Environment

Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Poland concerning Poland's participation in the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network

European Union · European Commission · 22 December 2000

Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Cyprus concerning Cyprus’s participation in the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network

European Union · European Commission · 22 December 2000

Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Bulgaria concerning Bulgaria's participation in the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network

European Union · European Commission · 22 December 2000

Proposal for a Council Decision On the conclusion of the agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Hungary concerning Hungary's participation in the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network

European Union · European Commission · 22 December 2000

Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the agreement between the European Community and the Slovak Republic concerning the Slovak Republic's participation in the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network

European Union · European Commission · 22 December 2000

Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the agreement between the European Community and the Czech Republic concerning the Czech Republic's participation in the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network

European Union · European Commission · 22 December 2000

Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Malta concerning Malta's participation in the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network

European Union · European Commission · 22 December 2000

Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Slovenia concerning Slovenia's participation in the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network

European Union · European Commission · 22 December 2000

Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Latvia concerning Latvia's participation in the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network

European Union · European Commission · 22 December 2000

Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the agreement between the European Community and Romania concerning Romania's participation in the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network

European Union · European Commission · 22 December 2000

Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Estonia concerning the Estonia's participation in the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network

European Union · European Commission · 22 December 2000

Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Turkey concerning Turkey's participation in the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network

European Union · European Commission · 22 December 2000

Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Lithuania concerning Lithuania's participation in the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network

European Union · European Commission · 22 December 2000

POWER LINES AND THE ENVIRONMENT

United Kingdom · UK Parliament · 21 December 2000

That this House calls upon the Government to empower the Electricity Regulator when setting prices for the industry to monitor the position of existing pylons, power lines and cables, and the extent they blight the lives of local residents, with the intent of setting targets for the gradual improvement in the quality of the environment in accordance with local planning consents for new developments of the same or similar type to those affected by the existing pylons, power lines and cables.

SWEETEST Act

United States · United States Congress · 15 December 2000

Saccharin Warning Elimination via Environmental Testing Employing Science and Technology Act (or SWEETEST Act) - Repeals provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the Saccharin Study and Labeling Act, that require Federal warning labels on foods containing saccharin.

Miscellaneous Appropriations Act, 2001

United States · United States Congress · 15 December 2000

Miscellaneous Appropriations Act, 2001 - Makes miscellaneous appropriations for FY 2001. Division A - Chapter 1 - Amends the Housing Act of 1949 to extend the rural designation of certain areas until the 2010 census. (Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to study and report to the Appropriations Committees on the feasibility of including ethanol, biodiesel, and other bio-based fuels as part of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. (Sec. 105) Amends the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 to appropriate funds for an environmental quality incentives program under the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. (Sec. 106) Requires the Secretary of Agriculture, in carrying out the bovine tuberculosis eradication program covered by an October 2000 emergency declaration, to pay 100 percent of the amounts of approved claims for materials affected by or exposed to bovine tuberculosis and of approved claims growing out of the destruction of animals. (Sec. 108) Makes additional amounts available for: (1) the Department of Agriculture Office of the General Counsel; and (2) Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration. Chapter 2 - Makes additional amounts available for the Department of Justice for: (1) the Federal Prison System for an assessment of medical care and incidents of inmate mortality in the Wisconsin State Prison System; (2) the Office of Justice Programs for collection of data on deaths of prisoners in law enforcement custody; (3) community oriented policing services; (4) juvenile justice programs for a grant to Mobile County, Alabama, for a juvenile court network program; (5) the States of Texas and Arizona for reimbursements to county and municipal governments for Federal costs associated with the handling and processing of illegal immigration and drug and alien smuggling cases; (6) an award to the Alliance of Boys & Girls of South Carolina for the establishment of the Strom Thurmond Boys & Girls Club National Training Center; (7) the New Hampshire Department of Safety for investigation and prosecution of violations of Federal trucking laws; and (8) the State of South Dakota for establishment of a regional radio system to facilitate communications between Federal, State, and local law enforcement, firefighting, and other emergency services agencies. Makes additional amounts available for the Department of Commerce for: (1) economic and statistical analysis for the establishment of satellite accounts for the travel and tourism industry; and (2) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for a certain study by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). (Sec. 207) Appropriates additional amounts for: (1) NOAA for disaster assistance for communities affected by the 2000 western Alaska salmon disaster for which the Secretary of Commerce declared a fishery failure under the Magnuson Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act; and (2) the Secretary for providing economic assistance to fishermen and fishing communities affected by Federal closures and fishing restrictions in the Hawaii long line fishery. (Sec. 209) Directs the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to utilize the NAS to conduct an independent scientific review of the November 30, 2000 Biological Opinion for the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska groundfish fisheries. Requires the Secretary to submit to the Council proposed conservation and management measures to implement the Alternatives contained in the Biological Opinion. Requires such fisheries to be managed: (1) in a manner consistent with the Alternatives; and (2) in accordance with the fishery management plan and Federal regulations in effect prior to July 15, 2000. Makes the harvest reduction requirement effective immediately in any 2001 groundfish fishery in which it applies, but limits such reduction to no more than ten percent in the total allowable catch of any fishery. Authorizes the Secretary, upon Council recommendation, to take measures to ensure that harvest levels are sufficient to provide income from these fisheries for small boats and Alaskan on-shore processors that is no less than in 1999. Appropriates an additional amount for a comprehensive research and recovery program for the Steller sea lion. Requires the Secretary, with available funds, to implement a pilot program for innovative non-lethal measures to protect Steller sea lions from marine mammal predators. Appropriates funds for a direct payment to the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference to mitigate the economic losses caused by Steller sea lion protection measures. (Sec. 210) Makes additional amounts available for the Department of State for: (1) educational and cultural exchange programs for the Irish Institute; and (2) increased broadcasting to Russia and surrounding areas and China. Makes appropriations for: (1) the Commission on Online Child Protection; and (2) the Small Business Administration for grants to the Electronic Commerce Resource Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and the National Museum of Jazz in New York, New York. (Sec. 213) Amends the Department of State and Related Agency Appropriations Act, 2001 to remove a provision which prohibits the use of funds appropriated by any Act to allow for the entry into, or withdrawal from warehouse for consumption in the United States of diamonds mined in specified African countries. Amends the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 to remove provisions setting forth Amy Boyer's Law and those prohibiting the redesignation of Cuyahoga Valley National Park as a Class I area under the Clean Air Act. Chapter 3 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Air Force to obligate a certain amount of funds appropriated in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2001 to continue F-22 Lot 1 (10 aircraft) advance procurement to protect the supplier base and preserve program costs and schedule in the event that award of the full funding contract for low-rate initial production of the aircraft is delayed beyond December 31, 2000, because of inability to complete specified requirements in such Act. (Sec. 302) Grants the Department of the Air Force primary jurisdiction and control over Shemya Island and its appurtenant waters. Continues the inclusion of the Island and its waters within the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Transfers jurisdiction to the Secretary of the Interior if there is no longer a need for a military department to exercise primary jurisdiction. Makes any environmental contamination of the Island the responsibility of the responsible military department. Directs the military department exercising primary jurisdiction over the Island to work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect and conserve Island wildlife and habitat and to grant access to the Fish and Wildlife Service for management of the Wildlife Refuge. (Sec. 306) Appropriates into the Defense Vessels Transfer Program Account such sums as necessary for the costs of the lease-sale transfers authorized by the National Defense Authorization Act, 2001. (Sec. 308) Appropriates an additional amount for Operation and Maintenance, Navy for costs associated with the repair of the U.S.S. Cole. (Sec. 310) Makes additional funds available for Operation and Maintenance, Marine Corps for planning and National Environmental Protection Act documentation for the proposed airfield and heliport at the Marine Corps Air Ground Task Force Training Command. (Sec. 312) Authorizes the Secretary of the Air Force to convey to the Roosevelt General Hospital in Portales, New Mexico, any excess personal property of the Air Force determined appropriate for use by the Hospital. (Sec. 313) Appropriates an additional amount for the Overseas Contingency Operations Transfer Fund. (Sec. 316) Requires the Secretary of the Navy to acquire 50 acres of real property located on Reed Island in Jacksonville, Florida. (Sec. 319) Makes an additional amount available for Operation and Maintenance, Defense-Wide for the Defense Imagery and Mapping Agency Program. (Sec. 320) Prohibits the use of funds made available in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2001 to consolidate or incorporate Air Force radar operations maintenance and support programs or contracts into an Air Force SENSOR or similar acquisition program. (Sec. 321) Appropriates an additional amount for Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation, Air Force for developing rapid diagnostic and fingerprinting techniques along with molecular monitoring systems for the detection of nosocomial infections. (Sec. 323) Directs the Secretaries of the Army and the Interior to prepare a proposed plan for the expansion of the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. Authorizes appropriations for the implementation of conservation measures necessary for the final expansion to comply with the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Appropriates amounts to carry out plan activities. Chapter 4 - Makes an additional amount available for the District of Columbia courts for capital repairs necessitated by the recent fire damage to courthouse facilities. Amends the District of Columbia Public Works Act of 1954 to require the inspector general of each Federal agency receiving water and sanitary sewer services from the District of Columbia to report to the Appropriations Committees on the promptness of payment with respect to the services furnished. Repeals a section of the Revised Statutes relating to the District of Columbia and Post Roads. (Sec. 404) Authorizes the District to fund certain programs identified under H.R. 4942 (106th Congress, as introduced) upon certification by the District Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority to the Appropriations Committees that the District Chief Financial Officer, Mayor, and Council have implemented spending reductions necessary to ensure that the District will not have a budget deficit for FY 2001. Directs the Mayor to deposit the annual interest savings resulting from debt reductions using the proceeds of the tobacco securitization program into the emergency reserve fund established by the District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 2001. (Sec. 405) Requires quarterly disbursements to be paid to District public charter schools during FY 2001 in accordance with the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula for Public Schools and Public Charter Schools and Tax Conformity Clarification Amendment Act of 1998. Chapter 5 - Makes additional amounts available for the Army Corps of Engineers for: (1) general investigations; (2) general construction; and (3) repair, restoration, or maintenance of the Mississippi River levees and for the correction of deficiencies in the mainline Mississippi River levees. Provides an additional amount for the Bureau of Reclamation for construction of the Mid-Dakota Rural Water System. Makes additional amounts available for the Department of Energy (DOE) for: (1) energy supply for the Prime, LLC, of central South Dakota for final engineering and project development of the integrated ethanol complex; and (2) science for high temperature superconducting research and development at Boston College. Chapter 6 - Authorizes Economic Support Fund assistance to be made available to provide payment to the Government of the People's Republic of China for property loss and damage arising out of the May 1999 incident in Belgrade, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Chapter 7 - Makes additional amounts available for the Department of the Interior for: (1) the Bureau of Land Management for carrying out title VI of the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Act; (2) the Fish and Wildlife Service for a grant to the Center for Reproductive Biology at Washington State University; (3) the Multinational Species Conservation Fund for Great Ape conservation activities; (4) the National Park Service for completion of studies related to the Arlington Boathouse in Virginia; (5) national recreation and preservation for the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and for a grant to the Historic New Bridge Landing Park Commission; (6) the Historic Preservation Fund for a grant to the Massillon Heritage Foundation, Inc., in Massillon, Ohio; and (7) construction for the Stones River National Battlefield and the Millenium Cultural Cooperative Park. Provides additional funds for: (1) DOE energy conservation for a grant to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory/Nevada Test Site Development Corporation; and (2) payment to the endowment fund of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Makes additional funds available to the Indian Health Service for: (1) payment to the Alaska Federation of Natives for its Alaska Native Sobriety and Alcohol Control Program; and (2) drug and alcohol prevention and treatment services for non- Alaska tribes. Chapter 8 - Appropriates funds to the Health Resources and Services Administration for the construction of the Biotechnology Science Center at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, and the Christian Nurses Hospice in Brentwood, New York. (Sec. 803) Appropriates funds to the Institute of Museum and Library Services for expansion of the marine biology program at the Long Island Maritime Museum. Chapter 9 - Provides for payments to specified widows of deceased Members of Congress. Makes additional amounts available for: (1) the Architect of the Capitol for construction of emergency egress from the fourth floor of the Capitol building; and (2) the Library of Congress for the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program. Amends Federal civil service retirement provisions to allow retirement credit under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) for certain employees who were employed by the Democratic or Republican Senatorial Campaign or National Congressional Committees for service before December 31, 1990. Entitles certain employees of legislative service organizations of the House of Representatives to receive CSRS or FERS credit as well. (Sec. 903) Makes effective a standing order of the Senate that the reading of conference reports is no longer required if such a report is available in the Senate. Chapter 10 - Appropriates additional funds to the Department of Defense for military construction, Army; Air Force, and Army National Guard. (Sec. 1002) Requires the Secretary of the Interior to transfer the surface estate of specified lands in Roosevelt County, New Mexico, to the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Air Force. Authorizes the Secretary of the Air Force to use certain mineral resources on such lands when required for construction needs on the Melrose Air Force Range. (Sec. 1003) Directs the Secretary of the Interior to transfer the surface estate of specified lands in Kittitas County, Washington, to the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Army. Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to use certain mineral resources on such lands when required for construction needs on the Yakima Training Center. Chapter 11 - Makes amounts available for: (1) a grant to the Huntsville International Airport; and (2) the Southeast Light Rail Extension Project in Dallas, Texas. (Sec. 1107) Provides additional funds for: (1) the Newark-Elizabeth rail link project, New Jersey; and (2) commercial remote sensing products and spatial information technologies for the study of creating a new highway right-of- way along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. (Sec. 1112) Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to issue certificates of documentation for employment in the coastwise trade for the M/V WELLS GRAY and the ANNANDALE. (Sec. 1113) Authorizes conveyance to Lake County, California, without consideration, of a described property involving a portion of the Coast Guard LORAN Station Middletown reported to the General Services Administration as excess property. (Sec. 1114) Requires conveyance to: (1) the Town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, of certain property that is part of the Coast Guard LORAN Station; and (2) the City of Newburyport, Massachusetts, of certain land upon which the Plum Island Boat House and Lighthouse are situated. (Sec. 1116) Authorizes conveyance, without consideration, of the Coast Guard Station Scituate to NOAA. (Sec. 1117) Amends the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1998 to extend one of the termination dates of provisions requiring the enforcement of the United States Coast Guard 1997 Enforcement Policy for Cargo Residues on the Great Lakes (regulating incidental discharges from vessels of residues of dry bulk cargo into Great Lakes waters under U.S. jurisdiction). Requires the Secretary of Transportation to conduct a study of the effectiveness of such enforcement policy. Authorizes the Secretary to promulgate regulations to enforce a program to regulate incidental discharges from vessels of residues of non- hazardous and non-toxic dry bulk cargo into Great Lakes waters which takes study findings into account. (Sec. 1118) Extends the termination date for the Great Lakes Pilotage Advisory Committee. (Sec. 1119) Permits only U.S. vessels to perform certain vessel escort operations and towing assistance. (Sec. 1122) Authorizes the transfer of limited funds to the Traverse City Area Public School District for demolition and removal of the structure commonly known as "Building 402" at former Coast Guard property located in Traverse City, Michigan, and associated site work. (Sec. 1127) Prohibits the Secretary from issuing final regulations regarding audible warnings at highway-rail grade crossings before July 1, 2001. (Sec. 1128) Makes available additional amounts from the Highway Trust Fund for specified projects in Texas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Colorado. Chapter 12 - Makes an additional amount available for the Federal Buildings Fund to be used for renovating and redeveloping portions of a historic Federal building located in Terre Haute, Indiana. Provides additional funds for the Customs Service for procurement of aircraft and related equipment expenses associated with aviation standardization and training at the Customs National Aviation Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Chapter 13 - Makes an additional amount available for Department of Veterans Affairs construction. Provides additional funds for Department of Housing and Urban Development empowerment zones and enterprise communities and the Community Development Fund. Makes additional funds available for: (1) Environmental Protection Agency science and technology for continuation of the South Bronx Air Pollution Study; and (2) Federal Emergency Management Agency emergency management planning and assistance for programs authorized by the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974. Chapter 14 - Considers H. Con Res. 234 (106th Congress), as adopted by the House of Representatives on November 18, 1999, to be considered to have been adopted by the Senate. (Sec. 1402) Makes a provision of the Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995 which eliminates certain reporting requirements inapplicable to certain Federal budget provisions. (Sec. 1403) Rescinds .22 percent of the discretionary budget authority provided for FY 2001 in any Act for each Federal agency, with specified exemptions. Division B - Title I - Amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to modify eligibility criteria for the child care and adult food program. (Sec. 102) Provides for a summer food pilot project in eligible States during FY 2001 through 2003 to increase the number of children participating in the summer food service program. (Sec. 103) Requires the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a feasibility study for a Sacramento River, California, diversion project that is consistent with the Water Forum Agreement of April 24, 2000. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 104) Expands the boundaries of a specified flood control project in the Saint Francis River Basin in Missouri and Arkansas. (Sec. 105) Authorizes and directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to permit the city of Alton, Illinois, to construct and reimburse the city for the Federal share of specified recreational facilities. (Sec. 106) Allows the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the design, planning, and construction of the Truckee watershed reclamation project to reclaim and reuse wastewater within and without the service area of Washoe County, Nevada. (Sec. 107) Modifies a specified navigation project in Tampa Harbor, Florida, to authorize the Secretary of the Army to deepen and widen the Alafia Channel. (Sec. 108) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1992 to authorize environmental infrastructure assistance to additional specified projects. Increases the authorization of appropriations for such assistance and the amount of assistance provided to certain projects. (Sec. 109) Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to provide technical and financial assistance to carry out projects for the planning, design, and construction of treatment works to improve water quality in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 110) Establishes the San Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund in the Treasury to be used for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of water quality projects. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 111) Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to participate in studies and in the planning and design of projects determined to offer a long-term solution to the problem of groundwater contamination caused by perchlorates. Requires the Secretary to participate in investigations and projects related to perchlorates in the Bosque and Leon Watersheds in Texas, Caddo Lake, Texas, and Santa Clarita, California. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 112) Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to require each permit, order, or decree issued pursuant to such Act for a discharge from a municipal combined storm and sanitary sewer to conform to the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Control Policy signed by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on April 11, 1994. Directs the Administrator to report to Congress on progress made by EPA, States, and municipalities in implementing and enforcing the CSO control policy. Authorizes the Administrator to provide technical assistance and grants for treatment works to carry out pilot projects relating to specified areas of wet weather discharge control. Authorizes appropriations. Permits the Administrator, in any fiscal year in which at least $1.35 billion is available for grants to States for water pollution control revolving funds, to make grants to States or municipalities for planning, design, and construction of treatment works to intercept, transport, control, or treat municipal CSO and sanitary sewer overflows. Gives priority for grants to certain applicants, including municipalities that are financially distressed communities. Authorizes and allocates appropriations. Requires the Administrator to report periodically to Congress on the recommended funding levels for such grants. Directs the Administrator to report to Congress on: (1) the extent of health and environmental impacts caused by municipal CSO and sanitary sewer overflows; and (2) the resources spent, and technologies used, by municipalities to address such impacts. Requires the Administrator to maintain a clearinghouse of technologies for addressing such impacts. (Sec. 113) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 to provide for construction of fish passage devices at the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam at Federal expense. (Sec. 114) Extinguishes certain reversionary interests and use restrictions contained in deeds for certain lands in Umatilla County, Oregon. (Sec. 115) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 to eliminate the authority to carry out a flood damage reduction and ecosystem restoration project in Murrieta Creek, California. (Sec. 116) Requires the Secretary of the Army to reimburse East Bay Municipal Water District for the project for aquatic ecosystem restoration, Penn Mine, Calaveras County, California. (Sec. 117) Modifies a flood control project in Greers Ferry Lake, Arkansas, to authorize the Secretary to construct intake facilities for the benefit of Lonoke and White Counties, Arkansas. (Sec. 118) Modifies a flood control project in Chehalis River and tributaries, Washington, to authorize the Secretary to provide the non-Federal interest credit toward the non-Federal share of project costs the costs of planning, design, and construction work carried out by the non-Federal interest before the date of execution of a cooperation agreement if the Secretary determines the work integral to the project. (Sec. 120) Directs the National Park Service to work with Fort Sumter Tours, Inc., the concessionaire providing services at Fort Sumter National Monument in South Carolina, on an amicable solution of the current legal dispute between the two parties. Requires the Director of the Service to extend the current contract through March 15, 2001, to facilitate further negotiations and for 180 days if final settlement of disputes is agreed to by both parties. (Sec. 123) Enacts into law H.R. 4904 (106th Congress) (establishes the United States Office for Native Hawaiian Affairs and the Native Hawaiian Interagency Task Force) as passed in the House on September 26, 2000. (Sec. 124) Requires the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) negotiate agreements with landowners setting terms for the acquisition of land at Saddleback Mountain, near Rangeley, Maine, for the benefit of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail; (2) complete the pending environmental compliance process for the acquisitions; (3) acquire the land for a specified cost; and (4) convey a portion of the land to the State to ensure the protection of the Trail. (Sec. 125) Enacts into law S. 2273 (106th Congress)(Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area Act of 2000), as passed in the Senate on October 5, 2000. (Sec. 126) Amends the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor Act of 1984 to increase the maximum amount authorized to be appropriated for the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor Commission. (Sec. 127) Enacts into law S. 2885 (106th Congress)(Jamestown 400th Commemoration Commission Act of 2000), as passed in the Senate on October 5, 2000. (Sec. 128) Prohibits the use of funds prior to July 31, 2001, to promulgate or enforce a final rule to reduce the use of snowmobiles below current use patterns at a unit in the National Park System during the 2000-2001 or 2001-2002 winter seasons. (Sec. 129) Requires the Secretary of the Interior to extend until March 31, 2001, the Extension of Standstill Agreement entered into on November 22, 1999, by the United States and the holders of interests in seven campsite leases in Biscayne Bay, Miami-Dade County, Florida. (Sec. 134) Amends the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Development Act to extend the termination date for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park Commission. (Sec. 137) Amends Federal law governing the Gulf Islands National Seashore to include within the Seashore specified land on Cat Island, Mississippi. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 138) Amends Federal retirement provisions regarding limitations on the maximum percentage of pay that may be contributed to the Thrift Savings Plan to phase in, by FY 2006, a maximum allowable contribution of 100 percent of basic pay for certain FERS and CSRS participants. (Sec. 139) Excludes the Secret Service and Secret Service Uniformed Division from certain Federal labor-management relations requirements. (Sec. 140) Provides for an increase of 3.7 percent in rates of basic pay for Federal employees in 2001. (Sec. 141) Repeals certain mandatory retirement provisions governing employees of the Alaska Railroad. (Sec. 143) Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize certain low-power television station licensees to provide digital data service as a pilot project to demonstrate the feasibility of using such stations to provide high-speed wireless digital data service, including Internet access to unserved areas. (Sec. 144) Amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to extend, until FY 2003, a prohibition on the approval of fishery management plans or regulations which create a new individual fishing quota program, with specified exceptions. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to adopt final regulations to implement a fishing capacity reduction program for crab fisheries included in the Fishery Management Plan for Commercial King and Tanner Crab Fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. 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 financial assistance to any city government, village corporation, or tribal council of St. George or St. Paul, Alaska. Allows the use of those funds as non-Federal matching funds under any Federal program that requires matching funds. Prohibits the Secretary from using financial assistance under this Act to settle any debt owed to the United States, for administrative or overhead expenses, or for contributions sought or required for costs or fees to clean up any matter that was caused or contributed by any person on or after March 15, 2000. Directs the Secretary, subject to appropriations, to provide assistance to the State of Alaska for designing, locating, constructing, redeveloping, permitting, or certifying solid waste management facilities on the Islands to be operated under Alaska permits. Authorizes appropriations. Shields the United States from liability under this Act associated with specified activities relating to those waste facilities. 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 administration and a specified environmental restoration agreement between NOAA and Alaska. Makes the previous sentence applicable when: (1) Alaska has confirmed that no further corrective action is required at Island sites and units covered by the agreement; (2) the cleanup is complete; (3) the properties can be unconditionally offered for conveyance; and (4) all amounts appropriated for such purposes under the Fur Seal Act of 1966 have been obligated. Prohibits, after the conditions in the previous sentence are met, the Secretary from seeking or requiring financial contribution from any local governmental entity of the Pribilof Islands, any official thereof, or any owner of lands there for costs or fees (relating to specified actions concerning cleanup or closure of solid waste facilities) incurred by the Secretary (except for cleanup fees incurred after March 15, 2000). Repeals, effective when the same conditions 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. 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 to, remediate, and monitor contamination from lead paint, asbestos, and petroleum from underground storage tanks. Authorizes the President to designate any Northwestern Hawaiian Islands coral reef or reef ecosystem as a coral reef reserve to be managed by the Secretary of Commerce. Directs the Secretary, upon designation of such a reserve, to: (1) initiate its designation as a national marine sanctuary; (2) establish a Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Reserve Advisory Council; and (3) manage the reserve in a manner consistent with the policies of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act until it is designated as a national marine sanctuary. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Sustainable Fisheries Act to authorize appropriations for each fiscal year for grants to carry out Western Pacific fishery demonstration projects to promote traditional indigenous fishing practices. (Sec. 145) Amends the Department of State Special Agents Retirement Act of 1998 to extend applicability of such Act to participants (special agents) who were serving as of January 1, 1997. (Sec. 146) Calls upon the President to: (1) take all appropriate action to provide relief from injury caused by steel imports; and (2) immediately request the U.S. Trade Commission to commence an expedited investigation for positive adjustment under the Trade Act of 1974. (Sec. 147) Amends the Johnson Act to apply certain prohibitions on the repair, transport, or use of gambling devices on vessels to voyages or segments of voyages that begin and end in Hawaii. (Sec. 148) Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to exempt non- commercial educational (NCE) broadcast stations from requirements to make broadcast stations accessible to political candidates. Prohibits the Federal Communications Commission from taking action against any NCE station which declines to carry a political advertisement. (Sec. 149) Continues the Small Business Innovation Research program during FY 2001. (Sec. 150) Appropriates funds for: (1) the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund; and (2) an account to be established in the Department of Labor for administering the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act. (Sec. 152) Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for the treatment of certain cancer hospitals. (Sec. 153) Amends the Delta Development Act to apply such Act to Alabama. Amends the Delta Regional Authority Act of 2000 (as incorporated in this Act) to require Alabama to be a full member of the Delta Regional Authority. (Sec. 154) Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to establish a pilot program to provide environmental assistance to non-Federal interests in northern Wisconsin. Permits assistance in the form of design and reconstruction assistance or water-related environmental infrastructure and resource protection and development projects. Provides assistance only for publicly-owned projects. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Vietnam Education Foundation Act of 2000 - Vietnam Education Foundation Act of 2000 - Establishes the Vietnam Education Foundation to award fellowships to: (1) Vietnamese nationals to study at U.S. institutions of higher education at graduate and post-graduate levels in the fields of physical sciences, natural sciences, mathematics, environmental sciences, medicine, technology, and computer sciences; and (2) U.S. citizens to teach in Vietnam in appropriate Vietnamese institutions in the same fields of study. (Sec. 207) Establishes the Vietnam Debt Repayment Fund which shall consist of deposits as offsetting receipts of all payments (including interest) made by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam under the U.S.-Vietnam debt agreement, dated April 7, 1997. Makes amounts deposited into the Fund available for Foundation activities. (Sec. 210) Bars the awarding of any new fellowship or extension of an existing fellowship after September 30, 2016. Title III: Colorado Ute Settlement Act Amendments of 2000 - Colorado Ute Settlement Act Amendments of 2000 - Amends the Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 1988 to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, in order to settle the outstanding claims of the Ute Indian tribes on the Animas and La Plata Rivers in Colorado and acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to: (1) complete construction of, operate, and maintain a reservoir, pumping plant, reservoir inlet conduit, and appurtenant facilities to divert and store water from the Animas River to provide a municipal and industrial water supply (the Project); and (2) deliver through the use of such components, specified municipal and industrial water allocations to the San Juan Water Commission, Animas-La Plata Conservancy District, State of Colorado, La Plata Conservancy District of New Mexico, Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribes, and Navajo Nation. Declares that such facilities, if constructed, constitute the Animas- La Plata Project. Prohibits the commencement of construction of any other project features authorized by the Colorado River Basin Project Act without further authorization from Congress. Provides that construction costs required to deliver each tribe's water allocation shall be nonreimbursable. Makes the nontribal repayment obligations for water allocations subject to a final cost allocation by the Secretary upon project completion. Directs the Secretary to report to Congress on the status of cost-share agreements. Requires the reallocation of water allocations for the Animas-La Plata Conservancy District and the State of Colorado to the Colorado Ute Tribes if no agreement is reached with the District or the State for such allocations. (Sec. 303) Requires the Secretary, upon request of the State Engineer of New Mexico, to assign to the New Mexico Project beneficiaries or the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission Department of the Interior interests under a specified permit in order to fulfill the New Mexico non-Navajo purposes of the Project, so long as the assignment does not affect the application of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to the use of the water. Authorizes the Secretary to construct a water line to augment the existing system that conveys municipal water supplies to the Navajo Indian Reservation at or near Shiprock, New Mexico. Makes construction costs for the water line nonreimbursable. Authorizes appropriations to the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Resource Funds. Requires the Secretary to establish such Funds. Provides for disbursement of Fund monies, with an exception, in accordance with approved natural resource acquisition and enhancement plans. Establishes the Colorado Ute Settlement Fund in the Treasury and authorizes appropriations to the Fund to complete the construction of Project facilities and the Navajo Nation water line. Requires the construction of facilities, allocation of water supply to the Indian tribes, provision of funds, and issuance of an amended final consent decree under this Act to constitute final settlement of tribal claims to water rights on the Animas and La Plata Rivers. Requires such decree to provide for an extension of the current January 1, 2005, deadline for the tribes to commence litigation of their reserved rights claims on such rivers. Title IV - Designates the museum operated by the Secretary of Energy in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, as the American Museum of Science and Energy and declares it to be the official museum of science and energy of the United States. Title V: Lower Mississippi River Region - Delta Regional Authority Act of 2000 - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to establish the Delta Regional Authority to carry out specified activities and approve grants related to the economic development of the Mississippi Delta region (parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee surrounding such Delta). Authorizes the Authority to approve grants for projects to: (1) develop the region's transportation infrastructure; (2) assist the region in job training, employment-related education, and business development; and (3) provide assistance to severely distressed and underdeveloped areas. Requires the Authority to: (1) annually designate distressed and nondistressed counties and isolated areas of distress within the region; and (2) allocate at least 75 percent of the appropriations made available under this Act for distressed counties and isolated areas of distress. Prohibits (with an exception) such funds from being used within nondistressed counties. Requires each State member of the Authority to submit a development plan for the area of the region represented by the member. Outlines factors to be considered by the Authority in considering programs and projects for assistance under this Act and in establishing priorities among assistance requests. Requires the Authority to review for approval any State or regional development plan submitted. Authorizes appropriations. Terminates authority provided under this title on October 1, 2002. Amends the Delta Development Act to include the Louisiana parish of Natchitoches in the definition of "Lower Mississippi" for purposes of coverage under such Act. Title VI: Dakota Water Resources Act of 2000 - Dakota Water Resources Act of 2000 - Amends Federal provisions relating to the Garrison water diversion unit, North Dakota (part of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin Program), to include within authorized unit purposes the development of municipal, rural, and industrial water systems, fish, wildlife, and other natural resource conservation and development, recreation, flood control, ground water recharge, and augmented stream flows (currently, only irrigation is authorized). Authorizes the State of North Dakota (currently, only the Secretary of the Interior) to plan and construct within the State a multipurpose water resource development irrigation project. Makes the Secretary responsible for operation and maintenance (O&M) costs of that portion of the capacity of existing unit facilities that remain unused. Makes the State responsible for: (1) O&M costs of the proportionate share of existing used unit facilities, as well as the full O&M costs of any facility constructed after the date of enactment of this Act; and (2) the costs of providing energy to authorized unit facilities. Authorizes water systems constructed under this Act to deliver Missouri River water into the Hudson Bay basin, after a certain required determination concerning adequate treatment of such water. (Sec. 603) Revises provisions concerning unit operational costs to make nonreimbursable: (1) all fish and wildlife enhancement costs incurred in connection with waterfowl refuges or production areas, as well as wildlife conservation areas proposed for Federal or State administration; and (2) 50 percent of recreation area costs, if non-Federal public bodies assume the remainder of such costs. Deauthorizes Taayer Reservoir and Lonetree Dam and Reservoir as project features. (Sec. 604) Allows the calculation of interest during construction of a feature only until such feature is substantially complete, and regardless of whether it is placed into service. (Sec. 605) Includes certain areas of North Dakota within the area in which the Secretary is authorized to develop irrigation facilities, but prohibits the development of any such facility in the Hudson Bay-Devils Lake Basin. Allows such developed irrigation to receive Pick-Sloan pumping power. Directs the Secretary to: (1) maintain the Snake Creek Pumping Plant, New Rockford Canal, and McClusky Canal features of the principal supply works; and (2) select a preferred alternative to implement this Act after considering connecting the existing principal supply works. Directs the Secretary to investigate and report on an undesignated 28,000 acres of irrigation areas in North Dakota. (Sec. 606) Prohibits any reallocation of project costs to Pick-Sloan customers. (Sec. 607) Revises provisions authorizing the construction of municipal, rural, and industrial water systems in North Dakota to: (1) authorize the State to use Federal and non-Federal funds for grants or loans for such systems (requiring proceeds from loan repayments and interest thereon to be treated as Federal funds); (2) make additional projects eligible for such funding; (3) authorize the State to develop and implement a water conservation program; (4) make nonreimbursable the costs of features constructed on the Missouri River by the Secretary of the Army before the date of enactment of this Act; and (5) add Turtle Mountain to the areas in which the Secretary is required to maintain necessary water systems. (Sec. 608) Deauthorizes the Sykeston Canal. Directs the Secretary to select and construct a feature or features to deliver water to the Sheyenne River water supply and release facility. Requires the Secretary, if selecting a feature under which Missouri River water is used to provide water to such facility, to transmit to Congress a comprehensive report. Prohibits the latter feature from being constructed unless it is specifically authorized by an Act of Congress. Authorizes without further congressional action a feature which uses only in-basin sources to meet Red River Valley water needs. Directs the Secretary to: (1) conduct a comprehensive study of the water quality and quantity needs of the Red River Valley and possible options in meeting those needs; (2) solicit input from affected entities and designees; and (3) provide a study draft to affected States and Federal agencies. Allows such States and Federal agencies to review and comment on draft proposals, and requires the Secretary to take such comments into consideration when producing a final report and submitting such report to Congress. Directs the Secretary and the State to jointly report to Congress on the comprehensive water quality needs of the Red River Valley and options for meeting those needs. Requires environmental impact statements to be provided. Directs the Secretary to construct, operate, and maintain a Sheyenne River water supply and release feature capable of delivering a specified water supply for the cities of Fargo and Grand Forks and surrounding communities. Prohibits funds from this Act from being used for carrying out a lake control feasibility study of the Devils Lake Basin, North Dakota, or to study any facility or carry out an activity that would permit the transfer of water from the Missouri River drainage basin into Devils Lake. (Sec. 609) Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement with the State to convey U.S. rights and interests in the Oakes Test Area. (Sec. 610) Authorizes additional appropriations to carry out provisions added by this Act. (Sec. 611) Directs the Secretary, from funds authorized under this Act, to make an annual Federal contribution to the Natural Resources Trust (previously named the Wetlands Trust), limiting such contribution to $12 million. Directs the Secretary to make additional annual contributions equal to five percent of the total amount appropriated for such Trust in a fiscal year. Adds to authorized Trust uses the enhancement, restoration, and management of grassland conservation and riparian areas. Adds to Trust authority the power to fund incentives for conservation practices by landowners. Title VII - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish in Stanley County, South Dakota, a reconciliation center known as Reconciliation Place to: (1) enhance knowledge and understanding of the history of Native Americans; (2) interpret the encounters between Lewis and Clark and the Sioux Nation; (3) house the Sioux Nation Tribal Supreme Court (Court); (4) house the Native American Economic Development Council; and (5) house the National Native American Mediation Training Center (Center). Directs the Secretary to award a grant to the Wakpa Sica Historical Society of Fort Pierre, South Dakota, for construction of Reconciliation Place. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 704) Directs the Attorney General to provide technical and financial assistance to ensure the development and operation of the Court and Center. Authorizes appropriations. Title VIII: Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor - Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Act- Establishes the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor in the State of New York and the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Commission. Provides for a comprehensive preservation and management Canalway Plan for the Corridor. Authorizes appropriations. Title IX: Law Enforcement Pay Equity - Law Enforcement Pay Equity Act of 2000 - Amends the District of Columbia Police and Firemen's Salary Act of 1958 to establish a uniform salary schedule for members and officers of the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division and the Park Police. Freezes the percentage rate for locality-based comparability pay for such members and officers at the rate in effect for pay periods during FY 2000. (Sec. 903) Revises certain caps on maximum compensation for such members and officers. (Sec. 908) Amends the District of Columbia Retirement Protection Act of 1997 to require, for purposes of determining the amount of a Federal benefit payment to an officer or member of the Metropolitan Police Department, that the payment under the District Retirement Program include certain service longevity payments provided for in the Police Recruiting and Retention Enhancement Amendment Act of 1999 (such Act took effect after the freeze date). Title X: Department of Housing and Urban Development - Amends the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2000 to change the rate of pay for the Director of the Millennial Housing Commission. Provides for details of Federal personnel to the Commission on a non-reimbursable (currently, reimbursable) basis. (Sec. 1004) Requires the Comptroller General to study and report to specified congressional committees on: (1) the adequacy of the capital structure of the Federal Home Loan Bank System as it relates to certain specified risks; (2) the risks associated with further growth in the direct acquisition of mortgages by the System; and (3) a comparison of the risk-based capital standard proposed by the Federal Housing Finance Board for the System to the standard proposed by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight for the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. Title XI: Department of the Treasury - Authorizes the President to award: (1) to each of the original twenty-nine Navajo Code Talkers or a surviving family member, on behalf of Congress, a gold medal honoring the Navajo Code Talkers; and (2) to each person who qualified as a Navajo Code Talker (MOS 642) or a surviving family member a silver medal. Title XII: Environmental Protection Agency -Establishes the Aboveground Storage Tank Grant Program for grants to the State of Alaska or the Denali Commission to repair, upgrade, or replace such tanks that: (1) leak or pose an imminent threat of leaking; and (2) are located in a Native village the median household income of which is less than 80 percent of such income in the State, are located within the boundaries of a National Park or Wildlife Refuge System unit or national forest, or on public land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, or that receives payments in lieu of taxes. Authorizes appropriations. Title XIII: National Aeronautics and Space Administration - Authorizes the use of excess funds from the sale of timber on Federal property at the John C. Stennis Space Center by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the acquisition of up to 500 acres of real property to establish education and visitor programs and facilities to promote and preserve the regional and national history of the area and, as necessary, for wetlands mitigation. Title XIV: Certain Alaskan Cruise Ship Operations - Applies this title to all cruise vessel authorized to carry 500 or more passengers for hire. (Sec. 1403) Prohibits the discharge of untreated sewage from a cruise vessel into the waters of the Alexander Archipelago (Archipelago) or U.S. navigable waters within the State of Alaska or the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (Reserve). Bars the discharge of treated sewage or graywater from such vessels into such areas unless: (1) the vessel is underway and proceeding at at least six knots; (2) the vessel is not less than one nautical mile from the nearest shore, except in areas designated by the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating; (3) the discharge complies with all vessel effluent standards; and (4) the vessel is not in an area where the discharge of treated sewage or graywater is prohibited. Defines "graywater" as galley, dishwasher, bath, and laundry waste water. Authorizes the EPA Administrator to promulgate regulations allowing the otherwise prohibited discharge of treated sewage or graywater where the discharge meets effluent standards determined appropriate for discharges into the marine environment. Allows such discharges, subject to certain conditions, until such regulations are promulgated. (Sec. 1405) Makes discharge prohibitions inapplicable to discharges made for purposes of securing the safety of the vessel or saving life at sea, provided that reasonable precautions have been taken to prevent or minimize the discharge. (Sec. 1406) Requires the Secretary to incorporate into the commercial vessel examination program an inspection regime sufficient to verify that cruise vessels visiting ports in Alaska or operating in the Archipelago or U.S. navigable waters in Alaska or the Reserve are in full compliance with this title, other Federal laws and regulations, and international treaty requirements. Provides for sampling and testing of cruise ship discharges. (Sec. 1407) Authorizes the Administrator to promulgate effluent standards for treated sewage and graywater from cruise vessels operating in such waters. (Sec. 1408) Requires any person in charge of a cruise vessel who has knowledge of a discharge described by this title to report immediately to the Secretary. (Sec. 1409) Prescribes civil and criminal penalties for violations of this title. (Sec. 1410) Authorizes the State of Alaska, upon determining that the protection and enhancement of water quality of the Archipelago or U.S. navigable waters in Alaska or the Reserve require greater environmental protection, to petition the Administrator to prohibit the discharge of graywater and sewage from cruise vessels operating in such waters. Title XV: Life Act Amendments - LIFE Act Amendments of 2000 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to extend the application of a provision which allows for the adjustment to permanent resident status of certain aliens who entered the United States without inspection. Conditions such authorization on an alien being physically present in the United States on this Act's enactment date. (Sec. 1503) Amends the Legal Immigration Family Equity (LIFE) Act to provide for the permanent resident status adjustment of certain alien class action participants who participated in Zambrano v. INS. Makes a provision of the INA that requires the reinstatement of removal orders against aliens reentering the United States illegally inapplicable to such class action participants. Provides certain family unity benefits to such aliens as well. (Sec. 1505) Amends the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act to make INA reinstatement removal provisions inapplicable to certain Nicaraguan and Cuban aliens applying for adjustment of status. Makes a conforming amendment to the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 with respect to certain Haitian aliens. Amends the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act to permit certain aliens granted temporary protection from deportation who are otherwise eligible for suspension of deportation or cancellation of removal pursuant to the INA to apply for such relief. (Sec. 1506) Makes this title effective as if included in the enactment of the LIFE Act. Title XVI: Improving Literacy Through Family Literacy Projects - Literacy Involves Families Together Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise and reauthorize Even Start Family Literacy Programs (Even Start) (part B of title I provisions for Helping Disadvantaged Children Meet High Standards). (Sec. 1602) Extends through FY 2001 the authorization of appropriations for such Even Start programs, and increases the amounts authorized. (Sec. 1603) Requires State plans to assure that State educational agencies (SEAs) will encourage local educational agencies (LEAs) and individual schools participating in a program assisted under ESEA title I part A (Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies) to use part A funds to offer family literacy services, if the LEA or school determines that a substantial number of students served under part A have parents who do not have a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent, or who have low levels of literacy. (Sec. 1604) Renames ESEA title I part B as William F. Goodling Even Start Family Literacy Programs. Directs the Secretary of Education to: (1) reserve an increased portion of part B Even Start funds for migrant programs, outlying areas, and Indian tribes, under specified conditions; (2) ensure coordination of family literacy programs under Even Start with similar programs operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); and (3) reserve specified portions of Even Start excess funds for scientifically-based research on family literacy by the National Institute for Literacy. Authorizes States to use a portion of Even Start funds to provide technical assistance and training to subgrantees (partnerships of LEAs and eligible organizations) to improve the quality of their family literacy services, giving priority to low-quality programs, provided that such State use of funds for a fiscal year does not result in a decrease from the level of activities and services provided to program participants in the preceding year. Allows State use of such funds to provide technical assistance for local programs to raise additional funds. Requires a majority of instructional staff whose salaries are paid, in whole or in part, with Federal Even Start funds, within four years after enactment of this Act, to: (1) have an associate's, bachelor's, or graduate degree in a field related to early childhood education, elementary or secondary school education, or adult education; and (2) meet State-established qualifications for such types of education provided as part of an Even Start or other family literacy program. Requires all new instructional staff, beginning on the enactment of this Act, to meet such requirements. Requires, within such four-year period, that: (1) all paraprofessionals whose salaries are paid with any Federal Even Start funds have at least a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent; and (2) the individual responsible for administration of family literacy services to be trained in operating a family literacy program. Requires Even Start programs to: (1) use research-based reading techniques for children and adults; and (2) encourage participating families to attend regularly and remain in the program a sufficient time to meet their program goals. Allows an Even Start program, despite specified age limitations, to permit children eight years of age or older to participate, if such program collaborates with a part A program and part A funds are used to pay the cost of providing part B Even Start services to such children and if the focus of the program continues to remain on families with young children. Includes among indicators of an area's need for part B funds the presence of high numbers or percentages of parents who have been victims of domestic violence or who are receiving assistance under a State program funded by a block grant for temporary assistance to needy families under the Social Security Act. Requires an SEA, in awarding subgrants to continue an Even Start program after the first year, to review the progress of each eligible entity in meeting program objectives described in the State plan (as well as, under current law, evaluating the program based on State-developed program quality indicators). Sets the same limits on the Federal share of renewed subgrants as on Even Start grants. Directs the National Institute for Literacy to use certain reserved Even Start funds for scientifically-based research to determine: (1) the most effective ways of improving literacy skills of adults with reading difficulties; and (2) how family literacy services can best provide parents with knowledge and skills to support their children's literacy development. Requires such research to be carried out through an entity, including a Federal agency, with expertise in doing longitudinal studies of children's literacy skills development and that has developed effective methods of intervention to help children with reading difficulties. (Sec. 1605) Requires State applications for Even Start grants to describe how the State will encourage programs and projects assisted under Even Start to offer family literacy services if the program or project serves a substantial number of migratory children who have parents who do not have a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent or who have low levels of literacy. (Sec. 1606) Defines family literacy services under ESEA as services provided to participants on a voluntary basis that are of sufficient intensity in terms of hours, and of sufficient duration, to make sustainable changes in a family, and that integrate all of the following activities: (1) interactive literacy activities between parents and their children; (2) training for parents regarding how to be the primary teacher for their children and full partners in the education of their children; (3) parent literacy training that leads to economic self-sufficiency; and (4) an age-appropriate education to prepare children for success in school and life experiences. (Sec. 1607) Amends the Education Amendments Act of 1978 to require BIA-operated family literacy programs, under the early childhood education program for Indian children or other programs, to be coordinated with Even Start family literacy programs under ESEA. Title XVII: Children's Internet Protection - Children's Internet Protection Act - Directs the National Communications and Information Administration to initiate a notice and comment proceeding for purposes of: (1) evaluating whether currently available technology protection measures adequately address the needs of educational institutions; (2) making recommendations on how to foster the development of measures that meet such needs; and (3) evaluating the development and effectiveness of local Internet safety policies that are currently in operation after community input. Subtitle A: Federal Funding for Educational Institution Computers - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to prohibit funds made available to a local educational agency for a school that does not receive services at discount rates (as provided under the Children's Internet Protection Act) to use such funds to purchase computers to access the Internet or to pay direct costs for such access unless such school: (1) has a policy of Internet safety for minors that includes the operation of a technology protection measure with respect to computers providing such access to protect against visual depictions that are obscene, child pornography, or harmful to minors; and (2) is enforcing the operation of such measure during any use of such computers. Authorizes the withholding of funds for noncompliance with such requirements. (Sec. 1712) Amends the Museum and Library Services Act to set forth parallel requirements for the use of technology protection measures in certain libraries receiving funding under such Act. Subtitle B: Universal Service Discounts - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to set forth parallel technology protection measure requirements for schools and libraries as a condition for receiving universal service discounts. Subtitle C: Neighborhood Children's Internet Protection - Neighborhood Children's Internet Protection Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require schools and libraries receiving universal service rates to: (1) implement an Internet safety policy that addresses access by minors to inappropriate matter, the safety of minors when using direct electronic communications, unauthorized access and disclosures of information, and measures designed to restrict minors' access to harmful materials; and (2) provide public notice and hold at least one public meeting to address the proposed policy. Requires the determination regarding what matter is inappropriate for minors to be made by the school board, library, or other authority so responsible. Subtitle D: Expedited Review - Requires any civil action challenging the constitutionality of this title to be heard by a three-judge district court. Provides for direct appeal to the Supreme Court of any decree holding this title to be unconstitutional.

Kosten und Vorsorgemaßnahmen hinsichtlich der Rinderseuche BSE (Bovine Spongiforme Enzephalopathie)

Austria · National Council · 14 December 2000

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Dipl.-Ing. Wolfgang Pirklhuber, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für soziale Sicherheit und Generationen betreffend Kosten und Vorsorgemaßnahmen hinsichtlich der Rinderseuche BSE <i>(Bovine Spongiforme Enzephalopathie)</i>

Kosten und Vorsorgemaßnahmen hinsichtlich der Rinderseuche BSE (Bovine Spongiforme Enzephalopathie)

Austria · National Council · 14 December 2000

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Dipl.-Ing. Wolfgang Pirklhuber, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft betreffend Kosten und Vorsorgemaßnahmen hinsichtlich der Rinderseuche BSE <i>(Bovine Spongiforme Enzephalopathie)</i>

Katastrophenfondsgesetz und Verfütterung von tierischem Protein

Austria · National Council · 14 December 2000

Entscheidung des EU-Rates vom 4.12.2000 betreffend Schutzmaßnahmen in Bezug auf die bovinen und transmissiblen spongiformen Enzephalopathien (BSE und TSE)

Austria · National Council · 14 December 2000

Unselbständiger Entschließungsantrag der Abgeordneten Dipl.-Ing. Wolfgang Pirklhuber, Kolleginnen und Kollegen betreffend Ersuchen an die Bundesregierung, über die Umsetzung der Entscheidung des EU-Rates vom 4.12.2000 betreffend Schutzmaßnahmen in Bezug auf die bovinen und transmissiblen spongiformen Enzephalopathien (BSE und TSE) hinaus noch Massnahmen wie z.B. ein unbefristetes Verbot der Verfütterung von Tiermehl, Vergabe von Agrar- und Investitionsförderungen nur mehr für artgerechte Tierhaltungssysteme, obligatorische Futtermittelkennzeichnung und Einrichtung eines TSE-Forschungsschwerpunktes zu setzen

"Atomtransporte" durch Österreich

Austria · National Council · 14 December 2000

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Mag. Ulrike Sima, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an die Bundesministerin für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie betreffend "Atomtransporte" durch Österreich

Entsorgung "infektiösen" Tiermehls

Austria · National Council · 14 December 2000

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Peter Keppelmüller, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft betreffend die Entsorgung "infektiösen" Tiermehls

BSE- bzw. TSE-Vorsorgeprogramm

Austria · National Council · 14 December 2000

Antrag der Abgeordneten Dipl.-Ing. Wolfgang Pirklhuber, Kolleginnen und Kollegen betreffend begleitende Vorsorgemaßnahmen in Bezug auf die bovinen und transmissiblen spongiformen Enzephalopathien (BSE- bzw. TSE-Vorsorgeprogramm)

flächendeckende Wasserver- und Abwasserentsorgung zur Sicherung der Wassergüte und zur Optimierung der Siedlungswasserwirtschaft

Austria · National Council · 14 December 2000

Unselbständiger Entschließungsantrag der Abgeordneten Dkfm. Dr. Günter Stummvoll, Mag. Gilbert Trattner, Kolleginnen und Kollegen betreffend flächendeckende Wasserver- und Abwasserentsorgung zur Sicherung der Wassergüte und zur Optimierung der Siedlungswasserwirtschaft

Verbot der Verfütterung von Tiermehl

Austria · National Council · 14 December 2000

Unselbständiger Entschließungsantrag der Abgeordneten Mag. Johann Maier, Kolleginnen und Kollegen betreffend Verbot der Verfütterung von Tiermehl, BSE <i>(Bovine Spongiforme Encephalopathie)</i> -Schnelltests für alle Rinder, die älter als 30 Monate sind, BSE <i>(Bovine Spongiforme Encephalopathie)</i> -Schnelltests für Schafe, Importverbot von Rindern, Rindfleisch und Fertigprodukten aus Ländern, in denen BSE <i>(Bovine Spongiforme Encephalopathie)</i> -Fälle aufgetreten sind, und EU-weite Forcierung der Forschung im Bereich CJK und BSE

Sicherstellung der Lebensmittelsicherheit auf europäischer Ebene

Austria · National Council · 14 December 2000

Unselbständiger Entschließungsantrag der Abgeordneten Georg Schwarzenberger, Anna Elisabeth Achatz, Kolleginnen und Kollegen betreffend langfristige Sicherstellung der Lebensmittelsicherheit auf europäischer Ebene sowie Nichtinanspruchnahme der für Österreich geltenden Ausnahmeregelung, Rinder für den Inlandsverkehr nicht auf BSE <i>(Bovine Spongiforme Encephalopathie)</i> testen zu müssen

La réforme de la loi sur l'eau : enjeux environnementaux et financiers

France · Senate · 14 December 2000

La réforme de la loi sur l'eau

Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001

United States · United States Congress · 14 December 2000

Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 - Makes appropriations for FY 2001 for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and related agencies. Title I: Department of Labor - Department of Labor Appropriations Act, 2001 - Makes appropriations for FY 2001 to the Department of Labor for: (1) training and employment services; (2) community service employment for older Americans; (3) Federal unemployment benefits and allowances; (4) State unemployment insurance and employment service operations; (5) advances to the Unemployment Trust Fund and other trust funds; (6) employment and training program administration; (7) the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation; (8) the Employment Standards Administration; (9) certain special benefits; (10) the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund; (11) the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; (12) the Mine Safety and Health Administration; (13) the Bureau of Labor Statistics; (14) departmental management; (15) veterans employment and training; and (16) the Office of Inspector General. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, funds appropriated under this title. (Sec. 103) Amends part A (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) require entities receiving welfare-to-work grant funds to remit to the Secretary of Labor any funds not expended within five (currently, three) years after the date such funds are provided; and (2) eliminate set-aside welfare-to-work grants for successful performance States. (Sec. 104) Prohibits the use of funds provided in any Act making appropriations for FY 2001 to implement regulations regarding temporary alien labor certification applications and petitions for admission of nonimmigrant workers or any similar or successor rule with an effective date prior to October 1, 2001. (Sec. 106) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make funds available from the H-1B Nonimmigrant Petitioner Account for decreasing processing time for permanent labor certification applications. Title II: Department of Health and Human Services - Department of Health and Human Services Appropriations Act, 2001 - Makes appropriations for FY 2001 to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for: (1) the Health Resources and Services Administration; (2) health education assistance loans; (3) the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Trust Fund; (4) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; (5) the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including amounts for the John E. Fogarty International Center, the National Library of Medicine, the Office of the Director, and buildings and facilities; (6) the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; (7) the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; (8) the Health Care Financing Administration for grants to States for Medicaid, payments to health care trust funds, and program management; (9) the Health Maintenance Organization Loan and Loan Guarantee Fund; (10) the Administration for Children and Families for child support enforcement and family support programs; (11) low income home energy assistance; (12) refugee and entrant assistance; (13) the child care and development block grant; (14) the social services block grant; (15) children and families services programs; (16) promoting safe and stable families pursuant to a specified provision of the Social Security Act; (17) payments to States for foster care and adoption assistance; (18) the Administration on Aging; (19) the Office of the Secretary for general departmental management; (20) the Office of Inspector General; (21) the Office for Civil Rights; (22) policy research; (23) retirement pay and medical benefits for Public Health Service commissioned officers; and (24) the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund. Rescinds FY 2001 funds for a sample study of child welfare. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, funds appropriated under this title. (Sec. 209) Prohibits funds appropriated in this Act from being made available under title X (population research and voluntary family planning) of the Public Health Service Act unless the award applicant certifies to the Secretary of HHS that it encourages family participation in the decision of minors to seek family planning services and provides counseling to minors on resisting attempts to coerce them into engaging in sexual activities. (Sec. 210) Prohibits the use of funds appropriated by this Act to carry out the Medicare+Choice program if the Secretary of HHS denies participation in such program to an otherwise eligible entity (including a Provider Sponsored Organization) because the entity informs the Secretary that it will not provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or provide referrals for abortions. (Sec. 212) Amends the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1990 to extend through FY 2001 the authorization of admission into the United States of a specified number of refugees from the independent states of the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania based on religious persecution owing to participation in the Ukrainian Catholic or Orthodox churches. Makes September 30, 2001, the latest allowable entry date for specified aliens from the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia for purposes of qualifying for adjustment of status. (Sec. 213) Prohibits the use of funds provided in any Act making FY 2001 appropriations for the implementation in Arizona or in Kansas City, Missouri or Kansas, of the Medicare Competitive Pricing Demonstration Project operated by the Secretary of HHS. (Sec. 214) Prohibits funds appropriated by this Act from being used to withhold substance abuse funding from a State pursuant to Public Health Service Act provisions for withholding funds from States that are not in compliance with specified requirements prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to minors if a State certifies to the Secretary of HHS by March 1, 2001, that it will commit additional State funds to ensure compliance with State laws prohibiting such sales. Requires States to maintain expenditures in FY 2001 for tobacco prevention programs and compliance activities at a level not less than that maintained for FY 2000 and adding to that level the additional funds for such compliance activities required by this section. Bars the use of funds appropriated by this Act to withhold such substance abuse funding from a territory that receives less than $1 million. (Sec. 216) Prohibits funds appropriated under this Act from being expended by NIH on a contract for the care of the 288 chimpanzees acquired by NIH from the Coulston Foundation unless the contractor is accredited by the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International or has a Public Health Service assurance and has not been charged multiple times with egregious violations of the Animal Welfare Act. (Sec. 218) Extends the authority for Federal agencies to offer physicians comparability allowances until September 30, 2005 (currently, September 30, 2000). (Sec. 219) Amends the Public Health Service Act to add to the list of requirements to be met by qualified organ procurement organizations that an organization has been certified or recertified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services within the previous four-year period as meeting performance standards. Requires certification or recertification to be made through a process that either granted certification or recertification with such certification or recertification in effect as of January 1, 2000, and remaining in effect through the earlier of January 1, 2002, or the completion of recertification under regulations promulgated by the Secretary, or that is defined through regulations promulgated by January 1, 2002, that: (1) require recertifications of such organizations no more frequently than once every four years; (2) rely on outcome and process performance measures that are based on empirical evidence of organ donor potential and other related factors in each service area of such organizations; (3) use multiple outcome measures as part of the certification process; and (4) provide for a qualified organization to appeal a decertification to the Secretary on substantive and procedural grounds. (Sec. 220) Authorizes the Secretary of HHS to use certain authorities under the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 and enter into reimbursable agreements with the Department of State in order for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to carry out international HIV/AIDS, other infectious, chronic, and environmental disease, and other health activities abroad during FY 2001. (Sec. 225) Names the National Neuroscience Research Center to be constructed on the NIH Bethesda campus the John Edward Porter Neuroscience Research Center. Title III: Department of Education - Department of Education Appropriations Act, 2001 - Makes appropriations for FY 2001 to the Department of Education for: (1) education reform; (2) education for the disadvantaged; (3) impact aid; (4) school improvement activities; (5) reading excellence; (6) Indian education; (7) bilingual and immigrant education; (8) special education; (9) rehabilitation services and disability research; (10) special institutions for persons with disabilities, including the American Printing House for the Blind, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, the Kendall Demonstration Elementary School, the Model Secondary School for the Deaf, and Gallaudet University; (11) vocational and adult education; (12) student financial assistance; (13) the Federal Family Education Loan program account; (14) higher education; (15) Howard University; (16) the college housing and academic facilities loans program; (17) the historically Black college and university capital financing program account; (18) education research, statistics, and improvement; (19) departmental management; (20) the Office for Civil Rights; and (21) the Office of the Inspector General. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, funds appropriated under this title. (Sec. 301) Sets forth general provisions, including prohibitions on use of funds for: (1) transportation to carry out racial desegregation plans, (2) requiring transporting of students for grade restructuring, school pairing, or school clustering, except for special education students and magnet schools; (3) preventing implementation of programs of voluntary prayer and meditation in public schools; and (4) transfers of funds beyond specified limits. (Sec. 305) Directs the Comptroller General to evaluate specified aspects of the allocation of funds for programs to help disadvantaged schoolchildren, under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) title I part A. (Sec. 306) Requires that specified funds for ESEA title VI programs for promoting equity be allocated through States to local educational agencies (LEAs) for programs to reduce class size with fully qualified teachers. (Sec. 307) Amends the National Educational Statistics Act of 1994 with respect to membership of the National Assessment Governing Board. (Sec. 308) Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise student loan program provisions with respect to: (1) restoration of institutional eligibility to participate; and (2) compensation of auditors and examiners. (Sec. 310) Amends the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998 to authorize appropriations in necessary amounts through FY 2003 for tribally controlled postsecondary vocational and technical institutions. (Sec. 311) Provides for perfection of security interests in specified student loans under HEA. (Sec. 312) Revises deadlines for institutions to lower student loan default rates. (Sec. 313) Directs the Secretary of Education to transfer a specified amount from the Fund for the Improvement of Education to the Secretary of the Interior for an award to the National Constitution Center for certain construction activities. (Sec. 314) Revises ESEA with respect to certain character education and programs. (Sec. 315) Directs the Secretary of Education to review the nursing program operated by Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, with discretion to waive certain HEA requirements. (Sec. 316) Revises authorized activities for which States may use incentive grants under the special leveraging educational assistance partnership program under HEA. Prohibits use of such grant funds for administrative costs. (Sec. 317) Allows grant recipients for student support services projects under HEA to use such funds to provide grant aid to students. (Sec. 318) Revises HEA provisions relating to the availability of variable rates of interest under student loan programs. (Sec. 319) Amends the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 to designate certain scholarships for Olympic trainees as B.J. Stupak Olympic Scholarships. (Sec. 320) Directs the Secretary of Education to release without consideration the reversionary interests retained by the United States as part of the conveyance of certain real property in Marin County, California. (Sec. 321) Directs the Secretary of Education to allocate specified funds for school repair and renovation and technology activities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to certain entities for specified purposes with certain criteria and conditions. (Sec. 322) Establishes and authorizes appropriations for a new ESEA program under which the Secretary of Education is to make at least three demonstration grants for innovative methods of assisting charter school facility acquisition, construction, and renovation by enhancing the availability of loans or bond financing. (Sec. 323) Revises certain formulas under ESEA impact aid programs with respect to: (1) numbers of eligible federally connected children for whom LEAs may receive payments; and (2) determination of average tax rates for general fund purposes for LEAs. Title IV: Related Agencies - Makes appropriations for FY 2001 to the: (1) Armed Forces Retirement Home; (2) Corporation for National and Community Service; (3) Corporation for Public Broadcasting; (4) Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service; (5) Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission; (6) Office of Library Services; (7) Medicare Payment Advisory Commission; (8) National Commission on Libraries and Information Science; (9) National Council on Disability; (10) National Education Goals Panel; (11) National Labor Relations Board; (12) National Mediation Board; (13) Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission; (14) Railroad Retirement Board for the dual benefits payments account, Federal payments to the railroad retirement accounts, administration, and the Office of Inspector General; (15) Social Security Administration for payments to the social security trust funds, special benefits for disabled coal miners, the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Program, administrative expenses, and the Office of Inspector General; and (16) U.S. Institute of Peace. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, funds appropriated under this title. Title V: General Provisions - Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, funds appropriated under this Act. (Sec. 505) Prohibits the use of funds appropriated under this Act for programs to distribute sterile needles or syringes for the injection of illegal drugs. (Sec. 506) Sets forth Buy American requirements. (Sec. 508) Prohibits funds appropriated under this Act from being expended for abortions or for health benefits coverage that includes coverage of abortion, except in cases where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest or where a woman suffers from a physical condition that would, as certified by a physician, place her in danger of death unless an abortion is performed. (Sec. 510) Prohibits the use of funds made available in this Act for: (1) the creation of a human embryo for research purposes; or (2) research in which a human embryo is destroyed or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death greater than that allowed for research on fetuses in utero under Federal regulations and the Public Health Service Act. (Sec. 511) Prohibits the use of funds made available in this Act for activities to promote the legalization of a controlled substance unless there is significant medical evidence of a therapeutic advantage to the use of such substance or that federally-sponsored trials are being conducted to determine such advantage. (Sec. 515) Amends the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act to apply a certain schedule for the delivery of SSI supplementation payments to months after September 2001 (currently, 2009). (Sec. 516) Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to: (1) enter into cooperative agreements with States and other entities to conduct sentinel surveillance or other special studies to determine the prevalence in various age groups and populations of specific types of human papillomavirus (HPV) in different sites in various U.S. regions through collection of special specimens for HPV using a variety of laboratory-based testing and diagnostic tools; and (2) develop and analyze data from the HPV sentinel surveillance system. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Centers, to conduct prevention research on HPV. Directs the Secretary to prepare and distribute educational materials that include information on HPV. Requires the Secretary to reexamine existing condom labels authorized pursuant to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to determine whether the labels are medically accurate regarding their effectiveness in preventing sexually transmitted diseases. (Sec. 517) Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to remove the warning label requirement for foods containing saccharin. Amends the Saccharin Study and Labeling Act to repeal requirements for statements on vending machines regarding saccharin health risks and for the distribution of information on saccharin. (Sec. 518) Amends title VIII (Special Benefits for Certain World War II Veterans) of the Social Security Act to authorize the Commissioner of Social Security to enter into an agreement with any State that provides cash payments on a regular basis to individuals entitled to benefits under such title under which the Commissioner makes such payments on behalf of the State. (Sec. 520) Reduces amounts made available under this Act for departmental management for the Departments of Labor, HHS, and Education on a pro rata basis. Title VI: Assets for Independence - Assets for Independence Act Amendments of 2000 - Amends the Assets for Independence Act (AIA) (which is title IV of the Community Opportunities, Accountability, and Training and Educational Services Act of 1998) to revise various provisions relating to program administration and flexibility in the AIA demonstration program (which is to determine the effects that certain savings accounts called individual development accounts (IDAs) can have on low-income individuals and their families). Excludes funds attributable to matching contributions by qualified entities from IDA emergency withdrawals. Includes among eligible grantees low-income credit unions and community development financial institutions. Revises requirements for withdrawals from IDA accounts for the purchase of a home. Increases the amount of funds set aside for economic literacy training and administrative costs. Includes a Federal poverty measure among alternative eligibility criteria. Declares that funds in an IDA shall be disregarded entirely for purposes of determining eligibility for Federal programs based on need. Title VII: Physical Education for Progress Act - Physical Education for Progress Act - Amends title X (Programs of National Significance) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to, and enter into contracts with, local educational agencies (LEAs) to initiate, expand, and improve physical education programs for all kindergarten through 12th grade students. (Sec. 701) Requires such grants and contracts to be used for providing: (1) equipment and support to enable students to actively participate in physical education activities; and (2) funds for staff and teacher training and education. Requires LEA assistance applications for such assistance to contain plans for helping school physical education programs make progress toward meeting State standards for physical education. Prohibits extracurricular activities such as team sports and Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program activities from consideration as part of the curriculum of a physical education program assisted under this title. Authorizes appropriations. Title VIII: Early Learning Opportunities - Early Learning Opportunities Act - Provides funds for increasing: (1) availability of early learning programs; and (2) compensation for child care providers. (Sec. 804) Declares that: (1) no person, including a parent, shall be required to participate in any program of early childhood education, early learning, parent education, or developmental screening under this title; (2) nothing in this title shall be construed to affect the rights of parents otherwise established in Federal, State, or local law; and (3) no entity receiving funds under this title shall be required to provide services under this title through a particular instructional method or in a particular instructional setting. (Sec. 805) Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). (Sec. 806) Directs the Secretary of HHS and the Secretary of Education to develop mechanisms to resolve administrative and programmatic conflicts between Federal programs that would be a barrier to parents, caregivers, service providers, or children related to the coordination of services and funding for early learning programs. Requires nonrestrictive use of equipment and supplies for collaborative activities funded under this title and other law providing for Federal child care or early learning programs. (Sec. 807) Directs the Secretary of HHS to award grants to States to award subgrants to Local Councils to pay the Federal share of the cost of carrying out early learning programs in the locality served by the Local Council. Sets forth requirements for: (1) uses of funds; (2) duties of Lead State Agencies and of Local Councils; (3) reservations of funds for Indian tribes, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians; (4) State allotments based on numbers of children age four and younger and of such children in families below the poverty line; (5) Federal and State grant administration; (6) State eligibility and preferences for Local Councils, and Local Council preferences for projects; (7) performance goals; and (8) local allocations, applications, and administration. Title IX: Rural Education Achievement Program - Rural Education Achievement Program - Revises ESEA title X part J subpart 2 to set forth the Rural Education Initiative. (Sec. 901) Authorizes appropriations for formula grants and competitive grants programs for rural LEAs with small enrollments (less than 600). Sets forth program requirements for academic achievement assessments and accountability.

Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 14 December 2000

Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000 - Title I: Community Renewal and New Markets - Subtitle A: Tax Incentives for Renewal Communities - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to designate (upon local or State nomination) up to 40 renewal communities, of which at least 12 shall be in rural areas. Requires for nomination purposes that: (1) the area be experiencing high rates of poverty and unemployment and general distress; and (2) State and local governments enter into written contracts with community organizations to promote specified economic growth and employment activities. Excludes from gross income capital gains on the sale or exchange of a qualified community asset (stock, business property, or partnership interest) held for more than five years. Allows: (1) a renewal community employment credit; (2) a commercial revitalization deduction; (3) increased expensing for renewal community business assets; and (4) the work opportunity credit for hiring youth residing in renewal communities. Subtitle B: Extension and Expansion of Empowerment Zone Incentives - Provides for the designation of additional empowerment zones and increased empowerment zone tax incentives. Subtitle C: New Markets Tax Credit - Establishes a new markets tax credit with respect to specified qualified low-income community investments. Sets a national new markets tax credit limitation. Subtitle D: Improvements in Low-Income Housing Credit - Amends the Code, with respect to the low-income housing credit, to revise the formula for the State housing credit ceiling. Provides for cost-of-living adjustments to the State ceiling. (Sec. 132) Revises the housing priority selection criteria a housing credit agency must use to develop a qualified plan for allocating housing credit dollar amounts among projects. Requires such criteria to include: (1) whether the project would use existing housing as part of a community revitalization plan; (2) tenant populations of individuals with children; and (3) projects intended for eventual tenant ownership. Drops from such criteria participation of local tax-exempt organizations. Requires a qualified allocation plan to give preference in making allocations to projects located in qualified census tracts whose development contributes to a concerted community revitalization plan. (Sec. 133) Requires housing credit agencies to: (1) provide for a comprehensive market study (by a disinterested party, at the developer's expense) of the housing needs of low-income individuals in the area to be served by the project before the credit allocation is made; and (2) make public a written explanation for any allocation of a housing credit dollar amount not made in accordance with the agency's established priorities and selection criteria. (Sec. 134) Revises special rules for the determination of the adjusted basis of buildings eligible for the low-income housing credit. Requires adjusted basis to include property used throughout the taxable year in providing any community service facility designed to serve primarily individuals (even if they are not tenants) whose income is 60 percent or less of area median income. Declares that assistance under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 shall be disregarded in determining whether a building is federally subsidized for purposes of the low-income housing credit. (Sec. 135) Revises the definition of a qualified building (placed in service not later than the second calendar year following a housing credit dollar amount allocation) with respect to which the amount of a low-income housing credit may exceed the credit amount allocated to the building. Sets an alternative date for valuation of the taxpayer's actual basis in the project of which the building is a part (where the actual basis is more than ten percent of the taxpayer's reasonably expected basis). Allows the valuation of the actual basis to be as of the later of the date which is six months after the date that the allocation was made or (as currently) the close of the calendar year in which the allocation is made. Revises the formula for determination of the amount of State housing credit ceiling returned in a calendar year to include the dollar amount previously allocated to a project which fails to meet the ten percent test on a date after the close of the calendar year in which the allocation was made. Revises special rules for the increased basis of a building located in certain high cost areas to redefine a qualified census tract to include, as an alternative to existing criteria, a tract with a poverty rate of at least 25 percent. (Sec. 136) Revises the formula for determining unused housing credit carryovers allocated among certain States. Subtitle E: Other Community Renewal and New Markets Assistance - Part I: Provisions Relating to Housing and Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment - Amends the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 to direct the Secretary to transfer ownership of qualified HUD-held properties (substandard or unoccupied multifamily or unoccupied single family properties) to local governments and community development corporations under specified conditions. Requires such properties to be held by HUD for at least six months. (Sec. 142) Directs the Secretary, upon request of the appropriate jurisdiction, to designate as a revitalization area all portions of such jurisdiction meeting the necessary criteria. (Sec. 143) Revises the current demonstration mortgage reinsurance program to: (1) make such program a risk-sharing program served by private mortgage insurers and insured community development financial institutions (as defined by this Act); (2) enlarge the program to four administrative areas; and (3) require such entities to assume a secondary percentage of loss of an insured mortgage. (Sec. 144) Permits a religious organization to receive Federal funding through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Prohibits funding discrimination against such an organization so long as its program is implemented in a manner consistent with the Establishment Clause of the first amendment to the Constitution. Part II: Advisory Council on Community Renewal - Advisory Council on Community Renewal Act - Establishes the Advisory Council on Community Renewal Act to advise the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development on the designation of renewal communities and on the exercise of authorities granted to the Secretary pursuant to this title. Subtitle F: Other Provisions - Provides for an accelerated phase-in of specified increases in the volume cap on private activity bonds. (Sec. 162) Repeals the targeted area limitation on the expense deduction for environmental remediation costs and to extend the termination date of such deduction from December 31, 2001, to June 30, 2003. (Sec. 163) Extends the DC homebuyer tax credit for two additional years. (Sec. 164) Extends DC Enterprise Zone provisions for an additional year. (Sec. 165) Expands and extends the enhanced deduction for corporate donations of computer technology. (Sec. 166) Provides for the treatment of Indian tribal governments under Federal Unemployment Tax Act. Title II: Two-Year Extension of Availability of Medical Savings Accounts - Extends, for two years the availability of medical savings accounts. Renames such accounts Archer MSAs. Title III: Administrative and Technical Provisions - Subtitle A: Administrative Provisions - Sets forth various administrative provisions, including provisions concerning: (1) the exemption of certain reporting requirements; (2) the extension of deadlines for IRS compliance with certain notice requirements; (3) the extension of authority for undercover operations; (4) confidentiality of certain documents relating to closing and similar agreements and to agreements with foreign governments; (5) an increase in the threshold for Joint Committee reports on refunds and credits; (6) the treatment of missing children with respect to certain tax benefits; (7) the prevention of the duplication of loss through the assumption of liabilities giving rise to a deduction; and (8) the disclosure of certain return information to the Congressional Budget Office, but only concerning long-term social security and medicare models. Subtitle B: Technical Corrections - Makes amendments to the: (1) Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999; (2) Tax and Trade Relief Extension Act of 1998; (3) Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998; (4) Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997; (5) Balanced Budget Act of 1997; (6) Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996; and (7) Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1990. Title IV: Tax Treatment of Securities Futures Contracts - States that, in general, a gain or loss attributable to the sale or exchange of a futures contract shall be considered gain or loss from the sale or exchange of property which has the same character as the property to which the contract relates has in the hands of the taxpayer if acquired by the taxpayer.

Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001

United States · United States Congress · 14 December 2000

Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001 - Makes appropriations for FY 2001 for the Treasury Department, the U.S. Postal Service, the Executive Office of the President, and certain independent agencies. Title I: Department of the Treasury - Treasury Department Appropriations Act, 2001 - Makes appropriations for the Department of the Treasury for: (1) departmental offices; (2) department-wide systems and capital investments programs for development and acquisition of automatic data processing equipment, software, and services; (3) the Office of Inspector General; (4) the Inspector General for Tax Administration; (5) repair and restoration of the Treasury building and annex; (6) programs to expand access to financial services for low- and moderate-income individuals; (7) the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network; (8) counterterrorism activities; (9) the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, including amounts for maintenance and facility improvements; (10) interagency crime and drug enforcement; (11) the Financial Management Service; (12) the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; (13) the U.S. Customs Service, including amounts for operations and maintenance of marine vessels and aircraft, collection of the Harbor Maintenance Fee, and automation modernization; (14) the Bureau of the Public Debt; (15) the Internal Revenue Service, including amounts for tax law enforcement, earned income tax credit compliance and error reduction initiatives, and information systems and telecommunications support; and (16) the Secret Service, including an amount for construction and improvement of facilities. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, such funds. (Sec. 120) Amends Federal law to extend the Treasury Franchise Fund until October 1, 2002. Title II: Postal Service - Postal Service Appropriations Act, 2001 - Makes appropriations for payments to the Postal Service Fund for revenue foregone on free and reduced rate mail. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, such funds. Title III: Executive Office of the President and Funds Appropriated to the President - Executive Office Appropriations Act, 2001 - Makes appropriations for: (1) compensation of the President and the White House office; (2) operating, maintenance, and reimbursable expenses of the Executive Residence at the White House; (3) White House repair and restoration; (4) special assistance to the President and the official residence of the Vice President; (5) the Council of Economic Advisers; (6) the Office of Policy Development; (7) the National Security Council; (8) the Office of Administration; (9) the Office of Management and Budget (OMB); (10) the Office of National Drug Control Policy; (11) the Counterdrug Technology Assessment Center; and (12) Federal drug control programs, including amounts for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program and for a national anti-drug campaign for youth. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, such funds. Title IV: Independent Agencies - Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001 - Makes appropriations for the: (1) Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled; (2) Federal Election Commission; (3) Federal Labor Relations Authority; (4) General Services Administration (GSA), including amounts for the Federal Buildings Fund, Government-wide policy and operations, Office of Inspector General, and allowances and office staff for former Presidents; and (5) carrying out the Presidential Transition Act of 1963. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, such funds. (Sec. 408) Amends the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2000 to extend to April 30, 2002, the date through which the GSA Administrator is authorized to offer voluntary separation incentives to specified employees to provide for the closing of the Federal Supply Service distribution centers, forward supply points, and associated programs. (Sec. 409) Designates the Federal building and courthouse located at 102 North 4th Street in Grand Forks, North Dakota, as the Ronald N. Davies Federal Building and United States Courthouse. (Sec. 411) Designates the U.S. bankruptcy courthouse at 1100 Laurel Street in Columbia, South Carolina, as the J. Bratton Davis United States Bankruptcy Courthouse. (Sec. 412) Designates the U.S. Courthouse Annex located at 901 19th Street in Denver, Colorado, as the Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse Annex. (Sec. 413) Designates the dormitory building currently being constructed on the Core Campus of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia, as the Paul Coverdell Dormitory. Makes appropriations for: (1) the Merit Systems Protection Board; (2) the Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation; (3) the Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund to carry out activities authorized in the Environmental Policy and Conflict Resolution Act of 1998; (4) the National Archives and Records Administration, including amounts for repairs and restoration of archives; (5) the National Historical Publications and Records Commission; (6) the Office of Government Ethics; (7) the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), including an amount for the Office of Inspector General; (8) Government contributions for health and life insurance benefits for annuitants; (9) the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund; (8) the Office of Special Counsel; and (9) the U.S. Tax Court. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, such funds. Title V: General Provisions - Sets forth authorized and prohibited uses of funds made available under this Act. (Sec. 506) Sets forth Buy American provisions. (Sec. 509) Prohibits funds appropriated by this Act from being available for an abortion or the administrative expenses of any Federal employee health plan which provides benefits for abortions. Makes such prohibition inapplicable if the mother's life would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term or in cases of rape or incest. (Sec. 514) Directs the Archivist of the United States to transfer certain Federal land located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to the Gerald R. Ford Foundation in trust for the purpose of supporting the facilities and programs of the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids and the Gerald R. Ford Library in Ann Arbor. (Sec. 515) Requires the Director of OMB to issue guidelines under the Paperwork Reduction Act that provide policy and procedural guidance to Federal agencies for ensuring and maximizing the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information disseminated by agencies in fulfillment of such Act. (Sec. 517) Prohibits the use of funds appropriated by this Act to propose or issue rules or orders for implementing the Kyoto Protocol. (Sec. 518) Requires the Director of OMB to submit a report to specified congressional committees that: (1) evaluates, for each agency, the extent to which Federal accounting and collection provisions, as amended by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, have reduced burdens imposed by rules issued by the agency; and (2) includes a determination of the need for additional procedures to ensure achievement of such provisions' purposes, evaluates the burden imposed by each major rule that imposes more than 10 million hours of burden, and identifies specific reductions expected to be achieved in FY 2001 and 2002 in the burden imposed by all rules issued by each agency that issued such a major rule. Title VI: General Provisions - Sets forth authorized and prohibited uses of funds appropriated for Federal departments, agencies, and corporations. (Sec. 619) Bars the use of funds made available for the Customs Service in this Act to allow the importation of any good produced or manufactured by forced or indentured child labor. (Sec. 624) Requires the OMB Director to report to Congress: (1) estimates of annual costs and benefits of Federal rules and paperwork; (2) impacts of Federal regulation on State, local, and tribal government, small business, wages, and economic growth; and (3) recommendations for reform. Requires the Director to issue guidelines to agencies to standardize measures of costs and benefits and the format of accounting statements. (Sec. 630) Bars the use of funds appropriated by this Act to enter into or renew a contract which includes a provision providing prescription drug coverage, except where the contract also includes a provision for contraceptive coverage. Makes exceptions to such prohibition for religious health plans. (Sec. 633) Authorizes the use of appropriated funds by executive agencies to provide child care services for Federal civilian employees. (Sec. 634) Authorizes a woman to breastfeed her child on Federal property if the woman and child are otherwise authorized to be present at the location. (Sec. 636) Authorizes qualified Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) police officers, upon written election, to be treated as law enforcement officers for purposes of Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) or Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) provisions and to have prior service similarly treated. Defines a "qualified MWAA police officer" as any individual who is currently so employed and is subject to CSRS or FERS by virtue of Federal transportation provisions governing certain Federal employees who transferred to the MWAA. Describes prior service as service as an MWAA or Federal Aviation Administration police officer prior to the effective date of such election. (Sec. 637) Authorizes the President's pay agent, for purposes of determining appropriate pay localities and making comparability payment recommendations, to make comparisons of General Schedule (GS) and non-Federal pay within metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) within the continental United States that have a high level of nonfarm employment and at least 2,500 GS employees using data from Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) surveys and salary data sets from any entity that regularly compiles similar data for businesses in the private sector. Permits the pay agent to make further determinations or recommendations based on such comparisons for purposes of payments becoming payable between January 1, 2002, and 2007, respectively. Requires the pay agent, based on such comparisons, to determine whether any of the five MSAs with the highest levels of nonfarm employment that have not been previously surveyed by the BLS as discrete pay localities for purposes of provisions governing locality-based comparability payments for Federal employees warrants designation as a discrete pay locality and if so, make recommendations as to the level of payments appropriate during 2002. Requires any MSA that warrants such designation to be designated as a discrete pay locality in time for 2002 comparability payments. Directs the pay agent to report to specified congressional committees on the ongoing efforts of OPM, OMB, and the BLS to revise the methodology currently used by the BLS in performing surveys related to comparability payments. (Sec. 639) Amends Federal civil service provisions to require the removal from employment of Federal law enforcement officers convicted of felonies. (Sec. 643) Amends the Treasury, Postal Service and General Government Appropriations Act, 1988 to require all existing and newly hired workers in any child care center located in an executive facility to undergo a criminal history background check. Defines an "executive facility" as a facility owned or leased by an office or entity within the executive branch (including one owned or leased by the GSA on behalf of an office or entity within the judicial branch). (Sec. 645) Amends Federal civil service provisions to set forth provisions regarding pay for certain administrative appeals judges. (Sec. 646) Requires the Inspector General of each agency to report to Congress any agency activity related to: (1) the collection or review of singular data, or the creation of aggregate lists that include personally identifiable information about individuals who access any Internet site of the agency; and (2) entering into agreements with third parties to collect, review, or obtain such lists or data relating to any individual's access or viewing habits for governmental and nongovernmental Internet sites.

8 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the recent figures produced by Simon Outreach in conjunction with Focus Ireland and Dublin Corporation which showed an increase of 60% in the number of people sleeping rough in Dublin city centre over the past three years; the steps he will take to deal with the growing crisis of homelessness in Dublin and in other major urban centres; his plans to provide emergency housing for the homeless over the Christmas 2000 period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29428/00]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 12 December 2000

8 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the recent figures produced by Simon Outreach in conjunction with Focus Ireland and Dublin Corporation which showed an increase of 60% in the number of people sleeping rough in Dublin city centre over the past three years; the steps he will take to deal with the growing crisis of homelessness in Dublin and in other major urban centres; his plans to provide emergency housing for the homeless over the Christmas 2000 period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29428/00]

7 Mr Yates asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he has carried out any assessment on the reduced construction activity and the supply of private rented accommodation and the withdrawal of investment from that sector, arising from the implementation of the third Bacon report; if his attention has been drawn to the prediction of a further 20% increase in rents because of the scarcity of private rented accommodation; if he will ensure that the recommendations of the Commission on the Private Rented Accommodation Sector in regard to investment will be reviewed; and the steps he will take to increase compliance in the sector regarding the registration of all private rented property. [29227/00]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 12 December 2000

7 Mr Yates asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he has carried out any assessment on the reduced construction activity and the supply of private rented accommodation and the withdrawal of investment from that sector, arising from the implementation of the third Bacon report; if his attention has been drawn to the prediction of a further 20% increase in rents because of the scarcity of private rented accommodation; if he will ensure that the recommendations of the Commission on the Private Rented Accommodation Sector in regard to investment will be reviewed; and the steps he will take to increase compliance in the sector regarding the registration of all private rented property. [29227/00]

Katastrophenfondsgesetz und Verfütterung von tierischem Protein

Austria · National Council · 11 December 2000

Bericht des Budgetausschusses über den Antrag 346/A der Abgeordneten Georg Schwarzenberger, Anna Elisabeth Achatz, Kolleginnen und Kollegen betreffend ein Bundesgesetz, mit dem das Katastrophenfondsgesetz geändert wird und ein Bundesgesetz zur Umsetzung der Entscheidung des Rates über Schutzmaßnahmen in Bezug auf die transmissiblen spongiformen Enzephalopathien und die Verfütterung von tierischem Protein vom 4. Dezember 2000 erlassen wird

Communication from the Commission to the Council - Community objectives for the 33rd Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and ICAO Council decisions prior to this Assembly in the field of environmental protection

European Union · European Commission · 11 December 2000

To declare certain Federal lands in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as excess, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 8 December 2000

Amends the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 to revise requirements relating to Navy activities on the Island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, to direct the Secretary of the Navy to: (1) report to the General Services Administration (GSA) as excess lands for disposal all lands on the eastern side of the Island, with the exception of all Department of Defense real properties identified as conservation zones, the Live Impact Area, and any other real properties that the Secretary of the Interior identifies as necessary for the management of these areas; and (2) transfer such zones, Area, and any such other properties to such Secretary. Requires DOD to conduct all environmental response actions on such transferred lands, properties, and excess lands. States that neither the Department of the Interior nor GSA shall be liable for environmental contamination, including unexploded ordnance, that is present at the time such properties are transferred or reported as excess, including contamination resulting from DOD activities that is discovered after transfer or subsequent conveyance. Makes the Secretary of Defense exclusively responsible for funding and implementing any necessary response actions (including operation and maintenance) to address environmental contamination resulting from DOD's presence or which is present at the time of any such conveyance, including contamination subsequently discovered, unless such contamination was caused by the Interior Department.

6. Weltklimakonferenz - Chancen für mehr Klimaschutz (G-SIG: 14001534)

Germany · German Bundestag · 7 December 2000

Vertagung der Konferenz trotz Fortschritten in Einzelheiten, Anrechnung von Senkenaktivitäten auf Emissionswerte, Haltung der Umbrella-Gruppe, keine Anrechnung von Atomprojekten auf Klimaschutzaktivitäten, Inkrafttreten des Kioto-Protokolls, Konsens beim Umweltschutz

tier- und naturzerstörerischen "Jetbootebetrieb" auf österreichischen Flüssen

Austria · National Council · 6 December 2000

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Dr. Günther Kräuter, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft betreffend tier- und naturzerstörerischen "Jetbootebetrieb" auf österreichischen Flüssen

Bundesfinanzgesetz 2001

Austria · National Council · 6 December 2000

Bundesfinanzgesetz 2001

Austria · National Council · 6 December 2000

proposition de loi relative à l'assistance maritime et à la protection de l'environnement

France · Senate · 6 December 2000

FUEL DUTY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

United Kingdom · UK Parliament · 6 December 2000

That this House welcomes the Government's commitment to reform the tax system to increase incentives to reduce environmental damage; recognises the important role that the fuel duty has played in meeting this commitment; welcomes the Chancellor's proposals to reduce the environmental impact of hauliers and establish a green fuel challenge fund; recognises that some motorists are finding it hard to cope with the increased cost of fuel; and urges the Government to continue reforming the fiscal system in order to encourage fuel efficiency, promote the use of alternative cleaner fuels and hasten the shift towards zero-emission fuels by means, for example, of further reducing vehicle excise duty for the most fuel efficient cars, substantially increasing research and development grants into fuel cell technology, increasing financial incentives for motorists and hauliers to buy vehicles powered by liquid petroleum gas and introducing measures to increase the availability and use of bio-diesel.

Katastrophenfondsgesetz, Änderung; Umsetzung der Entscheidung des Rates über Schutzmaßnahmen in Bezug auf die transmissiblen spongiformen Enzephalopathien und die Verfütterung von tierischem Protein

Austria · National Council · 5 December 2000

Antrag der Abgeordneten Georg Schwarzenberger, Anna Elisabeth Achatz, Kolleginnen und Kollegen betreffend ein Bundesgesetz, mit dem das Katastrophenfondsgesetz geändert wird und ein Bundesgesetz zur Umsetzung der Entscheidung des Rates über Schutzmaßnahmen in Bezug auf die transmissiblen spongiformen Enzephalopathien und die Verfütterung von tierischem Protein vom 4.12.2000 erlassen wird

Ausgliederung der veterinärmedizinischen Untersuchungsanstalten des Bundes

Austria · National Council · 5 December 2000

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Dr. Gabriela Moser, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft betreffend Ausgliederung der veterinärmedizinischen Untersuchungsanstalten des Bundes

Ausgliederung der veterinärmedizinischen Untersuchungsanstalten des Bundes

Austria · National Council · 5 December 2000

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Dr. Gabriela Moser, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für soziale Sicherheit und Generationen betreffend Ausgliederung der veterinärmedizinischen Untersuchungsanstalten des Bundes

41 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the discussions he has had with the Department of the Environment and Local Government on the difficulties posed to participants in the REP scheme by the adoption of environmental by-laws by local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23256/00]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 5 December 2000

41 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the discussions he has had with the Department of the Environment and Local Government on the difficulties posed to participants in the REP scheme by the adoption of environmental by-laws by local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23256/00]

41 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the discussions he has had with the Department of the Environment and Local Government on the difficulties posed to participants in the REP scheme by the adoption of environmental by-laws by local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23256/00]

Ireland · Dáil Éireann · 5 December 2000

41 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the discussions he has had with the Department of the Environment and Local Government on the difficulties posed to participants in the REP scheme by the adoption of environmental by-laws by local authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23256/00]

American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 5 December 2000

American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act of 2000 - Title I: Removal of Barriers to Housing Affordability - Housing Affordability Barrier Removal Act of 2000 - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to authorize FY 2001 through 2005 appropriations for (consolidated) State and local grants for regulatory barrier removal. Makes consortia of local governments eligible grantees. Requires grant use in coordination with the local comprehensive affordability strategy under the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act. (Sec. 103) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to state that the regulatory barriers clearinghouse shall be established within the Office of Policy Development of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under the direction of the Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research. Title II: Homeownership for Working Families - Authorizes the Secretary to insure refinancing of home equity conversions for elderly home owners. Provides for: (1) specified transaction disclosures; (2) waiver of counseling under specified conditions; (3) fee limitations; (4) single premium reduction; and (5) an actuarial study to determine insurance premium adequacy. Includes housing cooperatives in the demonstration program of insurance of home equity conversion mortgages for elderly home owners. Directs the Secretary to waive up-front premiums for mortgages used for costs of long-term care insurance or health care. (Sec. 202) Amends the Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act of 1996 to authorize FY 2001 appropriations for self-help housing providers. Makes certain nongrant fund advances by an organization eligible for reimbursement. Revises fund recapture provisions. Title III: Section 8 Homeownership Option - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to provide a single grant home ownership downpayment option (in lieu of monthly payments) under the section 8 housing assistance program. (Sec. 302) Authorizes a public housing agency providing tenant-based section 8 housing assistance to provide assistance for a qualifying disabled family that purchases a home which will be owned and occupied by one or more members of such family. Sets forth program provisions. (Sec. 303) Authorizes FY 2001 appropriations (with a 50 percent matching requirement) for home ownership programs under the section 8 home ownership demonstration program. Title IV: Private Mortgage Insurance Cancellation and Termination - Private Mortgage Insurance Technical Corrections and Clarification Act - Amends the Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 with respect to the definition of "cancellation date" to replace "amortization schedules" with, and define, "amortization schedule then in effect" for purposes of adjustable rate mortgages. Includes balloon mortgages within the definition of "adjustable rate mortgages." States that if a residential mortgage loan is modified (with mortgagor-mortgagee agreement) the cancellation date, termination date, or final agreement shall be recalculated to reflect such modifications. (Sec. 404) Extends mortgage insurance cancellation rights beyond the cancellation date for a qualifying borrower who is current on required payments. (Sec. 405) Revises the automatic termination date with respect to a mortgagor who is not current on payments as of the mortgage termination date. States that the cancellation or termination of private mortgage insurance shall not affect the rights of any mortgagee, servicer, or insurer to enforce any accrued obligation for premium payments. (Sec. 406) Revises and defines specified terms. Title V: Native American Homeownership - Subtitle A: Native American Housing - Establishes the Lands Title Report Commission to facilitate home loan mortgages on Indian trust lands. Terminates the Commission one year after its initial meeting. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 502) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to make permanent the Indian housing loan guarantee authority. (Sec. 503) Amends the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 to: (1) restrict the Secretary's authority to waive housing plan requirements to not more than 90 days; (2) permit the Secretary to waive local cooperation requirements upon a good faith showing and agreement to make certain payments in lieu of taxes; (3) permit assistance to Indian families that are not low-income upon a showing of need; (4) eliminate separate housing plan requirements for small tribes; (5) permit the Secretary to waive certain environmental review requirements under specified conditions; (6) permit reservation housing assistance for specified full-time Federal, State, county, or tribal law enforcement officers; (7) revise audit, review, and hearing provisions; (8) prescribe a funding formula for housing authorities operating fewer than 250 units based on an average of FY 1992 through 1997 allocations; and (9) repeal the requirement regarding the certification of compliance with subsidy layering requirements. Subtitle B: Native Hawaiian Housing - Hawaiian Homelands Homeownership Act of 2000 - Amends the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 to add a new Title VIII, Housing Assistance for Native Hawaiians. Directs the Secretary to make block grants to carry out affordable housing activities for Native Hawaiian families on or near Hawaiian Home Lands. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (defined as the agency or department of Hawaii responsible for administration of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920) only if the Director of the Department has submitted a housing plan that meets requirements under this Act, unless otherwise waived by the Secretary. Sets forth plan terms, conditions, and requirements, including a condition that, to the extent practicable, the Department use private nonprofit organizations in the planning and development of such housing. Provides for plan review by the Secretary. Sets forth provisions regarding the treatment of program income, project labor standards, and environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Limits assistance for affordable housing activities under the program to low-income Native Hawaiian families, with specified exceptions for: (1) certain home ownership activities; and (2) assistance to non-Native Hawaiians if the presence of the family in the housing involved is essential to the well-being of Native Hawaiian families and the housing need cannot be met without assistance. Describes eligible affordable housing activities. Sets forth program requirements, including the development of policies governing rents, home buyer payments, eligibility, management, leases, and tenant selection. Sets the maximum monthly rent or home buyer payment at 30 percent of the monthly adjusted family income. Directs the Secretary, in instances of substantial Department noncompliance, to terminate, reduce, or limit payments. Authorizes the Secretary, in addition to such actions, to refer the matter to the Attorney General for civil action. Sets forth review, auditing, and reporting requirements for the Secretary and the Director. Provides for discretionary audits by the Comptroller General. Authorizes appropriations through FY 2005. (Sec. 514) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to authorize the Secretary to guarantee up to $100 million in loans from approved lenders in each of FY 2001 through 2005 to provide access to sources of private financing to Native Hawaiian families who could otherwise not acquire housing financing because of the unique legal status of the Hawaiian Home Lands or as a result of a lack of access to private financial markets. Authorizes loan guarantees of up to 100 percent of unpaid interest and principal. Provides that a loan will be used to construct, acquire, or rehabilitate not more than four-family dwellings that are standard housing and located on Hawaiian Home Lands for which an approved housing plan to provide affordable home ownership housing applies. Sets forth eligible lender categories. Limits loans to 30-year terms. Permits the Secretary to guarantee a loan only upon determining that there is a reasonable prospect of repayment. Establishes a loan guarantee fee. Authorizes loan transfer and assumption, subject to governmental supervision. Provides for lender disqualification for specified violations, and civil monetary penalties for intentional violations. Establishes a Hawaiian Housing Guarantee Fund for the purpose of providing loan guarantees under this Act. Authorizes appropriations through FY 2005. Directs the Secretary to establish safety and quality standards for housing financed under these provisions. Title VI: Manufactured Housing Improvement - Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 - Amends the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 to define specified terms. (Sec. 604) Directs the Secretary to establish manufactured home construction and safety standards in accordance with the consensus standards development process (provided for by this Act). Directs the Secretary to contract with: (1) a temporary administering organization to appoint the initial members of the consensus committee and administer the consensus standards development and related procedural and enforcement processes; and (2) a subsequent administering organization for the development of Federal standards and related procedural and enforcement regulations. Establishes the consensus committee which shall provide the Secretary with periodic recommendations respecting Federal manufactured housing construction and safety standards and related procedural and enforcement regulations. States that committee members shall represent producer, consumer, and general interest and public official interests. Sets forth related administrative provisions. (Sec. 605) Eliminates the National Manufactured Home Advisory Council. Requires manufacturers to provide approved design and installation instructions with each manufactured home. Requires, within specified deadlines: (1) the consensus committee to develop and submit to the Secretary proposed model manufactured home installation standards; and (2) the Secretary to develop model standards. Requires an opportunity for public comment prior to such standards' issuance. Prohibits a State or manufacturer, during the five-year period beginning with the enactment of this Act, from establishing manufactured home installation standards that provide less protection than existing standards. Directs the Secretary, not later than the expiration of such five-year period, to implement in a State that has not adopted a similar program a program which provides for: (1) installation standards and designs and instructions that meet or exceed model standards; (2) installer training and licensing; and (3) installation inspection. (Sec. 606) Directs the Secretary to submit cost information to the consensus committee. (Sec. 607) Includes among research and testing activities: (1) encouraging government-sponsored housing entities to implement secondary market securitization programs for manufactured home loans; and (2) reviewing the programs for Federal Housing Administration manufactured home loans. (Sec. 608) Makes it a prohibited act to fail to comply with the Secretary's installation standards in any State that has not adopted a State installation program. (Sec.609) Authorizes the Secretary to collect manufacturer fees, and sets forth their permitted and prohibited uses. Establishes in the Treasury a Manufactured Housing Fees Trust Fund. Requires inspection and monitoring work to be carried out by independent contractors.. Requires the Secretary to continue funding States with approved plans at levels not less than those existing immediately prior to enactment of this Act. (Sec. 610) Directs the Secretary to establish a dispute resolution program within five years of the enactment of this Act. (Sec. 611) Eliminates the manufactured housing annual reporting requirement. (Sec. 612) Sets forth effective date provisions. (Sec. 613) Sets forth savings provisions, including certain contract duration provisions. Title VII: Rural Housing Ownership - Amends the Housing Act of 1949 to direct the Secretary to provide guarantees for rural housing loan refinancing. (Sec. 702) Increases from $2,500 to $7,500 the amount of a rural housing repair loan that needs to be evidenced only by a promissory note. (Sec. 703) Makes limited partnerships eligible for farm labor housing loans. (Sec. 704) Sets forth project accounting and recordkeeping requirements. (Sec. 705) Extends the rural designation of certain areas until the 2010 census. (Sec. 707) Makes Indian tribes (as defined by this Act) eligible for the multifamily rental housing loan guarantee program. (Sec. 708) Establishes civil and criminal penalties for rural housing program equity skimming. Authorizes the Secretary to impose civil monetary penalties and prohibit renewal or extension of loan or assistance agreements for program violations. (Sec. 709) Amends Federal criminal law to include such equity skimming under money laundering provisions. Title VIII: Housing for Elderly and Disabled Families - Affordable Housing for Seniors and Families Act - Subtitle A: Refinancing for Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly - Directs the Secretary: (1) to approve prepayment of indebtedness, including refinancing under specified conditions, provided the project sponsor continues to operate the project on terms at least as advantageous to tenants as required under the original agreement; and (2) upon refinancing, to use at least 50 percent of the resultant savings in a manner that is advantageous to the tenants. Subtitle B: Authorization of Appropriations for Supportive Housing for the Elderly and Persons With Disabilities - Amends the Housing Act of 1959 to authorize FY 2001 through 2003 appropriations for supportive housing for the elderly. (Sec. 822) Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to authorize FY 2001 through 2003 appropriations for supportive housing for persons with disabilities. (Sec. 823) Authorizes FY 2001 through 2003 appropriations for: (1) grants for service coordinators for elderly and disabled residents of certain federally assisted multifamily housing; and (2) contracts for congregate services for certain federally assisted housing. Subtitle C: Expanding Public Housing Opportunities for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities - Part 1: Housing for the Elderly - Amends the Housing Act of 1959, with respect to supportive services for the elderly, to make for-profit limited partnerships eligible program participants. (Sec. 832) Permits owners to use mixed funding sources for amenities and other design features. (Sec. 833) Expands acquisition authority. (Sec. 834) Authorizes project reserves to be used to reduce the number of dwelling units by retrofitting unmarketable units. (Sec. 835) States that no provision of law shall be construed to prohibit commercial operations in a project location that benefits project residents. Part 2: Housing for Persons with Disabilities - Amends the Housing Act of 1959 to make certain for-profit limited partnerships eligible recipients under the supportive housing for persons with disabilities program. (Sec. 842) Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act with respect to the supportive housing for persons with disabilities program to permit owners to use mixed funding sources for amenities and other design features. (Sec. 843) Provides that tenant-based assistance may be provided through a qualifying public housing agency or a private nonprofit organization. Limits tenant-based assistance to 25 percent of fiscal year program assistance. (Sec. 844) Authorizes project reserves to be used to reduce the number of dwelling units by retrofitting unmarketable units. (Sec. 845) States that no provision of law shall be construed to prohibit commercial operations in a project location that benefits project residents. Part 3: Other Provisions - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to permit service coordinator services to be provided to low-income or elderly persons living in the vicinity of specified federally assisted housing. Includes telemarketing fraud protection among the services provided to elderly residents of federally assisted housing and under the supportive housing program. Directs the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to establish related service coordinator guidelines. Subtitle D: Preservation of Affordable Stock - Amends the National Housing Act, as amended by the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, respecting rental and cooperative housing for lower- income families, to eliminate certain restrictions on owner retention of excess charges, including retention and use of certain previously collected excess charges. Title IX: Other Related Housing Provisions - Amends the National Housing Act to extend the insurance-eligible loan term for manufactured home lots to 20 years and 32 days. (Sec. 902) Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended by the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, respecting enhanced section 8 voucher assistance, to: (1) include within the definition of "eligibility event" any termination or expiration of a contract for rental assistance during any fiscal year after 1994; and (2) provide that a maximum payment adversely affecting assisted families shall not be considered reasonable. (Sec. 904) Permits section 8 assistance to "grand-families." Title X: Federal Reserve Board Provisions - Amends the Federal Reserve Act to authorize the Board to acquire sites or property. (Sec. 1002) Revises the positions of Board members on the Executive Schedule (increasing their salary levels). (Sec. 1003) Revises Federal Reserve System semi-annual reporting requirements. Title XI: Banking and Housing Agency Reports - Federal Reporting Act of 2000 - Makes a specified provision of the Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995 (reporting requirements included on a list prepared by the Clerk of the House of Representatives for the first session of the 103rd Congress) inapplicable to certain monetary policy, banking, and housing reporting requirements under specified Acts (Sec. 1103) Sets forth specified report coordination requirements respecting: (1) the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; (2) the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; (3) the Comptroller of the Treasury; (4) the Export-Import Bank; (5) the Department of Housing and Urban Development; and (6) the Federal Housing Administration. (Sec. 1104) Amends the: (1) Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to eliminate certain activity and fiscal authority reporting requirements of the Export-Import Bank; and (2) Federal Deposit Insurance Act to eliminate the requirement for a semiannual report on activities and efforts of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Title XII: Financial Regulatory Relief - Financial Regulatory Relief and Economic Efficiency Act of 2000 - Subtitle A: Improving Monetary Policy and Financial Institution Management Practices - Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act (HOLA) to: (1) repeal savings association liquid asset requirements; and (2) permit a savings and loan holding company, with the prior approval by the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision, to acquire more than five percent of the voting shares of a non-subsidiary savings association or non-subsidiary savings and loan holding company. (Sec. 1203) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to repeal deposit broker notification and recordkeeping requirements. (Sec. 1204) Amends the National Bank Consolidation and Merger Act to prescribe expedited procedures permitting a national bank to: (1) reorganize as either a bank holding company, or as a bank holding company subsidiary; or (2) merge with subsidiaries or nonbank affiliates. (Sec. 1205) Amends Federal banking law to increase from one year to three years the term of the national bank director. Amends the Banking Act of 1933 to authorize the Comptroller of the Currency to exempt a national banking association from the 25-member limit on the number of members of an association's governing body. (Sec. 1207) Amends Federal banking law and the FDIA to: (1) repeal the mandate that the purchase or acquisition by a national banking association or depository institution of its own capital stock to prevent loss upon a previously contracted debt be disposed of within six months from the time of purchase; and (2) provide that if an institution acquires its own stock to prevent loss upon a debt previously contracted for in good faith, such transaction shall not be deemed to be a loan or discount on the security of its own capital stock. (Sec. 1208) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 to increase from 90 percent to 100 percent of fair market value the permissible valuation of readily marketable purchased mortgage servicing rights that may be included in calculating an insured depository institution's tangible capital, risk-based capital, or leverage limit, if the Federal regulatory agencies jointly find that such an increase will not adversely affect the deposit insurance funds or the safety and soundness of insured depository institutions. Subtitle B: Streamlining Activities of Institutions - Requires that Federal banking agencies work jointly to develop: (1) electronic filing and public dissemination of depository institution status reports (call reports); and (2) uniform formats and simplified filing instructions for such reports. Subtitle C: Streamlining Agency Actions - Amends the FDIA to: (1) repeal the mandate that Federal banking agencies develop jointly a method for supplemental disclosures in required Federal filings of the estimated fair market value of depository institution assets and liabilities; (2) authorize the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to establish the interest rate for or make post-insolvency interest payments to creditors' claims against the receivership estates of insured Federal or State depository institutions following satisfaction by the receiver of the principal amount of all creditor claims; and (3) mandate that Federal banking agencies jointly submit an annual report to certain congressional banking committees regarding differences in accounting and capital standards used by such agencies (currently such reports must be filed by the agencies individually). (Sec. 1224) Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to extend the deadline for the Finance Board's issuance of regulations respecting Federal home loan bank capital standards. Subtitle D: Technical Corrections - Makes technical corrections to related Acts. (Sec. 1233) Amends Federal banking law to: (1) authorize the Comptroller of the Currency to waive the citizenship requirement for a minority of the total number of directors sitting on the board of a national bank; (2) declare it is unlawful for the Comptroller to hold an interest in any national bank; and (3) repeal specified capital and surplus requirements for national banking associations. (Sec. 1234) Amends the International Bank Act of 1978 to modify examination requirements pertaining to establishment and operation by a foreign bank of Federal branches and agencies.

American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 5 December 2000

American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act of 2000 - Title I: Removal of Barriers to Housing Affordability - Housing Affordability Barrier Removal Act of 2000 - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to authorize FY 2001 through 2005 appropriations for (consolidated) State and local grants for regulatory barrier removal. Makes consortia of local governments eligible grantees. Requires grant use in coordination with the local comprehensive Afford ability strategy under the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act. (Sec. 103) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to state that the regulatory barriers clearinghouse shall be established within the Office of Policy Development of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under the direction of the Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research. Title II: Homeownership for Working Families - Authorizes the Secretary to insure refinancing of home equity conversions for elderly home owners. Provides for: (1) specified transaction disclosures; (2) waiver of counseling under specified conditions; (3) fee limitations; (4) single premium reduction; and (5) an actuarial study to determine insurance premium adequacy. Includes housing cooperatives in the demonstration program of insurance of home equity conversion mortgages for elderly home owners. Directs the Secretary to waive up-front premiums for mortgages used for costs of long-term care insurance or health care. (Sec. 202) Amends the Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act of 1996 to authorize FY 2001 appropriations for self-help housing providers. Makes certain nongrant fund advances by an organization eligible for reimbursement. Revises fund recapture provisions. Title III: Section 8 Homeownership Option - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to provide a single grant home ownership downpayment option (in lieu of monthly payments) under the section 8 housing assistance program. (Sec. 302) Authorizes a public housing agency providing tenant-based section 8 housing assistance to provide assistance for a qualifying disabled family that purchases a home which will be owned and occupied by one or more members of such family. Sets forth program provisions. (Sec. 303) Authorizes FY 2001 appropriations (with a 50 percent matching requirement) for home ownership programs under the section 8 home ownership demonstration program. Title IV: Private Mortgage Insurance Cancellation and Termination - Private Mortgage Insurance Technical Corrections and Clarification Act - Amends the Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 with respect to the definition of "cancellation date" to replace "amortization schedules" with, and define, "amortization schedule then in effect" for purposes of adjustable rate mortgages. Includes balloon mortgages within the definition of "adjustable rate mortgages." States that if a residential mortgage loan is modified (with mortgagor-mortgagee agreement) the cancellation date, termination date, or final agreement shall be recalculated to reflect such modifications. (Sec. 404) Extends mortgage insurance cancellation rights beyond the cancellation date for a qualifying borrower who is current on required payments. (Sec. 405) Revises the automatic termination date with respect to a mortgagor who is not current on payments as of the mortgage termination date. States that the cancellation or termination of private mortgage insurance shall not affect the rights of any mortgagee, servicer, or insurer to enforce any accrued obligation for premium payments. (Sec. 406) Revises and defines specified terms. Title V: Native American Homeownership - Subtitle A: Native American Housing - Establishes the Lands Title Report Commission to facilitate home loan mortgages on Indian trust lands. Terminates the Commission one year after its initial meeting. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 502) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to make permanent the Indian housing loan guarantee authority. (Sec. 503) Amends the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 to: (1) restrict the Secretary's authority to waive housing plan requirements to not more than 90 days; (2) permit the Secretary to waive local cooperation requirements upon a good faith showing and agreement to make certain payments in lieu of taxes; (3) permit assistance to Indian families that are not low-income upon a showing of need; (4) eliminate separate housing plan requirements for small tribes; (5) permit the Secretary to waive certain environmental review requirements under specified conditions; (6) permit reservation housing assistance for specified full-time Federal, State, county, or tribal law enforcement officers; (7) revise audit, review, and hearing provisions; (8) prescribe a funding formula for housing authorities operating fewer than 250 units based on an average of FY 1992 through 1997 allocations; and (9) repeal the requirement regarding the certification of compliance with subsidy layering requirements. Subtitle B: Native Hawaiian Housing - Hawaiian Homelands Homeownership Act of 2000 - Amends the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 to add a new Title VIII, Housing Assistance for Native Hawaiians. Directs the Secretary to make block grants to carry out affordable housing activities for Native Hawaiian families on or near Hawaiian Home Lands. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (defined as the agency or department of Hawaii responsible for administration of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920) only if the Director of the Department has submitted a housing plan that meets requirements under this Act, unless otherwise waived by the Secretary. Sets forth plan terms, conditions, and requirements, including a condition that, to the extent practicable, the Department use private nonprofit organizations in the planning and development of such housing. Provides for plan review by the Secretary. Sets forth provisions regarding the treatment of program income, project labor standards, and environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Limits assistance for affordable housing activities under the program to low-income Native Hawaiian families, with specified exceptions for: (1) certain home ownership activities; and (2) assistance to non-Native Hawaiians if the presence of the family in the housing involved is essential to the well-being of Native Hawaiian families and the housing need cannot be met without assistance. Describes eligible affordable housing activities. Sets forth program requirements, including the development of policies governing rents, home buyer payments, eligibility, management, leases, and tenant selection. Sets the maximum monthly rent or home buyer payment at 30 percent of the monthly adjusted family income. Directs the Secretary, in instances of substantial Department noncompliance, to terminate, reduce, or limit payments. Authorizes the Secretary, in addition to such actions, to refer the matter to the Attorney General for civil action. Sets forth review, auditing, and reporting requirements for the Secretary and the Director. Provides for discretionary audits by the Comptroller General. Authorizes appropriations through FY 2005. (Sec. 514) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to authorize the Secretary to guarantee up to $100 million in loans from approved lenders in each of FY 2001 through 2005 to provide access to sources of private financing to Native Hawaiian families who could otherwise not acquire housing financing because of the unique legal status of the Hawaiian Home Lands or as a result of a lack of access to private financial markets. Authorizes loan guarantees of up to 100 percent of unpaid interest and principal. Provides that a loan will be used to construct, acquire, or rehabilitate not more than four-family dwellings that are standard housing and located on Hawaiian Home Lands for which an approved housing plan to provide affordable home ownership housing applies. Sets forth eligible lender categories. Limits loans to 30-year terms. Permits the Secretary to guarantee a loan only upon determining that there is a reasonable prospect of repayment. Establishes a loan guarantee fee. Authorizes loan transfer and assumption, subject to governmental supervision. Provides for lender disqualification for specified violations, and civil monetary penalties for intentional violations. Establishes a Hawaiian Housing Guarantee Fund for the purpose of providing loan guarantees under this Act. Authorizes appropriations through FY 2005. Directs the Secretary to establish safety and quality standards for housing financed under these provisions. Title VI: Manufactured Housing Improvement - Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 - Amends the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 to define specified terms. (Sec. 604) Directs the Secretary to establish manufactured home construction and safety standards in accordance with the consensus standards development process (provided for by this Act). Directs the Secretary to contract with: (1) a temporary administering organization to appoint the initial members of the consensus committee and administer the consensus standards development and related procedural and enforcement processes; and (2) a subsequent administering organization for the development of Federal standards and related procedural and enforcement regulations. Establishes the consensus committee which shall provide the Secretary with periodic recommendations respecting Federal manufactured housing construction and safety standards and related procedural and enforcement regulations. States that committee members shall represent producer, consumer, and general interest and public official interests. Sets forth related administrative provisions. (Sec. 605) Eliminates the National Manufactured Home Advisory Council. Requires manufacturers to provide approved design and installation instructions with each manufactured home. Requires, within specified deadlines: (1) the consensus committee to develop and submit to the Secretary proposed model manufactured home installation standards; and (2) the Secretary to develop model standards. Requires an opportunity for public comment prior to such standards' issuance. Prohibits a State or manufacturer, during the five-year period beginning with the enactment of this Act, from establishing manufactured home installation standards that provide less protection than existing standards. Directs the Secretary, not later than the expiration of such five-year period, to implement in a State that has not adopted a similar program a program which provides for: (1) installation standards and designs and instructions that meet or exceed model standards; (2) installer training and licensing; and (3) installation inspection. (Sec. 606) Directs the Secretary to submit cost information to the consensus committee. (Sec. 607) Includes among research and testing activities: (1) encouraging government-sponsored housing entities to implement secondary market securitization programs for manufactured home loans; and (2) reviewing the programs for Federal Housing Administration manufactured home loans. (Sec. 608) Makes it a prohibited act to fail to comply with the Secretary's installation standards in any State that has not adopted a State installation program. (Sec.609) Authorizes the Secretary to collect manufacturer fees, and sets forth their permitted and prohibited uses. Establishes in the Treasury a Manufactured Housing Fees Trust Fund. Requires inspection and monitoring work to be carried out by independent contractors.. Requires the Secretary to continue funding States with approved plans at levels not less than those existing immediately prior to enactment of this Act. (Sec. 610) Directs the Secretary to establish a dispute resolution program within five years of the enactment of this Act. (Sec. 611) Eliminates the manufactured housing annual reporting requirement. (Sec. 612) Sets forth effective date provisions. (Sec. 613) Sets forth savings provisions, including certain contract duration provisions. Title VII: Rural Housing Ownership - Amends the Housing Act of 1949 to direct the Secretary to provide guarantees for rural housing loan refinancing. (Sec. 702) Increases from $2,500 to $7,500 the amount of a rural housing repair loan that needs to be evidenced only by a promissory note. (Sec. 703) Makes limited partnerships eligible for farm labor housing loans. (Sec. 704) Sets forth project accounting and recordkeeping requirements. (Sec. 705) Extends the rural designation of certain areas until the 2010 census. (Sec. 707) Makes Indian tribes (as defined by this Act) eligible for the multifamily rental housing loan guarantee program. (Sec. 708) Establishes civil and criminal penalties for rural housing program equity skimming. Authorizes the Secretary to impose civil monetary penalties and prohibit renewal or extension of loan or assistance agreements for program violations. (Sec. 709) Amends Federal criminal law to include such equity skimming under money laundering provisions. Title VIII: Housing for Elderly and Disabled Families - Affordable Housing for Seniors and Families Act - Subtitle A: Refinancing for Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly - Directs the Secretary: (1) to approve prepayment of indebtedness, including refinancing under specified conditions, provided the project sponsor continues to operate the project on terms at least as advantageous to tenants as required under the original agreement; and (2) upon refinancing, to use at least 50 percent of the resultant savings in a manner that is advantageous to the tenants. Subtitle B: Authorization of Appropriations for Supportive Housing for the Elderly and Persons With Disabilities - Amends the Housing Act of 1959 to authorize FY 2001 through 2003 appropriations for supportive housing for the elderly. (Sec. 822) Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to authorize FY 2001 through 2003 appropriations for supportive housing for persons with disabilities. (Sec. 823) Authorizes FY 2001 through 2003 appropriations for: (1) grants for service coordinators for elderly and disabled residents of certain federally assisted multifamily housing; and (2) contracts for congregate services for certain federally assisted housing. Subtitle C: Expanding Public Housing Opportunities for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities - Part 1: Housing for the Elderly - Amends the Housing Act of 1959, with respect to supportive services for the elderly, to make for-profit limited partnerships eligible program participants. (Sec. 832) Permits owners to use mixed funding sources for amenities and other design features. (Sec. 833) Expands acquisition authority. (Sec. 834) Authorizes project reserves to be used to reduce the number of dwelling units by retrofitting unmarketable units. (Sec. 835) States that no provision of law shall be construed to prohibit commercial operations in a project location that benefits project residents. Part 2: Housing for Persons with Disabilities - Amends the Housing Act of 1959 to make certain for-profit limited partnerships eligible recipients under the supportive housing for persons with disabilities program. (Sec. 842) Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act with respect to the supportive housing for persons with disabilities program to permit owners to use mixed funding sources for amenities and other design features. (Sec. 843) Provides that tenant-based assistance may be provided through a qualifying public housing agency or a private nonprofit organization. Limits tenant-based assistance to 25 percent of fiscal year program assistance. (Sec. 844) Authorizes project reserves to be used to reduce the number of dwelling units by retrofitting unmarketable units. (Sec. 845) States that no provision of law shall be construed to prohibit commercial operations in a project location that benefits project residents. Part 3: Other Provisions - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to permit service coordinator services to be provided to low-income or elderly persons living in the vicinity of specified federally assisted housing. Includes telemarketing fraud protection among the services provided to elderly residents of federally assisted housing and under the supportive housing program. Directs the Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to establish related service coordinator guidelines. Subtitle D: Preservation of Affordable Stock - Amends the National Housing Act, as amended by the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, respecting rental and cooperative housing for lower- income families, to eliminate certain restrictions on owner retention of excess charges, including retention and use of certain previously collected excess charges. Title IX: Other Related Housing Provisions - Amends the National Housing Act to extend the insurance-eligible loan term for manufactured home lots to 20 years and 32 days. (Sec. 902) Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended by the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, respecting enhanced section 8 voucher assistance, to: (1) include within the definition of "eligibility event" any termination or expiration of a contract for rental assistance during any fiscal year after 1994; and (2) provide that a maximum payment adversely affecting assisted families shall not be considered reasonable. (Sec. 904) Permits section 8 assistance to "grand-families." Title X: Federal Reserve Board Provisions - Amends the Federal Reserve Act to authorize the Board to acquire sites or property. (Sec. 1002) Revises the positions of Board members on the Executive Schedule (increasing their salary levels). (Sec. 1003) Revises Federal Reserve System semi-annual reporting requirements. Title XI: Banking and Housing Agency Reports - Federal Reporting Act of 2000 - Makes a specified provision of the Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995 (reporting requirements included on a list prepared by the Clerk of the House of Representatives for the first session of the 103rd Congress) inapplicable to certain monetary policy, banking, and housing reporting requirements under specified Acts (Sec. 1103) Sets forth specified report coordination requirements respecting: (1) the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; (2) the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; (3) the Comptroller of the Treasury; (4) the Export-Import Bank; (5) the Department of Housing and Urban Development; and (6) the Federal Housing Administration. (Sec. 1104) Amends the: (1) Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to eliminate certain activity and fiscal authority reporting requirements of the Export-Import Bank; and (2) Federal Deposit Insurance Act to eliminate the requirement for a semiannual report on activities and efforts of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Title XII: Financial Regulatory Relief - Financial Regulatory Relief and Economic Efficiency Act of 2000 - Subtitle A: Improving Monetary Policy and Financial Institution Management Practices - Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act (HOLA) to: (1) repeal savings association liquid asset requirements; and (2) permit a savings and loan holding company, with the prior approval by the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision, to acquire more than five percent of the voting shares of a non-subsidiary savings association or non-subsidiary savings and loan holding company. (Sec. 1203) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to repeal deposit broker notification and recordkeeping requirements. (Sec. 1204) Amends the National Bank Consolidation and Merger Act to prescribe expedited procedures permitting a national bank to: (1) reorganize as either a bank holding company, or as a bank holding company subsidiary; or (2) merge with subsidiaries or nonbank affiliates. (Sec. 1205) Amends Federal banking law to increase from one year to three years the term of the national bank director. Amends the Banking Act of 1933 to authorize the Comptroller of the Currency to exempt a national banking association from the 25-member limit on the number of members of an association's governing body. (Sec. 1207) Amends Federal banking law and the FDIA to: (1) repeal the mandate that the purchase or acquisition by a national banking association or depository institution of its own capital stock to prevent loss upon a previously contracted debt be disposed of within six months from the time of purchase; and (2) provide that if an institution acquires its own stock to prevent loss upon a debt previously contracted for in good faith, such transaction shall not be deemed to be a loan or discount on the security of its own capital stock. (Sec. 1208) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 to increase from 90 percent to 100 percent of fair market value the permissible valuation of readily marketable purchased mortgage servicing rights that may be included in calculating an insured depository institution's tangible capital, risk-based capital, or leverage limit, if the Federal regulatory agencies jointly find that such an increase will not adversely affect the deposit insurance funds or the safety and soundness of insured depository institutions. Subtitle B: Streamlining Activities of Institutions - Requires that Federal banking agencies work jointly to develop: (1) electronic filing and public dissemination of depository institution status reports (call reports); and (2) uniform formats and simplified filing instructions for such reports. Subtitle C: Streamlining Agency Actions - Amends the FDIA to: (1) repeal the mandate that Federal banking agencies develop jointly a method for supplemental disclosures in required Federal filings of the estimated fair market value of depository institution assets and liabilities; (2) authorize the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to establish the interest rate for or make post-insolvency interest payments to creditors' claims against the receivership estates of insured Federal or State depository institutions following satisfaction by the receiver of the principal amount of all creditor claims; and (3) mandate that Federal banking agencies jointly submit an annual report to certain congressional banking committees regarding differences in accounting and capital standards used by such agencies (currently such reports must be filed by the agencies individually). (Sec. 1224) Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to extend the deadline for the Finance Board's issuance of regulations respecting Federal home loan bank capital standards. Subtitle D: Technical Corrections - Makes technical corrections to related Acts. (Sec. 1233) Amends Federal banking law to: (1) authorize the Comptroller of the Currency to waive the citizenship requirement for a minority of the total number of directors sitting on the board of a national bank; (2) declare it is unlawful for the Comptroller to hold an interest in any national bank; and (3) repeal specified capital and surplus requirements for national banking associations. (Sec. 1234) Amends the International Bank Act of 1978 to modify examination requirements pertaining to establishment and operation by a foreign bank of Federal branches and agencies.

To amend section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide that States have the final authority to establish guidelines to determine which animal feeding operations are classified as concentrated animal feeding operations for purposes of the national pollutant discharge elimination system.

United States · United States Congress · 4 December 2000

Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to provide that States have the final authority to establish guidelines for determining which animal feeding operations are classified as concentrated operations for purposes of provisions regarding the national pollutant discharge elimination system.

Tiermehl in Futtermischungen für Rinder

Austria · National Council · 30 November 2000

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Dipl.-Ing. Wolfgang Pirklhuber, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft betreffend Tiermehl in Futtermischungen für Rinder