hyperdemocracy/usc-billstatus huggingface dataset:
Smart Grid Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-1232
Sponsor: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
Introduced: 2015-05-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Business records
Electric power generation and transmission
Energy efficiency and conservation
Public utilities and utility rates

Summary:
action_date: 2015-05-06
text: 

Smart Grid Act of 2015

 
This bill amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to direct the Department of Energy (DOE), in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology of the Department of Commerce, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel, to establish the Smart Grid Interoperability Working Group.
 
The purpose of the Group is to:
 
 
 identify additional efforts the federal government can take to better promote the establishment and adoption of open standards that enhance connectivity and interoperability on the electric grid,
 
 study the market and policy barriers to deploying responsive appliances at scale, and 
 
 develop a plan for establishing and promoting the widespread adoption of interoperability standards.
 
 
The Smart Grid Regional Demonstration Initiative shall identify best practices for the implementation of the Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPPS) of the Federal Trade Commission for the collection, use, disclosure, and retention of individual customer information.
 
When selecting smart grid demonstration projects to receive assistance, DOE shall ensure: (1) geographical diversity, and (2) diversity among types of electricity markets and regulatory environments.
 
Additionally, DOE must make grants, on a competitive basis, for demonstration projects in any of seven designated program areas, including:
 
 
transactive energy,
 
 innovation in valuation of new technology grid services and efficiency,
 
rate design-distribution system, and 
 
rate design-consumer acceptance of time-based pricing.
 
 
As a prerequisite for financial assistance, a participant in a smart grid demonstration project must provide information required by DOE, which shall become available through the smart grid information clearinghouse and for purposes of producing certain reports.
 
DOE must also establish a working group composed of representatives of each project selected to receive assistance within a program area.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-14
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held.
action_date: 2015-05-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S2690; text of measure as introduced: CR S2690-2691)
action_date: 2015-05-06
text: Introduced in Senate
PURPA PLUS Act

Bill: 114-s-1233
Sponsor: Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR]
Introduced: 2015-05-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Alternative and renewable resources
Electric power generation and transmission
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
Intergovernmental relations
Public utilities and utility rates
State and local government operations

Summary:
action_date: 2015-05-06
text: 

PURPA's Legislative Upgrade to State Authority Act or the PURPA PLUS Act

 
Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, with respect to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authority to prescribe rules requiring electric utilities to offer to sell and purchase electric energy to and from any qualifying cogeneration or small power production facility.
 
Permits state regulatory authorities or nonregulated electric utilities, acting under state authority, to set rates exceeding the incremental cost of alternative electric energy for purchases from any such qualifying facility of up to two megawatts capacity. (Current law requires FERC to set rates that do not exceed the incremental cost to the electric utility of alternative electric energy.)


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-14
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held.
action_date: 2015-05-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S2691-2692; text of measure as introduced: CR S2692)
action_date: 2015-05-06
text: Introduced in Senate
FIX Act

Bill: 114-s-1234
Sponsor: Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN]
Introduced: 2015-05-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Consumer credit

Summary:
action_date: 2015-05-06
text: 

FIX Credit Reporting Errors Act or the FIX Act

 
 Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act with respect to the procedures followed by consumer reporting agencies when a consumer disputes the completeness or accuracy of information contained in the consumer's credit report.
 
Requires consumer reporting agencies to: (1) expand the dispute notification furnished to any person who provided disputed information to include all documentation provided by the consumer, and (2) consider such consumer documentation when conducting reinvestigations of disputed information. 
 
Directs a consumer reporting agency that operates as reseller, if it receives notice from a consumer of a dispute concerning a report that the reseller produced but the reseller determines that the information is not incomplete or inaccurate as a result of an act or omission of the reseller, to convey the notice of the dispute, together with all relevant information and documentation provided by the consumer, to each consumer reporting agency that provided the reseller with the information that is the subject of the dispute.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2015-05-06
text: Introduced in Senate
Alaska Native Energy Assistance Program Act

Bill: 114-s-1235
Sponsor: Sen. Murkowski, Lisa [R-AK]
Introduced: 2015-05-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Alaska
Alaska Natives and Hawaiians
Electric power generation and transmission
Energy efficiency and conservation
Energy prices
Income tax exclusion
Motor fuels
Public utilities and utility rates
Residential rehabilitation and home repair

Summary:
action_date: 2015-05-06
text: 

Alaska Native Energy Assistance Program Act

 
This bill authorizes a Regional Corporation or Village Corporation in Alaska to establish an energy assistance program that provides to shareholders financial assistance for the payment of residential electric bills, the cost of home weatherization or energy efficiency improvements, or the purchase of transportation fuels. 
 
Any assistance provided to shareholders under such an energy assistance program shall not be subject to federal taxation. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-05-06
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Natural Gas Act to limit the authority of the Secretary of Energy to approve certain proposals relating to export activities of liquefied natural gas terminals.

Bill: 114-s-1237
Sponsor: Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME]
Introduced: 2015-05-06 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Oil and gas
Trade restrictions

Summary:
action_date: 2015-05-06
text: 
This bill amends the Natural Gas Act with respect to liquid natural gas (LNG) terminals to prohibit the Department of Energy, as of the date the total quantity of natural gas cumulatively exported by fully permitted LNG terminals is at least equal to 8 billion cubic feet per day, from either taking into consideration or approving any proposal submitted by an LNG terminal to:
 
 
initiate the export of natural gas to a foreign country from an LNG terminal that does not export natural gas as of the date of the proposal's submission, or
 
increase the quantity of natural gas exported to a foreign country by an LNG terminal that does export natural gas as of the date of the proposal's submission.
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-14
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held.
action_date: 2015-05-06
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2015-05-06
text: Introduced in Senate
Annual Report on United States Contributions to the United Nations Act

Bill: 114-s-1238
Sponsor: Sen. Lee, Mike [R-UT]
Introduced: 2015-05-07 in the Senate
Policy area: International Affairs
Subjects: Congressional oversight
Foreign aid and international relief
Government information and archives
United Nations

Summary:
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: 

Annual Report on United States Contributions to the United Nations Act

 
Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to report annually to Congress regarding all assessed and voluntary U.S. contributions to the United Nations (U.N.) and its affiliated agencies and related bodies during the previous fiscal year. 
 
Requires the report to include:
 
 
the total amount of all assessed and voluntary U.S. contributions to the U.N. and its affiliated agencies and related bodies;
 
the approximate percentage of U.S. contributions to each such agency or body in a fiscal year when compared with all such contributions in that fiscal year; and
 
the amount, description, and purpose of each contribution, the identity of the donating U.S. department or agency, and the identity of the recipient U.N. agency or body.
 
 
Requires the first report to include information for the previous five fiscal years.
 
Requires OMB to post a public version of the report on a publicly available Internet website.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to amend the Clean Air Act with respect to the ethanol waiver for the Reid vapor pressure limitations under that Act.

Bill: 114-s-1239
Sponsor: Sen. Donnelly, Joe [D-IN]
Introduced: 2015-05-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Environmental Protection
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Air quality
Alternative and renewable resources
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Environmental regulatory procedures
Motor fuels

Summary:
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: 
This bill amends the Clean Air Act to apply limitations on Reid vapor pressure (a measure of gasoline's volatility) applicable to gasoline blended with 10% ethanol (E10) to gasoline blended with more than 10% ethanol. Limitations on Reid vapor pressure are placed on gasoline during the summer ozone season. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Cerros del Norte Conservation Act

Bill: 114-s-1240
Sponsor: Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM]
Introduced: 2015-05-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources
Subjects: New Mexico
Wilderness and natural areas, wildlife refuges, wild rivers, habitats

Summary:
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: 

Cerros del Norte Conservation Act
 
Designates the Cerro del Yuta Wilderness (comprising approximately 13,420 acres) and Rio San Antonio Wilderness (comprising approximately 8,000 acres) within the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument in New Mexico as wilderness and as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System. 
Releases specified public land within the San Antonio Wilderness Study Area not designated as wilderness by this Act from further study for such a designation.
 
Requires the wilderness areas to be administered as components of the National Landscape Conservation System.

action_date: 2015-09-09
text: 

Cerros del Norte Conservation Act

 
 (Sec. 3) Designates the Cerro del Yuta Wilderness (comprising approximately 13,420 acres) and Rio San Antonio Wilderness (comprising approximately 8,120 acres) within the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument in New Mexico as wilderness and as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System. 
 
Sets forth requirements for the management of the wilderness areas regarding: (1) livestock grazing, (2) the creation of protective perimeters and buffer zones, and (3) the jurisdiction of the state of New Mexico respecting fish and wildlife located on public land in New Mexico. 
 
Releases specified public land within the San Antonio Wilderness Study Area not designated as wilderness by this Act from further study for such a designation.
 
Requires the wilderness areas to be administered as components of the National Landscape Conservation System.
 
Withdraws any federal land within the wilderness areas, including any acquired land or interest, from: (1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws; (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and (3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws.
 
Denies that anything in this Act enlarges, diminishes, or otherwise modifies any treaty rights. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-09-09
text: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 214.
action_date: 2015-09-09
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Murkowski with amendments. With written report No. 114-134.
action_date: 2015-09-09
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Murkowski with amendments. With written report No. 114-134.
action_date: 2015-07-30
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with amendments favorably.
action_date: 2015-05-21
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 114-380.
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Enhanced Grid Security Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-1241
Sponsor: Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA]
Introduced: 2015-05-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Computer security and identity theft
Electric power generation and transmission
Emergency planning and evacuation
Government studies and investigations
Intelligence activities, surveillance, classified information
Oil and gas

Summary:
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: 

Enhanced Grid Security Act of 2015

 
This bill designates the Department of Energy (DOE) as the lead Sector-Specific Agency for cybersecurity for the energy sector (this action comports with the presidential policy directive entitled &quot;Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience&quot; dated February 12, 2013).
 
 DOE shall:
 
 
 develop advanced cybersecurity applications and technologies for the energy sector;
 
advance the security of field devices and third-party control systems;
 
leverage electric grid architecture as a means to assess risks to the energy sector, including by implementing an all-hazards approach to communications infrastructure, control systems architecture, and power systems architecture;
 
 perform pilot demonstration projects with the energy sector to gain experience with new technologies; and
 
 develop workforce development curricula for energy sector-related cybersecurity.
 
 
 DOE shall also implement within the energy sector cybertesting and cyberresilience programs that target:
 
 
DOE emergency response capabilities,
 
 cooperation with the intelligence communities for energy sector-related threat collection and analysis,
 
enhancing the tools of DOE and the Electricity Sector Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ES-ISAC) for monitoring the status of the energy sector,
 
 expanding industry participation in ES-ISAC, and 
 
 technical assistance to small electric utilities to assess cybermaturity posture.
 
 
DOE must develop an advanced energy security program that secures diverse energy networks in order to increase the functional preservation of the electric grid operations or natural gas and oil operations in the face of natural and human-made threats and hazards, including electric magnetic pulse and geomagnetic disturbances.
 
DOE shall study alternative management structures and funding mechanisms to expand industry membership and participation in ES-ISAC.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-06-09
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held.
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Regional Gas Consumer Protection Act

Bill: 114-s-1242
Sponsor: Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME]
Introduced: 2015-05-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Energy
Subjects: Energy storage, supplies, demand
Oil and gas

Summary:
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: 

Regional Gas Consumer Protection Act

 
This bill amends the Natural Gas Act to direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, before approving or disapproving an application for the siting, construction, expansion, or operation of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, to consider: (1) regional constraints in the U.S. natural gas supply, and (2) whether the application includes provisions of benefit to the regional consumers that would be affected by the exportation of natural gas.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-14
text: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held.
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Protecting America's Paper for Recycling Act

Bill: 114-s-1246
Sponsor: Sen. Stabenow, Debbie [D-MI]
Introduced: 2015-05-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Electric power generation and transmission
Income tax credits
Solid waste and recycling

Summary:
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: 

Protecting America's Paper for Recycling Act

 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax credit for producing electricity from renewable resources, to exclude from the definition of &quot;municipal solid waste&quot; solid waste that is collected as part of a system that includes materials recovery and that commingles commonly recycled paper with other solid waste that is not commonly recycled at any point from the time of collection through materials recovery. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Introduced in Senate
A bill to designate Union Station in Washington, DC, as "Harry S. Truman Union Station".

Bill: 114-s-1247
Sponsor: Sen. McCaskill, Claire [D-MO]
Introduced: 2015-05-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works
Subjects: Congressional tributes
District of Columbia
Presidents and presidential powers, Vice Presidents
Railroads

Summary:
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: 
Designates Union Station, located at 40 Massachusetts Avenue, NE., Washington, DC, as the &quot;Harry S. Truman Union Station.&quot;


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Fed Accountability Act of 2015

Bill: 114-s-1248
Sponsor: Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA]
Introduced: 2015-05-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Federal Reserve System
Federal officials
Government information and archives

Summary:
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: 

Fed Accountability Act of 2015 

 
This bill amends the Federal Reserve Act to authorize each member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to employ and select a maximum of four individuals for the member's staff and set their salaries.
 
The Board must vote, at a properly noticed public meeting, on whether to resolve any enforcement action if its resolution involves the payment of at least $1 million in compensation, penalties, fines, or other payments. 
 
The results of that vote must be: (1) included in the Board's official minutes, and (2) made publicly available on the Board's website.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Introduced in Senate
Military Families Credit Reporting Act

Bill: 114-s-1249
Sponsor: Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ]
Introduced: 2015-05-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Consumer affairs
Consumer credit
Military personnel and dependents

Summary:
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: 

Military Families Credit Reporting Act 

 
This bill amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act with respect to an item of adverse information about an active duty military consumer.
 
Declares that, if the action or inaction that gave rise to the item occurred while the consumer was an active duty military consumer, then: (1) the consumer may provide appropriate proof, including official orders, to a consumer reporting agency that the consumer was an active duty military consumer at the time the action or inaction occurred; and (2) any consumer report made by the agency including that item of information shall clearly and conspicuously disclose that the consumer was an active duty military consumer when the action or inaction that gave rise to the item occurred.
 
Requires the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to prepare and make publicly available a model form that allows a consumer to: (1) notify a consumer reporting agency that the consumer is an active duty military consumer, and (2) provide the consumer's contact information for communicating with the consumer while he or she is an active duty military consumer.
 
Requires a consumer reporting agency to notify promptly an active duty military consumer whenever it receives an item of adverse information about him or her, along with a description of the item and the method by which the consumer can dispute the validity of the item.
 
Requires an agency also to use any separate contact information an active duty military consumer has given it for all communications while the individual is an active duty military consumer.
 
Declares the sense of Congress that any person making use of a consumer report containing an item of adverse information that occurred while the consumer was an active duty military consumer should take that fact into account when evaluating the consumer's creditworthiness.
 
Requires a consumer reporting agency, with respect to an item of information under dispute by an active duty military consumer, to include in the consumer's file that he or she was an active duty military consumer at the time the action or inaction that gave rise to the disputed item occurred, and indicate this fact in each consumer report that includes the disputed item.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
action_date: 2015-05-07
text: Introduced in Senate