lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Environment — R&D
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2013-07-30 00:00:00

EPA Hydraulic Fracturing Study Improvement Act - Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in conducting the study of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources, with respect to which a request for information was issued in November 2012, to:

 prior to issuance and dissemination of any final or interim report summarizing EPA research on such relationship, consider such reports to be Highly Influential Scientific Assessments requiring peer review in accordance with specified EPA and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) policy documents; require the reports to meet the standards and procedures for the dissemination of influential scientific, financial, or statistical information set forth in the EPA's Guidelines for Ensuring and Maximizing the Quality, Objectivity, Utility, and Integrity of Information Disseminated by the Environmental Protection Agency, developed in response to guidelines issued by OMB under the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2001; and ensure that identification of the possible impacts included in such reports be accompanied by objective estimates of the probability, uncertainty, and consequence of each identified impact, taking into account the risk management practices of states and industry, and that estimates or descriptions of probability, uncertainty, and consequence are as quantitative as possible given the validity, accuracy, precision, and other quality attributes of the underlying data and analyses, but no more quantitative than the data and analyses can support. Requires public release of the final report by September 30, 2016.
Topic: Environment — R&D
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2014-02-06 00:00:00

Secret Science Reform Act of 2014 - Amends the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from proposing, finalizing, or disseminating a covered action unless all scientific and technical information relied on to support such action is specifically identified and publicly available online in a manner sufficient for independent analysis and substantial reproduction of research results. Includes as a covered action a risk, exposure, or hazard assessment, criteria document, standard, limitation, regulation, regulatory impact analysis, or guidance.
Topic: Environment — R&D
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2013-02-11 00:00:00

Arctic Research, Monitoring, and Observing Act of 2013 - Amends the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 to direct the Arctic Research Commission to award merit-based grants to federal, state, local, or tribal governments and academic and private organizations to conduct research on or related to the Arctic in accordance with the national Arctic research program plan.

Authorizes the Commission to enter into agreements with appropriate agencies or organizations to administer grants made pursuant to this Act for Arctic research, including reimbursement from funds of the Commission to administer such grants.

Revises the requirements for compensation of Commission members not presently employed by the federal government or any state or local government.

Instructs the Commission to adopt conflict of interest and recusal requirements that apply to decisions of the Commission and to all Commission members as if each member is an affected individual within the meaning of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Requires disclosure of any financial interest in or relationship to a party that is applying for funding from the Commission held by the Commission member.

Amends the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998, with respect to the North Pacific Research Board, to: (1) increase the maximum percentage of funds provided to the Secretary of Commerce for grants to conduct marine research in the north Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea, and Arctic Ocean that may be used for support for the Board and to administer such grants; (2) authorize the Secretary to accept funds from a source other than the U.S. government to be used by the Board for such grants; and (3) direct the Board to adopt conflict of interest provisions similar to those required of the Commission by this Act.

Revises the administration of the Environmental Improvement and Restoration Fund to: (1) reduce by half the amount of interest earned and covered into the Fund and make available such amount without further appropriation to the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Forest Service for high priority deferred maintenance and modernization of facilities to enhance visitors' experience; (2) increase to 25% the amount made available to carry out marine research activities in the North Pacific; and (3) require 25% of such amounts to be made available to the Commission to carry out Arctic research and monitoring and 10% to fund the Alaska Ocean Observing System as provided in this Act.

Requires the North Pacific Research Board, the Commission, and the Alaska Ocean Observing System to meet at least once annually to promote coordination among research programs and projects and report annually on the status of the research conducted pursuant to this Act.
Topic: Environment — R&D
Subject: Water resources development
Date: 2013-05-16 00:00:00

Water Resources Research Amendments Act of 2013 - Amends the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 to: (1) declare that additional research is required into increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of new and existing treatment works through alternative approaches, including non-structural alternatives, decentralized approaches, energy use efficiency, water use efficiency, and actions to extract energy from wastewater; (2) require each water resources research and technology institute to arrange for research that fosters the exploration of new ideas that expand understanding of water resources (currently, of water-related phenomena); (3) direct the Secretary of the Interior to report to specified congressional committees annually on each institute's compliance with matching fund requirements and provisions permitting the use of funds only to reimburse direct cost expenditures incurred for the conduct of the water resources research program; and (4) authorize appropriations for such institutes through FY2018.
Topic: Environment — R&D
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Date: 2013-07-23 00:00:00

Arctic Research, Monitoring, and Observing Act of 2013 - (Sec. 2) Amends the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 to direct the Arctic Research Commission to establish (under current law, assist in establishing) a national Arctic research program plan to implement the Arctic research policy.

 Directs the Commission to award merit-based grants to federal, state, local, or tribal governments and academic and private organizations to conduct research on or related to the Arctic in accordance with the national Arctic research program plan.

Authorizes the Commission to enter into agreements with appropriate agencies or organizations to administer grants made pursuant to this Act for Arctic research, including reimbursement from funds of the Commission to administer such grants.

Instructs the Commission to adopt conflict of interest and recusal requirements which shall apply to decisions of the Commission and to all Commission members which at a minimum are substantially equivalent to those requirements set forth in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act as if each member is an affected individual within the meaning of such Act. Requires disclosure of any financial interest in or relationship to a party that is applying for funding from the Commission held by the Commission member.

(Sec. 3) Amends the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998, with respect to the North Pacific Research Board, to: (1) authorize the Board to adopt rules of procedure and establish committees as necessary to carry out the purposes of the Environmental Improvement and Restoration Fund, (2) require all of the Board's decisions to be made by majority vote of the full board in regular session, (3) direct the Board to adopt the same conflict of interest requirements as those for the Commission, and (4) allow the Secretary of Commerce to accept funds from a source other than the federal government for use by the Board to carry out its functions.
Topic: Environment — R&D
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2013-12-18 00:00:00

EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2013 - Amends the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 to revise the process of selecting members of the Science Advisory Board, guidelines for participation in Board advisory activities, and terms of office. (The Board provides scientific advice to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA].) Prohibits federally registered lobbyists from being appointed to the Board.

Revises the procedures for providing advice and comments to the Administrator by: (1) including risk or hazard assessments in the regulatory proposals and documents made available to the Board, and (2) requiring advice and comments to be included in the record regarding any such proposal and published in the Federal Register. Revises the operation of Board member committees and investigative panels to: (1) require that they operate in accordance with the membership, participation, and policy requirements (including new requirements for public participation in advisory activities of the Board) contained in this Act; (2) deny them authority to make decisions on behalf of the Board; and (3) prohibit direct reporting to EPA. Adds guidelines for the conduct of Board advisory activities, including concerning: (1) avoidance of making policy determinations or recommendations, (2) communication of uncertainties, (3) dissenting members' views, and (4) periodic reviews to ensure that such activities address the most important scientific issues affecting EPA. Prohibits this Act from being construed as supplanting the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act or the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.
Topic: Environment — R&D
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2015-01-06 00:00:00

Preventing Executive Overreach on Immigration Act of 2015

 Prohibits the executive branch of the government from:

 exempting or deferring from removal, by executive order, regulation, or any other means, categories of aliens considered under the immigration laws to be unlawfully present in the United States; treating such aliens as if they were lawfully present or had a lawful immigration status; or treating them other than as unauthorized aliens. States that such prohibition shall not apply:

 to the extent prohibited by the Constitution; upon the request of federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies for purposes of maintaining aliens in the United States to be tried for crimes or to be trial witnesses; or for humanitarian purposes where the aliens are at imminent risk of serious bodily harm or death. Declares that any executive branch action intending to circumvent the objectives of this Act shall be null and void and without legal effect.

States that this Act shall take effect as if enacted on November 20, 2014, and shall apply to requests submitted on or after that date for: (1) work authorization; or (2) exemption from, or deferral of, removal.
Topic: Environment — R&D
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2015-02-24 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on March 2, 2015. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Secret Science Reform Act of 2015

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from proposing, finalizing, or disseminating a covered action unless all scientific and technical information relied on to support such action is the best available science, specifically identified, and publicly available in a manner sufficient for independent analysis and substantial reproduction of research results. A covered action includes a risk, exposure, or hazard assessment, criteria document, standard, limitation, regulation, regulatory impact analysis, or guidance. Scientific and technical information includes: (1) materials, data, and associated protocols necessary to understand, assess, and extend conclusions; (2) computer codes and models involved in the creation and analysis of the information; (3) recorded factual materials; and (4) detailed descriptions of how to access and use the information.

This Act may not be construed as requiring the EPA to disseminate scientific and technical information, or superseding any nondiscretionary statutory requirement.

The EPA may not spend more than $1 million per fiscal year on carrying out this Act.
Topic: Environment — R&D
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2016-07-14 00:00:00

Agriculture Delivering Vastly Improved Science at the EPA Now Act or the ADVISE Now Act

This bill amends the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 to require the Environmental Protection Agency and its Science Advisory Board to establish a standing agriculture-related committee (as the Act currently requires without a deadline) within 30 days of enactment of this bill.

If an agriculture committee is not established by this deadline, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) shall establish and appoint members to such a committee within 15 days.

If such a contingent establishment occurs, USDA shall have the continuing authority to appoint members to it.
Topic: Environment — R&D
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2015-02-24 00:00:00

EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2015

 This bill amends the Environmental Research, Development, and Demonstration Authorization Act of 1978 to revise the process of selecting members of the Science Advisory Board, guidelines for participation in Board advisory activities, and terms of office. The Board provides scientific advice to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This bill requires the Board to independently provide that advice. Federally registered lobbyists may not be appointed to the Board.

The EPA must provide draft risk or hazard assessments in its regulatory proposals and documents to the Board. The Board's advice and comments must be included in the record regarding any such proposal and published in the Federal Register.

The Board's member committees and investigative panels must operate in accordance with the membership, participation, and policy requirements contained in this Act, including new requirements for public participation in advisory activities of the Board. The member committees and investigative panels do not have the authority to make decisions on behalf of the Board and may not report directly to the EPA. The Board must: (1) strive to avoid making policy determinations or recommendations, (2) communicate uncertainties, (3) encourage dissenting members to make their views known, (4) conduct periodic reviews to ensure that its activities address the most important scientific issues affecting the EPA, and (5) respond to Congress fully and in a timely manner. This Act may not be construed as supplanting the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act or the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.
Topic: Environment — R&D
Subject: Energy
Date: 2016-09-22 00:00:00

This bill establishes a U.S. Green Bank that provides financial support to assist regional, state, and local institutions finance: (1) clean energy (e.g. solar or wind energy) projects, or (2) energy efficiency projects that reduce energy use or substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Department of the Treasury must issue Green Bonds to provide the bank with: (1) an initial capitalization of $10 billion; and (2) additional capitalization, upon the bank's request, of no more than $50 billion in aggregate at any one time.

Treasury must also establish a revolving Green Bank Establishment Fund.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2007-02-09 00:00:00

Genomic Research and Accessibility Act - Prohibits patents from being obtained for a nucleotide sequence, or its functions or correlations, or the naturally occurring products it specifies.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Law
Date: 2007-03-01 00:00:00

Amends the Department of Commerce and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 to prohibit U.S. courts from recognizing, enforcing, or otherwise validating any assertion of rights by an individual (currently, by a designated Cuban national) of a mark, trade name, or commercial name that was used in connection with a business or assets that were confiscated by the Cuban government unless the original owner of such mark or name, or such owner's bona fide successor, has expressly consented. Applies such prohibition only if the individual asserting the rights knew or had reason to know at the time of acquiring the rights asserted that the mark or name was the same or substantially similar to the mark or name used in connection with the business or assets that were confiscated.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Education
Date: 2007-03-26 00:00:00

Curb Illegal Downloading on College Campuses Act of 2007 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to use the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education to support efforts by institutions of higher education and other nonprofit institutions and agencies to establish pilot programs and initiatives on college campuses to reduce illegal downloading of copyrighted content, thereby improving the security and integrity of campus computer networks and saving telecommunications bandwidth costs, while ensuring the availability of such bandwidth for research and educational purposes.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2007-03-29 00:00:00

Authorizes the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to accept any application or other filing made by an applicant for, or owner of, a patent or trademark after the applicable deadline, as the Director considers appropriate, if the applicant or owner files a petition within 30 days after such deadline showing that the delay was unintentional. Deems such a petition denied if the Director has not made a decision within 60 days. Provides that the Director's decision is not subject to judicial review. Deems that the 30-day period to file a petition after the deadline begins on the date of enactment of this Act for trademark applicants or owners.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2007-04-25 00:00:00

Design Piracy Prohibition Act - Extends copyright protection to fashion designs. Excludes from such protection fashion designs that are embodied in a useful article that was made public by the designer or owner more than three months before the registration of copyright application. Gives fashion designs copyright protection for three years.Declares that is not infringement to make, have made, import, sell, or distribute any article embodying a design which was created without knowledge or reasonable grounds to know that protection for the design is claimed and was copied from such protected design.Extends the definition of infringing article to include any article the design of which has been copied from an image of a protected design without the consent of the owner.Applies the doctrines of secondary infringement and secondary liability to actions related to original designs. Makes any person who is liable under either such doctrine subject to all the remedies, including those attributable to any underlying or resulting infringement.Requires the Register of Copyrights to determine whether or not the application relates to a design which on its face appears to be within the subject matter protected as original designs and, if so, register the design.Increases allowable damage awards for infringement of original designs.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2007-04-26 00:00:00

Internet Radio Equality Act - Declares to be ineffective: (1) the March 2, 2007, Determination of Rates and Terms of the U.S. Copyright Royalty Judges regarding rates and terms for the digital performance of sound recordings and ephemeral recordings; (2) the April 17, 2007, modification of that determination by an order denying motions for rehearing; and (3) any subsequent modification by the Copyright Royalty Judges published in the Federal Register. Replaces standards for determining reasonable rates and terms of royalty payments for public performances of sound recordings by means of eligible nonsubscription transmission services and new subscription services with a requirement that such rates and terms be established in accordance with stated objectives of the Copyright Royalty Judges. (Currently, rates and terms are required to distinguish among different types of eligible nonsubscription transmission services and include a minimum fee for each type.) Allows a minimum annual royalty for each provider subject to such rates and terms. Provides a transition rule for payment of royalties by providers of digital audio transmissions that would have been subject to the rates and terms nullified by this Act. Revises royalty payment provisions concerning the use of certain works in noncommercial broadcasting to include: (1) sound recordings; and (2) performance or display by nonprofit organizations and public broadcasting entities. Provides a transition rule for the payment by a public broadcasting entity to owners of copyrights in sound recordings. Requires a report to the Copyright Royalty Judges by the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information on the competitiveness of the Internet radio marketplace and the effect on Internet radio providers of proposed rate determinations in proceedings concerning: (1) public performances of sound recordings by means of the services described above; or (2) the use of certain works in noncommercial broadcasting. Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), upon publication of the commencement of proceedings of the Copyright Royalty Judges to determine rates and terms under the statutory license described in this Act, to report on the effect of such proposals on localism, diversity, and competition in the Internet radio marketplace (including in rural areas). Requires a report to Congress and the Copyright Royalty Judges by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) on the effect of such proposals upon public broadcasting licensees and permittees.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2007-05-16 00:00:00

Modifies provisions relating to the funding of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to allow such Office to retain and use all fees paid to such Office (currently, the availability of such fees is provided in advance by appropriations Acts).
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2007-05-17 00:00:00

Prohibits a civil action and certain civil remedies against taxpayers or tax practitioners for infringement of a patent for tax planning methods.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Copyrights and Patents
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2007-07-12 00:00:00

Extends for a 60-day period beginning on July 15, 2007, the rates and terms determined by the Copyright Royalty Judges for statutory licenses for the transmission of sound recordings.