respect to: (1) moneys received; and (2) a suspense account pending resolution of a Federal-State dispute of moneys received. Mandates that each department, agency and instrumentality of the United States which administers lands acquired by the United States with existing mineral leases shall transfer to the Secretary the authority to administer such lease and collect all receipts due and payable to the United States under it. Amends Federal law to treat any bonuses, royalties or rentals due the United States from mineral leases as money received on account of the leasing of lands acquired by the United States for flood control, navigation, and allied purposes (including hydroelectric power development). Title VI: Coalfield Assistance, Restoration and Enhancement - Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to establish the Coalfield Assistance, Restoration and Enhancement Fund to be administered by the Secretary (acting through the Director, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement) for the purpose of assisting coalfield communities to cope with the impacts associated with coal development, restoring public facilities, and enhancing the coalfield environment. Makes Fund moneys available in the form of grants to eligible States. Authorizes appropriations from the Fund. Title VII: Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Amendments - Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to mandate that: (1) the national minimum acceptable bid be $2.00 per acre; (2) certain leases be in maximum units of 2,560 acres, (except in Alaska where units shall not exceed 5,760 acres); and (3) primary lease terms be for five years.
Bill· HRH.R. 1097 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Commercialization of Alternative Energy Sources and Energy Conservation Technology Act of 1991 - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 2000 to implement certain provisions of the Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1976. Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to extend from 1995 to the year 2000 the period of reduced tax rates on certain fuels containing alcohol. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 2000 to implement: (1) certain provisions of the Biomass Energy and Alcohol Fuels Act of 1980; and (2) a loan guarantee program for the design and construction of coal liquefaction and oil shale facilities. Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish such a program. Amends the IRC to provide a 20 percent energy investment credit for cogeneration equipment. Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to authorize appropriations for FY 1991 through 1993 for: (1) the State Plan program; (2) the energy conservation program for schools and hospitals; and (3) the weatherization assistance program. Amends the National Energy Extension Service Act to authorize appropriations for FY 1991 through 1993. Amends the Solar Energy and Energy Conservation Bank Act to repeal the termination of the Solar Energy and Energy Conservation Bank. Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to reestablish such Bank. Authorizes appropriations for the Bank's operation. Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to direct the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) to monitor certain petroleum product imports and increase the duties on such imports according to prescribed guidelines.
Bill· HRH.R. 1066 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Indoor Air Quality Act of 1991 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a national research, development, and demonstration program to ensure the quality of indoor air and to coordinate and accelerate efforts related to the causes, detection, and correction of contaminated air. Authorizes the Administrator to assist technology demonstration projects which reduce exposure to indoor air contaminants, provided certain conditions are met. Limits Federal funding for such projects to 75 percent of the total costs. Directs the Administrator to consider indoor human exposure to contaminants when developing air quality standards and emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. Requires the Administrator to: (1) conduct a national assessment to survey the seriousness and extent of indoor air contamination in buildings owned by local educational agencies and child care facilities; and (2) establish an advisory group of interested parties to provide guidance and direction in developing such assessment. Directs the Administrator to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology to study and report to the Congress on chemical sensitivity disorders. Requires the Administrator to enter into an agreement with the NAS for the Institute of Medicine to study indoor allergens. Directs the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on the sources of lead exposure for children with blood lead levels greater than 10 micrograms per deciliter. Requires the Administrator and the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to conduct research on indoor air quality in nonresidential, nonindustrial buildings that comply with generally accepted principles of design, maintenance, and operation of ventilation, filtration, and other building systems. Directs the Administrator to publish bulletins providing an assessment of technologies and management practices for the control and measurement of indoor air contaminants. Requires the Director to develop a model indoor air quality training course to provide training in ventilation system operation and maintenance and in identifying and reducing indoor air contaminant exposures. Authorizes the Director to establish a fee for such training. Requires the Administrator to publish health advisories on indoor air contaminants that are known to occur at concentrations which may have adverse human health effects. Provides for the revision of advisories at least every five years. Requires a technology and management practice bulletin to be published concurrently with each advisory addressing a specific contaminant. Directs the Administrator to publish a strategy for a national response to indoor air quality problems. Requires the Administrator to conduct research on radon and radon progeny measurement methods and protocols. Directs the Administrator to issue guidance documents that: (1) provide information on the results of such research; and (2) describe model State radon measurement and mitigation. Requires the Administrator to establish a mandatory program that requires: (1) products offered for sale, or devices used in connection with public services, for radon measurement to meet minimum performance criteria; and (2) operators of devices, or persons employing techniques, used in connection with public services for radon measurement to meet minimum proficiency levels. Directs the Administrator to establish user fees for persons seeking certification under such program. Provides for the deposit of such fees into a Radon Service Account. Requires the national indoor air quality response strategy to evaluate: (1) the range and reliability of indoor air quality diagnostic and mitigation services; and (2) the range of knowledge and mastery of indoor air quality and energy efficiency techniques of ventilation system operators. Provides for the biennial update of such strategy. Requires the Director to: (1) develop a program to evaluate indoor air contamination in Federal buildings; and (2) develop and disseminate to all Federal agencies a model indoor air quality remediation program. Directs Federal agencies responsible for Federal buildings to submit to the Director a specific remediation program for each building, with priority given to buildings based on the health threat and numbers of persons exposed. Requires the Director to review at least five percent of such programs and assess their ability to improve indoor air quality. Directs such agencies to implement systematic programs for the assessment of indoor air quality and the correction of conditions resulting in inadequate air quality. Requires Federal agencies responsible for the design and construction of buildings for Federal occupancy to employ up-to-date design, commissioning, and operating practices for optimal indoor air quality and energy efficiency. Directs persons entering into new leases or lease renewal contracts for Federal buildings to require building owners to demonstrate and guarantee that the building is operating at design specifications for the existing ventilation system and that all portions of the building are accessible for indoor air quality monitoring and evaluation. Provides that buildings that operate at current ventilation rate standards shall be given priority for leasing when available at competitive cost. Requires Federal agencies to designate an Indoor Air Quality Coordinator for each Federal building. Directs Coordinators and their assistants to complete an indoor air training course. Authorizes grants to: (1) States for the development and implementation of indoor air quality management strategies; and (2) States and local air pollution control agencies for air quality response programs. Sets forth grant limitations and selection criteria. Directs the Administrator to establish the Office of Indoor Air Quality within the EPA Office of Air and Radiation. Establishes a Council on Indoor Air Quality to coordinate Federal indoor air quality activities and review and comment on the national indoor air response strategy. Requires the Indoor Air Panel of the EPA Science Advisory Board to be expanded to include technical advisors with expertise in technologies and management practices for the control and measurement of indoor air contaminants. Directs the Administrator to establish a national indoor air quality clearinghouse which shall operate a toll-free hotline on indoor air quality. Requires the Director to implement a Building Assessment Demonstration Program to support the development of methods, techniques, and protocols for assessing indoor air contamination in non-residential, non-industrial buildings and to provide contamination reduction assistance and guidance to building owners and occupants. Sets forth building assessment report requirements. Requires public or commercial buildings receiving permits for construction or renovation to maintain and operate a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system designed to provide a minimum of: (1) 20 cubic feet per minute of outdoor air per occupant to all occupied space in such building; and (2) 60 cubic feet per minute of outdoor air per smoking occupant to rooms where smoking is permitted. Prohibits exhaust air from a room where smoking is permitted from being returned to the general ventilation system. Sets forth recordkeeping requirements with respect to such systems. Directs the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to enforce compliance with such requirements. Prescribes civil and criminal penalties for violations of such requirements. Requires the Administrator to evaluate the need for additional standards related to the level of specific indoor air contaminants present in such buildings to supplement such requirements. Directs the Administrator to issue regulations which: (1) establish standard methods for the measurement and description of indoor air contaminant emissions; (2) identify products that pose significant human health threats through such emissions; and (3) require products that do pose such a threat to be labeled or accompanied by written material informing consumers and commercial purchasers of the indoor air contaminant emissions rate of such products. Makes it unlawful to sell or import into the United States any product which: (1) does not have such a label or written material; or (2) has a label or material containing false information. Requires the Administrator to educate consumers and commercial purchasers about the labeling of such products. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) determine whether standards on workplace indoor air quality are necessary to protect the health and safety of employees; and (2) issue a final standard, as necessary. Repeals the Radon Gas and Indoor Air Quality Research Act of 1986. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 1057 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
National Energy Security Planning Act of 1991 - Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from issuing any oil or gas leases until after sending the Congress a National Least-Cost Energy and Conservation Plan. Outlines Plan contents (including energy demand forecasts and resource inventories), and mandates its revision and resubmission to the Congress at least every five years.
Bill· HRH.R. 1089 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Vehicular Natural Gas Jurisdiction Act of 1991 - Declares that for purposes of the Natural Gas Act: (1) natural gas for ultimate use in a motor vehicle fuel (VNG) shall be deemed to be "ultimately consumed" within the State in which physical delivery of such VNG occurs, whether or not physical combustion occurs in another State; (2) a certification from a State commission to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that it has regulatory jurisdiction over the rates, services and facilities of a person (who receives natural gas from another person within or at the boundary of a State which is ultimately consumed within such State) and is exercising such jurisdiction shall constitute conclusive evidence of such jurisdiction; (3) in the case of a sale for resale of VNG by the holder of a service area determination such holder shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the State commission in the State which physical delivery of VNG occurs; (4) in the case of VNG transportation by such holder, the VNG shall be deemed to be "consumed" within the State in which physical delivery occurs; and (5) in the case of both sale for resale of VNG, or VNG transportation, by a holder of a service area determination, such holder shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the State commission of the State in which such sale for resale or transportation occurs.
Bill· HRH.R. 1012 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1991
Amends the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act to prohibit any low-level radioactive waste disposal facility from being located at a site where Federal funds have been expended to decontaminate a high-level radioactive waste storage facility.
Bill· HRH.R. 1017 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1991
Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to establish the position of Assistant Secretary for Natural Gas.
Bill· HRH.R. 989 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1991
Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from issuing any oil or gas exploration leases or licenses on submerged lands off the coastlines of the eastern seaboard, western seaboard, and Alaska (the Outer Continental Shelf). Retains the leases, licenses, and permits in effect on the date of enactment of this Act. Directs the Secretary to cancel (with compensation) specified leases or permits in effect on such date. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress on alternative options for compensating leaseholders of specified land tracts.
Bill· HRH.R. 1007 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income the value of any subsidy provided by an electric utility to a customer for the purchase or installation of energy conservation measures.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 77 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1991
Authorizes amounts for expenses of investigations and studies by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in the first session of the 102d Congress.
Bill· SS. 402 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1991
Vehicular Natural Gas Jurisdiction Act of 1991 - Declares that for purposes of the Natural Gas Act: (1) natural gas for ultimate use in a motor vehicle fuel (VNG) shall be deemed to be "ultimately consumed" within the State in which physical delivery of such VNG occurs, whether or not physical combustion occurs in another State; (2) a certification from a State commission to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that it has regulatory jurisdiction over the rates, services, and facilities of a person (who receives natural gas from another person within or at the boundary of a State which is ultimately consumed within such State) and is exercising such jurisdiction shall constitute conclusive evidence of such jurisdiction; (3) in the case of a sale for resale of VNG by the holder of a service area determination such holder shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the State commission in the State in which physical delivery of VNG occurs; (4) in the case of VNG transportation by such holder, the VNG shall be deemed to be "consumed" within the State in which physical delivery occurs; and (5) in the case of both sale for resale of VNG, or VNG transportation, by a holder of a service area determination, such holder shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the State commission of the State in which such sale for resale or transportation occurs.
Bill· SS. 417 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1991
Federal Energy Management Amendments Act of 1991 - Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (NECPA) to set a deadline by which each Federal agency must: (1) install energy conservation measures in its Federal buildings with specified payback periods; (2) submit a list of projects to the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) which meet such payback criterion and indicate total energy and cost savings involved; and (3) have substantially completed at least 25 percent of such projects, or those projects that would account for 25 percent of total energy savings. Directs the Secretary to develop guidelines with respect to the selection of energy service contractors. Requires: (1) each Federal agency that leases space in a building after January 1, 1994, to consider the energy efficiency of such building at the time of renewing of entering into a new lease; and (2) all government owned and leased space constructed after such date to meet model Federal building standards for energy efficiency. Sets forth specified procedures for implementation of energy conservation measures for each Federal agency. Amends the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technology Competitiveness Act of 1989 to require the Secretary to solicit proposals for, and provide financial assistance to, joint ventures for the demonstration of fuel cells technology. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the NECPA to require the Secretary to: (1) conduct a fuel cell systems demonstration program in Federal buildings; and (2) report to the Congress on the program's implementation. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to study the cost of environmental externalities associated with the use of different fuels and renewable and clean energy sources and technologies, and to prepare a report assigning monetary values to such externalities and describing the methodology used to obtain them. Requires submission of the report to specified congressional committees.
Bill· SS. 395 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1991
Directs the establishment of an international research, development, and production center at the Hanford Reservation in Richland, Washington, to be known as the Research Reactor User Complex (RRC). Allows the RRC to enter into agreements with non-Federal entities, including foreign governments and entities, or a consortium of such entities, for use of the RRC relating to production of isotopes, irradiation services, and steam. Allows assessment of charges from those entities as necessary. Limits the agreements to 25 years. Allows the agreement to: (1) include a termination provision requiring the payment of the unamortized balance of certain facilities in some circumstances; and (2) authorize the use and to make the repayments of funds made available for operating expenses. Allows, in entering into an agreement, the use of procedures other than competitive procedures as described in specified provisions of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949. Requires any entity under contract to operate the RRC to operate the Fast Flux Test Facility pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act and to meet other requirements. Establishes in the Treasury the RRC Fund to consist of all amounts received under the assessments under this Act. Authorizes the use of Fund amounts to offset RRC operating costs.
Bill· SS. 378 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Economic Assistance Reform Act of 1991 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the International Security and Development Cooperation Act of 1985 to repeal provisions relating to the earmarking of foreign assistance program funds. Authorizes the President to furnish assistance for infrastructure development. Specifies that such assistance shall include: (1) development of energy resources; (2) programs of reconstruction following natural or manmade disasters and programs of disaster preparedness; and (3) programs designed to help solve special development problems in the poorest countries and to make possible proper utilization of infrastructure and related projects funded with earlier U.S. assistance. Authorizes the President to furnish assistance to: (1) schools and libraries outside the United States serving as study and demonstration centers for ideas and practices of the United States; and (2) hospital centers for medical education and research outside the United States, founded or sponsored by U.S. citizens. Authorizes appropriations for foreign economic assistance by regions of the world. Specifies such regions as: (1) Africa; (2) Asia; (3) Central America; (4) Europe; (5) Latin America and the Caribbean; and (6) the Near East. Requires the Administrator of the Agency for International Development (AID) to administer the programs, projects, and activities for which such funds are appropriated. Requires that on or after October 1, 1991, authorizations of appropriations shall be made with reference to such regions. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should continue to make efforts to improve the management of the foreign assistance program, including efforts to: (1) streamline the project development process; (2) increase decentralization of field missions; (3) reduce the number and increase the duration and sustainability of projects which are funded; (4) decrease recurring costs; (5) prepare a more detailed analysis of the impact of AID projects for inclusion in the annual congressional presentation materials; (6) expand overseas tours for personnel and streamline mid-level management; (7) streamline the contract process; and (8) coordinate the U.S. economic assistance effort. Requires the Administrator of AID to report to the Congress concerning proposals to improve the management of the foreign assistance program. Requires the President to conduct a study on the feasibility and impact of reducing the number of countries receiving economic assistance and the feasibility of incorporating the AID into the Department of State. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the foreign assistance program should be funded on a two-year cycle; (2) the President should begin preparing a foreign assistance budget for FY 1994 and 1995; (3) funds appropriated for foreign assistance should remain available for expenditure without fiscal year limitations; and (4) the appropriations and authorization committees of each House of the Congress should hold joint hearings on the foreign assistance program and should coordinate their duties with the Committee on the Budget of each House of the Congress. Increases from ten to 25 percent the percentage of funds that may be transferred between foreign assistance accounts. Removes a limitation on the amount by which an account may be increased through the receipt of transferred funds. Revises the restrictions on economic aid to debtor countries to allow such aid for a period of three years after a default of one calendar year if the President certifies that the likelihood of repayment by such country would be increased by such waiver.
Bill· HRH.R. 918 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Mineral Exploration and Development Act of 1991 - Title I: Mineral Exploration and Development - Sets forth guidelines for mineral exploration on public domain lands. Declares that holders of mining claims executed under this Act have the exclusive right of possession and may use such land only for mining activities. Prescribes rules for mining claim recordation and use of public land surveys. Sets forth rental fees and diligent development requirements. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to make non-mining lands available to record holders of mining claims for mineral milling, processing, and beneficiation activities. Prohibits the issuance of patents for vein, lode, placer, and mill site mining claims unless administrative requirements are met. Amends Federal law to declare that after the date of enactment of this Act, all mineral materials deposits shall only be subject to disposal under the terms of the Materials Act of 1947. Renames specified Federal laws: (1) the Surface Resources Act of 1955; and (2) the Materials Act of 1947. Repeals the Building Stone Act. Declares that all building stone shall be subject to disposal only under the Materials Act of 1947. Title II: Environmental Considerations of Mineral Exploration and Development - Prescribes surface management non-degradation guidelines to which claim holders must adhere or be subject to suspension of operations. Requires claim holders to reclaim mining-affected areas. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to ensure that all management planning decisions treat public domain lands subject to mineral claims according to environmental guidelines. Designates lands which are not open to the location of mining claims under this Act. Title III: Abandoned Minerals Mine Reclamation Fund - Amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to establish the Abandoned Minerals Mine Reclamation Fund to be administered by the Secretary (acting through the Director, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement) for the reclamation and restoration of land and water resources adversely affected by past minerals and mineral materials mining. Designates lands and waters eligible for reclamation expenditures. Sets forth Fund allocation and expenditure guidelines to be distributed as grants among eligible States. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Administrative and Miscellaneous Provisions - Sets forth jurisdiction and policy function guidelines for the Secretary and for the Secretary of Agriculture. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to administer Federal mining law activities on National Forest System lands. Authorizes user fees to reimburse the United States for administrative expenses.
Bill· HRH.R. 929 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Solar, Wind, Waste, and Geothermal Power Production Incentives Technical Amendments Act of 1991 - Makes technical amendments to the Federal Power Act and the Solar, Wind, Waste, and Geothermal Power Production Incentives Act of 1990 to remove the size limitations placed upon solar, wind, and geothermal facilities of 80 megawatts or less to make them eligible for regulatory benefits under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978.
Bill· HRH.R. 910 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Directs the establishment of an international research, development, and production center at the Hanford Reservation in Richland, Washington, to be known as the Research Reactor User Complex (RRC). Allows the RRC to enter into agreements with non-Federal entities, including foreign governments and entities, or a consortium of such entities, for use of the RRC relating to production of isotopes, irradiation services, and steam. Allows assessment of charges from those entities as necessary. Limits the agreements to 25 years. Allows the agreement to: (1) include a termination provision requiring the payment of the unamortized balance of certain facilities in some circumstances; and (2) authorize the use, to make the repayments, of funds made available for operating expenses. Allows, in entering into an agreement, the use of procedures other than competitive procedures as described in specified provisions of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949. Requires any entity under contract to operate the RRC to operate the Fast Flux Test Facility pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act and to meet other requirements. Establishes in the Treasury the RRC Fund to consist of all amounts received under the assessments under this Act. Authorizes the use of Fund amounts to offset RRC operating costs.
Bill· HRH.R. 845 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Workers' Family Protection Act of 1991 - Requires the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (the Director), in cooperation with the Secretary of Labor, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA Administrator), the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and the Secretary of Energy, to study the prevalence of and issues related to contamination of workers' homes with hazardous chemicals and substances transported from their workplace (contamination). Requires the Director to identify industries prone to such contamination, evaluate current statutory and regulatory safeguards, and compile a review of the previous research. Requires the Director to provide grants to eligible States for case studies to evaluate the economic, physiological, and psychological effects on workers and their communities from, and preventive and remediation methods respecting, such contamination. Directs the Secretary of Labor, in cooperation with the EPA Administrator, to: (1) cooperate with and assist the Director and eligible grantee States in such studies; (2) evaluate effectiveness in addressing such contamination under programs established under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986; (3) compile a review of previous related research on indoor air quality; and (4) evaluate whether current occupational safety and health and environmental laws and regulations pose an undue burden on families seeking to redress such contamination. Requires the Director to issue to the Congress an interim report and a final report including recommendations for addressing any overlap in Federal agency jurisdiction over such contamination of the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Energy, the EPA Administrator, and the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) issue appropriate regulations to prevent release of hazardous chemicals and substances from a workplace or workers' clothing or persons; or (2) report to the Congress on why such regulations are unnecessary. Requires the Secretary, at a minimum, to: (1) determine whether additional regulations are needed to protect workers' families from employee transported releases of lead, mercury, asbestos, pharmaceuticals, and materials that may pose such risks, including commercial pesticide application and manufacture; (2) consider the risk of acute and chronic health effects; and (3) consider other environmental law and regulations. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 843 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
National Plumbing Products Efficiency Act of 1991 - Title I: Water Use Standards for Plumbing Products - Requires the Secretary of Commerce to prescribe test procedures for classified products. Directs the Secretary to establish water use performance standards for plumbing products classified as covered products. Requires such standards to be designed to achieve the maximum water efficiency which the Secretary determines is technologically feasible and economically justified. Sets forth maximum water use standards for the following products: (1) water closets; (2) urinals; (3) showerheads; and (4) faucets. Directs the Secretary to prescribe water use standards for any product that is classified as a covered product and manufactured or distributed in commerce on or after the date that is three years after such product receives its classification. Describes the procedure for prescribing water use standards. Directs the Secretary to reevaluate such standards at the end of each five-year period after the date of enactment of this title. Requires the Secretary to publish the existing water use standards in the Federal Register and to allow a specified period for comment by interested persons. Exempts safety shower showerheads and aspirator faucets from water use standards. Directs the Federal Trade Commission to prescribe labeling and marking rules for each classified product. Directs the Secretary to study the feasibility of determining coverage for additional consumer products. Establishes a procedure for testing plumbing products and for maintaining test data. Directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology to assist the Secretary as necessary. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe rules for any covered product offered for importation. Sets forth provisions for prohibited acts, enforcement procedures, and the commencement of civil actions under this title. Declares that standards, procedures, or rules under this title supersede State or river basin commission regulations. Provides for a waiver of Federal preemption over such State or river basin commission regulations. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish an advisory committee to report annually to the Congress on the implementation of this title by the Secretary and the Commission. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress and the President on activities under this title. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1996. Title II: Water Use Standards for Dishwashers and Clothes Washers - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to provide for the establishment of standards for water use by dishwashers and clothes washers.