Science-Based Emissions Standards Act of 2021 This bill prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from finalizing any rule to amend the new source performance standards for stationary sources under the Clean Air Act to reduce methane emissions from new and modified oil and natural gas facilities until the Department of Energy takes specified actions. Specifically, the Department of Energy must first (1) complete and publish the results of the study titled Quantification of Methane Emissions from Marginal (Small Producing) Oil and Gas Wells, and (2) provide a period of at least 90 days for public comment on the application of the study's results. The EPA must take the results of the study into consideration when finalizing the rule.
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This joint resolution nullifies a Department of Labor emergency temporary standard for preventing the transmission of COVID-19 in employment settings. Under the standard issued on November 5, 2021, employers with 100 or more employees must require their onsite employees to either be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing.
Fairness and Accountability in Underwriting Chinese Institutions Act or the FAUCI Act This bill prohibits making any federal funding available to laboratories or research institutions in China for gain-of-function research. The President may waive this prohibition for national security interests. (Under the bill, gain-of-function research generally involves the enhancement of potential pandemic pathogens or related risky research with potentially dangerous pathogens.) Furthermore, if the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services determines that a National Institutes of Health official, employee, or grantee has intentionally misled or omitted information in a relevant disclosure (e.g., to Congress) about federal funding for international gain-of-function research, such a person shall be ineligible for any federal funding or federal employment.
Veterans Heroin Overdose Prevention Examination Act or the Veterans HOPE Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to complete a review of the deaths of all covered veterans who died from opioid overdoses during the five-year period preceding the enactment of this bill. Covered veterans are those who received VA hospital care or medical services during the five-year period preceding the death of the veteran. The VA shall report on the results of the review and make such report publicly available.
This concurrent resolution declares that Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over the air, or on any business for such public performance of sound recordings.
Maddy summaryHRES 386 is a symbolic resolution introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that expresses support for recognizing "National Police Week" each year. The resolution acknowledges law enforcement officers' sacrifices, particularly during the pandemic, and encourages the public to honor their service. As a non-binding statement, this resolution does not create new law or change policy but serves as a formal expression of support for law enforcement officers across the United States.
Partner with Korea Act This bill creates an E-4 treaty trader visa category for up to 15,000 nationals of South Korea each fiscal year who are coming to the United States solely to perform specialty occupation services, subject to various requirements. The 15,000 limit shall only apply to principal aliens and not the spouses or children of such aliens. (A specialty occupation is one that requires the theoretical and practical application of highly specialized knowledge and a bachelor's degree or higher.)
Honoring Our Promises through Expedition for Afghan SIVs Act of 2021 or the HOPE for Afghan SIVs Act of 2021 This bill authorizes the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to postpone the medical exam requirement for qualifying citizens or nationals of Afghanistan seeking entry into the United States as special immigrants. Specifically, this bill applies to an existing program that provides special immigrant status to an individual (or the spouse or child of such an individual) who (1) faithfully performed sensitive and trusted duties for the U.S. government or the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan on or after October 7, 2001, and (2) has experienced or is experiencing an ongoing serious threat due to the performance of those duties. Under this bill, the State Department and DHS may jointly issue a blanket waiver of any requirement for such individuals to undergo a medical exam before admission into the United States. DHS shall ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that individuals admitted under such a waiver undergo medical exams no later than 30 days after admission into the United States. Such an individual shall be admitted as a conditional permanent resident. DHS shall remove the conditions once the individual receives and passes a medical examination.
This bill provides statutory authority for the rule published on August 27, 2019, by the Department of the Interior entitled Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Regulations for Listing Species and Designating Critical Habitat . The rule addressed procedures and criteria used for (1) listing or removing species from the lists of endangered and threatened wildlife and plants, and (2) designating critical habitat.
Open Access Evapotranspiration Data Act This bill directs the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to establish an Open Access Evapotranspiration (OpenET) Data Program under which the USGS shall provide for delivering satellite-based evapotranspiration data to advance the quantification of evaporation and consumptive water use. The bill defines Evapotranspiration as the process by which water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere by evaporation from soil and other surfaces and transpiration from plants. As part of the program, the USGS shall provide data users with field-scale estimates of evapotranspiration data across large landscapes over certain periods of time, enter into cooperative agreements with program partners (e.g., institutions of higher education, states, private sector entities, or nongovernmental organizations) to provide for the efficient and cost-effective administration of the program, and provide nonreimbursable matching funding for programmatic and operational activities.