This report focuses on the environmental quality of water resources as affected by animal agriculture, specifically animal waste, which can harm water quality through surface runoff, direct discharges, spills, and leaching into soil and groundwater. This report also discusses the contribution of emissions from animal feeding operations (AFO), enterprises where animals are raised in confinement, to air pollution.

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On August 5, 2004, the United States signed the U.S- Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) with five Central American countries (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua) and the Dominican Republic. DR-CAFTA could have a significant effect on U.S. relations with the region, primarily by establishing a permanent and reciprocal trade preference arrangement among the signatory countries. DR-CAFTA must now be ratified by each country’s legislature and approved by the U.S. Congress before taking effect.

This report provides a summary of the four bills currently before Congress and a side-by-side comparison of their major provisions.

The electric utility industry is inherently capital intensive. At the same time, the industry must operate under a changing and sometimes unpredictable regulatory system at both the federal and state level. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 has set in place government activities intended to relieve congestion on the transmission system. Several factors have contributed to the lack of new transmission capacity; these are outlined within this report. This report also discusses earlier pieces of energy legislation.

This report reviews the status of energy efficiency and renewable energy legislation introduced during the 109th Congress. Action in the second session has focused on appropriations bills; the first session focused on omnibus energy policy bill H.R. 6 and several appropriations bills. this report describes several major pieces of legislation, including the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Transportation Equity Act. For each bill listed in this report, a brief description and a summary of action are given, including references to committee hearings and reports. Also, a selected list of hearings on renewable energy is included.

On May 1, 2004, 10 states joined the European Union (EU), enlarging the Union to 25 members. The EU views the enlargement process as an historic opportunity to promote stability in Europe and further the integration of the continent by peaceful means. In addition to the 10 new members (Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia), three other states — Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia — hope to accede to the EU by 2007. Turkey is also a candidate and is expected to begin accession negotiations in 2005. Macedonia has also applied for EU membership.

The European Union (EU) experienced significant changes in 2004 as it enlarged from 15 to 25 members and continued work on a new constitutional treaty to institute internal reforms and further EU political integration. In 2005, the EU is expected to build on these efforts and seek to implement several recent foreign policy and defense initiatives. This report describes the current status of the EU’s “constitution,” EU enlargement, the EU’s evolving foreign and defense policies, and possible implications for U.S.-EU relations.

This report provides answers to key questions related to the European Union (EU). It describes the EU’s evolution, its governing institutions, trade policy, and efforts to forge common foreign and defense policies. The report also addresses the EU-U.S. and EU-NATO relationships.

In June 2004, the European Union (EU) concluded work on a constitutional treaty that contains changes to the EU’s governing institutions and decision-making processes. This new “constitution” grew out of the 2002-2003 Convention on the Future of Europe and previous EU efforts to institute internal reforms ahead of the Union’s expansion from 15 members to 25 in May 2004. The “constitution” aims to enable a larger EU to operate effectively and prevent gridlock, but it must still be ratified by all member states before it enters into force. This report provides background information on the Convention and describes the EU “constitution,” its key provisions, next steps, and possible implications for the U.S.-EU relationship.

This report discusses the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (JGTRRA, and the Working Family Tax Relief Act of 2004 (WFTRA). Since all of the tax reductions provisions of all three of these acts expire at some point in the future, Congress faces the issue of whether to extend and/or make the reductions permanent. Extending these tax reductions, however, is likely to significantly reduce federal revenues in the future.

This report provides information about "Donor-Donee" State Issues on Federal-Aid Highway Program which raised such heated debate as the arguments over how closely the program's payment to the individual states.

This report is a guide to one of the regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House Subcommittee on Foreign Operations and the Senate Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. It summarizes the status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related congressional activity.

This report includes information regarding policies and proposals pertaining to gasoline prices. Options for policy, CAFE, and ANWR are among topics discussed in this report.

This report briefly reviews the status of climate science, international negotiations, and congressional activity focused specifically on climate change.

This report examines some of the overarching policy implications of the MG debate.

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The upcoming 2005 round of military base closings has stimulated interest among potentially affected communities in how the bases to be selected for closure might be economically redeveloped to replace lost jobs. Environmental contamination can present a challenge to economic redevelopment if funding or technological constraints would limit the cleanup of the land to a degree that would be safe for its intended use. Most of the lands on bases closed under the previous four rounds have been cleaned up for their intended reuse, and have been transferred for redevelopment. However, some bases have yet to be cleaned up to an extent that would be adequate for the planned land use, presenting an obstacle to replacing lost jobs. Bases closed under the 2005 round could face similar delays in redevelopment, if a community’s preferred land use would necessitate a costly and time-consuming degree of cleanup. This report will be updated as events warrant.

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