H. R. 4194—49
SEC. 413. None of the funds provided in this Act to any depart-
ment or agency shall be obligated or expended to procure passenger
automobiles as defined in 15 U.S.C. 2001 with an EPA estimated
miles per gallon average of less than 22 miles per gallon.
SEC. 414. None of the funds appropriated in title I of this
Act shall be used to enter into any new lease of real property
if the estimated annual rental is more than $300,000 unless the
Secretary submits, in writing, a report to the Committees on Appro-
priations of the Congress and a period of 30 days has expired
following the date on which the report is received by the Committees
on Appropriations.
SEC. 415. (a) It is the sense of the Congress that, to the
greatest extent practicable, all equipment and products purchased
with funds made available in this Act should be American-made.
(b) In providing financial assistance to, or entering into any
contract with, any entity using funds made available in this Act,
the head of each Federal agency, to the greatest extent practicable,
shall provide to such entity a notice describing the statement made
in subsection (a) by the Congress.
SEC. 416. None of the funds appropriated in this Act may
be used to implement any cap on reimbursements to grantees
for indirect costs, except as published in Office of Management
and Budget Circular A–21.
SEC. 417. Such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 1999
pay raises for programs funded by this Act shall be absorbed within
the levels appropriated in this Act.
SEC. 418. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used for any program, project, or activity, when it is made
known to the Federal entity or official to which the funds are
made available that the program, project, or activity is not in
compliance with any Federal law relating to risk assessment, the
protection of private property rights, or unfunded mandates.
SEC. 419. Corporations and agencies of the Department of Hous-
ing and Urban Development which are subject to the Government
Corporation Control Act, as amended, are hereby authorized to
make such expenditures, within the limits of funds and borrowing
authority available to each such corporation or agency and in accord
with law, and to make such contracts and commitments without
regard to fiscal year limitations as provided by section 104 of
the Act as may be necessary in carrying out the programs set
forth in the budget for 1999 for such corporation or agency except
as hereinafter provided: Provided, That collections of these corpora-
tions and agencies may be used for new loan or mortgage purchase
commitments only to the extent expressly provided for in this
Act (unless such loans are in support of other forms of assistance
provided for in this or prior appropriations Acts), except that this
proviso shall not apply to the mortgage insurance or guaranty
operations of these corporations, or where loans or mortgage pur-
chases are necessary to protect the financial interest of the United
States Government.
SEC. 420. Notwithstanding section 320(g) of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1330(g)), funds made available
pursuant to authorization under such section for fiscal year 1999
and prior fiscal years may be used for implementing comprehensive
conservation and management plans.
H. R. 4194—50
SEC. 421. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
term ‘‘qualified student loan’’ with respect to national service edu-
cation awards shall mean any loan made directly to a student
by the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education, in addition
to other meanings under section 148(b)(7) of the National and
Community Service Act.
SEC. 422. Notwithstanding any other law, funds made available
by this or any other Act or previous Acts for the United States/
Mexico Foundation for Science may be used for the endowment
of such Foundation.
SEC. 423. (a) Within 90 days of the enactment of this Act,
the Consumer Product Safety Commission shall make all necessary
arrangements for the Committee on Toxicology of the National
Academy of Sciences (NAS) to conduct an independent 12-month
study of the potential toxicologic risks of all flame-retardant chemi-
cals identified by the NAS and the Commission as likely candidates
for use in residential upholstered furniture for the purpose of meet-
ing regulations proposed by the Commission for flame resistance
of residential upholstered furniture.
(b) Upon completion of its report, the Academy shall send
the report to the Commission, which shall provide it to the Congress.
(c) The Commission, before promulgating any notice of proposed
rulemaking or final rulemaking setting flammability standards for
residential upholstered furniture, shall consider fully the findings
and conclusions of the Academy.
SEC. 424. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used for researching methods to reduce methane emissions from
cows, sheep, or any other ruminant livestock.
SEC. 425. None of the funds made available in this Act may
be used to carry out Executive Order No. 13083.
SEC. 426. Unless otherwise provided for in this Act, no part
of any appropriation for the Department of Housing and Urban
Development shall be available for any activity in excess of amounts
set forth in the budget estimates submitted for the appropriations.
SEC. 427. NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION. (a)
ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSES.—Section 202 of the National Fallen
Firefighters Foundation Act (36 U.S.C. 5201) is amended—
(1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
‘‘(1) primarily—
‘‘(A) to encourage, accept, and administer private gifts
of property for the benefit of the National Fallen Fire-
fighters’ Memorial and the annual memorial service associ-
ated with the memorial; and
‘‘(B) to, in coordination with the Federal Government
and fire services (as that term is defined in section 4
of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974
(15 U.S.C. 2203)), plan, direct, and manage the memorial
service referred to in subparagraph (A) and related activi-
ties;’’;
(2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘and Federal’’ after ‘‘non-
Federal’’;
(3) in paragraph (3)—
(A) by striking ‘‘State and local’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal,
State, and local’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end;
(4) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end
and inserting a semicolon; and
H. R. 4194—51
(5) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(5) to provide for a national program to assist families
of fallen firefighters and fire departments in dealing with line-
of-duty deaths of those firefighters; and
‘‘(6) to promote national, State, and local initiatives to
increase public awareness of fire and life safety.’’.
(b) BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF FOUNDATION.—Section 203(g)(1)
of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Act (36 U.S.C.
5202(g)(1)) is amended by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting
the following:
‘‘(A) appointing officers or employees;’’.
(c) ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES AND SUPPORT.—Section 205 of
the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Act (36 U.S.C. 5204)
is amended to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 205. ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES AND SUPPORT.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—During the 10-year period beginning on the
date of the enactment of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and
Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appro-
priations Act, 1999, the Administrator may—
‘‘(1) provide personnel, facilities, and other required serv-
ices for the operation of the Foundation; and
‘‘(2) accept reimbursement for the assistance provided
under paragraph (1).
‘‘(b) REIMBURSEMENT.—Any amounts received under subsection
(a)(2) as reimbursement for assistance shall be deposited in the
Treasury to the credit of the appropriations then current and
chargeable for the cost of providing that assistance.
‘‘(c) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
no Federal personnel or stationery may be used to solicit funding
for the Foundation.’’.
SEC. 428. INELIGIBILITY OF INDIVIDUALS CONVICTED OF MANU-
FACTURING OR PRODUCING METHAMPHETAMINE FOR CERTAIN HOUS-
ING ASSISTANCE. Section 16 of the United States Housing Act of
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437n) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(f ) INELIGIBILITY OF INDIVIDUALS CONVICTED OF MANUFACTUR-
ING OR PRODUCING METHAMPHETAMINE ON THE PREMISES.—Not-
withstanding any other provision of law, a public housing agency
shall establish standards for occupancy in public housing dwelling
units and assistance under section 8 that—
‘‘(1) permanently prohibit occupancy in any public housing
dwelling unit by, and assistance under section 8 for, any person
who has been convicted of manufacturing or otherwise produc-
ing methamphetamine on the premises in violation of any Fed-
eral or State law; and
‘‘(2) immediately and permanently terminate the tenancy
in any public housing unit of, and the assistance under section
8 for, any person who is convicted of manufacturing or other-
wise producing methamphetamine on the premises in violation
of any Federal or State law.’’.
SEC. 429. (a) Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Consumer Product Safety Commission
shall propose for comment a revocation of the amendments to
the standards for the flammability of children’s sleepwear sizes
0 through 6X (contained in regulations published at 16 CFR part
1615) and 7 through 14 (contained in regulations published at
H. R. 4194—52
16 CFR part 1616) issued by the Commission on September 9,
1996 (61 FR 47634), and any subsequent amendments thereto.
(b) The General Accounting Office shall undertake a review
of children’s burn incident data relating to burns from the ignition
of children’s sleepwear from small open flame sources for the period
July 1, 1997 through January 1, 1999. Such review shall be com-
pleted by April 1, 1999 and shall be submitted to the Congress
and to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
(c) Not later than July 1, 1999, the Consumer Product Safety
Commission shall promulgate a final rule revoking, maintaining
or modifying the amendments issued by the Commission on Septem-
ber 9, 1996 (61 FR 47634) and any subsequent amendments thereto
amending the Flammable Fabrics Act standards for the flammabil-
ity of children’s sleepwear, considering and substantively addressing
the findings of the General Accounting Office and other information
available to the Commission.
(d) None of the following shall apply with respect to the
promulgation of the amendment prescribed by subsection (a):
(1) The Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2051
et seq.).
(2) The Flammable Fabrics Act (15 U.S.C. 1191 et seq.).
(3) Chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code.
(4) The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).
(5) The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness
Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–121).
(6) Any other statute or Executive order.
SEC. 430. COMPREHENSIVE ACCOUNTABILITY STUDY FOR FEDER-
ALLY-FUNDED RESEARCH. (a) STUDY.—The Director of the Office
of Science and Technology Policy, in consultation with the Director
of the Office of Management and Budget, may enter into an agree-
ment with the National Academy of Sciences for the Academy
to conduct a comprehensive study to develop methods for evaluating
federally-funded research and development programs. This study
shall—
(1) recommend processes to determine an acceptable level
of success for federally-funded research and development pro-
grams by—
(A) describing the research process in the various sci-
entific and engineering disciplines;
(B) describing in the different sciences what measures
and what criteria each community uses to evaluate the
success or failure of a program, and on what time scales
these measures are considered reliable—both for explor-
atory long-range work and for short-range goals; and
(C) recommending how these measures may be adapted
for use by the Federal Government to evaluate federally-
funded research and development programs;
(2) assess the extent to which agencies incorporate
independent merit-based evaluation into the formulation of the
strategic plans of funding agencies and if the quantity or quality
of this type of input is unsatisfactory;
(3) recommend mechanisms for identifying federally-funded
research and development programs which are unsuccessful
or unproductive;