zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Community Disease Cluster Assistance Act - Authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), to award grants to any individual or group of individuals that may be affected by a reported community-based disease cluster. Requires such grants to be used to obtain technical assistance in interpreting information regarding: (1) investigating such reported disease clusters associated with hazardous chemicals, (2) the potential hazardous chemicals associated with a reported disease cluster, (3) providing individuals or groups with community-based tools to educate them about the mitigation of hazardous chemicals associated with reported disease clusters, or (4) other scientific and technical issues related to reported disease clusters.

Date: 2013-01-22
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development Act of 2013 or the BUILD Act - (Sec. 2) Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to include among entities eligible for brownfields revitalization funding: (1) tax-exempt charitable organizations, (2) limited liability corporations in which all managing members or the sole members are tax-exempt charitable organizations, (3) limited partnerships in which all general partners are tax-exempt charitable organizations or limited liability corporations whose sole members are such organizations, or (4) qualified community development entities.

(Sec. 3) Requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a program to provide multipurpose grants to carry out inventory, characterization, assessment, planning, or remediation activities at brownfield sites.

(Sec. 4) Revises the brownfield site characterization and assessment grant program to permit a governmental entity to receive a grant for property acquired prior to January 11, 2002, even if the governmental entity does not qualify as a bona fide prospective purchaser under CERCLA if the entity has not caused or contributed to a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance at the property.

(Sec. 5) Increases the maximum amount the President may provide in grants and loans for brownfield remediation.

(Sec. 6) Allows grant or loan recipients to use up to 8% of brownfields revitalization funding for administrative costs, excluding costs for investigating and identifying the extent of the contamination, designing and performing a response action, or monitoring a natural resource.

(Sec. 7) Directs the EPA to give priority to small communities, Indian tribes, rural areas, and disadvantaged areas when providing grants for technical assistance, research, and training.

 (Sec. 8) Requires the EPA, in providing grants for brownfields revitalization, to give consideration to waterfront brownfield sites.

(Sec. 9) Requires the EPA to establish a program to provide grants to locate clean energy projects at brownfield sites.

(Sec. 10) Authorizes the Administrator to provide up to $2 million each fiscal year to provide grants for state response programs.

(Sec. 11) Extends the authorizations of brownfields revitalization and state response programs through FY2016.

Date: 2013-03-07
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
Farmers Undertake Environmental Land Stewardship Act or the FUELS Act - Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in implementing the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure rule with respect to any farm, to require certification of compliance with such rule by: (1) a professional engineer for a farm with an individual tank with an aboveground storage capacity greater than 10,000 gallons, an aggregate aboveground storage capacity of at least 42,000 gallons, or a reportable oil discharge history; or (2) the owner or operator of the farm (via self-certification) for a farm with an aggregate aboveground storage capacity greater than 10,000 gallons but less than 42,000 gallons and no reportable oil discharge history of oil. Directs the Administrator to exempt from all requirements of such rule any farm with an aggregate aboveground storage capacity of 10,000 gallons or less and no reportable oil discharge history.

Excludes from the aggregate storage capacity of a farm all containers on separate parcels that have a capacity of less than 1,320 gallons.

Date: 2013-03-07
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
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.

Date: 2013-04-24
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
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.

Date: 2013-04-25
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
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.

Date: 2013-06-27
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Energy
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.

Date: 2013-09-19
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
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.

Date: 2014-01-16
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
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.

Date: 2014-01-16
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
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.

Date: 2014-03-06
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
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.

Date: 2014-07-29
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Taxation
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.

Date: 2015-03-04
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
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.

Date: 2015-03-18
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
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.

Date: 2015-04-23
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Taxation
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.

Date: 2015-04-27
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
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.

Date: 2015-05-21
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Armed forces and national security
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).

Date: 2015-06-15
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Taxation
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.

Date: 2015-06-15
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Taxation
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.

Date: 2015-07-21
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
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.

Date: 2015-09-17
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Law
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.

Date: 2015-09-24
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
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.

Date: 2015-09-30
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
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.

Date: 2016-02-04
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
Gold King Mine Spill Accountability Act of 2016

This bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to appoint a special investigator to investigate: (1) who was at fault for the discharge of contaminated water from the Gold King Mine north of Silverton, Colorado, into Cement Creek; (2) which individuals were responsible for the decisions that led to the spill; and (3) what downstream environmental effects were caused by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) actions, or inactions, after the spill.

The bill: (1) entitles individuals to receive compensation for a claim filed, or civil action brought, under the Federal Tort Claims Act relating to an injury resulting from the spill, and (2) establishes within the EPA the Office of Gold King Mine Spill Claims for processing claims of allowable damages resulting from the spill. The EPA may provide compensation for a claim in an amount greater than $25,000 without the prior approval of DOJ.

The EPA must fund the implementation of the long-term monitoring program developed by the Long-Term Impact Review Team of New Mexico, for the water quality of the Animas and San Juan Rivers.

The EPA may not finalize or work on any rules (including those not related to the spill) until all claims have been paid, except rules that are necessary to address an imminent threat to public health or safety, or other emergency.

Date: 2016-02-04
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
Fertilizer Access and Responsible Management Act or the FARM Act

This bill requires the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to withdraw its revised enforcement policy published on July 22, 2015, concerning the exemption of retail facilities from coverage of the process safety management of highly hazardous chemicals standard. (The standard contains requirements for managing hazards associated with processes using highly hazardous chemicals.)

OSHA may publish a proposed rule relating to that exception only if: (1) it arranges for an independent third party to conduct a cost analysis of the proposed rule, and (2) the U.S. Census Bureau establishes a code for farm supply retailers under the North American Industry Classification System in a sector relating to retail trade.

OSHA, when promulgating a rule relating to the exemption of retail facilities from coverage of the standards, must provide an opportunity for the public to submit comments as specified by the bill and invite meaningful public input in the rulemaking.

Date: 2016-05-12
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Labor and employment
Brownfields Authorization Increase Act of 2016

This bill amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 by: (1) reauthorizing through FY2022 and revising the brownfield revitalization funding program, and (2) permanently reauthorizing a grant program for state and tribal response programs (programs responding to brownfields). (Brownfield sites are certain commercial properties that are hindered from reuse or redevelopment due to the presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.)

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

The bill increases the cap on the amount that may be given in grants for direct remediation of brownfield sites.

The brownfield site characterization and assessment grant program is revised by authorizing eligible entities to receive grants for property they acquired on or before January 11, 2002.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must establish a program to provide multipurpose grants to carry out inventory, characterization, assessment, planning, or remediation activities at brownfield sites. In addition, the EPA must establish a grant program for brownfield projects that reduce the brownfield's environmental impact, increase community livability, and encourage sustainability.

The EPA must establish a grant program that provides training, research, and technical assistance to facilitate the inventory of brownfield sites, site assessments, remediation of brownfield sites, community involvement, or site preparation. (Currently, the EPA may provide funding for this purpose.) The bill authorizes the EPA to use up to a specified amount of the funding made available for the grant program on grants to assist small communities, Indian tribes, rural areas, or disadvantaged areas.

Date: 2016-07-14
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
Emergency East Chicago Housing Relief Act of 2016 

This bill provides an additional allocation of low-income housing tax credits for Indiana by increasing the state housing credit ceiling in 2017 and 2018.

The bill requires the state housing credit ceiling for Indiana to be increased for 2017 and 2018 by the lesser of: (1) the aggregate housing credit dollar amount allocated for such calendar year by the state housing credit agency of Indiana to buildings located in Lake County, Indiana; or (2) the additional allocation amount calculated by multiplying $18 by the population of Lake County, Indiana.

In the case of 2018, the additional allocation amount taken into account must be reduced by the amount of the increase in the state housing credit ceiling for 2017 that is required by this bill.

Date: 2016-09-26
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Taxation
Alan Reinstein and Trevor Schaefer Toxic Chemical Protection Act

This bill amends the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to revise the regulation of chemicals.

 A safety standard is established to ensure with reasonable certainty that no harm to human health or the environment will result from exposure to a chemical under the intended or reasonable foreseeable conditions of use. The standard includes the protection of potentially exposed or susceptible populations. The standard does not take cost or other non-risk factors into consideration.

 The bill expands the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) authority to require the development of new information about a chemical.

By specified deadlines, the EPA must designate a certain number of existing chemicals as high or low priority for safety assessments and determinations and conduct risk-based safety assessments and determinations for high priority chemicals. Low-priority designations are subject to judicial review.

 The EPA must prohibit or restrict the manufacture, processing, use, distribution, or disposal of a new chemical, or a significant new use of an existing chemical, if the chemical will not likely meet the safety standard, or additional information is necessary to make a safety determination.

If a chemical does not meet the safety standard, the EPA must impose restrictions to assure that it meets the standard, or ban or phase out the chemical when the safety standard cannot be met with the application of those restrictions.

The EPA may declare a proposed rule effective upon publication to protect the public interest when certain activities involving chemicals are likely to result in a significant risk of serious or widespread injury to health or the environment.

The EPA must: (1) list all forms of asbestos as high-priority chemicals; and (2) expedite identification, assessment, and action on persistent, bio-accumulative, and toxic chemicals.

 Confidential business information claims to protect information related to chemicals must be substantiated by manufacturers or processors and reviewed by the EPA. The bill sets forth the types of information that are protected from disclosure and the duration of such protection.

The EPA must require manufacturers of chemical substances to pay fees to defray the cost of administering this bill.

The EPA must operate Regional Disease Cluster Information and Response Centers and Regional Disease Cluster Information and Response Teams and may award grants for technical assistance for the investigation and mitigation of a community-based disease cluster. A "disease cluster" means the occurrence of a greater-than-expected number of cases of a particular disease within a group of individuals, a geographic area, or a period of time.

Date: 2015-03-12
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The expanded summary of the Senate reported version is repeated here.)

Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development Act of 2015 or the BUILD Act

This bill amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 to revise programs and funding regarding brownfields. (Brownfields are certain commercial properties that are hindered from reuse or redevelopment due to the presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.)

(Sec. 2) The bill makes certain nonprofit organizations and community development entities eligible for brownfields revitalization funding.

(Sec. 3) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must establish a program to provide multipurpose grants to carry out inventory, characterization, assessment, planning, or remediation activities at brownfield sites.

(Sec. 4) The brownfield site characterization and assessment grant program is revised by authorizing eligible governmental entities to receive grants for property that was acquired before January 11, 2002, even if the entities do not qualify as bona fide prospective purchasers.

(Sec. 5) The bill increases the cap on the amount that may be given in grants and loans for each site to be remediated.

(Sec. 7) The EPA must establish a grant program that provides training, research, and technical assistance to facilitate the inventory of brownfield sites, site assessments, remediation of brownfield sites, community involvement, or site preparation. (Currently, the EPA may provide funding for this purpose.) The bill authorizes the EPA to use up to a specified amount of the funding made available for the grant program on grants to assist small communities, Indian tribes, rural areas, or disadvantaged areas. (A small community is one with a population of no more than 15,000 individuals and a disadvantaged area has an annual median household income that is less than 80% of the state-wide annual median household income.)

(Sec. 8) The EPA must give consideration to waterfront brownfield sites located adjacent to bodies of water or federally designated floodplains when providing brownfield grants.

(Sec. 9) The EPA must establish a program to provide grants to: (1) carry out inventory, characterization, assessment, planning, feasibility analysis, design, or remediation activities to locate a clean energy project at brownfield sites; and (2) capitalize a revolving loan fund for those purposes. A clean energy project means: (1) a facility that generates renewable electricity from wind, solar, or geothermal energy; and (2) any energy efficiency improvement project at a facility.

(Sec. 11) The bill: (1) reauthorizes through FY2018 and revises brownfields revitalization funding, and (2) reauthorizes through FY2018 state and tribal response programs (programs responding to brownfields).

Date: 2015-06-02
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
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.

Date: 2015-09-22
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
This bill removes the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) immunity from claims relating to the August 2015 spill of hazardous waste from an abandoned gold mine in Colorado into the Animas River and the San Juan River.

Civil actions relating to that spill must be commenced within 10 years after the cause of action accrues.

The EPA must work with states and Indian tribes affected by the spill to develop, fund, and implement a long-term monitoring program for water and sediment quality of those rivers.

Date: 2015-10-05
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
Superfund Polluter Pays Restoration Act of 2015

 This bill 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 2016 the $3.5 billion Superfund threshold after which no tax is imposed; (4) reinstate and increase the rates of tax on taxable chemicals; and (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).

The bill amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 to allow the use of the Superfund for environmental remediation without further appropriation.

Date: 2015-12-14
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Taxation
Creating Livable Environments And New Usable Property Act or the CLEAN UP Act

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 2019: (1) the exclusion of gain or loss on the sale or exchange of brownfield sites (land used for commercial or industrial purposes that has been contaminated with hazardous waste or pollution and has been cleaned up and made suitable for commercial or industrial uses) from unrelated business taxable income, and (2) the election to expense environmental remediation expenditures.

Date: 2016-03-17
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Taxation
Fertilizer Access and Responsible Management Act or the FARM Act

This bill requires the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to withdraw its revised enforcement policy published on July 22, 2015, concerning the exemption of retail facilities from coverage of the process safety management of highly hazardous chemicals standard. (The standard contains requirements for managing hazards associated with processes using highly hazardous chemicals.)

OSHA, when promulgating a rule relating to the exemption of retail facilities from coverage of the standards, must provide an opportunity for the public to submit comments as specified by the bill and invite meaningful public input in the rulemaking.

Date: 2016-07-14
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Labor and employment
Illegal Synthetic Drug Safety Act of 2016

 This bill amends the Controlled Substances Act to modify the treatment of controlled substance analogues (i.e., substances that have substantially similar chemical structures and pharmacological effects to schedule I controlled substances).

Under current law, a controlled substance analogue that is intended for human consumption is treated as a schedule I controlled substance. This bill replaces the "intended for human consumption" qualifier with a "not a chemical substance subject to the Toxic Substances Control Act" qualifier. Specifically, a controlled substance analogue that is not a chemical substance under the Toxic Substances Control Act is treated as a schedule I controlled substance.

Date: 2016-07-14
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Crime and law enforcement
Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2016

This bill amends the Toxic Substances Control Act by requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) identify and assess the importation, sale, and uses of, and exposures to, asbestos; and (2) impose requirements that permanently eliminate the possibility of human or environmental exposure to asbestos.

The bill allows the President to exempt any use of asbestos from the requirements if: (1) the use is necessary to protect national security interests, (2) no reasonable alternative to the asbestos use exists for the intended purpose, and (3) the use of asbestos will not result in an unreasonable risk to health or the environment.

Date: 2016-09-28
Topic: Environment (Hazardous Waste)
Subject: Environmental protection
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for a permanent hold harmless provision for sole community hospitals under the Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) for covered outpatient department (OPD) services.Declares that, in the case of a sole community hospital for covered OPD services furnished after December 31, 2005, for which the PPS amount is less than the pre-BBA amount, the amount of payment shall be increased by the amount of such difference.(Pre-BBA amount means an amount equal to the product of the reasonable cost of the hospital for such services for the portions of the hospital's cost reporting period (or periods) occurring in the year and the base OPD payment-to-cost ratio for the hospital.)

Date: 2007-01-04
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Medicare Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prescribe requirements for a long-term care hospital (LTCH) and patient criteria for prospective payment to an LTCH. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) determine the LTCH diagnosis related groups (LTCH-DRGs) associated with a high severity of illness for specified medical conditions; and (2) study and report to Congress on appropriate quality measures for Medicare patients receiving care in LTCHs.Directs the Secretary to choose three quality measures from the study for LTCHs to report.Amends the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 to require annual updates of LTCH base rates and wage indices and the reweighting of LTCH-DRGs. Prohibits the Secretary from extending application of the 25% (or applicable percentage) patient threshold payment adjustment to freestanding LTCHs.

Date: 2007-01-18
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Puerto Rico Medicare Reimbursement Equity Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise the formula for the Medicare inpatient hospital services payment rate for Puerto Rico hospitals to: (1) reduce the applicable Puerto Rico percentage from 25% to zero; and (2) increase the applicable federal percentage from 75% to 100%.

Date: 2007-01-22
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health
Puerto Rico Hospitals Medicare DSH Equity Act of 2007 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prescribe a formula for the calculation of Medicare disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments for prospective payment system hospitals in Puerto Rico.

Date: 2007-01-22
Topic: Health (Medical Facilities)
Subject: Health