jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2009-07-09 00:00:00

Mercury Pollution Reduction Act - Declares that is the policy of the United States that the United States should develop policies and programs that will reduce: (1) mercury use and emissions; (2) mercury releases from the reservoir of mercury currently in use or circulation; and (3) exposures to mercury, particularly of women of childbearing age and young children. Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act to prohibit: (1) the manufacture of chlorine or caustic soda using a mercury cell; and (2) the export of any mercury, mercury cell, mercury compound, or mixture containing mercury by the owner or operator of a chlor-alkali facility. Requires the owner or operator of each chlor-alkali facility to report to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator and the state in which the facility is located on mercury waste, emissions, and content in products. Requires the Administrator to: (1) conduct a comprehensive mercury inventory covering the life and closure of chlor-alkali facilities that cease operations on or after January 1, 2009; and (2) obtain mercury purchase records and such other information from each such facility as the Administrator determines to be necessary to determine the magnitude and nature of mercury releases from the facility into air and other environmental media.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2009-09-10 00:00:00

Senior Investor Protections Enhancement Act of 2009 - Amends the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Company Act of 1940, and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to authorize the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to impose, in addition to any other civil penalty, a maximum civil penalty of $50,000 for each violation that is directed toward, targets, or is committed against a person who, at the time of the violation is age 62 or older. Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to review and amend federal sentencing guidelines and policy statements to ensure that guideline offense levels and enhancements appropriately punish criminal violations of the securities laws against seniors.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2009-09-23 00:00:00

Household Product Labeling Act of 2009 - Requires covered products to bear labels that state completely and accurately all product ingredients. Defines "covered products" as: (1) household cleaning products; (2) air fresheners and deodorizers; (3) floor and furniture polish; (4) dishwashing soap; (5) drain cleaners; (6) laundry detergent and dryer sheets; (7) epoxies; (8) paints or stains; and (9) any other similar consumer product designated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2009-10-21 00:00:00

Expedited CARD Reform for Consumers Act of 2009 - Amends the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (Credit CARD Act of 2009) to move up the effective date of the Act from February 20, 2010, to December 1, 2009. Amends the Truth in Lending Act to move up also to December 1, 2009: (1) the deadline by which the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System must issue final implementing rules for required creditor reviews of changes in factors considered in past consumer annual percentage interest rate (APR) increases when determining whether to reduce the APR; and (2) the effective date of the creditor review requirement. Moves up to the same date: (1) the effective date of the requirement that any penalty fee or charge that a credit card issuer may impose, including a late payment fee, over-the-limit fee, or any other penalty fee or charge, be reasonable and proportional to the omission or violation to which it relates; and (2) the deadline for the Board to issue final implementing rules establishing standards for assessing whether any such penalty fee or charge is reasonable and proportional. Amends the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to move up to December 1, 2009, as well the effective dates of the Act's: (1) prohibition against the imposition of a dormancy fee, an inactivity charge or fee, or a service fee with respect to general use prepaid cards, certificates, and store gift cards; and (2) the deadline by which the Board must issue final implementing regulations.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Transportation and public works
Date: 2009-12-02 00:00:00

Clear Airfares Act of 2009 - Makes it an unfair or deceptive practice for: (1) a domestic or foreign air carrier or ticket agent to sell an airline ticket without simultaneously displaying all applicable ticket taxes, fees, charges, and surcharges in reasonable proximity to the price of the ticket (including on the Internet to an online purchaser); and (2) a domestic or foreign air carrier to impose a fuel surcharge that is not correlated to the price of fuel paid or the amount of fuel used by the air carrier on the specific flight.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2010-02-02 00:00:00

Safe Kids' Jewelry Act - Bans as a hazardous substance and prohibits the manufacture, sale, or distribution in commerce of jewelry containing cadmium, barium, or antimony for children 12 years old or younger. Sets forth: (1) factors to determine whether jewelry is designed or intended for wear or use by such children; and (2) penalties for violations of such prohibition.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2010-02-23 00:00:00

P2P Cyber Protection and Informed User Act - Makes it unlawful for any commercial entity that developed a file sharing program or distributed such a program (if the distributor is owned by the developing entity) to install, make available for installation, or download a file sharing program without: (1) immediately before program installation or downloading, providing conspicuous notice that the program allows files to be searched and copied by one or more other computers and obtaining informed consent to the installation; and (2) immediately before initial activation of a file sharing function of the program, providing conspicuous notice of which files will be made available and obtaining informed consent. Exempts: (1) modifications or upgrades of a program that was originally installed in compliance with this Act, provided certain requirements are met; and (2) pre-installed software. Makes it unlawful for such an entity to prevent the reasonable efforts of an owner or authorized user to block the installation of such a program or to prevent such a user from having a reasonable way to disable or remove the program. Makes this Act non-applicable to lawfully authorized investigative, protective, and intelligence activities of U.S. intelligence agencies or of U.S. and state law enforcement agencies. Treats a violation of this Act as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice prescribed under the Federal Trade Commission Act. Prohibits construing this Act to limit or supersede any other federal or state law.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2010-03-15 00:00:00

Broadband Service Consumer Protection Act - Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to start a rulemaking to assist consumers: (1) in making realistic assumptions, before they purchase broadband service, about the actual speeds that may reasonably be expected and how those assumptions may be affected by the consumer's hardware, peak service periods, and other factors; and (2) in determining, after they purchase broadband service, whether they are getting the level of broadband service for which they are paying. Requires the FCC, in those regulations, to establish, and revise as needed, technical standards for quantifying broadband service measures of performance and other features.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Health
Date: 2010-03-15 00:00:00

Consumer Recall Notification Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, to improve communication between state entities, state and local health departments, and facilities in order to provide consumers with more and timely notification of Class I recalls (situations in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of, or exposure to, a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death) by: (1) developing and distributing national and regional advisories concerning Class I recalls; (2) developing standardized formats for such advisories to be used by health or food safety agencies; and (3) providing frontline health professionals with information about symptoms to document and tests that should be performed to diagnose foodborne illness in relation to specific regional outbreaks that may occur as a result of an adulterated product.Requires a food facility that is subject to a Class I recall or a supplier that supplied products subject to such a recall to notify applicable retail establishments and restaurants within 24 hours of the public announcement of such recall. Directs the Commissioner to: (1) share commercial or financial information and lists of registered facilities with federal, state, local, and foreign agencies, provided they assure confidentiality of the information; (2) publish on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website a list of retail establishments, restaurants, and locations that sell or have sold products that are subject to a Class I recall; and (3) require on-site notification of a recalled product by posting notification in the freezer case or shelving unit in the retail establishment where the product is sold. Sets civil penalties for failure to notify retailers, restaurants, and customers.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2010-03-25 00:00:00

Ponzi Scheme Victim's Bill of Rights Act of 2010 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow: (1) a special tax deduction for qualified fraudulent investment losses held in an individual retirement account (IRA); (2) a six-year carryback of net operating losses which are qualified fraudulent investment losses; (3) withdrawals from tax-exempt retirement plans for a 10-year period without penalty to replace qualified fraudulent investment losses; (4) catch-up contributions to retirement plans to compensate for fraudulent investment losses; and (5) an extension of the limitation period for filing refund claims for overpayments of tax in connection with gifts and bequests of an interest in an investment for which there is a qualified fraudulent investment loss. Defines "qualified fraudulent investment loss" as a loss discovered in 2008 or 2009 resulting from a fraudulent arrangement in which a person receives cash or property from investors, purports to earn income for investors, reports partially or wholly fictitious income to such investors, makes payments to some investors from payments made by other investors, and appropriates some or all of the investors' cash or property.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2010-04-15 00:00:00

Taxpayer Bill of Rights Act of 2010 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the National Taxpayer Advocate, to publish a summary statement of taxpayer rights and obligations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to develop, expand, or continue volunteer income tax assistance programs to assist low-income taxpayers. Increases the grant funding for low-income taxpayer clinics. Requires the Secretary to: (1) prescribe regulations for the regulation of tax return preparers; (2) require the annual registration of refund delivery product facilitators; and (3) furnish to the public the identity of any person who is an enrolled agent, attorney, or certified public accountant on file with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), who is a tax return preparer, or who is registered as a refund delivery product facilitator. Applies the penalty for understatements of taxpayer liability by tax return preparers to tax submissions other than tax returns or claims for refunds. Requires the Secretary to make an individualized lien determination before filing a notice of lien and to consider specified factors in making such determination, including the amount due, the value of the taxpayer's equity in property, the taxpayer's compliance history, and extenuating circumstances, if any, that explain the tax delinquency. Prohibits persons licensed to practice before the Department of the Treasury from directly or indirectly offering or providing audit insurance. Authorizes the National Taxpayer Advocate to issue Taxpayer Advocate directives for granting relief to taxpayers. Expresses the sense of Congress that the IRS should take specified steps within two years to improve service to taxpayers. Authorizes the Secretary to award demonstration project grants to provide access to accounts at financial institutions for taxpayers who do not currently have such access. Requires studies to: (1) enable the IRS to receive and process information reporting documents before it processes tax returns; and (2) assess the effectiveness of collection alternatives, especially offers in compromise, on long-term tax compliance.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2010-04-22 00:00:00

Fair Access to Credit Scores Act of 2010 - Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to require nationwide consumer reporting agencies, including nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies (that compile and report on medical records or payments, residential or tenant histories, check writing histories, employment histories, and incusrance claims), to provide a free annual credit score disclosure upon consumer request.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2010-05-19 00:00:00

Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act - Defines "post-transaction third party seller" as a person that: (1) sells, or offers for sale, any good or service on the Internet; (2) solicits purchases on the Internet through an initial merchant after the consumer has initiated a transaction with the initial merchant; and (3) is not the initial merchant, a subsidiary or corporate affiliate of the initial merchant, or a successor to the initial merchant or subsidiary. Makes it unlawful for any post-transaction third party seller to charge or attempt to charge any consumer's credit card, debit card, bank account, or other such financial account in an Internet-based transaction, unless: (1) before obtaining the consumer's billing information, the seller has disclosed all material terms, including the fact that the such seller is not affiliated with the initial merchant, and a description and the cost of the offered goods or services; and (2) the seller has received the express informed consent from the consumer for the charge. Makes it unlawful for an initial merchant to disclose such financial account number or other billing information to any post-transaction third party Internet seller (sometimes referred to as a data-pass). Makes it unlawful for any person to charge or attempt to charge a consumer for goods or services sold in an Internet-based transaction through a negative option feature unless the person: (1) provides text that clearly and conspicuously discloses all material terms of the transaction before obtaining the consumer's billing information; (2) obtains a consumer's express informed consent before charging the consumer's financial account for products or services through such transaction; and (3) provides simple mechanisms for a consumer to stop recurring charges from being placed on the consumer's financial account. Defines "negative option feature" to mean, in an offer or agreement to sell or provide any goods or services, a provision under which the customer's silence or failure to take an affirmative action to reject goods or services or to cancel the agreement is interpreted by the seller as acceptance of the offer. Treats a violation of this Act or any regulation thereunder as an unfair or deceptive act or practice. Requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce this Act. Authorizes the attorney general of a state to bring an action for injunctive relief in federal court on behalf of the state's residents.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2010-05-24 00:00:00

Bans as a hazardous product any drop-side crib that is sold, offered for sale, manufactured for sale, distributed in commerce, used in public facilities such as hotels or day care centers, or imported into the United States. Defines "drop-side crib" as any infant crib that has at least one side that moves up and down but does not include a drop-gate crib or any other crib that has immovable sides with a portion of one side capable of being folded down.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2010-06-29 00:00:00

Amends the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 to state that, in the case of a gift certificate, store gift card, or general-use prepaid card produced before April 1, 2010, the effective date of the certain disclosure requirements under the Electronic Funds Transfer Act pertaining to fees shall be delayed until January 31, 2011. Requires the issuer of such a certificate or card, as a condition of such delayed effective date, to: (1) comply with a specified prohibition against and certain requirements for the imposition of any dormancy, inactivity, or service fees; (2) consider any such certificate or card for which funds expire to have no expiration date with respect to the underlying funds; (3) replace, at consumer request, any such certificate or card that has funds remaining at no cost to the consumer; and (4) comply with certain consumer rights disclosure requirements.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2010-09-28 00:00:00

Honest Services Restoration Act - Amends the federal criminal code to expand the definition of "scheme or artifice to defraud," for purposes of fraud offenses, to include: (1) a scheme or artifice by a public official to engage in undisclosed self-dealing; or (2) a scheme or artifice by officers and directors to engage in undisclosed private self-dealing. Defines "undisclosed self-dealing" to mean: (1) performing an official act to benefit or further a financial interest of the public official, a spouse or minor child, a general partner, a business or organization in which the public official is serving as an employee, officer, director, trustee, or general partner, or an individual, business, or organization with whom the public official is negotiating for, or has any arrangement concerning, prospective employment or financial compensation; and (2) knowingly falsifying, concealing, covering up, or failing to disclose material information regarding a financial interest as required by law. Defines "undisclosed private self-dealing" to mean: (1) performing an act which causes or is intended to cause harm to the employer of the officer or director and which is undertaken to benefit or further by an actual or intended value of $5,000 or more a financial interest of the officer or director, a spouse or minor child, a general partner, another business or organization in which the officer or director is serving as an employee, officer, director, trustee, or general partner, or an individual, business, or organization with whom the officer or director is negotiating for, or has any arrangement concerning, prospective employment or financial compensation; and (2) knowingly falsifying, concealing, covering up, or failing to disclose material information regarding a financial interest as required by law.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2010-09-29 00:00:00

Cell Phone Bill Shock Act of 2010 - Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to promulgate regulations requiring a commercial mobile service provider to: (1) notify a subscriber who has used in excess of a certain percentage of the monthly limit or prepaid amount of specified services (voice minutes, text messages, or data megabytes); (2) obtain a subscriber's consent before it allows the subscriber to use such services in excess of the monthly limit; and (3) ensure that any notice of possible excess usage, and the consent to use excess services, are not charged to the subscriber's account.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2010-09-29 00:00:00

End Debt Collector Abuse Act of 2010 - Amends the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to require a debt collector, in the absence of such information in an initial communication or payment of the debt, to include in a written notice to the consumer the following: (1) the date of the last payment to the creditor on the debt and the debt amount at the time of default; (2) the name and address of the last person to extend credit with respect to the debt; (3) an itemization of the principal, fees, and interest that comprise the debt and any other charges added after the date of the last payment; (4) a description of the rights of the consumer concerning the ceasing of debt collector communication with the consumer and having collection efforts stopped; and (5) the name and contact information of the person responsible for handling complaints on behalf of the debt collector. Revises procedures concerning disputed debts to require a debt collector, upon receipt of a notification that a debt is disputed by the consumer, to undertake a thorough investigation of the substance of the dispute and timely provide specific responsive information and verification of the disputed debt. Requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to provide inflation adjustments to damages awarded in cases of noncompliance with fair debt collection practices under the Act. Allows a court, in a civil action alleging violations of fair debt collection practices, to award appropriate relief, including injunctive relief. Deems as an unfair practice a request by a debt collector to a court or law enforcement agency for the issuance of a warrant for the arrest of a debtor or any other similar request that a debt collector knows or should know would lead to the issuance of an arrest warrant, in relation to collection of a debt.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2010-09-29 00:00:00

Access to Button Cell Batteries Act of 2010 - Directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to promulgate a standard requiring that electronic product button cell battery compartments be secured so as to reduce access to such batteries by children three years of age or younger. Defines a "button cell battery" as a battery that is 32 millimeters or less in diameter.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2011-01-12 00:00:00

Amends the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act to exempt ordinary books and paper-based printed materials from the lead limits on children's products. Defines "ordinary books" as books published on paper or cardboard, printed by conventional publishing methods, intended to be read, and lacking inherent play value.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Consumer Safety
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Date: 2011-01-19 00:00:00

Dangerous Products Warning Act - Amends the federal criminal code to impose a fine and/or prison term of up to 5 years on any business entity or product supervisor with respect to a product or business practice who knows of a serious danger associated with such product or business practice and knowingly fails within 15 days after discovering such danger to inform an appropriate federal agency in writing, warn affected employees in writing, and inform other affected individuals.  Imposes a fine and/or prison term of up to 1 year on any individual who intentionally discriminates against an employee who informs a federal agency or warns employees of a serious danger associated with a product or business practice.