Environment

proposition de loi relative aux pollutions maritimes par les hydrocarbures

France · Senate · 30 December 1999

Stellungnahme der Europäischen Kommission zum österreichischen Programm für die ländliche Entwicklung

Austria · National Council · 23 December 1999

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Dipl.-Ing. Wolfgang Pirklhuber, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Land- und Forstwirtschaft betreffend Stellungnahme der Europäischen Kommission zum österreichischen Programm für die ländliche Entwicklung

Abbau des Atomreaktors in Seibersdorf

Austria · National Council · 20 December 1999

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Dipl.-Ing. Leopold Schöggl, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Wissenschaft und Verkehr betreffend Abbau des Atomreaktors in Seibersdorf

Abbau des Atomreaktors in Seibersdorf

Austria · National Council · 17 December 1999

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Dipl.-Ing. Leopold Schöggl, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundeskanzler betreffend Abbau des Atomreaktors in Seibersdorf

1999/870/EC: Council Decision of 17 December 1999 authorising the Deputy Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union to act as representative of certain Member States for the purpose of concluding contracts relating to the installation and the functioning of the communication infrastructure for the Schengen environment, 'SISNET', and to manage such contracts

European Union · EUR-Lex · 17 December 1999

Maßnahmenpaket für den Naturschutz

Austria · National Council · 15 December 1999

Antrag der Abgeordneten Dr. Eva Glawischnig, Kolleginnen und Kollegen betreffend Maßnahmenpaket für den Naturschutz

Einrichtung eines Beirates für die ländliche Entwicklung

Austria · National Council · 15 December 1999

Antrag der Abgeordneten Dipl.-Ing. Wolfgang Pirklhuber, Kolleginnen und Kollegen betreffend Einrichtung eines Beirates für die ländliche Entwicklung

29 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to recent documentation from the motor industry proposing a reduction in VRT for cars which comply with EU emissions directives while maintaining existing rates for cars which are non-compliant with these directives, would have a beneficial effect on the environment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26660/99]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 14 December 1999

29 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to recent documentation from the motor industry proposing a reduction in VRT for cars which comply with EU emissions directives while maintaining existing rates for cars which are non-compliant with these directives, would have a beneficial effect on the environment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26660/99]

Vorgehen der Organe des öffentlichen Sicherheitsdienstes Vollzug der Tiertransportbestimmungen

Austria · National Council · 13 December 1999

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten MMag. Dr. Madeleine Petrovic, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Inneres betreffend gesetzwidriges Vorgehen der Organe des öffentlichen Sicherheitsdienstes im Zusammenhang mit dem Vollzug der Tiertransportbestimmungen

Vorgehen der Organe des öffentlichen Sicherheitsdienstes Vollzug der Tiertransportbestimmungen

Austria · National Council · 13 December 1999

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten MMag. Dr. Madeleine Petrovic, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Wissenschaft und Verkehr betreffend gesetzwidriges Vorgehen der Organe des öffentlichen Sicherheitsdienstes im Zusammenhang mit dem Vollzug der Tiertransportbestimmungen

Österreichischer Bundesjugendring

Austria · National Council · 10 December 1999

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Dieter Brosz, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Umwelt, Jugend und Familie betreffend Österreichischer Bundesjugendring

Flughafenkooperation Wien/Bratislava

Austria · National Council · 9 December 1999

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten MMag. Dr. Madeleine Petrovic, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Wissenschaft und Verkehr betreffend Flughafenkooperation Wien/Bratislava; Eindämmung der Umweltbelastung der Region um Schwechat bzw. Abstandnahme vom Bau einer dritten Landebahn

Common Position (EC) No 12/2000 of 9 December 1999 adopted by the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, with a view to adopting a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms and repealing Council Directive 90/220/EEC

European Union · Council of the European Union · 9 December 1999

Amended Proposal for a European Parliament and Council recommendation providing for minimum criteria for environmental inspections in the Member States

European Union · European Commission · 3 December 1999

Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Air transport and the environment Towards meeting the challenges of sustainable development

European Union · European Commission · 1 December 1999

Abwärmekoppelung RAG und Fernwärme Timelkam

Austria · National Council · 25 November 1999

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Dr. Gabriela Moser, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Umwelt, Jugend und Familie betreffend Abwärmekoppelung RAG <i>(Rohöl Aufsuchungs Aktiengesellschaft)</i> und Fernwärme Timelkam

Bericht der Bundesregierung über Umweltradioaktivität und Strahlenbelastung im Jahr 1998 (G-SIG: 14000849)

Germany · German Bundestag · 25 November 1999

Natürliche Strahlenexposition, zivilisatorisch veränderte natürliche Strahlenexposition: Baumaterialien, Wohngebäude, Bergbau, Altlasten; zivilisatorische Strahlenexposition: kerntechnische Anlagen, Verwendung radioaktiver Stoffe und ionisierender Strahlen, Arbeitsschutz, Fall-out von Kernwaffenversuchen; Auswirkung des Störfalls von Tschernobyl

Bundesgesetz über die veterinärmedizinischen Bundesanstalten, Änderung

Austria · National Council · 24 November 1999

Bundesgesetz, mit dem das Bundesgesetz über die veterinärmedizinischen Bundesanstalten geändert wird

Communication from the Commission - Europe's environment: What directions for the future? The global assessment of the European community programme of policy and action in relation to the environment and sustainable development, 'Towards sustainability'

European Union · European Commission · 24 November 1999

Sicherung des nationalen Naturerbes - Nationalpark Hainich (G-SIG: 14010663)

Germany · German Bundestag · 23 November 1999

Verzicht auf eine weitere wirtschaftliche Nutzung der Laubholzbestände im Nationalpark Hainich bis zu dessen Übertragung an das Land Thüringen

Tierschutz in der EU-Beitrittswerberländern

Austria · National Council · 18 November 1999

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Mag. Herbert Haupt, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an die Bundesministerin für Frauenangelegenheiten und Verbraucherschutz betreffend Tierschutz in der EU-Beitrittswerberländern <i>(insbesondere in Slowenien)</i>

Anti-Atompolitik der Bundesregierung und Schließung des slowakischen Atomkraftwerkes Bohunice

Austria · National Council · 18 November 1999

Dringliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Dr. Eva Glawischnig, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundeskanzler betreffend Anti-Atompolitik der Bundesregierung und Schließung des slowakischen Atomkraftwerkes Bohunice

Tierschutz in den EU-Beitrittswerberländern

Austria · National Council · 18 November 1999

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Mag. Herbert Haupt, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für auswärtige Angelegenheiten betreffend Tierschutz in den EU-Beitrittswerberländern <i>(insbesondere in Slowenien)</i>

Förderungsrichtlinie für Entschädigungen nach § 33 f Abs. 6 Wasserrechtsgesetz

Austria · National Council · 18 November 1999

Antrag der Abgeordneten Dr. Gabriela Moser, Kolleginnen und Kollegen betreffend Förderungsrichtlinie für Entschädigungen nach § 33 f Abs. 6 Wasserrechtsgesetz

Umsetzung der österreichischen Anti-Atompolitik und Schließung des slowakischen Atomkraftwerkes Bohunice

Austria · National Council · 18 November 1999

Unselbständiger Entschließungsantrag der Abgeordneten Georg Oberhaidinger, Karlheinz Kopf, Mag. Karl Schweitzer, Dr. Eva Glawischnig, Kolleginnen und Kollegen betreffend Umsetzung der österreichischen Anti-Atompolitik und Schließung des slowakischen Atomkraftwerkes Bohunice

Präzisierung der österreichischen Position im Bereich der nuklearen Sicherheit im Rahmen der EU-Beitrittsverhandlungen mit Tschechien, Ungarn und Slowenien

Austria · National Council · 18 November 1999

Unselbständiger Entschließungsantrag der Abgeordneten Dr. Gabriela Moser, Kolleginnen und Kollegen betreffend Präzisierung der österreichischen Position im Bereich der nuklearen Sicherheit im Rahmen der EU-Beitrittsverhandlungen mit Tschechien, Ungarn und Slowenien

Schließung des Atomkraftwerkes Bohunice Atomausstiegskonzepte vor der EU-Osterweiterung

Austria · National Council · 18 November 1999

Unselbständiger Entschließungsantrag der Abgeordneten Dr. Eva Glawischnig, Kolleginnen und Kollegen betreffend Schließung des Atomkraftwerkes Bohunice und Vorlage verbindlicher Atomausstiegskonzepte vor der EU-Osterweiterung sowie Zertifizierung der Stromerzeugung und verstärkte Förderung erneuerbarer Energieformen

proposition de loi création d'une agence nationale de l'eau

France · Senate · 18 November 1999

Stewardship Education, Recreation, and Volunteers for the Environment Act of 1999

United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1999

Stewardship Education, Recreation, and Volunteers for the Environment Act of 1999 - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture with respect to Forest Service lands, or the Secretary of the Interior with respect to lands managed by the Department of the Interior (Secretary concerned) to recruit, train, and accept the services of individuals and partnership organizations, without compensation, as volunteers to supplement the work of employees of each Federal land management agency (Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Reclamation, and Forest Service) in the stewardship of the resources, values, and facilities of Federal lands. Provides for the Federal employment status of such individuals. Directs such Secretaries to jointly establish the Volunteer Passports Program to recognize the contributions of volunteers who complete specified hours of such volunteer service. Exempts volunteers receiving a passport under the Program from certain land or facility access or use fees charged by Federal land management agencies. Requires an implementation report from the Secretaries. Authorizes the Secretary concerned to enter into cooperative agreements with any partnership organization, academic institution, or State or local government agency to carry out cooperative projects or programs with a Federal land management agency for the stewardship of resources of Federal lands. Provides for the promotion of participation of students and other young people in the volunteer programs. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2001 through 2005.

Coal Miners' Unemployment Assistance Act of 1999

United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1999

Coal Miners' Unemployment Assistance Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary of Labor to make payments of Federal supplemental unemployment benefits to unemployed coal miners who have exhausted their rights to regular unemployment benefits, and whose separation from employment is due to environmental laws or court orders directly related to the mining of coal. Sets forth other requirements relating to individual eligibility, period of eligibility, amount of weekly benefits, and Federal supplemental accounts. Authorizes appropriations.

Second Generation of Environmental Improvement Act of 1999

United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1999

Second Generation of Environmental Improvement Act of 1999 - Title I: Information Management - Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to designate a Chief Information Officer for EPA to carry out the authorities of the Administrator under this title. Directs the Administrator to prepare a report for Congress proposing a set of national environmental performance indicators (quantitative measures designed to provide data on the quality of the environment over time) designed to: (1) focus EPA resources on the most critical environmental problems; (2) inform the public of progress toward meeting environmental goals; and (3) evaluate the success of innovative environmental strategies. Provides for an annual State of the Environment Report to Congress analyzing the measured levels of each environmental indicator. (Sec. 103) Directs the Administrator to submit to Congress a unified plan for all of EPA's information activities. Requires the plan to provide a scientifically and technically sound foundation for EPA programs and facilitate the development of a performance-based system of environmental protection and of innovative strategy agreements pursuant to this Act. (Sec. 104) Directs the Administrator to establish an Information Management Program to provide financial assistance to States and local entities to improve the accuracy and timeliness of environmental reporting and to meet the goals of the EPA plan. Requires the Administrator, acting through the Small Business Ombudsman, to create a program to provide technical and financial assistance to small businesses to help them meet the requirements of such plan. (Sec. 105) Directs the President to include in each budget submission a comprehensive analysis of the activities in each Federal agency devoted to measuring ambient environmental conditions and trends. (Sec. 106) Requires the Administrator to establish a program to publicly recognize persons who contribute to improved environmental monitoring and other measurement methods. Directs the Administrator to report to Congress on the length of time EPA has taken over the prior ten years to approve monitoring technologies and to recommend ways to: (1) reduce that time to get reliable monitoring information to EPA and the public more quickly; and (2) increase the deployment of existing technologies. (Sec. 108) Requires the Administrator to report to Congress on whether the Administrative Procedures Act should be amended to apply to information reporting requirements and the use of existing information to create new information products. (Sec. 109) Authorizes appropriations to carry out this title. Title II: Innovative Strategies - Authorizes the Administrator to enter into innovative strategy agreements with persons or governmental entities with good records of meeting statutory environmental standards to experiment with new approaches to regulation. (Sec. 204) Permits the Administrator, under such agreements, to: (1) modify or waive applicable agency rules or requirements; (2) allow a tiered approach under which monitoring and reporting requirements are loosened initially when emissions are significantly below those allowable under the agreement, with increased requirements as environmental performance gets closer to the emission, discharge, and other limitations in the agreement; (3) extend permit terms, expedite permit review, or provide multi-media permits; (4) establish facility-wide limitations on overall allowable emissions and discharges; (5) allow third-party or self-certification in lieu of frequent inspection; and (6) employ market-based strategies. (Sec. 205) Permits termination of agreements for noncompliance with terms. Authorizes civil actions against parties in violation of such agreements. (Sec. 209) Requires the Administrator to implement an employee incentive awards program that rewards employees and organizational units that demonstrate leadership in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of innovative environmental strategies and other activities that result in better environmental performance, greater economic efficiency in the public and private sectors, and expedited delivery and improved quality of public services. (Sec. 211) Authorizes appropriations to carry out this title.

To amend the Clean Air Act to provide for a State waiver of the requirements concerning the oxygen content of gasoline.

United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1999

Amends the Clean Air Act to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, upon the petition of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, or the consolidated metropolitan statistical area that includes the District of Columbia (these States comprise an ozone transport region), to waive or reduce any oxygen content requirement for reformulated gasoline for such States. Requires regulations for the use of reformulated gasoline to be revised by January 1, 2001, to provide a schedule for the reduction of the use of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) in such gasoline introduced into any State described above for which a waiver or reduction is in effect. Limits the maximum content of MTBE by volume for all gasoline to five percent by January 1, 2005. Permits reductions below this amount only upon petition by such a State and subject to a finding that further reduction of MTBE use is necessary to protect human health or the environment. Prohibits fuel or fuel additive manufacturers or processors from selling or introducing into commerce any reformulated gasoline for resale in States described by this Act for which oxygen content waivers or reductions are in effect unless the reduction of aggregate emissions of toxic air pollutants from baseline vehicles when using baseline gasoline shall annually average at least 27 percent.

To establish a cooperative program of the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency to evaluate the feasibility of using only fuel blended with ethanol to power municipal vehicles.

United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1999

Requires the Secretaries of Agriculture and Energy and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to jointly establish a pilot program to award competitive grants to assist local governments in reducing air pollution by covering the costs associated with converting their entire municipal vehicle fleet to an ethanol-blended fuel. Limits the number of grants to five, with preference given to governments that have a recognized air pollution problem in their communities. Declares that a local government must agree to cooperate in a study to assess the economic and environmental benefits to be gained from exclusive use of ethanol-blended fuel to power municipal vehicles. Requires the Secretaries and the Administrator to report study results to Congress.

Surface Transportation Board Reform Act of 1999

United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1999

Surface Transportation Board Reform Act of 1999 - Title I: Railroad Competition - Amends Federal transportation law to declare as primary objectives for U.S. rail transportation policy: (1) ensuring effective competition among rail carriers at origin and destination; (2) maintaining reasonable rates in the absence of such competition; (3) maintaining consistent and efficient rail transportation service to shippers, including the timely provision of railcars requested by them; and (4) ensuring that smaller carload and intermodal shippers are not precluded from accessing rail systems due to volume requirements. (Sec. 102) Requires a rail carrier, upon a shipper's request, to establish a rail transportation rate and provide service requested by the shipper between any two points on the carrier's system where traffic originates, terminates, or may reasonably be interchanged. Authorizes the shipper to challenge the reasonableness of the rate established. Requires the Surface Transportation Board to then determine the reasonableness of the rate so challenged without regard to whether: (1) the rate established is for only part of a movement between an origin and a destination; (2) the shipper has made arrangements for transportation for any other part of such movement; or (3) the shipper currently has a contract with a rail carrier for any part of the rail traffic at issue, provided that the rate prescribed by the Board shall not apply to transportation covered by such contract. (Sec. 103) Prohibits the Board from imposing fees in excess of $1,000 for certain administrative services collected from an eligible facility in connection with rail maximum rate complaints. Prohibits a rail carrier from charging a rate for shipments from or to an eligible facility which results in a revenue-to-variable cost percentage (using system average costs) for transportation service to which the rate applies that is greater than 180 percent. Requires a rail carrier to accept all requests for grain service from an eligible facility up to a maximum of 110 percent of the grain carloads shipped from or to the facility in the preceding calendar year. Authorizes an eligible facility to request that an alternative rail carrier provide such service using the tracks of the original carrier if such carrier does not initiate service within a specified time. Requires the alternative carrier to compensate the other carrier for use of its tracks. (Sec. 104) Changes from discretionary to mandatory the authority of the Board to require terminal facilities (including main-line tracks for a reasonable distance outside of a terminal) owned by a rail carrier providing rail transportation to be used by another rail carrier if the Board finds that use to be practicable and in the public interest without substantially impairing the carrier's ability to handle its own business. Declares that the Board, in making such determination, shall not require evidence of anticompetitive conduct by the rail carrier from which access is being sought. Makes similar changes to require rail carriers to enter into reciprocal switching agreements where such agreements are necessary to provide competitive rail service. (Sec. 105) Prohibits the Board from considering evidence of product or geographic competition when making market dominance determinations in rail rate proceedings. (Sec. 106) Amends U.S. rail transportation policy to repeal the mandate that the Board determine adequate revenues for rail carriers. (Sec. 107) Directs the Secretary of Transportation to require, by regulation, each rail carrier to submit a monthly report containing certain information, including its on-time performance, car availability deadline performance, average train speed, average terminal dwell time, the number of its cars loaded (by major commodity group), and other aspects of its performance as a rail carrier. Requires the Secretary to make such report available to the Board, Congress, and to the public. Title II: Protection of Collective Bargaining Agreements - Declares that a rail carrier, corporation, or person participating in the consolidation, acquisition of control, or merger of another rail carrier is exempt from the antitrust laws and from State and local laws governing such consolidations, mergers, and acquisitions of control of rail carriers to the extent necessary to let such rail carrier, corporation, or person carry out such transaction. Subjects, after such transaction is completed, the activities of a rail carrier participating in or resulting from such transaction to State and Federal law to the same extent as any other similarly situated rail carrier that has not participated in or resulted from such transaction. (Sec. 202) Revises certain requirements regarding the approval of the consolidation or merger of two or more rail carriers (including arrangements for the protection of the interests of rail carrier employees) by the Surface Transportation Board. Title III: Miscellaneous - Requires the Board in a proceeding involving the approval of the merger or control of at least two Class I railroads to consider at least, among other things, the: (1) safety and environmental effects of the proposed transaction, including the effect on local communities, and the public interest in enforcing Federal, State, and local safety and environmental laws; and (2) effect of such transaction on rail passenger transportation. Requires the Board to impose conditions with respect to such transaction to mitigate its effect on local communities when such conditions are in the public interest. (Sec. 302) Authorizes a commuter authority to make an agreement with a rail carrier or regional transportation authority to use facilities of, and have services provided by, the carrier or authority in the same manner and under the same conditions as may Amtrak. Requires the Board to ensure that commuter authorities are able to provide commuter rail passenger transportation that develops the potential of modern rail transportation to meet the commuter rail passenger transportation needs of the United States. (Sec. 303) Repeals provisions authorizing a rail carrier, without the approval of the Board, to enter into arrangements for the joint ownership or joint use of spur, industrial, team switching, or side tracks. (Sec. 304) Requires water carriers to make their tariffs containing the rates established for their transportation or service available electronically to any person, without time, quantity, or other limitation, through appropriate access from remote locations. Authorizes the assessment of a reasonable charge for such access (except no charge for such access may be assessed to a Federal agency). Title IV: Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations.

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to violence within our schools and the initiatives within States and localities to address this epidemic.

United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1999

Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Congress: (1) commends States and localities, and in particular the Decatur School Board, in their efforts to combat school-based violence, including qualified zero-tolerance policies for violent actions; and (2) urges continued diligence in efforts to create a safe learning environment for our Nation's youth.

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding Earth Day.

United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1999

Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Earth Day should be officially established to draw attention to the impact of human activity on the natural environment, alert the world to environmental threats to human health and well-being, and advocate personal actions and public policies to promote and preserve a healthy, diverse, resilient, and productive world for our children.

John H. Chafee Environmental Education Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1999

John H. Chafee Environmental Education Act of 1999 - Amends the National Environmental Education Act to rename it the John H. Chafee Environmental Education Act (the Act). (Sec. 2) Requires the Office of Environmental Education (OEE), within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to: (1) develop and support balanced and scientifically sound programs; and (2) provide for implementation of the Act through the headquarters and regional offices of the EPA. Eliminates provisions for: (1) OEE administration of environmental internship and fellowship programs (internship programs are eliminated and fellowship program administration is transferred elsewhere later in this Act); (2) an OEE Director who is a member of the Senior Executive Service; and (3) a minimum of six full-time equivalent employees on the OEE headquarters staff (retains the maximum of ten). Authorizes the EPA Administrator to carry out OEE activities directly or through awards of grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts. (Sec. 3) Revises provisions for environmental education grants to decrease from 25 to 15 percent the portion of grant funds which must be used for grants of $5,000 or less. Prohibits environmental education grants from being used to support lobbying activities. Requires the EPA Science Advisory Board to review and approve the guidance before the EPA Administrator issues any guidance to grant applicants. (Sec. 4) Establishes the John H. Chafee Memorial Fellowship Program for the award and administration of five annual one-year graduate education fellowships in environmental sciences. (Eliminates provisions for OEE-administered environmental internships and fellowships.) Provides that such Fellowships are to stimulate innovative graduate level study and the development of expertise in complex, relevant, and important environmental issues and effective approaches to addressing those issues through organized programs of guided independent study and environmental research. Requires each $25,000 Fellowship to be made available to individual candidates through a sponsoring institution of higher education and an annual competitive selection process. Requires each Fellowship to focus on: (1) effective land and resource management; (2) innovative open space preservation; (3) science associated with such worldwide issues as global climate change and sustainable marine resources; or (4) any other issue that a sponsoring institution determines to be appropriate. Requires annual awards of two Fellowships by the University of Rhode Island. Allows three annual Fellowships to be applied for through any other sponsoring institution. Directs the National Environmental Learning Foundation (as renamed in this Act) to establish and administer the John H. Chafee Fellowship Panel to establish selection process criteria, receive and review applications, and select Fellowship recipients. Requires that Panel members with specified qualifications be appointed by a majority vote of the National Environmental Education Advisory Council. Directs the Foundation to make specified amounts available for such Fellowships and administrative expenses of the Fellowship Program. (Sec. 5) Revises provisions for national environmental education awards. Retains and revises provisions for: (1) President's Environmental Youth Awards; and (2) environmental education awards for elementary and secondary school teachers and their local educational agencies. (Eliminates provisions for awards named for Theodore Roosevelt, Henry David Thoreau, Rachel Carson, and Gifford Pinchot.) (Sec. 6) Revises provisions for the National Environmental Education Advisory Council and for the Federal Task Force on Environmental Education. Directs the EPA Administrator to appoint at least one Advisory Council member to represent each of the following sectors: (1) elementary schools and secondary schools; (2) colleges and universities; (3) not-for-profit organizations involved in environmental education; (4) State departments of education and natural resources; (5) business and industry; and (6) senior citizens. Revises requirements for Advisory Council meetings and reports. Opens membership on the Task Force to representatives of any Federal agency actively engaged in environmental education. (Sec. 7) Renames the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation as the National Environmental Learning Foundation. Increases the number of director's on the Foundation's Board. Allows the Foundation to acknowledge receipt of donations by listing the names of donors in materials it distributes, but prohibits such acknowledgment from: (1) appearing in educational material presented to students; or (2) identifying a donor by means of a logo, letterhead, or other corporate commercial symbol, slogan, or product. Eliminates a time limit on the EPA Administrator's provision of administrative services and support to the Foundation. (Sec. 8) Extends through FY 2005 the authorization of appropriations to EPA to carry out the Act, with specified portions for: (1) OEE activities; (2) the environmental education and training program; (3) environmental education grants; and (4) Foundation activities. Directs the EPA Administrator to submit an annual report to Congress on the activities for which such funds were expended.

Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999

United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1999

Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999 - Title I: Satellite Home Viewer Improvement - Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999 - Amends Federal copyright law to cite circumstances under which the secondary transmission by a satellite carrier (carrier) of a primary transmission of a television broadcast station (TV station) into the station's local market shall be subject to statutory (compulsory) licensing. Requires the carrier: (1) within 90 days after commencing such secondary transmission, to submit to the network that owns or is affiliated with the network station a list identifying all subscribers to which the carrier currently makes such transmission; and (2) on the 15th day of each month, to submit a subsequent list identifying any subscribers who have been added or dropped. Restricts the use of subscriber information to monitoring compliance by the carrier. Applies the submission requirements to a carrier only if the network to which the submissions are to be made places on file with the Register of Copyrights a document identifying the name and address of the person to whom such submissions are to be made. (Sec. 1002) Precludes any royalty obligation for such secondary transmission. Makes actionable as an infringement and fully subject to copyright remedies a carrier's willful or repeated transmission into a TV station's local market of the station's primary transmission embodying a performance or display, if the carrier has not complied with specified reporting requirements. Applies such infringement and copyright remedies to a carrier if: (1) the content of a particular program in which the performance or display is embodied or any commercial advertising or station announcement transmitted by the primary transmitter during, or immediately before or after, the transmission of such program is in any way willfully altered by the carrier or is combined with programming from any other broadcast signal; or (2) such transmission is made to a subscriber outside the TV station's local market who is not subject to compulsory licensing, except that no damages (other than certain restricted statutory damages) may be awarded if the carrier promptly withdraws service from the ineligible subscriber. Sets forth additional remedies for willful and repeated patterns or practices of such violations. Places on the carrier the burden of proof in any action brought under this title that its secondary transmission of a TV station's primary transmission is made only to subscribers within the station's local market. (Sec. 1003) Amends the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1994 to extend until December 31, 2004, the sunset of the satellite compulsory license. (Sec. 1004) Revises the formula used to compute the rate of royalty fees in effect on January 1, 1998, to be deposited with the Register of Copyrights by carriers by reducing the $.27 rate for retransmission of: (1) superstation signals by 30 percent; and (2) network stations by 45 percent. Provides that for purposes of copyright arbitration royalty panels, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) shall be the agent for all public television copyright claimants and all PBS member stations with respect to royalty fees paid by the carriers for retransmitting the PBS satellite feed. (Sec. 1005) Modifies the definition of "unserved household" to eliminate the 90-day period that satellite subscribers must wait after termination of their cable service until they are eligible for satellite service of network signals. Defines an unserved household as one not able to receive through a conventional antenna an over-the-air signal of a primary network station affiliated with that network of Grade B intensity (with certain additional requirements). Provides exceptions to the limitations placed on the secondary transmissions by a carrier of the primary transmission made by a network station with respect to subscribers who do not reside in unserved households. Allows, until December 31, 2004, a subscriber who does not receive a signal of grade A intensity of a local network station to remain eligible to receive signals of stations affiliated with the same network, as long as that subscriber had satellite service of such signal terminated after July 11, 1998, and before October 31, 1999, or received such service on such latter date. Exempts from the unserved household requirements operators of recreational vehicles and commercial trucks who have complied with certain documentation requirements. (Sec. 1006) Subjects copyrighted programming carried upon the PBS's national satellite feed to copyright compulsory licensing requirements. Defines the "Public Broadcasting Service satellite feed" as the national satellite feed distributed by the PBS consisting of educational and informational programming intended for private home viewing, to which the PBS holds national terrestrial broadcast rights. (Sec. 1007) Subjects the copyright compulsory license to the rules, regulations, or authorizations of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Makes carrier eligibility for such license contingent upon full compliance with all FCC signal carriage requirements. (Sec. 1008) Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require carriers that retransmit a television broadcast signal to subscribers located within the signal's local market to carry, upon request beginning January 1, 2002, the signals of all TV stations located within that local market (must-carry requirement), subject to the retransmission consent election by such stations. Requires a TV station asserting its right to such carriage to bear costs associated with delivering a good quality signal to the carrier's designated local receive facility or to another facility that is acceptable to at least one-half the stations asserting the right to carriage in the local market. Provides that a carrier shall not be required: (1) to carry upon request the signal of any local commercial TV station that substantially duplicates the signal of another local commercial TV station which is secondarily transmitted by the carrier within the same local market; or (2) to carry upon request the signals of more than one local commercial TV station in a single local market that is affiliated with a particular television network unless such stations are licensed to communities in different States. Requires the FCC to prescribe regulations that provide the same degree of carriage by carriers of multiple local noncommercial television broadcast stations as is provided by cable systems. Declares that no carrier shall be required to provide a local TV station signal to subscribers in that station's local market on any particular channel number, or to provide the signals in any particular order, except that the carrier shall retransmit the signal of the local stations to subscribers in the station's local market on contiguous channels and provide access to such signals at a nondiscriminatory price and in a nondiscriminatory manner on any navigational device, on-screen program guide, or menu. Prohibits a carrier from accepting or requesting monetary payments or other valuable consideration in exchange either for carriage of local TV stations in fulfillment of the requirements of this title or for channel positioning rights provided to such stations. Allows any such station, however, to be required to bear the costs associated with delivering a good quality signal to the satellite's local receive facility. Provides administrative procedures by which stations may seek redress from the FCC for violations of the must-carry obligations for carriers. Sets a deadline by which the FCC must issue regulations (modeled after those currently applicable to the cable industry) that apply network nonduplication protection, syndicated exclusivity protection, and sports blackout protection to retransmission of broadcast signals by carriers to subscribers. Permits a carrier to provide the signals of no more than two network stations in a single day for each television network to any household not located within the local markets of those stations. Allows such a carrier to also provide service under the secondary transmission provisions of this title to the local market within which such household is located. Provides penalties for carrier violations. Requires the FCC to establish regulations that apply the above network nonduplication protection, syndicated exclusivity protection, and sports blackout protection to the transmission of nationally transmitted superstations by carriers, and to apply sports blackout protection to the retransmission of the signals of network stations by carriers to subscribers. Directs the FCC to conclude an inquiry to evaluate all possible standards and factors for determining eligibility for retransmission of the signals of network stations and, if appropriate: (1) recommend modifications to the current Grade B intensity standard for analog signals (or an alternative standard); and (2) make an additional recommendation relating to an appropriate standard for digital signals. Authorizes a subscriber who is denied the retransmission of a signal of a network station under this title to request from the station a waiver of such denial. Requires the FCC to develop and prescribe by rule a point-to-point predictive model for reliably and presumptively determining the ability of individual locations to receive signals in accordance with the current effective signal intensity standard, taking into account terrain, building structures, and other land cover variations. Requires the selection and employment of an independent signal tester by the appropriate carrier and network stations when a subscriber's request for waiver under this subtitle is denied. (Sec. 1009) Revises generally the requirements for retransmission of a TV station's signal by a cable system or other multichannel video programming distributor. Directs the FCC to revise regulations governing the exercise by TV stations of the right to grant consent to such retransmission. Provides enforcement proceedings against carriers concerning retransmissions of TV stations (without the above consent) in the respective local markets of such carriers. Places, in such proceedings, the burden of proof upon a TV station to establish that the carrier retransmitted the TV station to at least one person in the local market of such station on the day in question. Provides for FCC enforcement of proceeding determinations through cease-and-desist orders, as appropriate. Outlines court proceedings for the enforcement of such FCC orders. Authorizes TV stations to file civil actions for statutory damages for any violations determined by the FCC to have been committed by a carrier. Title II: Rural Local Television Signals - Rural Local Broadcast Signal Act - Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make a determination regarding licenses or other authorizations for facilities that will utilize spectrum otherwise allocated to commercial use for delivering local TV signals to satellite TV subscribers in unserved and underserved local TV markets. Requires an FCC report to specified congressional committees on the extent to which such licenses and other authorizations have facilitated the delivery of local signals to satellite TV subscribers in such markets. Title III: Trademark Cyberpiracy Prevention - Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act - Amends the Trademark Act of 1946 to make liable in a civil action by the owner of a mark (including a personal name protected as a mark) any person who, with a bad faith intent to profit from that mark, registers, traffics in, or uses a domain name which, at the time of its registration, is: (1) identical or confusingly similar to a distinctive mark; (2) dilutive of a famous mark; or (3) is a protected trademark, word, or name (including protected marks, words, or names of the Red Cross, the U.S. Olympic Committee, the International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee, and the Pan-American Sports Organization). Limits liability to the domain name registrant or that registrant's authorized licensee. (Sec. 3002) Specifies factors a court may consider in determining bad faith intent, but prohibits such a determination if the defendant believed, with reasonable grounds, that the use of the domain name was fair or otherwise lawful. Authorizes a court to order the forfeiture or cancellation of the domain name or its transfer to the mark owner. Prescribes conditions for an in rem civil action, in addition to any other action, against a domain name by a mark owner. Limits remedies in an in rem action to a court order for the forfeiture or cancellation of the domain name or its transfer to the mark owner. Declares that the domain name registrar, registry, or other registration authority shall not be liable for injunctive or monetary relief in an in rem action except in the case of bad faith or reckless disregard, which includes a willful failure to comply with any such court order. Declares that any person who registers a domain name consisting of the name of another living person, or a name substantially and confusingly similar to it, without that person's consent, and with specific intent to profit by selling the domain name for financial gain to that person or any third party, shall be liable to such person in a civil action for injunctive relief, including forfeiture or cancellation of the domain name or its transfer to the plaintiff. Shields from such liability, however, any copyright owner or licensee who registers such a domain name in good faith if: (1) the name is used in, affiliated with, or related to a work of authorship protected by copyright, including a work made for hire; and (2) the registrant intends to sell the domain name in conjunction with the lawful exploitation of the work, provided registration is not prohibited by a contract between the registrant and the named person. (Sec. 3003) Applies to cybersquatting actions such trademark remedies in addition to injunctive relief as recovery of defendant's profits, actual damages, and attorneys' fees and court costs. Provides for statutory damages in an amount of at least $1,000 and up to $100,000 per domain name, as the court considers just. (Sec. 3004) Shields from liability for monetary or (except in specified circumstances) injunctive relief, regardless of whether the domain name is finally determined to infringe or dilute the mark in question, any domain name registrar, registry, or other registration authority that refuses to register, removes from registration, transfers, temporarily disables, or permanently cancels a domain name: (1) in compliance with a court order; or (2) in the implementation of a reasonable policy prohibiting the registration of a domain name identical to, confusingly similar to, or dilutive of another's mark. Makes liable to a domain name registrant for monetary and injunctive relief (including reactivation or transfer to the registrant of the domain name) any person who makes a knowing and material misrepresentation that a domain name is identical to, confusingly similar to, or dilutive of a mark, and a registrar, registry, or other registration authority takes such an action based on such misrepresentation. Shields a registrar, registry, or other registration authority from liability for damages for the registration or maintenance of a domain name for another, unless there is a showing of bad faith intent to profit from such registration or maintenance of the domain name. Authorizes a registrant whose domain name has been suspended, disabled, or transferred, upon notice to the mark owner, to file a civil action for injunctive relief (including reactivation or transfer to the registrant of the domain name) to establish that the registration or use of the domain name by such registrant is not unlawful under the Trademark Act of 1946. (Sec. 3006) Directs the Secretary of Commerce to: (1) study and report to Congress on guidelines and procedures for resolving disputes involving the registration or use by a person of a domain name that includes the personal name of another person, in whole or in part, or a name confusingly similar to it; and (2) collaborate, under the Memorandum of Understanding with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, to develop such guidelines and procedures. (Sec. 3007) Amends the National Historic Preservation Act to provide a limited immunity from suit under trademark law for historic buildings and structures on or eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, or that are designated by a State or local government as an individual landmark or as a contributing building in a historic district. Permits retention of the name historically associated with such a building or structure. Title IV: Inventor Protection - American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 - Subtitle A: Inventors' Rights - Inventors' Rights Act of 1999 - Amends Federal patent law to oblige any invention promoter, before entering into a contract for invention promotion services, to disclose to a customer in writing: (1) the total number of inventions evaluated by the promoter for commercial potential in the past five years, including the number of positive and of negative evaluations; (2) the total number of customers who have contracted with the promoter in the past five years; (3) the total number of customers known by the promoter to have received a net financial profit as a direct result of the invention promotion services provided; (4) the total number of customers known by the invention promoter to have received license agreements for their inventions as a direct result of such services; and (5) the names and addresses of all previous invention promotion companies with which the promoter or its officers have collectively or individually been affiliated in the previous ten years. (Sec. 4102) Establishes a Federal cause of action for inventors injured by material false or fraudulent statements or representations, or any omission of material fact, by an invention promoter, or by the promoter's failure to make the required written disclosures. Sets statutory damages (if elected by a customer before judgment is rendered) at a maximum of $5,000. Requires the Commissioner of Patents to make publicly available any complaints received involving invention promoters, along with the response, if any, from the promoters. Subtitle B: Patent and Trademark Fee Fairness - Patent and Trademark Fee Fairness Act of 1999 - Amends Federal patent law to reduce: (1) from $760 to $690 original filing and reissue fees, as well as the national fee for certain international applications; and (2) from $940 to $830 the three-and-a-half year maintenance fee. (Sec. 4203) Authorizes the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to adjust trademark fees in FY 2000 without regard to fluctuations in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) during the preceding 12 months. (Sec. 4204) Directs the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and the USPTO Director to study and report to specified congressional committees on alternative fee structures that the USPTO could adopt to encourage maximum participation by the inventor community in the United States. (Sec. 4205) Changes from discretionary to mandatory the authority of the Commissioner of Patent and Trademarks to make all trademark fees available only for the processing of trademark registrations and trademark-related activities, services, and materials. Subtitle C: First Inventor Defense - First Inventor Defense Act of 1999 - Amends Federal patent law to declare that it shall be a defense to an infringement action with respect to any subject matter that would otherwise infringe one or more claims for a method in the patent being asserted against a person, if such person had, acting in good faith, actually reduced the subject matter to practice at least one year before the effective filing date of such patent, and commercially used the subject matter before the effective filing date of such patent. (Sec. 4302) Deems a commercial use, in the case of activities performed by a nonprofit research laboratory, or nonprofit entity such as a university, research center, or hospital, any use for which the public is the intended beneficiary, except that such use: (1) may be asserted as a defense only for continued use by and in the laboratory or nonprofit entity; and (2) may not be asserted as a defense with respect to any subsequent commercialization or use outside such laboratory or nonprofit entity. States that the sale or other disposition of a useful end product produced by a patented method, by a person entitled to assert such a defense with respect to that useful end result, shall exhaust the patent owner's rights under the patent to the extent such rights would have been exhausted had such sale or other disposition been made by the patent owner. Limits the defense to inventions for methods. Prohibits the defense if the subject matter on which the defense is based was derived from the patentee or persons in privity with the patentee. Declares that this defense is not a general license under all claims of the patent at issue, but extends only to the specific subject matter claimed in the patent with respect to which the person can assert a defense. Extends the defense, however, to variations in the quantity or volume of use of the claimed subject matter, and to improvements that do not infringe additional specifically claimed subject matter of the patent. Requires a person asserting the defense to establish it by clear and convincing evidence. Prohibits any person who has abandoned commercial use of subject matter from relying on activities performed before the date of abandonment in establishing a defense with respect to actions taken after such date. Limits assertion of the defense to the person who performed the acts necessary to establish it. Prohibits licensing, assignment, or transfer to any person but the patent owner of the right to assert the defense, except as an ancillary and subordinate part of a good faith assignment or transfer for other reasons of the entire enterprise or line of business to which the defense relates. Restricts the site of use of a subject matter for which the defense may be asserted if the defense has been acquired as part of such a good faith assignment or transfer. Subtitle D: Patent Term Guarantee - Patent Term Guarantee Act of 1999 - Amends Federal patent law to extend the term of a patent one day for each day lost as a result of delay created by the USPTO when the agency fails to: (1) make notifications within 14 months after filing of a non-provisional application about the rejection of any patent claim, or objections to or requirements for it, or of allowance of the application; (2) respond within four months to a reply to a rejection, objection, or requirement, or to an appeal of a twice-rejected claim; (3) act on an application within four months after the date of a decision by the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, or a decision by a Federal court in a case in which allowable claims remain in the application; or (4) issue a patent within four months after the date on which the issue fee was paid and all outstanding requirements were satisfied. (Sec. 4402) Requires a day-for-day extension of a patent term if: (1) a patent is not issued within three years after the filing of the application; or (2) issue is delayed by interferences, secrecy orders, or appeals. Specifies limitations to such an extension, as well as grounds for its reduction. Requires the USPTO Director to prescribe regulations establishing procedures for the application for and determination of patent term extensions and adjustments. (Sec. 4403) Authorizes the USPTO Director to: (1) prescribe regulations for the continued examination, at the applicant's request, of a patent application notwithstanding a final rejection; and (2) establish appropriate fees for continued examination proceedings, with a mandatory 50% fee reduction for qualifying small entities. Subtitle E: Domestic Publication of Patent Applications Published Abroad - Domestic Publication of Foreign Filed Patent Applications Act of 1999 - Requires the USPTO Director to publish each patent application 18 months after the earliest filing date for which a benefit is sought, unless the applicant requests earlier publication. Makes final and unreviewable the Director's determination to release or not to release information concerning a published patent application. Prohibits publication of any application: (1) no longer pending; (2) subject to a secrecy order; (3) which is provisional; (4) for a design patent; or (5) for an invention the applicant certifies has not and will not be the subject of an application filed in another country, or under a multilateral international agreement, that requires publication of applications 18 months after filing. Requires any applicant, in the latter instance, who subsequently files, in a foreign country or under a multilateral international agreement, an application directed to the invention disclosed in the application filed in the PTO, to notify the Director. (Sec. 4502) Allows an applicant to submit a redacted copy of the PTO-filed application, eliminating any part or description of the invention that is not also contained in any of the corresponding applications the applicant has filed in one or more foreign countries whose applications require a less extensive description of the invention than the application or description of the invention in the application filed in the PTO. Requires the USPTO Director to publish only the redacted copy of the application, unless it is not received within 16 months after the earliest effective filing date. Requires the USPTO Director to establish appropriate procedures to ensure that no protest or other form of pre-issuance opposition to the grant of a patent on an application may be initiated after publication of the application without the express written consent of the applicant. Prohibits publication or disclosure of the application of any invention whose publication or disclosure would be detrimental to the national security. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to specified congressional committees on applicants who file only in the United States on or after the effective date of this subtitle. (Sec. 4503) Amends Federal patent law with respect to the option of an applicant seeking patent protection in the United States to claim the filing date of an application for the same invention filed in another Convention country, provided the subsequent application is filed in the United States within 12 months of the earlier filing in the foreign country. Revises requirements for claiming such priority. Authorizes the Director to: (1) consider an applicant's failure to file a timely claim for priority to be a waiver of any such priority claim; and (2) establish procedures (including the payment of a surcharge) to accept an unintentionally delayed priority claim. (Sec. 4504) Amends Federal patent law to state that a patent shall contain a (provisional) right to obtain a reasonable royalty for applicants whose applications are published under this title, or international applications designating the United States filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Entitles the applicant to obtain a reasonable royalty from any person who between publication of the application and issuance of the patent: (1) makes, uses, offers for sale, or sells the invention in, or imports it into, the United States; or (2) if the invention claimed is a process, makes, uses, offers for sale, sells, or imports a product made by that process in the United States; and (3) had actual notice of the published application, including a translation into English if it was filed in a non-English language under the PCT designating the United States. Denies availability of such right unless the invention as claimed in the patent is substantially identical to the invention as claimed in the published application. Sets a six-year statute of limitations from the date of patent issuance in which an action for reasonable royalties must be brought. (Sec. 4505) Grants a published application prior art effect as of its earliest effective U.S. filing date against any subsequently filed U.S. applications. States that any foreign filing date to which the published application is entitled will not be the effective filing date of the U.S. published application for prior art purposes, unless it is an international application designating the United States published in English under the PCT. (Sec. 4506) Requires the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and the USPTO Director to recover the cost of early publication required by this title by charging a separate publication fee after a notice of allowance is given. Subtitle F: Optional Inter Partes Reexamination Procedure - Optional Inter Partes Reexamination Procedure Act of 1999 - Amends Federal patent law to allow a third party to request inter partes reexamination by the PTO of a patent on the basis of any prior art, as long as the real party in interest is identified. (Sec. 4604) Requires the USPTO Director to: (1) make a determination (which shall be final and non-appealable) determine whether a substantial new question of patentability affecting any claim of the patent concerned is raised by the request, with or without consideration of other patents or printed publications; and (2) order for inter partes reexamination of the patent for resolution of any substantial new question determined. Prescribes procedures for an inter partes reexamination. Entitles the third-party requester to: (1) submit one written comment addressing issues raised by the action of the Office or the patent owner's response each time the patent owner files a response to the USPTO; and (2) appeal to the USPTO Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (but not the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit) from an examiner's determination that the reexamined patent is valid. Entitles the patent owner to appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit any decision adverse to a claim's patentability. Estops any third-party requesters who participate in an inter partes reexamination proceeding from raising in a subsequent civil action or inter partes reexamination any issue of patent validity that they raised or could have raised during such inter partes reexamination. Permits a subsequent assertion of patent invalidity, however, based on newly discovered prior art unavailable to the third-party requester and the PTO at the time of the inter partes reexamination proceedings. Requires the USPTO Director, upon expiration of the time for appeal or termination of any appeal proceeding with regard to an inter partes reexamination, to cancel any patent claim finally determined unpatentable, confirm any claim determined patentable, or incorporate in the patent any proposed amended or new claim determined patentable. Prescribes circumstances in which an inter partes reexamination is prohibited. (Sec. 4606) Directs the Under Secretary for Intellectual Property and the USPTO Director to evaluate for Congress whether the inter partes reexamination proceedings established under this title are inequitable to any of the parties in interest and, if so, recommend suitable changes. (Sec. 4607) Estops an inter partes reexamination requester from challenging at a later time, in any civil action, any fact determined during the process of such reexamination, except with respect to a fact determination later proved to be erroneous based on information unavailable at the time of the inter partes reexamination decision. Subtitle G: Patent and Trademark Office - Patent and Trademark Office Efficiency Act - Amends Federal patent law to reorganize the Patent and Trademark Office in the Department of Commerce into a U.S. agency within the Department, called the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), subject to the general policy direction of the Secretary of Commerce but exercising independent control of its budget, personnel, procurements, and other administrative and management functions. (Sec. 4713) Vests the enumerated powers and duties of the USPTO in an Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO (currently, the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks). Requires the Secretary to appoint a Commissioner of Patents and a Commissioner of Trademarks. (Sec. 4714) Establishes a Patent Public Advisory Committee and a Trademark Public Advisory Committee. (Sec. 4715) Revises the composition of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences to reflect the changes of this Act. Repeals the current authority (of the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks) to designate any patent examiner of the primary examiner grade or higher to serve as examiner-in-chief for a six-month period, and act as a member of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. Subtitle H: Miscellaneous Patent Provisions - Amends Federal patent law to permit the conversion, upon applicant request, of a provisional application into a non-provisional application. Repeals the requirement that a provisional application be pending on the filing date of a non-provisional application in order for the provisional application to be relied upon in any proceeding in the USPTO. (Sec. 4802) Permits persons who filed an application for patent first in a World Trade Organization (WTO) member country to claim the right of priority in a subsequent patent application filed in the United States, even if such country does not yet afford similar privileges on the basis of applications filed in the United States. Provides for the right of priority in the United States on the basis of an application for a plant breeder's right first filed in a WTO member country or in a foreign member of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV Contracting Party). (Sec. 4803) Makes certain limitations on remedies for patent infringement applicable only to applications filed on or after September 30, 1996. (Sec. 4804) Authorizes the USPTO to receive, publish, disseminate, and maintain information in electronic form. Prohibits the USPTO Director from ceasing to maintain paper or microform collections of U.S. patents, foreign patent documents, and U.S. trademark registrations, except pursuant to notice and opportunity for public comment. Requires the USPTO Director to report to Congress the details of any proposal to cease maintaining paper or microform collections, certifying that its implementation will not negatively impact the public. (Sec. 4805) Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on the potential risks to the U.S. biotechnological industry regarding biological deposits in support of biotechnology patents. Requires the USPTO to consider the Comptroller General's recommendations when drafting regulations affecting biological deposits. (Sec. 4806) Specifies that an inventor involved in a USPTO interference proceeding who establishes a date of invention is subject to certain requirements, including the one that the invention was not abandoned, suppressed, or concealed. (Sec. 4807) Revises the condition of patentability that subject matter developed by another person which qualifies as prior art only in certain circumstances shall not preclude the granting of a patent on an invention with only obvious differences where the subject matter and claimed invention were, at the time the invention was made, owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person. Adds to such qualifying prior art circumstances that the invention was described in another patent granted on an application filed before the applicant's date of invention. (Thus allows an applicant to receive a patent when an invention with only obvious differences from the applicant's invention was described in a patent granted on an application filed before the applicant's invention, provided the inventions are commonly owned or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person.) (Sec. 4808) Prohibits the USPTO Director from entering into an agreement to provide copies of specifications and drawings of U.S. patents and applications to a foreign country, other than a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) country or a WTO member country, without the express authorization of the Secretary of Commerce. Title V: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends Federal law establishing the Commission on Online Child Protection to: (1) revise membership provisions; (2) extend by one year the Commission report deadline; (3) terminate the Commission either 30 days after such report (current law) or on November 30, 2000, whichever is earlier; and (4) revise meeting requirements and establish Commission rules. (Sec. 5002) Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to provide privacy requirements with respect to donors to public broadcasting entities. (Sec. 5003) Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), within 180 days after enactment of this Act, to complete a biennial regulatory review required under the Telecommunications Act of 1996. (Sec. 5004) Amends Federal copyright law to provide a remittance of copyright damages for public broadcasting entities that were not aware that their acts constituted a copyright violation. (Sec. 5005) Amends the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Tariff Act of 1930 to make technical amendments relating to vessel hull design protection. (Sec. 5007) Amends Federal copyright law to allow surety corporations, like other corporations, to utilize approved state officials to receive service of process in any legal proceeding in lieu of having a separate service agent in each Federal judicial district. (Sec. 5008) Community Broadcasters Protection Act of 1999 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the FCC to prescribe regulations to establish a class A license for qualifying low-power television (LPT) stations. Requires notification of LPT licensees of the requirements for class A designation. Requires requesting licensees to submit to the FCC a certification of eligibility based on the requirements of this section. Requires the FCC to: (1) grant such certification absent a material deficiency; and (2) act to preserve the service areas of LPT stations pending final resolution of such applications. Allows an LPT station to submit an application for class A designation only within 30 days after final regulations are adopted. Defines as a qualifying LPT station one which, during the 90 days preceding the date of enactment of this title: (1) broadcast for at least 18 hours per day; (2) broadcast an average of at least three hours per week of programming that was produced within the market area served by such station or the market area served by a group of commonly controlled LPT stations that carry common local programming produced within the market area served by such group; and (3) complied with other requirements applicable to LPT stations and, after the date of its license application, complies with the FCC's operating rules for full power television stations. Allows the FCC to also qualify stations as LPT stations if public interest, convenience, and necessity would be so served. Provides that: (1) the FCC is not required to issue any additional licenses for advanced television services to the licensees of class A television stations; and (2) the FCC shall approve such applications proposing facilities that will not cause interference to any other broadcast facility authorized on the date of the filing of the advanced television application. States that nothing in this section shall preempt Federal provisions concerning the allocation and assignment of new public safety services licenses and commercial licenses. Prohibits the FCC from granting a class A license to an LPT station operating between 698 and 806 megahertz, but requires the FCC to provide to LPT stations assigned to and temporarily operating within such bandwidth the opportunity to meet the licensing requirements. Prohibits the FCC from granting a class A license to an LPT station operating on a channel that includes any of the 175 additional channels referenced within a certain FCC Memorandum of Opinion and Order of Reconsideration. Directs the FCC to identify such channels within 18 months after enactment of this section. Prohibits the FCC from granting a class A license or modification unless the applicant or licensee shows that the station for which such license or modification is sought will not cause interference within: (1) the predicted contour (service area) of any television transmitting in analog format; (2) certain digital television service areas; (3) the predicted contour of any LPT station or LPT translator station that was licensed, authorized for construction, or had a pending application before the date of the class A license application; or (4) 80 miles from the geographic center of certain listed areas, including the 482-488 megahertz band in New York. Provides that LPT stations that are displaced by applications filed under this section shall have priority over other LPT stations in the assignment of available channels. Title VI: Superfund Recycling Equity - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 to absolve persons (other than owners or operators) who arranged for the recycling of recyclable material from liability for environmental response actions. (Sec. 6001) Excludes from the meaning of recyclable material (thus deeming a non-recyclable material): (1) any shipping container of a capacity from 30 liters to 3,000 liters, whether intact or not, having any hazardous substance (but not metal bits and pieces or hazardous substance that form an integral part of the container) contained in or adhering to it; or (2) any item of material that contained polychlorinated biphenyls at a concentration in excess of 50 parts per million or any new standard promulgated pursuant to applicable Federal laws. Declares, however, that a determination whether or not any person shall be liable for any non-recyclable material shall be made without regard to the amendments made by this title. Deems transactions involving scrap paper, plastic, glass, textiles, or rubber (other than whole tires) to be arranging for recycling if the person who arranged the transaction demonstrates that the following criteria were met: (1) the recyclable material met a commercial specification grade and a market existed for the material; (2) a substantial portion of the material was made available for use as a feedstock for the manufacture of a new saleable product; (3) the material (or product to be made from the material) could have been a replacement for a virgin raw material; and (4) with respect to transactions occurring 90 days after this Act's enactment, the person exercised reasonable care to determine that the facility where the material would be managed by another was in compliance with Federal, State, or local environmental laws or regulations. Deems transactions involving scrap metal to be arranging for recycling if the person who arranged the transaction demonstrates that: (1) the criteria for scrap materials were met; (2) he or she complied with applicable standards regarding activities associated with the recycling of scrap metals; and (3) the scrap metal was not melted prior to the transaction. Deems transactions involving spent lead-acid, nickel-cadmium, or other batteries to be arranging for recycling if the person involved demonstrates that: (1) the criteria for scrap materials were met; and (2) he or she complied with applicable Federal environmental regulations or standards regarding such batteries. Makes the exemptions from liability under this Act inapplicable if the person: (1) had an objectively reasonable basis to believe at the time of the recycling transaction that the recyclable material would not be recycled or would be burned as fuel or for energy recovery or incineration or that the consuming facility was not in compliance with Federal, State, or local environmental laws or regulations; (2) had reason to believe that hazardous substances had been added to the material for purposes other than processing for recycling; or (3) failed to exercise reasonable care with respect to the management of the material.

Clean Power Plant and Modernization Act of 1999

United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1999

Clean Power Plant and Modernization Act of 1999 - Requires fossil fuel-fired generating units (units) that commence operation on or before ten years after this Act's enactment date to achieve and maintain a combustion heat rate efficiency of at least 45 percent (based on the higher heating value of the fuel). Sets such percentage at 50 percent for units commencing operation more than ten years after such date, unless granted a waiver. Authorizes units that commence operation more than ten years after this Act's enactment to apply to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for waivers of the heat rate efficiency standard. Grants such a waiver only if the unit owner or operator: (1) demonstrates that the technology to meet such standard is not commercially available or, despite best technical efforts and willingness to make the financial commitment, the standard is not achievable; and (2) enters into an agreement with the Administrator to offset by a factor of 1.5 to 1, the emission reductions that the unit does not achieve because of the failure to achieve such standard. Requires units receiving waivers to achieve the 45 percent standard. (Sec. 5) Requires units, not later than ten years after this Act's enactment and regardless of the date of construction or commencement of operation, to operate in compliance with new source review requirements under the Clean Air Act (the Act). Establishes specified emission limitations for mercury, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides from units based on the respective efficiency standards. Requires units to obtain permits under the Act that require compliance with such standards and limitations. Directs the Administrator to promulgate fuel sampling and emission monitoring techniques for use by units in calculating mercury emission reductions. Provides for the submission of pollutant-specific reports by owners or operators. Makes facility-specific emission data available to the public. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations requiring owners or operators of generating units to disclose to residential consumers of electricity generated by such units data concerning emissions levels. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations to ensure that mercury that is captured or recovered is disposed of in a manner that ensures that hazards are not transferred from one environmental medium to another and that there is no release of mercury into the environment. (Sec. 6) Makes certain facilities that use solar power to produce electricity eligible for the renewable energy tax credit. (Sec. 7) Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to excise taxes to impose on covered fossil fuel-fired generating units a tax equal to 30 cents per megawatt hour of electricity produced. Provides for increases in such tax rate as necessary to ensure that the Clean Air Trust Fund established by this Act has sufficient amounts to fully fund authorized activities. Defines a "covered fossil fuel-fired generating unit" as one powered by fossil fuels with a generating capacity of at least five megawatts which is not subject to all regulations under the Act governing new stationary source performance standards because of the date on which it commenced commercial operation. (Sec. 8) Establishes the Clean Air Trust Fund in the Treasury. Appropriates megawatt hour generation taxes (established by this Act) to the Fund. Makes the Fund available for specified activities under this Act. (Sec. 9) Provides for accelerated depreciation and cost recovery for certain investor-owned units. (Sec. 10) Provides for annual grants for capital expenditures for new publicly owned units in compliance with this Act in amounts equal to the depreciation deduction that would be realized by similarly-situated investor-owned units over the applicable time period. (Sec. 11) Expresses the sense of Congress with respect to crediting permanent reductions in carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions to the utility sector and owners or operators and passing on monetary value accruing from such credits to utility customers in any climate change implementation program enacted by Congress. (Sec. 12) Directs the Secretary of Energy to fund research and development programs and commercial demonstration projects and partnerships to demonstrate the commercial viability and environmental benefits of electric power generation from biomass (excluding unseparated municipal solid waste), geothermal, solar, and wind technologies and from fuel cells. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 13) Requires the Secretary, under the Energy Policy Act of 1992, to establish a program to fund projects and partnerships designed to demonstrate the efficiency and environmental benefits of electric power generation from clean coal, advanced gas turbine, and combined heat and power technologies. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 14) Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on the implementation of this Act and on provisions of certain energy statutes that conflict with this Act. Provides for recommendations from the Secretary, the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Administrator for legislative or administrative measures to harmonize and streamline such statutes. (Sec. 15) Authorizes appropriations for: (1) assistance to coal industry workers terminated from employment, and to communities adversely affected, as a result of reduced coal consumption by the electric power generation industry; and (2) development of a carbon sequestration strategy to offset growth in U.S. carbon dioxide emissions and for carrying out methods of biologically sequestering carbon dioxide.

Biofuels Air Quality Act

United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1999

Biofuels Air Quality Act - Amends Federal highway provisions (with respect to the congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program) to direct the Secretary of Transportation to consider the extent to which a proposed project or program reduces sulfur or atmospheric carbon emissions. Allows States receiving minimum apportionments to use funds under the program for renewable fuel projects (specified below). Modifies provisions regarding renewable fuel projects to expand coverage to include: (1) publicly and nonprofit (currently, limited to privately) owned vehicles or vehicle fleets; and (2) costs of renewable fuel, consisting of any fuel produced from grain, oilseeds, or other biomass (including biodiesel), that is used to replace or reduce the quantity of fossil fuel present in a fuel mixture used to operate motor vehicles.

Pribilof Islands Transition Act

United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1999

Pribilof Islands Transition Act - Amends the Fur Seal Act of 1966 to replace provisions establishing and providing for the administration of the Pribilof Islands Trust with provisions directing the Secretary of Commerce to provide assistance to any city government, village corporation, or tribal council of St. George or St. Paul, Alaska, to: (1) reimburse grantee costs in upgrading or replacing Federal infrastructure or facilities transferred to the grantee under existing provisions; or (2) promote the development of a stable, self-sufficient, enduring, and diversified Pribilof economy not dependent on sealing. Allows, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the use of those funds as non-Federal matching funds under any Federal program that requires matching funds. Directs the Secretary, subject to appropriations, to assist the State of Alaska for designing, locating, constructing, redeveloping, permitting, or certifying solid waste management facilities on the Islands necessitated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) administration of the Islands under the Act to be operated under an Alaska permit. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 4) Replaces provisions of such Act requiring the reporting to specified congressional committees of the fair market value of transferred property with provisions mandating a report to specified congressional committees including a description of transferred property, a description of all property that is going to be conveyed, and an identification of all Federal property on the Islands that will be retained by the Federal Government. (Sec. 5) Declares that the Secretary has no obligation to provide for the development of any form of economy on the Islands not dependent on sealing (but states that this does not affect causes of action under specified provisions arising before enactment of this Act). Terminates all obligations of the Secretary to: (1) convey property under existing provisions; and (2) carry out cleanup activities related to NOAA's administration and a specified environmental restoration agreement between NOAA and Alaska. Makes the previous sentence applicable when: (1) Alaska determines that all responsibilities of the Secretary, the Department of Commerce, and the United States under that agreement have been fulfilled; (2) the Secretary has completed the cleanup required under specified provisions of Federal law; (3) the Secretary determines that the properties identified for transfer in an existing document can be unconditionally offered for conveyance; and (4) the Secretary determines that all amounts authorized under the Fur Seal Act of 1966 have been appropriated and obligated. Repeals, effective when the conditions of the previous sentence are met, provisions of: (1) the Fur Seal Act of 1966 relating to the property conveyance and related matters; and (2) Federal law relating to the cleanup of landfills and wastes left by NOAA. Prohibits any Federal agency or department from seeking financial contributions from any Pribilof Natives for the cleanup costs or fees incurred by the Secretary under the agreement or specified provisions of Federal law. Declares that this Act does not affect the obligation of the Secretary or any Federal department or agency under three specified documents. (Sec. 7) Authorizes appropriations to carry out provisions of Federal law relating to the cleanup of landfills and wastes left by NOAA. Authorizes the Secretary to provide Alaska a limited amount per year to establish and capitalize a revolving fund to be used by the State for low interest loans to Pribilof Natives to assess, respond, remediate, and monitor contamination from lead paint, asbestos, and petroleum from underground storage tanks that resulted from NOAA administration of the Islands under the Fur Seal Act of 1966.

Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act of 1999

United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1999

Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act of 1999 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to make grants to public or nonprofit private entities for the development and operation of not more than eight centers for the conduct of multidisciplinary research on environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer. Requires each center to: (1) conduct basic and clinical research; (2) develop protocols for training health professionals; (3) conduct training programs for such individuals; (4) develop model continuing education programs for such professionals; and (5) disseminate information to such professionals and the public. Authorizes a center to provide stipends for professionals enrolled in the program. Allows grant support for a center for up to five years, with authorized extensions. Requires an equitable geographic distribution of such centers. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2000 through 2005.

Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000

United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1999

Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000 - Makes appropriations for the Department of the Interior and related agencies for FY 2000. Title I: Department of the Interior - Makes appropriations for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for: (1) land and resource management; (2) wildland fire management; (3) remedial action of hazardous waste substances; (4) construction; (5) payments in lieu of taxes to local governments; (6) land acquisition; (7) Oregon and California grant lands; (8) range improvements; (9) service charges, deposits, and forfeitures with respect to public lands; and (10) miscellaneous trust funds. Appropriates funds for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for: (1) resource management; (2) construction; (3) land acquisition; (4) expenses related to carrying out the Endangered Species Act of 1973; (5) the National Wildlife Refuge Fund; (6) expenses related to carrying out the North American Wetlands Conservation Act; (7) the Wildlife Conservation and Appreciation Fund; (8) expenses related to carrying out the African Elephant Conservation Act, the Asian Elephant Conservation Act of 1997, and the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act of 1994; and (9) commercial salmon fishery capacity reduction with respect to Washington State Fraser River sockeye. Makes appropriations for the National Park Service (NPS) for: (1) the National Park System; (2) national recreation and preservation activities; (3) expenses related to carrying out the Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996; (4) construction; and (5) land acquisition and State assistance from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Rescinds specified contract authority to obligate funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for FY 2000. Makes appropriations for: (1) the U.S. Geological Survey for surveys, investigations, and research; (2) the Minerals Management Service for royalty and offshore minerals management and oil spill research; (3) the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement for regulation and technology and the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund; (4) the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) for operation of Indian programs, construction, miscellaneous payments to Indians, and Indian guaranteed loans; (5) assistance to U.S. territories and for carrying out the Compacts of Free Association with respect to Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau; (6) departmental management and the Offices of the Solicitor and the Inspector General; (7) trust programs for Indians; (8) a pilot program for consolidation of fractional interests in Indian lands by direct expenditure or cooperative agreement; and (9) natural resource damage assessment. Sets forth authorized and prohibited uses of specified funds. (Sec. 107) Prohibits the use of funds provided in this title for specified offshore leasing and related activities. (Sec. 114) Bars the NPS from developing a reduced entrance fee program to accommodate non-local travel through a unit. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to provide for and regulate local non-recreational passage through National Park System units, allowing each unit to develop guidelines and permits for activity appropriate to such unit. (Sec. 116) Renames the Steel Industry American Heritage Area the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area. (Sec. 120) Exempts all properties administered by the NPS at Fort Baker, Golden Gate National Recreation Area and other agreements associated with such properties, from all taxes and special assessments, except sales tax by the State of California and its political subdivisions. (Sec. 123) Requires the renewal of grazing permits and leases which expire or are transferred until the Secretary completes processing, at which time a permit or lease may be canceled, suspended, or modified to meet requirements of applicable laws and regulations. (Sec. 124) Provides that for purposes of reducing the backlog of Indian probate cases in the Department of the Interior, certain hearing requirements under provisions regarding descent and distribution of Indian lands are deemed satisfied by a proceeding conducted by an Indian probate judge appointed by the Secretary without regard to provisions governing competitive service appointments. Permits such appointments to be made only if the Secretary is unable, by January 1, 2000, to secure the services of at least ten qualified administrative law judges. (Sec. 125) Requires the Secretary to make a specified amount available as a loan to the Government of American Samoa. Provides for repayment of the loan with funds payable to American Samoa from the Escrow Account established under the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement entered into under American Samoa Government v. Philip Morris Tobacco Co., et. al. Sets forth conditions on availability of loan proceeds, including a requirement that American Samoa provide the Secretary with a fiscal and managerial reform plan designed to bring annual government operating expenses into balance with projected revenues for the years 2003 and beyond. Establishes priorities for debt repayments by American Samoa. (Sec. 126) Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, to designate Midway Atoll as a national memorial to the Battle of Midway. (Sec. 127) Allows the Secretary to redistribute any Tribal Priority Allocation funds to alleviate tribal funding inequities by transferring funds to address identified, unmet needs, dual enrollment, overlapping service areas, or inaccurate distribution methodologies. Bars any tribe from receiving a reduction in such funds of more than ten percent in FY 2000. Makes such percentage limitation inapplicable under circumstances of dual enrollment, overlapping service areas, or inaccurate distribution methodologies. (Sec. 128) Makes funds provided in this Act unavailable for transferring land into trust status for the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe in Clark County, Washington, until the tribe and county reach a legally enforceable agreement that addresses the financial impact of new development on the county, school and fire districts, and other local governments and the impact on zoning and development. (Sec. 129) Bars the use of funds provided in this Act to implement specified provisions of the secretarial order entitled "American Indian Tribal Rights, Federal-Tribal Trust Responsibilities, and the Endangered Species Act." (Sec. 130) Requires the Secretary to provide a grant, from funds appropriated in the Fiscal Year 1998 Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, to the Fairbanks North Star Borough for acquisition of undeveloped parcels along the banks of the Chena River for purposes of establishing an urban greenbelt within the Borough. Provides for a grant to the municipality of Anchorage for the acquisition of wetlands adjacent to a municipal park (the Jewel Lake Wetlands). (Sec. 132) Directs the Secretary, acting through the BLM Director, to convey specified parcels of public land to Nye County, Nevada, for the construction and operation of the Nevada Science and Technology Center as a nonprofit museum and exposition center. Grants the County the exclusive right to purchase other specified parcels of public land for their fair market value for five years, with the proceeds to be deposited into and made available to the Secretary from a special account established under the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998. (Sec. 133) Amends Federal law to grant the city of Mesquite, Nevada, subject to all environmental reviews (including compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act), the exclusive right to purchase specified parcels of public land for a limited time period. Conveys such lands to the city upon notification of which lands it intends to purchase. Provides for conveyance of additional lands to the city and provides if such lands are not utilized as an airport, they shall revert to the United States. (Sec. 134) Expresses the sense of the Senate with respect to planning for historical exhibits about Saint Croix Island at Red Beach and the town of Calais, Maine. (Sec. 135) Bars the use of funds appropriated for the Department of the Interior by any Act to study or implement any plan to drain Lake Powell or to reduce the water level of the Lake below the range of water levels required for the operation of the Glen Canyon Dam. (Sec. 136) Prohibits the use of funds made available in any Act by a Federal employee or agency to impose or require payment of an inspection fee in connection with the export of shipments of fur-bearing wildlife containing 1,000 or fewer raw, crusted, salted, or tanned hides or fur skins, or separate parts thereof, including species listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Makes this provision inapplicable, for the duration of the calendar year in which the shipment occurs, to any person who ships more than 2,500 of such hides, fur skins, or parts during the course of such year. (Sec. 137) Directs the Secretary, during FY 2000, to reorganize and consolidate BIA management and administrative functions based on the recommendations of the National Academy of Public Administration. Provides for voluntary separation incentive payments to BIA employees in Central Office West divisions that are moved due to such recommendations and who voluntarily resign or retire before December 31, 1999. Sets forth additional provisions regarding severance pay and continued health benefits for such employees. (Sec. 141) Prohibits the use of funds made available by this Act to issue a notice of final rulemaking with respect to the valuation of crude oil for royalty purposes until March 15, 2000. (Sec. 142) Amends Federal law to require the authority for the Thomas Paine National Historical Association to establish a memorial to Thomas Paine in the District of Columbia to expire on December 31, 2003. (Sec. 145) Amends the National Park Omnibus Management Act of 1998 to increase to 15 percent the maximum amount of revenues from the sale of national park passports that may be used to administer and promote the passport program and the National Park System. Incorporates provisions similar to those contained in the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 (Public Law 105-83) concerning: (1) employees of BLM's Helium Operations; and (2) Huron Cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas. Title II: Related Agencies - Makes appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for the Forest Service for: (1) forest and rangeland research; (2) State and private forestry; (3) the National Forest System; (4) wildland fire management; (5) construction and reconstruction; (6) land acquisition; (7) range rehabilitation and improvement; and (8) forest and rangeland research. Defers a certain amount of funds made available for obligation in prior years for Department of Energy (DOE) clean coal technology projects until FY 2001. Makes appropriations for DOE for: (1) fossil energy research and development activities; (2) naval petroleum and oil shale reserve activities; (3) payment to the State of California for the State Teachers' Retirement Fund from the Elk Hills School Lands Fund; (4) energy conservation; (5) economic regulation activities of the Office of Hearings and Appeals; (6) the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; and (7) the Energy Information Administration. Makes appropriations for the Department of Health and Human Services for the Indian Health Service and Indian health facilities. Makes appropriations for: (1) the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation; (2) the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development; (3) the Smithsonian Institution, including amounts for repair and rehabilitation of buildings owned or occupied by the Smithsonian and construction; (4) the National Gallery of Art, including an amount for repair and restoration of facilities owned or occupied by the National Gallery; (5) operations, maintenance, and construction expenses of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; (6) carrying out the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Act of 1968; (7) the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA); (8) the National Endowment for the Humanities; (9) the Institute of Museum and Library Services; (10) the Commission of Fine Arts; (11) national capital arts and cultural affairs; (12) the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; (13) the National Capital Planning Commission; (14) the Holocaust Memorial Council; and (15) the Presidio trust. Sets forth provisions regarding uses of, and limitations on, funds appropriated under this title. Title III: General Provisions - Sets forth limitations on the use of funds under this Act, including Buy American requirements. Incorporates provisions similar to those contained in the Department of Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 (Public Law 105-83) concerning: (1) the sale of timber from giant sequoias; (2) the underground lunchroom at Carlsbad Caverns National Park; (3) funding for the Americorps program; (4) the bridge between Jersey City, New Jersey, and Ellis Island; (5) patents for mining or mill site claims; (6) competition for watershed restoration project contracts in the Pacific Northwest; and (7) restrictions on NEA grants. (Sec. 317) Bars the use of funds made available in any Act to designate any portion of Canaveral National Seashore in Brevard County, Florida, as a clothing-optional area or area in which public nudity is permitted if such designation would be contrary to county ordinance. (Sec. 326) National Park Service Studies Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct studies of specified geographical areas and historic and cultural themes to determine the appropriateness of including such areas or themes in the National Park System. Provides for a report to specified congressional committees of study findings and recommendations. (Sec. 331) Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) implement a pilot program for FY 2000 through 2004 enhancing Forest Service administration of rights-of-way and other land uses; and (2) report to specified congressional committees on whether the use of funds for such program resulted in more expeditious approval of rights-of-way and special use authorizations. Directs the Secretary to deposit fees collected to recover the costs of processing applications for, and monitoring compliance with, authorizations to use and occupy National Forest System lands pursuant to specified Acts. Makes such amounts available to cover costs incurred by the Forest Service for the processing of applications for special use authorizations and monitoring activities in connection with such authorizations. (Sec. 332) Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct technology transfer and development, training, dissemination of information, and applied research in the management, processing, and utilization of the hardwood forest resource. Permits the Secretary to operate and utilize assets of the Wood Education and Resource Center in West Virginia as part of a newly formed Institute of Hardwood Technology Transfer and Applied Research. Requires Institute revenues to be deposited in a special Treasury fund known as the Hardwood Technology Transfer and Applied Research Fund. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 333) Sets forth requirements for the sale of timber in Region 10 of the Forest Service, including those regarding the volume of western red cedar timber available for processors. (Sec. 336) Prohibits the use of funds appropriated by this Act to propose or issue rules or orders for implementing the Kyoto Protocol. (Sec. 337) Prohibits the Departments of the Interior or Agriculture from expending funds to limit the number or acreage of millsites based on the ratio between the number or acreage of millsites and the number or acreage of associated lode or placer claims with respect to specified grandfathered patent applications and operations for which a plan of operations has been approved or submitted to the BLM or Forest Service. (Sec. 338) Requires the Forest Service to review Forest Service campground concessions policy to determine if modifications can be made to Forest Service contracts for campgrounds so that such concessions are exempted from the Service Contract Act. Requires the Forest Service to offer such exemptions in FY 2000. (Sec. 339) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to implement a pilot program to charge and collect at least the fair market value for forest botanical products (vegetation, excluding trees, that grows on National Forest System lands) harvested on such lands. Requires the Secretary to conduct analyses to determine whether and how the harvest of such products on such lands can be conducted on a sustainable basis. Prohibits harvesting of such products at levels exceeding sustainable harvest levels as defined in the Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960. (Sec. 342) Authorizes increases in recreation residence fees, with a specified ceiling. (Sec. 343) Redesignates the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor and Commission as the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor and Commission, respectively. (Sec. 345) Amends the National Forest-Dependent Rural Communities Economic Diversification Act of 1990 to change references to "rural forestry and economic diversification action teams" to "rural natural resources and economic diversification action teams." Requires action plans under such Act to identify opportunities to enhance local economies dependent on National Forest System land resources (currently, national forest resources). Changes references in such Act to "forest resources" and "national forest resources" to "natural resources" and "National Forest System land resources," respectively, in provisions regarding action plan implementation, training and education, and loans to economically disadvantaged rural communities. (Sec. 346) Amends the Interstate 90 Land Exchange Act of 1998 to require title to certain lands offered to the United States by the Plum Creek Timber Company to be placed in escrow by Plum Creek for a three-year period. Bars Plum Creek from undertaking any activities on such lands, except for fire suppression and road maintenance, during the escrow period without the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture. Conditions conveyance of selected lands by the United States to Plum Creek upon placement in escrow of the title of such lands. Removes certain lands from the list of selected lands and provides measures for equalizing values of offered and selected lands. (Sec. 347) Adjusts the boundary of the Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington. Considers such boundary to be the boundary of the Forest as of January 1, 1965, for purposes of allocation of Land and Water Conservation Fund monies for Federal purposes under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965. (Sec. 348) Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to make certain provisions regarding confidentiality of information applicable to a forest inventory and analysis under the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act of 1978. (Sec. 350) Provides that, upon the joint motion of the United States and the State of Alaska and the issuance of an appropriate order by the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, any portion of the joint trust funds (including interest) received or to be received by the United States and Alaska pursuant to the Agreement and Consent Decree issued in United States v. Exxon Corporation, et al. and State of Alaska v. Exxon Corporation, et al. may be deposited in the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Fund, accounts outside the U.S. Treasury, or both. Sets forth requirements regarding outside accounts. Makes remaining settlement funds available for habitat protection programs, marine research, monitoring, and restoration other than habitat acquisition. Terminates the authority provided by this section on September 30, 2002, unless the Federal and State natural resource trustees for the Exxon Valdez oil spill have reported to Congress a structure that would be most effective for the administration and expenditure of remaining funds and interest. Provides for the return of monies in the Fund or outside accounts to the Court Registry upon expiration of such authority. (Sec. 351) Makes BLM funds available for high priority projects carried out by the Youth Conservation Corps or related partnerships in order to increase the number of summer jobs available for youth on Federal lands. (Sec. 352) Amends the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 to remove a sunset provision regarding the Environmental Improvement and Restoration Fund. (Sec. 353) Prohibits the use of funds in this Act by the Secretary of the Interior to issue a prospecting permit for hardrock mineral exploration on Mark Twain National Forest land in the Current River-Jack's Fork River Eleven Point Watershed. (Sec. 357) Bars the use of funds in any Act by the Secretary of the Interior to promulgate final rules to revise regulations regarding surface management, except final rules to amend such regulations which are not inconsistent with the recommendations contained in the National Research Council report entitled "Hardrock Mining on Federal Lands" so long as these regulations are also not inconsistent with statutory authorities. Title IV: Mississippi National Forest Improvement Act of 1999 - Mississippi National Forest Improvement Act of 1999 - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to sell or exchange U.S. right, title, and interest in and to specified lands in Mississippi. Makes proceeds from such sales or exchanges available for: (1) the construction of a research laboratory and office at the Forest Service administrative site at Mississippi State University at Starkville, Mississippi; (2) the acquisition, construction, or improvement of administrative facilities in connection with National Forest System units in the State; and (3) the acquisition of lands and interests in land for such units in the State. (Sec. 404) Authorizes the Secretary to acquire all right, title, and interest in land owned by the University of Mississippi within or near the boundaries of the De Soto National Forest in Stone, George, and Jackson Counties, Mississippi. (Sec. 405) Ratifies a 1999 agreement entered into between the Secretary, the State of Mississippi, and the Franklin County School Board that provides for the Federal acquisition of State-owned land for the construction of the Franklin Lake Dam. (Sec. 408) Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act. Title V: United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund - Transfers a specified amount of interest credited to the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund to the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund to pay the amount of any shortfall in any premium account for any plan year under the Combined Fund. Title VI: Priority Land Acquisitions and Land Exchanges - Makes available a specified amount from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for priority land acquisitions, land exchange agreements, and other activities consistent with the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965.

66 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the number of cases being taken against Ireland by the European Commission arising from non-implementation of EU directives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23326/99]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 16 November 1999

66 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the number of cases being taken against Ireland by the European Commission arising from non-implementation of EU directives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23326/99]

37 Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the plans, if any, he has to provide a scheme of grants for the refurbishment or demolition and rebuilding of derelict dwellings in rural areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22202/99]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 16 November 1999

37 Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the plans, if any, he has to provide a scheme of grants for the refurbishment or demolition and rebuilding of derelict dwellings in rural areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22202/99]

36 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the way in which he ensures that housing authorities adhere to the letting priorities schemes approved by his Department; and his views on whether it is appropriate that a housing authority does not allocate gross overcrowding points to a family who have to sleep on the living room floor due to the fact there is no space available in the bedrooms. [22200/99]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 16 November 1999

36 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the way in which he ensures that housing authorities adhere to the letting priorities schemes approved by his Department; and his views on whether it is appropriate that a housing authority does not allocate gross overcrowding points to a family who have to sleep on the living room floor due to the fact there is no space available in the bedrooms. [22200/99]

35 Ms Clune asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the EU environment directives which are the basis of threatened action by the European Commission against Ireland in view of the lack of resolve in implementing these directives; his views on whether EU funding will be blocked due to this action; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23425/99]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 16 November 1999

35 Ms Clune asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the EU environment directives which are the basis of threatened action by the European Commission against Ireland in view of the lack of resolve in implementing these directives; his views on whether EU funding will be blocked due to this action; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23425/99]

34 Mr. Hayes asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the number of persons evicted under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1997; his views on the implementing of this Act throughout the local authority housing sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23277/99]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 16 November 1999

34 Mr. Hayes asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the number of persons evicted under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1997; his views on the implementing of this Act throughout the local authority housing sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23277/99]

33 Ms Clune asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the proposals, if any, he intends to bring forward to address the issue of low voter turnouts at elections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23390/99]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 16 November 1999

33 Ms Clune asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the proposals, if any, he intends to bring forward to address the issue of low voter turnouts at elections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23390/99]

32 Mr. Dukes asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if strategic considerations in relation to settlement patterns have been taken into account in planning major road, water supply and water treatment projects in the preparation of the national development plan. [23453/99]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 16 November 1999

32 Mr. Dukes asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if strategic considerations in relation to settlement patterns have been taken into account in planning major road, water supply and water treatment projects in the preparation of the national development plan. [23453/99]