No Mask Mandate for Kids Act This bill prohibits executive branch agencies from imposing any requirement for masks to be worn in or on (1) airports; (2) commercial aircraft; (3) trains; (4) public maritime vessels, including ferries; (5) intercity bus services; and (6) all forms of public transportation.
Helping Adults Protect Immunity Act or the HAPI Act This bill requires state Medicaid programs to cover, without cost-sharing, vaccines for adults that are recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
Access to Genetic Counselor Services Act of 2021 This bill provides for coverage under Medicare of genetic counseling services that are furnished by genetic counselors. Covered services include those services, as well as incidental services and supplies, that would otherwise be covered under Medicare if provided by a physician.
Prioritizing Revised Operations To Eliminate Cyanobacteria Toxins in Florida Act or the PROTECT Florida Act This bill modifies requirements regarding water infrastructure projects in central and southern Florida. Specifically, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) must include in such projects specified public health considerations, including those related to cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and other toxins. The bill also prohibits the use of restoration funds for deep well injection (a liquid-waste disposal technology). In addition, the USACE must (1) develop a master operational manual to ensure system management that protects public health and Everglades restoration; and (2) with the National Academies of Sciences, study the legacy of pollution and nutrient loading, as well as the impacts of soil amendments.
Stop Poisoning Florida Act This bill requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to prohibit certain discharges of water from Lake Okeechobee, which is Florida's largest freshwater lake. Specifically, the USACE must prohibit discharges of water from the lake through the Port Mayaca Lock and Dam or the St. Lucie Lock and Dam when the water exceeds the maximum concentration of microcystins (a toxin that is produced by blue-green algae) recommended for recreational waters by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Fair Transportation Act This bill addresses the disbursement of surface transportation funding in an equitable way by federal, state, and local entities. Specifically, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) must review the extent to which states consider equity and improve equity outcomes in the use of federal surface transportation funds at all phases of project delivery, including the diverse transportation needs of economically disadvantaged and underserved populations. Additionally, the Department of Transportation (DOT) must carry out a transportation equity research program for research and demonstration activities that focus on the impacts that surface transportation planning, investment, and operations have on economically disadvantaged and underserved populations, including communities of color, low-income communities, and individuals with disabilities. The GAO must also review discretionary grant programs for surface transportation projects to determine the extent to which DOT is awarding funding through such programs to projects that serve groups or populations experiencing differential impacts in the transportation sector. Further, DOT must issue guidance on equity consideration metrics and best practices while disbursing federal funds.
Expanded Telehealth Access Act This bill permanently allows audiologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, and other providers designated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide telehealth services under Medicare. Currently, the CMS is authorized to waive requirements for Medicare telehealth services during the public health emergency relating to COVID-19, and it has done so to allow all providers that are otherwise eligible to furnish in-person services under Medicare to also furnish telehealth services.
This bill adds the Commandant of the Coast Guard as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Commandant must keep the department under which the Coast Guard is operating (either the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of the Navy) fully informed of significant military operations affecting the duties and responsibilities of such departments.
Safe Hydration is an American Right in Energy Development Act of 2021 This bill requires hydraulic fracturing operations to test for and report on underground sources of drinking water that are contaminated by such operations. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a process to extract underground resources such as oil or gas from a geologic formation by injecting water, a propping agent (e.g., sand), and chemical additives into a well under enough pressure to fracture the formation. Specifically, this bill revises requirements governing state underground injection control programs. In order to obtain primary enforcement responsibility for such programs, states must prohibit the underground injection of fluids or propping agents pursuant to hydraulic fracturing operations related to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities unless the hydraulic fracturing operations agree to test for and report on contamination of drinking water. Hydraulic fracturing operations are exempted from those testing and reporting requirements if there is no accessible underground source of drinking water within a radius of one mile of the site where the operations occur. The Environmental Protection Agency must establish and maintain a publicly accessible and searchable database of the testing results.
Redirecting Resources to the Border Act This bill addresses the relocation of personnel and fencing deployed in the National Capital Region in response to the January 6, 2021, attacks on the U.S. Capitol building and grounds. Specifically, the bill requires all fencing installed in response to the attacks to be relocated to the southern land border of the United States. The Department of Defense must reassign National Guard members who were deployed in response to the attacks to the National Capital Region on or after January 6, 2021, to the southern land border of the United States to assist U.S. Customs and Border patrol.
Ensuring Parity in MA and PACE for Audio-Only Telehealth Act of 2021 This bill allows audio-only diagnoses that are made via telehealth to be used for purposes of determining risk adjustments to payments under Medicare Advantage. Additionally, the bill requires payments for Medicare telehealth services that are furnished during the public health emergency relating to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) to be made in the same amounts as those for in-person services.
Focused Reduction of Effluence and Stormwater runoff through Hydrofracking Environmental Regulation Act of 2021 or the FRESHER Act of 2021 This bill addresses stormwater runoff from mining, oil, or gas operations. Specifically, it eliminates a prohibition on the Environmental Protection Agency from requiring a permit under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System for discharges of certain collected, uncontaminated stormwater runoff from mining operations or oil and gas operations. In addition, the Department of the Interior must study stormwater runoff associated with oil or gas operations, including an analysis of (1) measurable contamination, (2) groundwater resources, and (3) the susceptibility of aquifers to contamination from stormwater runoff associated with the operations.
