lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Economics and public finance
Date: 2012-11-02 00:00:00

Hurricane Sandy Recovery and Rebuilding Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2013 - Makes supplemental appropriations for FY2013 for: (1) the Department of Defense (DOD) for the Corps of Engineers for flood control and coastal emergencies for recovery from damage caused by Hurricane Sandy; (2) the Small Business Administration (SBA) for the Disaster Loans Program Account for the cost of direct loans to repair, rehabilitate, or replace property damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster; and (3) the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the Disaster Relief Fund for recovery from damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, and for the Disaster Assistance Direct Loan Program Account for the cost of direct loans authorized under the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act) to assist state and local governments affected by Hurricane Sandy. Applies Stafford Act provisions regarding community disaster loans to: (1) authorize the President to make loans to state or local governments (currently, limited to local governments) which suffer a substantial loss of tax and other revenues as a result of a major disaster that have demonstrated a need for financial assistance to perform governmental functions; and (2) permit any such loan to exceed $5 million and to be equal to not more than 50% of the annual operating budget of the state or local government in any case in which such government has suffered a loss of 25% or more in tax revenues due to Hurricane Sandy.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2012-11-29 00:00:00

Fire-Damaged Home Rebuilding Act of 2012 - Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to prohibit certain mandatory land use and control measures in an area from being considered to be in compliance with land management criteria for participation in the flood insurance program unless those measures authorize the granting of a variance from compliance for a residential structure located in an area having special flood hazards but which is substantially damaged, instead, by non-flood related causes. Requires such a variance to allow for the repair and restoration of the structure to its predamaged condition on its original location without any higher elevation, but only if its owner at the time of the damage repairs and restores the structure for continued occupancy. Allows a variance to be granted only by the appropriate regional director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), subject to specified considerations. Requires chargeable flood insurance premium rates for a residential structure granted such a variance to equal, after repair and restoration, the rates which would have been applicable if the structure had not been substantially damaged, repaired, and restored under the variance.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2012-12-05 00:00:00

Amends the Wildfire Suppressing Aircraft Transfer Act of 1996 to provide that provisions permitting an agency to order goods or services from that or another agency only if such goods or services cannot be provided as conveniently or cheaply by a commercial enterprise shall not limit the use of interagency agreements with the Air National Guard or Air Force Reserve to procure the services of a unit of the Guard or Reserve to conduct Defense Support to Civil Authority missions utilizing military fixed wing aerial firefighting aircraft, including Modular Airborne Firefighting System (MAFFS) units, in the initial airborne response to fighting wildfires. Makes such limitation inapplicable only when the Incident Commander determines: (1) that privately contracted fixed-wing aerial firefighting aircraft are unavailable, (2) it is necessary for military fixed-wing aerial firefighting aircraft including MAFFS units to perform an initial airborne response, or (3) that military fixed-wing aerial firefighting aircraft including MAFFS units are needed to supplement privately contracted fixed-wing aerial firefighting aircraft.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2012-12-19 00:00:00

Hurricane Sandy Tax Relief Act of 2012 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide tax benefits for individuals and businesses affected by Hurricane Sandy, including: an exemption from the gross income limitation for deducting casualty losses attributable to Hurricane Sandy; expensing allowances for Hurricane Sandy disaster expenses, disaster assistance property, and environmental remediation expenses; treatment of losses attributable to Hurricane Sandy as net operating losses; suspension of mortgage revenue bond requirements for residences located in the Hurricane Sandy disaster area; an increased charitable tax deduction for Hurricane Sandy disaster relief contributions; a special allocation of the new markets tax credit for investments in community development entities serving the disaster area; special adjustments to the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit for individuals living in the disaster area; a work opportunity tax credit for hiring employees residing in the disaster area; authorization for issuance of Hurricane Sandy bonds to finance disaster relief projects; and an additional allocation of low-income housing credits in states affected by Hurricane Sandy.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2011-01-25 00:00:00

Directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO), in coordination with the National Academy of Engineering, to conduct and submit to Congress a full audit of hurricane protection funding and cost estimates associated with post-Katrina hurricane protection.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2011-01-25 00:00:00

Local Disaster Contracting Fairness Act of 2011- Prohibits the head of an executive agency from entering into an agreement for debris removal or demolition services in connection with natural disaster reconstruction efforts unless the agreement specifies that: (1) all of the work under the contract will be performed by the prime contractor or one or more subcontractors at one tier under the contract; (2) any work performed under the contract by subcontractors will be performed by local subcontractors, except to the extent that local subcontractors are not available to perform any such work; (3) the prime contractor will act as the project manager or construction manager for the contract; and (4) the prime contractor has primary responsibility for managing all work under the contract and will be paid a certain percentage of the overall value of the contract as sole compensation for assuming the risk associated with such responsibility. Requires the agency head, in entering into an agreement for debris removal or demolition services in connection with natural disaster reconstruction efforts, to give preference in the source selection process to each offeror who certifies that any work that is to be performed under the contract by subcontractors will be performed by local subcontractors.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2011-03-14 00:00:00

National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring Program Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish within the United States Geological Survey (USGS) a National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring Program, consisting of a national volcano watch office and data center, to oversee and coordinate the activities of USGS regional volcano watch and data centers. Sets forth as Program purposes: (1) to monitor and study volcanic activity throughout the United States at a level commensurate with the threat, and (2) to warn and protect people and property from harm. Requires the Secretary to prepare a management plan for the Program, which shall include: (1) annual cost estimates of operating the Program and updating the data collection, monitoring, and analysis systems; (2) annual standards and performance goals; and (3) recommendations for establishing or enhancing partnerships with state agencies or universities. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements or partnerships under which state agencies or universities are designated as volcano observatory partners for the Program. Directs the Secretary to coordinate activities under this Act with the heads of relevant federal agencies, including the Secretary of Transportation (DOT), the Secretary of Commerce, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). Authorizes the Secretary to establish a competitive grant program to support research and monitoring of volcanic activities in furtherance of this Act.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2011-03-17 00:00:00

Earthquake Insurance Affordability Act - Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to guarantee holders of debt against loss of principal or interest, or both, on debt issued by eligible state programs designed to: (1) promote the availability of private capital to provide liquidity and capacity to state earthquake (specifically, residential property) insurance programs, and (2) expedite the payment of claims under such programs and better assist financial recovery from significant earthquakes. Prescribes operational requirements for eligible state programs which include an established earthquake insurance program that: (1) offers residential property insurance coverage for insured losses to property, contents, and additional living expenses; and (2) does not require insurers to pool resources to provide property insurance coverage for earthquakes. Includes among such operational requirements that the state: (1) has in effect and enforces, or the appropriate local governments within the state have in effect and enforce, nationally recognized building, seismic-design, and safety codes and consensus-based standards; and (2) has taken actions to establish an insurance rate structure that takes into account measures to mitigate insured losses. Directs the Secretary to establish procedures for certification of an eligible state program. Limits to $5 billion, including interest, the aggregate principal amount of outstanding debt obligations guaranteed by the Secretary. Makes appropriations to satisfy debt guarantee commitments. Requires the Secretary, upon request of an eligible state program, to provide such debt guarantees. Pledges the full faith and credit of the United States to the payment of all guarantees issued under this Act.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2011-03-28 00:00:00

Southeast Hurricanes Small Business Disaster Relief Act of 2011 - Amends the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 to direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish a Southeast Hurricanes Small Business Disaster Relief Program (Program) under which the Administrator may waive, for up to three years and $15,000 total, the interest payments of small businesses that resume operations in a declared disaster area during the period beginning on: (1) September 1, 2005, and ending on October 1, 2006, for loans relating to Hurricanes Katrina or Rita of 2005; or (2) September 1, 2008, and ending on January 1, 2009, for loans relating to Hurricanes Gustav or Ike of 2008. Includes under the Program any small business that demonstrates substantial economic injury as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of April 20, 2010.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2011-03-30 00:00:00

National Hurricane Research Initiative Act of 2011 - Requires the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere (the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA]) to establish a National Hurricane Research Initiative to: (1) conduct research to enable improvement of the understanding and prediction of hurricanes and other tropical storms, development of infrastructure that is resilient to the forces associated with such storms, mitigation of the impacts of hurricanes on coastal populations, the coastal built environment, and natural resources, and improvement of communication with the public about hurricane forecasts and risks associated with hurricanes to reduce the harmful impacts of hurricanes and improve society's response to destructive storms; and (2) provide training for the next generation of hurricane researchers and forecasters. Directs the Under Secretary, in coordination with the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), to: (1) develop a five-year implementation plan for the Initiative, to be revised at least every five years; (2) establish objectives for hurricane research; (3) facilitate the establishment of a public website for the Initiative; and (4) submit to Congress a coordinated annual report for the Initiative. Allows the Under Secretary to carry out a series of national workshops and conferences to address hurricane-related research questions. Requires: (1) the NSF Director to establish a program to award grants for hurricane research; (2) the Under Secretary to carry out related research; and (3) each entity carrying out research under this Act to collaborate with existing federal and federally funded research centers operating in related fields, for-profit organizations, and governments to gather and share experiential information and to advance scientific and engineering knowledge, technology transfer, and technology commercialization in the course of conducting research and its application to mitigating the impacts of hurricanes and other tropical storms on society.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2011-05-23 00:00:00

Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to make any property otherwise in compliance with the national flood insurance program eligible for flood insurance even it has a swimming pool located at ground level or in the space below the lowest floor of a building which is enclosed with non-supporting breakaway walls after November 30 and before June 1 (outside hurricane season).
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2011-05-26 00:00:00

Consumer Option for an Alternative System To Allocate Losses Act of 2011 or COASTAL Act of 2011 - Amends the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009 to direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop an assessment model for determining the magnitude and variations of coastal storm surges and wind speeds associated with named storms (Named Storm Event Model). Requires the Administrator to: (1) identify named storms that may constitute a threat to the coastal zone, (2) develop a post-event assessment for such named storm, (3) establish a specified protocol to collect and assemble all requisite data to produce post-event assessments, (4) identify federal and state systems capable of collecting such data, and (5) establish the Coastal Wind and Water Event Database. Directs the Comptroller General to audit federal efforts to collect such data. Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish a system for allocating losses among certain insurers providing coverage against property losses due to wind and water peril. Prescribes procedures allocation of indeterminate loss claims and their payment. Directs the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to establish an arbitration panel for appeals regarding loss allocation for resolving indeterminate claims. Flood Insurance Reauthorization Act of 2011 - Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (NFIA) to extend through FY2016 the National Flood Insurance Program and the financing for it. Prohibits the Administrator of FEMA from extending a certain subsidy to new or lapsed policies. Requires adjustment of the flood insurance risk premium rate for property in an area participating in the national flood insurance program to reflect the current risk of flood to such property. Requires the Administrator of FEMA to make flood insurance available in only those states or areas that have given satisfactory assurance that by December 31, 2012, state-chartered lending institutions not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund shall be subject to state regulations consistent with NFIA flood insurance purchase and compliance requirements. Amends the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 to: (1) increase the maximum civil money penalty against regulated lenders for failure to require flood insurance, (2) modify requirements for the escrow of flood insurance payments, and (3) require policyholder notification by a regulated lending institution that insurance coverage may cease upon policyholder's final mortgage payment.Requires the Administrator of FEMA to continue to work with the insurance industry, state insurance regulators, and other interested parties to implement certain minimum training and education standards for all insurance agents who sell flood insurance policies.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2011-05-26 00:00:00

FEMA Common Sense and Cost Effectiveness Act of 2011 - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to authorize the construction and maintenance of levees on property acquired under the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA's) hazard mitigation grant programs, including: (1) a levee that is federally owned and operated; (2) a permanent levee that is federally constructed and nonfederally operated and maintained; (3) a levee that is federally constructed as a nonpermanent levee, that a nonfederal entity desires to operate and maintain as a permanent levee, and the owners of which are participating in, or, in a specified period after the date on which the levee is constructed, will begin participating in, the emergency response to natural disasters program; and (4) a nonfederal levee the owners of which are participating in the program. Authorizes an application to construct or maintain a levee on acquired lands to be denied if the levee poses a significant threat of harm to downstream communities.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2011-05-26 00:00:00

Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA), notwithstanding existing limitations on the assistance available to disabled veterans eligible for specially adapted housing grants, to award grants to veterans whose homes were previously adapted with such assistance if the adapted home used and occupied by the veteran was destroyed or substantially damaged in a natural or other disaster. Requires any such awarded post-disaster adapted housing grant to be available to acquire a suitable housing unit with special fixtures or moveable facilities made necessary by the veteran's disability along with the land for such housing. Permits the Secretary to: (1) extend up to an additional two months the subsistence allowances of veterans displaced by such disasters while satisfactorily following a program of employment services prescribed in a vocational rehabilitation program for certain veterans with service-connected disabilities; (2) provide or assist in providing a second automobile or other specified conveyance to eligible disabled veterans and members of the Armed Forces if an automobile or other conveyance previously purchased with assistance was destroyed by such a disaster through no fault of the individual and without compensation by a property insurer; and (3) in determining whether certain real estate housing loans are secured by a first lien, disregard or allow for subordination to a superior lien created by a duly recorded covenant running with the realty in favor of a public entity that has provided or will provide assistance in response to a major disaster as determined by the President under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2011-06-15 00:00:00

Southeastern Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2011 - Extends certain disaster-related tax relief provisions to the Southeastern disaster area.  Defines "Southeastern disaster area" as an area with respect to which a major disaster has been declared by the President under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act due to severe storms, tornados, or flooding occurring after April 13, 2011, and before June 7, 2011, in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Rescinds $12 billion of appropriated discretionary unexpired and unobligated federal funds to implement this Act.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2011-06-28 00:00:00

Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to: (1) make communities that reconstruct and improve flood protection systems (in addition to constructing them) eligible for premium flood insurance rates under such Act; and (2) allow entities that own, operate, maintain, or repair flood protection systems (instead of a federal agency) to determine whether a flood protection system is restorable.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2011-07-12 00:00:00

Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to state that, if a flood has commenced or is in progress before expiration of the 30-day waiting period before a new or modified flood insurance policy becomes effective, the insurance coverage shall take effect upon the expiration of such 30-day period. Allows coverage for damage occurring after expiration of the waiting period, however, only if the property has not suffered damage or loss as a result of such flood before the waiting period expires.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Emergency management
Date: 2011-07-26 00:00:00

Emergency Management Assistance Compact Act of 2011 - Amends the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 to authorize the use of Emergency Management Assistance Compact grants to: (1) educate emergency response providers by offering training materials and courses relating to the Compact; (2) conduct exercises regarding deployments under the Compact and related procedures; (3) establish a system for tracking resources deployed under the Compact; and (4) conduct after-action assessments, prepare reports, and carry out recommendations in response to large-scale activations, as determined appropriate by Compact administrators. Authorizes appropriations for Compact grants for FY2012-FY2016.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2011-09-06 00:00:00

Gulf Coast Disadvantaged Business Relief Act of 2011 - Permits any small business located in a Louisiana parish or Mississippi or Alabama county that was designated by the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) as a disaster area by reason of Hurricane Katrina or Rita while it was participating in a SBA small business and capital ownership development program to continue participation and eligibility in such program for an additional 24 months.
Topic: Domestic Commerce — Disaster Relief
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2011-09-13 00:00:00

National Flood Insurance Program Extension Act of 2011 - Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to extend the National Flood Insurance Program from September 30, 2010, through December 31, 2011. Continues through December 31, 2011, the authority of the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), with the President's approval, to issue up to $20.725 billion in notes and obligations to finance the Program.