Congressional Research Service Reports - 118 Matching Results

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The 2010 Oil Spill: MMS/BOEMRE and NEPA

Description: This report reviews the environmental procedures required following the explosion of an oil well on a tract leased by BP from the federal government.
Date: March 2, 2011
Creator: Alexander, Kristina
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The 2010 Oil Spill: MMS/BOEMRE and NEPA

Description: This report reviews the environmental procedures required following the explosion of an oil well on a tract leased by BP from the federal government.
Date: August 19, 2010
Creator: Alexander, Kristina
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Lacey Act: Protecting the Environment by Restricting Trade

Description: This report looks at the history and applications of the Lacey Act. As it stands now the Act, via a 2008 amendment, allows the U.S. to enforce the laws of other countries as well. One currently proposed legislation would limit application of the law to specific wood products, while another would eliminate any reference to violations of foreign laws and end criminal prosecutions for violating the act.
Date: April 12, 2012
Creator: Alexander, Kristina
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Rare Earth Elements in National Defense: Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress

Description: This report covers concerns that Congress has expresses over U.S. acquisition of rare earth elements, particularly those used in various components of defense weapon systems. Specific concerns are the acquisition of these elements, especially from foreign sources such as China; how dependence of foreign sources affects national security; and methods for decreasing the relationship between reliance on foreign sources and national security.
Date: June 8, 2011
Creator: Bailey Grasso, Valerie
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Rare Earth Elements in National Defense: Background, Oversight Issues, and Options for Congress

Description: This report covers concerns that Congress has expressed over U.S. acquisition of rare earth elements, particularly those used in various components of defense weapon systems. Specific concerns are the acquisition of these elements, especially from foreign sources such as China; how dependence of foreign sources affects national security; and methods for decreasing the relationship between reliance on foreign sources and national security.
Date: March 31, 2011
Creator: Bailey Grasso, Valerie
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Millennium Development Goals: The September 2010 U.N. High-level Meeting

Description: This report discusses overarching trends in Millennium Development Goals (MDG) progress and lessons learned from previous and ongoing efforts to achieve them. The MDGs are a group of measurable development targets agreed to by 189 U.N. member states - including the United States - as part of the 2000 Millennium Declaration. The MDGs cover a number of issues, such as eradicating extreme hunger and poverty, combating HIV/AIDS, and promoting gender equality and women's empowerment. This report exa… more
Date: September 23, 2010
Creator: Blanchfield, Luisa & Lawson, Marian Leonardo
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Forest Fire/Wildfire Protection

Description: This report provides historical background on wildfires, and describes concerns about the wildland-urban interface and about forest and rangeland health. The report discusses fuel management, fire control, and fire effects. The report then examines federal, state, and landowner roles and responsibilities in protecting lands and resources from wildfires, and concludes by discussing current issues for federal wildfire management.
Date: May 22, 2013
Creator: Bracmort, Kelsi
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Wildfire Damages to Homes and Resources: Understanding Causes and Reducing Losses

Description: This report focuses on options for protecting structures and for protecting wildlands and natural resources from wildfires. It begins with a brief overview of the nature of wildfires, followed by a discussion of protecting structures. Then, it discusses wildfire damages to wildlands and natural resources, fuel treatment options and their benefits and limitations, and public involvement in federal decisions.
Date: May 23, 2013
Creator: Bracmort, Kelsi
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Wildfire Damages to Homes and Resources: Understanding Causes and Reducing Losses

Description: Wildfires are getting more severe, with more acres and houses burned and more people at risk. This results from excess biomass in the forests, due to past logging and grazing and a century of fire suppression, combined with an expanding wild land-urban interface-more people and houses in and near the forests-and climate change, exacerbating drought and insect and disease problems. This report looks at the causes of wildfires, and the pros and cons of their treatment.
Date: March 12, 2012
Creator: Bracmort, Kelsi
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Wildfire Protection in the Wildland-Urban Interface

Description: Report that describes the growth of the wildland-urban interface, wildfire suppression efforts, post-fire responses, and especially the programs and options for protecting the interface before the next wildfire strikes.
Date: May 15, 2013
Creator: Bracmort, Kelsi
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Wildfire Protection in the Wildland-Urban Interface

Description: This report describes the growth of the wildland-urban interface, wildfire suppression efforts, post-fire responses, and especially the programs and options for protecting the interface before the next wildfire strikes.
Date: January 30, 2014
Creator: Bracmort, Kelsi
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Wildfires: CRS Experts

Description: The following table provides access to names and contact information for CRS experts on policy concerns relating to wildfires. Policy areas identified include federal wildfire policy; long-term land use management; federal firefighting assistance; federal emergency management policy; federal preparedness system and response plan; hazard mitigation; armed forces and national guard assistance; supplemental disaster funding; and disaster insurance.
Date: July 5, 2012
Creator: Bracmort, Kelsi
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Hydropower: Federal and Nonfederal Investment

Description: This report analyzes a wide range of factors that would attribute to the success of investing in Hydropower, the use of flowing water to produce energy. Some factors include but are not limited to federal or nonfederal classifications, clean energy discussions, fluctuating electricity market rates.
Date: September 5, 2013
Creator: Bracmrot, Kelsi; Stern, Charles V. & Vann, Adam
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea: Living Resources Provisions

Description: This report describes provisions of the Law of the Sea Convention relating to living marine resources and discusses how these provisions comport with current U.S. marine policy.
Date: January 18, 2011
Creator: Buck, Eugene H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea: Living Resources Provisions

Description: This report describes provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOS Convention) relating to living marine resources and discusses how these provisions comport with current U.S. marine policy.
Date: June 15, 2010
Creator: Buck, Eugene H.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Ocean Acidification

Description: This report discusses the increasing concern, within the scientific community, that rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could detrimentally alter marine ecosystems. The report discusses how ocean acidification happens, its possible outcomes, as well as natural and human responses that could possibly limit or reduce the rate of the process.
Date: May 27, 2010
Creator: Buck, Eugene H. & Folger, Peter
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Cleanup at Inactive and Abandoned Mines: Issues in "Good Samaritan" Legislation in the 114th Congress

Description: This report discusses several issues that have drawn attention: eligibility for a Good Samaritan permit, minerals covered by a permit, standards applicable to a Good Samaritan cleanup, scope of liability protection, funding, treatment of revenues from cleanup, enforcement, the appropriate implementation role for states and Indian tribes, terminating a permit, and sunsetting the permit program.
Date: November 25, 2015
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR): A Primer for the 112th Congress

Description: In the ongoing energy debate in Congress, one issue has been whether to approve energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR or Refuge) in northeastern Alaska or whether to continue to prohibit development to protect the area's biological, recreational, and subsistence values. ANWR is rich in fauna, flora, and oil and natural gas potential. Its development has been debated for more than 50 years, but sharp increases in energy prices from late 2000 to early 2001, in 2004-2008,… more
Date: June 15, 2011
Creator: Corn, M. Lynne; Ratner, Michael & Alexander, Kristina
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Department of the Interior Secretarial Order 3356

Description: This report discusses Department of Interior Secretarial Order 3356 which was issued on September 15, 2017 and directs bureaus and offices that manage public lands to enhance opportunities for hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting while also promoting conservation activities on all public lands including National Monuments. Past orders and related legislation and reactions to the order are also discussed.
Date: October 4, 2017
Creator: Crafton, R. Eliot
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Incentives: A Summary of Federal Programs

Description: This report describes federal programs that provide grants, loans, loan guarantees, and other direct or indirect incentives for energy efficiency, energy conservation, and renewable energy. For each program, the report provides the administering agency, authorizing statute(s), annual funding, and the program expiration date. The appendixes provide summary information in a tabular format and also list recently expired programs.
Date: October 18, 2013
Creator: Cunningham, Lynn J. & Roberts, Beth A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Incentives: A Summary of Federal Programs

Description: This report describes federal programs that provide grants, loans, loan guarantees, and other direct or indirect regulatory incentives for energy efficiency, energy conservation, and renewable energy. For each program, the report provides the administering agency, authorizing statute(s), annual funding, and the program expiration date. The appendixes provide summary information in a tabular format.
Date: March 22, 2011
Creator: Cunningham, Lynn J. & Roberts, Beth A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Federal Funding for Wildfire Control and Management

Description: This report looks at four issues dominating wildfire funding debates: the high cost of fire management, funding for fuel reduction, the federal role in protecting nonfederal lands, and post-fire rehabilitation. The Forest Service (FS) and the Department of the Interior (DOI) are responsible for protecting most federal lands from wildfires, however, many in Congress are concerned that wildfire costs are spiraling upward without a reduction in damages.
Date: July 5, 2011
Creator: Gorte, Ross W.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Forest Fire/Wildfire Protection

Description: Congress continues to face questions about forestry practices, funding levels, and the federal role in wildfire protection. Recent fire seasons have been, by most standards, among the worst in the past half century. This report looks at factors contributing to wildfires as well as active and preventative treatments for wildfires.
Date: March 7, 2012
Creator: Gorte, Ross W. & Bracmort, Kelsi
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Wildfire Protection in the Wildland-Urban Interface

Description: Congress continues to face questions about forestry practices, funding levels, and the federal role in wildfire protection. Recent fire seasons have been, by most standards, among the worst in the past half century. This report looks at factors contributing to wildfires as well as active and preventative treatments for wildfires.
Date: January 23, 2012
Creator: Gorte, Ross W. & Bracmort, Kelsi
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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