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Clean Water Act and Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) of Pollutants
This report discusses the section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act, which requires states to identify waters that are impaired by pollution, even after application of pollution controls. For those waters, states must establish a total maximum daily load (TMDL) of pollutants to ensure that water quality standards can be attained. Implementation of this provision has been dormant until recently, when states and EPA were prodded by numerous lawsuits. The TMDL issue has become controversial, in part because of requirements and costs now facing states to implement a 25-year-old provision of the law. Congressional activity to reauthorize the Act, a possibility in the 2nd Session of the 105th Congress, could include TMDL issues, but the direction for any such action is unclear at this time.
Date:
October 25, 2006
Creator:
Copeland, Claudia
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Horse Slaughter Prevention Bills and Issues
More than 90,000 U.S. horses were slaughtered for human food in 2005, mainly for European and Asian consumers. Congress voted to limit the use of FY2006 appropriated funds for such slaughter, but USDA anticipates that the practice will continue, funded by industry user fees. This report examines the debate, which has focused on the acceptability of horse slaughter, and how to care for and eventually dispose of such horses if they no longer went for human food.
Date:
March 3, 2006
Creator:
Becker, Geoffrey S.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The HUD Homeless Assistance Grants: Distribution of Funds
Four programs, administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), were created to provide temporary and permanent housing to the homeless, along with supportive services.This report describes how HUD distributes the four homeless assistance grants.
Date:
December 21, 2006
Creator:
Perl, Libby
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA): Reauthorization of Job Training Programs in the 109th Congress
This report discusses the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), P.L. 105-220, which is the nation’s chief job training legislation, authorizes several job training programs, including Youth, Adult, and Dislocated Worker Activities; and Job Corps.
Date:
August 2, 2006
Creator:
Lordeman, Ann
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Wetlands Coverage of the Clean Water Act is Revisited by the Supreme Court: Rapanos v. United States
This report discusses the Supreme Court decision in Rapanos v. United States, which addressed the asserted jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over wetlands adjacent to "waters of the United States," the problematic phrase used by the Clean Water Act (CWA) to define the geographic scope of the act's wetlands permitting program.
Date:
September 12, 2006
Creator:
Meltz, Robert & Copeland, Claudia
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Education for the Disadvantaged: Overview of ESEA Title I-A Amendments Under the No Child Left Behind Act
This report provides an overview of aspects of ESEA Title I-A that were substantially amended by the NCLBA.
Date:
February 10, 2006
Creator:
Riddle, Wayne C.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Methyl Bromide and Stratospheric Ozone Depletion
This report discusses Methyl Bromide (MeBr), a widely used pesticide in agriculture, is regulated for its potential ozone-depleting effects in the Earth’s stratosphere.
Date:
September 26, 2006
Creator:
Morrissey, Wayne A.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Fishery, Aquaculture, and Marine Mammal Legislation in the 109th Congress
Fish and marine mammals are important resources in open ocean and nearshore coastal areas; many federal laws and regulations guide their management. This report discusses a variety of laws and legislation pertaining to this issue.
Date:
April 4, 2006
Creator:
Buck, Eugene H.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Open Access Publishing and Citation Archives: Background and Controversy
This report begins with an inventory of basic information: definitions and guides to histories of the growth of open access publishing and citation archives and descriptions of selected major open access activities. It moves on to summarize major points of difference between proponents and opponents of nongovernmental open access publishing and databases, and then highlights federal, including National Institutes of Health (NIH), open access activities and contentious issues surrounding these developments. The report also briefly describes open access developments in the United Kingdom (where a number of governmental and nongovernmental initiatives have occurred) and in the international arena. Finally, controversial issues which could receive attention in the 109th Congress are summarized.
Date:
May 5, 2006
Creator:
Knezo, Genevieve J.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Anti-Terrorism Authority Under the Laws of the United Kingdom and the United States
This report is a comparison of the laws of the United Kingdom and of the United States that govern criminal and intelligence investigations of terrorist activities. Both systems rely upon a series of statutory authorizations: in the case of the United States primarily the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act; in the case of the United Kingdom, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, the Police Act, the Intelligence Services Act. Among other differences, the U.S. procedures rely more heavily upon judicial involvement and supervision, while those of the UK employ other safeguards. The UK procedures afford greater latitude to arrest, detain and supervise suspected terrorists than those available in the United States.
Date:
September 7, 2006
Creator:
Feikert, Clare & Doyle, Charles
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Medicaid Issues for the 109th Congress
Medicaid is jointly financed by the federal and state governments, but each state designs and administers its own state program under broad federal guidelines. Accordingly, state variation in eligibility, covered services, and the delivery of, and reimbursement for, services is the rule rather than the exception. How is Congress to respond to the numerous proposals to move Medicaid forward into the near and long term? This report lays out some of these issues, explains the factors underlying them, and provides links to CRS products that can help Members of Congress and their staff prepare to discuss Medicaid’s role today and into the future.
Date:
April 10, 2006
Creator:
Hearne, Jean
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Jackson-Vanik Amendment and Candidate Countries for WTO Accession: Issues for Congress
This report gives an analysis of the unconditional most-favored-nation (MFN) status, or in U.S. statutory parlance, normal trade relations (NTR) status, which is a fundamental principle of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This conflicts with the U.S. laws under Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 that limits trade status with several nations undergoing accession into the WTO. On June 12, 2012, Sen. Max Baucus introduced a bill with bipartisan co-sponsorship to authorize PNTR for Russia. The report includes information about MFN status and the WTO, the Jackson-Vanik Amendment restricting trade, the case of China, and prospective WTO accessions.
Date:
March 14, 2006
Creator:
Cooper, William H.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit: Low-Income Provisions
This report begins by providing an overview of Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) benefits, including premium and cost-sharing liabilities for the general Medicare population. The overview is followed by a discussion of the subsidy benefits available for low-income individuals. The report then highlights some of the key implementation issues.
Date:
June 1, 2006
Creator:
O'Sullivan, Jennifer
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Internet Gambling: A Sketch of Legislative Proposals in the 108th and 109th Congresses
This report examines two bills that have been introduced in the 109th Congress to address issues regarding Internet gambling.
Date:
April 4, 2006
Creator:
Doyle, Charles & Thomas, Kenneth R.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Defense Procurement: Full Funding Policy — Background, Issues, and Options for Congress
This report discusses the full funding policy, which is a federal budgeting rule that has been applied to Department of Defense (DOD) procurement programs since the 1950s. In recent years, some DOD weapons — specifically, certain Navy ships — have been procured with funding profiles that do not conform to the policy as it traditionally has been applied to DOD weapon procurement programs.
Date:
February 22, 2006
Creator:
O'Rourke, Ronald & Daggett, Stephen
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Obtaining a Record Vote on the House Floor
The House of Representatives uses two kinds of votes in which the names and positions of individual Members are recorded: (1) the recorded vote, used chiefly in Committee of the Whole, though also in order in the House, and (2) the yea and nay vote, in order only in the House proper. Both kinds together are referred to as record votes or, more informally, as “roll call votes,” and both are normally taken by electronic device. This report illustrates forms commonly used for obtaining each kind of vote.
Date:
December 8, 2006
Creator:
Beth, Richard S.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Emergency Communications Legislation, 2002-2006: Implications for the 110th Congress
Since September 11, 2001, several bills introduced in the U.S. Congress have included provisions to assist emergency communications. Key provisions from a number of these bills have become law. This report summarizes progress in developing legislation, especially in the 109th Congress, in three areas of emergency communications: communications among first responders and other emergency personnel; emergency warnings and alerts; and 911 call centers and systems. Each area could be the subject of further consideration in the 110th Congress, through oversight, additional legislation, or funding.
Date:
December 14, 2006
Creator:
Moore, Linda K.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Federal Enterprise Architecture and E-Government: Issues for Information Technology Management
None
Date:
September 21, 2006
Creator:
Seifert, Jeffrey W.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Higher Education Act Reauthorization: A Comparison of Current Law and Major Proposals
This report provides a side-by-side comparison of current law with HEA reauthorization proposals that are in the House-passed version of H.R. 609.
Date:
May 2, 2006
Creator:
Mercer, Charmaine; Skinner, Rebecca R.; Smole, David P.; McCallion, Gail; Lordeman, Ann; Kuenzi, Jeffrey J. et al.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Revenue Reconciliation Directives to the Senate Finance Committee in Congressional Budget Resolutions
This report discusses the revenue reconciliation directives that varied in their time frame, from single-year coverage (in the FY1976, FY1981, and FY1990 budget resolutions) to 11-year coverage (in the FY2002 and FY2004 budget resolutions)
Date:
December 28, 2006
Creator:
Keith, Robert
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Coast Guard Deepwater Program: Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress
This report discusses the Integrated Deepwater Systems (IDS) program, or Deepwater program for short, which is a $24-billion, 25-year project to replace and modernize the Coast Guard’s aging fleet of deepwater-capable ships and aircraft. It is the largest and most complex acquisition effort in Coast Guard history, encompassing 91 new cutters, 124 new small surface craft, and 244 new or converted airplanes, helicopters, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The issue for Congress is whether to approve, reject, or modify the Administration’s annual funding requests and overall approach for the program.
Date:
December 22, 2006
Creator:
O'Rourke, Ronald
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Market for Retirement Annuities
A retirement annuity allows an individual to purchase a regular payment stream from an insurance company to last his lifetime. Despite the ability of the product to eliminate the risk that a retiree will outlive his assets, few retirement annuities have been sold in the individual market. In addition, the number of individuals who annuitize their defined contribution retirement plan balances remains small. New products are emerging that would offer alternate annuity designs and make annuity prices more attractive. This report discusses legislation has been proposed in the 109th Congress that would enhance the tax treatment of annuities and encourage the growth of stand-alone annuity and combined annuity and long-term care products.
Date:
May 18, 2006
Creator:
Ranade, Neela K.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
FY2006 Supplemental Appropriations: Iraq and Other International Activities; Additional Hurricane Katrina Relief
This report discusses the two separate FY2006 supplemental appropriations requests submitted on February 16, 2006. The first, totaling $72.4 billion, would fund ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan ($67.9 billion), non-DOD intelligence operations ($0.3 billion), State Department operations in Iraq and various foreign aid programs, including additional assistance for Iraq ($4.2 billion), and other counter-terrorism funding for other agencies ($12 million). The other supplemental would provide $19.8 billion for recovery and reconstruction activities in hurricane affected Gulf Coast areas. Thus, Congress is to consider during the early months of 2006 a combined spending proposal of $92.2 billion.
Date:
June 15, 2006
Creator:
Irwin, Paul M. & Nowels, Larry
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Children Exposed to Domestic Violence: Federal Assistance Programs
The impact on children of domestic violence was an issue of interest in the 109th Congress. The first session of the 109th Congress ended with the passage of the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-162), which contained new initiatives to address concerns about children and youth exposed to and victimized by domestic violence. This report discusses existing federal programs and initiatives that have been established to assist such children and youth, and new provisions enacted in P.L. 109-162.
Date:
December 27, 2006
Creator:
Cooper, Edith Fairman
System:
The UNT Digital Library