Transport

Transport von Sturmholz auf der Schiene (G-SIG: 14051825)

Germany · German Bundestag · 14 April 2000

Budgetbegleitgesetz - Verteuerung Führerschein

Austria · National Council · 13 April 2000

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Mag. Johann Maier, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Finanzen betreffend Budgetbegleitgesetz - Verteuerung Führerschein

State Immunization Funding and Infrastructure Act

United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000

State Immunization Funding and Infrastructure Act - Authorizes appropriations for establishing and maintaining preventive health service programs under the Public Health Service Act. Requires that of the amount appropriated specified amounts shall be made available to the Secretary of Health and Human Services: (1) to carry out immunization infrastructure and delivery activities; and (2) for the purchase of domestically licensed and recommended vaccines.

Airport Security Improvement Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000

Airport Security Improvement Act of 2000 - Amends the Federal transportation code with respect to aviation security to repeal mandatory criminal history checks in any case in which an employment investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reveals a gap in employment of 12 months or more for which the subject of the investigation does not account satisfactorily. Requires the FAA Administrator to provide by regulation that criminal background checks be done expeditiously. Directs the FAA Administrator to: (1) complete development of uniform performance standards for providing security screening services; (2) prescribe minimum standards for training security screeners that include at least 40 hours of classroom instruction and at least 40 hours of practical training before an individual is qualified to provide security screening services at a regulated airport; and (3) require by regulation that computer-based training facilities intended for use at a hub airport be conveniently located for that airport and easily accessible. Directs the FAA Administrator to enforce compliance with airport access control requirements, including: (1) suspending, or requiring the suspension of, employees who fail to comply with those requirements, with or without pay, for appropriate periods of time; and (2) imposing specified penalties. Directs the FAA Administrator to: (1) work with airport operators and air carriers to implement and strengthen existing controls to eliminate access control weaknesses; (2) require airport operators and air carriers to develop comprehensive and recurring training programs that teach employees their role in airport security and how performance will be evaluated and treated; (3) require airport operators and air carriers to develop programs that foster and reward compliance with access control requirements, discourage and penalize noncompliance, and enforce individual compliance requirements under FAA oversight; (4) assess and test for compliance with access control requirements, and take appropriate enforcement actions for noncompliance; (5) improve and better administer the FAA security database; (6) improve the execution of the FAA quality control program; and (7) require airport operators and air carriers to strengthen access control points in secured areas (including air traffic control operations areas) to ensure the security of passengers and aircraft.

Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000

King and Tsiorvas Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2000 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to: (1) implement the oil and gas pipeline safety improvement recommendations provided for in the Department of Transportation (DOT) Inspector General's Report (RT-2000-069); and (2) report every 90 days to specified congressional committees on the specific actions taken to implement them. Requires the DOT Inspector General to assess periodically for the same committees the Secretary's progress in doing so. (Sec. 3) Directs the Secretary, the Administrator of Research and Special Program Administration, and the Director of the Office of Pipeline Safety to: (1) comply fully with certain Federal transportation law requirements to ensure timely responsiveness to National Transportation Safety Board recommendations about pipeline safety; (2) make a copy of each recommendation on pipeline safety and response available to the public at reasonable cost; and (3) report annually to Congress on each pipeline safety recommendation made by the Board during the prior year, and a copy of the response to each such recommendation. (Sec. 4) Requires each pipeline operator to submit to the Secretary a training plan designed to enhance training (and periodic retraining) for pipeline personnel and reduce the likelihood of accidents and injuries. Requires the plan to include criteria to demonstrate an individual's ability to safely and properly perform assigned tasks. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) review the submitted plans, initially and on a continuing basis, to determine if they are sufficient to provide a safe operating environment; and (2) establish minimum standards for operators to include in such plans. (Sec. 5) Requires the Secretary to issue regulations requiring pipeline operators to: (1) periodically determine the adequacy of pipelines to operate safely in unusually sensitive areas and high-density population areas; and (2) perform periodic inspections or tests capable of identifying corrosion, mechanical damage, or other structural or operational defects that could be detrimental to safety and the environment. (Sec. 6) Amends Federal transportation law to grant shutdown authority to the Secretary to take necessary action to prevent the operation for 30 days (including additional 30-day periods) of any hazardous liquid or natural gas pipeline whose continuing operation creates an imminent safety hazard to persons, property, or the environment. (Sec. 7) Revises the public education program requirements for gas pipeline facility owners or operators. Applies such requirements to owners or operators of a hazardous liquid pipeline facility. Includes among the items for public education: (1) damage prevention activities in addition to the use of a one-call notification system before excavation; (2) the physical indications that an unintended release may have occurred; (3) what steps should be taken for public safety in the event of a pipeline release; (4) how to report such an event; and (5) activities to advise municipalities, school districts, businesses, and residents of pipeline facility locations. Repeals the specific requirement of education on the importance of reporting gas odors to the appropriate authority. Requires submission to and review of such programs by the Secretary. Requires pipeline facility owners and operators to review their public education programs annually and make necessary revisions. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) issue standards prescribing the elements of an effective public education program; and (2) provide technical assistance to the pipeline industry on developing public safety and public education program content and best practices for program delivery, and on evaluating program effectiveness. Requires an operator of a gas transmission or hazardous liquid pipeline facility to initiate and maintain liaison with the State emergency response commissions, and local emergency planning committees (or local fire, police, and other emergency response agencies in the absence of a committee) in the areas of pipeline right-of-way, established under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 in each State in which it operates. Requires the operator, when requested, to make specified information available to such State emergency response commissions and local emergency planning committees. Requires the owner or operator of each gas or hazardous liquid pipeline facility to provide annually to the governing body of each municipality in which the pipeline facility is located a map identifying the facility's location. Requires the Secretary to make available to the public any safety-related condition report and any report of a pipeline incident filed by an operator. (Sec. 8) Increases from $25,000 to $100,000 the civil penalty for each facility operator failure to: (1) mark accurately the location of pipeline facilities in the vicinity of a demolition, excavation, tunneling, or construction; or (2) comply with safety standards, prepare and carry out an inspection and maintenance plan, allow access to records, or allow required entries or inspections. Increases the maximum civil penalty for a related series of violations to $1 million. (Sec. 9) Authorizes the Secretary, if a State pipeline safety program certification is accepted, to make an agreement with a State authority authorizing it to participate in the oversight of interstate pipeline transportation, including a plan for the State authority to participate in special investigations involving new construction or incidents, as well as (subject to specified requirements) other activities overseeing interstate pipeline transportation that supplement the Secretary's program and address issues of local concern. Allows the Secretary to end an agreement for the oversight of interstate pipeline transportation when significant gaps are found in the State authority's regulatory authority over intrastate pipeline transportation, or when the State authority's continued participation in the oversight of interstate pipeline transportation: (1) is found inconsistent with the Secretary's program; (2) would adversely affect oversight of intrastate pipeline transportation; or (3) the State is not promoting activities that enable communities to live safely with pipelines. (Sec. 10) Directs the Secretary to develop and implement a comprehensive plan for the collection and use of gas and hazardous liquid pipeline data to revise the causal categories on the accident report forms to eliminate overlapping and confusing categories and include subcategories. Requires the plan to include components to provide the capability to perform sound accident trend analysis and evaluations of pipeline operator performance using normalized accident data. (Sec. 11) Requires the Secretary, as part of the DOT research and development program, to direct research attention to the development of alternative technologies: (1) to expand the defect detection capabilities of internal inspection devices; (2) to inspect pipelines that cannot accommodate internal inspection devices available on the date of enactment; and (3) to develop innovative techniques measuring the structural integrity of pipelines. (Sec. 12) Authorizes appropriations with respect to gas and hazardous liquid and State grants. Requires the transfer of specified amounts from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to carry out authorized programs.

Internet Integrity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000

Internet Integrity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act of 2000 - Title I: Cyber-Hacking - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide criminal penalties for engaging in fraudulent access and related activities in connection with computers, including: (1) when the defendant uses a person less than 18 years old to commit the offense; (2) when the offense causes aggregate losses of at least $5,000; (3) when the offense causes the modification or impairment of medical diagnosis, treatment, or care; (4) when the offense causes a physical injury to any person; (5) when the offense causes a threat to public health or safety; or (6) when the offense damages a computer system used by or for a government entity in the administration of justice, national defense, or national security. Increases the prison term for a succeeding conviction of the same offense. (Sec. 102) Requires the criminal and civil forfeiture of any property used in committing such offenses, as well as any property constituting or derived from proceeds from such offense. (Sec. 104) Includes such offenses when committed by juveniles as offenses under which the Attorney General may certify to the appropriate district court a substantial Federal interest in exercising Federal prosecution. (Sec. 105) Includes as a defense against prosecution for a computer offense by a telecommunications provider, subscriber, or other aggrieved person that the person providing the information was responding to the request of a governmental entity. (Sec. 106) Authorizes the Federal interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications for a suspected felony violation relating to computer fraud and abuse. (Sec. 107) Provides for the criminal forfeiture of any replicator or other device used to copy a computer program or computer program documentation or packaging. (Sec. 108) Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to amend Federal sentencing guidelines to provide guidelines relating to computer fraud and abuse and the use of encryption in connection with the commission or concealment of criminal acts. (Sec. 109) Requires the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to construct and equip a National Cyber-Crime Technical Support Center to serve as the centralized technical resource for Federal, State, and local law enforcement and to provide technical assistance in the investigation of computer-related criminal activities. Requires the Director to develop at least ten regional computer forensic laboratories, and to provide support, education, and assistance for such existing laboratories. Directs the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make a grant to each State to develop and establish programs to assist State and local law enforcement in enforcing laws relating to computer crime and for related activities. Requires each State receiving grant funds to assure the Attorney General (AG) that it has in effect laws penalizing computer crime. Limits the Federal share to 90 percent of program costs. Authorizes the AG to make grants to Indian tribes for such purposes. Provides funding limitations. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Anti-Fraud Protections - Provides criminal penalties for intentionally and without consent or authorization initiating the transmission of an unsolicited commercial electronic mail advertisement to one or more protected computers with knowledge that such advertisement falsifies an Internet domain, header, or other identifying information. Title III: Privacy and Confidentiality Protections - Requires the inclusion within an application for a pen register or trap and trace device a description of the facts upon which such request is based. Requires to be included in annual reports concerning such authorized uses the offense specified and the number and nature of the facilities affected. (Sec. 302) Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require a satellite carrier or distributor, at the time of entering into an agreement to provide any satellite home viewing service to a subscriber and at least annually thereafter, to notify the subscriber of any personally identifiable information collected and its use, the nature and purposes of any disclosure of such information, the subscriber's access to such information, and the subscriber's right to enforce all appropriate information collection and disclosure limitations. Prohibits a carrier or distributor from collecting such information without prior written or electronic subscriber consent, except: (1) to obtain information necessary to render such service; or (2) to detect unauthorized reception of satellite communications. Prohibits a carrier from disclosing such information, except: (1) when necessary for a business purpose; (2) to a law enforcement agency pursuant to a warrant; or (3) in limited circumstances, to disclose subscriber names and addresses to another provider of satellite or other services. Provides procedures for obtaining a warrant under (2), above. Requires a subscriber to be provided access to all personal information collected and maintained by a carrier or distributor. Provides civil relief for violations of such requirements. (Sec. 303) Requires certain information concerning discovered encryption activities to be included in reports required in connection with the interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications. (Sec. 304) Prohibits an interactive computer service (service) from disclosing to a person other than the consumer any personally identifiable information, unless: (1) the service notifies the consumer of such disclosure; (2) the consumer is given the opportunity to object to the disclosure; and (3) the service explains how the consumer can exercise the nondisclosure option. Require the service to provide to the consumer, at the beginning of the business relationship, the service's policies and practices with regard to the collection and use of such information. Provides a civil cause of action for violations of such requirements. (Sec. 305) Authorizes the AG to carry out a national media campaign to raise public awareness of existing rights, laws, and regulations relating to Internet security and the privacy of personally identifiable information over the Internet. Outlines campaign objectives and elements. Prohibits the use of funds for political activities, with an exception. Requires the AG to enter into an agreement with a qualified certified public accountant to obtain a campaign assessment. Requires a report, after such assessment, from the AG to the congressional judiciary and appropriations committees. Terminates the campaign three years after the enactment of this Act. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2001 through 2003. (Sec. 306) Makes it unlawful to knowingly and with intent to defraud obtain, or cause to be disclosed to any person, personally identifiable information of an interactive computer service relating to another person without that person's consent or authorization. Allows such service or its employees to obtain such information in the course of: (1) system testing or security procedures; (2) investigations of misconduct allegations of such employees; or (3) recovering information which was obtained in a criminal manner. Title IV: National Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection - Directs the AG to appoint a Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Computer Crime and Intellectual Property (Deputy Assistant) to: (1) advise Federal prosecutors and law enforcement personnel regarding computer and intellectual property crime; (2) coordinate national and international activities for combating such crime; (3) guide and assist Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies and personnel, as well as appropriate foreign entities, regarding responses to threats of such crimes; and (4) undertake related coordinating, training, and legislative recommendation activities. Requires the individual who holds the position of head of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of DOJ to act as the Deputy Assistant until the AG appoints another individual to that Section position. Authorizes appropriations for such Section. (Sec. 402) Requires the FBI's Director of the National Infrastructure Protection Center to use appropriated funds to gather and analyze information concerning threats to, and provide assessments and assistance for protecting, the national critical infrastructure. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2001 through 2005. (Sec. 403) Amends Federal employee provisions to authorize the assignment or transfer of a Federal employee to a provider of wire or electronic communication service, data encryption service, or related service in order to further objectives of this Act. Title V: International Computer Crime Enforcement - International Computer Crime Enforcement Assistance Act of 2000 - Authorizes the AG to provide computer crime (other than trade secrets or undisclosable proprietary information) evidence or information to a foreign law enforcement authority (foreign authority) in order to assist in the enforcement of foreign computer crime law. Requires a mutual assistance agreement with the appropriate foreign country or organization prior to the release of such information. (Sec. 503) Authorizes the AG to provide investigative assistance to foreign authorities for obtaining computer crime evidence relating to the enforcement of foreign computer crime laws. Requires a mutual assistance agreement. (Sec. 504) Authorizes the appropriate U.S. district court, upon application of the AG under a mutual assistance agreement, to order a person to give testimony or a statement, or to produce a document or other thing, in order to assist a foreign authority to enforce a foreign computer crime law. Outlines court procedures. (Sec. 505) Prohibits the AG from taking any actions authorized under this title unless the AG determines that: (1) the foreign authority concerned will honor its mutual assistance agreement; (2) providing evidence will not violate any agreement; and (3) disclosing evidence or exercising authority is consistent with U.S. public interests. (Sec. 506) Authorizes the AG to receive reimbursement from a foreign authority for costs incurred in exercising authority under this title. (Sec. 507) Exempts determinations made under section 505 from judicial review. (Sec. 508) Outlines computer crime mutual assistance agreement elements, including a requirement that the foreign authority will provide the AG with comparable assistance, and will protect evidence provided in the same manner as the AG would. Excludes from such agreements computer crime evidence: (1) occurring before a grand jury for which disclosure is prevented by Federal law (with exceptions); (2) that is specifically authorized under Executive Order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and is classified or pending classification; or (3) that is classified under the Atomic Energy Act. Requires prior publication of any mutual assistance agreement, as well as subsequent publication of agreement modifications and terminations. (Sec. 510) Requires the AG to report to the congressional judiciary committees regarding the effects of this title on the enforcement of Federal computer crime laws as well as foreign authority compliance with mutual assistance agreements. Title VI: Severability - Provides for the severability of provisions of this Act.

Water Resources Development Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000

Water Resources Development Act of 2000 - Approves the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan to modify the Central and Southern Florida (CSF) Project to restore, preserve, and protect the South Florida ecosystem. Authorizes implementation, at specified total costs, of certain pilot projects and other projects included in the Plan. Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to implement modifications to the CSF Project that are consistent with the Plan and that will produce independent and substantial restoration, preservation, or protection benefits to the ecosystem, provided that the total cost of each project accomplished under such authority shall not exceed $35 million and the total Federal cost of all such projects shall not exceed $250 million. Requires a specific authorization of Congress for all other future projects included the Plan. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to ensure that socially and economically disadvantaged individuals within the South Florida ecosystem are informed of the Plan, given the opportunity to review and comment on each project feature, provided opportunities to participate as a small business concern contractor, and given opportunities for employment or internships in emerging industry sectors. Requires the Secretary to establish a goal that not less than ten percent of the amounts made available for construction of projects be expended with small business concerns owned and controlled by such individuals within the ecosystem. Requires the Secretary: (1) to dedicate and manage the water made available from project features for the temporal and spatial needs of the natural system; and (2) after notice and opportunity for public comment and with the concurrence of the Secretary of the Interior, to issue programmatic regulations identifying the amount of water to be dedicated and managed. Requires that such regulations be completed within two years of the date of enactment of this Act. Requires the Secretary, after notice and opportunity for public comment, to develop project feature specific regulations to ensure that the benefits anticipated from each feature are achieved and maintained. Requires Secretary to ensure that Plan implementation, including physical or operational modifications to the CSF Project, does not cause substantial adverse impacts on existing legal water uses, including annual water deliveries to Everglades National Park, water for the preservation of fish and wildlife in the natural system, and other legal uses. Prohibits the Secretary from eliminating existing legal sources of water supply until new sources of comparable quantity and quality are available. Requires the Secretary and the Secretary of Interior to jointly submit to Congress a report on Plan implementation beginning on October 1, 2005 and periodically thereafter (but at least every five years) until October 1, 2036. (Sec. 4) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 to replace provisions for the study of water resources needs of river basins and regions with provisions for the assessment of such needs, including cost sharing requirements. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 5) Directs the Secretary to carry out a program to provide assistance to non-Federal interests in the remediation and restoration of abandoned or idled industrial and commercial sites where such assistance will improve the quality, conservation, and sustainable use of the nation's streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and floodplains. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 6) Authorizes the Secretary, in cooperation with federally recognized Indian tribes and other Federal agencies, to study and determine the feasibility of implementing water resources development projects that will substantially benefit Indian tribes and that are located primarily within Indian country or in proximity to Alaska Native villages. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 7) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 to apply ability to pay requirements relating to flood control or agricultural water supply projects to cost sharing agreements for a feasibility study or for construction of an environmental protection and restoration project. (Sec. 8) Authorizes the Secretary to implement a program to reduce vandalism and destruction of property at water resources development projects. (Sec. 9) Authorizes the Secretary to participate in the National Recreation Reservation Service on an interagency basis and fund the Department of the Army's share of those activities required for implementing, operating, and maintaining such Service. (Sec. 10) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 to: (1) provide that activities currently performed by personnel under the direction of the Secretary in connection with the operation and maintenance of hydroelectric power generating facilities at Army Corps of Engineers water resources projects are to be considered as inherently governmental functions and not as commercial activities where such activities require specialized training related to hydroelectric power generation; and (2) subject such activities to specified labor standards. (Sec. 11) Amends such Act to increase funding for the Secretary to engage in interagency and international support activities to address problems of national significance to the United States. (Sec. 12) Authorizes the Secretary: (1) to identify and set aside areas at civil works projects that may be used to re-inter Native American remains that have been discovered on project lands and which have been rightfully claimed by a lineal descendant or Indian tribe; (2) in consultation and consent with the lineal descendant or the respective Indian tribe, to recover and re-bury the remains at such sites at full Federal expense; and (3) to transfer to such Indian Tribe the land for use as a cemetery. (Sec. 13) Amends the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899 to provide that the approval required of the location and plans, or any modification of plans, for any dam or dike, applies only to any dam or dike that would completely span a waterway currently used to transport interstate or foreign commerce when existing commerce could be adversely affected. (Sec. 14) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 to revise cost sharing requirements with respect to the non-Federal share of the cost of a structural project assigned to flood control. (Sec. 15) Authorizes the Secretary to participate with the appropriate Federal and State agencies in the planning and management activities associated with the CALFED Bay Delta Program and to integrate the activities of the Corps of Engineers in the San Joaquin and Sacramento River basins with the long-term goals of the Program. Allows the Secretary to accept and expend funds from other Federal agencies and non- Federal public, private, and non-profit entities to carry out ecosystem restoration projects and activities associated with such Program and to enter into contracts, cooperative research and development agreements, and cooperative agreements with Federal agencies and such entities in carrying out these projects and activities. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 16) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 to revise provisions governing water resources project de-authorizations. Requires the Secretary to transmit to Congress annually a list of projects that have been authorized for construction: (1) but for which no appropriations have been obligated during the four preceding fiscal years; and (2) for which construction funds have been obligated in the past but for which no appropriations have been obligated for construction during the two previous consecutive fiscal years. Requires any authorized project to be de-authorized: (1) after seven years after its most recent authorization unless construction funds have been obligated; or (2) if construction funds have been obligated but no new construction appropriations have been obligated during five subsequent fiscal years. (Sec. 17) Requires that the guidelines for the preparation of floodplain management plans also require non-Federal interests to take measures to preserve the level of flood protection provided by the project for which required compliance with Federal floodplain management and flood insurance programs applies. (Sec. 18) Authorizes the Secretary to conduct a feasibility study in cooperation with the Secretary of the Interior, the States of South and North Dakota of the affected interest, and with the affected Indian tribes, for the transfer of land that was acquired by the Secretary for the implementation of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River basin program and that is located within the reservations of the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, ND, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota, the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation, SD, the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, and the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, to the Secretary of the Interior to be held in trust for the benefit of such Indian tribes. (Sec. 19) Authorizes the Secretary to participate in Critical Restoration Projects in the area of Puget Sound and its adjacent waters, including the watersheds that drain directly into the Sound, Admiralty Inlet, Hood Canal, Rosario Strait, and the eastern portion of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Authorizes appropriations.

AID for Communities Act

United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000

Assistance in Development for Communities Act (AID for Communities Act) - Authorizes a trade-affected community, a group of such communities, or the Governor of a State on behalf of such communities to petition the Secretary of Commerce for eligibility certification for community-based economic development assistance. Specifies communities with a certain number of workers certified for trade adjustment assistance, including assistance with regard to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). (Sec. 5) Declares that each certified trade-affected community shall receive a grant of up to $100,000 for planning and technical assistance to develop economic plans for community adjustment assistance and community diversification. Makes community adjustment assistance available for: (1) constructing or expanding the industrial and commercial infrastructure, as well as advanced manufacturing centers, industrial parks, and water and sewer facilities; (2) improving educational opportunities, transportation, and technology infrastructure; (3) establishing small business incubators; and (4) taking other action necessary to capitalize on opportunities to diversify the economy and develop new industrial and commercial ventures. (Sec. 6) Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the work opportunity tax credit for a portion of qualified wages an employer pays members of a targeted group, to treat as a targeted group individuals certified by the designated local agency as adversely affected by trade-related activities and residing in a trade-affected community. Establishes a new markets tax credit for any taxpayer holding a qualified equity investment equal to six percent of the amount paid to the qualified community development entity for such investment at its original issue, if: (1) the investment is acquired by the taxpayer at its original issue solely in exchange for cash; and (2) substantially all of such cash is used by the entity to make qualified low-income community investments. Defines qualified community development entity as any domestic corporation or partnership (including a specialized small business investment company or community development financial institution): (1) whose primary mission is serving, or providing investment capital for, low-income communities or low-income persons; and (2) which maintains accountability to residents of low-income communities through representation on governing or advisory boards or otherwise. Sets a new markets tax credit limitation of $750 million for each of calendar years 2001 through 2005, and zero for following years. (Sec. 7) Directs the Secretary to establish a one-stop clearinghouse for States and local governments to obtain information regarding assistance available for trade-affected communities. (Sec. 8) Authorizes appropriations.

Internet Security Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000

Internet Security Act of 2000 - Amends the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 (the Act) to set forth penalties for unlawfully accessing to commit fraud, and damaging, a protected computer where that conduct: (1) causes a loss aggregating at least $5,000 in value during a one-year period to one or more individuals; (2) modifies or impairs the medical examination, diagnosis, treatment, or care of one or more individuals; (3) causes physical injury to any person; or (4) threatens public health or safety. Includes attempted offenses within the scope of the Act. Provides for the forfeiture to the United States of the offender's interest in any: (1) personal property used to commit or facilitate the offense; and (2) real or personal property that constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to a violation. Limits "losses" (currently, "damages for violations involving damage") to economic damages. Defines "loss" to include: (1) the reasonable costs to any victim of responding to the offense, conducting a damage assessment, and restoring the system and data; and (2) any lost revenue or costs incurred by the victim as a result of interruption of service. Specifies that property subject to forfeiture, any seizure and disposition of property, and any administrative or judicial proceeding in relation thereto shall be governed by the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. (Sec. 3) Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) acts that damage computers used in the delivery of critical infrastructure services pose a serious threat to public health and safety and have the potential to cause losses to victims; and (2) the Government should have jurisdiction to investigate acts affecting protected computers, even if the effects of such acts occur wholly outside the United States. (Sec. 4) Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to amend the Federal sentencing guidelines to ensure that any individual convicted of a violation of the Act regarding the accessing of a protected computer under specified unlawful circumstances can be subjected to appropriate penalties, without regard to any mandatory minimum term of imprisonment. (Sec. 5) Directs the court, with respect to any person convicted of trafficking in counterfeit computer labels, program documentation, or packaging, to order the forfeiture and destruction or other disposition of anything used to copy or produce the computer program or other item to which the counterfeit label was affixed. (Sec. 7) Rewrites Federal criminal code provisions regarding pen registers and trap and trace devices to authorize the court, with respect to requests from an attorney for the Government or a State law enforcement or investigative officer, to enter an order authorizing the installation and use of such a device if the court finds that the information likely to be obtained is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation. Requires that the use of the device be conducted in such a way as to minimize the recording or decoding of any electronic or other impulses that are not related to the dialing and signaling information utilized in processing by the service provider upon whom the order is served. (Sec. 8) Revises the definition of "pen register" to: (1) mean a device or process that records or decodes electronic or other impulses that identify the telephone numbers or electronic addresses dialed or otherwise transmitted by an instrument or facility from which a wire or electronic communication is transmitted and used for purposes of identifying the destination or termination of such communication by the service provider upon which the order is served; and (2) exclude any device or process used by a provider or customer of a wire or electronic communication service for billing or recording as an incident to billing for communications services or for cost accounting or other like purposes in the ordinary course of its business. (Sec. 9) Requires that the Attorney General's annual report to Congress regarding pen register and trap and trace devices include information concerning: (1) the period of interceptions authorized by the order and the number and duration of any extensions of the order; (2) the offense specified in the order, application, or extension; (3) the number of investigations involved; (4) the number and nature of the facilities affected; and (5) the identity of the applying investigative or law enforcement agency making the application and the person authorizing the order. (Sec. 10) Rewrites code provisions regarding the interception and disclosure of wire, oral, or electronic communications to permit a person acting under color of law to intercept: (1) a wire, oral, or electronic communication if such person is a party to the communication or if one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to such interception; and (2) a wire or electronic communication if the transmission is causing harmful interference to a lawfully operating computer system, if any person who is not a provider of service to the public and who is authorized to use the facility from which the wire or electronic communication is to be intercepted has given prior consent to the interception, and if the interception is conducted only to the extent necessary to identify the source of the harmful interference. (Sec. 11) Requires the Attorney General's annual reports to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to include the number of orders in which encryption was encountered and whether such encryption prevented law enforcement from obtaining the plain text of communications intercepted. (Sec. 12) Directs the Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs to make a grant to each State to: (1) assist State and local law enforcement in enforcing State and local criminal laws relating to computer crime and in educating the public to prevent and identify computer crime; (2) assist in educating and training State and local law enforcement officers and prosecutors to conduct investigations and forensic analyses of evidence and prosecutions of computer crime; (3) assist State and local law enforcement officers and prosecutors in acquiring computer and other equipment to conduct investigations and forensic analysis of evidence of computer crimes; and (4) facilitate and promote the sharing of Federal law enforcement expertise and information about the investigation, analysis, and prosecution of computer crimes with State and local law enforcement officers and prosecutors, including the use of multi-jurisdictional task forces. Sets forth provisions regarding use of grant amounts, required State assurances to be eligible to receive a grant, and matching funds. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Attorney General to use amounts made available herein to make grants to Indian tribes.

Pipeline Safety and Community Protection Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000

Pipeline Safety and Community Protection Act of 2000 - Amends Federal transportation law with respect to gas and hazardous liquid pipeline facilities in high-density population areas and environmentally sensitive areas. (Sec. 2) Requires the operator of a natural gas transmission pipeline facility or hazardous liquid pipeline facility to: (1) evaluate the risks to the operator's pipeline facility in such areas (as identified by specified criteria established by the Secretary of Transportation); and (2) adopt and implement a program for integrity management that reduces the risks in those areas. Specifies minimum standards, according to certain criteria, for an operator's program for integrity management, including: (1) internal inspection or another equally protective method for periodic assessment of pipeline integrity; (2) prompt actions to address integrity issues; and (3) measures that prevent and mitigate the consequences of a release of a hazardous substance or a discharge of oil. Requires the Secretary to prescribe additional standards, addressing specified issues, to direct an operator's conduct of a risk analysis or adoption or implementation of a program for integrity management. Excludes tanks incidental to pipeline transportation from the mandatory pipe inventory of a hazardous pipeline facility. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations for the implementation of an integrity management program by operators of more than 500 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines, and ultimately by all operators of such pipelines or natural gas transmission pipelines. (Sec. 3) Revises requirements for owner or operator public education programs on the use of a one-call notification system before excavation and other damage prevention activities, the possible hazards of unintended pipeline facility releases, and public detection and reporting of such an event. Requires each owner or operator to: (1) review its existing public education program for effectiveness and modify it as necessary; and (2) initiate and maintain liaison with the State emergency response commissions, and local emergency planning committees in the areas of pipeline right-of-way in each State in which it operates. Directs the Secretary to prescribe requirements for public access to integrity management program information prepared under this Act. Requires the owner or operator of each interstate gas pipeline facility to provide, at least annually, to the governing body of each municipality in which the interstate gas pipeline facility is located, a map identifying the location of the facility. Requires the Secretary, in issuing standards for public education programs and public safety programs, to consider the results of a required survey and assessment of such programs. Requires that notice of a hazardous condition be given, concurrently with a safety report to the Secretary, to local emergency responders, and appropriate On-scene Coordinators for the Area Contingency Plan-Sub-area Contingency Plan. (Sec. 4) Revises requirements for the Secretary's decision that a pipeline facility is hazardous to life, property, or the environment to include decisions that a facility or its construction or operation would be hazardous. Authorizes the Secretary to waive notice and hearing requirements, upon deciding a facility may present a hazard, and request the Attorney General to bring suit to restrain facility operation on behalf of the United States in the appropriate district court. Increases the general administrative civil penalty for violations: (1) from the minimum penalty of $25,000 to $100,000; and (2) from the maximum penalty of $500,000 to $1 million. States that such maximum civil penalty for a related series of violations does not apply to a judicial enforcement action brought by the Attorney General or by a private person. Revises considerations for determining the amount of a civil penalty to allow the Secretary to consider the economic benefit gained from the violation without any discount because of subsequent damages. Revises requirements with respect to the penalty for an excavator's not using the one-call notification system or not heeding location information or markings. Allows a court in which the Attorney General brings suit to award (in addition to punitive damages) a temporary or permanent injunction and civil penalties. Revises requirements for injunctive actions by private persons. Repeals authorization to bring a civil action against the United States and other governmental authorities. Limits such an action to a compliance enforcement action, and the defendant to a person owning or operating a pipeline facility. (Sec. 5) Declares that regulations prescribed by the Secretary do not apply to a State that has a one-call notification program accepted by the Secretary as meeting certain minimum standards, or approved by the Secretary as an alternative program. Applies safety program requirements to operators of hazardous liquid pipeline facilities (as well as operators of gas pipeline facilities). Authorizes a State to enforce a requirement of a one-call notification law satisfying specified Federal requirements against an operator of an interstate natural gas pipeline facility or an interstate hazardous liquid pipeline facility, provided that the requirement sought to be enforced is compatible with Federal minimum standards. Establishes a misdemeanor for any person who knowingly engages in an excavation activity without first using an available one-call notification system to establish the location of underground facilities in the excavation area. (Sec. 6) Authorizes the Secretary, after accepting a State's pipeline safety program certification, to: (1) make an agreement authorizing the State authority to participate in the oversight of interstate pipeline transportation; but (2) end such an agreement upon finding significant gaps in the State authority's regulatory authority. Authorizes the Secretary to pay up to 100 percent of the cost of the personnel, equipment, and activities of a State authority acting as the Secretary's agent in conducting a special investigation involved in monitoring new construction or investigating an incident on an interstate gas pipeline facility or an interstate hazardous liquid pipeline facility. (Sec. 7) Requires any person owning or operating a hazardous liquid pipeline facility to: (1) report to the Secretary each release to the environment greater than five gallons of the hazardous liquid or carbon dioxide transported; and (2) make available to the Secretary within prescribed time limits, during an incident investigation, any records, reports, and information relevant to such investigation. Directs the Secretary to establish a national depository of data on events and conditions, including spill histories and corrective actions for specific incidents, that can be used to evaluate the risk of, and to prevent, pipeline failures and releases. (Sec. 8) Revises the Secretary's entry and inspection authority. Authorizes the Secretary to establish procedures to recover travel, contract support, and related costs incurred because of investigation of incidents from the operators of the pipeline facilities involved in the incidents. (Sec. 9) Directs the Secretary to support international efforts to share information about the risks to the public and the environment from pipelines and the means of protecting against those risks. (Sec. 10) Revises requirements for the risk management demonstration grant program to authorize the Secretary, by order, to allow the continuation of an individual project beyond the program's termination, subject to specified conditions and time limits. (Sec. 11) Directs the Secretary to participate in the development of innovative alternative technologies to: (1) identify outside force damage using internal inspection devices, as well as monitor outside-force damage to pipelines; and (2) inspect pipelines that cannot accommodate internal inspection devices available on the date of the enactment of this Act. (Sec. 12) Authorizes appropriations.

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exempt certain helicopter uses from ticket taxes.

United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from certain ticket taxes helicopter transport of persons and cargo in order to conduct removal and environmental restoration activities related to unexploded ordnance.

National Transportation Safety Board Amendments Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000

National Transportation Safety Board Amendments Act of 2000 - Amends Federal transportation law to authorize the National Transportation Safety Board to: (1) negotiate and enter into agreements with individuals and private entities and departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the Government, State and local governments, and governments of foreign countries for the provision of facilities, accident-related services, or training in accident investigation techniques; and (2) require (as under current law) that such entities provide appropriate consideration for the reasonable costs of any facilities, services, or (new law) training provided by the Board. Requires any amounts received as such consideration to be credited to the Board's appropriations as offsetting collections. (Sec. 4) Authorizes the Board, for an employee whose basic pay equals or exceeds the minimum rate for GS-10 of the General Schedule, to establish an overtime hourly rate of time-and-a-half (which shall be considered premium pay), up to a specified annual limit, with respect to work performed at the scene of an accident (including travel to or from the scene) and other work critical to an accident investigation. (Sec. 5) Extends to cockpit video recordings or written depictions of visual information the same disclosure limitations and requirements (including those applicable to discovery and use of such recordings or written depictions in judicial proceedings) that apply to cockpit voice recordings or transcripts of them. Extends such disclosure limitations and requirements to surface vehicle voice or video recorder recordings or transcripts of oral communications by or among drivers, train employees, or other operating employees responsible for the movement and direction of the vehicle or vessel, or between such operating employees and company communication centers, related to an accident investigated by the Board. (Sec. 6) Revises the Board's current investigative priority over other Federal agencies to require the Board to relinquish such priority to the Federal Bureau of Investigation if the Attorney General determines that circumstances reasonably indicate that the accident may have been caused by an intentional criminal act. Requires the Board to take necessary actions to ensure that evidence is preserved if a Federal law enforcement agency suspects and notifies the Board that an accident the Board is investigating may have been caused by an intentional criminal act. (Sec. 7) Revises the duties and powers of the Board with respect to accidents involving public aircraft. (Sec. 8) Requires the Board and the U.S. Coast Guard to revise their Memorandum of Understanding governing major marine accidents to: (1) to redefine or clarify the standards used to determine when the Board will lead an investigation; and (2) develop new standards to determine when a major marine accident involves significant safety issues relating to Coast Guard safety functions. (Sec. 9) Directs the Chairman of the Board to establish annual fiscal year budgets for non-accident-related travel expenditures for Board members, and report annually to specified congressional committees on the non-accident-related travel of each Board member, with separate accounting for foreign and domestic travel. (Sec. 10) Requires the Board Chairman to designate an officer or employee of the Board as the Chief Financial Officer, who shall perform specified duties. (Sec. 11) Directs the Board to develop and implement comprehensive internal audit controls for its financial programs based on the findings and recommendations of the private sector audit firm contract entered into by the Board in March, 2000. Requires the improved internal audit controls, at a minimum, to address Board asset management systems, including systems for accounting management, debt collection, travel, and property and inventory management and control. (Sec. 12) Grants the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation authority to review only the Board's financial management and business operations. (Sec. 13) Authorizes appropriations for the Board through FY 2003. Increases from $1 million to $2 million the Board's emergency fund for accident investigations.

Pipeline Safety and Community Protection Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000

Pipeline Safety and Community Protection Act of 2000 - Amends Federal transportation law with respect to gas and hazardous liquid pipeline facilities in high-density population areas and environmentally sensitive areas. (Sec. 2) Requires the operator of a natural gas transmission pipeline facility or hazardous liquid pipeline facility to: (1) evaluate the risks to the operator's pipeline facility in such areas (as identified by specified criteria established by the Secretary of Transportation); and (2) adopt and implement a program for integrity management that reduces the risks in those areas. Specifies minimum standards, according to certain criteria, for an operator's program for integrity management, including: (1) internal inspection or another equally protective method for periodic assessment of pipeline integrity; (2) prompt actions to address integrity issues; and (3) measures that prevent and mitigate the consequences of a release of a hazardous substance or a discharge of oil. Requires the Secretary to prescribe additional standards, addressing specified issues, to direct an operator's conduct of a risk analysis or adoption or implementation of a program for integrity management. Excludes tanks incidental to pipeline transportation from the mandatory pipe inventory of a hazardous pipeline facility. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations for the implementation of an integrity management program by operators of more than 500 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines, and ultimately by all operators of such pipelines or natural gas transmission pipelines. (Sec. 3) Revises requirements for owner or operator public education programs on the use of a one-call notification system before excavation and other damage prevention activities, the possible hazards of unintended pipeline facility releases, and public detection and reporting of such an event. Requires each owner or operator to: (1) review its existing public education program for effectiveness and modify it as necessary; and (2) initiate and maintain liaison with the State emergency response commissions, and local emergency planning committees in the areas of pipeline right-of-way in each State in which it operates. Directs the Secretary to prescribe requirements for public access to integrity management program information prepared under this Act. Requires the owner or operator of each interstate gas pipeline facility to provide, at least annually, to the governing body of each municipality in which the interstate gas pipeline facility is located, a map identifying the location of the facility. Requires the Secretary to: (1) survey and assess public education programs and public safety programs; and (2) determine their effectiveness and applicability as components of a model program. Requires that notice of a hazardous condition be given, concurrently with a safety report to the Secretary, to local emergency responders, and appropriate on-scene coordinators for the area contingency plan or sub-area contingency plan. (Sec. 4) Revises requirements for the Secretary's decision that a pipeline facility is hazardous to life, property, or the environment to include decisions that a facility or its construction or operation would be hazardous. Authorizes the Secretary to waive notice and hearing requirements, upon deciding a facility may present a hazard, and request the Attorney General to bring suit to restrain facility operation on behalf of the United States in the appropriate district court. Increases the general administrative civil penalty for violations: (1) from the minimum penalty of $25,000 to $100,000; and (2) from the maximum penalty of $500,000 to $1 million. States that such maximum civil penalty for a related series of violations does not apply to a judicial enforcement action brought by the Attorney General or by a private person. Revises considerations for determining the amount of a civil penalty to allow the Secretary to consider the economic benefit gained from the violation without any discount because of subsequent damages. Revises requirements with respect to the penalty for an excavator's not using the one-call notification system or not heeding location information or markings. Allows a court in which the Attorney General brings suit to award (in addition to punitive damages) a temporary or permanent injunction and civil penalties. Revises requirements for injunctive actions by private persons. Repeals authorization to bring a civil action against the United States and other governmental authorities. Limits such an action to a compliance enforcement action, and the defendant to a person owning or operating a pipeline facility. (Sec. 5) Declares that regulations prescribed by the Secretary do not apply to a State that has a one-call notification program accepted by the Secretary as meeting certain minimum standards, or approved by the Secretary as an alternative program. Applies safety program requirements to operators of hazardous liquid pipeline facilities (as well as operators of gas pipeline facilities). Authorizes a State to enforce a requirement of a one-call notification law satisfying specified Federal requirements against an operator of an interstate natural gas pipeline facility or an interstate hazardous liquid pipeline facility, provided that the requirement sought to be enforced is compatible with Federal minimum standards. Establishes a misdemeanor for any person who knowingly engages in an excavation activity without first using an available one-call notification system to establish the location of underground facilities in the excavation area. (Sec. 6) Authorizes the Secretary, after accepting a State's pipeline safety program certification, to: (1) make an agreement authorizing the State authority to participate in the oversight of interstate pipeline transportation; but (2) end such an agreement upon finding significant gaps in the State authority's regulatory authority. Authorizes the Secretary to pay up to 100 percent of the cost of the personnel, equipment, and activities of a State authority acting as the Secretary's agent in conducting a special investigation involved in monitoring new construction or investigating an incident on an interstate gas pipeline facility or an interstate hazardous liquid pipeline facility. (Sec. 7) Requires any person owning or operating a hazardous liquid pipeline facility to: (1) report to the Secretary each release to the environment greater than five gallons of the hazardous liquid or carbon dioxide transported; and (2) make available to the Secretary within prescribed time limits, during an incident investigation, any records, reports, and information relevant to such investigation. Directs the Secretary to establish a national depository of data on events and conditions, including spill histories and corrective actions for specific incidents, that can be used to evaluate the risk of, and to prevent, pipeline failures and releases. (Sec. 8) Revises the Secretary's entry and inspection authority. Authorizes the Secretary to establish procedures to recover travel, contract support, and related costs incurred because of investigation of incidents from the operators of the pipeline facilities involved in the incidents. (Sec. 9) Directs the Secretary to support international efforts to share information about the risks to the public and the environment from pipelines and the means of protecting against those risks. (Sec. 10) Revises requirements for the risk management demonstration grant program to authorize the Secretary, by order, to allow the continuation of an individual project beyond the program's termination, subject to specified conditions and time limits. (Sec. 11) Directs the Secretary to participate in the development of innovative alternative technologies to: (1) identify outside force damage using internal inspection devices, as well as monitor outside-force damage to pipelines; and (2) inspect pipelines that cannot accommodate internal inspection devices available on the date of the enactment of this Act. (Sec. 12) Authorizes appropriations.

Maritime Administration Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001

United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000

Maritime Administration Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 - Authorizes appropriations for FY 2001 to the Secretary of Transportation for the Maritime Administration. Amends the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 to declare that certain restrictions concerning a vessel built in a foreign country shall not apply to a drybulk or breakbulk vessel over 7,500 deadweight tons that has been delivered from a foreign shipyard or contracted for construction in a foreign shipyard within either one year of the enactment of this Act or no later than the effective date of the OECD Shipbuilding Trade Agreement Act, whichever is earlier. Deems U.S.-built any vessel timely contracted for or delivered and documented under U.S. law, if certain conditions are met. Amends the National Maritime Heritage Act to extend, by five years, the date by which certain vessels must be disposed.

Cyber Security Information Act

United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000

Cyber Security Information Act - Authorizes any Federal entity to expressly designate a request for the voluntary provision of information relating to cyber security (defined as the vulnerability of any computing system, software program, or critical infrastructure to, or its ability to resist, intentional interference, compromise, or incapacitation through misuse of the Internet or public or private telecommunications systems or other similar conduct that violates Federal, State, or international law, harms interstate commerce, or threatens public health or safety), including cyber security statements (conveyances of information by means of a cyber security Internet website relating to cyber security), as a cyber security data gathering request. Specifies that such a request shall: (1) specify an entity to gather responses to the request; (2) be from a private entity to a Federal entity; or (3) be deemed to have been made and to have specified such a private entity when the Federal entity has voluntarily been given cyber security information gathered by that private entity, including by means of a cyber security Internet website. Provides that a cyber security statement or other such information provided by a party in response to a request: (1) shall be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act; (2) shall not be disclosed to or by any third party; and (3) may not be used by any Federal or State entity or by any third party in any civil action arising under Federal or State law. Makes exceptions regarding separately obtained information submitted in response to a request through the use of independent legal authorities and regarding information disclosed generally or broadly to the public with the express consent of the party. (Sec. 5) Makes the antitrust laws inapplicable to conduct engaged in solely for facilitating or communicating about the correction or avoidance of a cyber security related problem. Makes an exception with respect to conduct that involves or results in an agreement to boycott any person, to allocate a market, or to fix prices or output. (Sec. 6) Authorizes the President to establish working groups of Federal employees who will engage outside organizations in discussions to address cyber security and to share information related to cyber security.

Expressing the sense of Congress in support of the freeze on longer combination vehicles and current Federal limitations on truck size and weight.

United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000

Safe Highways Resolution - Expresses the sense of Congress that certain statutory proscriptions and restrictions: (1) on longer combination vehicles should not be amended so as to weaken the current "freeze" on those vehicles or result in any less restrictive prohibition or restrictions upon them; and (2) should not be amended so as to permit operation of commercial motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight greater than that currently allowed under Federal law.

"Baustopp" beim Semmering-Basistunnel

Austria · National Council · 11 April 2000

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Rudolf Parnigoni, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie betreffend "Baustopp" beim Semmering-Basistunnel

"Baustopp" beim Semmering-Basistunnel

Austria · National Council · 11 April 2000

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Rudolf Parnigoni, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundeskanzler betreffend "Baustopp" beim Semmering-Basistunnel

Maritime Administration Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001

United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2000

Maritime Administration Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 - Authorizes FY 2001 appropriations for the Maritime Administration of the Department of Transportation for operations, training activities, and the costs of guaranteed loans under the Merchant Marine Act, 1936. Amends the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 to exempt from certain U.S.-build requirements any drybulk or breakbulk vessel over 7,500 deadweight tons that has been built in and delivered from a foreign shipyard, or contracted for construction in a foreign shipyard, before the earlier of: (1) one year after the enactment of this Act; or (2) the effective date of the OECD Shipbuilding Trade Agreement Act. Requires such a vessel to: (1) have any additional shipyard work necessary to receive a Coast Guard certificate of inspection performed in a U.S. shipyard; (2) not be documented in another country before being documented under U.S. law; (3) comply with inspection standards imposed on ocean common carriers; and (4) be delivered on or before the third anniversary of the date of the construction contract. Amends the National Maritime Heritage Act of 1994 to postpone from September 30, 2001, until September 30, 2006, the deadline for disposal of vessels National Defense Reserve Fleet after July 1, 1994, that are not assigned to the Ready Reserve Force component of that fleet, and not specifically authorized or required by statute for any other use.

A bill to direct the Secretary of Transportation to require the use of dredged material in the construction of federally funded transportation projects.

United States · United States Congress · 11 April 2000

Amends Federal law to instruct the Secretary of Transportation to require the use of dredged material in the construction of federally funded transportation projects.

Road transport, national and international traffic: maximum dimensions and weights (amend. Dir. 96/53/EC)

European Union · European Parliament · 10 April 2000

Technical Assistance, Trade Promotion, and Anti-Corruption Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 7 April 2000

Technical Assistance, Trade Promotion, and Anti-Corruption Act of 2000 - Title I: Promoting Trade and Protecting United States Jobs - Subtitle A: Private Sector Development - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President to designate a private, nonprofit organization as eligible to receive Enterprise Funds with respect to any country for promoting: (1) development of the private sectors of eligible countries, including small businesses, the agricultural sector, and joint ventures with United States and host country participants; and (2) policies and practices conducive to private sector development in such countries on the same basis as Enterprise Funds are provided for Poland and Hungary under the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989. Subtitle B: Protection of United States Jobs and Exports - Prohibits: (1) U.S. bilateral assistance (including direct and guaranteed loans and credit and insurance programs by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)) to finance any loan to establish or expand production of any commodity for export by any country other than the United States, if such commodity is likely to be in surplus on world markets and such assistance will cause substantial injury to U.S. producers of the same, similar, or competing commodity; and (2) U.S. development assistance for any testing or breeding feasibility study, variety improvement or introduction, consultancy, publication, conference, or training in connection with the growth or production in a foreign country of an agricultural commodity grown or produced in the United States, with specified exceptions. (Sec. 112) Amends the International Financial Institutions Act to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Directors of specified international financial institutions to use the U.S. vote to oppose any assistance by them for the production or extraction of any commodity or mineral for export, if it is in surplus on world markets and such assistance will cause substantial injury to U.S. producers of the same, similar, or competing commodity. (Sec. 113) Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to prohibit U.S. assistance (other than direct and guaranteed loans and credit and insurance programs by OPIC) to provide: (1) financial incentive to a business enterprise located in the United States to relocate outside the United States if such incentive is likely to reduce the number of employees of such enterprise because U.S. production is being replaced by it outside the United States; (2) assistance to establish or develop in a foreign country any export processing zone in which the tax, tariff, labor, environment, and safety laws of such country do not apply to activities within the zone, unless the President determines and certifies that such assistance is not likely to cause a loss of jobs within the United States; or (3) assistance for any project that contributes to the violation of internationally recognized workers rights within a recipient country or zone, except that such assistance shall not be precluded for the informal sector of such country, micro and small-scale enterprise, and smallholder agriculture. (Sec. 114) Declares that assistance under this Act should make full use of American resources, including commodities, products, and services, to the maximum extent possible. Expresses the sense of Congress that, to the greatest extent practicable, all agricultural commodities, equipment, and products purchased with funds made available in this Act should be American-made. Requires Federal agency heads, in providing financial assistance to or entering into any contract with any entity using funds made available in this Act, to notify such entity of this intention. Subtitle C: Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement - Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 - Sets forth provisions respecting presidential and congressional authorities and procedures for the imposition of new, and termination of existing, unilateral agricultural and medical sanctions. (Sec. 125) Requires prohibitions on certain U.S. assistance to a country supporting international terrorism to remain in effect until the Secretary of State determines that such country has repeatedly provided support for such terrorism. Title II: Economic Assistance - Subtitle A: Assistance Authorities - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to revise certain principles in the provision of U.S. bilateral development assistance to a foreign country to state that the successful transition of a developing country is dependent upon the economic reform and development of its institutions of democratic governance and its adherence to the rule of law. (Sec. 202) Increases from 25 million to $50 million the amount of foreign assistance funds that the President is authorized to use for emergency contingencies during any fiscal year. (Sec. 203) Provides for a waiver of restrictions on foreign assistance for narcotics-related assistance to foreign countries. (Sec. 204) Establishes a working capital fund for the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) which shall be available without fiscal year limitation for expenses of personal and nonpersonal services, equipment, and supplies for international cooperative administrative support services, and rebates from the use of U.S. Government credit cards. (Sec. 205) Provides that an organization shall be eligible for population planning assistance in a fiscal year if the AID Administrator determines and certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that it has not used such assistance for abortions or involuntary sterilizations. (Sec. 206) Authorizes appropriations for development assistance to foreign countries. Earmarks specified amounts from such appropriations for: (1) certain activities of the Global Environment Center of the AID; (2) certain water and coastal resources activities; and (3) assistance to East Timor. (Sec. 208) Amends the Horn of Africa Recovery and Food Security Act to make Economic Support Fund (ESF) assistance available for certain activities to aid the poor majority in the Horn of Africa. (Sec. 209) Declares that the total amount of development assistance made available for FY 2001 for sub-Saharan Africa shall bear the same proportion to the total amount of development assistance made available for that fiscal year as the total amount of development assistance for such region made available for FY 2000 bears to the total amount of development assistance made available for FY 2000. (Sec. 210) Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to make U.S. foreign assistance funds available for nonmilitary education programs and for anticorruption programs. Subtitle B: International Disaster Assistance - Authorizes the President to provide, through international disaster assistance, for the reconstruction of foreign countries affected by natural disasters. (Sec. 212) Requires the Administrator of AID, in processing applications for the transportation of humanitarian assistance abroad, to afford priority to applications for the transportation of disaster relief assistance. Subtitle C: Sudan Peace Act - Sudan Peace Act - Declares that Congress: (1) condemns violations of human rights on all sides of the conflict in Sudan (including the Government of Sudan), the ongoing slave trade there, and the Government's increasing use and organization of "murahalliin" or "mujahadeen", Popular Defense Forces (PDF), and regular Sudanese Army units into raiding and slaving parties in Bahr al Ghazal, the Nuba Mountains, Upper Nile, and Blue Nile regions; and (2) recognizes that the use of raiding and slaving parties is a tool for creating food shortages as a systematic means to destroy the societies, culture, and economies of the Dinka and Nuba peoples in a policy of low-intensity ethnic cleansing. (Sec. 225) Expresses the sense of Congress that it: (1) declares its support for the efforts by U.S. executive branch officials and the President's Special Envoy for Sudan to lead in a reinvigoration of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD)-sponsored peace process; (2) calls on IGAD member states, the European Union, the Organization of African Unity, Egypt, and other key states to support such process; (3) urges Kenya's leadership in the implementation of the process; and (4) declares that any such diplomatic efforts toward resolution of the conflict in Sudan are best made through a peace process based on the Declaration of Principles reached in Nairobi, Kenya, on July 20, 1994, and that the President should not create any process which could be viewed as a parallel or competing diplomatic track. (Sec. 226) Expresses the sense of Congress that the President, acting through the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, should take specified actions to increase pressure on the combatants involved in the war in Sudan. (Sec. 227) Directs the President to report to Congress on: (1) the specified sources (including any U.S. sources) and current status of Sudan's financing and construction of oil exploitation infrastructure and pipelines; (2) such financing's relation to sanctions contained in the Executive Order of November 4, 1997; (3) the extent of aerial bombardment by the Government of Sudan forces in areas outside its control; (4) the number, duration, and locations of air strips or other humanitarian relief facilities to which access is denied by any party to the conflict; and (5) the status of the IGAD-sponsored peace process or any other ongoing effort to end the conflict, including specific and verifiable steps taken by the parties to the conflict, the members of the IGAD Partners Forum, and the members of IGAD toward a comprehensive solution to the war. (Sec. 228) Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should organize and maintain a formal consultative process with the European Union, the United Nations Security Council, and other relevant parties on coordinating an effort within the UN to revise the terms of Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) to end the Government of Sudan's veto power over OLS plans for air transport relief flights. (Sec. 229) Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should continue to increase the use of non-OLS agencies in the distribution of relief supplies in southern Sudan. (Sec. 230) Directs the President to develop and report to Congress on a contingency plan to provide, outside UN auspices, the greatest amount of U.S. Government and privately donated relief to all affected areas in Sudan, including the Nuba Mountains, Upper Nile, and Blue Nile, in the event the Government of Sudan imposes a ban on OLS air transport relief flights. (Sec. 231) Supports the President's ongoing efforts to diversify and increase the effectiveness of U.S. assistance to populations in areas of Sudan outside the control of the Government of Sudan, especially the long-term focus shown in the Sudan Transition Assistance for Rehabilitation (STAR) program with its emphasis on promoting democracy, self-reliance, and actively supporting people-to-people reconciliation efforts. Authorizes appropriations. Grants the President authority to undertake any appropriate programs using Federal agencies, contractual arrangements, or direct support of indigenous groups, agencies, or organizations in areas outside the control of the Government of Sudan (including northern, southern, and eastern regions) in an effort to provide emergency relief, economic self-sufficiency, build civil authority, provide education, enhance rule of law and the development of the judiciary, support people-to-people reconciliation efforts, or implementation of any programs in support of any viable peace agreement. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the President should immediately and to the fullest extent possible utilize the Office of Transition Initiatives at the Agency for International Development to pursue such programs in the Sudan; and (2) priority should be given in current and future development or transition programs undertaken by the U.S. Government to rebuilding and supporting the Rumbek Secondary School in the Sudan. (Sec. 232) Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should assess the humanitarian needs in the Nuba Mountains, Red Sea Hills, and Blue Nile regions of Sudan, and respond appropriately to those needs. (Sec. 233) Directs the President to report to the appropriate congressional committees detailing possible options or plans of the U.S. Government for the provision of nonlethal assistance to participants of the National Democratic Alliance. Subtitle D: Assistance to Countries With Large Populations Having HIV/AIDS - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to revise requirements for assistance for health programs in developing countries to declare that Congress recognizes: (1) the growing international dilemma of children with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); and (2) that mother-to-child transmission prevention strategies can serve as a major force for change in developing regions, and that it is therefore a major objective of the foreign assistance program to control the acquired immune deficiency syndrom (AIDS) epidemic. Provides that Congress expects the agency primarily responsible for administering this Act to make the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS a priority in the foreign assistance program for developing countries. Authorizes appropriations (earmarking amounts for training and training facilities in sub-Saharan Africa and U.S. contributions to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative). (Sec. 245) Directs the President to enter into negotiations with foreign government officials and other interested parties to establish an international vaccine purchase fund that would: (1) accept contributions from governments to purchase and distribute in developing countries vaccines for malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, and any infectious disease which causes the deaths of over one million people worldwide each year; and (2) be a significant market incentive for private sector vaccine research. (Sec. 246) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into negotiations with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) or the International Development Association (IDA), and with their member nations and other interested parties, for the creation of two trust funds which would accept contributions from governments, the private sector, and nongovernmental entities to: (1) address the AIDS epidemic in countries eligible to borrow from the IDA; and (2) provide support for or the establishment of programs which provide primary and secondary education for orphans in sub-Saharan Africa. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 248) Directs the President to coordinate the development of multidonor strategy to provide for the support and education of AIDS orphans and the families, communities, and institutions most affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Requires the United States to ensure that classroom training under the African Crisis Response Initiative includes military-based education on the prevention of the spread of AIDS. Subtitle E: International Tuberculosis Control - International Tuberculosis Control Act of 2000 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to revise requirements for assistance for health programs in developing countries to declare that Congress recognizes: (1) the growing international problem of tuberculosis; and (2) that the means exist to control and treat it, and that it is therefore a major objective of the foreign assistance program to control the disease. (Sec. 253) Declares that Congress expects the agency primarily responsible for administering this Act to: (1) coordinate with the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, and other organizations toward the development and implementation of a comprehensive tuberculosis control program; and (2) set as a goal the detection of at least 70 percent of the cases of infectious tuberculosis, and the cure of at least 85 percent of the cases detected, in those countries in which the agency has established development programs, by December 31, 2010. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle F: Global Opportunities for Biotechnology in Agriculture - Advancing the Global Opportunities for Biotechnology in Agriculture Act of 2000 - Authorizes the appropriation of certain foreign assistance funds to the President for programs and projects designed, through the establishment of technical exchange programs for foreign officials and U.S. biotechnology experts, to educate government officials in developing countries regarding the use of biotechnology in the agricultural sector and the regulatory procedures used by the United States with respect to agricultural products using biotechnology. Declares that such programs shall encourage acceptance by such countries of products approved under the U.S. regulatory system or, in the case of countries which choose to establish a national regulatory system based on science, to encourage adoption of domestic approval processes based on objective scientific principles. (Sec. 265) Directs the President to establish an interagency process for all relevant executive branch agencies, including the Department of Agriculture, the Office of the U.S. Trade of Representative, the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID), the Department of Commerce, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency, to coordinate efforts and to generate support for the acceptance of agricultural biotechnology. Urges U.S. policies to stress the prominence of science as the foundation for regulatory decision-making and work aggressively in international fora such as the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, including its CODEX Alimentarius, and the United Nations, to advocate for science-based decision-making. Urges AID and the Department of Agriculture to ensure that all food and grain products that meet U.S. health and safety requirements are acceptable to foreign countries under relevant food aid programs. (Sec. 266) Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State should work with U.S. embassies abroad to develop bilateral support from foreign governments for the approval of science-based trading regimes in multilateral forums and organizations. Title III: Peace Corps of the United States - Amends the Peace Corps Act to redesignate the Peace Corps as the Peace Corps of the United States. Title IV: Strengthening Anticorruption Measures and Accountability - Amends the Bretton Woods Agreement Act to authorize appropriations through FY 2003 for U.S. contributions to the Heavily Indebted Poor Country Trust Fund of the World Bank. (Sec. 402) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Director of each multilateral development bank to exert U.S. influence to strengthen each bank's procedures and management controls to ensure that funds disbursed by it to borrowing countries are used as intended and in a manner that complies with the conditions of the bank's loan to such country. (Sec. 403) Directs the Comptroller General to report annually to the appropriate congressional committees on the sufficiency of audits of the financial operations of each multilateral development bank conducted by persons or entities outside of such bank. (Sec. 404) Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to repeal the President's discretionary authority to transfer certain funds to certain international financial institutions for the purpose of bilateral funding. Title V: Serbia Democratization Act - Serbia Democratization Act of 2000 - Subtitle A: Support for the Democratic Forces - Authorizes the President to furnish assistance and other support to promote and strengthen institutions of democratic government and the growth of an independent civil society in Serbia, including ethnic tolerance and respect for internationally recognized human rights. Authorizes appropriations. Urges the President to take all necessary steps to ensure that such assistance shall not be provided to the Government of Yugoslavia or the Government of Serbia. (Sec. 512) Authorizes the President to provide assistance to the Government of Montenegro, unless the President determines, and reports to the appropriate congressional committees, that the leadership of such government is not committed to, or is not taking steps to promote, democratic principles, the rule of law, or respect for internationally recognized human rights. (Sec. 513) Directs the Broadcasting Board of Governors to further the open communication of information and ideas through the increased use of radio and television broadcasting (Voice of America and Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty, Incorporated) to Yugoslavia in both the Serbo-Croatian and Albanian languages. Subtitle B: Assistance to the Victims of Oppression - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the Government of Yugoslavia and the Government of Serbia bear responsibility to the victims of the conflict in Kosovo, including refugees and internally displaced persons, and for property damage in Kosovo; (2) under President Milosevic's direction neither government has provided the resources to assist innocent, civilian victims of oppression in Kosovo; and (3) because neither government has fulfilled the responsibilities of a sovereign government toward the Kosovar people, the international community offers the only course for humanitarian assistance to victims of oppression in Kosovo. (Sec. 523) Authorizes the President to furnish assistance (including economic support funds) under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 for: (1) relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction in Kosovo; and (2) refugees and persons displaced by the conflict there. Prohibits assistance to any organization that has been designated as a terrorist organization. Subtitle C: "Outer Wall" Sanctions - Imposes certain economic and non-economic ("Outer Wall") sanctions against Yugoslavia until the President determines, and certifies to the appropriate congressional committees, that the Government of Yugoslavia has made significant progress in meeting certain conditions, including: (1) agreement on a lasting settlement in Kosovo; (2) compliance with the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina; (3) implementation of internal democratic reform; (4) settlement of all succession issues with the other republics that emerged from the break-up of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; and (5) cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, including the transfer to the Hague of all individuals in Yugoslavia indicted by the Tribunal. (Sec. 531) Sets forth such sanctions, including instructing: (1) the U.S. executive directors of the international financial institutions to oppose, and vote against, any extension of any financial assistance of any kind to the Government of Yugoslavia; (2) the U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to oppose and block any consensus to allow the participation of Yugoslavia in the OSCE; (3) the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) to oppose any resolution in the UN Security Council to admit Yugoslavia to the UN, including any proposal to allow it to assume the membership of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the UN General Assembly; (4) the U.S. Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Council to oppose the extension to Yugoslavia of membership in the Partnership for Peace program or any other affiliated NATO organization; and (5) the U.S. Representatives to the Southeast European Cooperation Initiative (SECI) to actively oppose the extension of SECI membership to Yugoslavia. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President: (1) should not restore full diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia until the President has determined, and reported to the appropriate congressional committees, that Yugoslavia has met the aforementioned conditions; and (2) should encourage all other European countries to diminish their level of diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia. (Sec. 532) Expresses the sense of Congress that if any international financial institution approves a loan or other financial assistance to the Government of Yugoslavia over the opposition of the United States, then the Secretary of the Treasury should withhold from payment the U.S. share of any increase in the paid-in capital of such institution in an amount equal to the amount of such loan or other assistance. Subtitle D: Other Measures Against Yugoslavia - Blocks all property of the Government of Serbia or the Government of Yugoslavia (including commercial, industrial, or public utility or entities) that is in the United States. (Sec. 542) Directs the President to use the authorities under the Immigration and Nationality Act to suspend the entry into the United States of any alien who: (1) holds a position in the senior leadership of the Government of Yugoslavia or the Government of Serbia; or (2) is a spouse, minor child, or agent of such person. (Sec. 543) Prohibits the export of computers, computer software, or goods or technology intended to manufacture or service computers to or for use by the Government of Yugoslavia or by the Government of Serbia (including the military, the police, the prison system, and the national security agencies of such republics). Declares that nothing in this section shall prevent the issuance of licenses to ensure the safety of civil aviation and safe operation of U.S.-origin commercial passenger aircraft and to ensure the safety of ocean-going maritime traffic in international waters. (Sec. 544) Prohibits: (1) any Government agency (including the Export-Import Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation) from extending any loan, credit guarantee, insurance, financing, or other similar financial assistance to the Government of Yugoslavia or the Government of Serbia; and (2) any funds being made available for activities of the Trade and Development Agency in or for Serbia. Urges all other countries, particularly European countries, to suspend any of their programs that provide similar financial assistance to the Government of Yugoslavia or the Government of Serbia, including rescheduling either government's debt under more favorable conditions. Prohibits any U.S. national from making or approving any loan or other extension of credit (unless it is for housing, education, or humanitarian benefit to assist the victims of repression in Kosovo), directly or indirectly, to the Government of Yugoslavia or to the Government of Serbia. (Sec. 545) Prohibits the U.S. Government (including any Federal agency or entity) from providing assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 or the Arms Export Control Act (including the provision of Foreign Military Financing or international military education and training (IMET)) or providing any defense articles or defense services under such Acts, to the armed forces of the Government of Yugoslavia or of the Government of Serbia. (Sec. 546) Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should continue to seek to coordinate with other countries, particularly European countries, a comprehensive, multilateral strategy to further the purposes of this Act, including, as appropriate, encouraging other countries to take similar measures contained in this title. (Sec. 547) Exempts from the sanctions imposed in this Act both Kosovo and Montenegro (unless the President determines and certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the leadership of the Government of Montenegro is not committed to, or is not taking steps to promote, democratic principles, the rule of law, or respect for internationally recognized human rights). Provides for a waiver and termination of sanctions imposed against Yugoslavia. Subtitle E: Miscellaneous Provisions - Declares it is U.S. policy to support the investigation of President Slobodan Milosevic by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and grave breaches of the Geneva Convention. (Sec. 552) Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should call on NATO allies in negotiating the future of Kosovo to establish guarantees for the rights of the ethnic Hungarian community of Vojvodina. (Sec. 553) Declares it is U.S. policy to insist that the Government of Yugoslavia has the responsibility to engage in good faith negotiations with the Governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Slovenia for resolution of outstanding property issues and disposition of specified properties located in the United States. Expresses the sense of Congress that if the Government of Yugoslavia refuses to negotiate in good faith, the President should take steps to return such properties to such governments. (Sec. 554) Authorizes the President to furnish assistance to Yugoslavia if he determines, and certifies to the appropriate congressional committees, that the Government of Yugoslavia is committed to democratic principles and the rule of law and respects internationally recognized human rights. Title VI: Microenterprise Assistance - Microenterprise for Self-Reliance Act of 2000 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to set forth congressional findings and policy, including that: (1) the development of microenterprise (including micro- and small enterprises) is a vital factor in the growth of developing countries and in the development of free, open, and equitable international economic systems; (2) it is in the best interest of the United States to assist the development of microenterprises and of enterprises of the poor in developing countries; and (3) the support of microenterprise can be served by programs that provide credit, savings, training, technical assistance, and business development services. (Sec. 604) Authorizes the President to provide grants and other assistance for programs to increase the availability of credit and other services to microenterprises (including micro- and small enterprises) lacking full access to capital training, technical assistance, and business development services through: (1) grants to microfinance institutions; (2) loans and guarantees to credit institutions (with a limit of $30 million per borrower); (3) grants to microenterprise institutions for training, technical assistance, and business development services; and (4) policy and regulatory programs at the country level. (Sec. 606) Directs the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) to establish: (1) a monitoring system that provides, among other things, for performance goals for microenterprise development grant assistance; (2) eligibility criteria for determining which entities shall carry out activities receiving credit assistance; and (3) a U.S. Microfinance Loan Facility to prevent the bankruptcy of microfinance institutions caused by natural disasters, war or civil conflict, national financial crisis, or other short-term financial movements that threaten the long-term development of such institutions. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 607) Directs the President to report to the appropriate congressional committees on the most cost-effective methods and measurements for increasing the access of poor people overseas to credit, other financial services, and related training. (Sec. 608) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the administrator of AID and the Secretary of State should seek to support and strengthen the effectiveness of microfinance activities in United Nations (UN) agencies, such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the UN Development Program, which have provided key leadership in developing the microenterprise sector; and (2) the Secretary of the Treasury should instruct each U.S. Executive Director of the multilateral development banks to advocate the development of a coherent and coordinated strategy to support the microenterprise sector, including an increase of multilateral resource flows for building microenterprise retail and wholesale intermediaries. Title VII: Defense and Security Assistance - Subtitle A: Military and Related Assistance - Authorizes appropriations for FY 2001 for foreign military financing grants and direct loans. (Sec. 711) Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to increase the aggregate value of the emergency drawdown of defense articles from the stocks of the Department of Defense (DOD), defense services of DOD, and international military education and training (IMET) to foreign countries in any fiscal year. Authorizes the drawdown of such articles, services, and training for counterterrorism and nonproliferation purposes. (Sec. 712) Authorizes the President to provide for the transportation of excess defense articles without charge to a country for the costs of such transportation if, among other things, the total weight of such transfer does not exceed 50,000 pounds (currently, 25,000 pounds). Subtitle B: International Military Education and Training - Authorizes appropriations for FY 2001 for IMET assistance to foreign countries. Sets forth certain additional requirements with respect to the provision of such assistance. Subtitle C: Nonproliferation and Export Control Assistance - Authorizes the President to furnish assistance to foreign countries in order to enhance their ability to halt the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, and advanced conventional weaponry. (Sec. 731) Authorizes appropriations for FY 2001 (earmarking amounts for training and education of personnel from friendly countries in the United States, science and technology centers in the independent states of the former Soviet Union, and static cargo x-ray facility in Malta). Subtitle D: Antiterrorism Assistance - Authorizes appropriations for FY 2001 for antiterrorism assistance to foreign countries. Subtitle E: Integrated Security Assistance Planning - Requires the Secretary of State to report annually to the appropriate congressional committees on a National Security Assistance Strategy for the United States. (Sec. 752) Authorizes appropriations for FY 2001 for security assistance surveys used in preparing the Strategy. (Sec. 761) Authorizes appropriations for FY 2001 for foreign military financing grants for the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. Earmarks specified amounts of IMET assistance funds for such countries, including Greece and turkey. (Sec. 763) Earmarks specified amounts for FY 2001 for foreign military financing grants for Israel and Egypt. Earmarks specified amounts for such grants (including IMET assistance) for: (1) Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania; (2) Philippines; (3) Georgia; (4) Malta; (5) Slovenia; (6) Slovakia; (7) Romania; and (8) Bulgaria. (Sec. 765) Earmarks certain funds for FY 2001 to assist GUUAM countries (group of countries that signed a protocol on quadrilateral cooperation on November 25, 1997) and Armenia to: (1) strengthen national control of their borders (including to prevent the trafficking of illegal narcotics and the proliferation of technology and materials related to weapons of mass destruction, and to contain and inhibit transnational organized criminal activities); and (2) promote the independence and territorial sovereignty of such countries. Subtitle F: Other Provisions - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the use of defense articles and defense services made available through the provision of U.S. military assistance to foreign countries for antiterrorism and nonproliferation purposes. (Sec. 772) Amends the Arms Export Control Act to authorize the President to reduce the price for the sale of DOD and Coast Guard defense articles to eligible foreign countries if certain conditions are met. (Sec. 773) Repeals certain congressional reporting and certification requirements with respect to cooperative projects with North American Treaty Organization countries. (Sec. 774) Exempts a prohibition on U.S. assistance to the Government of Azerbaijan from certain congressional oversight provisions under the National Security Act of 1947. (Sec. 775) Sets forth the maximum value of additions to stockpiles in foreign countries for FY 2001. Makes amounts available for such stockpiles in the Republic of Korea. (Sec. 776) Authorizes the President to transfer to Israel certain obsolete or surplus defense articles in return for concessions to be negotiated by the Secretary of Defense. (Sec. 777) Prohibits US sale of Stinger missiles in the Persian Gulf, with certain exceptions. (Sec. 778) Amends Federal law to increase: (1) the bond required to be filed with the Secretary of the Treasury in cases where certain required export information may be filed with the Secretary by a carrier in connection with the exportation or transportation of cargo after the departure of such carrier from the port or place of exportation or transportation; and (2) the penalty for a carrier's failure to file such information within the prescribed period. Subjects a person who knowingly fails to file, or knowingly files false or misleading, export information through the Shipper's Export Declaration (SED) or the Automated Export System (AES) to a fine not to exceed $10,000, or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both. Increases the civil penalty with respect to the violation of the other reporting requirements under this Act. (Sec. 779) Authorizes for FY 2001 the use of DOD funds for crating, packing, handling, and transporting excess defense articles to Mongolia. (Sec. 780) Directs the President to certify annually to the appropriate congressional committees that any Russian person engaged in a commercial operation involving Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) equipment or technology with a U.S. person pursuant to an arms export license issued within the 36 months preceding the certification is not suspected of contributing to the acquisition, design, development, or production of MTCR-class ballistic missiles in Iran at any time since January 1, 2000. Authorizes the President to terminate such license if it is determined that the foreign person has engaged in the transfer of any MTCR equipment or technology. (Sec. 781) Makes specified amounts of economic support fund (ESF) and foreign military financing funds available only to Israel for FY 2001 through 2008. Subtitle G: Transfers of Naval Vessels - Authorizes the President to transfer certain naval vessels to: (1) Australia; (2) Brazil; (3) Chile; (4) Egypt; (5) Greece; and (6) Turkey. (Sec. 792) Sets forth requirements with respect to: (1) the inapplicability of aggregate annual limitation on the value of transferred excess defense articles; (2) who should be charged the costs related to such transfers; (3) conditions related to the transfer of naval vessels on a combined lease-sale basis; and (4) the funding of costs related to such transfers. Subtitle H: Definition - Defines "appropriate committees of Congress". Title VIII: Special Authorities and Other Provisions - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to set forth additional authority under the Arms Export Control Act for the prohibition on assistance to any foreign government that provides lethal military equipment to a country that the Secretary of State has determined has a terrorist government, unless the President determines that furnishing such assistance is in the U.S. national interest. (Sec. 802) Authorizes the Administrator of the agency primarily responsible for administering development assistance to foreign countries to provide program and management oversight for activities that are funded by such assistance in countries in which such agency does not have a field mission or office. (Sec. 803) Sets forth revised requirements with respect to the availability of foreign assistance funds for the winding up of programs that have been terminated. (Sec. 804) Authorizes the President to furnish foreign assistance to support or strengthen the administration of justice in countries in Latin American and the Caribbean. Repeals the prohibition against the participation of DOD personnel and members of the U.S. armed forces in the provision of training with respect to the administration of justice in such countries. (Sec. 805) Amends the International Financial Institutions Act to require the annual reporting of environmental impact of multilateral development bank assistance proposals (currently made semi-annually). (Sec. 806) Expresses the sense of the Senate on environmental contamination and health effects emanating from former U.S. military facilities in the Philippines. (Sec. 807) Repeals obsolete provisions of specified Federal laws.

Finanzielle Unterstützung von nicht durch § 2 GVFG geförderte Verkehrsbauvorhaben in innerstädtischen Bereichen; Ergebnisse des Forschungsvorhabens "Führung des ÖPNV in angebauten und anbaufreien Hauptverkehrsstraßen"; Aufnahme neuer Fördertatbestände in das GVFG (G-SIG: 14041639)

Germany · German Bundestag · 7 April 2000

Verlagerung der internationalen Verkehrsverbindungen für den Personenverkehr

Austria · Federal Council · 6 April 2000

Anfrage der Bundesräte Ferdinand Gstöttner und Genossen an den Bundesminister für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie betreffend Verlagerung der internationalen Verkehrsverbindungen für den Personenverkehr von der Bahnstrecke Wels-Passau auf die Bahnstrecke Salzburg-München

Südumfahrung Feldkirch

Austria · Federal Council · 6 April 2000

Anfrage der Bundesräte Ilse Giesinger und Genossen an den Bundesminister für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie betreffend Südumfahrung Feldkirch

Abschaffung des Postzeitungsversandes

Austria · Federal Council · 6 April 2000

Dringliche Anfrage der Bundesräte Albrecht Konecny und Genossen an den Bundesminister für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie betreffend Gefährdung der Meinungsvielfalt durch Abschaffung des Postzeitungsversandes, Gefährdung von Arbeitsplätzen, Gefährdung des unabhängigen Journalismus, Benachteiligung des ländlichen Raumes und EU-Rechtswidrigkeit der geplanten Maßnahme

Grenzwerte für Emissionen von GSM-Sendestationen

Austria · Federal Council · 6 April 2000

Anfrage der Bundesräte Georg Keuschnigg und Genossen an den Bundesminister für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie betreffend bundesweit einheitliche Grenzwerte für die Emission von GSM <i>(Global System for Mobile Communications)</i> -Sendestationen unter Berücksichtigung sowohl thermischer als auch biologischer Wirkungen

Welser Westspange

Austria · National Council · 6 April 2000

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Dr. Gabriela Moser, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie betreffend Welser Westspange

Alpen Straßen AG

Austria · National Council · 6 April 2000

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Otmar Brix, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie betreffend Alpen Straßen AG, Versagen von Vorstands- und Aufsichtsratsmitgliedern

A bill to amend title 49, United States Code, to waive federal preemption of State law providing for the awarding of punitive damages against motor carriers for engaging in unfair or deceptive trade practices in the processing of claims relating to loss, damage, injury, or delay in connection with transportation of property in interstate commerce.

United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2000

Amends Federal transportation law to declare that no provision of Federal law shall limit the liability of a motor carrier for punitive damages authorized under State law for any act or omission in connection with the investigation, settlement, adjudication, or other aspect of a claim for loss, damage, injury, or delay of transported property that constitutes an unfair or deceptive trade practice.

Great Lakes Ecology Protection Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2000

Great Lakes Ecology Protection Act of 2000 - Amends the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 to direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations to prevent the introduction and spread of aquatic nuisance species within the Great Lakes. Calls upon such regulations to require, among other things, the use of environmentally sound treatment methods for ballast water and ballast sediments, such as sterilization, in preventing and controlling infestations of aquatic nuisance species. Sets forth provisions requiring maximum public participation in, and advance notice of, proposed rulemaking with respect to such regulations.

To authorize the Secretary of Transportation to make a grant to the Traverse City Area Public School District for demolition and removal of a structure at former Coast Guard property located in Traverse City, Michigan.

United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2000

Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to make a grant to the Traverse City Area Public School District for the demolition and removal of Building 402 at former Coast Guard property located in Traverse City, Michigan.

Surplus Vessel Scrapping Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2000

Surplus Vessel Scrapping Act of 2000 - Instructs the Secretary of Transportation to implement a vessel scrapping and processing pilot program during FY 2001 through 2003. Prescribes program guidelines. Authorizes appropriations.

To amend title 23, United States Code, relating to the Federal share for reconstruction of a road and causeway in Shiloh Military Park in Hardin County, Tennessee.

United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2000

Amends Federal highway provisions under the high priority projects program to increase the Federal share for the reconstruction of a road and causeway in Shiloh Military Park in Hardin County, Tennessee, to 100 percent of the total cost.

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to require the use of dredged material in the construction of federally funded transportation projects.

United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2000

Amends Federal law to instruct the Secretary of Transportation to require the use of dredged material in the construction of federally funded transportation projects.

Duchesne City Water Rights Conveyance Act

United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2000

Duchesne City Water Rights Conveyance Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to convey specified water rights to Duchesne City, Utah, or a water district created by the City. Directs the Secretary to require, as terms of any such conveyance, that the City, the water district, or their successors or assigns: (1) allow the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, its members, and any person leasing or utilizing land that is held in trust for the Tribe and is located within the water service area of the City to connect to the City's municipal water system; and (2) not require such tribe, members, or person to pay any water impact or connection fee or deliver or transfer any water or water rights for such connection (but permits charging any person that connects to the City's municipal water system reasonable and customary fees to cover system operation and maintenance costs to treat, transport, and deliver water).

Shivwits Band of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah Water Rights Settlement Act

United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2000

Shivwits Band of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah Water Rights Settlement Act - Requires the St. George (Utah) Water Reuse Project to consist of water treatment facilities, a pipeline, and associated pumping and delivery facilities to divert water from the Water Reclamation Facility in St. George and transport such water for delivery and use by St. George and the Shivwits Band of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah. Makes 2,000 acre-feet of water available annually to the Band. Sets forth funding provisions and describes project construction, permitting, operation, and maintenance responsibilities of St. George. (Sec. 6) Requires the Santa Clara Project to: (1) consist of a pressurized pipeline from the existing Gunlock Reservoir across the Shivwits Reservation, along with main lateral pipelines; (2) pool and deliver the water rights of the parties as set forth in the Santa Clara Agreement; and (3) deliver to the Band 1,900 acre-feet annually. Sets forth funding provisions and describes project construction, permitting, operation, and maintenance responsibilities of the Washington County Water Conservancy District. (Sec. 7) Settles, ratifies, and confirms the Band's water rights. Grants the Band the right in perpetuity to: (1) the water quantities described in this Act as set forth in the Santa Clara Project and St. George Water Reuse Project Agreements (Project Agreements) (with first priority to the water generated by the St. George Project); and (2) 100 acre-feet annually from groundwater on the Shivwits Reservation. Provides that the Shivwits Water Right shall not be subject to loss by abandonment or forfeiture for nonuse. Authorize the Band to use the Water Right for: (1) any purpose anywhere on the Reservation; and (2) any beneficial use off the Reservation. (Sec. 8) Approves, ratifies, and confirms the Project Agreements and the Settlement Agreement among the United States, Utah, the Band, and other specified parties, except to the extent they conflict with this Act. Requires the benefits realized by the Band under the Agreements and this Act to constitute full and complete satisfaction of all Band water rights claims under Federal and State laws from time immemorial to the effective date of this Act. Provides for a waiver and release of all such claims. (Sec. 10) Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to establish a water rights and habitat acquisition program in the Virgin River Basin for the benefit of species and plants in the Santa Clara and Virgin River Basins which have been listed or are likely to be listed, or are the subject of an approved conservation agreement under the Endangered Species Act. Authorizes the Secretary to acquire water rights and habitat property to assist the conservation and recovery of such plants or species. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 11) Establishes the Shivwits Band Trust Fund in the Treasury. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 14) Releases the Band's water rights claims as of the date the Secretary publishes a finding that certain actions, including those under this Act, have been taken.

To amend title 49, United States Code, relating to the transportation of hazardous materials.

United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2000

Amends Federal transportation law to exempt food and distilled spirits from the requirement that the Secretary of Transportation designate certain materials as hazardous when deciding that transporting them in commerce in a particular amount or form may pose an unreasonable risk to health and safety or property.

Child Passenger Protection Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2000

Child Passenger Protection Act of 2000 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to update and improve crash test standards and conditions for child restraints in motor vehicles. Sets forth certain child restraint testing requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to develop and implement a safety rating program for child restraints to provide practicable, understandable, and timely information to parents and caretakers for use in making informed purchases of child restraints.

Contracted Automobile Regulatory Relief Act

United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2000

Contracted Automobile Regulatory Relief Act - Amends Federal transportation law to prohibit a State or its political subdivision (including any interstate agency) from enacting or enforcing any law, regulation, or ordinance having the force and effect of law relating to: (1) regulating interstate limousine service (except the State or subdivision of the limousine operator's principal place of business); or (2) requiring persons who have secured the necessary State authorities for intrastate limousine service operations to secure additional authorities from political subdivisions within the State (except the subdivision of the limousine operator's principal place of business).

Health Care Infrastructure Investment Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2000

Health Care Infrastructure Investment Act of 2000 - Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to repeal the requirement for specified delayed Medicare benefit payments under contracts with administrative carriers that provide for the disbursement of funds. Establishes within the Department of Health and Human Services a Health Care Infrastructure Commission to: (1) coordinate the expertise and programs within and among Federal agencies for the purposes of designing and implementing an advanced informational infrastructure for the administration of Federal health benefits programs; and (2) conduct a study on the design and construction of an immediate claim, administration, payment resolution, and data collection system meeting certain requirements. Directs the Office of Personnel Management to: (1) adapt such system for use under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP); and (2) require that carriers participating in FEHBP use the system to satisfy certain minimum requirements for claim submission, processing, and payment in accordance with the specified timetable. Makes appropriations to the Health Care Infrastructure Commission.

To authorize the use of a vessel to transport the former naval medium harbor tug USS HOGA to Port Everglades, Florida, for use as a memorial to veterans and for providing vocational seamanship training.

United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2000

Authorizes the use of one of two specified transporter vessels to transport a certain former naval medium harbor tug from San Francisco, California, to Port Everglades, Florida, pursuant to a contract between the owner of the transport vessel and a named corporation: (1) for use as a memorial to veterans of World War II and other wars and conflicts; and (2) for providing seamanship training to vocational high school students.

Common Position (EC) No 28/2000 of 28 March 2000 adopted by the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, with a view to adopting a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure and safety certification

European Union · Council of the European Union · 28 March 2000

2000/265/EC: Council Decision of 27 March 2000 on the establishment of a financial regulation governing the budgetary aspects of the management by the Deputy Secretary-General of the Council, of contracts concluded in his name, on behalf of certain Member States, relating to the installation and the functioning of the communication infrastructure for the Schengen environment, 'Sisnet'

European Union · EUR-Lex · 27 March 2000

Lärmschutzmaßnahmen entlang der Autobahnen A 12 und A 13 in Innsbruck

Austria · National Council · 23 March 2000

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Mag. Gisela Wurm, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Wissenschaft und Verkehr betreffend Lärmschutzmaßnahmen entlang der Autobahnen A 12 <i>(Inntal Autobahn)</i> und A 13 <i>(Brunner Autobahn)</i> in Innsbruck

Autobahnabfahrt Innsbruck-Mitte

Austria · National Council · 23 March 2000

Schriftliche Anfrage der Abgeordneten Mag. Gisela Wurm, Kolleginnen und Kollegen an den Bundesminister für Wissenschaft und Verkehr betreffend Autobahnabfahrt Innsbruck-Mitte

Native American Agricultural Research, Development and Export Enhancement Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2000

Native American Agricultural Research, Development and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 - Establishes within the Department of Agriculture a Native American Agricultural Research, Development and Export Office. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Director of such Office, to ensure the coordination of all programs that provide assistance to Native American communities within seven specified mission areas of the Department of Agriculture and to ensure the coordination of, or carry out, activities to: (1) promote Indian agricultural programs; (2) facilitate water and waste programs, housing, utility and other infrastructure development with respect to Native American communities; (3) provide assistance to Indian tribal college programs; (4) implement rural economic development programs for Native American communities; and (5) promote food and nutrition services for such communities. Requires the Director to provide: (1) financial and technical assistance and administrative services to assist eligible entities in identifying and taking advantage of business development opportunities and complying with laws and regulatory practices; and (2) such other assistance necessary for the development of business opportunities to enhance Indian tribes' economies. Requires the Director to establish and implement a Native American export and trade promotion program and, in carrying out such program, to ensure the coordination of: (1) Federal programs and services designed to develop Indian tribes' economies and stimulate the demand for Indian goods and services that are available from eligible entities; and (2) Federal programs that are designed to provide technical or financial assistance to eligible entities and any activities related to the development of markets for Indian goods and services. Requires the Director to provide technical assistance and administrative services to assist eligible entities in: (1) identifying and entering markets for Indian goods and services; (2) complying with foreign or domestic laws and practices with respect to financial institutions concerning the export and import of such goods and services; and (3) entering into financial arrangements to provide for the export and trade of Indian agricultural and related products.

To direct the Secretary of Transportation to prohibit the commercial operation of supersonic transport category aircraft that do not comply with stage 3 noise levels.

United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2000

Directs the Secretary of Transportation to prohibit the commercial operation of civil supersonic transport aircraft that do not comply with stage 3 noise levels to or from a U.S. airport.

Limpopo River Debt Relief and Reconstruction Act of 2000

United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2000

Limpopo River Debt Relief and Reconstruction Act of 2000 - Title I: Debt Relief - Directs the President, subject to authorization of appropriations, to cancel all amounts owed to the United States by eligible countries (Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) as a result of concessional and nonconcessional loans made, guarantees or insurance issued, or credits extended under any provision of law. (Sec. 101) Provides that cancellation of debt shall not be considered to be assistance for purposes of any law limiting assistance to a country. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 102) Urges the President to use U.S. influence within the Paris Club of Official Creditors to urge each nation that is a member to the Club to cancel all debt owed to the nation by an eligible country. (Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Directors at specified international financial institutions to use the U.S. vote to urge such institutions to cancel all debt owed to it by any eligible country. Title II: Reconstruction Aid - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President to provide grant assistance for relief, reconstruction, and related recovery activities in southern Africa, in particular the eligible countries, as a result of the severe flooding that began on February 9, 2000. (Sec. 201) Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 202) Urges the President to use U.S. influence within the Paris Club of Official Creditors to urge each country that is a member of the Club to provide grants to each eligible country for the repair and reconstruction of the infrastructure of the country that has been damaged or destroyed by the flooding in southern Africa that began on February 9, 2000. (Sec. 203) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Directors at specified international financial institutions to use the U.S. vote to urge such institutions to provide grants to each eligible country for the repair and reconstruction of the infrastructure of the country that has been damaged or destroyed by the flooding in southern Africa that began on February 9, 2000. Title III: Eligible Countries - Defines "eligible country" to mean Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 23 March 2000.#Hauptzollamt Neubrandenburg v Leszek Labis (C-310/98) and Sagpol SC Transport Miedzynarodowy i Spedycja (C-406/98).#Reference for a preliminary ruling: Bundesfinanzhof - Germany.#Free movement of goods - External transit transaction - Movement under cover of a TIR carnet - Offences or irregularities - Evidence of the place where the offence or irregularity was committed - Time-limit for producing evidence - Types of evidence admissible - Compensation procedure.#Joined cases C-310/98 and C-406/98.

European Union · Court of Justice of the European Union · 23 March 2000