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Bill· HRH.R. 1771 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code and title II of the Social Security Act (Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) with respect to the social security exemption for election officials and election workers employed by State and local governments to increase the allowed remuneration paid to such workers.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 123 (102nd)passed
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1991
Sets forth the rule for the consideration of H. Con. Res. 121 (congressional budget).
Resolution· HCONRESH.Con.Res. 121 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1991
Revises the congressional budget for FY 1991, establishes such budget for FY 1992, and sets forth appropriate budgetary levels for FY 1993 through 1996. Sets forth recommended budgetary levels of Federal revenues, new budget authority, budget outlays, deficits, public debt, and credit activity, including funding for each major functional category.
Bill· SS. 809 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Tax Fairness and Accountability Act of 1991 - Requires an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members of the Senate to approve any bill or amendment which increases revenue. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to declare that any bill, resolution, or amendment that reduces revenues may be approved by a simple majority of the Senate.
Bill· SS. 796 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Federal Tax Delinquency Amnesty Act of 1991 - Waives all criminal and civil tax penalties for a taxpayer who: (1) files a written statement with specified information concerning any underpayment of tax; (2) pays the amount of underpayment when filing the statement; and (3) within 30 days of notification, pays 50 percent of the interest payable on the underpayment (and the amount of any tax delinquent amount). Permits installment payments in certain cases. Applies this waiver during a six-month amnesty period beginning July 1, 1991, or the first July 1 after this Act's enactment. Applies amnesty to all payments relating to taxable events or tax years ending before January 1, 1990. Disallows amnesty if: (1) the taxpayer was contacted before a statement was filed; (2) there was fraud in seeking amnesty; (3) a criminal investigation is pending; or (4) the income involved is illegal source income. Authorizes appropriations to administer the amnesty program and to employ 3,000 additional Internal Revenue Service agents. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase criminal and civil tax penalties by 50 percent.
Bill· HRH.R. 1753 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Omnibus Adoption Act of 1991 - Title I: National Advisory Council on Adoption - Establishes the National Advisory Council on Adoption (the Council), to be appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Terminates such Council after four years. Title II: Adoption Data Collection System - Directs the Secretary of HHS to: (1) report to the Congress, within 30 days, on the status of the implementation of the adoption data collection system required under specified provisions of the Social Security Act, including specific assurances relating to such system; (2) report monthly to the Congress on the progress made in implementing such system; and (3) consult with the Council in developing regulations to carry out such reporting requirements and assurances. Title III: Adoption Education Programs - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to establish a program of fellowships for graduate study in social work, in innovative programs concerning the effects of adoption on the adopted children, their adoptive families, and their biological parents who make an adoption plan. Directs the Secretary of Education to award up to 50 such fellowships. Sets forth provisions for student selection procedures, stipends, payments to institutions, fellowship conditions, consultation with the Council, and an authorization of appropriations for FY 1992 through 1996. Directs the Secretary of Education, within one year after enactment of this Act, to make grants to States to carry out adoption education programs. Sets forth provisions for grants amounts, applications and agreements, program guidelines, consultation with the Council, and an authorization of appropriations for FY 1992 through 1994. Title IV: Adoption Benefits for Federal Employees and Military Personnel - Amends Federal law relating to Federal employees to allow their sick leave (including advance sick leave) to be used for purposes relating to the adoption of a child. Includes prenatal and maternal benefits (other than those relating to a surrogate parenting arrangement) for the biological mother of an adoptive child among the types of benefits which may be provided under Federal employee benefits plans. Directs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish minimum standards for this type of benefits, in accordance with specified guidelines. Amends Federal law relating to members of the uniformed services to require establishment of a program to reimburse them for expenses they incur for prenatal and maternal care provided to the biological mother of a child they legally adopt. Limits such reimbursement to care provided on or after the date on which the member notifies the appropriate administering Secretary. Prohibits such reimbursement for expenses incurred in carrying out a surrogate parenting arrangement. Includes prenatal care among types of authorized care for military dependents. Includes care for preexisting conditions among the types of authorized care for adopted children of uniformed service members. Defines adopted child, for purposes of Federal law relating to members of the uniformed services, as a child with respect to whom a written plan of adoption has been entered into pursuant to the laws of the State in which the child resides. Directs OPM and the Secretary of Defense to coordinate their development of regulations and guidelines to carry out their responsibilities under this title, and to consult with the Council in such development. Title V: Adoption Tax Credit - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to establish a refundable tax credit for certain amounts of adoption expenses, for taxpayers at certain income levels. Title VI: Maternal Health Certificates Program - Directs the Secretary of HHS, within 180 days after enactment of this Act, to establish a program to provide maternal health certificates for eligible pregnant women to use to cover expenses incurred in receiving services at a maternal and housing services facility. Bases eligibility on an individual's having an annual individual income of not greater than 175 percent of the applicable official poverty line income. Determines such income without taking account of: (1) the income of any parent or guardian of the individual; or (2) the income of an estranged spouse who has been living apart from the woman for at least six months. Prohibits finding an individual ineligible for such program solely on the grounds that they do not receive aid under the State plan for aid for families with dependent children (AFDC) under the Social Security Act. Sets limits on the amount of expenses which such program certificates may cover. Directs the Secretary of HHS to consult with the Council in developing regulations for such program. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1994 for such maternal health certificates program. Title VII: Rehabilitation Grants for Maternity Housing and Services Facilities - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to carry out a program to make grants to eligible nonprofit entities for rehabilitation of existing structures for use as facilities to provide housing and services to pregnant women. Sets forth provisions for such grant program authority, applications, limitations on numbers and amounts of grants, and reporting requirements. Directs the Secretary of HUD to consult with the Council in issuing such program regulations. Authorizes appropriations for such program for FY 1992 through 1994. Title VIII: Sense of Congress Regarding Changes in State Adoption Laws - Expresses the sense of the Congress that each State should adopt and enforce specified types of adoption laws, rules, or regulations, which include provisions for: (1) disclosure of all relevant information, including background information (except actual identification of the child or biological parents), to the prospective adoptive parent, with criminal penalties for unauthorized disclosure, (2) pre-placement investigations of the prospective adoptive parent; (3) disclosure to the court of all costs incurred by or on behalf of each party to the adoption; (4) guaranteed adequate legal representation for the biological mother; (5) filing of a petition for adoption with the appropriate court within one year after placement; and (6) coverage by the health plan of the adoptive parent of pregnancy and childbirth expenses (excluding surrogate parenting arrangements) for the child and the biological mother, or for any dependent child of the plan enrollee, and plan coverage of pre-existing conditions of adopted children.
Bill· HRH.R. 1725 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Amends the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to replace references to: (1) "agent" with "representative"; and (2) "propaganda" with "promotional or informational materials." Includes within the definition of "representative of a foreign principal" any person who engages in political activities for purposes of furthering commercial, industrial, or financial operations with a foreign principal. Excludes from such definition any incorporated, nonprofit membership organization organized under U.S. laws that is registered under the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act, that has obtained tax-exempt status, and whose activities are directed in whole by U.S. citizens. Provides that a foreign principal shall be considered to control a person in major part if: (1) such principal holds more than 50 percent equitable ownership in such person; or (2) subject to rebuttal evidence, such principal holds from 20 to 50 percent equitable ownership in such person. Includes within the definition of "political consultant" any person who distributes political promotional or informational materials to a Federal officer or employee, in his or her capacity as an officer or employee. Requires representatives of foreign principals who have filed registration statements to file supplements to such statements with the Attorney General on January 31 and July 31 of each year. Authorizes representatives with accounting systems using different fiscal years to petition the Attorney General to permit the filing of statements at the close of the first and seventh month of such fiscal year in lieu of the required dates. Repeals an exemption to registration requirements for persons representing foreign governments whose defense is deemed vital to the defense of the United States. Provides that the exemption from the registration requirement for individuals providing legal representation for a foreign principal before a U.S. agency shall apply only to representation before the Patent and Trademark Office. Requires persons relying on exemptions from registration requirements to notify the Attorney General. Imposes civil penalties upon persons who have: (1) failed to file registration statements; or (2) omitted a material fact or made false statements on registration statements. Authorizes the Attorney General to serve civil investigative demands on persons in control of materials relevant to investigations concerning violations of registration requirements. Redesignates the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 as the Foreign Interests Representation Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 1737 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
School-Based Meals for Older Individuals and Intergenerational Programs Act of 1991 - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to establish a program for school-based meals for older individuals and intergenerational activities for older individuals and elementary and secondary school students. Directs the Commissioner on Aging to make grants to States for the establishment and operation of projects that: (1) are carried out in elementary and secondary schools; (2) provide hot meals to older individuals while such schools are in session, during the summer, and (unless waived by the State) on weekdays in the school year when the schools are not in session; (3) provide intergenerational activities in which older individuals and students interact at such schools; (4) provide social and recreational activities for older individuals at such schools; (5) develop and maintain skill banks to inform school officials of the skills and preferred activities of older individuals, so that they may serve as tutors, teacher aides, living historians, special speakers, playground supervisors, and lunchroom assistants, and assistants in such schools; and (6) provide opportunities for older individuals to participate in school activities and use school facilities. Sets forth application procedures. Requires annual program evaluation reports by: (1) States receiving such grants, to the Commissioner; and (2) the Commissioner, summarizing such State reports, to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations. Prohibits program funding for a fiscal year unless certain other programs receive funding for that year which exceeds their FY 1990 levels.
Bill· HRH.R. 1735 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Pension Reform Act of 1991 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) with respect to pension integration, participation, and vesting requirements. Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to extend applicability of new integration rules to all existing accrued benefits. Amends the IRC to disallow integration for simplified employee pensions, by repealing provisions relating to permitted disparity under rules limiting discrimination under simplified employee pensions. Provides for eventual repeal of certain integration rules, by repealing for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2000, IRC provisions relating to: (1) pension integration exceptions under nondiscrimination requirements for qualification; and (2) nondiscriminatory coordination of defined contribution plans with Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance. Revises IRC minimum coverage requirements with respect to separate lines of business. Sets forth a special rule where the employer operates a single line of business. Limits a line of business exception. Eliminates a special vesting rule for multiemployer plans under IRC and ERISA. Sets forth effective dates for amendments made by this Act. Sets forth a special rule for coverage of collectively bargained plans. Sets forth a special rule for plan amendments. Provides for studies and reports by the Comptroller General relating to cost-of-living adjustments and pension portability. Provides for the continued availability of remedies relating to rights of spouses to accrued benefits under pension plans under divorce case domestic relations orders entered before 1985.
Bill· HRH.R. 1747 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Indian Economic Development Act of 1991 - Title I: Designation and Tax Incentives - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the designation of Indian enterprise zones by the Secretary of the Interior for purposes of providing tax relief and increasing the economic stake of tribal residents in their community and its development. Sets forth eligibility requirements and required tribal commitments for such designations. Allows employers in Indian enterprise zones the following tax incentives: (1) an employment credit for wages and health insurance costs; (2) deferral of capital gain that is reinvested in such zones; (3) credit for investments in child care facilities; and (4) an income tax payment credit. Provides limitations for such incentives. Continues the authority for qualified small issue bonds for Indian enterprise zones. (Currently, such provisions expire December 31, 1991.) Removes the restrictions on tribal issuance of private activity bonds. Title II: Establishment of Foreign-Trade Zones in Indian Enterprise Zones - Requires the Foreign Trade Zone Board to consider on a priority basis, and to expedite the processing of applications for, the establishment of foreign-trade zones within Indian enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to give priority to, and expedite the processing of applications for, the establishment of foreign-trade zones within Indian enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary to give priority to, and expedite applications for, the establishment of ports of entry necessary to establish such zones. Title III: Study - Directs the Secretary and the Comptroller General to each study the overall impact of this Act, including the effectiveness of the incentives in attracting businesses to Indian reservations. Requires reports to the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance.
Bill· HRH.R. 1743 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Working Seniors Equity Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Social Security Act to allow working individuals age 65 or older to elect to be exempt from social security taxes. Excludes work performed by such individuals after 70 years of age from employment for purposes of the tax on employers. Provides for recomputing such individual's base years for Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance purposes.
Bill· HRH.R. 1726 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to disallow a deduction for certain costs incurred in connection with any oil discharge or hazardous substance release. Provides an exception to such rule for any taxpayer who has a complete liability defense or qualifies for a liability limitation with respect to such discharge or release. Provides a limitation on the use of the net operating loss deduction to offset deductions disallowed by this Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 1733 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit tax-exempt private foundations and community foundations to establish tax-exempt cooperative service organizations to operate exclusively for charitable purposes. Declares that the excise tax based on investment income applies to such organizations.
Bill· HRH.R. 1721 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Capital Gains Tax Fairness Act of 1991 - Title I: Reduction in Capital Gains Tax for Individuals - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a reduction in the capital gains tax for individuals. Allows as a capital gains deduction an amount equal to the sum of: (1) the annual capital gains deduction, plus the lifetime capital gains deduction for nontradable property. Declares the annual capital gains deduction to be the lesser of the net capital gain or $1,000. Declares the lifetime capital gains deduction for nontradable property to be 50 percent of the qualified gain. Makes taxpayers whose incomes exceed $150,000 ineligible for such deduction. Bases the qualified gain on sales and exchanges on or after April 11, 1991. Title II: Depreciation Recapture - Revises provisions concerning the gain from dispositions of certain depreciable realty to provide for the recapture of the total amount of depreciation.
Bill· HRH.R. 1731 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Savings and Investment Incentive Act of 1991 - Title I: Retirement Savings Incentives - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to remove the limitations on deductions for individual retirement plans and provides a cost-of-living adjustment for deductible amounts. Establishes special individual retirement accounts that are nondeductible. Makes such accounts nontaxable if earnings on contributions are held for at least five years. Applies the early withdrawal penalty to distributions made before the end of the five year-period. Title II: Penalty-Free Distributions - Provides exemptions from the ten-percent penalty on early withdrawals from individual retirement plans for: (1) first home purchases; (2) higher education expenses; and (2) financially devastating medical expenses.
Bill· HRH.R. 1697 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1991
Enterprise for the Americas Initiative Act of 1991 - Title I: Enterprise for the Americas Facility - Establishes in the Department of the Treasury the Enterprise for the Americas Facility to support improvement in the lives of the people of Latin America and the Caribbean through market-oriented reforms and economic growth with actions to promote debt reduction, investment reforms, and community-based conservation and sustainable use of the environment. Makes eligible for Facility benefits Latin American or Caribbean countries that: (1) have in effect, received approval for, or are making progress toward, specified International Monetary Fund arrangements and structural or sectoral adjustment loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development or the International Development Association; (2) have put in place major investment reforms in conjunction with an Inter-American Development Bank loan or are implementing or making progress toward an open investment regime; (3) have agreed with commercial bank lenders on a financing program for debt or debt service reduction; (4) are making continued progress and have established a record of progress over at least two years toward the achievement of macroeconomic indicator goals chosen by the President; or (5) are declared by the President to be countries in dire environmental need and unable to meet the loan or investment reform requirements and that have entered into Environmental Framework Agreements under this Act. Title II: Debt Reduction - Authorizes the President to reduce the amount owed to the United States by an eligible country as a result of: (1) concessional loans made pursuant to the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 or predecessor economic assistance legislation; or (2) loans made pursuant to the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 or as a result of transactions under which the Export-Import Bank or the Commodity Credit Corporation acquired an asset as a result of being the guarantor of credits in connection with export sales to an eligible country. Declares that this title may be exercised notwithstanding provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the International Development and Food Assistance Act of 1975 concerning repayments of loans outstanding after September 19, 1966, and the settlement of debts owed to the United States. Sets forth requirements with respect to the exchange of obligations, repayment of principal, and interest on new obligations issued by beneficiary countries. Title III: Enterprise for the Americas Environmental Funds - Requires beneficiary countries that enter into Environmental Framework Agreements to establish Enterprise for the Americas Environmental Funds. Authorizes the President to enter into Environmental Framework Agreements concerning the operation and use of Environmental Funds with countries eligible for Facility benefits. Directs administering bodies in each beneficiary country to administer the Environmental Funds and to make grants for environmental activities. Requires grants from the Funds to be used for activities that link the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources with local community development. Subjects grants of more than $100,000 to veto by the U.S. Government or the government of the beneficiary country. Establishes an Environment for the Americas Board to: (1) advise the President on the negotiations of Environmental Framework Agreements; (2) ensure that a suitable administering body is identified for each Environmental Fund; (3) review the programs, operations, and fiscal audits of administering bodies; and (4) prepare the President's annual report required by this Act. Declares that the President should encourage other official creditors of beneficiary countries whose debt is reduced under this Act to provide debt reduction and environmental funding to such countries. Requires the President to ensure that Environmental Funds are able to receive donations from private and public entities and private creditors of beneficiary countries. Title IV: Market Sales, Reductions, or Cancellations of Loans or Assets - Authorizes the President to: (1) sell to any eligible purchaser any loan of an eligible country made prior to 1991 pursuant to the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945; (2) sell to any eligible purchaser any asset acquired prior to 1991 by the Commodity Credit Corporation in connection with export sales to an eligible country or specified export credit guarantee programs; and (3) reduce or cancel such loans or assets upon receipt of payment from an eligible purchaser. Permits loans or assets to be sold only to purchasers who present plans to the President for using such loans or assets for environmental activities. Authorizes loans or assets to be reduced or canceled only for purposes of facilitating such activities. Title V: Reports - Directs the President to report annually to the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate on the Facility.
Bill· HRH.R. 1698 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1991
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to permit all grant recipients for waste treatment works to use dedicated ad valorem taxes to satisfy the requirement that recipients adopt operation and maintenance user charges.
Bill· HRH.R. 1702 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1991
Maritime Administration Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 - Authorizes appropriations for the Department of Transportation for: (1) operating-differential subsidies; (2) operations and training, including maritime education and training and national security support capabilities; and (3) maintaining a surge shipping capability in the National Defense Reserve Fleet in an advanced state of readiness and related programs. Amends Federal law to change from annually to biennially the reporting frequency regarding a report by the Secretary of Transportation to the Congress listing the specific assistance provided by the U.S. Government to the railroad industry during that fiscal year.
Bill· HRH.R. 1713 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 1993 the tax credit for clinical testing expenses for certain drugs for rare diseases or conditions. Includes preclinical testing expenses under such tax credit. Provides for determining the credit recapture amount when using preclinical testing of a drug for a disease or condition that has not previously been designated as a rare disease or condition. Imposes a windfall profits tax (after recovery of twice the total investment in drug development) on the profits from orphan drugs for rare diseases or conditions.
Bill· HRH.R. 1709 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an itemized deduction for a cash gift made to the surviving family of a member of the armed forces who died of wounds, disease, or injury incurred while serving in Operation Desert Shield or Operation Desert Storm and who was married or had a child. Limits such deduction to $1,000.
Bill· HRH.R. 1693 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1991
Private Long-Term Care Insurance and Accelerated Death Benefit Incentive Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for treatment of: (1) long-term care insurance contracts to be treated as accident or health insurance contracts; (2) amounts received under such contracts with respect to qualified long-term care services as amounts received for personal injuries or sickness; and (3) employer plans providing such services as an accident or health plan. Includes amounts paid for qualified long-term care services as medical expenses for individual itemized deductions. Excludes benefits received under such contracts from gross income. Provides for the treatment of prefunded post-retirement long-term care benefits plans in the same manner as prefunded post-retirement medical and life insurance benefit plans. Permits qualified long-term care insurance contracts to be offered in cafeteria plans (plans which offer two or more benefits). Allows the tax-free exchange of life insurance contracts for long-term care insurance contracts. Provides for the treatment of amounts paid to a terminally ill individual or one who is chronically ill and confined to a qualified facility as death benefits. Allows insurance companies to issue such accelerated death benefit riders on life insurance contracts. Declares that gross income does include excessive long-term care benefits.
Bill· HRH.R. 1711 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer to include farm property sold during the same taxable year as a principal residence in the one-time exclusion of gain from sale of a principal residence by an individual who has attained age 55. Sets forth a formula limiting the extent of such exclusion.
Bill· HRH.R. 1692 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1991
Comprehensive Long-Term Care for the Elderly Act of 1991 - Amends part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to entitle individuals eligible for part A benefits who are unable to perform at least two specified daily living activities without assistance to comprehensive long-term care provided by nursing homes and home health care services providers under applicable State case management plans. Describes the home-based items and services covered under Medicare. Outlines administrative provisions governing payment for services (including coinsurance payments for nursing home care) and development of case management plans. Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of the Medicare program to provide for coverage of in-home care furnished to a chronically dependent individual for up to 80 hours in any calendar year. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit taxpayers with qualified elderly dependents in their households an income tax credit of $1,000 per dependent, and $5,000 per severely impaired dependent. Phases down such credits for adjusted gross incomes over $150,000. Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to: (1) establish a sliding fee scale for recipients of services; (2) reauthorize at unspecified levels and extend through FY 1995 funding for various services; (3) require training for service providers providing services to older individuals; and (4) restrict solicitation of voluntary contributions. Amends the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 to reauthorize funding at unspecified levels for the Senior Companion Program through FY 1993.
Bill· HRH.R. 1689 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1991
Makes supplemental appropriations for the Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund for humanitarian assistance to the people of Iraq who are displaced as a result of the civil conflict.
Bill· HRH.R. 1700 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include sewer charges within the definition of "real property taxes" for purposes of the income tax deduction for State and local taxes.
Bill· HRH.R. 1696 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1991
First-Time Home Buyer's Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to spread over a ten-year period the taxation of up to $5,000 of individual retirement plan distributions used by a first-time homebuyer within 90 days to purchase, construct, or reconstruct a dwelling that will be used as the taxpayer's principal residence for at least three years.
Bill· HRH.R. 1678 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a nonrefundable individual income tax credit for the educational expenses (tuition and supplies) of the taxpayer, spouse, or dependents at an eligible private elementary or secondary school, institution of higher education, or vocational school. Limits the credit to $1,000 per student per year.
Bill· HRH.R. 1668 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1991
National and Community Service Incentive Act of 1991 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for partial cancellation or repayment of certain student loans for borrowers who perform a year or more of specified types of full-time, low-paid voluntary community service. Revises the direct (Perkins) student loan program to provide for partial loan cancellation for full-time volunteer service (comparable to Peace Corps or VISTA service) with a tax-exempt organization. (Current law provides for such partial cancellation for service in the Peace Corps or VISTA.) Revises the guaranteed (Stafford) student loan program to provide for partial loan repayment for service in the Peace Corps or VISTA or for comparable full-time service as a volunteer with a tax-exempt organization. Sets certain maximum compensation limitations as a requirement for specified deferments of Stafford and Perkins loans.
Bill· HRH.R. 1676 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1991
Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to revise the Federal and congressional budget processes by establishing a two-year budgeting and appropriations cycle and timetable, beginning in the 102d Congress. Defines the budget biennium as the two consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of any odd-numbered year. Devotes the first session of any Congress to the budget resolution and to appropriations decisions, retaining current deadlines in most cases. Changes relevant deadlines to conform to the biennial scheme. Devotes each second session to authorization activity. Changes from January 15 to February 15 of each year the date by which the CBO Director must submit to the Congress a report on authorizations. Requires the Director of the CBO to issue four-year projections of congressional budget action. (Current projections are on a five-year basis.) Revises the extent of projections to be included in CBO analyses of reported bills. Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to conform to the biennial framework. Conforms provisions governing the President's budget to the biennial framework.
Bill· HRH.R. 1677 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make members of the armed forces serving on extended active duty and stationed outside the United States eligible for the earned income credit.
Bill· HRH.R. 1671 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the special rules for tax treatment of foreign oil and gas income with respect to credit for taxes paid to a foreign country. Declares that income, war profits, and excess profits taxes does not include taxes paid to a foreign country with respect to foreign oil and gas income and which are not imposed under a generally applicable income tax law of such country. Separates the application of certain foreign tax credit rules for foreign oil and gas extraction income and for foreign oil related income.
Bill· HRH.R. 1663 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1991
861-R&D Permanent Resolution Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the rules on the allocation of research and experimental expenditures. (Currently, such rules expire on August 1, 1991.)
Bill· SS. 778 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act, 1992 - Title I: Fiscal Year 1992 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization - Authorizes appropriations to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for: (1) research and development; (2) space flight, control and data communications; (3) construction of facilities; (4) research and program management, including scientific consultations; and (5) the Inspector General. Permits appropriations for the first two numbered categories to be used for certain items of a capital nature (other than land acquisition) required for the performance of research and development contracts and for grants to nonprofit educational and research organizations to augment their research facilities. Prohibits the use of these funds for the construction of any major facility whose estimated cost exceeds a specified amount, unless the Administrator of NASA notifies specified congressional leadership and committees. Authorizes fund use, subject to limitations, for facilities construction, repair, or modification and for unforeseen programmatic facility project needs. Permits upward variances of funds for facilities construction under circumstances outlined in this Act. Authorizes certain fund transfers and makes available specified funds for the construction and modification of laboratories and other installations. Requires the Administrator to notify specified congressional leadership and committees of the nature, cost, and need for such construction before expending the funds in question. Prohibits, until 30 days following congressional receipt of the Administrator's full explanation, the use of funds appropriated pursuant to this Act for any program that: (1) has been eliminated by the Congress; (2) is in excess of the amount actually authorized for the particular program (except for construction of facilities); or (3) has not been presented to either of the relevant congressional committees. Title II: Amendment to the Space Act on Protection of Information Developed under Space Act Agreements - Amends the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 to allow protection, for up to five years, of information that would be a trade secret or commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential if obtained from a non-Federal party under an agreement under specified provisions of the Act.
Bill· SS. 777 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that a qualified veteran for purposes of eligibility of mortgage revenue bond financing, is one who meets applicable State law requirements. (Current law specifies deadlines to be met by such veterans.)
Bill· SS. 768 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
National Electric Vehicle Act of 1991 - Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to direct the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to establish within the Department of Transportation a program to provide financial support to electric vehicle demonstration projects. Requires the Secretary to request proposals to demonstrate electric vehicles or electric vehicles and associated equipment in one or more eligible metropolitan areas. Authorizes the Secretary to select one or more proposals (not to exceed ten) to receive such support for each electric vehicle purchased or leased and included in a demonstration project. Sets forth criteria to be used in selecting a proposal. Requires the Secretary to provide a discount payment reimbursing a proposer for a discount provided to purchasers or users of electric vehicles if the proposer makes a specified certification to the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress each fiscal year with respect to the progress of demonstration projects to accelerate the development and use of electric vehicles. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to establish a data collection program to be conducted in at least five geographically and climatically diverse regions in the United States which would be useful to persons seeking to manufacture, sell, own, or operate electric vehicles or other clean alternative fuel vehicles. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to undertake a program of joint ventures with non-Federal persons to accelerate the infrastructure development required to support the use of such vehicles. Requires the Secretary to select no more than five different proposals for such joint ventures. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to prescribe guidelines for State electric vehicle and other clean alternative fuel vehicle incentives and implementation plans designed to accelerate the use of such vehicles. Sets forth specified requirements with respect to such State plans. Authorizes the Secretary to provide Federal assistance to States whose Governors have determined introduction of such vehicles feasible. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to include electric vehicles among the alternative fuel passenger automobiles and light trucks the Secretary must ensure that the Federal Government acquires annually. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Department of Energy to establish a multiyear research and development program for the accelerated development of electric vehicles with special attention to: (1) high efficiency electric power trains; (2) light-weight body structures; (3) advanced battery technology for electric vehicles; and (4) primary batteries and fuel cells for hybrid vehicles. Requires the Secretary of Energy to establish a cooperative program with the electric utility industry, the automobile industry, and such other persons or industries to conduct joint cooperative research and development projects with attention focused on the above-mentioned areas. Requires the Secretary of Energy to prepare and submit to the Congress a comprehensive multi-year program plan. Directs the Secretary of Energy to conduct a program designed to accelerate wider application of advanced electric vehicle technology, including advanced battery technologies. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into joint ventures with public entities and private firms. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 1599 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
Requires that the Secretary of Transportation's apportioned allocation to a State for the Federal-aid highway program be not less than 90 percent (currently 85 percent) of the percentage of the estimated tax payments attributable to highway users in that State paid into the Highway Trust Fund.
Bill· HRH.R. 1658 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
Operation Desert Storm Commemorative Coin Act - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to issue one dollar and ten dollar coins emblematic of the United States military's participation in Operation Desert Storm. Prescribes guidelines for the sale of such coins, including the solicitation by the Secretary of the Treasury and the President of the United Service Organizations of bids for proposals from marketing organizations to implement a coin marketing agreement. Mandates that such agreement not indicate in any manner that any portion of the sales price to the public constitutes a tax deductible contribution. Sets forth a surcharge distribution scheme. Mandates that: (1) all amounts received from the sale of such coins be deposited in the coinage profit fund; and (2) the minting and issuing of such coins not result in any net cost to the Federal Government.
Bill· HRH.R. 1653 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
Agricultural Extended Retirement Credit Act of 1991 - Extends creditable service under the Civil Service Retirement System for periods of service in certain Federal-State cooperative programs which had agricultural or related purposes. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to transfer to the Department of Agriculture's Surplus Fund the savings resulting from the expedited retirement of those employees of the Department who have been extended such credit. Prohibits the obligation or expenditure of any budget authority or outlays saved in any fiscal year by reason of implementation of this Act. Requires the surplus budget authority and outlays transferred to the fund to be: (1) deposited by the Secretary in the Treasury to the credit of the Civil Service Retirement Fund, as a Government contribution; and (2) credited against pay and other personnel costs required to be sequestered under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Requires the Comptroller General to notify the Congress of each instance of noncompliance with the requirements of this Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 1647 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
Individual Social Security Retirement Account Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the social security taxes on employees, employers, and the self-employed for 1993 and thereafter. Amends title II (Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to require employers to have in effect a social security payroll deduction plan for employees. Requires such plan to provide for employers to deduct the prescribed social security employee contribution for transfer, together with the prescribed social security employer contribution, to an individual social security retirement account of the employee. Provides for self-employed individuals to pay into such accounts the prescribed social security self-employment contribution. Sets forth penalties for failure to establish and maintain such accounts. Requires amounts deducted from employee wages to be shown on wage receipts for employees. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to exempt social security payroll deduction plans from provisions governing employee benefit plans. Provides for the tax treatment of individual social security retirement accounts in a manner similar to individual retirement accounts.
Bill· HRH.R. 1646 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the tax on social security and tier 1 and tier 2 railroad retirement benefits.
Bill· HRH.R. 1618 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the tax credit for increasing research activities.
Bill· HRH.R. 1655 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny a deduction for any tax imposed by a State on the pension income of a resident if the State imposes, assesses, or takes action to collect any tax on the pension income of a nonresident. Sets forth rules for allowable taxation of nonresident pension income.
Bill· HRH.R. 1652 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) extend for five years, through 1996, the investment tax credit in connection with depreciable solar energy property and geothermal property; and (2) permit this credit against the taxpayer's entire regular tax liability and minimum tax liability.
Bill· HRH.R. 1629 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
Fairness in Health Insurance Coverage for the Self-Employed Act - Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to the income tax deduction for the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals to: (1) increase the allowable deduction from 25 percent to 100 percent; and (2) make the deduction permanent (under current law it will expire after tax year 1991).
Bill· HRH.R. 1609 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to disallow trade or business expense deductions for compensatory damages paid to any government for environmental damages resulting from any incident involving a hazardous material.
Bill· HRH.R. 1597 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the requirement that less than 30 percent of the gross income of a regulated investment company be derived from the sale or disposition of any of the following which were held for less than three months: (1) stocks or securities; (2) options, futures, or forward contracts (other than those on foreign currencies); or (3) certain foreign currencies.
Bill· SS. 757 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Mickey Leland Childhood Hunger Relief Act - Title I: Ensuring Adequate Food Assistance - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to remove the excess shelter deduction cap for purposes of food stamp program (program) eligibility. (Sets forth transitional caps through FY 1995.) Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to adjust the basic benefit level upwards by specified increments at the beginning of each fiscal year until it reaches 105 percent of the cost of the thrifty food plan. Eliminates food stamp reductions for households reapplying for program reinstatement within 30 days. Excludes third party payments for transitional housing for the homeless from consideration as program income. Increases funding for the nutrition assistance program in Puerto Rico. Excludes general assistance vendor payments from consideration as program income. Title II: Promoting Self-Sufficiency - Excludes from consideration as program income: (1) the first $50 a month received as child support; and (2) child support payments to non-household members. Increases annually the fair market value limit of vehicles that program recipients may own. Excludes from financial resources the value of a vehicle a household depends upon to carry heating fuel or water for home use where it has no other access to fuel or water. Increases dependent care deductions and participant and State agency reimbursements in connection with employment and training activities. Title III: Simplifying the Provision of Food Assistance - Permits related adults living in the same household to apply for separate program benefits under specified conditions. Permits a participating family made up of, or including, an elderly or disabled member to own $3,000 in allowable financial resources. (Current law refers to a family member 60 years of age or older.) Makes program authorization of appropriations permanent. Title IV: Implementation and Effective Dates - Sets forth the effective dates for provisions of this Act.
Bill· SS. 747 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Church Retirement Benefits Simplification Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to recodify and revise qualifications for church retirement and pension plans. Makes employee contributions to such plans nonforfeitable. Allows ten-year vesting with a nonforfeitable right to 100 percent of accrued benefits derived from employer contributions. Allows five-to-15 year vesting with a nonforfeitable right to a percentage (25% to 100%) of such accrued benefits. Requires the plan to meet minimum vesting requirements. Provides that no employee shall be considered an officer, shareholder, supervisor, or highly compensated employee if such employee receives less than $50,000 per year. Excludes from such consideration employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement if retirement benefits were a subject of good faith bargaining. Recodifies the authority of a church or a convention or association of churches to be treated as an employer making contributions to retirement income accounts. Subjects church-related hospitals and universities to certain coverage and related rules in the case of a contract purchased by a church. Requires distributions from retirement income accounts provided by churches to be in accordance with distributions under cash or deferred arrangements. Provides for determining the beginning date for such distributions. Allows self-employed ministers and chaplains who work for non-church employers to participate in their church plans. Provides that certain rules aggregating employees do not apply to churches. Restores qualified voluntary employee contributions to church plans. Treats self-employed ministers as employees for purposes of certain welfare benefit plans and retirement income accounts. Allows a deduction for contributions to retirement income accounts by such ministers. Provides that a church plan maintained by more than one employer shall not be treated as a single plan. Provides that accounting methods of deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations do not apply to a church plan. Exempts a church plan from the requirement to maintain separate accounts for medical benefits for key employees. Provides that the special rules for computing employee contributions to pension plans do not apply to certain foreign missionaries. Repeals the elective deferral catch-up limitation for church retirement income accounts. Allows church plans to annuitize benefits and increase benefit payments. Provides that rules for self-insured medical reimbursement plans are not applicable to church plans.
Bill· SS. 741 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
National Energy Efficiency and Development Act of 1991 - Title I: Energy Policy Initiatives - Subtitle A: National Energy Strategy - Requires the first National Energy Policy Plan submitted by the President to the Congress after enactment of this Act to include a least-cost energy strategy prepared by the Secretary of Energy (Secretary). Requires such strategy to contain: (1) a comprehensive inventory of available energy and energy efficiency resources and their costs; (2) a proposed two-year program for assuring adequate supplies of such resources, along with identification of actions possible under existing Federal law; and (3) recommendations for any new Federal authority needed to achieve the purposes of this Act. Subtitle B: Director of Climate Protection - Directs the Secretary to appoint a Director of Climate Protection to: (1) serve as the Secretary's representative for interagency and multilateral policy discussions of global climate change; (2) monitor domestic and international policies for their effects on the generation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases; and (3) have the authority to participate in departmental planning activities. Title II: Measures to Improve the Energy Efficiency of the United States Economy - Subtitle A: Research and Development - Amends the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technology Competitiveness Act of 1989 (REEETCA) to authorize appropriations for energy efficiency research and development. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress triennially on energy efficiency policy options. Subtitle B: Industrial Energy Efficiency - Directs the Secretary to pursue a research and development program and enter into cost-shared joint ventures to improve efficiency in energy intensive industries (such as steel, chemicals, glass, paper, and aluminum). Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to develop, directly or by contract, a voluntary national program to devise standards for energy audits and the installation of insulation in industrial facilities. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to establish (and report to the Congress on): (1) a reporting system for industry to supply annual energy use and energy intensity information; and (2) voluntary energy efficiency improvement targets for energy-intensive industries. Directs the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration to expand the scope and frequency of the data it collects on energy use in the United States; and (2) report annually to the Congress on such data. Subtitle C: Efficiency in Commercial and Residential Buildings and Other Products - Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (NECPA) to direct the Secretary to establish a program to provide technical assistance to States and localities in updating energy efficiency provisions of residential and commercial building codes. Requires each State or locality, by four years after enactment of this Act, to certify that it has reviewed and updated such codes so that they meet or exceed the requirements of the Council of American Building Officials' Model Energy Code (CABO-MEC). Requires each State or locality, by three years after such certification, to further certify that all new residential commercial buildings built during such period meet updated code requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to promulgate procedural guidelines for, and provide technical assistance to, States which adopt residential energy efficiency rating systems. Requires all residential buildings, by five years after enactment of this Act, to have numerical energy efficiency ratings. Requires disclosure to potential purchasers of such ratings. Makes any residential building which fails to meet CABO-MEC standards ineligible for Federal mortgage financing programs. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to advise the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development on energy standards for manufactured housing; and (2) test the performance and cost-effectiveness of manufactured housing built to such standards. Creates in the Treasury the State Energy Efficiency Project Fund to provide for grants to States to undertake energy efficiency projects in State- and locally-owned buildings. Requires an annual report to the Congress on Fund activities. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to provide financial and technical assistance to support the voluntary development of a national window rating program to establish energy efficiency ratings for windows and window systems. Requires the Secretary to establish such a system if no voluntary program succeeds within two years after enactment of this Act. Requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prescribe labeling rules for such rating system, unless labeling is not technologically or economically feasible or is not likely to help consumers make purchasing decisions. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to set minimum energy efficiency standards for certain types of lamps, appliance motors, commercial air conditioning and heating equipment, utility distribution transformers, showerheads, and commercial office equipment. Requires: (1) the FTC to prescribe labeling for such products; and (2) manufacturers to provide labeling meeting FTC requirements. Provides for enforcement of such labeling requirements. Directs the Secretary to establish, for a five-year period, a program to train and certify energy efficiency contractors. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Federal Energy Management - Amends NECPA to require all Federal agencies to install all energy conservation measures which are cost-effective on a ten-year life-cycle cost basis. Permits such agencies to accept gas or electric utility incentives designed to encourage cost-effective energy demand management or energy conservation. Requires the Secretary to develop a simplified method of contracting for shared energy savings contract services that will reduce the administrative effort and cost on the part of the government as well as the private customers. Directs the Administrator of the General Services Administration to analyze significant energy consuming products in the Federal Supply Schedule and develop and implement a method to identify products which offer cost-effective opportunities to reduce energy consumption and costs. Directs the Secretary to establish guidelines for the transfer of up to $1,000,000 per project to encourage Federal agencies to undertake energy efficiency projects in federally owned facilities. Requires annual reports to the Congress on such projects. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to establish a financial bonus program to reward outstanding facility energy managers in Federal agencies. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to direct the President to promulgate rules prohibiting each executive agency from acquiring any automobile with a fuel economy that is not greater than the average fuel economy for that particular model type for the previous model year. Directs the Secretary to submit to the Congress, and update every two years, a plan for demonstrating energy efficiency and renewable energy resource technologies in federally owned facilities. Amends REEETCA to require the Secretary to finance at least one joint venture for the demonstration of fuel cell technology in Federal facilities in order to accelerate commercial application of such cells. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to study and report on the use of Federal purchasing power to encourage the development of more energy efficient products. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle E: Utility Energy Efficiency - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to direct States to require State-regulated utilities to employ a planning and selection process for new energy resources that evaluates the full range of existing and incremental resources in order to meet expected future demand at the lowest possible cost to society. Declares that the rates allowed to be charged by a State-regulated utility shall be such that: (1) the utility's investments in and expenditures for energy conservation, energy efficiency resources, and other demand-side management resources are at least as profitable as those for the construction of new generating equipment or the acquisition of other new supply-side resources; and (2) the utility is encouraged to make investments and expenditures for all cost-effective improvements in the energy efficiency of power generation and supply. States that the full cost of an energy resource shall include specified external costs associated with its use. Requires the Secretary to report annually to the Congress and certify which States have complied with such requirements. Declares that, beginning four years after enactment of this Act, energy efficiency measures shall be considered as "qualifying facilities" eligible for certain PURPA programs in States that have not adopted procedures to meet the requirements of this Act. Directs the Western, Southwestern, and Southeastern Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) to ensure that they and their customer utilities acquire all cost-effective energy efficiency and renewable energy resources. Requires each long-term firm power contract between a PMA and a customer utility to require the utility to develop and implement an energy efficiency and renewable energy program. Requires such PMAs to implement programs directly to acquire cost-effective conservation and renewable energy resources in the region in conjunction with such utility programs. Requires the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to: (1) develop a similar least-cost plan; and (2) execute similar long-term firm contracts with its customer utilities. Requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to: (1) develop an office of energy efficiency to coordinate FERC's energy conservation and efficiency activities; and (2) establish procedures for expedited review of any interstate power sales conducted in accordance with the purchasing utility's least-cost energy plan. Subtitle F: Used Oil Energy Production Act of 1991 - Used Oil Energy Production Act of 1991 - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to require a producer or importer of 100,000 gallons or more per year of lubricating oil to increase annually the percentage (set by the Secretary) of recycled oil either: (1) by refining, rerefining, or reprocessing it into petroleum products (including fuels); or (2) by purchasing certain oil recycling credits. Exempts certain facilities from such requirements. Requires annual reports to specified congressional committees. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) not to list or identify used oil as a hazardous waste for certain purposes. Subtitle G: Tire Recycling Incentives - Tire Recycling Incentives Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require tire producers or importers to increase annually the percentage (set by the EPA Administrator) of scrap tires recycled either: (1) by retreading or processing new tire products; or (2) by purchasing certain tire recycling credits. Requires the EPA Administrator to report to the Congress on scrap tire recycling. Sets forth civil penalties for violations of this subtitle. Directs the EPA Administrator to: (1) publish in the Federal Register minimum requirements for State scrap tire management and procedures under which such requirements shall be incorporated into State solid waste management plans; (2) provide for expedited review of State plans which include specified scrap tire recycling measures; and (3) establish standards to minimize health and environmental damages from the improper disposal and storage of tires. Requires such standards to provide for: (1) bans on the disposal of tires in land disposal facilities and on the intentional infliction of damage on tire casings to preclude casings from being used in retreading; (2) State inventories of scrap tire collection facilities, tire advisory boards, and scrap tire abatement plans; (3) agreements between facilities which distribute more than 1,000 tires annually and licensed tire haulers for the exclusive hauling of scrap tires by licensed haulers; and (4) prohibitions on the transportation of scrap tires by transporters without transportation identification numbers. Specifies exceptions. Directs the Administrator to publish guidelines for States for the issuance of permits to scrap tire collection facilities. Requires the Administrator to promulgate guidelines for States for facility emergency plans. Requires facility owners or operators to notify the State immediately in the event of an emergency with potential offsite impacts. Requires all regulated facilities to have appropriate financial responsibility or insurance to maintain the facility for at least five years after closure. Exempts specified persons from permit requirements. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations for the State to use to issue permits to scrap tire recycling facilities. Requires the Secretary of the Interior, together with the heads of agencies responsible for public lands or military installations, to implement a plan to remediate tire piles. Directs the Administrator to develop a guideline for procuring items that make use of scrap or used tires. Requires Federal departments, if the Administrator fails to promulgate such guideline, to procure items containing at least 75 percent of post-consumer scrap rubber from scrap tires if the rubber is available within a reasonable time at a reasonable price and meets performance standards. Directs the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, to publish standards to determine the life-cycle costs and benefits of items that make use of rubber from scrap or used tires as compared with items that make use of rubber other than from scrap or used tires. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to report to the Congress on: (1) direct worker environmental health effects relating to asphalt made from crumb rubber from scrap tires; (2) the recyclability of asphalt road surfaces made from crumb rubber from scrap tires; and (3) the estimated life of existing asphalt road surfaces made from crumb rubber from scrap tires. Permits States to: (1) enter into consent agreements with owners and operators of scrap tire collection facilities for proper management and abatement of scrap tires; and (2) levy fines on facilities for noncompliance. Imposes fines on tire facilities and landfills for specified violations of this Act. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle H: Insular Areas Energy Assistance - Authorizes the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) to grant financial assistance to Insular area governments to carry out energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Measures to Promote the Use of Renewable Energy - Subtitle A: Renewable Energy Technology Transfers - Amends REEETCA to authorize appropriations for: (1) renewable energy research and development programs; (2) State conservation programs; (3) State research and applied technology transfer programs; (4) Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory information and publications; (5) four pilot programs to demonstrate model technology transfer and design assistance programs; (6) an advanced research and development information computer network; and (7) at least ten photovoltaic demonstration projects of at least ten megawatts in size to supply electric power to a power grid. Directs the Secretary to develop a Strategic Technology Transfer Implementation Plan for the national and international transfer of renewable energy and energy efficiency technology information. Amends the Federal Power Act and PURPA to: (1) make small biomass and hydropower production facilities specifically "eligible facilities" under such Act; and (2) define "alternative power production facility." Subtitle B: Amendments to the Committee on Renewable Energy Commerce and Trade (CORECT) - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to require the Committee on Renewable Energy Commerce and Trade (CORECT) to promote the development and application in lesser-developed countries of specified renewable energy and energy efficiency resource technologies. Authorizes CORECT to establish renewable energy industry outreach offices in the Pacific Rim and in the Caribbean Basin. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on the range of energy efficient and renewable energy technologies available to meet the energy needs of lesser-developed countries. Authorizes appropriations. Earmarks funds to assist U.S. manufacturers of renewable energy and energy efficient technology in exporting their products to lesser-developed countries. Title IV: Measures to Promote the Use of Alternative Motor Vehicles and Fuels - Subtitle A: Alternative Transportation Fuels - Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements and joint ventures to demonstrate the feasibility (including safety of specific vehicle design) of using natural gas or other alternative fuels for mass transit. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to provide financial assistance to encourage the development and commercialization of natural gas and other alternative fuel use in passenger fleets, light duty, and heavy duty trucks. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a training and certification program for technicians who are responsible for vehicle installation of equipment that converts gasoline or diesel-fuel vehicles to the capability to run on natural gas or other alternative fuels. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Energy to carry out a program of research, development, and demonstration on techniques related to improving natural gas and other alternative fuel vehicle technology. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to: (1) institute an awareness program to educate potential purchasers of the costs, emission characteristics, and other features of alternative fuels; (2) report to the Congress on Federal purchasing policies which inhibit Federal purchase of alternative-fuel vehicles; (3) report to the Congress on how Federal, State, and local traffic control measures could promote the use of alternative-fuel vehicles; and (4) develop a plan for establishment of Federal and State trust funds to provide loans to convert vehicles to operate on alternative fuels or purchase alternative-fuel vehicles. Amends the Natural Gas Act to exclude the sale of natural gas as a vehicle fuel from the price regulation jurisdiction of FERC. Declares that a company shall not be considered a natural gas company under the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 solely because it distributes or sells natural gas as a motor vehicle fuel. Exempts from State regulation as a public utility (unless otherwise primarily engaged in business as such) any person or entity transporting or selling alternative vehicle fuels. Directs the Secretary to establish a fund to provide 50 percent of the cost of establishing offices of alternative fuels in State governments, as well as alternative fuel programs launched by such offices. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to study whether the use of alternative fuels in nonroad vehicles and engines would contribute substantially to reduced reliance on imported energy sources. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations requiring, where feasible, nonroad vehicles and engines to use alternative fuels if such study concludes that such use could reduce reliance on imported energy sources by ten percent nationwide within a ten-year period. Subtitle B: Alternative Fuel Fleet Requirement - Requires every person who owns, operates, leases, or otherwise controls a motor vehicle fleet of specified composition in a metropolitan statistical area of over 250,000 population which is also an EPA-classified nonattainment area to increase the percentage of alternative-fueled vehicles in such fleet by specified increments annually until it reaches 90 percent in the year 2000. Directs the Secretary to allocate credits to covered persons who exceed the required quota of alternative-fueled vehicles. Establishes administrative and civil penalties (together with appropriate enforcement procedures) for violations of the requirements or prohibitions of this subtitle. Subtitle C: Electric Vehicle Technology Development and Demonstration - Electric Vehicle Technology Development and Demonstration Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary to identify EPA-classified nonattainment areas in the United States in which the use of conventionally fueled vehicles contributes significantly to that nonattainment and in which the use of electric vehicles could contribute to attainment of applicable National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Directs the Secretary, after identifying such areas, to request applications from, and eventually select, manufacturers to develop, demonstrate, certify, manufacture, sell, warranty, and service electric vehicles in one or more of them. Requires: (1) the selected manufacturers to offer electric vehicle purchasers certain discounts; and (2) the Secretary to reimburse them the amount of such discounts. Requires annual reports to the Congress on such program. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Transportation and Energy Efficiency - Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to establish average fuel economy standards for passenger automobiles and automobiles other than passenger automobiles (light trucks) for model years 1996 and thereafter. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to modify such standards, in response to a petition, according to a specified procedure. Requires the EPA Administrator to report annually to specified congressional committees on a study which: (1) examines the accuracy of fuel economy testing of passenger automobiles and light trucks; and (2) assesses the extent to which fuel economy deteriorates during the lifetime of such vehicles. Directs the Secretary of Energy to distribute at least 100 explanatory booklets each year to every dealer and additional numbers if requested. Requires the Secretary of Transportation to provide for a review and report to the Congress by the National Academy of Sciences on the current state of research and development in light truck fuel economy and passenger automobile fuel economy and an assessment of the potential for improving the fuel efficiency and reducing the energy consumption of passenger automobiles and light trucks. Requires the Secretary of Energy to study and report to the Congress on the future options for regulating the fuel efficiency of such vehicles beyond 2001. Provides for the judicial review of average fuel economy standards (including modifications thereof) established under this Act. Doubles the civil penalty for repeated violations of the fuel economy standard. Requires such penalty to be adjusted for inflation. Title VI: Measures to Displace Petroleum as a Vehicle Fuel - Replacement Fuels and Alternative Fuels Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) to: (1) establish a program to promote the development and use of domestic-produced replacement and alternative fuels; and (2) prescribe the minimum percentage of domestic-produced replacement and alternative fuels, on an energy equivalent basis, to be sold in calendar years 1996 and 1997 by any refiner for use as a motor fuel. Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to authorize the Secretary of Transportation, if the average fuel economy standard for passenger automobiles is increased above 27.5 miles per gallon for any model year, to increase the maximum increase in average fuel economy for a manufacturer attributable to dual energy and natural gas dual energy automobiles until alternative and replacement motor fuel sales indicate that such fuels are displacing conventional petroleum as a motor fuel. Sets forth civil penalties for violations of this Act and a procedure for appealing such penalties. Authorizes appropriations. Title VII: Measures to Promote the Use of Natural Gas - Directs the Secretary of Energy (Secretary) to conduct a program of research, development, and demonstration of cofiring (of natural gas and pulverized coal), including gas reburn technologies (which reduce nitrogen oxide emissions), in electric utility units and large industrial boilers in order to determine optimal natural gas injection levels for both environmental and operational benefits. Provides for financial assistance to or cooperative agreements with public or private entities under such program. Sets the Federal shares of costs at 50 percent. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to expand the program for research, development, and demonstration for natural gas and electric heating and cooling technologies for residential and commercial buildings. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Natural Gas Act to direct FERC to develop an incentive formula for rates and charges for the sale or transportation of natural gas. Sets as the development goals for such formula: (1) allowing natural gas companies to earn a fair rate of return; (2) providing proper price signals to the marketplace; and (3) rewarding pipeline efficiency. Repeals FERC's authority to delay decision-making on ratemaking orders beyond the 30-day rehearing requirement without cause. Requires FERC to take final action on a rehearing application within 60 days after it is filed. Permits natural gas companies to file for FERC approval joint rates negotiated by them for the transportation of natural gas through each of their pipelines in sequence on the way to market. Exempts such rates from coverage under specified antitrust law. Declares that, in the setting of natural gas company rates, a plant shall be recognized so long as it is used and useful in discharging the company's utility business (even if it is already completely depreciated). Declares that pipeline sales rates shall be presumed just and reasonable if workably competitive alternatives exist for such sales. Sets forth conditions under which new natural gas company services (where competitive, certified services already exist) do not need a certificate of public convenience and necessity. Amends the Natural Gas Act to provide automatic abandonment of the sales obligation upon contract expiration, subject to a pipeline's right to extend. Declares that any fixed charge paid by an interstate pipeline to a first seller for gas supply security shall be recoverable on an "as-billed basis" in the pipeline's demand charges, unless FERC determines, after a hearing, that the pipeline does not offer a reasonably competitive alternative to its sales service. Requires the Secretary to condition the approval of any natural gas import application upon FERC action to redress any anti-competitive impacts on U.S. gas producers, including competitive disparities resulting from different rate designs applied to the transportation of domestic gas and imported supplies. Directs the Secretary to expand and continue, through joint ventures, a program of research, development, and demonstration on techniques to increase: (1) intensive recovery of natural gas in place in discovered reservoirs or formations; and (2) economic recovery from nonconventional sources, including tight formation, Devonian shales, and geopressurized brines. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1968 to exempt from Natural Gas Act coverage and FERC jurisdiction the construction or operation of any facilities if the natural gas company constructing such facilities: (1) holds a certificate pursuant to which it has agreed to provide open access transportation service; and (2) the company agrees that such certificate shall apply to any transportation service through the new facilities. Requires all such facilities to be constructed in accordance with applicable environmental protection and safety laws and regulations, except the National Environmental Policy Act of 1978 (NEPA). Directs FERC to create an environmental review process under NEPA providing that pipeline construction projects which are confined to existing utility or highway corridors, and do not involve construction in high value wetland areas, shall be afforded a rebuttable presumption of no significant impact. Makes FERC the lead agency with primary authority for compliance with NEPA in any case where FERC authorization of the construction or operation of facilities or projects under the Natural Gas Act may be deemed a major Federal action. Amends the Natural Gas Act to grant FERC the power to issue certificates of public convenience and necessity in a two-phase process: (1) the first phase, which shall constitute a final order, involving all matters requiring FERC review and approval except environmental matters; and (2) the second phase, addressing required environmental matters only. Directs FERC to revise its environmental review procedures to allow pipelines to submit Environmental Assessments (EAs) at the time of filing for approval of proposed facilities, using general standards specified by FERC. Requires the revised procedures to presume EAs valid subject to FERC review for compliance with its own standards. Requires FERC to permit a certificate applicant to elect a contractor, consultant or other FERC designee to prepare the environmental impact statement at the applicant's expense. Requires FERC to develop procedures to ensure against conflicts of interest in such contracting. Directs the Office of Technology Assessment to study and report to the Congress on: (1) the global trends of production, usage, and transportation of natural gas and the ways in which these trends can affect domestic energy policy and the U.S. natural gas industry; and (2) State and locally imposed institutional and regulatory barriers to increase national natural gas usage. Title VIII: Tax Treatment of Energy Resources - Subtitle A: Renewable Energy Production Incentive - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a renewable energy production credit for electric power plants that operate on solar, wind, and geothermal energy. Sets the credit at two cents (inflation-adjusted annually) per kilowatt hour produced and sold by the taxpayer to an unrelated person. Applies such credit only to facilities built during taxable years 1991 through 1996. Sets forth decreasing credit allowances for 1997 through 2001. Sets the credit for geothermal properties at half the credit for other renewable energy properties. Subtitle B: Transportation - Limits the exclusion from gross income of parking provided by the taxpayer's employer to parking located on the employer's premises only. (Currently the parking may be located on or near the premises.) Requires the employer to operate such facility and restrict substantially all its use to employees. Expands the working condition fringe exclusion from gross income to include up to $75 per month of any van pooling or reimbursement for public mass transit use provided by the taxpayer's employer. Subtitle C: Buildings and Housing Tax Credits - Allows an individual a tax credit of up to $100 of qualified oil retrofit conservation expenditures ($50 in the case of a married individual filing a separate return) for the taxpayer's principal residence. Defines oil retrofit component to include: (1) flame retention burners; (2) insulation measures and water-heater wraps; (3) automatic thermostat controls; and (4) window insulation measures. Subtitle D: Utilities - Excludes from gross income the amount (if in cash) or value (if in kind) of any subsidy (rebate) provided by a public utility to a customer in connection with the purchase, installation, use, or maintenance of any energy or water conservation measure or for energy savings delivered by such measures. Denies any deduction or credit to the extent of any such subsidy excluded from gross income. Declares that this tax exclusion does not apply to any payment to a qualified cogeneration facility or qualifying small power production facility under PURPA. Subtitle E: Automobiles and Trucks - Safe and Efficient Vehicles Incentives Act of 1991 - Establishes: (1) taxes on the sale of each new motor vehicle whose fuel economy is less, or whose composite safety factor is less, than the respective sales-weighted average fuel economy or average composite safety factor of all new motor vehicles within the same class; and (2) rebates for the purchase of each new motor vehicle whose fuel economy is greater, or whose composite safety factor is greater, than the respective sales-weighted average fuel economy or composite safety factor of all new motor vehicles within the same class. Sets forth formulae for the calculation of such taxes and rebates. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to publish in the Federal Register and notify each manufacturer or importer of such formulae annually. Requires labeling boldly displaying such taxes and rebates on all vehicles for sale. Provides for collection of taxes and disbursement of rebates. Sets forth formulae for the calculation of sales-weighted average fuel economies and composite safety factors. Subtitle F: Domestic Oil and Gas Production Incentives - Removes the net income limitation on the percentage depletion allowance deduction for oil and gas wells. Allows a tax credit for up to ten percent of the qualified cost of each barrel of crude oil produced from an economically marginal well (including certain stripper wells) or recovered through a tertiary recovery method. Provides for carryback or carryforward of unused credit. Allows a tax credit for specified percentages of the taxpayer's qualified investment in crude oil and natural gas exploration and development wells. Eliminates intangible drilling costs as tax preference items. Allows deduction of specified drilling costs from the Alternative Minimum Tax calculation. Repeals the taxable income limitation on the percentage depletion allowance. Allows the carryforward of excess depletion allowances. Repeals a specified Revenue Ruling with respect to mineral sharing arrangements. Allows the nonconventional source fuels credit to offset the Alternative Minimum Tax liability. Repeals the January 1, 1993, termination date for such credit, thus making it permanent.
Bill· SS. 743 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
National Energy Efficiency and Development Tax Act of 1991 - Subtitle A: Renewable Energy Production Incentive - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for qualified technologies properties (power plants) that use solar, wind, and geothermal energy. Applies such credit to electricity produced by power plants: (1) placed in service after December 31, 1991, and before January 1, 2002, for which an energy credit has not been allowed; and (2) sold after December 31, 1991, and before January 1, 2009. Subtitle B: Transportation -Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income qualified employer-provided commuter services between an employee's residence and workplace. Includes as qualified services: (1) transportation furnished in a commuter highway vehicle (such as a van); and (2) transportation on public buses, trains, or subways that is paid for or reimbursed by the employer. Limits the exclusion from gross income for parking to parking on (not "on or near," as under current law) the employer's premises, with further specified qualifications. Subtitle C: Buildings and Housing Tax Credits - Allows a tax credit for qualified oil retrofit conservation expenditures in the principal residence of a taxpayer. Describes such expenditures as: (1) flame retention replacement burners; (2) insulation measures, including insulation of water heaters; (3) automatic thermostat controls; and (4) window insulations. Subtitle D: Utilities - Excludes from gross income the amount or value of any subsidy provided by a public utility to a customer in connection with the purchase, installation, use, or maintenance of any energy or water conservation measure or for energy savings delivered by such measures. Denies the use of any tax credit or deduction to the extent such subsidy is excluded from gross income. Subtitle E: Automobiles and Trucks - Safe and Efficient Vehicles Incentives Act of 1991 - Amends Federal law to establish: (1) taxes on the sale of any new motor vehicle (light-duty and medium-duty vehicles and trucks) whose fuel economy is less than the sales-weighted average fuel economy or whose composite safety factor is greater (sic) than the sales-weighted average composite safety factor of all new motor vehicles within the same class; and (2) rebates for the purchase of any new motor vehicle whose fuel economy is greater than the sales-weighted average fuel economy or whose composite safety factor is greater than the sales-weighted average composite safety factor of all new motor vehicles within the same class. Sets forth formulae for determining the fuel economy tax (or rebate) and the safety tax (or rebate). Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to publish in the Federal Register and send to each manufacturer or importer of motor vehicles the applicable formulae for each class of vehicle in the next model year. Requires each manufacturer or importer of new light-duty or medium-duty motor vehicles to calculate according to the applicable formulae the fuel economy and safety taxes and rebates for each vehicle. Requires them to include such information on labels affixed to such vehicles. Provides for the collection of such taxes and the disbursement of such rebates. Authorizes appropriations. Requires, not later than July 1, 1992, and each July 1, thereafter, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to calculate the sales-weighted average fuel consumption and the Secretary of Transportation to calculate the composite safety factor and the sales-weighted average composite safety factor for all light-duty and medium-duty vehicles and trucks with respect to the determination of fuel economy and safety taxes and rebates. Requires each manufacturer or importer of such vehicles to conduct crash tests necessary to determine the composite safety factor of such vehicle whenever such crash test data does not result from the Secretary of Transportation's crash tests. Subtitle F: Domestic Oil and Gas Production - Excludes oil or gas wells from the net income limitation on the percentage depletion allowance. Establishes a marginal production income tax credit for producers who maintain economically unproductive oil wells. Applies the credit to domestic crude that is: (1) from stripper well property; (2) heavy oil; or (3) oil recovered through a tertiary recovery method. Fixes the credit at ten percent of the qualified cost (determined in accordance with a formula set forth in this Act) of each barrel of such oil produced by the producer during the tax year. Establishes a crude oil and natural gas exploration and development tax credit. Allows a ten percent credit for qualifed investments exceeding $1,000,000, 20 percent for those of $1,000,000 or less. Permits the credit as an offset against both minimum tax liability and regular liability. Repeals provisions that identify intangible drilling costs as a tax preference item for purposes of determining alternative minimum tax liability and corporate preference reductions. Allows 50 percent of the marginal production depletion preference (currently the alternative tax energy preference deduction) as a deduction in computing the alternative minimum tax. Increases from 65 to 100 percent (and thus eliminating) the taxable income limitation on the percentage depletion deduction for oil and gas property. Permits a taxpayer to elect to carry forward to the next succeeding taxable year any portion of excess depletion allowances. Provides that the tax imposed on mineral sharing arrangements shall be determined: (1) without regard to a specified revenue ruling, and similar ruling, concerning the operating interest in oil and gas property received for drilling the well; and (2) with regard to the rules in effect before such ruling. Allows the nonconventional source fuels credit to offset the alternative minimum tax liability. Repeals the restriction applying such credit only to fuels produced after December 31, 1979, and before January 1, 1993 (thus extending the credit through December 31, 2002).
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