jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Bill 113-S-571 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Environmental protection

Great Lakes Water Protection Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to prohibit a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) from performing a discharge (defined as an intentional diversion of waste streams to bypass any portion of a treatment facility which results in a discharge of untreated or partially treated sewage into the Great Lakes) unless: (1) the bypass is unavoidable to prevent loss of life, personal injury, or severe property damage, there is no feasible alternative, and the treatment works provides notice; or (2) the bypass does not cause effluent limitations to be exceeded and is for essential maintenance to ensure efficient operation of the treatment facility.

Requires a POTW to provide prior notice for any anticipated discharge, or notice as soon as practicable for any unanticipated discharge (but no later than two hours after a discharge begins for a POTW with an automated detection system or 12 hours after a discharge begins for a POTW without such system), to: (1) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (or a state if the state has an approved permit program), (2) each local health department (or a state health department if a local department does not exist), (3) the municipality in which a discharge occurred, (4) each municipality with jurisdiction over waters that may be affected, (5) a daily newspaper of general circulation in each county in which such a municipality is located, and (6) the public.

Requires a POTW, within five days after such initial notice, to provide follow-up notice regarding the cause of, reason for, dates and times of, anticipated duration of, volume of, public access areas affected by, and steps taken or planned to reduce, eliminate, and prevent recurrence of, the discharge. Requires the Administrator (or a state with an approved permit program) to annually publish and make available to the public a list of the POTWs from which a follow-up notice was received.

 Includes among prohibited bypasses those resulting in discharges from a POTW that consist of effluent routed around treatment units and blended with effluent from treatment units prior to discharge.

Directs the Administrator to establish procedures to ensure that permits issued to POTWs under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System include requirements to comply with this Act.

Establishes a maximum civil penalty of $100,000 per day for violations of this Act occurring on or after January 1, 2033.

Establishes the Great Lakes Cleanup Fund into which penalties for violations of this Act shall be deposited and from which amounts shall be provided for improving wastewater discharges.
Bill 113-S-599 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Taxation

Oil Spill Tax Fairness Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny a tax deduction for business-related expenses paid or incurred by a responsible party relating to an incident resulting in the discharge of oil into the navigable waters, other than an incident caused by an act of God or an act of war.
Bill 113-S-646 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

National Endowment for the Oceans Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to establish the National Endowment for the Oceans as a permanent endowment fund to support programs and activities to restore, protect, maintain, or understand living marine resources and their habitats and ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources, including baseline scientific research, ocean observing, and other programs in coordination with federal and state agencies.

Requires the contribution of non-federal matching funds for certain projects.

Specifies that programs funded in Great Lakes states shall also seek to attain the goals embodied in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Plan, the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy, the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, or other collaborative planning efforts of the Great Lakes Region. Prohibits the funding of litigation.

Directs the Foundation, according to a specified allocation formula, to award a minimum percentage of funds as grants to coastal states while awarding a lesser percentage of funds to entities including states, Indian tribes, regional bodies, associations, non-governmental organizations, and academic institutions.

Sets forth a process for the Foundation, with approval of the Secretary, to establish application guidelines, eligibility criteria, and grant approval procedures.

Requires coastal states, as a condition to grant eligibility, to submit a five-year plan (updated at least every five years to continue receiving a grant) to the Secretary for approval after the Secretary has provided an opportunity for public comment. Directs the Foundation to establish an advisory panel to review and make recommendations with respect to the grant applications of other entities.
Bill 113-S-971 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Environmental protection

Silviculture Regulatory Consistency Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from requiring, or from promulgating regulations that direct a state to require, a permit under the national pollutant discharge elimination system for a discharge of stormwater runoff resulting from the conduct of the following silvicultural activities: nursery operations, site preparation, reforestation, thinning, prescribed burning, pest and fire control, harvesting operations, surface drainage, and road use, construction, and maintenance.

 Specifies that nothing in this Act exempts a silvicultural activity resulting in the discharge of dredged of fill material from permit requirements for discharges into navigable waters.
Bill 113-S-1079 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

Artificial Reef Promotion Act of 2013 - Amends the National Fishing Enhancement Act of 1984 to require the Secretary of the Army, in issuing a permit for artificial reefs, to ensure that a state assuming liability for future damages has established an artificial reef maintenance fund.

Requires the Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and the Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to promulgate regulations that expedite the review of a final application submitted to dispose of or remove an offshore oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico for use as an artificial reef by requiring that a decision be made within 150 days after the submission of such application. Requires the Commanding General of the Corps of Engineers to promulgate regulations that expedite the review of a final application by the Secretary by requiring a decision to be given within 120 days after the submission of such application.

Directs the Commanding General to designate no fewer than 20 artificial reef planning areas. Specifies location and depth requirements for such artificial reefs, including the number of areas that should be located outside the seaward boundary of each of the Gulf states. Revises siting compliance requirements imposed upon permittees.

Prohibits regulations from requiring an artificial reef planning area to be filled to capacity with offshore oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico before another artificial reef planning area is established. Requires the Regional Supervisor to give preference to a final application submitted to dispose of or remove a platform for use as an artificial reef.
Bill 113-S-1140 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

Amends the Highlands Conservation Act to extend, through FY2024, funding for: (1) land conservation partnership projects in the highlands regions of Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania; and (2) Forest Service and Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs to assist such states, units of local government, and private forest and farm landowners in the conservation of land and natural resources in that region.
Bill 113-S-1162 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

Authorizes the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to provide funds to any state, local, or tribal government impacted by the events, including marine debris impacts, resulting from the March 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami in the Tohoku region of Japan to assist with the costs of any activity carried out to address the effects of such event.

Permits the Administrator to provide such funds using any funds provided by the government of Japan for such purposes.
Bill 113-S-1359 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Environmental protection

Clean Cruise Ship Act of 2013 - Declares the purpose of this Act to be the establishment of national standards and prohibitions for discharges from cruise vessels. Defines "cruise vessel" as a passenger vessel that is authorized to carry at least 250 passengers and has onboard sleeping facilities for each passenger. Excludes vessels owned or operated by federal, state, or local governments.

Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to prohibit cruise vessels departing from, or calling on, a U.S. port from discharging effluents, including sewage or sewage sludge, incinerator ash, hazardous waste, graywater, or bilge water, into navigable waters. Allows an exception for discharges made solely to secure the safety of a cruise vessel or to save a human life at sea.

Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to: (1) promulgate effluent limits for sewage, graywater, and bilge water discharges from cruise vessels; (2) establish dates for compliance with such limits; (3) require sampling, monitoring, and reporting to ensure compliance with such limits and other applicable requirements; and (4) establish an inspection program to ensure the compliance of cruise vessels with the requirements of this Act.

Requires the Commandant of the Coast Guard, in consultation with the Administrator, to establish and carry out a program for hiring and placing trained, independent, observers on cruise vessels to monitor and inspect vessel operations, equipment, and discharges.

Establishes in the Treasury the Cruise Vessel Pollution Control Fund. Requires the Commandant and the Administrator to collect fees from cruise vessels and deposit such fees in the Fund for use in carrying out this Act.
Bill 113-S-1441 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Taxation

Water and Agriculture Tax Reform Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit tax-exempt mutual ditch or irrigation companies to earn income from dispositions of certain real property and stock interests without affecting their tax-exempt status. Requires that such income be used to pay the costs of operations, maintenance, and capital improvements of such a company.
Bill 113-S-1470 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Environmental protection

Commonsense Permitting for Job Creation Act of 2013 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to prevent guidelines applicable to permits for the discharge of dredged or fill material into the navigable waters at disposal sites from prohibiting specification of a site due to the lack of a final site plan resulting from the lack of an identified end user or industry or industrial classification when determining whether there is a practicable alternative to a proposed discharge that would result in less adverse impact on the aquatic ecosystem.
Bill 113-S-1554 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

Hunt Unrestricted on National Treasures Act or HUNT Act - Requires each head of a federal public land management agency (the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management [BLM]), to annually make available to the public on its website a report that includes: (1) a list of the land more than 640 acres in size under its jurisdiction on which the public is allowed to hunt, fish, or use such land for other recreational purposes and to which there is no public access or egress or to which such access or egress to the land's legal boundaries is significantly restricted; (2) a list of locations and acreage on such land that the agency head determines have significant potential for use for hunting, fishing, and other recreational purposes; and (3) a plan to provide such access and egress that is consistent with the travel management plan in effect.

Requires each agency head to make available to the public on the agency's website, and thereafter revise, a list of roads or trails that provide the primary public access and egress to the legal boundaries of contiguous parcels of land equal to more than 640 acres in size under the agency's jurisdiction on which the public is allowed to hunt, fish, or use such lands for other recreational purposes.

Amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to require allotment from the Land and Water Conservation Fund of an amount not less than 1.5% of the moneys appropriated for projects that secure public access to federal land for hunting, fishing, and other recreational purposes through easements, rights-of-way, or fee title acquisitions from willing sellers.
Bill 113-S-2042 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Environmental protection

Clean Estuaries Act of 2014 - (Sec. 2) Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to revise, and reauthorize through FY2019, the National Estuary Program.

Expands the purposes of management conferences for estuary programs, including by adding components that must be included in a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (Plan).

Requires management conferences to make use of collaborative processes in updating or developing a Plan.

Establishes a process by which a state may resubmit a Plan that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined is incomplete.

Considers a submission or resubmission of a Plan to be approved if the EPA fails to respond within 120 days of receiving it. Requires the EPA to terminate a management conference if the conference fails to submit a Plan within three years of being convened.

Requires the EPA to: (1) evaluate, every five years, the implementation of each Plan developed to determine the degree to which the goals of the plan have been met; (2) submit the results of the evaluation to the appropriate management conference for review and comment; and (3) report on the results of the evaluation and make the report publicly available. Requires management conferences to update plans within 18 months after they are evaluated.

Authorizes the EPA to consider a management conference to be in probationary status if the conference has not received approval for an updated plan within five years of the date of the evaluation's publication. Requires the EPA to: (1) reduce a grant for the implementation of a plan developed by a management conference with probationary status, and (2) terminate a management conference and cease funding for the implementation of the plan if the conference has been in probationary status for two consecutive years.

Requires appropriate federal agencies, after the EPA's approval of a Plan, to cooperate and to coordinate activities related to implementation. Makes the EPA the lead coordinating agency for implementing Plans.

Requires an agency head, in making annual budget requests, to consider the agency's responsibilities under the Program.

Requires the EPA to include measures to track the introduction and establishment of nonnative species within the trend assessment program to monitor variations in environmental parameters that may affect estuarine zones.

Requires the EPA to evaluate and report to the public on the National Estuary Program every five years.
Bill 113-S-2156 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Environmental protection

Regulatory Fairness Act of 2014 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to define the period of time in which the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is authorized to restrict or deny a permit for the discharge of dredged or fill materials into navigable waters as the period that:

 begins on the date that the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, provides notice to the Administrator that the Secretary has completed all procedures for processing an application for a permit for dredged or fill material and is ready to determine whether the permit should be issued; and ends on the date that the Secretary issues the permit. Requires the Administrator to consult with the Secretary before restricting or denying a permit.

Directs the Administrator to make publicly available the basis of and reasons for making a determination to restrict or deny such a permit and information reviewed in making the determination.

Prohibits previous action by the Administrator that occurred outside of this period to deny or restrict a permit or to prohibit the specification of any defined area as a disposal site for dredged or fill materials from being valid or otherwise enforceable.
Bill 113-S-2225 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Water resources development

Smart Water Resource Management Conservation and Efficiency Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of Energy (DOE) to establish and carry out a smart water resource management pilot program to award grants to three to five eligible entities (authorities that provide water, wastewater, or water reuse services) to demonstrate novel and innovative technology-based solutions that will: (1) increase the energy and water efficiency of water, wastewater, and water reuse systems; (2) improve such systems to help communities make significant progress in conserving water, saving energy, and reducing costs; and (3) support the implementation of innovative processes and the installation of advanced automated systems that provide real-time data on energy and water.

Directs the Secretary, in selecting grant recipients, to consider:

 energy and cost savings; the novelty of the technology to be used; the degree to which the project integrates next-generation sensors, software, analytics, and management tools; the anticipated cost-effectiveness of the pilot project in terms of energy efficiency savings, water savings or reuse, and infrastructure costs averted; whether the technology can be deployed in a variety of geographic regions and the degree to which the technology can be implemented on a smaller or larger scale; and whether the project will be completed in five years or less. Requires the Secretary to evaluate, annually, each project for which a grant is provided and make best practices identified available to the public.
Bill 113-S-2227 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Taxation

Water Efficiency Improvement Act of 2014 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for 30% of amounts paid for certified WaterSense program property (defined as any plumbing fixture or fitting that has been tested and certified in accordance with the WaterSense program of the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], a voluntary partnership program for protecting the water supply by using less water with water-efficient products, new homes, and services, or an analogous successor program). Limits the lifetime dollar amount of such credit to $2,000. Terminates such credit after 2015.
Bill 113-S-2228 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Environmental protection

Community Water Enhancement Act of 2014 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in making grants under the pilot program for alternative water source projects to meet critical water supply needs, to consider the location and benefits of projects in rural communities (including whether the area is served by a public water system with fewer than 3,000 connections or is located in an area with no public water system).

Includes among such projects: (1) the conjunctive management of groundwater supplies by delivery of surface water instead of groundwater, and (2) water treatment or distribution facilities if the project requires such facilities to deliver the alternative water supply. Authorizes funding for the program through FY2018.
Bill 113-S-2306 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Water resources development

Delaware River Basin Conservation Act of 2014 - Requires the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to establish a Delaware River Basin restoration program, under which the Director shall: (1) draw on management plans for the Basin or portions of the Basin and work in consultation with applicable management entities, including representatives of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, the Delaware River Basin Commission, the federal government, other state and local governments, and regional and nonprofit organizations, to identify, prioritize, and implement restoration and protection activities within the Basin; and (2) adopt a Basin-wide strategy that supports the implementation of a shared set of science-based restoration and protection activities, targets cost-effective conservation projects, and supports measurable conservation efforts.

Defines "Basin" as the four-state Delaware Basin region, including all of Delaware Bay and portions of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania located in the Delaware River watershed.

Requires the Director to establish the Delaware River Basin restoration grant program to provide competitive matching grants to carry out the restoration program. Requires the Director to develop criteria to ensure that funded activities: (1) restore or protect fish and wildlife and their habitats; (2) improve or protect water quality by reducing pollutants and restoring headwater areas and drinking water basins; (3) improve the management of water volume and mitigation of flood damage to support the ecological needs of fish and wildlife and their habitats; (4) include priority needs or actions identified in the Basin-wide strategy; and/or (5) include restoration and protection activities with multiple benefits in the Basin, including habitat, water quality, and flood damage mitigation. Limits the federal share of the total cost of a funded project to 50%. Authorizes the Director to contract with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation or another organization that offers grant management services.
Bill 113-S-2457 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Transportation and public works

Highway Runoff Management Act - Requires each state to develop for approval a state highway stormwater management program consisting of management measures to prevent, reduce, or control highway runoff from federal-aid highway projects.

Directs the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to publish guidance to assist states in the establishment of such measures.