jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Bill 114-HR-3615 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Environmental protection

Great Bay Regulatory Improvement Act of 2015

This bill directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to postpone for five years establishing water quality standards or effluent limitations under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) if those standards or limitations reduce nitrogen discharges into the Great Bay Estuary. That estuary extends from the mouth of Portsmouth Harbor, in the vicinity of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to the head-of-tide for the eight rivers (including the tributaries of those rivers) that flow into Great Bay, Little Bay, and the Piscataqua River.

During that five-year period, the EPA may not require a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) to commence construction on any upgrade of a facility for the purpose of enforcing those standards or limitations if the POTW contributes nitrogen loadings in that estuary.

The EPA must study eelgrass levels and the causes of any loss of eelgrass habitat in the Great Bay Estuary, and allow public participation in the development of the study.
Bill 114-HR-3630 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Environmental protection

Promoting United Government Efforts to Save Our Sound Act or the PUGET SOS Act

This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to provide for the coordination of federal Puget Sound recovery efforts with state, local and tribal recovery efforts, including by establishing:

 conditions for approval by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan for the Puget Sound region; a Puget Sound Recovery National Program Office within the EPA; a Puget Sound Federal Leadership Task Force; a Save America's Puget Sound Fund in the Department of the Treasury for certain Puget Sound recovery and protection efforts that are included in the Puget Sound Partnership's Action Agenda; and reporting requirements on the status of Puget Sound's recovery. The Puget Sound is an estuary in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Washington.
Bill 114-HR-3760 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Taxation

Offending Oil Polluters Act 

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny any tax credit or deduction to an offending oil polluter. The bill defines "offending oil polluter" as any person who is responsible for a vessel or facility from which oil or a hazardous substance is discharged and any person who is a member of the same expanded affiliated group as the offending oil polluter.

Specifically, the bill denies a tax benefit for any amount paid or incurred: (1) in connection with a discharge of oil or a hazardous substance, (2) for any attorney fees and court costs in connection with any legal action involving such discharge, (3) as a payment or restitution related to such discharge, and (4) for any costs or penalties required by federal law or certified in a settlement by a federal court.

The bill requires the Department of the Treasury to conduct, and report on, an annual study to determine: (1) the revenue loss as a result of tax deductions allowed for cleaning up oil that is discharged after April 19, 2010, and (2) the amount of revenue savings resulting from this Act.
Bill 114-HR-4060 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

Imperial Valley Desert Conservation and Recreation Act of 2015

This bill directs the Department of the Interior to convey to the state of California approximately 934 acres of specified public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in San Diego County in order to allow California to include it as part of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

The Department of Transportation shall seek a conveyance from Interior of approximately 3,500 acres of BLM-administered land adjacent to the Imperial County Holtville Airport in Imperial County, California, to allow the county to expand the airport.

The bill establishes the Vinagre Wash Special Management Area in California, which shall consist of approximately 81,880 acres of certain public lands in Imperial County. Interior shall manage specified lands in the Management Area to preserve their character for eventual inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System.
Bill 114-HR-4136 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Environmental protection

Beach Act of 2015

This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to revise and reauthorize through FY2020 a grant program for monitoring, and notifying the public of, any pathogens in coastal recreation waters bordering public beaches.

The bill reauthorizes through FY2018 the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000.

The bill establishes requirements with respect to: (1) using rapid testing methods to detect unsafe levels of pathogens or pathogen indicators in those waters, and (2) notifying governmental agencies when pathogens exceed water quality standards. Those methods must provide testing results within four hours of receiving a sample. Communication with governments must occur within two hours of the receipt of the results of water quality samples.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must assess state and local compliance with coastal recreation water quality monitoring and notification legal requirements and grant conditions. The bill limits federal support of grants to non-compliant state or local governments. The Government Accountability Office must review the EPA's compliance assessments and corrective actions.

States with coastal recreation waters must adopt the most protective water quality criteria and standards practicable for pathogens.

The EPA must: (1) update the national list of beaches that are used by the public regardless of the presence of a lifeguard within 12 months and biennially thereafter (currently, periodically); (2) study the long-term impact of climate change on pathogenic contamination of coastal recreation waters; and (3) study the impacts of excess nutrients on coastal recreation waters.
Bill 114-HR-4149 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Environmental protection

Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act

This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to revise requirements concerning citizen suits. Litigation costs (including reasonable attorney and expert witness fees) must be awarded to the prevailing party, thus the bill removes a court's discretion to award the fees. A prevailing party is defined as the party that prevails on more than half of the claims at issue.

The bill repeals the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deny or restrict the use of any area as a disposal site for dredged or fill material when the discharge of such materials would have an unacceptable adverse effect on municipal water supplies, shellfish beds and fishery areas, wildlife, or recreational areas.

Current law requires compensatory mitigation to replace the loss of aquatic resource functions in a watershed when a permit to discharge dredged or fill materials into navigable waters has unavoidable impacts on aquatic resources. This bill prohibits government entities from carrying out compensatory mitigation in excess of existing regulatory requirements.
Bill 114-HR-4151 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

This bill makes permanent the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).

 Of the appropriations from the LWCF: (1) at least 40% shall be used collectively for federal purposes for certain land and water acquisitions (as currently); (2) at least 40% shall be used collectively to provide financial assistance to states for LWCF purposes and for outdoor recreation, for the Forest Legacy Program, for cooperative endangered species grants, and for the American Battlefield Protection Program; and (3) at least 1.5% or $10 million, whichever is greater, shall be used for projects that secure recreational public access to federal public land for hunting, fishing, or other recreational purposes.

The Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture shall consider the acquisition of conservation easements and other similar interests in land where it is appropriate and feasible, taking specified considerations into account.

The bill establishes a National Park Service Critical Maintenance and Revitalization Conservation Fund in the Treasury for the deposit of specified amounts from revenues due and payable to the United States under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

Amounts deposited in the Fund shall: (1) be used only for the high priority deferred maintenance needs of the National Park Service that support critical infrastructure and visitor services, and (2) be available for expenditure only after amounts are appropriated for such purposes.

Amounts in the Fund shall not be used for acquiring land.
Bill 114-HR-4175 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Taxation

Groundwater Conservation Incentive Act of 2015

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand the tax deduction for soil and water conservation expenditures to include expenditures to reduce groundwater use and for the conversion from groundwater use to surface water use.
Bill 114-HR-4233 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

This bill makes certain rocks, pinnacles, reefs, and islands in the Pacific Ocean within a mile of the coast of Orange County, California, part of the California Coastal National Monument and repeals their current temporary reservation.

The Department of the Interior shall ensure that economic and recreational activities conducted on the lands added to the California Coastal Monument shall continue to be allowed to the same extent they were authorized and ongoing on the day before such lands were added.

Likewise repealed is the lighthouse reservation with respect to the San Juan and San Mateo Rocks and the two rocks in the vicinity of Laguna Beach, off the coast of Orange County.
Bill 114-HR-4458 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

This bill revises the boundaries of the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System Unit M13 in Daufuskie Island, South Carolina.
Bill 114-HR-4607 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

This bill amends the Estuary Restoration Act of 2000 to authorize a nongovernmental organization, that is allowed to serve as a non-federal interest for an estuary habitat restoration project, to provide lands owned and managed by a legally constituted public body (including a federally recognized Indian tribe) for habitat or fish and wildlife conservation. Such body must agree to: (1) operate and maintain, or allow the nongovernmental organization to operate and maintain, the project; and (2) retain the land in public ownership for uses compatible with the project.

The Secretary of the Army may not carry out such a project unless a non-federal interest has agreed to provide for operation, maintenance, and monitoring of the project (current law requires that such interest has agreed to provide for long-term maintenance and monitoring of the project).

The bill authorizes a nongovernmental organization serving as the non-federal interest for a project to pay the operation, maintenance, and replacement and rehabilitation costs of the project and the non-federal share of the costs of construction of the project.

The Secretary shall: (1) issue guidelines for implementing such projects, making every effort to streamline implementation requirements and reduce overhead costs, including by maximizing consistency with the requirements of restoration programs administered by other federal agencies; and (2) develop and revise the guidelines through a public process.
Bill 114-HR-4648 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Environmental protection

Green Stormwater Infrastructure Investment Act

This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to assist state, tribal, and local governments toinvest in green stormwater infrastructure.Green stormwater infrastructure is a stormwater management technique that uses natural or engineered systems designed to promote the uptake and filtration of stormwater at its source to protect habitats and reduce flood risks.

The bill establishes a 20% reserve within each state's Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund for installation, operation, and maintenance of green stormwater infrastructure.

The Department of Transportation must prioritize projects that include green stormwater infrastructure for competitive federal transportation infrastructure grants.

The bill also authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency to extend National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits for green stormwater infrastructure systems for up to 10 years.
Bill 114-HR-4736 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

This bill directs the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove specific properties in Brick, New Jersey, from the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System.
Bill 114-HR-4738 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

Digital Coast Act of 2016

This bill authorizes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Office for Coastal Management to establish a Digital Coast program for the sharing of digital information to help coastal communities better prepare for storms, plan for long-term coastal resilience, and manage coastal resources. The program launches the next phase of development at NOAA for the use of coastal mapping. In order for coastal communities to effectively use coastal mapping to solve coastal problems there must be coordination and information sharing among federal, state, local, and private participants in each coastal area.

NOAA's Office for Coastal Management should optimize the development and use of coastal mapping data by:

 integrating the data to make it readily accessible via the internet, developing visualization and predictive tools that makes the data easier to find and use, providing training on how to decipher and use the data to make accurate decisions, making sure the data meets federal standards, and archiving the data at the NOAA data center. In addition, the Digital Coast program requires NOAA's Office for Coastal Management to prioritize the collection of coastal mapping data in critical coastal areas, and support existing efforts to improve the acquisition of the key data sets necessary for coastal communities to effectively solve coastal problems.
Bill 114-HR-4811 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

Coral Reef Sustainability Through Innovation Act of 2016

This bill amends the Coral Reef Conservation Act to authorize the 12 federal agencies on the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, which includes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to carry out, either individually or cooperatively, prize competitions that promote coral reef research and conservation. The prize competitions should be designed to help the United States achieve its goal of developing new and effective ways to advance the understanding, monitoring, and sustainability of coral reef ecosystems.

Priority is given to establish programs that address communities, environments, or industries that are in distress due to the decline or degradation of coral reef ecosystems.
Bill 114-HR-4871 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Boundary Adjustment Study Act

This bill directs the Department of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of the lands, waters, and interests of the coastline and specified areas adjacent to the Santa Monica Bay in California to evaluate a range of alternatives for protecting the study area's resources, including:

 expanding and redesignating the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area as the "Santa Monica Mountains and Coastal Recreation Area," or creating a new coastal recreation area designated as the "Los Angeles Coastal Recreation Area."
Bill 114-HR-5277 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

Keep America's Waterfronts Working Act

This bill amends the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish a Working Waterfront Grant Program. Under the program, NOAA may award grants to coastal states with approved working waterfront plans in place to preserve and expand access to coastal waters for people engaged in fishing, aquaculture, boat building, and other water-dependent businesses.

In addition, NOAA is authorized to award grants to coastal states for the purpose of developing or revising working waterfront plans.

States are allowed to allocate any grant money received to eligible local governments and other entities. Each state that is awarded a grant must contribute at least 25% of matching funds towards the total cost of the project carried out with the grant, subject to certain exceptions.

The Department of the Interior must establish a Working Waterfront Task Force that will be designed to identify and address critical working waterfront needs with respect to cultural and economic importance, climate change and other environmental threats, and market conditions for water-dependent businesses.
Bill 114-HR-5451 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Agriculture and food

Improving Access to Farm Conservation Act of 2016

 This bill amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to exempt certain recipients of Department of Agriculture (USDA) conservation assistance from specified reporting requirements. The bill exempts producers that receive $450,000 or less in USDA conservation assistance during the year or are Indian tribes from reporting requirements related to subawards, executive compensation, the Universal Identifier, and the System for Award Management.
Bill 114-HR-5605 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Agriculture and food

Wetland Determinations Efficiency and Transparency Act 

This bill amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to revise the process that the Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) uses to make a wetland determination, delineation, or certification.

The NRCS must make a determination, delineation, or certification within 60 days. If the NRCS misses the deadline, it must provide a reasonable transition period for a person to come into compliance with the decision without losing eligibility for certain payments and loans.

A decision is subject to judicial review, and a person is not required to exhaust all administrative remedies prior to bringing a suit in federal court. In the case of a dispute, the NRCS must bear the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence and provide a copy of the agency record upon request.

USDA must permit a person to secure technical assistance from an approved source, other than the NRCS, for the preparation of: (1) a conservation plan or similar plan required as a condition for USDA assistance, and (2) a wetland delineation or determination.
Bill 114-HR-5680 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Water resources development

Increasing Local Autonomy for Shore Protection Act of 2016

This bill amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 to increase the non-federal share of the cost of the periodic nourishment of any water resources development project or any measure for shore protection or beach erosion control for such project to 65% (current law sets such non-federal share at lower levels of up to 50% based on the dates after which the projects are carried out).
Bill 114-HR-5758 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

Advancing Conservation and Education Act of 2016

 This bill allows the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming (western states) to relinquish state land grant parcels wholly or primarily within eligible areas and select, in exchange, public land within the state.

The bill defines "eligible areas" as lands within the outer boundaries of units of the National Park, National Wilderness Preservation, National Wildlife Refuge, or National Landscape Conservation Systems, areas identified by the Bureau of Land Management of the Department of the Interior as having wilderness characteristics, and certain designated lands within the National Forest System.

 Interior shall create a process for the relinquishment of such parcels.

 A western state may select, and Interior may convey, lands that are mineral in character.

 The overall value of the state land grant parcels and the public land to be conveyed shall be equal.

The bill sets forth requirements regarding hazardous materials on land conveyed, water rights, and grazing permits.
Bill 114-HR-5765 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Environmental protection

Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 2016

This bill reauthorizes for FY2016-FY2021 the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 1990 and revises requirements for: (1) funding requests to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for proposals and regional projects that restore the fish and wildlife resources and habitat of the Great Lakes Basin, and (2) cost-share requirements for the proposals and projects.

The bill renames: (1) the Lower Great Lakes Fishery Resources Office as the Lower Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office, and (2) the Upper Great Lakes Fishery Resources Office as the Upper Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office.
Bill 114-HR-5797 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

California Seamounts and Ridges National Marine Conservation Area Designation and Management Act

This bill establishes the California Seamounts and Ridges National Marine Conservation Area to protect certain seamounts, ridges, and banks locatedin federal waters off the coast of California.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)and the Department of the Interior shall have joint responsibility for managing the conservation area.Development of a management plan must include a public consultation process with tribes, fisherman, and other stakeholders to better understand the activities occurring in the conservation area.

Additionally, any management plan developed by NOAA and Interior must prohibit oil and gas development, deep sea-mining, aquaculture, and damaging fishing practices in the area.Certain activities including recreational fishing and exercises by the Armed Forces are allowed to be conducted in the area.
Bill 114-HR-6031 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

Flood Prevention Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to make the District of Columbia eligible to receive federal coastal zone management funding, including flood mitigation and prevention funds.
Bill 114-HR-6430 — Environment / Conservation
Subject: Public lands and natural resources

Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Assessment Act

This bill directs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)to assess and report on the cultural and historic resources in the waters of the Great Lakes.

NOAA must recommend in its report whether: (1) underwater geographic areas in the Great Lakes should be designated as national marine sanctuaries to protect resources of historical and archeological significance; and (2) the designation of a network of underwater Great Lakes areas that protect those resources could bring significant educational opportunities, economic development, jobs, and tourism to the Great Lakes region.