Ocean Regional Opportunity and Innovation Act of 2022 This bill directs the Department of Commerce to designate at least seven entities as Ocean Innovation Clusters. Ocean Innovation Clusters are hubs of operation and entrepreneurship for private, public, and academic stakeholders to collaborate on opportunities to promote and enhance the maritime industry. In designating entities, Commerce shall prioritize entities with a history of supporting cross-sector growth and development of the Blue Economy. Additionally, Commerce must designate at least one Ocean Innovation Cluster in (1) each of the regions covered by the five regional offices of the National Marine Fisheries Service, (2) the Great Lakes region, and (3) the Gulf of Mexico region. Commerce may award competitive grants for the establishment, operation, and administration of Ocean Innovation Clusters.
Teachers Leading, Educating, Advancing, and Designing Act of 2022 or the Teachers LEAD Act of 2022 This bill directs the Department of Education (ED) to (1) award competitive grants to eligible entities (e.g., local educational agencies) to carry out teacher leadership programs, and (2) coordinate with the Department of the Interior to develop and implement a teacher leadership program plan for and award grants to Bureau of Indian Education schools. Further, ED may award planning grants to eligible entities to develop program proposals. The Institute of Education Sciences must conduct an independent evaluation of grant activities.
No OSHA Authority to Mandate Vaccines Act This bill specifies that the Department of Labor may not, under its authority to regulate workplace safety and health, require the administration of any drug, vaccine, or other biological product to an employee.
Cost of War Act of 2022 This bill directs the Department of Defense (DOD) to post on its public website information relating to the cost to U.S. taxpayers of any overseas contingency operation conducted by the U.S. Armed Forces on or after September 18, 2001. DOD must update such information not later than 90 days after the end of each fiscal year.
Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Reauthorization Act or the STOP Act This bill reauthorizes through FY2027 and revises grants and other activities for reducing underage drinking. In particular, the bill modifies the scope of certain activities to incorporate a focus on the adoption and enforcement of state laws and policies for preventing and reducing underage drinking. This includes (1) assessing in annual reports whether states have adopted best practices related to laws, regulations, and enforcement practices; and (2) establishing a pilot program to collect uniform data from states and localities about their enforcement of underage drinking laws. In addition, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration must contract with the National Academy of Sciences to review the research literature regarding the influence of drinking on adolescent brain development.
Right Whale Coexistence Act of 2022 This bill provides support for the conservation of North Atlantic right whales ( Eubalaena glacialis ). Specifically, it requires the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to provide financial assistance for projects designed to reduce the lethal and sub-lethal effects of human activities on North Atlantic right whales. In addition, NOAA must conduct surveys of plankton on an ongoing basis using a continuous plankton recorder.
Salmon Focused Investments in Sustainable Habitats Act or the Salmon FISH Act This bill addresses identifying, restoring, and protecting salmon conservation areas and salmon strongholds in the United States. Specifically, the bill requires the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to jointly issue guidance on the process and biological criteria required to identify salmon conservation areas and salmon strongholds; and directs the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in collaboration with NOAA to provide grants to certain entities to protect or maintain salmon conservation area or salmon stronghold features and projects that are focused on conservation and restoration within a salmon conservation area or stronghold, including to restore or maintain ecological functions and processes related to salmon productivity and diversity at watershed or subwatershed scales.
Increasing Community Access to Resiliency Grants Act of 2021 This bill directs the National and Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to establish and regularly update a publicly available website that includes hyperlinks to all grants administered by NOAA and hyperlinks to other federal agencies that offer similar grants to assist state, tribal, and local governments with resiliency, adaptation, and mitigation of climate change and sea level rise; and for each such grant, the contact information for an individual who can offer assistance to such governments. NOAA shall conduct outreach activities to inform state, tribal, and local governments of the resiliency, adaptation, and mitigation grants.
This resolution expresses that the House of Representatives declares its gratitude on behalf of the people of the United States to the journalists and news staff who continue to put themselves in harm's way to report on the humanitarian crisis and ongoing war on the ground in Ukraine following Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine; and honors the contributions of journalists and news staff reporting from the war in Ukraine as essential in the ongoing struggle for the rights of a free press and free speech internationally, pivotal in pushing back against false propaganda by tyrants, and crucial to informing Americans and the world of the horrors being wrought against the Ukrainian people.
Prohibiting Anticompetitive Mergers Act of 2022 This bill prohibits certain business mergers, modifies the procedures for reviewing mergers, and establishes procedures for reversing certain mergers. Specifically, the bill prohibits mergers that (1) are valued at more than $5 billion in total assets, (2) result in the acquiring entity having a market share of greater than 33% (or a share of a labor market as an employer of greater than 25%), or (3) result in market concentration levels that exceed specified thresholds. The bill also expands the authority of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to review pending mergers, including whether a merger is likely to harm the competitive process and the effect of a merger on relevant labor markets. Finally, the bill authorizes the FTC and the Antitrust Division of the DOJ to retroactively unwind mergers that are prohibited under the bill or that meet certain other anticompetitive criteria such as a merger that results in a greater than 50% share of a relevant market.
Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 This bill makes daylight saving time the new, permanent standard time, effective November 5, 2023. States with areas exempt from daylight saving time may choose the standard time for those areas.
Stop Gas Price Gouging Tax and Rebate Act This bill imposes an excise tax of 50% of the excess of the windfall profit of a producer of crude oil (including crude oil condensates and natural gasoline) that has an average daily worldwide production of crude oil of at least 300,000 barrels for the taxable year, and had gross receipts in excess of $1 billion for its last taxable year during 2005. The bill defines windfall profit as the excess of the adjusted taxable income of such producer for taxable year 2022 over the reasonably inflated average profit for such taxable year. The bill requires payment of energy price rebates to eligible individuals.
