Clearing Lines along Electrical At-Risk Zones Act This bill revises requirements related to vegetation management practices and forest management activities. The bill redefines hazard trees as trees that come within 50 feet (rather than 10 feet, as under current law) of an electric power line. Hazard trees are subject to certain management activities under current law. A vegetation management, facility inspection, and operation and maintenance plan shall describe processes for consultation with private landowners with respect to hazard trees identified for removal. Such plans must be approved according to specified deadlines. The bill generally excludes specified forest management activities from certain environmental assessment and environmental impact statement requirements. Specifically, the bill excludes from these requirements (1) the development and approval of a vegetation management, facility inspection, and operation and maintenance plan; and (2) the implementation of routine activities conducted under such a plan. The use of this exclusion shall not be subject to extraordinary circumstances procedures.
Combustion Avoidance along Rural Roads Act or the CARR Act This bill exempts wildfire mitigation activities conducted within 300 feet of a road from all laws governing environmental review of proposed agency actions or protection of endangered or threatened species. Mitigation activities are those that are conducted by Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture on federal land that is administered by the National Park System, the Bureau of Land Management, or the Forest Service. Mitigation activities include forest thinning, hazardous fuel reduction, prescribed burning, and vegetation management.
This resolution supports the designation of Eddie Bernice Johnson Black Women in Science and Technology Month.
This resolution (1) recognizes Girl Scouts of the United States of America for 109 years of inspiring girl leadership and encourages them to continue to support the leadership development of girls, and (2) congratulates all Girl Scouts who earned the Gold Award in 2020.
VAWA Protections for Rural Women Act of 2021 This bill adds the Rural Development Voucher Program to the list of covered housing programs under the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA). Specifically, it extends VAWA's housing protections (e.g., protection from eviction or denial of housing) to residents and applicants under the Rural Development Voucher Program who are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
Impact Aid Infrastructure Act This bill authorizes additional Impact Aid construction grants for FY2022. These grants provide infrastructure assistance to local educational agencies that have lost property tax revenue due to the presence of tax-exempt federal property or to those that have experienced increased expenditures due to enrollment of federally connected children (e.g., children living on Indian lands or military bases).
Rural Hospital Support Act This bill modifies and extends certain payment adjustments for rural hospitals under Medicare's inpatient prospective payment system. Specifically, the bill indexes payment adjustments for sole community hospitals and Medicare-dependent hospitals to FY2016 operating costs, if it results in higher payments for such hospitals. The bill also makes payment adjustments for Medicare-dependent hospitals and low-volume hospitals permanent (the adjustments currently expire at the end of FY2022).
This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to award grants to states and localities for improving clinical laboratory infrastructure to expand COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) testing capacity.
Information Transparency & Personal Data Control Act This bill requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to establish requirements for certain entities when they collect, transmit, store, process, use, or otherwise control sensitive personal information. Information relating to an identifiable individual is generally considered sensitive personal information. However, information that is publicly available is not considered sensitive. Specifically, these entities must (1) obtain affirmative consent from users for functionality related to the disclosure of sensitive personal information, (2) publish a privacy and data use policy that is readily understandable, (3) provide users the ability to opt-out of the sharing of their nonsensitive information, and (4) obtain at least once every two years a privacy audit that evaluates the sufficiency of the entity's data privacy and security controls. These requirements do not apply to the collection or sharing of sensitive or nonsensitive personal information for certain purposes such as detecting fraud or identity theft. The bill provides authority for the FTC and state attorneys general to enforce these requirements. Additionally, the FTC must hire 500 new employees to focus on privacy and data security.
This bill reauthorizes through FY2026 and makes changes to a grant program for constructing and modernizing health care facilities, including by prioritizing projects that address public health emergency preparedness or cybersecurity.
Promoting New Manufacturing Act This bill directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to annually publish information related to preconstruction emission permits issued or denied by the EPA. The EPA must publish such information applicable to FY2016-FY2020 not later than 60 days after the date of enactment. Additionally, the EPA must publish guidance for implementing any final rule that establishes or revises a national ambient air quality standard.
Puerto Rico Air Cargo Industry Empowerment Act This bill modifies foreign civil aircraft regulation with respect to air cargo in Puerto Rico. Current law prohibits foreign civil aircraft from exchanging cargo in the United States unless the aircraft is specifically authorized to do so or the exchange occurs in Alaska. This bill applies air cargo regulation to Puerto Rico in the same way that it applies to Alaska. Thus, the bill allows foreign civil aircraft to stop in Puerto Rico and exchange cargo with other air carriers.
