lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2013-04-24 00:00:00

Sensible Environmental Protection Act of 2013 - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act [CWA]) to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or a state from requiring a permit under CWA for a discharge from a point source into navigable waters of: (1) a pesticide authorized for sale, distribution, or use under FIFRA; or (2) the residue of the pesticide, resulting from the application of the pesticide. Excepts: (1) a discharge resulting from the application of a pesticide in violation of a provision of FIFRA relevant to protecting water quality if the discharge would not have occurred without the violation or if the amount of pesticide or pesticide residue in the discharge is greater than would have occurred without the violation; (2) stormwater discharges regulated under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES); and (3) discharges of manufacturing or industrial effluent, treatment works effluent, and discharges incidental to the normal operation of a vessel.

Directs the Administrator to report to specified congressional committees on: (1) the status of intra-agency coordination between the Office of Water and the Office of Pesticide Programs of EPA regarding streamlining information collection, standards of review, and data use relating to water quality impacts from the registration and use of pesticides; (2) an analysis of the effectiveness of current regulatory actions relating to pesticide registration and use aimed at protecting water quality; and (3) recommendations on how FIFRA can be modified to better protect water quality and human health.
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2013-04-25 00:00:00

EPA Fair Play Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to remove the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to prohibit the specification, or restrict the use, of an area as a disposal site for discharges of dredged or fill materials into waters of the United States once the Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit for the discharge.

Makes this Act effective as of October 18, 1972.
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Energy
Date: 2013-06-27 00:00:00

Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2013 - Establishes as an independent agency in the executive branch: (1) the Nuclear Waste Administration (NWA) to provide for the permanent disposal of nuclear waste, including the siting, construction, and operation of additional repositories, a test and evaluation facility, and additional storage facilities; and (2) the Nuclear Waste Oversight Board.

Transfers to the NWA Administrator specified functions of the Secretary of Energy (Secretary).

Prescribes guidelines for nuclear waste facilities and for the identification and suitability of candidate sites.

Directs the Administrator to (1) establish a Storage Facility Program to provide interim storage for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, and (2) request proposals for cooperative agreements for a pilot program for the storage of priority waste.

Requires the Administrator, prior to selecting a storage facility site, to enter into a consent agreement to host the facility with: (1) an authorized official of the state in which the site is proposed to be located; (2) each affected unit of general local government or Indian tribe; and (3) submit to Congress a program plan, a list of proposed storage facility sites, and cost estimates for licensing, constructing, and operating each storage facility.

Requires the Secretary to issue guidelines, evaluate potential sites, as well as select sites for repositories.

Subjects construction and operation of a storage facility or repository to: (1) applicable standards for the protection of the general environment from offsite releases of radioactive material, and (2) the licensing and regulatory jurisdiction of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Requires the Secretary to arrange for the Administrator to dispose of defense wastes in a repository developed under this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to arrange for the Administrator to store defense wastes in storage facilities developed under this Act pending disposal in a repository.

Confers upon the Administrator responsibility for transporting nuclear waste under this Act.

Establishes in the Treasury the Nuclear Waste Administration Working Capital Fund.

 Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to reflect the amendments made by this Act.

Terminates those authorities of the Secretary regarding siting, construction, and operation of repositories, storage facilities, or test and evaluation facilities which were not transferred to the Administrator under this Act.
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2013-09-19 00:00:00

Comprehensive National Mercury Monitoring Act - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a national mercury monitoring program that monitors: (1) long-term changes in mercury levels and important ancillary measures in the air; and (2) long-term changes in mercury and methyl mercury levels and important ancillary measures in water and soil or sediments and in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial organisms.

Requires the program to be compatible with similar international efforts, including the Global Mercury Observation System and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems.

Requires the Administrator to: (1) select multiple monitoring sites representing multiple ecoregions that include national parks, wildlife refuges, National Estuarine Research Reserve units, and other sensitive ecological areas in which substantive changes are expected from reductions in domestic mercury emissions; (2) establish and publish standardized measurement protocols for the program; and (3) establish a centralized database for environmental mercury data.

Requires the Administrator to: (1) establish a Mercury Monitoring Advisory Committee to advise the Administrator on the establishment, site selection, measurement, recording protocols, and operation of the program; (2) report on the program every two years and include, every four years, an assessment of mercury deposition rates that need to be achieved in order to prevent adverse human and ecological effects; and (3) make all data obtained under this Act available to the public through a dedicated website and on written request.
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2014-01-16 00:00:00

Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to impose liability for hazardous substances releases of pollutants or contaminants if the President takes any response measure pursuant to CERCLA response authorities with respect to the pollutants or contaminants.

 Excepts otherwise liable persons who engage in conduct with respect to such pollutants or contaminants from liability for damages for injury to, destruction of, or loss of natural resources, including the reasonable costs of assessing the injury, destruction, or resulting loss.
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2014-01-16 00:00:00

Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to raise from $2 million to $4 million the amount that may be obligated from the Hazardous Substance Superfund for a response action after which obligations may not continue unless certain criteria are met.
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2014-03-06 00:00:00

Responsible Electronics Recycling Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to: (1) prohibit the export of restricted electronic waste to countries that are not members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) or the European Union (EU), or Liechtenstein; (2) require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and promulgate procedures for identifying certain electronic equipment as well as additional restricted toxic materials contained in such equipment which poses a potential hazard to human health or the environment; and (3) establish criminal penalties for knowingly exporting restricted electronic waste in violation of this Act. Allows certain exceptions to such export ban.

Defines "restricted electronic waste" to include electronic equipment (excluding parts of a motor vehicle), such as computers, televisions, printers, copiers, video game systems, telephones, and similar used electronic products, that contain cathode ray tubes, batteries, switches, and other parts containing lead, cadmium, mercury, organic solvents, hexavalent chromium, beryllium, or other toxic ingredients.

Requires persons who handle restricted electronic wastes to permit appropriate EPA and state officials access to such wastes upon request.

Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish a competitive research application program to provide grants for research in the recovering and recycling of critical minerals and rare earth elements found in electronic devices.
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2014-07-29 00:00:00

Superfund Polluter Pays Restoration Act of 2014 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) reinstate the Hazardous Substance Superfund financing rate beginning 60 days after enactment of this Act; (2) increase such rate from 9.7 cents to 15.8 cents per barrel of crude oil; (3) adjust for inflation in taxable years beginning after 2014 the $3.5 billion Superfund threshold after which no tax is imposed; (4) reinstate and increase the rates of tax on taxable chemicals; (5) modify the definition of "crude oil" to include any bitumen or bituminous mixture, any oil derived from such mixture (including oil derived from tar sands), and any oil derived form kerogen-bearing sources (including oil derived from oil shale); and (6) allow the use of the Superfund for environmental remediation without further appropriation.
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2015-03-04 00:00:00

Saving America's Pollinators Act of 2015

This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to suspend the registration of members of the nitro group of neonicotinoid insecticides that are registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) for use in seed treatment, soil application, or foliar treatment on bee-attractive plants, trees, and cereals until the EPA determines that the insecticides will not cause unreasonable adverse effects on pollinators. The determination must be based on:

 an evaluation of the published and peer-reviewed scientific evidence on whether the use or uses of those neonicotinoids cause unreasonable adverse effects on pollinators, including native bees, honeybees, birds, bats, and other species of beneficial insects; and a completed field study that meets the criteria required by the EPA and evaluates residues, chronic low-dose exposure, and cumulative effects of multiple chemical exposures. The EPA may not issue new registrations of the neonicotinoid pesticides for any seed treatment, soil application, and foliar treatment on bee-attractive plants, trees, and cereals under FIFRA until it has made the determination with respect to the insecticide.

For purposes of protecting and ensuring the long-term viability of native bees and other pollinators, the Department of the Interior must: (1) regularly monitor the health and population status of native bees, (2) identify the scope and likely causes of unusual native bee mortality, and (3) submit to Congress and make public an annual report on the health and population status of native bees.
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2015-03-18 00:00:00

Infection Reduction Labeling Act

This bill amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to authorize solid antimicrobial copper alloys, and products made from such alloys, to be marketed, distributed, or sold with labels about their infection reduction and control efficacy if the antimicrobial claims made on the label are consistent with the results of federally-funded clinical trials finding: (1) greater than 25% reductions in infection rate or 50% reductions in microbial burden, or (2) statistically significant reductions in infection rate or microbial burden.

Requirements to submit or review efficacy data related to the antimicrobial claims are waived for these alloys if the claims are consistent with the results of the trials.

An alternative process to modify the labeling of an alloy may be used in lieu of the current process.

This bill amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to exclude a product that is made from the alloy and has the antimicrobial labeling from regulation and treatment as a drug or device.
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2015-04-23 00:00:00

Brownfields Redevelopment Tax Incentive Reauthorization Act of 2015

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 2019 the election to expense (i.e., deduct in the current taxable year) environmental remediation costs (i.e., costs for the abatement or control of hazardous substances at a qualified contaminated site). Makes this Act applicable to expenditures paid or incurred after December 31, 2011.
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2015-04-27 00:00:00

Reducing Exposure to Asbestos Database Act of 2015 or the READ Act

This bill amends the Asbestos Information Act of 1988 to require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish and maintain a database of asbestos-containing products. The database must be accessible through EPA's website, publicly available, and searchable. An asbestos-containing product is any product to which asbestos is deliberately or knowingly added or in which asbestos is deliberately used or knowingly present in any concentration.

Any person who manufactured, processed, distributed, sold, imported, transported, or stored an asbestos-containing product must report to the EPA each year to identify the characteristics and location of the asbestos-containing products.

Civil penalties are imposed upon any person who knowingly: (1) manufactured, processed, distributed, sold, imported, transported, or stored an asbestos-containing product and who did not submit a report; or (2) provides false or inaccurate information in a report or fails to provide required information.

The Government Accountability Office must report on the utility of the database. The report must contain recommendations for measures to increase use of the database by consumers and further reduce the harm caused by exposure to asbestos.
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-05-21 00:00:00

Examination of Exposures to Environmental Hazards During Military Service and Health Care for Atsugi Naval Air Facility Veterans and their Families Act of 2015 

Directs the Secretaries of Defense (DOD) and of Veterans Affairs (VA) to jointly establish the Advisory Board on Environmental Exposures at Atsugi Naval Air Facility to provide expert advice to DOD and VA on matters relating to exposure of current and former members of the Armed Forces (members) and their dependents to environmental hazards at Atsugi Naval Air Facility, Japan, during the period beginning in 1983 in which the air, water, or soil at such facility was contaminated due to an incinerator.

Requires the Board to: (1) consider and study cases of such exposure, (2) evaluate submitted exposure claims, and (3) recommend to such Secretaries that either a claim is insufficient to warrant further consideration or is sufficient to warrant health care or compensation. Authorizes the Board to convene a science panel to consider exposure claims and report results to the Board.

Authorizes the DOD Secretary to provide to such members and dependents the health care benefits recommended by the Board.

Requires the DOD Secretary to: (1) compile a list of individuals exposed to environmental hazards at the facility during the period in which the air, water, or soil was contaminated; and (2) submit a related report to Congress.
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2015-06-15 00:00:00

Superfund Reinvestment Act

 Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to authorize the use of amounts in the Hazardous Substance Superfund for environmental cleanup costs authorized by such Act.

Provides that receipts and disbursements of the Hazardous Substance Superfund: (1) shall not be counted as new budget authority, outlays, receipts, or deficit or surplus, for purposes of the President's budget, the congressional budget, the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, or the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010; (2) shall be exempt from any general budget limitations; and (3) shall be available only for the purposes specified in CERCLA.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) reinstate through December 31, 2024 and adjust for inflation annually after 2016, the Hazardous Substance Superfund financing rate and the corporate environmental income tax threshold amount; (2) extend the borrowing authority of the Superfund through 2024; and (3) modify the definition of "crude oil" for purposes of the excise tax on petroleum and petroleum products to include any bitumen or bituminous mixture, any oil derived from a bitumen or bituminous mixture (tar sands), and any oil derived from kerogen-bearing sources (oil shale).
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2015-06-15 00:00:00

Superfund Polluter Pays Act 

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reinstate and extend through December 31, 2020, the Hazardous Substance Superfund financing rate and the corporate environmental income tax.
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2015-07-21 00:00:00

Farmers Undertake Environmental Land Stewardship Act or the FUELS Act 

This bill directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ease the application of the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule on certain farms.

The rule requires certain non-transportation-related facilities to prevent, prepare, and respond to oil discharges that may reach navigable waters or adjoining shorelines. Among other requirements, the rule requires those facilities to: (1) certify compliance with their SPCC plans; and (2) based on the plan, construct containment facilities that would hold the contents of aboveground oil storage tanks if they should spill.

The bill increases the oil storage thresholds that necessitate compliance with those requirements by raising the aggregate aboveground oil storage capacity thresholds for: (1) farms required to have an SPCC plan, (2) farms that self-certify their SPCC plan, and (3) farms that require a certification of their SPCC plan from a professional engineer.

The bill also raises the aboveground oil storage capacity of containers that must be included in calculating the aggregate aboveground storage capacity.
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Law
Date: 2015-09-17 00:00:00

No Exemptions for EPA Act of 2015

This bill removes the government's discretionary function exemption from tort claims in connection with a response under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), thereby allowing claims against the Environmental Protection Agency for damages caused by its response at a hazardous waste cleanup site under CERCLA.
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2015-09-24 00:00:00

Gold King Mine Spill Recovery Act of 2015

This bill entitles persons to compensation for allowable damages (i.e., property, business, or financial losses) under the Federal Tort Claims Act if they were injured by the spill into Cement Creek from the Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado. The spill occurred on August 5, 2015.

The bill establishes an Office of Gold King Mine Spill Claims within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to process and pay compensation claims.

The EPA must work with affected states and Indian tribes to develop, fund, and implement a long-term monitoring program for water quality of the Animas and San Juan Rivers in response to the spill.

The bill amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 by requiring certain agencies to work with affected states as well as research universities to: (1) identify the most dangerous abandoned and inactive mines, (2) establish a priority plan for cleaning up those mines, (3) update the plan as new information becomes available, and (4) develop a long-term research initiative. That initiative must evaluate the physical, chemical, and geological attributes of closed, abandoned, and inactive mines and pursue technological developments to aid in the cleanup of those mines.

Prior to carrying out mine remediation activities, agencies must: (1) provide affected tribal, state, and local governments notice of such activities; and (2) develop a spill prevention, control, and countermeasures plan for avoiding and mitigating the impacts of a spill.
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2015-09-30 00:00:00

EPA Pays Act

This bill amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) by making the U.S. government liable for economic damages it caused, including damages that resulted while it was providing assistance in cleaning up hazardous substances.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must reimburse the Department of the Treasury for the cost of CERCLA claims for money damages against the United States.

The EPA must make those reimbursements from the unobligated balance of amounts in the "Environmental Programs and Management" account. The EPA must first use amounts in that account that are for outreach. If sufficient amounts are not available from outreach funding, the EPA must use amounts made available for enforcement, and then amounts available for the clean air and climate program area.
Topic: Environment — Hazardous Waste
Subject: Environmental protection
Date: 2016-02-04 00:00:00

Brownfields Reauthorization Act of 2016

This bill amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA)to revise and reauthorize brownfields revitalization and state response program funding through FY2021.(Brownfields are certain commercial properties that are hindered from reuse or redevelopment due to the presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.)

The Environmental Protection Agency must establish a program to provide multipurpose grants to carry out inventory, characterization, assessment, planning, or remediation activities at one or more brownfield sites in a proposed area.

Certain nonprofit organizations and community development entities are made eligible for brownfields revitalization funding.

Grant or loan recipients may use up to 8% of brownfields revitalization funding for administrative costs.

Additionally, the bill revises the brownfield site characterization and assessment grant program to allow a governmental entity to receive a grant for property acquired prior to January 11, 2002, even if the entity does not qualify as a bona fide prospective purchaser under CERCLA.