Environment

Environmental Defense Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1996

Environmental Defense Act of 1996 - Directs the Secretary of Education to investigate, and report to the Congress on, the feasibility of the Federal Government's establishing a National Environmental Science and Policy Academy.

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve benefits for veterans exposed to ionizing radiation.

United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1996

Includes the following diseases or illnesses in the list of diseases presumed to be service-connected, and therefore compensable for purposes of veterans' disability compensation and medical care in the case of exposure to ionizing radiation: bone cancer, colon cancer, nonmalignant thyroid nodular disease, parathyroid cancer, ovarian cancer, brain and central nervous system tumors, unexplained bone marrow failure, and meningioma. Excludes all officers or employees of the United States from membership on the Veterans' Advisory Committee on Environmental Hazards. (Currently, up to three employees of Federal departments and agencies other than the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs are permitted.)

Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water System Act of 1995

United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1996

Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water System Act of 1995 (sic) - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to plan, design, construct, operate, maintain, and replace a municipal, rural, and industrial water system, to be known as the Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water System and to consist of specified facilities. Directs the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements with the Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board with respect to all phases of the System. Provides construction requirements. Prohibits the obligation of construction funds until: (1) certain environmental mitigation requirements have been met; and (2) a final engineering report has been approved by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to issue a public notice finding that plans for the System include prudent and responsible water conservation measures which are economically and financially feasible. Requires the System to utilize power for its operation from the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program. Authorizes appropriations for planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the System.

Befragung der Bundesregierung (G-SIG: 13001230)

Germany · German Bundestag · 25 September 1996

Aufbau Ost, Gesetz zum Schutz des Bodens, Gesetz über den Amateurfunk

Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 1997

United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Omnibus Appropriations Title I (sic): Department of Justice Title II: Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Title III: The Judiciary Title IV: Department of State and Related Agencies Title V: Related Agencies Title VI: General Provisions Title VII: Rescissions Title VIII: Fiscal Year 1996 Supplementals and Rescissions Title I (sic): Department of the Interior Title II: Related Agencies Title III: General Provisions Title IV: Emergency Appropriations Title I (sic): Department of Labor Title II: Department of Health and Human Services Title III: Department of Education Title IV: Related Agencies Title V: General Provisions Title VI: Commission on Retirement Income Policy Title I (sic): Department of the Treasury Title II: Postal Service Title III: Executive Office of the President and Funds Appropriated to the President Title IV: Independent Agencies Title V: General Provisions (This Act) Title VI: General Provisions (Departments, Agencies, and Corporations) Title I (sic): Additional Investment Funds for the Thrift Savings Plan Title II: Thrift Savings Accounts Liquidity Title VII (sic): Counter-Terrorism and Drug Law Enforcement Title II (sic): Oregon Resource Conservation Act of 1996 Title I (sic): Opal Creek Wilderness and Scenic Recreation Area Title II: Upper Klamath Basin Title III: Deschutes Basin Title IV: Mount Hood Corridor Title V: Coquille Tribal Forest Title VI: Bull Run Watershed Protection Title VII: Oregon Islands Wilderness, Additions Title VIII: Umpqua River Land Exchange Study Title III (sic): Local Empowerment and Flexibility Pilot Act of 1996 Title I (sic): Streamlining the Home Mortgage Lending Process Title II: Streamlining Government Regulation Subtitle A: Eliminating Unnecessary Regulatory Requirements and Procedures Subtitle B: Eliminating Unnecessary Regulatory Burdens Subtitle C: Regulatory Micromanagement Title III: Regulatory Impact on Cost of Credit and Credit Availability Title IV: Consumer Credit Subtitle A: Credit Reporting Reform Subtitle B: Credit Repair Organizations Title V: Asset Conservation, Lender Liability, and Deposit Insurance Protection Title VI: Miscellaneous Title VII: Deposit Insurance Funds Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act, 1997 - Division 1 - Title I: Omnibus Appropriations - Makes FY 1997 appropriations in amounts necessary for programs, projects or activities provided for in the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997, as if it had been enacted into law as the regular appropriations Act. Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 - Title I (sic): Department of Justice - Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 1997 - Makes FY 1997 appropriations to the Department of Justice. Sets forth requirements and limitations relating to use of such funds. (Sec. 103) Prohibits the use of funds to pay for an abortion, except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term, or in the case of rape. (Sec. 104) Prohibits the use of funds to require any person to perform, or facilitate the performance of, any abortion. (Sec. 109) Amends the Federal judicial code to revise: (1) quarterly bankruptcy fees; and (2) the formulae for the deposit of portions of such fees in the United States Trustee System Fund. (Sec. 110) Amends specified Federal law to establish in the Treasury the Department of Justice Telecommunications Carrier Compliance Fund, which shall be available to the Attorney General to make specified payments to telecommunications carriers, equipment manufacturers, and providers of telecommunications support services. (Sec. 111) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Drug Enforcement Administration, together with other appropriate Federal agencies, should take necessary action to end the illegal importation into the United States of Rohypnol (flunitrazepam), a drug frequently distributed with the intent to facilitate sexual assault and rape. (Sec. 112) Amends the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to authorize use of specified funds to make supplemental grants to U.S. Attorneys Offices to provide assistance to victims of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, to facilitate their observation or participation at related trial proceedings, and to pay other related expenses. (Sec. 113) Amends the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 with respect to the Secretary of the Treasury's mandated study of taggants marking, rendering inert, and licensing of explosive materials. Repeals: (1) the exclusion of black or smokeless powder from such study; and (2) the requirement for congressional review of such study and congressional hearings on the Secretary's recommendations. Shortens, from 270 to 90 days, the period before proposed regulations for the addition of tracer elements to explosive materials become effective (unless modified or disapproved by an Act of Congress). (Sec. 114) Revises standards for Federal criminal law enforcement applications to judges for multipoint wiretaps and procedures for interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications. Authorizes approval of such wiretaps where there is an adequate showing of intent to thwart interception or actions and conduct that would have that effect. (Sec. 115) Amends Federal criminal law to authorize interceptions of communications in cases of certain terrorism related offenses. Title II: Department of Commerce and Related Agencies - Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 - Makes FY 1997 appropriations to the Department of Commerce and related agencies, including the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the International Trade Commission. Sets forth requirements and limitations relating to use of such funds. Rescinds specified amounts of unobligated balances for: (1) construction of research facilities of the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and (2) operations, research, and facilities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). (Sec. 206) Provides for transfer of appropriations to successor organizations in the event the Department of Commerce is dismantled or reorganized. (Sec. 208) Prohibits the use of any funds appropriated under this or any other Act henceforth to develop new fishery management plans, amendments, or regulations which create new individual fishing quota, individual transferable quota, or new individual transferable effort allocation programs, or to implement any such plans, amendments, or regulations approved by a Regional Fishery Management Council or the Secretary of Commerce after January 4, 1995, until offsetting fees to pay for administrative costs are expressly authorized under the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Makes such restriction inapplicable to the North Pacific halibut and sablefish, South Atlantic wreckfish, or the Mid-Atlantic surfclam and ocean (including mahogany) quahog individual quota programs. (Sec. 210) Establishes the Bureau of the Census Working Capital Fund to cover costs of maintenance and operation of services and projects that the Director of the Census Bureau determines may be performed more advantageously when centralized. Title III: The Judiciary - Judiciary Appropriations Act, 1997 - Appropriates FY 1997 funds for activities of the Judiciary, including: (1) the Supreme Court; (2) the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; (3) the U.S. Court of International Trade; (4) Courts of Appeals, district courts, and other judicial services; (5) the Administrative Office of the United States Courts; (6) the Federal Judicial Center; (7) Judicial Retirement Funds; and (8) the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Sets forth requirements and limitations relating to use of such funds. (Sec. 305) Extends the Judiciary Automation Fund and related authorities through FY 1998. (Sec. 306) Prohibits the use of funds available to the Judiciary for certain costs related to the appointment of Special Masters before April 26, 1996. (Sec. 307) Establishes a Commission on Structural Alternatives for the Federal Courts of Appeals, which shall report its recommendations to the President and the Congress. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Department of State and Related Agencies - Department of State and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 - Appropriates FY 1997 funds for the Department of State and related agencies, programs, and trust funds (including the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and the U.S. Information Agency). Sets forth requirements and limitations relating to use of such funds. Provides specified funds for: (1) broadcasting to Cuba; (2) the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West, in Hawaii; and (3) the North-South Center, in Florida. Title V: Related Agencies - Appropriates FY 1997 funds for: (1) the Maritime Administration of the Department of Transportation; (2) the Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad; (3) the Commission on Civil Rights; (4) the Commission on Immigration Reform; (5) the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; (6) the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; (7) the Federal Communications Commission; (8) the Federal Maritime Commission; (9) the Federal Trade Commission; (10) the Legal Services Corporation; (11) the Marine Mammal Commission; (12) National Bankruptcy Review Commission; (13) the Securities and Exchange Commission; (14) the Small Business Administration; (15) the Gambling Impact Study Commission; (16) the Japan-United States Friendship Commission; (17) the State Justice Institute; and (18) the Commission on the Advancement of Federal Law Enforcement. Continues certain requirements and restrictions with respect to use of funds by the Legal Services Corporation. Title VI: General Provisions - Sets forth limitations and prohibitions on the use of funds appropriated by this Act. (Sec. 606) Prohibits the use of funds for the construction, repair, overhaul, conversion, or modernization of vessels for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in shipyards located outside of the United States. (Sec. 607) Expresses the sense of the Congress that equipment and products purchased under this Act should be American-made. Declares ineligible to receive any Federal contract or subcontract made with funds under this Act any person finally determined by a court or Federal agency to have intentionally affixed a false "Made in America" label to any product sold in or shipped to the United States that is not made in the United States. (Sec. 608) Prohibits the use of funds to implement, administer, or enforce any guidelines of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission covering harassment based on religion, when it is made known that such guidelines do not differ from certain proposed guidelines. (Sec. 609) Prohibits the use of funds from this Act, unless certain conditions are met, to pay for costs incurred for: (1) opening or operating any U.S. diplomatic or consular post in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam that was not operating on July 11, 1995; (2) expanding any such post that was in operation on such date; or (3) increasing the number of personnel assigned to such posts above the level existing on such date. Allows the use of such funds for such purposes only if the President certifies that the Vietnamese Government is fully cooperating with the United States in specified activities relating to the investigation and recovery of missing U.S. military personnel, including: (1) resolution of discrepancy cases, live-sightings, and field activities; (2) recovery and repatriation of American remains; (3) provision of documents on POW-MIAs; and (4) implementation of trilateral investigations with Laos. (Sec. 610) Prohibits the use of funds in this Act for any United Nations peacekeeping mission involving U.S. forces under the command or control of a foreign national, if the President's military advisors have not recommended that such involvement is in the U.S. national security interest, and the President has not submitted such a recommendation to the Congress. (Sec. 611) Prohibits the use of funds in this Act to provide specified amenities or personal comforts in the Federal prison system. (Sec. 614) Prohibits funds in this Act for the Federal Bureau of Prisons from being used to distribute or make available to a prisoner any commercially published information or material that is sexually explicit or features nudity. (Sec. 615) Limits the amount of State and local law enforcement assistance funds which may be provided to any entity under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 if that entity does not provide a certain level of health insurance benefits to its employed public safety officers who retire or are separated from service due to injury suffered in the line of duty while responding to an emergency situation or a hot pursuit. (Sec. 616) Amends Federal patent law to shield a medical practitioner or related health care entity from liability for patent infringement even though such practitioner's performance of a medical activity constitutes a patent infringement. Denies this exemption from liability to the activities of any person (or employee or agent), regardless of tax-exempt status, who is engaged in the commercial development, manufacture, sale, importation, or distribution of a machine, manufacture, or composition of matter or the provision of pharmacy or clinical laboratory services (other than those provided in a physician's office), if such activities: (1) are directly related to such commercial development, and so forth; and (2) are regulated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Public Health Service Act, or the Clinical Laboratories Improvement Act. (Sec. 617) Amends the Department of Justice Appropriation Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1980 to repeal the mandate that Department of Justice organizations notify congressional committees before reprogramming funds or taking certain other administrative actions. (Sec. 618) Prohibits any Federal agency from using funds to pay administrative expenses or compensation of any Federal officer or employee to deny certain qualified applications for permits to import U.S. origin "curios or relics" firearms, parts, or ammunition. (Sec. 619) Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to provide a guarantee or commitment to guarantee, under the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, for shipyard infrastructure development and modernization and for vessels integral to the reactivation and modernization of an eligible shipyard that receives such a guarantee. Title VII: Rescissions - Rescinds specified amounts from unobligated balances under the following headings for the Department of Justice: (1) general administration, working capital fund; and (2) Immigration and Naturalization Service, Immigration Emergency Fund. Title VIII: Fiscal Year 1996 Supplementals and Rescissions - Provides for specified additional funds for FY 1997, and rescissions of similar unobligated amounts for FY 1996, for the Department of Justice's Federal Prison System salaries and expenses. Makes appropriations for programs, projects, or activities provided for in the following bills, as if they had been enacted into law: (1) the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 1997 (H.R. 3610), as passed by the Senate on July 18, 1996; (2) the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1997 (H.R. 3540), as passed by the Senate on July 26, 1996; and (3) the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997, as provided in the Act that follows. Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 - Title I (sic): Department of the Interior - Makes appropriations for the FY 1997 operation of the Department of the Interior, setting forth uses and prohibitions on the use of funds under this title. Names the Bureau of Land Management's Visitor Center in Rand, Oregon, the William B. Smullin Visitor Center. Prohibits the National Park Service from spending any funds under this Act for activities in direct response to the United Nations Biodiversity Initiative in the United States. Authorizes the National Park Service (NPS) to transfer NPS funds to State, local, and tribal governments, other public entities, educational institutions, and private nonprofit organizations to carry out NPS programs. Provides certain funds for closure of the U.S. Bureau of Mines, including payments for workers compensation and unemployment compensation for former Bureau employees. (Sec. 114) Establishes in the Treasury a franchise fund pilot for capitalizing and operating central administrative services. (Sec. 115) Amends the Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act (Public Law 102-495) to allow the State of Washington, upon appropriation of a specified amount for the Federal Government to acquire the Elwha and Glines dams, and upon submission to Congress by the State of a binding agreement to remove them within a reasonable period of time, to purchase such dams from the Federal Government for $2. Repeals such Act upon purchase of the dams by the State. (Sec. 116) Extends, for one year, the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Commission (Massachusetts and Rhode Island). (Sec. 117) Designates and ratifies assignment to the University of Utah as successor to, and beneficiary of, all the existing assets, revenues, funds and rights granted to the State of Utah under the Miners Hospital Grant and the School of Mines Grant. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to accept relinquishment of all remaining and unconveyed entitlement for quantity grants owed the State of Utah for the Miners Hospital Grant and any unconveyed entitlement that may remain for the University of Utah School of Mines Grant. (Sec. 118) Amends the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act to increase from 20 to 50 the number of new tribes per year which the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Office of Self-Governance, may select from an applicant pool to participate in self-governance. (Sec. 119) Allows the Indian Arts and Crafts Board to carry out specified revenue-generating activities, including charging museum admission fees, if such revenue is covered into a designated special fund. (Sec. 120) Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), to transfer: (1) to Lander County, Nevada, title to the former BLM administrative site and associated buildings in Battle Mountain, Nevada; and (2) to the State of Nevada, title to the surplus BLM District Office building in Winnemucca, Nevada. (Sec. 121) Directs the Secretary of the Interior to transfer a certain Grumman Goose aircraft to the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum in Anchorage, Alaska. (Sec. 122) Amends the Mesquite Lands Act of 1988 to require the City of Mesquite, Nevada, to notify the Secretary of the Interior, within a specified period, as to which of specified public lands it wishes to purchase. Father Aull Site Transfer Act of 1996 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey without consideration certain land near Silver City, New Mexico, to Saint Vincent DePaul Parish. (Sec. 125) Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to use BLM appropriations to enter into cooperative agreements, directly or indirectly through State, local, or tribal governments, with willing private landowners for restoration and enhancement of fish, wildlife, and other biotic resources on public or private land or both that benefit these resources on public lands within the watershed. (Sec. 126) Designates the visitor center at Channel Islands National Park, California, the Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center. Title II: Related Agencies - Makes appropriations for FY 1997 to the Department of Agriculture for the Forest Service, including additional amounts for emergency rehabilitation, forest fire presuppression due to emergencies, and wildfire suppression activities. Prohibits the use of funds to implement any reorganization or "reinvention" of the Forest Service, without the consent of the congressional appropriations committees, other than the relocation of a specified regional office from San Francisco to excess military property at Mare Island, Vallejo, California. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to report to the congressional appropriations committees on the status and disposition of all salvage timber sales started under the emergency salvage timber sale program mandated by the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Additional Disaster Assistance, for Anti-terrorism Initiatives, for Assistance in the Recovery from the Tragedy that Occurred at Oklahoma City, and Rescissions Act, 1995 and subsequently withdrawn or delayed and completed under different authorities as a consequence of the Secretary's July 2, 1996 directive on the implementation of the mandate. Names the Pacific Northwest Research Station Silviculture Laboratory in Bend, Oregon, the Robert W. Chandler Building. Makes appropriations for FY 1997 to the Department of Energy (DOE) for fossil energy research and development, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the SPR Petroleum Account, and other activities. Rescinds a specified amount of funds for clean coal technology, making them available for any ongoing DOE project. Directs the Secretary of Energy to sell a specified dollar amount of oil in FY 1997 from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and deposit the proceeds in an SPR Operating Fund. Makes appropriations for FY 1997 to the Department of Health and Human Services for the Indian Health Service for services and facilities. Appropriates funds for FY 1997 to: (1) the Department of Education for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education for Indian Education; (2) the Office of Navajo and Hopi Relocation; (3) the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development; (4) the Smithsonian Institution; (5) the National Gallery of Art; (6) the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; and (7) the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Makes FY 1997 appropriations for: (1) the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities; (2) the Institute of Museum Services; (3) the Commission of Fine Arts; (4) the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; (5) the National Capital Planning Commission; (6) the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Commission; and (7) the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. Sets forth uses and prohibitions on funds under this title. Title III: General Provisions - Sets forth uses and limitations of funds appropriated by this Act. (Sec. 307) Requires expenditures under this Act to comply with the Buy American Act. Expresses the sense of the Congress that entities receiving Federal assistance should purchase only American-made equipment and products. Prohibits Federal contracts with persons found to have falsely labeled a product with a "Made in America" inscription. (Sec. 312) Permits the use of funds from this Act for the AmeriCorps program, subject to availability of funds under the VA-HUD and Independent Agencies FY 1997 appropriations bill, and only if the relevant agencies follow appropriate reprogramming guidelines. (Sec. 316) Places limitations on the type of grant awards that can be made by the National Endowment for the Arts. (Sec. 317) Prohibits the use of funds for any rules or regulations under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act to assert jurisdiction, management, or control over any waters (other than non-navigable waters on Federal lands), non-Federal lands, or lands selected by, but not conveyed to, Alaska under the Submerged Lands Act of 1953 or the Alaska Statehood Act of 1959, or an Alaska Native Corporation under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. (Sec. 318) Prohibits the use of funds under this Act to review or modify sourcing areas previously approved under specified provisions of the Forest Resources Conservation and Shortage Relief Act of 1990 or to enforce or implement specified Federal regulations. Prohibits adoption of policies that would restrain domestic transportation or processing of timber from private lands or impose additional accountability requirements on any timber. (Sec. 319) Extends through FY 1999 the authority to collect recreation fees under the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program, and through FY 2002 the availability in accounts of the fees collected. (Sec. 320) Prohibits the use of funds under this Act for any activity in connection with a scenic shoreline drive in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan. (Sec. 321) Prohibits the Bureau of Indian Affairs from using funds under this Act to transfer any land into trust under the Indian Reorganization Act or any other Federal statute that does not explicitly denominate and identify a specific tribe or specific property, except where there is a binding agreement, between the tribe that will have jurisdiction over such land and the appropriate State and local officials, for the collection and payment of: (1) State and local sales and excise taxes, including any special tax on motor fuel, tobacco, or alcohol, on retail items sold to a non-member of the tribe by any retail establishment on such land; or (2) an agreed upon payment in lieu of such taxes. (Sec. 322) Transfers specified land, including the Bend Silviculture Lab, to the Central Oregon Community College, Bend, Oregon. (Sec. 323) Prohibits the use of any funds for activities of the Office of Forestry and Economic Assistance, or any successor office. (Sec. 324) Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) accept title to specified land in Prince Georges County, Maryland, adjacent to Oxon Cove Park, on condition that it has not become contaminated with hazardous substances; and (2) in exchange, convey to the Corrections Corporation of America specified land located in Oxon Cove Park in the District of Columbia. (Sec. 325) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to exchange certain National Forest lands (including a wastewater treatment facility) in Chelan County, Washington, for certain lands owned by Public Utility District Number 1 of Chelan County, Washington. Snoqualmie National Forest Boundary Adjustment Act of 1996 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to modify the boundary of the Snoqualmie National Forest to include specified adjacent lands in Washington State. Sugarbush Land Exchange Act of 1996 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide for conveyance to Sugarbush Resort Holdings, Inc., of certain land in the Green Mountain National Forest, in exchange for cash or other land, proceeds from the sale of which shall become part of such National Forest. (Sec. 328) Amends the North Carolina Wilderness Act of 1984 to remove 100 acres from the Snowbird Wilderness Study Area. (Sec. 329) Renames the Columbia Wilderness the Mark O. Hatfield Wilderness. (Sec. 330) Authorizes the Secretaries of Agriculture and of the Interior for FY 1997 to limit competition for watershed restoration project contracts as part of the "Jobs in the Woods" component of the President's Forest Plan for the Pacific Northwest to individuals and entities in historically timber-dependent areas of Washington, Oregon, and northern California that have been affected by reduced timber harvesting on Federal lands. (Sec. 331) Amends the Rhode Island Indian Claims Settlement Act to declare that, for purposes of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, settlement lands shall not be treated as Indian lands. (Sec. 332) Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior during FY 1997 from expending any funds to develop, promulgate, implement, or enforce any regulation or procedure providing for the establishment of class III gaming (as defined under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act) in the absence of a tribal-State compact. Title IV: Emergency Appropriations - Makes additional appropriations for specified functions and activities of the Department of Agriculture and of the Department of the Interior. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 - Title I (sic): Department of Labor - Department of Labor Appropriations Act, 1997 - Makes appropriations for FY 1997 (including certain transfers of funds) for agencies, programs, and various trust funds, within the Department of Labor. Prescribes uses and limitations on the use of funds under this title. (Sec. 105) Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to exempt inmates from minimum wage and overtime requirements. Title II: Department of Health and Human Services - Department of Health and Human Services Appropriations Act, 1997 - Makes appropriations for FY 1997 (including certain transfers of funds) for agencies and programs within the Department of Health and Human Services. Prescribes limitations on the use of appropriated funds under this title. (Sec. 213) Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide for the relocation of the Gillis W. Long Hansen's Disease Center (located in Louisiana) and its patients, in accordance with specified requirements. Amends the Public Health Service Act with respect to such Center. (Sec. 216) Directs the Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration, with the assistance of the Agency for Health Care Policy Research, to report to the appropriate congressional committees a review of research on treatment of end-stage emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by specified surgical procedures, and recommend as to the appropriateness of Medicare coverage of such conditions and procedures. (Sec. 217) Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to increase the maximum allowable State grant allotment. (Sec. 218) Names the new clinical research center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as the Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research and Patient Care Center. Title III: Department of Education - Department of Education Appropriations Act, 1997 - Makes appropriations for FY 1997 (including certain transfers of funds) for agencies and programs within the Department of Education, subject to certain requirements for and limitations of their use. (Sec. 301) Prohibits the use of appropriated funds to transport teachers or students in order to: (1) overcome racial imbalance in any school or school system; or (2) carry out a racial desegregation plan. (Sec. 303) Prohibits the use of funds to prevent the implementation of programs of voluntary prayer and meditation in the public schools. (Sec. 304) Limits the amount of funds which may be used for specified student aid programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). Prohibits the Secretary of Education from using HEA funds for subsequent fiscal years for administrative expenses of the William D. Ford Direct Loan Program. (Sec. 307) Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 with respect to additional assistance for heavily impacted local educational agencies (LEAs) to allow LEAs to participate in the determination of maximum impact aid payments. (Sec. 308) Amends HEA with respect to the Quality Assurance Program to require experimental sites authorized by the Secretary of Education to test alternative data verification. (Sec. 309) Amends the Goals 2000: Educate America Act to provide for use of State allotments to award subgrants to LEAs to support the use of computers and computer-related technology, the use of technology-enhanced curricula and instruction, the purchase of computers, or computer-related technology. Title IV: Related Agencies - Makes appropriations for FY 1997 for the following agencies or programs: (1) Armed Forces Retirement Home; (2) Corporation for National and Community Service (for domestic volunteer service programs); (3) Corporation for Public Broadcasting; (4) Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service; (5) Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission; (6) National Commission on Libraries and Information Science; (7) National Council on Disability; (8) National Education Goals Panel; (9) National Labor Relations Board; (10) National Mediation Board; (11) Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission; (12) Physician Payment Review Commission; (13) Prospective Payment Assessment Commission; (14) Social Security Administration, for various trust funds and programs; (15) Railroad Retirement Board; and (16) United States Institute of Peace. Title V: General Provisions - Sets forth requirements and limitations on the use of appropriated funds under this Act. (Sec. 505) Prohibits the use of funds to carry out any program of distributing sterile needles for the hypodermic injection of any illegal drug unless the Surgeon General Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) determines that such programs are effective in preventing the spread of HIV and do not encourage the use of illegal drugs. (Sec. 506) Expresses the sense of the Congress that, to the greatest extent practicable, all equipment and products purchased under this Act should be American-made. (Sec. 508) Prohibits the use of funds to perform abortions except to save the life of the mother or where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. (Sec. 510) Prohibits use of funds in this Act for the expenses of an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) task force. (Sec. 511) Prohibits use of funds in this Act to enforce specified requirements under HEA with respect to any lender that has a guaranteed student loan portfolio less than $5 million. (Sec. 512) Prohibits use of funds in this Act for: (1) the creation of a human embryo or embryos for research purposes; or (2) research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death greater than that allowed for research on fetuses in utero under certain Federal regulations and the Public Health Service Act. (Sec. 513) Prohibits the National Labor Relations Board from using funds in this Act to assert jurisdiction over any labor dispute which does not involve any class or category of employer over which the Board would assert jurisdiction under the standards prevailing on August 1, 1959, with each financial threshold amount adjusted for inflation in a specified manner. (Sec. 524) Permanently cancels a specified amount of the budgetary resources available to agencies (except the Food and Drug Administration and the Indian Health Service) in this Act for salaries and expenses, such cancelled amount to be allocated by the Office of Management and Budget. (Sec. 525) Provides for voluntary separation incentives for employees of the Railroad Retirement Board and its Office of Inspector General. Title VI: Commission on Retirement Income Policy - Commission on Retirement Income Policy Act of 1996 - Establishes the Commission on Retirement Income Policy to study and report to the President and Congress on: (1) trends in retirement savings in the United States; (2) existing Federal incentives and programs to encourage and protect such savings; and (3) new Federal incentives and programs needed for such purpose. Authorizes appropriations. Treasury, Postal Service and General Government Appropriations Act, 1997 - Title I (sic): Department of the Treasury - Treasury Department Appropriations Act, 1997 - Makes appropriations to the Department of the Treasury and its related agencies for FY 1997. (Sec. 118) Amends the Federal criminal code, with respect to licensing and related gun show sales requirements for firearms importers, manufacturers, and dealers, to declare that nothing in such requirements shall be construed to diminish the right of a licensee to conduct "curios or relics" firearms transfers and business away from its business premises with another licensee without regard to whether the place where the business is conducted is located in the State specified on the license of either licensee. Title II: Postal Service - Makes appropriations to the Postal Service Fund for FY 1997. Title III: Executive Office of the President and Funds Appropriated to the President - Executive Office Appropriations Act, 1997 - Makes appropriations for FY 1997 for the Executive Office of the President and related offices and programs. Title IV: Independent Agencies - Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 - Makes appropriations for FY 1997 for: (1) the Committee for Purchase from People who are Blind or Severely Disabled; (2) the Federal Election Commission; (3) the Federal Labor Relations Authority; (4) the General Services Administration; (5) the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board; (6) the Merit Systems Protection Board; (7) the National Archives and Records Administration; (8) the National Historical Publications and Records Commission; (9) the Office of Government Ethics; (10) the Office of Personnel Management (OPM); (11) the Office of Inspector General; (12) the Office of Special Counsel; and (13) the United States Tax Court. Specifies uses of funds provided to the General Services Administration. (Sec. 407) Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to authorize the Administrator of the General Services Administration to establish, acquire space for, and equip flexiplace work telecommuting centers, and charge fees, for use by employees of Federal agencies, State and local governments, and the private sector. (Sec. 408) Directs the Administrator of General Services to acquire certain land in Portland, Oregon, for construction of a proposed Law Enforcement Center on the site. (Sec. 409) Amends specified Federal law to mandate conveyance of certain real property at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant to the City of Middleton, Iowa. Repeals the requirement that the City pay fair market value for such property. Requires the Secretary of the Army to permit the City to use existing water and sewer lines and sewage system at the Plant for a three-year period after conveyance. (Sec. 410) Directs the Administrator of General Services to convey, without compensation, to the Beaver County Corporation for Economic Development certain real property in Hopewell Township, Pennsylvania. (Sec. 411) Declares that certain land in Denver, Colorado, shall not be subject to condemnation by any Federal agency or instrumentality without the owner's consent. Makes appropriations for FY 1997, also, for: (1) specified Government contributions, with respect to retired Federal employees, as payments for annuitants, employee health benefits and life insurance; and (2) the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund. Title V: General Provisions (This Act) - Sets forth certain prohibitions and limitations on the use of appropriations made under this Act. (Sec. 503) Amends Federal law to repeal the requirement that each mint have a superintendent and an assayer, and the Philadelphia mint have an engraver, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. (Sec. 512) Requires entities appropriated funds under this Act to comply with the Buy American Act. Expresses the sense of the Congress to such effect. (Sec. 518) Prohibits the availability of funds under this Act to pay for an abortion or expenses in connection with any health plan under the Federal employees health benefit program which provides any benefits or coverage for abortions, except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term, or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. (Sec. 521) Considers Personal Service Contractors (PSC) employed by the Department of the Treasury outside the United States to be Federal employees for purposes of Federal employee health and life insurance. (Sec. 523) Amends Federal law to allow for the minting of 24 karat gold coins and of platinum coins. (Sec. 525) Directs the heads of the Internal Revenue Service, of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and of the U.S. Customs Service to submit to specified congressional committees their respective strategic plans for making voluntary separation incentive ("buyout") payments, meeting specified requirements, to eligible employees. Requires reduction of an agency's total number of funded employee positions by the number of employees separating and receiving such payments. (Sec. 526) Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to pay up to $500,000 to reimburse former employees of the White House Travel Office, terminated on May 19, 1993, for attorney fees and related costs (except those incurred with respect to any Congressional hearing or investigation). (Sec. 527) Prohibits use of funds in this Act by the Executive Office of the President to request from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) any official background investigation report on any individual without the individual's express written consent. (Sec. 528) Closes to the public a specified alley in Washington, D.C., on which the Federal Government is constructing a facility. Grants the Administrator of General Services administrative jurisdiction over, and title on behalf of the United States to, the alley, facility, and related property. (Sec. 529) Amends Federal law to authorize the Secretary, beginning January 1, 1999, to mint and issue commemorative coins in no more than two commemorative coin programs per calendar year. Specifies mintage levels and conditions on payment of surcharges to recipient organizations. Requires quarterly financial reports to the Congress on commemorative coin programs. Sets a fixed four-year term for members of the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee, and provides for election of a Chairperson. Title VI: General Provisions (Departments, Agencies, and Corporations) - Sets forth certain requirements for and prohibitions and limitations on the use of appropriations by all Federal departments, agencies, and corporations. (Sec. 624) Prohibits use of funds in this Act for certain types of employee training, including those containing elements: (1) inducing high emotional or psychological stress; (2) associated with religious, quasi-religious, or "new age" belief systems; (3) offensive to, or designed to change, participants' personal values or lifestyle; or (4) related to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) other than that necessary for specified purposes. (Sec. 627) Amends the Federal Financial Management Act of 1994 (title IV of the Government Management Reform Act of 1994, Public Law 103-356) to extend through FY 2001 the franchise fund pilot program. (Sec. 632) Designates a specified U.S. Courthouse under construction in Portland, Oregon, as the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse. (Sec. 633) Amends Federal civil service law for the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) to mandate survivor annuity resumption, as well as resumption of Federal employees health benefits, upon divorce for a disabled child whose annuity and Federal health benefits had terminated because of marriage. (Sec. 634) Amends Federal civil service law for CSRS and FERS to allow a Federal employee involuntarily terminated due to a reduction in force or transfer of function to apply unused annual leave to remain on the agency's rolls after the would-be separation date if, and only to the extent that, such additional time in pay status will enable the employee to meet minimum age and service requirements for title to an immediate annuity, or to qualify to carry health benefits coverage into retirement. (Sec. 635) Amends the Federal criminal code to specify that certain post-employment restrictions for senior officials do not apply to Federal officers and employees whose basic rate of compensation is below level 5 of the Senior Executive Service. (Sec. 636) Provides for Federal agency reimbursement to Federal law enforcement officers and Federal supervisors or management officials for up to half the costs they incur for professional liability insurance. Applies such reimbursement authority to the Legislative Branch, including any office or committee of the Senate or the House of Representatives, as well as to the Executive Branch. (Sec. 639) Amends the Treasury, Postal Service and General Government Appropriations Act, 1996 to authorize all Federal agencies to receive and use funds resulting from the sale of Federal records disposed of pursuant to a record schedule (the Federal Register) which are subsequently recovered through recycling or waste prevention programs. (Sec. 640) Authorizes Federal agency heads to use private sector to review and analyze the contracting out, outsourcing or privatization of business and administrative functions and related issues subject to the Information Technology Management Act (title LI of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 1996). (Sec. 641) Amends the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 to authorize appropriations for their FY 1998 through 2002 activities under such Act to the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Office of Special Counsel. (Sec. 643) Amends the Treasury, Postal Service and General Government Appropriations Act, 1996 with respect to co-chairs, the meeting quorum, donations to, and travel allowances of the National Commission on Restructuring the Internal Revenue Service. (Sec. 644) Amends Federal law to increase from $10,000 to $30,000 the annual salary of each Governor on the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors. (Sec. 645) Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to report to the Congress estimates of the total annual costs and benefits of Federal regulatory programs, together with: (1) an analysis of the impact of Federal rules on the private sector as well as on Federal, State, and local governments; (2) cost-benefit estimates for each rule likely to have a gross annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more in increased costs; and (3) recommendations to reform or eliminate any Federal regulatory program or program element that is inefficient, ineffective, or not a sound use of national resources. (Sec. 646) Amends the Federal Financial Management Act of 1994 to extend the authority of the OMB Director with respect to simplification of the management reporting process. (Sec. 647) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to transfer to the University of Miami, without charge, title to the real property and improvements that constitute the Perrine Primate Center. (Sec. 648) Amends the Federal criminal code to upgrade counterfeiting offenses from a class C to a class B felony, thus increasing penalties. Prescribes criminal penalties for the production, sale, transportation, or possession of fictitious financial instruments (including fictitious obligations) purporting to be those of State or local governments or of private organizations. (Sec. 649) Prohibits the use of funds under this Act by a Federal agency to provide a Federal employee's home address to any labor organization without the employee's consent or a court order. (Sec. 650) Requires the Inspector General of each Federal agency to audit and report on the use of administratively uncontrollable overtime by employees. Directs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to issue revised guidelines to limit or, in specified circumstances, prohibit the use of administratively uncontrollable overtime. (Sec. 651) Authorizes a Federal agency head to pay up to $10,000 in a death gratuity to the personal representative of a civilian employee whose death resulted from an injury sustained on the job on or after August 2, 1990. (Sec. 653) Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to : (1) establish scientific certification standards for explosives detection canines; (2) provide for certification of explosives detection canines employed by Federal agencies; and (3) establish a program for the training of canines for explosives detection at U.S. airports. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 654) Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a national repository of information on incidents involving arson and the suspected criminal use of explosives. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 655) Amends Federal law to allow a Trustee of the Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation to serve past expiration of his or her term until a successor is chosen. (Sec. 656) Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to transfer directly to Indian tribes in North and South Dakota portable housing units at the Grand Forks Air Force base in North Dakota which the Department of Defense has declared excess. (Sec. 657) Amends the Federal criminal code to limit to firearms that have moved in or otherwise affect interstate or foreign commerce the existing prohibition against the possession or discharge of firearms in a school zone. (Sec. 658) Amends the Federal criminal code to make it unlawful to sell firearms to anyone who has been convicted in any court of any crime involving domestic violence, if the individual has been represented by counsel or knowingly and intelligently waived the right to counsel. Makes it unlawful for such persons to engage in the trafficking of firearms. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe regulations providing for the effective receipt and secure storage of firearms relinquished by such persons. (Sec. 659) Title I (sic): Additional Investment Funds for the Thrift Saving Plan - Thrift Savings Investment Funds Act of 1996 - Amends Federal civil service law to add two new funds, the International Stock Index Investment Fund and the Small Capitalization Stock Index Fund, to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) under the Federal Employees Retirement System. Title II: Thrift Savings Accounts Liquidity - Thrift Savings Plan Act of 1996 - Increases withdrawal options for TSP participants upon separation from employment. Eliminates the purpose requirements for taking a TSP loan. Requires an employee or member, before a loan is issued, to be given appropriate information in writing about the cost of the loan relative to other sources of financing, as well as the lifetime cost of the loan, including the difference in interest rates between the funds offered by the Thrift Savings Fund, and any other effect of such loan on the employee's or member's final account balance before a loan is issued. Permits a TSP participant, before separation, to make a one-time withdrawal from the account upon: (1) attaining age 59 and one-half; or (2) financial hardship. Revises provisions concerning notification of an employee's or Member's spouse upon making or changing a withdrawal election. Eliminates the definition of basic pay with respect to the TSP. (Sec. 660) Authorizes interagency financing to carry out the purposes of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission. (Sec. 661) Designates the U.S. courthouse to be constructed at a specified site in Omaha, Nebraska, the Roman L. Hruska United States Courthouse. Title VII (sic): Counter-terrorism and Drug Law Enforcement - Treasury, Postal Service and General Government Appropriations Act, 1997 (sic) - Makes additional FY 1997 appropriations to the Department of the Treasury and to the President for: (1) the Office of Foreign Assets Control; (2) the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; (3) the U.S. Customs Service; and (4) Federal drug control programs. Makes additional FY 1996 appropriations to the Department of Defense for programs, projects, and activities relating to force protection, anti-terrorism, and security enhancement activities. Makes additional FY 1996 appropriations for programs, projects, and activities relating to emergency supplemental costs arising from Hurricanes Fran and Hortense and other disasters to: (1) the Department of Agriculture; (2) the Department of Commerce; (3) the Small Business Administration; (4) the Department of Defense-Civil, Department of the Army; (5) the Department of Health and Human Services; (6) the Department of Transportation; and (7) the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Makes additional FY 1997 appropriations for specified programs, projects, and activities to: (1) the Department of Energy; (2) the Department of Transportation; (3) the National Transportation Safety Board; and (4) the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority (for education facilities). Makes specified rescissions in the Department of Transportation. (Sec. 104) Authorizes the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to establish at individual airports consortia of government and aviation industry representatives (which, however, shall not be considered Federal advisory bodies) to provide advice on aviation safety and security. (Sec. 106) Specifies funds for direct loans to the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority to continue the Alameda Corridor Project. (Sec. 107) Makes additional funds available to the Secretary of Transportation for grants for Amtrak operating losses and related expenses and for the Northeast Corridor Improvement Program. (Sec. 108) Permits the use of FY 1996 and 1997 Federal Highway Administration Emergency Relief funds to halt erosion caused by an emergency ocean condition to a bank protecting a scenic highway or byway, and stabilize the bank, if such action is necessary to protect the highway from imminent failure and is less expensive than highway relocation. (Sec. 109) Establishes in the Treasury an account, "Support for International Sporting Competitions and other Special Activities, Defense,"" for logistical and security support for international sporting competitions and other special events of national and international significance. (Sec. 110) Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997 to make effective as of the date of enactment of such Act the designation of the Chief of Naval Research at a minimum rank of rear admiral (upper half). Title II (sic): Oregon Resource Conservation Act of 1996 - Oregon Resource Conservation Act of 1996 - Title I (sic): Opal Creek Wilderness and Scenic Recreation Area - Opal Creek Wilderness and Opal Creek Scenic Recreation Area Act of 1996 - Provides that on the determination of the Secretary of Agriculture that certain parcels of land have been donated to the United States without encumbrances and that a binding agreement between the Secretary and owners of specified interests for the disposition of such interests to the Government has been executed: (1) certain land in the Willamette National Forest in Oregon shall be designated as the Opal Creek Wilderness (OCW); (2) the part of the Bull of the Woods Wilderness located within the Forest shall be incorporated into the OCW; and (3) the Secretary shall establish the Opal Creek Scenic Recreation Area within the Forest. Requires lands or interests conveyed to the United States to become part of the OCW or the Opal Creek Scenic Recreation Area, as appropriate. (Sec. 105) Requires, with respect to such Area, the Secretary to: (1) prepare a comprehensive Opal Creek Management Plan which shall become part of the land and resource management plan for the Forest; (2) permit recreation activities at no less than the levels in existence upon enactment of this Act; (3) prepare a transportation plan to maintain reasonable motorized and other access to recreation sites and facilities, including access by persons with disabilities (otherwise prohibits motorized vehicles in the Area); (4) permit hunting and fishing, with limitations; (5) prohibit the cutting or selling of trees, with specified exceptions; and (6) review and revise the inventory of cultural and historic resources on the public land in the Area. Withdraws Area lands from operations under the public land laws, mining laws, and mineral and geothermal leasing laws. Specifies exceptions applicable with respect to the Bornite Project. Places restrictions on new water impoundments in the Area. Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory council for the Area and to consult with the Council and seek the views of private groups, individuals, the public, other government agencies, and nonprofit organizations regarding the Area. (Sec. 107) Provides for the acquisition of lands within the Area. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct any necessary environmental response actions within the Area. (Sec. 108) Provides for an equal-value land exchange between the Rosboro Lumber Company and the Government. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 109) Amends the Wild and Scenic Recreation Rivers Act to designate Elkhorn Creek as a wild and scenic river. (Sec. 109) Requires the Secretary, upon completion of a management plan and receipt of an economic development projects plan developed by the State of Oregon, to provide $15 million to Oregon to make grants and loans for such projects that benefit the local communities in the vicinity of the Area. Requires the State to report annually on the use of such funds. Title II: Upper Klamath Basin - Directs the Upper Klamath Basin Working Group, through the Klamath Basin Ecosystem Restoration Office, to propose ecological restoration projects, economic development and stability projects, and projects designed to reduce the impacts of drought conditions to be undertaken in the Upper Klamath Basin in Oregon based on a consensus of the Working Group membership. Requires the Secretary to pay up to 50 percent of the cost of such projects during FY 1997 through 2001 (with a $1 million annual limit). Requires the Secretary to formulate a cooperative agreement among the Working Group, the Klamath River Basin Fisheries Task Force, the Trinity River Restoration Task Force, and the Klamath River Basin Compact Commission to ensure that projects proposed and funded through the Group are consistent with other basin-wide fish and wildlife restoration and conservation plans. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Deschutes Basin - Directs the Deschutes River Basin Working Group to propose ecological restoration projects on Federal and non-Federal lands and waters to be undertaken in the Deschutes River Basin based on a consensus of the Working Group membership, provided that such projects, when involving Federal land or funds, shall be proposed to the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) in the Department of the Interior and other Federal agencies with affected land or funds. Requires BOR to pay up to 50 percent of the cost of such projects during FY 1997 through 2001 (with a $1 million annual limit). Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Mount Hood Corridor - Provides for an equal-value land exchange between Longview Fibre Company and the Secretary of the Interior. Requires: (1) all lands managed by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in the Mount Hood Corridor which can be seen from U.S. Highway 26 to be managed primarily for the protection or enhancement of scenic qualities; and (2) management prescriptions for other resource values associated with these lands to be planned and conducted for purposes other than timber harvest, so as not to impair scenic qualities in the Corridor. Allows timber cutting in the Corridor after a resource-damaging catastrophic event only for specified management objectives. Requires Forest Service Road 2503 to remain closed, except for limited uses, to protect resources and to prevent illegal dumping and vandalism in the Corridor. Exempts this title from the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for one year. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Coquille Tribal Forest - Amends the Coquille Restoration Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior, two years after enactment of this title, to take approximately 5,400 acres in Coos County, Oregon, into trust for the Coquille Tribe. Designates such lands as the Coquille Forest. Provides for management of such lands by BLM in the interim two years. Directs: (1) the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs to initiate development of a forest management plan; and (2) Secretary toassist in the transition of forest management operations to the Assistant Secretary. Requires the Secretary to: (1) manage the Forest, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, under applicable State and Federal forestry and environmental protection laws, subject to critical habitat designations under the Endangered Species Act and to the standards and guidelines of Federal forest plans on adjacent or nearby Federal lands, and in accordance with laws pertaining to the management of Indian Trust lands; and (2) distribute revenues in accordance with existing Federal law. Subjects unprocessed logs harvested from the Forest to the same Federal statutory restrictions on export to foreign nations that apply to unprocessed logs harvested from Federal lands. Requires all sales of timber from land subject to this title to be advertised, offered, and awarded according to competitive bidding practices, with sales being awarded to the highest responsible bidder. Allows the Secretary, upon a satisfactory showing of management competence, to enter into a binding Indian self-determination agreement with the Tribe which provides for the Tribe to carry out all or a portion of the forest management for the Forest. Conditions the agreement on the: (1) Tribe entering into a binding Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Oregon relating to the establishment and management of the Forest; and (2) Secretary's authority to rescind the agreement without encumbrances. Requires the Forest to remain open to public access for purposes of hunting, fishing, recreation, and transportation, except when closed by Federal or State law or when the Tribe and the State of Oregon agree in writing that restrictions on access are necessary or appropriate to prevent harm to natural resources, cultural resources, or environmental quality. Vests jurisdiction in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon over actions: (1) against the Secretary arising out of claims that this title has been violated; and (2) between Oregon and the Tribe arising out of claims of breach of the MOA. Prohibits suits against the Secretary for claims that the MOA has been violated. Limits remedies available under this title to equitable relief and excludes damages. Specifies exclusive regulatory civil jurisdiction vested in the States of Oregon. Title VI: Bull Run Watershed Protection - Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to prohibit timber cutting within the hydrographic boundary of the Bull Run River Drainage, including certain lands within the unit and located below the headworks of Portland, Oregon's water storage and delivery project, except for the: (1) protection or enhancement of water quality in the area; (2) protection, enhancement, or maintenance of water quantity available from the area; (3) construction, expansion, protection, or maintenance of municipal water supply facilities; or (4) construction, expansion, protection, or maintenance of facilities for the transmission of energy through and over the unit or previously authorized hydroelectric projects associated with such facilities. Prohibits the Secretary from authorizing a salvage sale in the Area. (Sec. 605) Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to study and report to specified congressional committees on that part of the Little Sandy Watershed that is within the Bull Run Management Unit (study area) to determine: (1) the impact of management activities within the study area on the quality of drinking water provided to the Portland metropolitan area; (2) the identity and location of certain ecological features within the study area; and (3) the location and extent of any significant cultural or other values within the study area. Prohibits the Secretary from advertising, offering, or awarding any timber sale within the study area for a two-year period after the enactment of this title. (Sec. 606) Provides that lands within the Bull Run Management Unit but not contained within the Bull Run River Drainage shall continue to be managed in accordance with existing Federal law. Title VII: Oregon Islands Wilderness, Additions - Designates as wilderness: (1) certain lands within the boundaries of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon; and (2) all other federally owned rocks, reefs, islets, and islands lying within three geographic miles off the Oregon coast and above mean high tide and also within the Refuge boundaries under the administration of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or presently under the jurisdiction of BLM. Makes permanent Public land Order 6287 which withdrew certain rocks, reefs, islets, and islands lying within three geographical miles off the coast of Oregon and above mean high tide as an addition to the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge. Title VIII: Umpqua River Land Exchange Study - Directs the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to: (1) consult, coordinate, and cooperate with the Umpqua Land Exchange Project (ULEP), affected units of State and local agencies, and, as appropriate, the World Forestry Center and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to assist ULEP's ongoing efforts in studying and analyzing land exchange opportunities in the Umpqua River basin and to provide assistance and information to such entities; and (2) report thereon to specified congressional committees. Lists priority matters for specific study by the Secretaries, including identifying: (1) areas where consolidation of land ownership could promote long-term species protection; (2) areas where land exchanges might be utilized to better satisfy sustainable timber harvest goals; and (3) options to insure that post-exchange revenues will approximate pre-exchange revenues. (Sec. 803) Authorizes appropriations. Title III (sic): Local Empowerment and Flexibility Pilot Act of 1996 - Local Empowerment and Flexibility Pilot Act of 1996 - Lists the purposes of this Act, including to: (1) improve the delivery of services to the public; (2) promote State, local, and tribal governments and private, nonprofit organizations to identify goals to improve their communities and the lives of their citizens; and (3) enable eligible applicants to adapt programs of Federal financial assistance to the particular needs of their communities by integrating programs and program funds across existing similar Federal financial assistance programs. (Sec. 305) Creates a Community Empowerment Board composed of specified Cabinet Secretaries and agency heads. Requires the Board, among other things, to: (1) select six States to participate; and (2) receive, review, and approve or disapprove flexibility plans. Defines a "flexibility plan" as a comprehensive plan for the coordination and administration by an eligible applicant of financial assistance provided by the Federal Government under two or more eligible Federal financial assistance programs that includes funds from Federal, State, local, or tribal government or private sources to address the service needs of a community. Requires that the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in consultation with the Board, coordinate and assist in creating: (1) a uniform Federal financial assistance application; (2) a release form to facilitate the sharing of information across Federal financial assistance programs; and (3) a system wherein an organization or consortium of organizations may use one proposal to apply for assistance. (Sec. 306) Authorizes an applicant to apply to the Board for approval of a flexibility plan which must meet specified requirements, including that the application be submitted to, and contain all comments on the proposed plan made by, each affected State and local government. Provides for the submission of an application to the Board without such comments if, within 60 days of submission of the plan to an affected government, such government has failed to act on or endorse the application. (Sec. 307) Sets forth the following limitations: (1) authorizes the Board to approve no more than 30 plans; and (2) allows State applicants to submit only three approved plans. Prohibits the Board from approving any plan that includes funds under a Federal financial assistance program to support tuition vouchers for children attending private schools or otherwise pay their cost of attending such schools. Authorizes affected Federal agencies to waive any requirement under a Federal financial assistance program if the waiver is: (1) necessary to implement a plan; (2) not disapproved by the Board; and (3) necessary to effectively achieve the purposes of this Act by adhering to conditions for approval of a flexibility plan, and review and approval of flexibility plans and waiver requests. (Sec. 309) Requires an approved applicant to monitor the effectiveness of its plan and report on it to the Board. Mandates a final report to the Board. Requires the: (1) Board to report to the President and the Congress on the Federal laws or regulations most frequently waived, with the President reviewing the report and identifying those statutory and regulatory requirements that the President determines should be amended or repealed; and (2) OMB Director to report on its progress in achieving certain functions outlined under this Act requiring coordination and assistance with Federal agencies. Requires the General Accounting Office to: (1) evaluate the effectiveness of Federal financial assistance programs included in flexibility plans approved pursuant to this Act; (2) establish and maintain a program for the ongoing collection of data and analysis of each such program included in an approved flexibility plan; and (3) submit a report to the Congress and the President. Mandates a specified report by the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations to the Congress and the President. Repeals this Act on January 1, 2005. Requires all Federal agencies to develop a consistent policy that stipulates that the date of the U.S. postmark shall be deemed to be the date of delivery for any Federal contract, grant, assistance application, or other document which is required to be filed by a certain date and is delivered late by U.S. mail. Division 2: Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction - Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 - Title I (sic): Streamlining the Home Mortgage Lending Process - Sets a deadline by which the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board) and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) must take action under Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA) and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) to simplify and provide a single format for credit transaction disclosures. (Sec. 102) Amends RESPA to transfer from HUD to the Board all rulemaking authority under such Act except with respect to the prohibitions against referrals, kickbacks, and unearned fees, and against direct purchases of title insurance. (Sec. 103) Amends TILA to authorize the Board to exempt those transactions from TILA disclosure requirements which the Board determines: (1) are not necessary to effectuate its purposes; or (2) do not provide a measurable benefit in the form of useful information or consumer protection. Includes among factors for Board consideration: (1) whether the loan in question is secured by the consumer's principal residence; and (2) whether the goal of consumer protection would be undermined by such an exemption. (Sec. 104) Amends RESPA to repeal requirements that: (1) a federally related mortgage lender disclose to a mortgage loan applicant the servicing of mortgages the lender has assigned, sold, or transferred during the most recent three calendar years; and (2) a lender that does not service federally related loans similarly disclose any intention to assign, sell, or transfer such servicing. Repeals the mandate for model disclosure statements. Declares that the proscription against kickbacks and unearned fees shall not be construed as prohibiting payment by a depository institution or mortgage bank to its own employee for a referral to an affiliate for a loan product, if the employee does not hold himself or herself out as anything but an employee of that institution. Requires the Board to ensure that the exemption from RESPA regulations for credit transactions for primarily business, commercial, or agricultural purposes shall be the same as the exemption for such transactions under TILA. (Sec. 105) Declares that the proscription against kickbacks and unearned fees shall not be construed as prohibiting a payment made to a person or affinity group relating to an endorsement of the products or services of a settlement service provider if the at the time of the first written communication with the consumer it is clearly disclosed that payment was made or may be made or other thing of value may accrue to the affinity group for the endorsement. (Sec. 106) Amends TILA to exempt from its disclosure requirements any credit transactions involving consumers with an annual earned income of more than $200,000 or having net assets in excess of $1 million at the time of the transaction, upon submission of a handwritten waiver, signed and dated by such consumer. (Sec. 107) Grants creditors the option to set forth alternative disclosures regarding conditions which could trigger increases or decreases in payment and interest rates for variable interest rate residential mortgage transactions. (Sec. 109) Amends the Truth in Lending Act to restrict certain limitations on creditor liability with respect to closed end consumer credit transactions secured by real property or a dwelling under the Act. Title II: Streamlining Government Regulation - Subtitle A: Eliminating Unnecessary Regulatory Requirements and Procedures - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to set forth conditions under which prior approval is not required for any merger, consolidation, asset acquisition, or liabilities assumption involving only insured depository institution subsidiaries of the same depository institution holding company. (Sec. 202) Permits an insured depository institution to participate in optional conversion transactions between members of the Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings Association Insurance Fund without prior approval of the responsible agency (but still requires approval). Eliminates the requirement for approval of such a merger under the Oakar Amendment as well as the Bank Merger Act. (Sec. 203) Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act to remove from its regulatory purview a bank holding company subject to the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (BHCA). Revises the definition of "savings and loan holding company" to exclude a bank holding company under BHCA jurisdiction. Provides that acquisition of a savings association by a bank holding company under BHCA jurisdiction obviates approval by the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision. Amends BHCA to direct the Federal Reserve Board to solicit the views of the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision with respect to its examination and enforcement role over bank holding companies. (Sec. 204) Amends the Revised Statutes to repeal the requirement that the aggregate minimum capital of a national banking association and all its branches be no less than the aggregate minimum capital that would be required if each branch were a separately chartered national bank. (Sec. 205) Amends the Revised Statutes and FDIA to exclude from the definition of "branch" an automated teller machine or remote service unit (thus exempting those entities from the approval requirements and geographic restrictions of such Acts). (Sec. 206) Amends the Federal Reserve Act (FRA) to permit well-capitalized and well-managed banks to invest amounts equal to 150 percent (currently, only 100 percent) of capital and surplus in bank premises without prior approval. (Sec. 207) Amends BHCA to repeal the presumption that shares transferred by a bank holding company to a transferee under its control (divestitures) remain under the holding company's control (thus subject to specified approval requirements). (Sec. 208) States that prior notice and approval is not required (but written notice to the Federal Reserve Board within ten days after commencing such an activity is required) for a proposal by a well-capitalized, well-managed bank holding company to engage in any activity or acquire the shares or assets of any company (other than an insured depository institution) if it meets specified financial and managerial criteria. (Sec. 209) Amends FDIA to repeal the requirement that the appropriate Federal banking agency be notified prior to the appointment or addition of a new director or senior executive officer if the affected insured depository institution or depository institution holding company: (1) has been chartered less than two years; or (2) has undergone a change in control within the preceding two years. Retains the prior notice requirement for troubled insured depository institutions or depository institution holding companies only if the agency determines that prior notice is appropriate. Extends from 30 days up to 90 days the period during which, following notice, the agency may disapprove board of directors or senior executive officer appointments by such institutions or companies. (Sec. 210) Amends the Depository Institutions Management Interlocks Act to revise the prohibition on dual service of management officials to raise the asset-size thresholds of the depository institutions or depository holding companies to which the prohibition applies. Authorizes Federal banking regulatory agencies to adjust such thresholds for inflation. Repeals the 20-year exemption from the dual service prohibition for certain grandfathered directors and management officials (thus permitting them to continue their dual service permanently). Repeals the requirement that each appropriate Federal depository institutions regulatory agency: (1) review according to prescribed criteria the petition of a management official to serve in more than one position (interlocking directorate); and (2) determine whether continuation of such dual service produces an anti-competitive effect. Authorizes the appropriate regulatory agencies to prescribe rules and regulations permitting dual service by a management official that would otherwise be prohibited if such service would not result in a monopoly or substantial lessening of competition. Repeals the criteria governing regulatory approval of management interlocks. (Sec. 211) Amends FRA to exempt from its proscription against preferential terms in credit extensions to executive officers, directors, or principal shareholders (insider lending) any credit extension: (1) made pursuant to a benefit or compensation program widely available to employees of the member bank; and (2) that does not give preference to any officer, director, or principal shareholder of the member bank, or to any related interest of such person, over other employees of the member bank. Authorizes the Federal Reserve Board to waive the proscription against such preferential terms for certain executive officers and directors of a subsidiary that controls the member bank if the subsidiary's assets do not exceed ten percent of the consolidated assets of a company that controls the member bank and such subsidiary (and is not controlled by any other company). (Sec. 212) Amends the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 to direct the Appraisal Subcommittee to repay the Secretary of the Treasury the unpaid portion of its startup funding by the end of FY 1998. (Sec. 213) Amends the FDIA to exempt from branch closure notice requirements automated teller machines and relocated or consolidated bank branches, if: (1) the relocation or consolidation occurs within the same neighborhood and does not substantially affect the nature of the business or customers served; or (2) a branch is closed in connection with emergency acquisitions or any Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) assistance. (Sec. 214) Amends the International Banking Act of 1978 to direct the Federal Reserve Board to avoid unnecessary duplication of foreign bank examinations. Provides that: (1) each Federal and State branch or agency of a foreign bank shall be subject to on-site examination by the appropriate regulator as frequently as would its U.S. counterpart (instead of annually, as at present); and (2) the cost of such examination shall be assessed against its owner to the same extent that fees are collected by the Federal Reserve Board for examination of any State member bank. Authorizes the Board to approve an application by a foreign bank even if the authorities in the home country have not yet established a comprehensive regulation on a consolidated basis, as long as they are actively working to establish one. Instructs the Board to consider, when acting on a foreign bank application, whether the foreign bank has adopted and implemented procedures to combat money laundering. Directs the Board to take final action on any application within 180 days after its receipt. Authorizes the Board to terminate a foreign bank office in the United States if it finds that the authorities in the home country are not making demonstrable progress in establishing arrangements for comprehensive consolidated supervision. (Sec. 215) Amends the BHCA to authorize the Board to approve extensions beyond the current five-year deadline for a bank holding company to dispose of foreclosed assets, under certain conditions, up to an aggregate of five more years. (Sec. 216) Amends the Bank Holding Company Act Amendments of 1970 and the Home Owners Loan Act to extend the authority of the Board, and the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision, respectively, to grant exceptions to certain antitying prohibitions. (Sec. 217) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to require the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to act within a 60- day period (which may be extended for an additional 30 days) upon receipt of the application of an insured State bank (or subsidiary) to engage as principal in activity impermissible for a national bank. Subtitle B: Eliminating Unnecessary Regulatory Burdens - Amends FDIA to increase from $175 million to $250 million the asset-size ceiling on the meaning of "small depository institution" which Federal banking agencies may in their discretion determine for examination on an 18-month cycle. (Sec. 222) Directs the Federal Financial Institutions Examinations Council, and each Federal banking agency represented on it, to review and report to the Congress on Federal banking regulations at least every ten years to identify unnecessary regulatory requirements imposed upon insured depository institutions. Requires the Council or the pertinent banking agency to eliminate unnecessary regulations to the extent appropriate. (Sec. 223) Amends Federal monetary law to repeal the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to require each insured depository institution to identify certain non-bank financial institution customers. (Sec. 224) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 to repeal the mandate that insured depository institutions include information on small businesses and small farm lending in their annual reports of condition. Amends the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) and the International Lending Supervision Act of 1983 to repeal annual reporting requirements for specified Federal financial institution regulatory agencies, including certain reports on changes to improve the international lending operations of banking institutions. (Sec. 225) Amends the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 to increase from $10 million to $50 million the maximum asset-size of institutions exempt from its requirements. Declares that a depository institution shall be deemed to have satisfied the public availability requirements for its mortgage loan transactions if its branch offices provide notice of the availability of such information from the home office upon request. (Sec. 226) Amends FDIA guidelines governing a change in control of insured depository institutions to repeal mandatory reporting by financial institutions (or affiliates) of any loans secured by 25 percent or more of any class of shares of an insured depository institution (stock loans). Retains such mandatory reporting for foreign banks and their affiliates. (Sec. 227) Requires the Federal Reserve Board to study and report to the Congress on the extent of small business lending by all creditors. Subtitle C: Regulatory Micromanagement - Amends the Revised Statutes to allow the Comptroller of the Currency to waive the residency requirement for national banking association directors. Repeals the Comptroller's authority to waive citizenship requirements for a minority of the directors of a foreign bank subsidiary or affiliate. (Sec. 242) Amends the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 to require each Federal banking agency to review and eliminate regulations which require insured depository institutions and credit unions to produce unnecessary internal written policies. (Sec. 243) Amends FDIA to mandate: (1) that one of the presidentially appointed directors serving on the FDIC Board have State bank supervisory experience; (2) that each appropriate Federal banking agency take action necessary to ensure that depository institution examiners consult and reach agreement on examination activities and resultant recommendations; and (3) consider appointing an examiner-in-charge to ensure such consultation. Title III: Regulatory Impact on Cost of Credit and Credit Availability - Amends FDIA guidelines for improved accountability in financial management to: (1) eliminate the use of an independent public accountant to detect and report violations of law by an insured depository institution or depository institution holding company; and (2) authorize a Federal banking agency to permit an independent audit committee to be composed of a majority of outside directors independent of institution management (currently the entire committee must be composed of such outside directors) if it determines that an insured depository institution has encountered hardships in retaining competent directors on such committee. (Sec. 302) Amends the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Fair Housing Act to set forth incentives for self-testing and self- correcting by lenders subject to such Acts. Prescribes conditions under which: (1) an enforcing agency is prohibited from acquiring or using reports generated by any creditor-conducted review of lending operations to determine compliance with such Acts; and (2) such self-test results may be used by an adversary party. (Sec. 303) Permits a Federal savings association to make credit card loans or education loans without being subject to a percentage-of-assets limitation. Raises from ten percent to 20 percent the percentage-of-assets limitations ceiling placed upon commercial and agricultural loans offered by an association. Restricts loan amounts exceeding ten percent of an association's total assets to loans made to small businesses. Repeals the five-percent-of-assets loan restriction placed upon education loans offered by an association. Expands the scope of "qualified thrift lender" to include a domestic building and loan association. Permits a savings association that qualifies as a qualified thrift lender to operate a branch outside the State in which it has its home office. Redefines "qualified thrift investment" to cover, as assets includible without limit, educational loans, small business loans, and loans made through credit cards or credit card accounts. Removes the ten-percent-of-assets loan restriction placed upon certain personal, family, household or education loans other than educational loans, small business loans, and loans made through credit cards or credit card accounts. (Sec. 304) Amends BHCA to repeal the seven percent growth cap restrictions placed upon banks controlled by certain bank holding companies not statutorily treated as bank holding companies. Excludes from BHCA jurisdiction any limited purpose institution that accepts collateral for extensions of credit by holding deposits under $100,000. (Sec. 305) Amends the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to revise the prohibition against failure to disclose clearly in all communications with a consumer that the debt collector is attempting to collect a debt. (Sec. 306) Amends the Federal Credit Union Act to increase from $10,000 to $20,000 the ceiling on credit union loans which may be made to a director or member of a supervisory or credit committee without first being approved by the board of directors. (Sec. 307) Amends the Federal Reserve Act to increase from ten percent to 20 percent the amount of capital and surplus that a national bank may invest in the stock of Edge Act subsidiaries and certain financial service corporations held by a member bank's non- U.S. branches, as long as the investment of an additional amount over ten percent would not be unsafe or unsound. Title IV: Consumer Credit - Subtitle A: Credit Reporting Reform - Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act of 1996 - Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to cite additional permissible purposes for which a consumer reporting agency may furnish a consumer report, including: (1) for employment purposes; (2) for credit or insurance transactions that are not initiated by the consumer; and (3) for direct marketing transactions that are not initiated by the consumer. Mandates consumer consent as a prerequisite to furnishing medical information contained in a consumer report. (Sec. 406) Revises exceptions to the prohibition against the reporting of certain obsolete information by a consumer reporting agency. Raises the minimum dollar threshold amounts permitting release of such information: (1) from $50,000 to $150,000 in the case of a credit transaction; (2) from $50,000 to $150,000 the policy amount in the case of life insurance underwriting; and (3) from $20,000 to $75,000 the amount of salary of an individual in the case of an employment-related credit report. Provides that the seven-year reporting period applicable to accounts placed for collection begins no later than 180 days after the beginning of the delinquency immediately preceding the collection activity. Mandates disclosure in a consumer report of: (1) the particular chapter under which a bankruptcy case arises; (2) withdrawal of a bankruptcy case prior to final judgment; (3) voluntary closure by a consumer of a credit account; (4) information disputed by the consumer. (Sec. 407) Prohibits a consumer reporting agency from prohibiting disclosure to the consumer by a credit report user of the contents of a credit report if the user has taken adverse action against the consumer based on such report. Prescribes guidelines for procurement of a consumer report for resale. (Sec. 408) States that nothing requires a consumer reporting agency to disclose to a consumer any credit scores, risk scores, and other predictors relating to her or him. Provides for mandatory disclosure to a consumer of additional kinds of information, including a summary of consumer rights. Requires the Federal Trade Commission to take action to assure that consumer standardization and comprehensibility are achieved. Prohibits consumer lawsuits for defamation, invasion of privacy, or negligence against a consumer reporting agency based on information disclosed by a credit report user to or for a consumer against whom the user has taken adverse action based on the report. (Sec. 409) Revises procedural and disclosure guidelines governing: (1) disputed information in a consumer's file, including free mandatory reinvestigation by the reporting agency; (2) users of information in a consumer report taking adverse actions, or making written credit or insurance solicitations based upon such report (including any direct marketing transaction that is not initiated by the consumer); and (3) adverse action based on information obtained from third parties other than consumer reporting agencies. (Sec. 412) Revises civil liability guidelines to set forth liquidated damages for willful and negligent noncompliance, and to award attorney's fees to the prevailing party for pleadings filed in bad faith. (Sec. 413) Specifies the responsibilities of persons who furnish information to a consumer reporting agency, including the obligation to provide accurate, updated information and notices of information disputed by consumers. (Sec. 414) Revises disclosure guidelines governing investigative consumer reports to require: (1) certification that the consumer has been notified; and (2) confirmation of any adverse information obtained from personal sources. (Sec. 415) Increases criminal penalties for obtaining information under false pretenses, and for unauthorized disclosures. (Sec. 416) Revises administrative enforcement guidelines to authorize the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to commence a civil action to recover a civil penalty in Federal district court in the event of a knowing violation constituting a pattern or practice of FCRA violations. Limits such penalty to $2500 per violation. Prohibits: (1) the FTC from promulgating trade regulation rules with respect to the FCRA; and (2) specified Federal regulatory agencies from conducting an examination of a bank, savings association or credit union regarding FCRA compliance except in response to a complaint alleging noncompliance. (Sec. 417) Authorizes the States to bring a court action for FCRA violations. (Sec. 418) Authorizes the Federal Reserve Board to issue interpretations of the FCRA with respect to certain financial institutions and holding companies. (Sec. 419) Identifies specified FCRA provisions that preempt State law. Subtitle B: Credit Repair Organizations - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to provide that specified provisions of that Act may be cited as the Credit Repair Organizations Act. (Sec. 451) Prohibits: (1) advising any consumer to make an untrue or misleading statement, or to alter the consumer's identification to prevent the display of the consumer's credit record; (2) other fraud or deception; and (3) a credit repair organization (CRO) from charging or receiving valuable consideration for any service before such service is fully performed. Specifies a statement which a CRO must provide to consumers before an agreement is executed regarding the consumer, the CRO, and related rights, powers, and obligations. Requires written, signed contracts covering specified matters in order for a CRO to provide services. Allows a consumer to cancel a contract with a CRO within three business days of making the contract. Declares void any consumer waiver of any protection under this subtitle. Makes an attempt to obtain a waiver a violation of this subtitle. Voids any contract not in compliance with this subtitle. Provides for civil liability for failing to comply with this subtitle, including allowing punitive damages and class actions. Requires enforcement of this subtitle under the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA) by the FTC. Makes: (1) a violation of this subtitle an unfair or deceptive act or practice in violation of specified provisions of the FTCA; and (2) all functions and powers of the FTC available for enforcement of this subtitle. Establishes a five-year statute of limitations for actions to enforce liability under this subtitle. (Sec. 452) Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) individuals should be judged for credit worthiness based upon their own credit worthiness and not that of their zip code or residential neighborhood; and (2) the FTC should report to certain congressional committees on the impact of residential location upon corporate lenders' consideration of an application for unsecured credit. Title V: Asset Conservation, Lender Liability, and Deposit Insurance Protection - Asset Conservation, Lender Liability, and Deposit Insurance Protection Act of 1996- Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to declare that the liability of a fiduciary for the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance in connection with a vessel or facility held in fiduciary capacity shall not exceed the assets held in fiduciary capacity, unless: (1) a person is liable independently of the person's ownership of a vessel or facility as a fiduciary or actions taken in a fiduciary capacity; or (2) the fiduciary negligently causes or contributes to the release or threatened release. Title VI: Miscellaneous - Directs the Federal Reserve Board to evaluate and report to the Congress whether the Electronic Fund Transfer Act could be applied to electronic stored value products without adversely impacting their cost, development, and operation. (Sec. 602) Amends FDIA to treat as administrative expenses of a receiver or conservator for an insured depository institution any final and unappealable judgment for monetary damages entered against such receiver or conservator for breach of a post-appointment agreement executed or approved by such receiver or conservator. (Sec. 603) Amends the Federal criminal code to: (1) increase the penalty for certain counterfeiting violations; and (2) establish criminal penalties for the production, sale, transportation, or possession of fictitious financial instruments purporting to be those of the States, political subdivisions, and of private organizations. (Sec. 604) Amends the Truth in Savings Act to repeal: (1) civil liability for violations of such Act; and (2) the definition of an on-premises display in a depository institution. Redefines "depository institution" to exclude certain nonautomated credit unions (thus exempting them from such Act). (Sec. 605) Amends TILA to direct the Federal Reserve Board to: (1) promulgate regulations to update and clarify requirements and definitions applicable to lease disclosures and contracts; (2) publish model disclosure forms to facilitate compliance with disclosure requirements; and (3) consider, when establishing such model forms, the use of automated equipment by lessors. Amends the guidelines governing requisite disclosures in consumer lease advertisements. Shields the owner or employee of an advertising medium from liability relating to such disclosures. (Sec. 606) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to study and report to the Congress on: (1) the regulatory practices of the National Credit Union Administration Board with respect to the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund; (2) the potential effects of the administration of that Fund by an entity other than the National Credit Union Administration; and (3) the investment practices and financial status of the ten largest corporate credit unions. (Sec. 607) Directs each Federal banking agency to report to the Congress on its actions regarding inconsistent or duplicative accounting and reporting requirements (differences between regulatory accounting principles and generally accepted accounting principles) affecting certain reports filed by insured depository institutions. (Sec. 608) Amends FIRREA to instruct the Federal Reserve Board to include in its annual report to the Congress a description of any discernible trend in the cost and availability of certain retail banking services in the nation as a whole, in each of the 50 States and in each consolidated metropolitan statistical area or primary metropolitan statistical area. (Sec. 609) Amends the Federal monetary code to continue the ban on gold clauses in contracts prior to 1977 unless all parties to a pre-1977 contract specifically agree to include such clause in the new agreement. (Sec. 610) Amends the BHCA to exclude a qualified family partnership from the meaning of "company" under such Act. (Sec. 611) Expresses the sense of the Congress that financial institutions and Federal bank regulators should work cooperatively with farmers and ranchers in drought-affected communities to allow financial obligations to be met without imposing undue burdens. Title VII: Deposit Insurance Funds - Deposit Insurance Funds Act of 1996 - Directs the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to impose a special assessment on the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF)-assessable deposits of each insured depository institution at a rate that the Board, in its sole discretion, determines will cause the SAIF to achieve the designated reserve ratio on the first business day of the first month beginning after the date of enactment of this Act. Allows the Board to exempt weak institutions from such assessment, but requires exemption for certain newly chartered and other defined institutions, which shall pay semiannual assessments at certain former rates during calendar years 1996 through 1998, with a special rate provision for calendar 1999. (Sec. 702) Authorizes certain institutions facing hardship as a result of the special assessment to elect to pay it in two assessments, plus a third supplemental special assessment, determined according to specified formulae. Prescribes adjustments of the special assessment for Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) member banks and certain savings associations. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to require the 20 percent reductions to the adjusted attributable deposit amount for certain BIF members and to the special assessment for certain converted savings associations. (Sec. 703) Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (FHLBA) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to revise the assessment authority of the Financing Corporation (FICO), extending FICO assessments to all depository institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (rather than SAIF members only). Repeals specified limits on the amount that may be assessed. Declares that assessments imposed upon insured depository institutions with respect to any BIF-assessable deposit shall be assessed at 1\5 of the rate of the assessments imposed on insured depository institutions with respect to any SAIF-assessable deposit. (Sec. 704) Declares that the SAIF and the BIF shall be merged into the Deposit Insurance Fund, which shall have a Special Reserve for any excess of the SAIF reserve ratio over the designated reserve ratio. Makes conforming amendments to specified banking statutes. (Sec. 705) Amends the FDIA to establish a SAIF Special Reserve if the SAIF reserve exceeds the designated reserve ratio on January 1, 1999. (Sec. 706) Prescribes procedural guidelines for the refund of assessed payments in a deposit insurance fund in excess of the designated reserve amount. (Sec. 707) States that the assessment rate for a SAIF member may not be less than the assessment rate for a BIF member posing a comparable risk to the deposit insurance fund. (Sec. 708) Prohibits the FDIC Board of Directors from setting semi-annual assessments in excess of the amount needed to maintain or achieve the designated reserve ratio of a deposit insurance fund. (Sec. 709) Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to study and report to the Congress on all issues relevant to the development of a common charter for all insured depository institutions and the abolition of separate and distinct charters between banks and savings associations.

Entwicklung von Ersatzmethoden von Tierversuchen

Austria · National Council · 20 September 1996

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten MMag. Dr. Madeleine Petrovic und Genossen an den Bundesminister für Wissenschaft, Verkehr und Kunst betreffend Entwicklung von Ersatzmethoden von Tierversuchen

Schwerpunktsetzungen im Umweltbereich

Austria · National Council · 20 September 1996

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Peter Keppelmüller und Genossen an den Bundesminister für wirtschaftliche Angelegenheiten betreffend Schwerpunktsetzungen im Umweltbereich

Lufttiertransport der Japan-Makaken

Austria · National Council · 20 September 1996

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten MMag. Dr. Madeleine Petrovic und Genossen an den Bundesminister für Wissenschaft, Verkehr und Kunst betreffend Lufttiertransport der Japan-Makaken

Gesundheitsgefährdung der Bevölkerung durch das Projekt "Affenberg"

Austria · National Council · 20 September 1996

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten MMag. Dr. Madeleine Petrovic und Genossen an die Bundesministerin für Gesundheit und Konsumentenschutz betreffend Gesundheitsgefährdung der Bevölkerung durch das Projekt "Affenberg" <i>(Import von japanischen Makaken)</i>

Deponiestandortsuche Oberösterreich

Austria · National Council · 20 September 1996

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Rudolf Anschober und Genossen an den Bundesminister für Umwelt, Jugend und Familie betreffend Deponiestandortsuche Oberösterreich

"Froschtragödie" am Flughafen Wien-Schwechat

Austria · National Council · 20 September 1996

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten MMag. Dr. Madeleine Petrovic und Genossen an den Bundesminister für Wissenschaft, Verkehr und Kunst betreffend "Froschtragödie" am Flughafen Wien-Schwechat <i>(Transport von Grünfröschen in unvorschriftsmäßigen</i> <i>Behältern)</i>

Tiertransportgesetz-Luft - verendete Makaken

Austria · National Council · 20 September 1996

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Dr. Stefan Salzl und Genossen an den Bundesminister für Wissenschaft, Verkehr und Kunst betreffend Tiertransportgesetz-Luft - verendete Makaken

Auswirkungen des EU-Beitrittes auf das österreichische Tierversuchsgesetz

Austria · National Council · 20 September 1996

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten MMag. Dr. Madeleine Petrovic und Genossen an den Bundesminister für Wissenschaft, Verkehr und Kunst betreffend Auswirkungen des EU-Beitrittes auf das österreichische Tierversuchsgesetz

Projekt "Affenberg"

Austria · National Council · 20 September 1996

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten MMag. Dr. Madeleine Petrovic und Genossen an den Bundesminister für wirtschaftliche Angelegenheiten betreffend Projekt "Affenberg" <i>(Import von Japan-Makaken)</i>

überhöhte Kadmiumkonzentrationen in der Region Gmunden

Austria · National Council · 20 September 1996

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Rudolf Anschober und Genossen an den Bundesminister für Umwelt, Jugend und Familie betreffend überhöhte Kadmiumkonzentrationen in der Region Gmunden

Förderung von Nationalparks

Austria · National Council · 19 September 1996

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Mag. Johann Maier und Genossen an den Bundesminister für Umwelt, Jugend und Familie betreffend Förderung von Nationalparks

biogene Abfälle und Hygiene

Austria · National Council · 19 September 1996

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Peter Keppelmüller und Genossen an die Bundesministerin für Gesundheit und Konsumentenschutz betreffend biogene Abfälle und Hygiene

biogene Abfälle

Austria · National Council · 19 September 1996

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Peter Keppelmüller und Genossen an den Bundesminister für Umwelt, Jugend und Familie betreffend biogene Abfälle

Aufrechterhaltung der hohen österreichischen Umweltstandards innerhalb der EU

Austria · National Council · 19 September 1996

Unselbständiger Entschließungsantrag der Abgeordneten Mag. Karl Schweitzer und Genossen betreffend die Aufrechterhaltung der hohen österreichischen Umweltstandards innerhalb der EU

Environmental Crimes and Enforcement Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1996

Environmental Crimes and Enforcement Act of 1996 - Provides that, upon motion of the United States, any person found guilty of a criminal violation of specified Federal environmental laws, or conspiracy to violate such laws, may be ordered to pay the costs incurred by a State, local, or tribal government or an agency thereof for assistance to the Federal Government's investigation and criminal prosecution of the case, with the payments used solely for environmental law enforcement. Sets penalties for individuals and organizations that commit a criminal violation of listed Federal environmental laws which causes "serious bodily injury" to or the death of any other person, including a Federal, State, local, or tribal government employee performing official duties as a result of the violation. Environmental Crimes Training Act of 1996 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish within EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance a State, Local, and Tribal Enforcement Training Program to train State, local, and tribal law enforcement personnel in the investigation of environmental crimes. Sets a five-year statute of limitations (longer in cases of concealment of the offense by an affirmative act) for violation of, or a conspiracy to violate, specified Federal environmental laws. Amends various Federal environmental laws to cover attempts to engage in proscribed conduct. Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize the court to order restitution for listed Federal environmental crimes, including, in the case of an offense resulting in pollution of or damage to the environment, payment for removal and remediation of the pollution or damage and restoration of the environment. Defines "victim" of the offense in such cases to include a community or communities, whether or not the members are individually identified.

California Bay-Delta Environmental Enhancement and Water Security Act

United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1996

California Bay-Delta Environmental Enhancement and Water Security Act - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1998 through 2000 for the initial Federal share of the cost of developing and implementing: (1) a specified portion of an ecosystem protection plan for the San Francisco Bay Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Watershed (Bay-Delta) in California; and (2) the ecosystem restoration elements of the long-term California-Federal Bay-Delta Program. Requires such appropriated funds to be administered in accordance with procedures established by such Program until the Congress authorizes an entity recommended by the Program to carry out this Act. Requires funds authorized to be appropriated to agencies that are currently or that subsequently become Program participants to be in addition to the baseline funding levels established in this Act for currently authorized projects and programs under the Central Valley Project Improvement Act and other currently authorized Federal programs for the purpose of Bay-Delta ecosystem protection and restoration. Authorizes agencies and departments that are or that become participants in the Program to undertake the activities and programs for which Federal cost sharing is provided by this Act. Requires the United States to immediately initiate coordinated consultations and negotiations with California to expeditiously execute a specified cost-sharing agreement signed by its Governor on July 11, 1996. Directs the Office of Management and Budget to submit to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, as part of the President's FY 1998 Budget, an interagency budget crosscut that displays Federal spending for FY 1993 through 1998 on ecosystem restoration and other purposes in the Bay-Delta Region, separately showing funding provided previously or requested under pre-existing authorities and new authorities granted by this Act.

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to revise water quality criteria for ammonia, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1996

Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to revise and publish water quality criteria for ammonia under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to ensure that such criteria reflect the latest and best scientific knowledge. Prohibits the Administrator, pending the issuance of such final revised criteria, from: (1) using, or requiring a State to use, water quality criteria for ammonia issued before enactment of this Act in establishing effluent limitations for ammonia; and (2) initiating or continuing, or requiring a State to initiate or continue, any enforcement action for a violation of a permit requirement based on such existing criteria.

Bi-State Aircraft Noise Correction Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1996

Bi-State Aircraft Noise Correction Act of 1996 - Declares that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) should remedy the problem it has created by formulating and implementing plans to mitigate aircraft noise over certain areas of New Jersey and Staten Island. Instructs the FAA Administrator to: (1) develop and publish a plan to reduce aircraft-generated noise in New Jersey by six decibels for at least 80 percent of the people residing within 18 nautical miles of Newark International Airport; (2) investigate and test southbound departure procedures from Newark International Airport runway 22 that will result in a minimum 25 percent decrease in aircraft noise on the ground in northwestern Staten Island; (3) investigate a straight-out southbound departure from runway 22; and (4) undertake remediation efforts to mitigate aircraft noise within a specified sound level contour. Confers standing in Federal district court upon the New Jersey Citizens for Environmental Research (and a group to be designated by the Staten Island Borough President) to compel the Administrator to comply with this Act. Sets deadlines for FAA implementation of this Act.

To provide for the conveyance of certain property from the United States to Stanislaus County, California.

United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1996

Directs the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to convey to Stanislaus County, California, specified lands known as the NASA Ames Research Center, Crows Landing Facility. Prohibits such conveyance from relieving Federal agencies of environmental remediation responsibilities. Subjects any other remediation of contamination within or related to structures or fixtures on such property to negotiation to the extent permitted by law. Retains NASA's right to use such property for aviation activities without consideration and on mutually acceptable terms. Requires NASA to relinquish legislative jurisdiction over the conveyed property to California.

Financial Institutions Regulatory Relief Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 16 September 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Reductions in Government Overregulation Subtitle A: The Home Mortgage Process Subtitle B: Consumer Banking Reforms Subtitle C: Equal Credit Opportunity Act Amendments Subtitle D: Consumer Leasing Act Amendments Title II: Streamlining Government Regulations Subtitle A: Regulatory Approval Issues Subtitle B: Streamlining of Government Regulations; Miscellaneous Provisions Title III: Lender Liability Title IV: Annual Study and Report on Impact on Lending to Small Business Title V: Financial Service Reform Subtitle A: Reform of Holding Company Procedures Subtitle B: Interagency Banking and Financial Services Task Force Title VI: Drought Relief Title VII: Financial Activities Title VIII: Deposit Insurance Funds Financial Institutions Regulatory Relief Act of 1996 - Title I: Reductions in Government Overregulation - Subtitle A: The Home Mortgage Process - Amends the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA) regarding the proscription against kickbacks and unearned fees to permit an employer's payment to the employer's own bona fide employees for any referral activities. (Sec. 101) Restricts criminal sanctions to willful violation of law (current law penalizes unwillful and unintentional violations as well). Redesignates "a controlled business arrangement" as "an affiliated business arrangement". Revises the disclosure prescriptions governing affiliated business arrangements where referrals are made by: (1) electronic media; and (2) by a lender. Permits an affiliated business arrangement if a written disclosure of its existence and estimated attendant charges is made within three business days after a referral by telephone or electronic media. Modifies the statute of limitations for bringing actions arising from violations of requirements for servicing mortgages and administering escrow accounts. (Sec. 102) Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to take action under RESPA and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) to simplify and provide a single format for credit transaction disclosures. (Sec. 103) Exempts from TILA disclosure requirements any transactions that the Board determines: (1) are not necessary to effectuate the Act's purposes; or (2) do not provide a measurable benefit in the form of useful information or consumer protection. (Sec. 104) Amends RESPA to repeal requirements that for certain federally related mortgage loans the lender disclose: (1) that it has previously assigned, sold, or transferred the servicing of such loans, or, during the most recent three-year period, a specified percentage of them; and (2), in the case of a lender who does not service federally related loans, a present intent to assign, sell or transfer them. Repeals the mandate for model disclosure statements. Excises from the definition of "federally related mortgage loan" any loan secured by a subordinate lien on residential real property (thereby removing second mortgages from RESPA requirements). Directs the Board to ensure that regulations pertaining to the business credit exemption from RESPA jurisdiction include all business credit exempted from TILA. (Sec. 105) Revises TILA disclosure requirements to permit alternative disclosures for adjustable rate home mortgages which state that a monthly payment may increase or decrease significantly due to annual percentage rate increases. (Current law requires illustrations how a rate increase or decrease affects monthly payments). Revises disclosure requirements for any consumer credit transaction (other than under an open end credit plan) to require Board regulations to allow a creditor the option of providing certain substitute information in lieu of an historical example that illustrates the effects of interest rate changes implemented in accordance with the terms of the transaction. Mandates: (1) additional disclosures pertaining to note rates and points for residential mortgage transactions; (2) a statement that the terms are subject to change; and (3) that any charges or premiums for voluntary insurance or noninsurance product providing protection against the debtor's liability for amounts in excess of the value of the collateral securing the obligation must be included in the finance charges, unless a specified statement in writing is furnished to the consumer. (Sec. 108) Revises certain TILA provisions for recovery of fees. (Sec. 109) Amends the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to repeal the mandate for homeownership debt counseling availability notification. (Sec. 110) Amends the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 to increase the maximum asset-size of institutions exempt from its purview from $10 million to $50 million. Declares that a depository institution shall be deemed to have satisfied the public availability notification requirements for its mortgage loan transactions if its branch offices provide notice of the availability of the information from the home office upon request. Subtitle B: Consumer Banking Reforms - Amends the Truth In Savings Act (TISA) to repeal: (1) civil liability for depository institution non-compliance with disclosure requirements; and (2) the requirement that on-premises displays in depository institutions be designed for viewing only from the interior of the premises. (Sec. 141) Redefines depository institution to exclude certain nonautomated credit unions that were not required to comply with TISA requirements. Limits account schedule distribution requirements for certain time deposits renewable at maturity without notice from the depositor to deposits with maturities of more than 30 days. (Sec. 142) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to allow depository institutions (including affiliates and subsidiaries) to exchange information without limitation if such information sharing is disclosed and the consumer has opportunity beforehand to direct that the information not be communicated. (Sec. 143) Amends TILA to permit full creditor restitution payments of adjusted finance charges to a person over an extended period if the enforcing agency determines that this is necessary to avoid causing the creditor to become undercapitalized. (Sec. 144) Instructs the Board to study and report to the Congress on the applicability of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to payment transactions using value-added electronic devices. Subtitle C: Equal Credit Opportunity Act Amendments - Equal Credit Opportunity Act Amendments of 1996 - States that the purpose of this Act is to combine the adverse action notification requirements of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) with respect to consumer credit applications, and to make the information which must be furnished more understandable. (Sec. 153) Revises ECOA notification requirements regarding adverse actions against credit applicants. Shields from liability for non-compliance persons who show by a preponderance of the evidence that they maintained reasonable procedures to ensure compliance at the time of the alleged violation. (Sec. 154) Revises specified FCRA disclosure requirements for users of consumer reports to repeal such requirements for credit denials and adverse actions based on reports of persons other than consumer reporting agencies. (Sec. 155) Amends ECOA and the Fair Housing Act (the Acts) to add incentives for creditor self-testing and voluntary corrective action by prohibiting review, examination, or acquisition by an applicant in any legal proceeding of a creditor or other person's self-procured test or review of its lending activities, including residential real estate lending, if the self-test has identified discriminatory practices and the creditor or other person has taken or is taking appropriate corrective action to address the discrimination. Specifies circumstances in which an applicant or Government department or agency may obtain and use the results of a self-test in a proceeding or civil action. (Sec. 156) Requires the Attorney General to consult with the appropriate agency before bringing a civil action in connection with creditor self-testing under the Acts. Subtitle D: Consumer Leasing Act Amendments - Consumer Leasing Act Amendments of 1996 - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) to direct the Board to: (1) write regulations or staff commentary to update and clarify requirements and definitions for lease disclosures, contracts, and other issues related to consumer leasing which would carry out the purposes of the Consumer Leasing Act; and (2) publish model disclosure forms and clauses to facilitate compliance with such requirements and aid the consumer in understanding the transaction. (Sec. 164) Revises CCPA provisions relating to consumer lease advertising, repealing special requirements for radio advertisements. (Sec. 165) Limits creditor liability for statutory penalties for failure to provide specified consumer lease disclosures. Title II: Streamlining Government Regulations - Subtitle A: Regulatory Approval Issues - Amends the Bank Holding Company Act (BHCA) to cite the statutory criteria for: (1) approval of a well-capitalized and well-managed financial services holding company proposal to engage in any (non-banking) activity or acquire or retain the shares or assets of any company (including acquisition of savings associations); and (2) deemed approval of the acquisition of shares by a registered bank holding company, or a merger or consolidation between registered bank holding companies. (Current law requires prior Board approval). (Sec. 203) Amends the FDIA and the National Bank Consolidation and Merger Act to cite conditions under which prior approval is not required for any merger, consolidation, asset acquisition, or liabilities assumption involving only insured depository institution subsidiaries of the same depository institution holding company. (Sec. 204) Permits any insured depository institution to participate in optional conversion transactions between members of the Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) and the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF) (Oakar transactions) without the prior written approval of the responsible agency. Repeals guidelines for agency approval of such transactions (but retains the proscription against transactions which result in the transfer of any insured depository institution's Federal deposit insurance from one Federal deposit insurance fund to the other). (Sec. 205) Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act (HOLA) to remove from its regulatory purview a bank holding company subject to the BHCA, and exclude it from the definition of "savings and loan holding company." Amends the BHCA of 1956 to mandate cooperation between the Board and the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision regarding supervision and enforcement over bank holding companies that control savings associations. Amends HOLA to provide that any savings association which meets specified Internal Revenue Code requirements shall be deemed to be a qualified thrift lender. (Sec. 206) Amends the BHCA to repeal the provision that shares transferred by a bank holding company to a transferee under its control are deemed to be under such holding company's control unless the Board determines otherwise and approves the divestiture. (Sec. 207) Amends the Revised Statutes, the Federal Reserve Act (FRA), and the FDIA to delineate conditions under which prior approval is not required for well-capitalized and well-managed banks to establish and operate a branch or seasonal agency. (Sec. 208) Amends the Revised Statutes and the FDIA to exclude from the definition of "branch" an automated teller machine or remote service unit (thus exempting those entities from approval requirements of such Acts). (Sec. 209) Amends the FRA to exempt well-capitalized and well-managed banks from the approval requirement for investments in bank premises. (Sec. 210) Amends the FDIA to authorize the appropriate Federal banking agency to waive, on a case-by-case basis, prior notice requirements pertaining to new officer or director appointments of certain undercapitalized or troubled institutions. (Sec. 211) Repeals the requirement for a hearing in the determination of new nonbanking activities. (Sec. 212) Authorizes the Board to extend from five years to ten years the period during which a bank holding company may retain shares acquired in a loan foreclosure. (Sec. 213) Amends the Federal Credit Union Act to increase from $10,000 to $50,000 the aggregate amount of loans to Credit Union officials that may be made without approval of the board of directors. Subtitle B: Streamlining of Government Regulations; Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the Revised Statutes to repeal the aggregate minimum per-branch capital requirements imposed upon a national banking association and its branches. (Sec. 222) Amends the FDIA to exclude automated teller machines and bank branches in specified merger or relocation situations from the definition of "bank branch" (thus exempting them from Federal bank closure notification requirements). Makes such exemption retroactive to the enactment of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991. (Sec. 223) Amends the Depository Institutions Management Interlocks Act to exempt management officials of depository institutions or holding companies with small (under 20 percent) market shares from prohibitions against dual service with unaffiliated institutions or companies in the same geographic banking market. Raises from $1 billion to $2.5 billion the asset-size ceiling beneath which a depository institution or depository holding company may retain directors and management officials performing dual service for nonaffiliated institutions whose total assets do not exceed $1.5 billion (currently $500 million). Authorizes Federal regulatory agencies to adjust such ceiling annually for cost-of-living increases. Extends a specified grandfather exemption which allows certain management officials to continue dual service despite interlocks prohibitions (thus permitting them to continue their dual service permanently). (Sec. 224) Directs the Appraisal Subcommittee of the Financial Institutions Examination Council to accelerate repayment of specified funds to the Treasury. (Sec. 225) Amends the FRA to permit loans to executive officers, directors, or principal shareholders (insider lending) made pursuant to a benefit or compensation program widely available to employees of the member bank, and that does not give preference to any officer, director or principal shareholder of the member bank over other bank employees. Expands the Board's authority to exempt specified executive officers and directors from the proscription against preferential lending terms. Repeals the requirement that an executive officer indebted to a bank over a certain lawful amount submit a written report of such debt to the board of directors. Amends the FRA to permit a member bank to make available to its executive officers: (1) home equity lines of credit of up to $100,000; and (2) loans secured by readily marketable assets. (Sec. 226) Amends the FDIA to allow the appropriate Federal banking agency to increase from $175 million to $250 million the asset-size ceiling on certain small depository institutions whose mandatory periodic on-site examinations make take place every 18 months instead of annually. Requires the Federal banking agencies to report semiannually to the Congress regarding implementation of a coordinated Federal bank examination system until it is in place and provides full coordination of examinations of State depository institutions with State bank supervisors. (Sec. 227) Amends the Right to Financial Privacy Act to require a Government authority to reimburse a financial institution for assembling or providing the financial records of corporate customers. (Sec. 228) Amends specified Federal monetary law to repeal the requirement that depository institutions identify domestic nonbank financial institution customers (retaining the requirement for foreign nonbank financial institution customers). (Sec. 229) Requires each appropriate Federal banking agency and the National Credit Union Administration to conduct a paperwork reduction review, and eliminate any requirements for unnecessary internal written policies. (Sec. 230) Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to revise the daily confirmation requirement under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 concerning hold-in custody repurchase agreements to permit the counterparty to the agreement to waive such confirmation upon receipt of certain disclosures. (Sec. 231) Requires the Financial Institutions Examination Council and each Federal banking agency represented on it to review and identify unnecessary regulations every ten years and report thereon to the Congress. (Sec. 232) Amends the International Lending Supervision Act to change from mandatory to discretionary the duty of each appropriate Federal banking agency to: (1) require a banking institution to maintain a special reserve whenever the quality of its assets has been impaired by protracted inability of debtors in a foreign country to make payments; (2) analyze the results of foreign loan rescheduling negotiations and attendant loan risks; and (3) ensure that bank capital and reserve positions are adequate to accommodate potential losses on foreign loans. (Sec. 233) Amends FDIA financial management accountability guidelines to: (1) repeal the mandate that an independent public accountant detect and report non-compliance with laws and regulations; (2) permit Federal agencies to designate certain required reports of financial condition as privileged and confidential and not available to the public; (3) exempt well-capitalized and well-managed insured depository institutions from mandatory financial management status reports (although not from the requirement of independent financial audits); (4) restructure audit committee membership from one entirely made up of outside directors independent of management, to one at least one-half of whose membership is composed of outside directors independent of management; and (5) exclude outside directors from the primary definition of an "institution-affiliated party" but include them in such definition as independent contractors if an appropriate Federal banking agency determines for purposes of insurance termination that it is appropriate under the circumstances, after taking into consideration that an outside director may have a different level of knowledge of the management and operation of an insured depository institution than one who is not an outside director. (Sec. 235) Amends the International Banking Act of 1978 to: (1) prescribe guidelines under which the Board may approve a foreign bank application to establish a U.S. presence even though it is not subject to comprehensive supervision on a consolidated basis in its home country; and (2) authorize termination of a foreign bank office if the appropriate authorities in its home country are not making progress in establishing arrangements for such supervision. (Sec. 236) Directs the Board to avoid unnecessary duplication of foreign bank examinations. Subjects foreign banks to the same on-site examination schedule and examination fee collections as apply to domestic banks. (Sec. 237) Instructs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve Board) to ascertain and report to the Congress whether the national market for certain mortgages secured by a consumer's principal dwelling has been impacted by the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act of 1994 (including its impact upon lenders, consumers, and the secondary mortgage market for refinanced loans and home equity loans). Amends TILA disclosure guidelines to waive: (1) new disclosure requirements for any change in regular payment amounts of two percent or less from the initially disclosed regular payment amount, and in specified third party fees or disbursements; and (2) the three business days disclosure requirement in the case of certain consumer credit transactions secured by a consumer's principal dwelling. Includes certain consumer credit transactions secured by a consumer's principal dwelling within the purview of TILA disclosure regulations. (Sec. 238) Revises FDIA guidelines to approve new activities of a State bank and its subsidiaries if the FDIC has not disapproved the bank's prior 60-day written notice of intent to engage in such activities. (Sec. 239) Amends the Revised Statutes to repeal the requirement that three bank directors, in addition to the officer making the declaration, attest in writing the correctness of reports of condition. (Sec. 240) Retitles the Bank Service Corporation Act the "Bank Service Company Act" and amends it to authorize banks under the Act to own limited liability companies). (Sec. 241) Amends the FRA to increase from ten percent to 25 percent the amount of capital and surplus that a national bank may invest in the stock of Edge Act subsidiaries and certain financial service corporations held by a member bank's non-U.S. branches. (Sec. 242) Requires each appropriate Federal banking agency to report to certain congressional committees on its actions to reconcile Regulatory Accounting Principles and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, thereby eliminating inconsistent or duplicative accounting and reporting requirements applicable to mandatory reports filed by insured depository institutions. (Sec. 243) Permits the Comptroller of the Currency to waive the residency requirement for national bank directors. (Sec. 244) Amends FDIA to: (1) direct each Federal banking agency to ensure that its banking examiners consult on examination activities and resolve any inconsistent recommendations given to a depository institution; and (2) revise the mandate for establishment of a joint banking agency system to include State bank examiners as well as Federal agencies among the options for determining which shall be the lead agency responsible for managing a unified examination of each insured depository institution. (Sec. 245) Amends HOLA to authorize the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision to grant exceptions to the statutory prohibition against tying arrangements by a savings association. Title III: Lender Liability - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) a person holding indicia of ownership primarily to protect a security interest in a vessel or facility should not, except in certain circumstances, be considered to have "participated in management" as that term is used in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA); (2) the term "security interest" as used in CERCLA should include rights accruing to a person to secure repayment of specified obligations, including those under various security instruments; and (3) the Congress should address the potential liability of lenders and fiduciaries under Superfund (CERCLA) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Title IV: Annual Study and Report on Impact on Lending to Small Business - Directs the following agencies to submit a joint annual report to the Congress on the extent to which the regulatory reductions under this Act have resulted in increased lending to small businesses: (1) the Federal Reserve Board; (2) the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision; (3) the Comptroller of the Currency; and (4) the FDIC Board of Directors. Title V: Financial Serv ice Reform - Subtitle A: Reform of Holding Company Procedures - Amends BHCA to revise examination and reporting requirements for Financial Services Holding Companies (FSHC). (Sec. 502) Sets forth a statutory scheme for reduced supervision of FSHCs controlling principally nondepository institutions. (Sec. 503) Sets forth a procedure for the conversion of unitary savings and loan holding companies to FSHC status, during the 18 months after the enactment of this Act, without prior Board approval. Sets forth a statutory scheme under which a FSHC may retain ownership or control of specified nonconforming financial companies. (Sec. 505) Renames the BHCA of 1956 as the Financial Services Holding Company Act of 1996. (Sec. 507) Specifies that "bank" does not include an institution: (1) which engages only in the provision of credit card accounts for business purposes; or (2) which does not engage in the business of making commercial loans (other than the provision of credit card accounts for business purposes in connection with such credit card operations). (Sec. 508) Amends the Federal Credit Union Act to prohibit an insured credit union from being sponsored by, or accepting financial support from, any Government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) whose customers are in the field of the credit union's membership. Excepts from this prohibition the forms of financial assistance generally provided by a GSE in its ordinary course of business. Amends FDIA to prohibit a depository institution from being an affiliate of, sponsored by, or accepting financial support from any GSE. Exempts from such proscription: (1) members of a depository institution in a Federal Home Loan Bank; and (2) financial assistance authorized by statute. (Sec. 509) Identifies circumstances under which qualified limited purpose banks are exempt from: (1) asset growth restrictions; (2) new activities' restrictions; (3) cross-marketing restrictions; and (4) divestiture requirements. Prescribes guidelines for the conversion of certain nonbank holding companies to FSHC status. (Sec. 510) Amends the BHCA of 1956 to authorize the Federal Reserve Board to waive, or adjust at its discretion, the procedural requirements governing applications to acquire bank shares or assets (including the attendant filing and information requirements). Amends the Federal Reserve Act regarding loans by member banks on stock or bond collateral, to: (1) abolish the minimum six-member affirmative vote required for the Board to adjust the percentage of individual bank capital and surplus which may be represented by loans secured by stock or bond collateral; and (2) repeal the 15 percent of unimpaired capital and surplus ceiling on the amount of loans a bank may make to any person. (Sec. 511) Amends the BHCA of 1956 to define a qualified family partnership and to exclude it from the definition of "company". Subtitle B: Interagency Banking and Financial Services Task Force - Establishes the Banking and Financial Services Task Force to make recommendations: (1) to the Board and the Comptroller of the Currency; and (2) for legislative or administrative action regarding the supervision, efficiency, and competitiveness of the financial services industry. (Sec. 522) Establishes the Financial Services Advisory Committee to advise the Task Force and submit an annual status report to certain congressional committees. Title VI: Drought Relief - Expresses the sense of the Congress that financial institutions and Federal bank regulators should work cooperatively with farmers and ranchers in drought-affected communities to allow financial obligations to be met without imposing undue burdens. Title VII: Financial Activities - Amends the BHCA of 1956 to exempt from its prohibition against interests in nonbanking organizations any activity the Federal Reserve Board determines is either financial in nature, or incidental to financial activities. Declares that, for purposes of interpreting "financial activity," transactions in which an FSHC acting as principal, agent, or broker provides either insurance, or an annuity contract whose income is tax- deferred, shall not be deemed to be: (1) closely related to banking, or managing or controlling banks; (2) financial in nature; or (3) incidental to a financial activity (thereby retaining those transactions within the ambit of proscribed activities). Repeals the mandate that the Board consider, when determining whether a particular activity is a proper incident to banking, if its performance by a bank holding company affiliate is such that the public interest benefit outweighs any possible adverse effects (such as undue concentration of resources, decreased or unfair competition, conflicts of interests, or unsound banking practices). States that for purposes of determining insurance activities exempt from the proscription against interests in nonbanking organizations, the term "insurance agency activity" includes providing any annuity contract as agent or broker. (Sec. 702) Amends FDIA to include within the definition of deposit any liability of an insured depository institution arising under an annuity contract whose income is tax-deferred (retirement certificates of deposit). (Sec. 703) Requires the Comptroller General to study and report to the Congress on whether State insurance regulation of the insurance activities of national banks is adequate or comparable to that of nonbank activities. (Sec. 704) Amends the Revised Statutes to require national banks to comply with non-discriminatory State licensing requirements governing individuals selling insurance as agents. Title VIII: Deposit Insurance Funds - Deposit Insurance Funds Act of 1996 - Directs the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to impose a special assessment on the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF)-assessable deposits of each insured depository institution at a rate that the Board, in its sole discretion, determines will cause the SAIF to achieve the designated reserve ratio on the first business day of the first month beginning after the date of enactment of this Act. Allows the Board to exempt weak institutions from such assessment, but requires exemption for certain newly chartered and other defined institutions, which shall pay semiannual assessments at certain former rates during calendar years 1996 through 1998. (Sec. 801) Authorizes certain institutions facing hardship as a result of the special assessment to elect to pay it in two assessments, plus a third supplemental special assessment, determined according to specified formulae. Prescribes adjustments of the special assessment for Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) member banks and certain savings associations. Amends FDIA to require the deposit into the SAIF of exit fees resulting from a conversion transaction. Authorizes the FDIC Board of Directors to exempt insured depository institutions that have paid the exit and entrance fees from paying the special assessment intended to capitalize the SAIF. (Sec. 803) Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act (FHLBA) and FDIA to revise the assessment authority of the Financing Corporation (FICO), extending FICO assessments to all FDIC-insured depository institutions (rather than SAIF members only). Repeals specified limits on the amount that may be assessed. Declares that assessments imposed upon insured depository institutions with respect to any BIF-assessable deposit shall be assessed at 1\5 of the rate of the assessments imposed on insured depository institutions with respect to any SAIF-assessable deposit. (Sec. 804) Declares that the SAIF and the BIF shall be merged into the Deposit Insurance Fund, which shall have a Special Reserve for any excess of the SAIF reserve ratio over the designated reserve ratio. (Sec. 805) Amends FDIA to establish a SAIF Special Reserve if the SAIF reserve exceeds the designated reserve ratio on January 1, 1999. (Sec. 806) Prescribes procedural guidelines for the refund of assessed payments in a deposit insurance fund in excess of the designated reserve amount. (Sec. 807) States that the assessment rate for a SAIF member may not be less than the assessment rate for a BIF member posing a comparable risk to the deposit insurance fund. (Sec. 808) Prohibits the FDIC Board of Directors from setting semi-annual assessments in excess of the amount needed to maintain or achieve the designated reserve ratio of a deposit insurance fund. (Sec. 809) Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to study and report to the Congress on all issues relevant to the development of a common charter for all insured depository institutions and the abolition of separate and distinct charters between banks and savings associations.

Ersetzung von Genehmigungsverfahren für Errichtung und Betrieb von Industrieanlagen durch Versicherungslösungen mit komplementärem Haftungsrecht unter Berücksichtigung von Umwelt und Gesundheitsschutz (G-SIG: 13048309)

Germany · German Bundestag · 13 September 1996

Migratory Bird Treaty Reform Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1996

Migratory Bird Treaty Reform Act of 1996 - Amends the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (the Act) to prohibit persons from taking migratory game birds: (1) with a trap, snare, net, rifle, pistol, swivel gun, shotgun larger than 10 gauge, punt gun, battery gun, machine gun, fish hook, poison, drug, explosive, or stupefying substance or with a shotgun of any description capable of holding more than three shells; (2) from or by means, aid, or use of a sinkbox or any other type of low floating device having a depression affording a hunter a means of concealment beneath the surface of the water; (3) from or by means, aid or use of any motor vehicle, motor-driven land conveyance, or aircraft of any kind, except that paraplegics and persons missing one or both legs may take from any stationary motor vehicle or stationary motor-driven land conveyance; (4) from or by means of any motorboat or other craft having a motor attached, or any sailboat, unless the motor has been completely shut off and or the sails furled, and its progress therefrom has ceased (allows a powered craft to be used to retrieve dead or crippled birds, except that crippled birds may not be shot from such craft except in the seaduck area, as provided by regulations issued by the Secretary of the Interior); (5) by means or aid of any motor-driven land, water, or air conveyance or any sailboat used for the purpose of, or resulting in, the concentrating, driving, rallying, or stirring up of any migratory bird; (6) by the use or aid of live birds as decoys, including on areas where tame or captive live ducks or geese are present, unless such birds are and have been for a period of ten consecutive days before such taking, confined within an enclosure which substantially reduces the audibility of their calls and totally conceals such birds from the sight of wild migratory waterfowl; (7) by the use or aid of recorded or electrically amplified bird calls or sounds or of imitations thereof; or (8) while possessing shot (either in shotshells or loose shot for muzzle-loading) other than steel shot, bismuth-tin shot, or such other shot as may be approved as nontoxic by the Secretary (applicable to the taking of Anatidae (ducks, geese, including brant, and swans), coots (Fulica americana) and any species that make up aggregate bag limits during concurrent seasons with the former in areas designated as nontoxic shot zones by the Secretary). Prohibits persons from taking migratory birds by the aid of baiting, or on or over any baited area, where they know or should have known through the exercise of reasonable diligence that bait was present. (Sec. 4) Requires all fines and penalties assessed and recovered under this Act to be deposited into the migratory bird conservation fund to be used only for the location, ascertainment, and acquisition of suitable areas for migratory bird refuges under the Act. (Sec. 5) Amends penalty provisions of such Act to provide that in lieu of seizing any personal property, the Secretary shall permit the owner or operator of such property to post bond or other surety pending the disposition of any proceeding under the Act.

Opinion of Mr Advocate General Léger delivered on 12 September 1996. # Commission of the European Communities v Federal Republic of Germany. # Failure to fulfil obligations - Non-transposition of Directives 82/176/EEC, 83/513/EEC, 84/156/EEC, 84/491/EEC and 86/280/EEC on the discharge of certain dangerous substances into the aquatic environment. # Case C-262/95.

European Union · Court of Justice of the European Union · 12 September 1996

COMMON POSITION (EC) No 58/96 adopted by the Council on 12 September 1996 with a view to the adoption of Directive 96/.../EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of ..., amending Council Directives 90/387/EEC and 92/44/EEC for the purpose of adaptation to a competitive environment in telecommunications

European Union · Council of the European Union · 12 September 1996

California Environmental Enhancement and Water Security Act

United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1996

California Environmental Enhancement and Water Security Act - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1998 through 2000 for the Federal share of the cost of implementing the program described in the document entitled "Principle for Agreement on Bay-Delta Standards Between the State of California and the Federal Government," dated December 15, 1994. Makes this Act effective on the date of passage of 1996 California State proposition 204.

To permit States to prohibit the disposal of solid waste imported from other nations.

United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1996

Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to allow any State to prohibit disposal in the State of any solid waste imported from a foreign country. Exempts from such a prohibition foreign-generated waste received pursuant to an existing host community agreement that explicitly authorizes such receipt by a facility owner or operator that complies with all of the agreement's terms and conditions.

Directing the Clerk of the House of Representatives to make a technical correction in the enrollment of H.R. 3060.

United States · United States Congress · 10 September 1996

Makes a technical correction in the enrollment of H.R. 3060 (implementation of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty).

WTK (Wolfsegg-Traunthaler Kohlenwerks GesmbH)

Austria · Federal Council · 6 September 1996

Anfrage der Bundesräte Anton Hüttmayr und Genossen an den Bundesminister für Finanzen betreffend WTK (Wolfsegg-Traunthaler Kohlenwerks GesmbH)

The urban environment

European Union · European Parliament · 5 September 1996

Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 5 September 1996

Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 1996 - Amends the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 1990 to: (1) include among the Act's purposes to develop and implement proposals for the restoration of fish and wildlife resources in the Great Lakes Basin (Basin); and (2) include microorganisms within the definition of "nonindigenous species." Requires the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to: (1) ensure that proposals resulting from recommendations of the Great Lakes fishery resources restoration study or identified through an annual request to specified State and tribal entities are developed and that the highest priority proposals are implemented; and (2) annually request that State Directors and Indian Tribes submit fish and wildlife resources restoration proposals based on the results of the study or other sources. Requires the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to retain authority and responsibility for formulation and implementation of a comprehensive program for eradicating or minimizing sea lamprey populations in the Basin. Authorizes the Secretary of the Army, at the Commission's request, to construct and improve water resources projects related to sea lamprey management. Establishes the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Proposal Review Committee. Directs the Secretary to select proposals to be implemented and, within available appropriations, fund their implementation. Sets forth cost-sharing requirements. Authorizes appropriations for the operation of the three offices for each of FY 1998 through 2002. Revises the Act to require the Director to maintain the functions of the Great Lakes Coordination Office in East Lansing, Michigan, and of the Upper and Lower Great Lakes Fishery Resources Offices and to provide administrative and technical support services. Requires the Director, within six months after the end of every second fiscal year, to submit to specified congressional committees a report describing actions taken to implement the process for the indentification, review, and implementation of proposals, and the results of proposals so implemented. Authorizes appropriations for implementation of specified fish and wildlife restoration proposals for FY 1996 through 2002.

Ocean Dumping Termination Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 5 September 1996

Ocean Dumping Termination Act of 1996 - Prohibits the ocean dumping (or transporting for dumping) of any material (including Category II dredged material) at the Mud Dump Site (the New York Bight Dredged Material Disposal Site), notwithstanding certain provisions of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 or any permit issued under any Federal law after enactment of this Act. Requires that violations be treated as violations under that Act.

New Jersey Marine Ecosystem Protection Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 5 September 1996

New Jersey Marine Ecosystem Protection Act of 1996 - Prohibits the transport of dredged material for the purpose of dumping it into ocean waters at the New York Bight Dredged Material Disposal Site (Mud Dump Site), other than for remediation pursuant to this Act, on and after September 1, 1997. Prohibits, after the date of this Act's enactment, the transport of: (1) dredged material for such purpose, other than Category I or II dredged material; and (2) Category II dredged material for such purpose unless the applicant for a transport permit has certified, and the Secretary of the Army has published a finding, that the affected States or ports were requested to provide alternate disposal sites and failed to provide a reasonable alternative site, and that dumping at the Mud Dump Site will not increase the elevation of the ocean bottom at such Site beyond a certain point. Directs: (1) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a remediation and restoration plan in accordance with applicable laws and regulations for the Mud Dump Site and surrounding areas and to designate such Site and areas that have been used for disposal of contaminated material as the Historic Area Remediation Site (to be managed as specified); and (2) the Secretary and Administrator to modify environmental assessment activities at the Mud Dump Site as appropriate to reflect the provisions of this Act. Prohibits the transport of dredged material for the purpose of dumping it into ocean waters in the New York Bight Apex outside the Historic Area Remediation Site, or into waters of the New York-New Jersey Harbor on and after September 1, 1997. Prohibits the Administrator from designating any new site for ocean dumping of dredged material within the Apex, and the Secretary from issuing any permit for transportation of dredged material for the purpose of dumping it in the Apex, except in accordance with this Act. Prescribes penalties for violations of this Act. Directs the Secretary to establish, operate, and maintain a confined dredged material disposal facility or facilities within the confines of the Port of New York and New Jersey. Authorizes appropriations.

Wasserrechtsgesetz-Novelle 1997 - WRG-Nov. 1997

Austria · National Council · 4 September 1996

Bundesgesetz, mit dem das Wasserrechtsgesetz 1959 und das Hydrographiegesetz geändert werden (Wasserrechtsgesetz-Novelle 1996 - WRG-Nov. 1996) <br><br>Gesetz geworden als:<br><br>Bundesgesetz, mit dem das Wasserrechtsgesetz 1959 und das Hydrographiegesetz geändert werden (Wasserrechtsgesetz-Novelle 1997 - WRG-Nov. 1997)

Perkins County Rural Water System Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996

Perkins County Rural Water System Act of 1996 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to make grants for the planning and construction of the Perkins County Rural Water System, Inc. Prohibits the obligation of System construction funds until: (1) Federal environmental compliance requirements have been met; (2) a final System engineering report has been prepared and submitted to the Congress for at least a 90-day period; and (3) a water conservation program has been developed and implemented. Requires the water conservation program to be designed to ensure that System water users will use the best practicable technology and management techniques to conserve water use. Requires the mitigation of fish and wildlife losses during System construction and operation. Directs the Western Area Power Administration to make available, from power produced under the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin Program, the capacity and energy required to meet the pumping and incidental operational requirements of the System from May 1 to October 31 of each year. Provides power use conditions. States that this Act does not limit: (1) the authorization for water projects in North and South Dakota under any law; or (2) current water rights. Provides the Federal share (75 percent) of System costs. Authorizes the Secretary to allow the Bureau of Reclamation to provide construction oversight to a specified service area within the System, limiting oversight costs. Authorizes appropriations.

Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996

Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System Act of 1996 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to make grants for the construction and operation of the Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System, Inc. Prohibits the obligation of System construction funds until: (1) Federal environmental compliance requirements have been met; (2) a final System engineering report has been prepared and submitted to the Congress for at least a 90-day period; and (3) a water conservation program has been developed and implemented. Requires the water conservation program to be designed to ensure that System water users will use the best practicable technology and management techniques to conserve water use. Requires the mitigation of fish and wildlife losses during System construction and operation. Directs the Western Area Power Administration to make available, from power produced under the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin Program, the capacity and energy required to meet the pumping and incidental operational requirements of the System from May 1 to October 31 of each year. Provides power use conditions. States that this Act does not limit: (1) the authorization for water projects in South Dakota under any law; or (2) current water rights. Provides the Federal share (80 percent) of System costs. Authorizes the Secretary to allow the Bureau of Reclamation to provide construction oversight to a specified service area within the System, limiting oversight costs. Authorizes appropriations.

National Small Business Regulatory Relief Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996

National Small Business Regulatory Relief Act of 1996 - Amends the Small Business Act to establish a Small Business Regulatory Relief Council. Directs the Environmental Protection Agency, Internal Revenue Service, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (participating agencies) to submit to the Council a five-year plan for the establishment and maintenance of a partnership with small business development centers (SBDCs) for a system of voluntary regulatory compliance (compliance). Outlines plan contents and requires such participating agencies to ensure the nonduplication of efforts. Requires the Council to: (1) within 30 days after a participating agency submits a plan, approve or modify such plan; (2) establish guidelines for the implementation of each plan; and (3) report annually to the President and the congressional small business committees on the types of assistance provided by SBDCs to small businesses participating in the system of compliance, as well as outreach efforts to inform small businesses of such opportunity. Requires each SBDC to: (1) submit annually to the Council a work plan for SBDCs to carry out the system of compliance; (2) report semiannually to the Council and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration on assistance provided to small businesses by SBDCs under this Act; and (3) report annually to the Council and the Administrator on recommendations for improving the regulation of small businesses. Directs the Council to: (1) evaluate annually the system of compliance; (2) determine whether SBDCs are performing in accordance with their compliance work plans; and (3) provide for an independent evaluation of such system after three years of operation. Requires the participating agencies to set aside specified percentages of their annual funding for FY 1997 through 2001 for compliance assistance under this Act.

Long Island Sound Preservation and Protection Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996

Long Island Sound Preservation and Protection Act of 1996 - Amends the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 to prohibit the dumping in Long Island Sound or Block Island Sound of dredged material from any Federal or non-Federal project containing constituents prohibited as other than trace contaminants, subject to exception. Requires any dumping of dredged material in Long Island Sound from a Federal project (or pursuant to Federal authorization) by a non-Federal applicant exceeding 25,000 cubic yards to comply with specified criteria.

A bill to provide for a 5-year extension of Hazardous Substance Superfund, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996

Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the Hazardous Substance Superfund (the Fund), to extend the following for five years: (1) the environmental income tax imposed upon corporations; (2) the application of the Fund financing rate (of petroleum excise tax); (3) authority to make repayable advances to the Fund; and (4) the authorization of appropriations to the Fund. Increases from $11.97 billion to $22 billion the limitation on Fund taxes that may be collected.

Brownfields and Environmental Cleanup Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Brownfield Remediation and Environmental Cleanup Title II: Prospective Purchasers Title III: Fiduciary and Lender Liability Title IV: Innocent Landowners Brownfields and Environmental Cleanup Act of 1996 - Title I: Brownfield Remediation and Environmental Cleanup - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a program to provide grants to local governments to inventory brownfield sites and conduct site characterizations of affected sites at which cleanups are being conducted or are proposed under a State program. Defines an "affected site," with exceptions, as a facility that has or is suspected of having environmental contamination that: (1) could prevent the timely use, development, reuse, or redevelopment of the facility; and (2) is relatively limited in scope or severity and can be comprehensively characterized and readily analyzed. (Sec. 102) Directs the Administrator to establish a program to provide grants to State and local governments for capitalization of loan programs for affected site cleanup by either the State or locality or by an owner or prospective purchaser. (Sec. 104) Makes amounts in the Hazardous Substance Superfund (the Fund) available to carry out the grant programs of this Act. Authorizes appropriations from the Fund. (Sec. 105) Authorizes appropriations to EPA to carry out the site characterization and loan capitalization programs. Requires reports to the Congress regarding the programs. (Sec. 107) Imposes funding limitations, including a restriction on use of funds for administrative costs and a prohibition on the use of grants to pay fines or penalties. Title II: Prospective Purchasers - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to absolve from liability for response actions bona fide prospective purchasers to the extent liability at a facility for a release or threat thereof is based solely on ownership or operation of a facility. Gives a lien upon a facility to the United States for unrecovered response costs in any case in which there are such unrecovered costs for which the owner is not liable by reason of the facility's fair market value being increased above that which existed 180 days before the action was taken. Title III: Fiduciary and Lender Liability - Amends CERCLA to limit the liability of a fiduciary for the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance to the assets held in such capacity that are available to indemnify the fiduciary, subject to certain conditions. Revises the definition of "owner or operator" to further describe "participation in management," for purposes of limiting the liability of lenders for releases. (The definition of "owner or operator" excludes persons who, without participating in management of a vessel or facility, hold indicia of ownership to protect security interests.) Deems a final EPA rule regarding lender liability issued on April 29, 1992, to have been validly issued pursuant to the authority of CERCLA and to have been effective according to the final rule's terms. Precludes jurisdiction of a court to review the rule. Title IV: Innocent Landowners - Amends CERCLA, with respect to defenses to liability of an owner of after-acquired property, to deem a person to have made appropriate inquiry into the property's previous ownership and uses if the person establishes that an environmental site assessment was conducted which meets specified requirements. Revises provisions regarding the making of appropriate inquiry by a defendant to require the Administrator to issue or designate standards and practices that are considered generally accepted good commercial and customary standards and practices for purposes of such inquiry. Specifies factors to be considered.

Hazardous Waste Facilities Public Accountability Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996

Hazardous Waste Facilities Public Accountability Act of 1996 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to: (1) prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from authorizing a State hazardous waste program unless the State promulgates standards for the acceptable location of new (or expansion of existing) treatment, storage, and disposal facilities as may be necessary to protect human health and the environment, including standards related to seismic and geological features, ecological resources, proximity to residences and certain public facilities, complex hydrogeology, and groundwater resources; and (2) require the Administrator to promulgate such standards with respect to the State if the State does not do so. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations setting requirements for the payment of permit fees by owners and operators of hazardous waste facilities sufficient to cover reasonable costs of administering the permit program. Prohibits authorization of a State program unless the State demonstrates that it will collect such amounts. Requires regular review of programs for compliance with these requirements and allows the Administrator to collect fees directly from owners and operators in the event the State does not adequately do so. Imposes penalties for fee nonpayment. Prohibits a person from obtaining or renewing a permit for a facility or expanding or transferring the facility unless the person makes certain demonstrations regarding environmental and public health law compliance, payment of outstanding fines or penalties, and the availability to the public of a disclosure statement concerning previous violations of law.

To require the President to certify whether the commitments made in the side agreements on the environment and on labor to the North American Free Trade Agreement are being met, and to remove certain benefits from a country that is certified as not meeting those commitments.

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996

Directs the President to certify annually to the Congress whether or not each North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) country is meeting its commitments under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation and the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAFTA supplemental agreements). Establishes certain economic and trade sanctions for countries that receive a negative certification. Authorizes the President to waive the requirements of this Act if it is in the U.S. national security interest.

To provide that customs officers and immigration officers have the authority to deny entry into the United States of certain foreign motor vehicles that do not comply with applicable laws governing motor vehicle emissions, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996

Directs: (1) Federal departments and agencies to cooperate with State and local enforcement of State auto emission standards; and (2) U.S. customs and immigration officers to deny U.S. entry to noncommercial motor vehicles that do not meet certain auto emission standards.

GI Bill of Health

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996

GI Bill of Health - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Secretary, when not otherwise specified) to establish a process for the enrollment into Veterans Health Plans (VHPs) of: (1) entitled and eligible veterans (as defined under this Act) and their dependents; and (2) individuals who are eligible for benefits under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services. Requires the Secretary to provide for a continuous VHP open enrollment period of 18 months following the enactment of this Act, an annual enrollment period of at least 30 days, and special enrollment periods for veterans with changed circumstances. Authorizes the Secretary to terminate VHP coverage for the nonpayment of premiums. Includes as an "entitled" veteran any veteran: (1) with a service-connected disability; (2) whose discharge or release from active duty was for a disability incurred or aggravated in the line of duty; (3) who is in receipt of veterans' disability compensation due to a disability received by treatment or vocational rehabilitation; (4) who is a former prisoner of war; (5) of the Mexican border period or World War I; (6) who is unable to defray the expenses of necessary care; (7) who served on active duty in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam era and who the Secretary finds may have been exposed to a toxic substance during such service; (8) who the Secretary finds was exposed to ionizing radiation during certain nuclear testing during World War II; (9) who served on active duty in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War and who the Secretary finds has an illness or disability which may be associated with exposure to a toxic substance or environmental hazard during such service; (10) who, while on active duty, was exposed to mustard gas during certain testing during World War II; (11) who suffers from a catastrophic illness or injury, payment for which would render such veteran destitute; or (12) who is proven to be uninsurable in the private health insurance market. Includes as an "eligible" veteran those veterans who do not otherwise qualify under this paragraph. Requires entitled veterans to receive any medically necessary and appropriate care and services: (1) associated with a service-connected disability; and (2) for an established disability or illness determined to be proximately due to or the result of such disability or illness. Provides special benefits for entitled veterans having a disability rating of 50 percent or more. Provides for enrollment under a basic, comprehensive, or supplemental health benefits package for entitled veterans and their dependents, with benefits under each package depending upon degrees of disability and related factors. Outlines services provided under each of the benefits packages. Prohibits the Secretary from imposing any premium charges upon an entitled veteran for any medically necessary and appropriate care or services when such veteran has a service-connected disability rated at 50 percent or more. Outlines premium payment requirements for: (1) entitled veterans with disabilities rated at less than 50 percent; (2) other veterans (and their dependents) enrolled in a VHP; (3) veterans eligible for federally-administered health care programs; (4) eligible veterans and veterans' dependents with Medicare Supplemental health insurance coverage; and (5) fee-for-service benefits. Establishes in the Treasury the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Plan Fund consisting of specified deposits, including premiums paid for VHP coverage. Requires Fund proceeds to be used for the delivery of veterans' health care services. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit quarterly into the Fund the amount certified to such Secretary as an amount representing (and determined according to a specified formula) the full Federal cost of veterans' health care delivery services for such quarter. Directs such Secretary to allocate at least 75 percent of amounts deposited into the Fund to the VHP or Department facility that provided the care or services for which payment was made. Requires the remaining 25 percent to be used to operate and maintain the veterans health system and to ensure that Department resources and health care services are allocated in a reasonable, efficient, and equitable manner throughout the United States. Requires the Secretary to: (1) administer the veterans health system through the use of a medical practice model known as "managed care"; (2) organize veterans' hospitals and medical facilities and services into VHPs; (3) establish standards for the operation of VHPs; (4) ensure that payment schedules are uniform throughout the veterans health system (with exceptions permitted under the Secretary's discretion); (5) establish procedures and guidance for VHPs with respect to agreements with non-Department entities for the furnishing of necessary and appropriate medical care to veterans and their dependents; and (6) maintain full responsibility for treatment outcomes and quality of contracted care. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into such contracts and agreements. Authorizes the Secretary and VHP directors to contract with outside employers to provide health care services to their employees who are otherwise eligible for care through a VHP. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into agreements for the provision of administrative services to VHPs. Directs the Secretary to establish criteria and application procedures for veterans and dependents covered by this Act. Provides appropriate responsibilities of VHPs and their directors with respect to the enrollment of eligible individuals and their care and treatment. States that a VHP shall be considered a qualified health care provider or carrier under any State health care reform plan, law, or regulation. Supersedes and preempts conflicting State or local laws, but allows the Secretary to require VHPs to follow any State or local law or regulation that: (1) is in the best interests of individuals enrolled in the VHP; or (2) will assist the VHP in achieving or maintaining a competitive position with the State or locality. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on costs incurred, premiums received, and payments made under this Act.

Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996

Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System Act of 1996 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to make grants for the construction and operation of the Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System, Inc. Prohibits the obligation of System construction funds until: (1) Federal environmental compliance requirements have been met; (2) a final System engineering report has been prepared and submitted to the Congress for at least a 90-day period; and (3) a water conservation program has been developed and implemented. Requires the water conservation program to be designed to ensure that System water users will use the best practicable technology and management techniques to conserve water use. Requires the mitigation of fish and wildlife losses during System construction and operation. Directs the Western Area Power Administration, to make available, from power produced under the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin Program, the capacity and energy required to meet the pumping and incidental operational requirements of the System from May 1 to October 31 of each year. Provides power use conditions. States that this Act does not limit: (1) the authorization for water projects in South Dakota under any law; or (2) current water rights. Provides the Federal share (80 percent) of System costs. Authorizes the Secretary to allow the Bureau of Reclamation to provide construction oversight to a specified service area within the System, limiting oversight costs. Authorizes appropriations.

Perkins County Rural Water System Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996

Perkins County Rural Water System Act of 1996 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to make grants for the planning and construction of the Perkins County Rural Water System, Inc. Prohibits the obligation of System construction funds until: (1) Federal environmental compliance requirements have been met; (2) a final System engineering report has been prepared and submitted to the Congress for at least a 90-day period; and (3) a water conservation program has been developed and implemented. Requires the water conservation program to be designed to ensure that System water users will use the best practicable technology and management techniques to conserve water use. Requires the mitigation of fish and wildlife losses during System construction and operation. Directs the Western Area Power Administration to make available, from power produced under the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin Program, the capacity and energy required to meet the pumping and incidental operational requirements of the System from May 1 to October 31 of each year. Provides power use conditions. States that this Act does not limit: (1) the authorization for water projects in North and South Dakota under any law; or (2) current water rights. Provides the Federal share (75 percent) of System costs. Authorizes the Secretary to allow the Bureau of Reclamation to provide construction oversight to a specified service area within the System, limiting oversight costs. Authorizes appropriations.