zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Border Infrastructure and Jobs Act of 2011 - Establishes the United States-Mexico Economic Partnership Commission, which shall review and examine cross-border trade policies, strategies, and programs with Mexico. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish a grants program to develop and expand trusted shipper programs for small- and medium-sized businesses to facilitate border commerce. Authorizes appropriations for FY2013 to: (1) the General Services Administration (GSA) for planning, management, and construction of United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) owned land border ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border and for the installation of renewable energy retrofits at such ports of entry; (2) the International Boundary and Water Commission for planning, management, and construction of the International Outfall Interceptor and the Nogales Wash Channel; (3) the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) for improvements to existing transportation and supporting infrastructure along the border, for construction of highways and related safety and enforcement facilities related to international trade with Mexico, and for international coordination of transportation planning, programming, and border operations with Mexico; and (4) the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for integrated fixed towers, remote video cameras, hand-held devices, mobile systems, and other technologies in Arizona. Requires the DHS Secretary: (1) during FY2013, to increase the number of full-time active duty CBP officers, agriculture specialists, and border security support personnel for such ports of entry, with priority to the Tucson Sector; and (2) to develop and annually update a Southwest Border Strategy for Security and Prosperity to facilitate trade and maintain operational control over such ports of entry. Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish a grants program to develop and revitalize small businesses located along the border. Prohibits an executive agency from awarding a contract unless 30% of the labor for the performance of the contract is performed by a local subcontractor, with exceptions.

Date: 2011-09-23
Topic: Macroeconomics (General)
Subject: International affairs
American Growth, Recovery, Empowerment, and Entrepreneurship Act or the AGREE Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend certain tax expenditure provisions for business taxpayers, including: (1) bonus depreciation and expensing of business and investment assets, (2) the 100% exclusion from gross income of gain from the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock, and (3) the tax credit for increasing research expenses. Increases to 20% the rate of the alternative simplified research tax credit and makes such credit permanent. Increases the research tax credit for the research expenses of manufacturers whose domestic production gross receipts exceed 50% of their total production gross receipts. Allows a business-related tax credit of up to $100,000 for 25% of the franchise fees paid or incurred by a veteran for the purchase of a franchise. Amends the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to exempt certain small issuers of securities from the internal control reporting and assessment requirements of such Act. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) eliminate the per country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, and (2) increase the per country numerical limitation for family based immigrants from 7% to 15% of the total number of family-sponsored visas. Amends the Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 to eliminate the provision requiring the reduction of annual People's Republic of China immigrant visas to offset status adjustments under such Act. Sets forth a transition period for employment-based immigrant visas and per country distribution rules for reserved and unreserved visas. Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to share information and provide: (1) unredacted samples of the products, packaging, and labels, or related photos with trademark right holders if United States Customs and Border Protection suspects an import or export violation under specified provisions of the Lanham Act relating to copied or simulated marks or names; and (2) samples to affected parties upon the seizure of material imported in violation of specified federal copyright laws prohibiting the circumvention of technological measures that control access to or protect a copyrighted work.

Date: 2011-11-18
Topic: Macroeconomics (General)
Subject: Taxation
Middle Class Success Act - Expresses the sense of the Senate that Congress should: (1) support middle class tax relief; (2) help families afford the cost of college and improve opportunities for a secure retirement; (3) invest in infrastructure and other measures to create good, well-paying jobs; (4) help ensure that families have access to affordable child and elder care; (5) preserve and improve affordable health care; (6) ensure that all workers earn enough to meet basic living standards and do not live in poverty; (7) ensure that tax dollars do not support companies that break the law or mistreat their workers; (8) keep Social Security's promise and block proposals to privatize the program; (9) ensure that families have access to a healthy and clean environment, including access to safe drinking water; (10) ensure that workers can secure representation without employer obstruction; (11) ensure that our streets and communities are safe; and (12) address the serious housing problems facing many American families.

Date: 2011-01-25
Topic: Macroeconomics (General)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Motorsports Fairness and Permanency Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the classification, for depreciation purposes, of any motorsports entertainment complex as seven-year property.

Date: 2011-06-09
Topic: Macroeconomics (General)
Subject: Taxation
American Growth, Recovery, Empowerment, and Entrepreneurship Act or the AGREE Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend certain tax expenditure provisions for business taxpayers, including: (1) bonus depreciation and expensing of business and investment assets, (2) the 100% exclusion from gross income of gain from the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock, and (3) the tax credit for increasing research expenses. Increases to 20% the rate of the alternative simplified research tax credit and makes such credit permanent. Increases the research tax credit for the research expenses of manufacturers whose domestic production gross receipts exceed 50% of their total production gross receipts. Allows a business-related tax credit of up to $100,000 for 25% of the franchise fees paid or incurred by a veteran for the purchase of a franchise. Amends the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to exempt certain small issuers of securities from the internal control reporting and assessment requirements of such Act. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) eliminate the per country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, and (2) increase the per country numerical limitation for family based immigrants from 7% to 15% of the total number of family-sponsored visas. Amends the Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 to eliminate the provision requiring the reduction of annual People's Republic of China immigrant visas to offset status adjustments under such Act. Sets forth a transition period for employment-based immigrant visas and per country distribution rules for reserved and unreserved visas. Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to share information and provide: (1) unredacted samples of the products, packaging, and labels, or related photos with trademark right holders if United States Customs and Border Protection suspects an import or export violation under specified provisions of the Lanham Act relating to copied or simulated marks or names; and (2) samples to affected parties upon the seizure of material imported in violation of specified federal copyright laws prohibiting the circumvention of technological measures that control access to or protect a copyrighted work.

Date: 2011-11-15
Topic: Macroeconomics (General)
Subject: Taxation
Anti-Trust Freedom Act of 2012 - Prohibits the Sherman Act, the Clayton Act, and section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act from being construed as prohibiting, banning, or otherwise extending to any voluntary economic coordination, cooperation, agreement, or other association, compact, contract, or covenant entered into by or between any individual or group of individuals.

Date: 2012-03-29
Topic: Macroeconomics (General)
Subject: Commerce
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here; it is based upon text provided by the House Clerk.)

Deficit Reduction and Economic Growth Working Group Act of 2013 - Establishes the Bicameral Working Group on Deficit Reduction and Economic Growth, comprised of 20 Members of Congress, to recommend to the House of Representatives and Senate overall levels of discretionary spending, including for FY2014, changes in the statutory limit on the public debt, and reforms in direct spending programs.

Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Majority Leader of the Senate to each appoint 10 members of their respective chamber to serve on the Working Group. Designates a co-chair in each chamber and allows the Minority Leaders of the House and Senate to each recommend the appointment of 4 of the 10 members in each chamber.

Requires the Working Group to report its recommendations, including any required legislative language, to the House and Senate within three days after their adoption. Prohibits the Working Group from reporting any recommendation that does not receive the support of a majority of its members.

Requires the termination of the Working Group immediately after the transmission of its recommendations.

Date: 2013-10-08
Topic: Macroeconomics (General)
Subject: Congress
New Skills for New Jobs Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, on a quarterly basis, to make payments to an eligible community college in an amount equal to the aggregate new job tax withholding matches for qualified training provided to job trainees who are U.S. citizens. Defines "qualified training" as education or training to provide an individual with the education or skills necessary to perform the job for which such individual will be employed or with licenses or certificates necessary for such employment. Requires that any job for which a trainee is hired be a new job.

Defines "eligible community college" as a public institution of higher education: (1) at which the majority of degrees awarded are two-year degrees that are acceptable for full credit toward a baccalaureate degree, (2) that is located in a state that has a state new jobs tax credit program in effect, and (3) that participates in such program by having in effect a contract that meets specified requirements of such program.

Date: 2013-12-10
Topic: Macroeconomics (General)
Subject: Taxation
Orphan Earmarks Act - Rescinds all unobligated amounts of funds earmarked for the Department of Transportation (DOT) if more than 90% of the dollar amount of that earmark remains available for obligation at the end of the 9th fiscal year after it was first made available. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation (DOT) to delay any such rescission for one year if an additional obligation of the earmark is likely to occur during the 10th fiscal year after it was first made available.

Requires each agency head to identify and report every project that is an earmark with an unobligated balance at the end of a fiscal year to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), who shall report a listing and accounting for such earmarks to Congress and to the public via the OMB website.

Date: 2014-05-21
Topic: Macroeconomics (General)
Subject: Economics and public finance
Expedite Transit Act of 2015

This bill amends the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century with respect to the good repair certification requirement for recipients of funding under the pilot program to demonstrate whether innovative project development and delivery methods or innovative financing arrangements can expedite project delivery for certain meritorious new fixed guideway capital projects and core capacity improvement projects.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) may waive the requirement that a recipient desiring to participate in the program certify that its existing public transportation system is in a state of good repair if the recipient seeks to carry out a core capacity improvement project which will allow the recipient to make substantial progress in achieving a state of good repair.

Date: 2015-07-09
Topic: Macroeconomics (General)
Subject: Transportation and public works
EEOC Reform Act

This bill prohibits the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) from implementing the proposed revision of the private sector employer information report EEO-1 published on February 1, 2016, until: the EEOC collects annually from federal agencies the same employment data as a private sector employer with 100 or more employees would be required to collect under the revised report; the EEOC develops software for processing and creates a comprehensive plan for using such information, including examples of how the EEOC will use the information in its enforcement efforts, protect the information from theft or public dissemination, and share the data with other agencies; the Office of Management and Budget approves the EEOC's data collection procedures and comprehensive plan under a review process that provides for public notice and comments to evaluate the need for, and the burden of, the collection; and the EEOC reduces its inventory of pending charges to not more than 3,660. The EEOC must publish annual calculations of the cost of such data collection activities, including the number of employees and employee hours required to: (1) collect, verify, and protect the confidentiality of such data; and (2) be transferred away from duties that would reduce the number of pending charges of discrimination before the EEOC.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is amended to require the EEOC to approve or disapprove by majority vote a decision on whether the EEOC shall commence or intervene in litigation involving: (1) multiple plaintiffs, or (2) an allegation of systemic discrimination or a pattern or practice of discrimination. An EEOC member shall have the power to require the EEOC to approve or disapprove by majority vote a decision on whether the EEOC commences or intervenes in any litigation.

The EEOC must publish on its website information regarding each case brought in court by the EEOC after a judgment is made with respect to any cause of action. Such information must include: (1) instances in which the EEOC was ordered to pay fees and costs; (2) cases in which a sanction was imposed on the EEOC; (3) the total number of charges of an alleged unlawful employment practice or discrimination filed under specified civil rights, disability, employment, and labor laws; and (4) cases of systemic discrimination, including pattern or practice discrimination.

The EEOC is prohibited from bringing a suit unless it: (1) exhausts its obligation to use bona fide informal good faith endeavors of conciliation, and (2) certifies that conciliation is at impasse. The determination as to whether the EEOC has engaged in bona fide informal good faith endeavors is subject to judicial review.

The EEOC Inspector General must notify Congress of any sanctions, fees, or costs imposed on the EEOC by a court. The EEOC must report to Congress regarding the steps being taken to reduce such instances.

Date: 2016-03-16
Topic: Macroeconomics (General)
Subject: Labor and employment
Anti-Trust Freedom Act of 2016

This bill prohibits the Sherman Act, the Clayton Act, and section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act from being construed as prohibiting, banning, or otherwise extending to any voluntary economic coordination, cooperation, agreement, or other association, compact, contract, or covenant entered into by or between any individual or group of individuals.

Date: 2016-03-16
Topic: Macroeconomics (General)
Subject: Commerce
State Waste Empowerment and Enforcement Provision Act of 2007 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to authorize a state to limit, place restrictions on, or otherwise regulate out-of-state municipal solid waste received or disposed of annually at each landfill or incinerator in the state, except, until two years after enactment of this Act, to the extent that a host community agreement (between an owner or operator of a landfill or incinerator and an affected local government) specifically authorizes such receipt.

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection
Solid Waste Interstate Transportation Act of 2007 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to prohibit a landfill or incinerator (facility) from receiving out-of-state municipal solid waste (MSW) for disposal or incineration unless the waste is received pursuant to a new or existing host community agreement or an exemption from this prohibition (which may be limited by the state). Establishes conditions for exemptions. Authorizes states to establish limits on the amount of out-of-state MSW received annually for disposal at each facility. Sets the limitation amount for any facility that began receiving documented out-of-state waste before enactment of this Act at the amount received during 1993 (or first subsequent year of documentation). Prohibits state limits from conflicting with permits or host community agreements. Authorizes states to require that a permit for a new or expanded facility include an annual limitation of not less than 20% on the total quantity of out-of-state MSW relative to the total waste received by the facility. Requires percentage limitations to be uniform and not discriminate against out-of-state MSW according to state of origin. Allows states to limit the amount of out-of-state MSW received annually at each facility to the amount received during 1995 if the state has a comprehensive, statewide recycling program. Prohibits discrimination against shipments of such waste on the basis of state of origin. Authorizes states to require inspectors to be onsite during operation of a facility that receives out-of-state MSW.

Date: 2007-01-05
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection
Solid Waste Compact Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to allow states with approved state solid waste management plans to prohibit the importation of solid waste from outside the state. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to identify alternative solid waste disposal methods and establish and publish technical guidance regarding their implementation.

Date: 2007-01-10
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection
Solid Waste Interstate Transportation Act of 2008 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to prohibit a landfill or incinerator (facility) from receiving out-of-state municipal solid waste (MSW) for disposal or incineration unless the waste is received pursuant to a new or existing host community agreement or an exemption from this prohibition (which may be limited by the state). Establishes conditions for exemptions. Authorizes states to establish limits on the amount of out-of-state MSW received annually for disposal at each facility. Sets the limitation amount for any facility that began receiving documented out-of-state waste before enactment of this Act at the amount received during 1993 (or first subsequent year of documentation). Prohibits state limits from conflicting with permits or host community agreements. Authorizes states to require that a permit for a new or expanded facility include an annual limitation of not less than 20% on the total quantity of out-of-state MSW relative to the total waste received by the facility. Requires percentage limitations to be uniform and not discriminate against out-of-state MSW according to state of origin. Allows states to limit the amount of out-of-state MSW received annually at each facility to the amount received during 1995 if the state has a comprehensive, statewide recycling program. Prohibits discrimination against shipments of such waste on the basis of state of origin. Authorizes states to require inspectors to be onsite during operation of a facility that receives out-of-state MSW.

Date: 2008-05-22
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection
Medical Waste Management Act of 2008 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to: (1) revise the definition of "medical waste"; (2) require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate regulations listing types of medical waste; and (3) require the Administrator to conduct a medical waste management program to protect human health and the environment and promulgate regulations on tracking, labeling, packaging, storing, handling, monitoring, and disposing of medical waste. Requires a generator of medical waste to: (1) provide waste transporters with an assurance that the generator has complied with labeling, packaging, and storage requirements and a manifest form for transporting such waste; (2) register with the Administrator; and (3) provide the Administrator with the name of waste transporters. Requires transporters to: (1) not accept medical waste from a generator without receiving such assurance; (2) register with the Administrator; and (3) disclose to the Administrator the number and type of vehicles used to transport medical waste and the equipment and methods used to ensure segregation and handling of such waste. Requires owners or operators of disposal facilities to: (1) provide notice of the disposal of medical waste to the generator; and (2) register with the Administrator. Authorizes the Administrator to set registration requirements and collect reasonable registration fees. Sets forth provisions concerning inspections, public records, and enforcement under this Act. Requires the Administrator to establish a program to educate the public about, and increase access to, acceptable methods for disposal of used syringes generated by individuals through personal use outside of medical facilities. Provides that disposal in household garbage is not an acceptable method.Requires the Administrator to study and report on medical waste generated and its management and disposal.

Date: 2008-09-26
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to require owners or operators of publicly owned sewage treatment works to: (1) institute a monitoring program that alerts such owners or operators of sewer overflows; (2) notify the public of such overflows within 24 hours in areas where human health is potentially affected; (3) immediately notify public health authorities and other affected entities in the case of overflows that may imminently and substantially endanger public health; and (4) make specified reports on overflows, including the number of overflows in a calendar year, to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or a state.Requires each state to provide the Administrator an annual summary of sewer overflows. Authorizes a state to submit evidence to the Administrator that it has in place a legally enforceable sewage overflow notification program that is substantially equivalent to the notification requirements of this Act. Sets forth factors for determining substantial equivalency.Authorizes funding from state water pollution control revolving funds to carry out the monitoring of sewer overflows.

Date: 2007-09-20
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection
Clean Water Affordability Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make grants to states for the purpose of providing grants to municipalities for use in planning, designing, and constructing treatment works to intercept, transport, control, or treat municipal combined sewer overflows and sanitary sewer overflows and municipalities for such purposes. Requires states or the Administrator to give priority to financially distressed communities. Requires the Administrator, no later than December 31, 2010, (currently, 2003) and periodically thereafter, to report to Congress on recommended funding levels for sewer overflow control grants.Requires the Administrator to update the guidance entitled "Combined Sewer Overflows -- Guidance for Financial Capability Assessment and Schedule Development" dated February 1997, to ensure that the evaluations by the Administrator of financial capability assessment and schedule development meet specified criteria, including criteria used in assessing financial capability of a community to make investments necessary to make water quality-related improvements and in implementing water quality-related improvements.Requires such updated guidance to indicate that it is appropriate for the reconsideration and modification of financial capability determinations and implementation schedules to be based on such criteria.

Date: 2008-08-01
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection
Solid Waste Interstate Transportation Act of 2009 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to prohibit a landfill or incinerator (facility) from receiving out-of-state municipal solid waste (MSW) for disposal or incineration unless the waste is received pursuant to a new or existing host community agreement or an exemption from this prohibition (which may be limited by the state). Establishes conditions for exemptions. Authorizes states to establish limits on the amount of out-of-state MSW received annually for disposal at each facility. Sets the limitation amount for any facility that began receiving documented out-of-state waste before enactment of this Act at the amount received during 1993 (or first subsequent year of documentation). Prohibits state limits from conflicting with permits or host community agreements. Authorizes states to require that a permit for a new or expanded facility include an annual limitation of not less than 20% on the total quantity of out-of-state MSW relative to the total waste received by the facility. Requires percentage limitations to be uniform and not discriminate against out-of-state MSW according to state of origin. Allows states to limit the amount of out-of-state MSW received annually at each facility to the amount received during 1995 if the state has a comprehensive, statewide recycling program. Prohibits discrimination against shipments of such waste on the basis of state of origin. Authorizes states to require inspectors to be onsite during operation of a facility that receives out-of-state MSW.

Date: 2009-01-07
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection
Sustainable Water Infrastructure Investment Act of 2009 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from state volume caps private facility bonds for sewage and water supply facilities.

Date: 2009-01-14
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Taxation
Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to require owners or operators of publicly owned treatment works to: (1) institute monitoring systems to provide timely alerts of sewer overflows; (2) notify the public, not later than 24 hours after receiving knowledge, of such overflows in areas where human health is potentially affected; (3) notify public health authorities and other affected entities, in the case of an overflow that may imminently and substantially endanger human health, immediately after the owner or operator knows of the overflow; (4) report each overflow on discharge monitoring reports to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the state; and (5) annually report to the Administrator or the state on the total number of overflows in a calendar year.Makes specified exceptions to notification and reporting requirements for backups into single-family residences and for overflows that occur in the course of treatment works maintenance, respectively. Requires annual summary reports by states to the Administrator. Requires the Administrator to issue regulations, including to establish overflow assessment guidance and develop communications measures to provide notification under this Act. Makes the monitoring systems eligible for state water pollution control revolving fund assistance.

Date: 2009-01-28
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection
Water Quality Investment Act of 2009 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to require projects receiving sewer overflow control grant assistance to be carried out subject to the requirements applicable to projects receiving assistance from state water pollution control revolving funds, except to the extent that the governor of the state in which the project is located determines that a revolving fund requirement is inconsistent with the purposes of the sewer overflow control grant program. Authorizes appropriations for sewer overflow control grants through FY2014. Modifies grant funding allocation provisions to reflect new dates of authorization and reauthorized amounts. Eliminates the set-aside for the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make direct grants to municipalities and municipal entities during the second year of authorization. Establishes a December 31, 2012, deadline for the Administrator's report to Congress on recommended funding levels for sewer overflow control grants.

Date: 2009-02-04
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection
Landfill Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require state or regional solid waste plans, to be approved, to: (1) provide for the collection of a fee of not less than $5 per ton to be imposed on all solid waste collected by, or generated by, a municipality (other than fly ash and bottom ash) received by each solid waste landfill; (2) require such fees to be remitted to the local government having jurisdiction over the area where the facility is located; (3) require facilities subject to such fees to report to the state and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the amount and type of waste received, the amount of fees collected, and measures in place to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) and to protect human health and the environment; (4) require a local government to use the revenues generated by such fees to undertake, or to provide financial assistance for entities to undertake, approved GHG reduction projects within its jurisdiction; and (5) require the Administrator to select projects that are identified as the most cost-effective means to reduce GHGs. Requires the Administrator to collect such fees in states that do not have approved plans. Sets forth civil penalties for persons who fail or refuse to pay the full amount of any such fee.

Date: 2009-03-05
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection
Medical Waste Management Act of 2009- Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to: (1) revise the definition of "medical waste"; (2) require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate regulations listing types of medical waste; and (3) require the Administrator to conduct a medical waste management program to protect human health and the environment from medical waste and promulgate regulations on tracking, labeling, packaging, storing, handling, monitoring, and disposing of medical waste. Requires generators of medical waste (including tattoo and body art establishments) to: (1) provide waste transporters with written assurance that the generator has complied with labeling, packaging, and storage requirements and a manifest form for transporting such waste; (2) register with the Administrator; and (3) provide the Administrator with the names of all waste transporters. Requires transporters to: (1) not accept medical waste from a generator without receiving such assurance; (2) register with the Administrator; and (3) disclose to the Administrator the number and type of vehicles used to transport medical waste and the equipment and methods used to ensure segregation and handling of such waste. Requires owners or operators of storage and disposal facilities to: (1) provide notice of the disposal of medical waste to the generator; and (2) register with the Administrator. Sets forth provisions concerning inspections, public records, and enforcement under this Act. Requires the Administrator to: (1) establish a program to educate the public about, and increase access to, acceptable methods for disposal of used syringes; (2) study and report to Congress on medical waste generated and its management and disposal; and (3) consult with the International Joint Commission on tracking medical waste entering the United States from Canada.

Date: 2009-05-21
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection
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 or the European Union, or Liechtenstein; (2) require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), annually, to identify countries that permit trade in used electronic equipment and parts; and (3) impose 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, such as computers, televisions, printers, copiers, video players, and similar used electronic products, that contain circuit boards and other parts containing mercury or polychlorinated biphenyls, antimony, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, or lead and cathode ray tubes and batteries containing lead and other toxic ingredients.

Date: 2009-05-21
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection
Wastewater Treatment Works Security Act of 2009 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to require each owner or operator of a treatment works that stores or uses a substance of concern in quantities deemed by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to pose a security risk to conduct a vulnerability assessment of its treatment works, which shall include a site security plan to identify specific security enhancements. Directs the Administrator to develop and publish guidelines for carrying out a vulnerability assessment and, in developing such guidelines, to: (1) develop standards for assigning individual treatment works to four risk-based classifications taking into consideration a works' size and proximity to large population centers and the potential impacts of intentional acts on public health or safety or the environment; (2) designate any chemical substance as a substance of concern; and (3) include a process for the revision, resubmission, and review of vulnerability assessments. Directs the Administrator to establish a threshold quantity for the release or theft of each such substance. Sets forth requirements and deadlines for assessment certification, submission, review, approval, and disclosure. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to a state, municipality, or intermunicipal or interstate agency to conduct a vulnerability assessment of a publicly owned treatment works, to implement specified security enhancements to reduce identified vulnerabilities, and to provide for security-related training of treatment works employees and training for emergency response providers. Authorizes the Administrator: (1) in coordination with the states, to provide technical guidance and assistance to small publicly owned treatment works on conducting a vulnerability assessment and implementation of security enhancements; and (2) to make grants to nonprofit organizations to assist in accomplishing purposes of this Act.

Date: 2009-06-16
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Emergency management
Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a hazardous waste electronic manifest system that may be used by a hazardous waste generator or transporter, an owner or operator of a hazardous waste treatment, storage, recycling, or disposal facility, or any other person that: (1) is required to use a manifest to comply with any federal or state requirement to track the shipment, transportation, and receipt of hazardous waste or other material shipped from the generation site to an off-site facility for treatment, storage, disposal, or recycling; and (2) elects to use the system to complete and transmit an electronic manifest format; or (3) submits to the system for data processing purposes a paper copy of the manifest (or data from such a paper copy). Authorizes the Administrator to: (1) impose service fees on users to pay for developing, operating, maintaining, and upgrading the system, including any costs incurred in collecting and processing data from any paper manifest submitted to the system after the date on which the system enters operation; (2) deposit the fees into the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System Fund (established by this Act); and (3) enter into information technology contracts with appropriate entities for the provision of system-related services. Requires the Administrator to: (1) establish the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest System Advisory Board; and (2) carry out this Act in each state unless the state program is fully authorized to do so. Requires a designated facility that receives waste, in cases in which the state in which waste is generated or transported to such facility requires that the waste be tracked through a hazardous waste manifest, to: (1) complete the facility portion of the applicable manifest; (2) sign and date the facility certification; and (3) submit to the system a final copy of the manifest.

Date: 2009-06-26
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to provide that reasonable service charges applicable to federal entities for water pollution include the same reasonable fees or assessments for stormwater management applicable to any nongovernmental entity. Provides that such a fee or assessment shall not be considered to be a tax or other levy subject to an assertion of sovereign immunity and may be paid using appropriated funds.

Date: 2010-07-13
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection
Clean Water Affordability Act of 2010 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to revise requirements for capitalization grant agreements with states for establishing water pollution control revolving funds. Requires states to set aside 15% of funds for assistance to municipalities of fewer than 10,000 individuals that meet specified affordability criteria. Authorizes the fund to be used to make loans at terms not to exceed 30 years or the design life of the project to be financed with the proceeds of the loan (currently 20 years). Authorizes a state to provide additional subsidization, including forgiveness of principal and negative interest loans, to benefit a municipality that: (1) meets affordability criteria, or (2) does not meet such criteria if the recipient seeks the additional subsidization to benefit ratepayers that will experience a significant hardship from the increase in rates necessary to finance the project or activity for which assistance is sought. Establishes affordability criteria to assist in identifying municipalities that would experience a significant hardship raising the revenue necessary to finance a project or activity eligible for assistance. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update the guidance entitled "Combined Sewer Overflows--Guidance for Financial Capability Assessment and Schedule Development," dated February 1997, to ensure that the evaluations by the Administrator of financial capability assessment and schedule development meet specified criteria, including criteria used in: (1) assessing financial capability of a community to make investments necessary to make water quality-related improvements, and (2) implementing water quality-related improvements.

Date: 2010-09-29
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection
Clean Water Affordability Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make grants to states for the purpose of providing grants to local or regional authorities or municipalities for use in planning, designing, and constructing treatment works to intercept, transport, control, or treat municipal combined sewer overflows and sanitary sewer overflows and municipalities for such purposes. Requires states or the Administrator to give priority to financially distressed communities. Requires the Administrator, no later than December 31, 2010 (currently, 2003) and periodically thereafter, to report to Congress on recommended funding levels for sewer overflow control grants. Requires the Administrator to update the guidance entitled "Combined Sewer Overflows -- Guidance for Financial Capability Assessment and Schedule Development" dated February 1997, to ensure that the evaluations by the Administrator of financial capability assessment and schedule development meet specified criteria, including criteria used in assessing financial capability of a community to make investments necessary to make water quality-related improvements and in implementing water quality-related improvements. Requires such updated guidance to indicate that it is appropriate for the reconsideration and modification of financial capability determinations and implementation schedules to be based on such criteria.

Date: 2009-04-22
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection
Water Quality Investment Act of 2009 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to: (1) repeal the requirement that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have a specified amount available for grants to states for establishing water pollution control revolving funds in order to make sewer overflow control grants; and (2) require projects receiving sewer overflow control grant assistance to be carried out subject to the requirements applicable to projects receiving assistance from state water pollution control revolving funds, except to the extent that the governor of the state in which the project is located determines that a revolving fund requirement is inconsistent with the purposes of the sewer overflow control grant program. Authorizes appropriations for sewer overflow control grants for FY2010-FY2014 and sets forth provisions governing the allocation of such funds to states and munipalities. Establishes a December 31, 2010, deadline for the Administrator's report to Congress on recommended funding levels for sewer overflow control grants.

Date: 2009-04-30
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection
Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to require owners or operators of publicly owned treatment works to: (1) institute monitoring systems to provide timely alerts of sewer overflows; (2) notify the public within 24 hours after receiving knowledge of such an overflow in an area where human health is potentially affected; (3) notify public health authorities and other affected entities immediately after receiving knowledge of an overflow that may imminently and substantially endanger human health; (4) report each overflow on discharge monitoring reports to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the state; and (5) annually report to the Administrator or the state on the total number of overflows in a calendar year. Makes specified exceptions to notification and reporting requirements, respectively, for backups into single-family residences and overflows that occur in the course of treatment works maintenance. Requires annual summary reports by states to the Administrator. Defines "sanitary sewer overflow" to mean an overflow, spill, release, or diversion of wastewater from a sanitary sewer system: (1) including wastewater backups into buildings that are caused by blockages or flow conditions in a sanitary sewer other than a building lateral; and (2) excluding municipal combined sewer overflows or other discharges from the combined portion of a municipal combined storm and sanitary sewer system and wastewater backups into buildings caused by a blockage or other malfunction of a building lateral that is privately owned. Defines "sewer overflow" to mean a sanitary sewer overflow or a municipal combined sewer overflow. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations, including to establish overflow assessment guidance and develop communications measures to provide notification under this Act. Provides procedures for review and approval of state notification programs after issuance of such regulations. Makes the monitoring systems eligible for state water pollution control revolving fund assistance. Provides that this Act does not limit a state's ability to implement or enforce a more stringent monitoring or notification standard than the applicable standard under the Clean Water Act.

Date: 2009-04-30
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection
Rubbish to Renewables Act of 2009 - Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish a grant program to fund projects to develop and implement technologies to generate renewable energy from municipal solid waste, generate clean energy jobs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and conserve landfill space. Provides that a landfill gas control measure in cap-and-trade legislation enacted after the enactment of this Act that reduces greenhouse gas emissions at a level greater than required under federal, state, or local laws shall be considered to meet additionality criteria under that legislation.

Date: 2009-06-03
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Energy
Includes in airport planning a plan for solid waste recycling with respect to allowable project costs under an airport improvement program (AIP) grant. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to approve the application for an AIP project grant for airports with master plans only if the plans address solid waste recycling.

Date: 2010-03-11
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Transportation and public works
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to provide that reasonable service charges applicable to federal entities for water pollution include any reasonable nondiscriminatory fee, charge, or assessment that is: (1) based on some fair approximation of the proportionate contribution of the property or facility to stormwater pollution; and (2) used to pay or reimburse the costs associated with any stormwater management program (whether associated with a separate storm sewer system or a system that manages a combination of stormwater and sanitary waste), including the full range of costs attributable to collecting stormwater, reducing pollutants in stormwater, and reducing the volume and rate of stormwater discharge, regardless of whether that charge is denominated a tax. Limits payments of such charges so that: (1) they shall not be made using funds from any permanent authorization account in the Treasury; and (2) federal entities shall not be obligated to pay or reimburse any such charge, except to the extent and in an amount provided in advance by any appropriations Act to pay or reimburse the charge.

Date: 2010-06-10
Topic: Environment (Waste Disposal)
Subject: Environmental protection