jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Environment — Drinking Water
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2007-05-09 00:00:00

Chesapeake's Healthy and Environmentally Sound Stewardship of Energy and Agriculture Act of 2007 or CHESSEA Act of 2007 - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to extend funding for the the environmental quality incentives program. Gives program allocation priority to interstate watersheds. Provides a cost-share payment exception for limited resource and beginning farmers.Provides: (1) cost-share and incentive payments for private forest owners to carry out specified conservation activities; and (2) state performance incentives.Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to offer to enter into agreements with states and the District of Columbia containing all or a portion of a large waterbody or its tributaries (including the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries) for water quality initiatives. Authorizes appropriations.Directs (current law authorizes) the Secretary to pay the cost of conservation innovation grants. Makes such grants available for projects that include a technology transfer plan.Extends: (1) the conservation reserve program; (2) the conservation security program; and (3) the wetlands reserve program.Directs the Secretary to establish a conservation planning pilot program in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Authorizes appropriations.Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to: (1) extend the agricultural management assistance program; and (2) make Virginia eligible for such assistance.Amends the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 with respect to the biorefinery and biofuel grant program to: (1) extend such program; and (2) provide grants for Chesapeake Bay Watershed states (Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia and the District of Columbia) to develop the commercial viability of no-till soybean biodiesel production, cellulosic ethanol production, manure to energy processes, and other technologies that promote the conversion of biomass to fuels and chemicals and the reduction of nutrient impacts to water. Extends the renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements program. Obligates amounts for Chesapeake Bay Watershed states.
Topic: Environment — Drinking Water
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2007-05-17 00:00:00

Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to authorize appropriations to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for FY2008-FY2012 for technical assistance to enable small public water systems to comply with national primary drinking water regulations.Requires the Administrator, in providing grants for such assistance, to give priority to qualified small systems organizations that will be most effective at assisting those small systems that have the greatest need (or a majority of need) in the states.
Topic: Environment — Drinking Water
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2007-05-24 00:00:00

Beach Protection Act of 2007 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (popularly known as the Clean Water Act) to include among eligible grant activities the development and implementation of programs for source tracking, sanitary surveys, and prevention efforts to address the identified sources of beach water pollution. Authorizes appropriations for such grants for FY2007-FY2012. Requires grant recipients to identify: (1) the use of a rapid testing method; (2) measures for communication within 24 hours of the results of a water sample concerning pollutants to specified officials and all state agencies with authority to require the prevention or treatment of the sources of beach water pollution; (3) measures to develop and implement a beach water pollution source identification and tracking program for the coastal recreation waters that are not meeting applicable water quality standards for pathogens; (4) a publicly accessible and searchable global information system database with information updated within 24 hours of its availability, organized by beach and with defined standards, sampling plan, monitoring protocols, sampling results, and number and cause of beach closing and advisory days; and (5) measures to ensure that closures or advisories are made or issued within 24 hours after a state government determines that its coastal recreation waters are not meeting applicable water quality standards for pathogens.Sets forth provisions requiring: (1) a review by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator of state and local compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements and grant conditions; (2) corrective actions by such governments not in compliance; and (3) a review by the Comptroller General such compliance review and corrective action.Amends the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000 to authorize appropriations to carry out such Act through FY2012.
Topic: Environment — Drinking Water
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2007-06-07 00:00:00

Amends the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to direct the President to provide to designated congressional committees an audit conducted by the Comptroller General that includes an accounting of funds from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund in excess of $100,000 that are: (1) disbursed by the National Pollution Funds Center; and (2) administered and managed by the receiving agencies.Requires the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Transportation, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and federal agencies that, during the preceding fiscal year, received funds from the Fund in excess of $100,000, to submit an annual accounting to the President and the public regarding their uses of the funds, including how those uses relate to: (1) oil pollution liability, compensation, prevention, preparedness, and removal; (2) natural resource damage assessment and restoration; (3) oil pollution research and development; and (4) other oil pollution-related activities.
Topic: Environment — Drinking Water
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2007-06-07 00:00:00

Coastal Zone Enhancement Reauthorization Act of 2007 - Amends the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to declare that it is the national policy to: (1) create and use a National Estuarine Research Reserve System; and (2) encourage innovative coastal management practices and coastal and estuarine environmental technologies to improve long-term conservation. Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to make grants to coastal states for development of coastal zone management programs. Allows the use of state coastal zone management program grants to develop and implement coastal nonpoint pollution control program components. Revises the eligible uses of resource management improvement grants and resource management improvement grant requirements. Revises requirements for the Coastal Zone Management Fund. Requires state loan repayments to the Fund to be made available to make grants to states for intrastate as well as interstate projects. Requires such projects to apply an integrated, watershed-based management approach and advance the purpose of this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to: (1) states for implementing coastal zone management program changes, or for projects that demonstrate significant potential for improving ocean resource management or integrated coastal and watershed management at the local, state, or regional level; and (2) coastal states to assist in specified community and local activities, including coastal resource protection and community revitalization. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct a cooperative program to develop and apply innovative coastal and estuarine environmental technology and methodology and to support the development, application, training and technical assistance, and transfer of effective coastal management practices.
Topic: Environment — Drinking Water
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2007-06-07 00:00:00

Coral Reef Ecosystem Conservation Amendments Act of 2007 - Amends the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 to direct the Secretary of Commerce to make grants for projects for the conservation of coral reef ecosystems (under current law, conservation of coral reefs). Modifies various requirements of the grant program. Authorizes the Secretary to make agreements with nonprofit organizations (under current law, an agreement with a nonprofit organization) for public-private partnerships promoting coral reef ecosystem conservation. Authorizes the Secretary, in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to provide assistance to any state, local, or territorial government agency for any unforeseen or disaster-related circumstance regarding coral reef ecosystems. (Current law does not mention FEMA.) Authorizes the Secretary to conduct activities, including with local, regional, or international programs and partners, to conserve coral reef ecosystems. (Current law does not mention local, regional, or international programs and partners.) Directs the Secretary to provide for the long-term stewardship of environmental data, products, and information. Directs the Secretary to establish the Emergency Response, Stabilization, and Restoration Account in the existing Damage Assessment Restoration Revolving Fund. Authorizes the Secretary to issue permits for activities that would otherwise be prohibited by the Act. Amends the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act to include coral reef ecosystems in the definition of "wildlife" and "wildlife resources." Requires construing the Acts commonly known as the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 and the Fish and Wildlife Improvement Act of 1978 to include coral reef ecosystems in those terms. Amends the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide technical and financial assistance to states, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, for management and conservation of coral reef ecosystems.
Topic: Environment — Drinking Water
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2007-06-14 00:00:00

Oil Pollution Prevention and Response Act of 2007 - Establishes requirements for the promulgation of safety standards for towing vessels. Requires a variety of measures to reduce the risk of oil spills, including Coast Guard inspections, regulations regarding the transfer of oil to or from a tank vessel, identification of the types of human errors that cause oil spills and near-miss oil spill incidents and actions designed to reduce human error risks, routing or other navigational measures, and an oil spill prevention and education program for small vessels. Amends the the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to codify the establishment of the Oil Spill Advisory Council. Authorizes state enforcement of any marine resource law enforced by the Secretary and allows state inspection of vessels. Allows owners and operators of tank and non-tank vessels to form nonprofit cooperatives to comply with National Response System provisions. Requires completion of the electronic navigation chart suite for all U.S. coastal waters. Requires a rapid response system to collect and predict in situ information about oil spill behavior. Allows Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund amounts to be used for response and damage assessment capabilities of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Prohibits using Fund amounts for claims under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. Requires owners of certain tank vessels to maintain evidence of financial responsibility. Makes owners of oil (in addition to vessel owners) transported in single hull tank vessels with a poor safety or operational record liable for removal costs and damages. Establishes the Federal Oil Spill Research Committee. Establishes grant programs: (1) for new technologies to prevent, detect, or mitigate oil discharges and to protect the environment; and (2) to develop cost-effective technologies for detecting discharges of oil from vessels and to improve detection and recovery of submerged and sinking oils.
Topic: Environment — Drinking Water
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2007-08-01 00:00:00

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude any amount derived from an investment of federal grant or related state matching amounts made in connection with any revolving fund established under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act or the Safe Drinking Water Act from a determination of whether a bond is an arbitrage bond (thus allowing states to retain arbitrage earnings from state revolving loan funds).
Topic: Environment — Drinking Water
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2007-08-01 00:00:00

Toxic Chemical Exposure Reduction Act of 2008 or the TCE Reduction Act of 2008 - Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to publish a health advisory for trichloroethylene that fully protects, with an adequate margin of safety, the health of susceptible populations (including pregnant women, infants, and children), taking into consideration body weight, exposure patterns, and all routes of exposure.Requires the Administrator to promulgate a national primary drinking water regulation for trichloroethylene: (1) that is protective of susceptible populations; and (2) the maximum contaminant level of which is as close to the maximum contaminant level goal for trichloroethylene, and as protective of those susceptible populations, as is feasible. Requires consumer confidence reports to disclose the presence of, and the potential health risks to susceptible populations from exposure to, trichloroethylene in drinking water.Requires the Administrator to: (1) publish a health advisory for trichloroethylene that fully protects the health of susceptible populations from vapor intrusion; (2) establish an integrated risk information system reference concentration of trichloroethylene vapor that is protective of susceptible populations; and (3) apply such reference concentration with respect to any potential vapor intrusion-related investigations or actions to protect public health with respect to trichloroethylene exposure carried out pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 and the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Topic: Environment — Drinking Water
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2007-08-01 00:00:00

Small Community Drinking Water Funding Act - Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish within EPA, not later than July 1, 2008, a Small Public Water System Assistance Program for states and Indian tribes. Directs the head of such Program to: (1) establish and administer a small public water system assistance program for, and provide grants to, eligible entities located in areas governed by Indian tribes; (2) identify priorities for program activities; (3) provide funds to states for establishing small public water system assistance programs; and (4) report to the Administrator on program activities. Defines: (1) "small public water system" as a public water system that serves a population of 10,000 or fewer; and (2) "eligible entity" as such a system that is located in a state or an area governed by an Indian tribe and that serves a disadvantaged community. Sets forth criteria for the allocation and use of funds for state and Indian tribe small public water systems.Requires the Administrator to report annually between 2009 and 2014 to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Program activities and make such reports public.Sets forth requirements for state and Indian tribe small public water system assistance programs, including identification of priorities relating to health and compliance with national primary water regulations, use of funds, cost sharing, and reporting.Authorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2014.
Topic: Environment — Drinking Water
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2007-09-18 00:00:00

Recreational Boating Act of 2007 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (popularly known as the Clean Water Act) to redefine the term "pollutant" to exclude any deck runoff from a recreational vessel, any engine cooling water, gray water, bilge water effluent from a properly functioning recreational marine engine, laundry, shower, and galley sink waste from a recreational vessel, or any other discharge incidental to the normal operation of a recreational vessel. Declares that such exclusion does not apply to rubbish, trash, garbage, or any other similar material discharged overboard by a recreational vessel.Defines "recreational vessel" to mean a vessel that is: (1) manufactured for operation, or operated primarily for recreational purposes; or (2) leased, rented, or chartered to an individual for recreational purposes.
Topic: Environment — Drinking Water
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2007-10-19 00:00:00

Global Warming and Acidification Coastal and Ocean Resiliency Act - Requires the Secretary of Commerce to: (1) establish a national strategy to protect, maintain, and restore coastal and marine ecosystems so that they are more resilient and better able to withstand the additional stresses associated with global warming, including relative sea level rise, and ocean acidification; and (2) revise the strategy within five years and every ten years thereafter to reflect new information.Requires the Secretary to establish an Advisory Board to provide advice on: (1) the impact of global warming and strategies and mechanisms to mitigate the impact on the ocean and coastal communities; (2) priorities for research or information collection; and (3) priority needs for achieving systematic improvements in ocean and coastal resiliency.Requires the Secretary to make grants for protecting, maintaining, or restoring the resilience and health of coastal, ocean, and Great Lakes ecosystems and resources.Requires the Secretary to arrange with the National Academy of Sciences for a report to Congress on the impact of global warming, including relative sea level rise, and ocean acidification and on effective mitigation strategies for the ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems and U.S. resources.Amends the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 to require the Secretary to establish a coastal climate change resiliency planning and response program and to issue guidelines for the implementation of climate change resiliency planning grants (authorized by this Act) to states.
Topic: Environment — Drinking Water
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2007-12-06 00:00:00

Amends the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to limit the liability for damages resulting from the discharge of oil into U.S. navigable waters or the exclusive economic zone by a cargo vessel to the same extent as such damages are limited for tank vessels. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to invest amounts deposited into the Damage Assessment and Restoration Revolving Fund in interest bearing U.S. obligations and to deposit the earned interest in such Fund.
Topic: Environment — Drinking Water
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2007-12-18 00:00:00

Small System Safe Drinking Water Act of 2007 - Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): (1) to convene a working group to study barriers to using specified treatments; (2) to develop model guidance to assist states in regulating and promoting such treatment options; and (3) when establishing affordability criteria for variance technology, to consider specified cost factors, to give extra weight to households below the poverty level and to communities that meet state affordability criteria, and to ensure that the criteria are not more costly, on a per-capita basis, to a small public water system than the per capita cost to a large water system of acquiring feasible technology. Requires the Administrator or a state, before initiating any enforcement action, to ensure that sufficient funds have been made available to assist each public water system that serves fewer than 10,000 individuals in meeting regulation requirements.Revises provisions allowing an exemption of a system from maximum containment level and treatment technique requirements to: (1) increase the population threshold; and (2) allow state determinations of a renewal period.Revises technical assistance provisions to require water systems serving fewer than 10,000 individuals to receive adequate technical assistance and training to meet requirements of final rules. Gives priority to systems not in compliance with specified rules concerning: (1) disinfectants and disinfection byproducts; (2) arsenic and compliance and new source monitoring; and (3) groundwater. Establishes pilot programs to: (1) explore new technologies or approaches to comply with a drinking water standard; and (2) research technology transfer issues and disinfection strategies relating to drinking water.Requires the Administrator to establish a panel to study the health effects of exposure to arsenic and disinfection byproducts.
Topic: Environment — Drinking Water
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2008-02-13 00:00:00

Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries Boundary Modification and Protection Act - Declares it is U.S. policy to protect and preserve living and other resources of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (Farallones NMS) and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary (Cordell Bank NMS) marine environments. Makes certain adjustments to expand the boundaries of the Farallones NMS and the Cordell NMS. Prohibits within the Farallones NMS and the Cordell Bank NMS: (1) the leasing, exploration, development, production, or transporting by pipeline of minerals or hydrocarbons; (2) the conduct of aquaculture (with exceptions); and (3) subject to limitation, the discharge of materials, substances, or introduced species or a harmful change in the salinity. Prohibits the conduct of aquaculture within Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to complete: (1) an interim supplemental management plan for each sanctuary that focuses on protective resource management in the areas added by this Act; and (2) a revised comprehensive management plan for each of the sanctuaries. Requires the Secretary to review the operations of the Farallones NMS to determine whether area added to it by this Act shall be designated as a new and separate NMS.
Topic: Environment — Drinking Water
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2008-03-04 00:00:00

Amends the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to increase the liability limits for damages resulting from the discharge of oil into U.S. navigable waters or the exclusive economic zone by a single-hull vessel (including a single-hull vessel fitted with double sides only or a double bottom): (1) from $3,000 per ton to $6,000 per ton for 2009; and (2) to the maximum amount allowable, consistent with the substantive due process requirements of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, for 2010, and beyond.