Congressional Research Service Reports - 41 Matching Results
Search Results
- Air Quality and Motor Vehicles: An Analysis of Current and Proposed Emission Standards
- The extent to which emissions from motor vehicles and the amount of sulfur in commercial gasoline should be regulated has become a controversial issue. The EPA is proposing national limits on gasoline sulfur levels which would become effective in 2004. This report provides background information on the regulation of vehicle emissions in the United States, analyzes key elements of the National Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) program and the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Tier 2 proposal, summarizes major views on the proposal that have been expressed by the automobile industry, the oil refining industry, and some environmental organizations, and discusses relevant legislative activity in the 106th Congress.
- Air Quality and Vehicle Emission Standards: An Overview of the National Low Emission Vehicle Program and Related Issues
- This report provides background information on federal emission standards for motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act and stricter standards originally developed to address the severity of air quality problems in California, explains the low emission standards and flexible compliance mechanisms to which states and manufacturers have voluntarily agreed under the National Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) Program, discusses the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) estimates of the program's air quality benefits and costs, and examines regulatory issues related to its implementation including sulfur levels in gasoline and the relative stringency of emission standards for light trucks.
- Environmental Reauthorizations and Regulatory Reform: From the 104th Congress to the 106th
- The 104th Congress pursued efforts to reform environmental regulations on several fronts: (1) revising regulatory decision making processes; (2) attaching specific reforms to funding bills; (3) establishing a House corrections day calendar of bills addressing specific regulatory problems; and (4) incorporating regulatory reforms into individual program reauthorization bills. The 105th Congress has pursued regulatory reform in four primary directions: (1) proposals to establish a comprehensive cost-benefit/risk analysis framework for regulatory programs, (2) private property “takings” initiatives, (3) amendments and reforms directed at individual environmental statutes, and (4) oversight of environmental programs.
- Inflation and the Real Minimum Wage: Fact Sheet
- Because the minimum wage is not indexed to the price level, it has been legislatively increased from time to time to make up for the loss in its real value due to inflation. In nominal terms, the minimum wage has risen steadily since 1938 from 25 cents an hour to $5.15 where it now stands. But the legislated adjustments to the minimum wage have occurred at irregular intervals. As a result, there has been significant variation in the purchasing power of the minimum wage.
- Clean Water Act and TMDLs
- Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act requires states to identify waters that are impaired by pollution, even after application of pollution controls. For those waters, states must establish a total maximum daily load (TMDL) of pollutants to ensure that water quality standards can be attained. Implementation of this provision has been dormant until recently, when states and EPA were prodded by numerous lawsuits. The TMDL issue has become controversial, in part because of requirements and costs now facing states to implement a 25-year-old provision of the law. Congressional activity to reauthorize the Act, a possibility in the 2nd Session of the 105th Congress, could include TMDL issues, but the direction for any such action is unclear at this time.
- Nationwide Permits for Wetlands Projects: Permit 26 and Other Issues and Controversies
- Nationwide permits of the U.S Army Corps of Engineers authorize certain types of projects in wetlands and other waters and are a key means of minimizing the regulatory burden on landowners This report discusses the nationwide permits reissued in 1996, focusing on one of the most controversial permits (number 26), and a July 1998 proposal to modify nationwide permit 26 further. The revised permits and a federal court decision that invalidated certain Corps' regulations could be impetus for congressional activity. This report will be updated as developments warrant. Also see CRS Issue Brief 97014, Wetland Issues in the 105th Congress.
- Tracking Current Federal Legislation and Regulations: A Guide to Basic Sources
- This report is a guide to basic sources useful in tracking federal legislation and regulations. It has been prepared primarily for the use of constituents who wish to follow the federal government's legislative or regulatory activities at the local level. Brief annotations for the selected printed, telephone, electronic, and related sources describe their scope, focus, and frequency, include publisher contact information, and provide Internet addresses where available.
- Tracking Current Federal Legislation and Regulations: A Guide to Basic Sources
- This report is a guide to basic sources useful in tracking federal legislation and regulations. It has been prepared primarily for the use of constituents who wish to follow the federal government's legislative or regulatory activities at the local level. Brief annotations for the selected printed, telephone, electronic, and related sources describe their scope, focus, and frequency, include publisher contact information, and provide Internet addresses where available.
- Korea: Procedural and Jurisdictional Questions Regarding Possible Normalization of Relations with North Korea
- The Clinton Administration signed an agreement with North Korea on October 21, 1994, detailing steps to end the crisis caused by North Korea's nuclear program and pledging to "move toward full normalization of political and economic relations." Many details of the accord have not been disclosed, including the precise mechanisms to be used to provide light water nuclear reactors and annual shipments of U.S. heavy oil to North Korea, and a clear process to be followed in normalizing political and economic relations.
- China's Prospects After Tiananmen Square: Current Conditions, Future Scenarios, and a Survey of Expert Opinion
- Since the violent military crackdown around Tiananmen Square, most Western observers have struggled to understand and explain three major questions concerning the Chinese situation: first, why a forward-looking and reform-minded Chinese leadership chose such violent force over a more accommodating approach toward the peaceful public protests of June 1989; second, how to assess current political and economic conditions in China in light of Tiananmen Square; and third, what the events of the last two years mean for China's future prospects.
- Are High Interest Rates a Threat to Sustained Economic Recovery?
- A major question that arises in Congress during its considerations of what policies promote and what inhibit the restoration of a healthy economy is the influence that interest rates exert. In particular, are high interest rates a threat to sustained economic recovery?
- Competitiveness: Economic Issue or Illusion?
- While "competitiveness" has a clear meaning when applied to a baseball team, or a firm or industry, it is of limited usefulness when applied to a country's overall economic performance. Moreover, focussing on competitiveness can lead to questionable economic policies.
- Managed Health Care: Federal and State Regulation
- No Description Available.
- Roadless Areas: The Administration's Moratorium
- On February 12, 1999, the Forest service announced a moratorium on new road construction in many roadless areas within the national Forest System. This measure is temporary (up to 18 moths) while national Forest transportation policy revision is being debated. areas protected by the moratorium include roadless areas of at least 5,000 acres, of at least 1,000 acres if contiguous to other roadless areas. However, the moratorium exempts 9 national forests with recently revised management plans and the 16 national forests encompassed by President Clinton's Northwest Forests Plan. Proponents of roadless area protection objected to exempting 25 national forests and roadless areas of less than 5,000 acres. Proponents of roadless area development object to the potential economic impact of halting planned and possible developing and to limiting public access. Congress may be asked to reverse the moratorium or to protect these areas permanently. This report will not be updated.
- Russia: Primakov’s Economic Policy Dilemma and U.S. Interests
- This report focuses on two divergent scenarios faced by Russia in the wake of its financial crisis of August 1998. Prime Minister Yevgenii Primakov expected either a vicious cycle of decline and possible collapse in government or an economic management scenario following outlines of an agreed action program that makes imperative fundamental changes in the Russian financial system. The success or failure of Russia in dealing with this crisis may have more effect on the pursuit of peace and prosperity by the United States than any other foreign policy crisis.
- Trade, Competitiveness, and International Economic Policy: A Bibliography of CRS Products
- Trade-related issues promise to play a major role in legislative actions of the 103nd Congress. This bibliography lists the currently available products issued since 1991 by CRS researchers on trade-related topics, including U.S. trade policy, NAFTA and the Uruguay Round, industry and technology issues, foreign investment concerns, and relations with major trading partners.
- Japan's Budget: Role in Economic Policymaking
- The Japanese economy has been in recession for three years, making it the longest recession in Japan's post-war experience. Groups within and outside Japan are calling on Japan to adopt aggressive fiscal policy measures to boost the Japanese economy and to aid in the recovery of the world economy. Japan has enacted a number of limited measures to stimulate, but it is unlikely to move more aggressively to adopt deficit-financing measures to stimulate its economy for a number of reasons: political and government leaders oppose deficit financing in principle; and under present economic conditions, Japanese officials are more concerned with the effects a fiscal stimulus program will have on the yen, on Japan's trade account, and on its economic recovery.
- Japan's Economy: From Bubble to Bust
- In the 1980s, Japan's economy posted strong economic growth, in stark contrast to the more pedestrian growth other developed economies experienced. In this period, referred to as the "bubble" economy, Japan experienced a sharp increase in the values of land and stocks. The fast paced growth came to a halt in 1991, however, as the Ministry of Finance grew concerned over prospects of a rising rate of inflation, and, accordingly, tightened the nation's money supply. Since then, Japanese economic growth has fallen sharply and the economy has experienced asset deflation, rising levels of unemployment, and falling corporate profits and investments.
- "Mad Cow Disease" or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy: Scientific and Regulatory Issues
- This report discusses the regulatory issues regarding cattle disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and a rare, fatal human illness, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).
- The Financial Outlook for Social Security and Medicare
- This report provides an overview of the financial outlook for social security and medicare programs.
- The Financial Outlook for Social Security and Medicare
- This report provides an overview of the financial outlook for Social Security and Medicare programs.
- Current Economic Conditions and Selected Forecasts
- This report begins with a comprehensive presentation of current economic conditions focusing on income growth, unemployment, and inflation. The posture of monetary and fiscal policy is surveyed as are the forecasts of economic activity. It concludes with data on the factors important for economic growth.
- Lobbying Regulations on Non-Profit Organizations
- This report is intended to provide a brief overview of the various potential restrictions, rules or regulations upon lobbying activities of non-profit organizations.
- Lobbying Regulations on Non-Profit Organizations
- This report is intended to provide a brief overview of the various potential restrictions, rules or regulations upon lobbying activities of non-profit organizations.
- Cost-Benefit Analysis: Issues in Its Use in Regulation
- This report sketches issues underlying broader use of cost-benefit analysis. It focuses on cost-benefit as one of several related frameworks for assessing regulatory actions or policies. Cost-benefit is the broadest of these frameworks, which also include impact assessment, risk assessment, and cost-effectiveness. Which analytical framework is appropriate depends on the regulatory context.
- Japan's Looming Bank Crisis: A Half Trillion Dollars in Non-Performing Loans?
- Japan's top 21 banks have reported Y13.6 trillion (US$136 billion) in non-performing loans, but experts consider the true figure to be in the range of Y40 to Y60 trillion (US$400 to US$600 billion). If 90, Japan's banks may take five to seven more years to write off their bad loans and restore health to their balance sheets. Current write-offs are being financed primarily by sales of stocks held by banks whose values have appreciated. This problem of bad loans is depressing Japan's economic growth rate and making resolution of trade disputes and further opening of Japan's financial markets more difficult.
- South Korea's Economy and Trade
- South Korea has become a mid-level economy with a growing consumer market and industrial base. It now is in transition. It can no longer compete easily in low-wage, low-technology manufacturing with other countries of Asia, yet it does not have the technology and expertise to compete fully with industries from Japan, the United States, and Europe.
- Science Behind the Regulation of Food Safety: Risk Assessment and the Precautionary Principle
- Although Congress, the President and agency administrators support the use of science as a basis for food safety regulatory activities, there are controversies about how science can best be used for this purpose. Supporters of science-based regulations regard conclusions from well-designed scientific studies as largely impartial and fair;
- Nitrogen Oxides and Electric Utilities: Revising the NSPS
- Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from utility boilers, combustion turbines, and combined-cycle units. The current NOx NSPS, set in 1979, does not reflect subsequent advancements in Nox control technology. As a part of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments,
- Food Safety Agencies and Authorities: A Primer
- Several federal agencies, in cooperation with state governments, are responsible for regulating the safety of the U.S. food supply. In the wake of an outbreak of foodborne illness and the largest recall of suspected contaminated meat in U.S. history in August 1997, several policymakers have reopened the debate on creating a single, independent, federal food safety agency. They assert that this would provide more effective regulatory control over the entire farm-to-table food production and marketing system by eliminating the overlapping and occasionally competing for objectives of multiple agencies. As background for further discussion on this and related food safety issues, this report describes the roles of the primary federal and cooperating state agencies responsible for food safety and enumerates the major legislative authorities currently governing them.
- Tobacco Control: Enforcement and Effectiveness of Federal and State Youth Access Laws
- This report reviews recent efforts to limit youth access to cigarettes through enforcement of federal and state laws prohibiting tobacco sales to minors. Under the federal Synar Amendment, states must conduct compliance checks and enforce their minimum age-of-sale laws or risk losing block grant funds
- Tobacco Legislation in the 105th Congress: Side-by-Side Comparison of S. 1415, S. 1530, S. 1638, S. 1889, H.R. 3474, and H.R. 3868
- No Description Available.
- The Former Soviet Union and U.S. Foreign Aid: Implementing the Assistance Program, 1992-1994
- In fiscal year 1994, the new states of the former Soviet Union became collectively the second largest recipient of U.S. foreign assistance made available from all sources. Whether and how the assistance program is helping to bring about democratic systems and free market economies is increasingly a question of interest to Congress and the public at large.
- Maritime Economic Deregulation: Background and Selected Public Policy Issues
- The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 ("the Act") (P.L. 105-258, October 14, 1998) takes effect May 1, 1999. The Act requires the Federal Maritime Commission to have implementing regulations in place by January 1, 1999.
- Safe Drinking Water Act: State Revolving Fund Program
- No Description Available.
- The Delaney Clause: The Dilemma of Regulating Health Risk for Pesticide Residues
- Under the authority of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for establishing tolerances for pesticide residues in or on foods and feeds. Tolerances are legal limits to the amount of pesticide residues that can be found on a raw agricultural commodity at the farm gate or in a processed food. The FFDCA has two sections, 408 and 409, which set up different and inconsistent criteria for setting tolerances for pesticide residues in foods.
- The Delaney Dilemma: Regulating Pesticide Residues in Foods -- Seminar Proceedings, March 16, 1993
- A provision in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Delaney Clause, appears to lower risks in the setting of tolerances for pesticide residues. It prohibits any substance from being added to processed foods if it induces cancer in man or animals. In reality, the provision created a dilemma because the zero-risk statute makes it difficult to regulate pesticides. Because of the prescription of Delaney, tolerances (legal limits) are established differently for carcinogens and non-carcinogens and in raw and processed foods.
- Federal Regulatory Structure for Egg Safety: Fact Sheet
- This report discusses the federal role in regulating egg safety. Although the egg industry is primarily responsible for ensuring the safety of its products, four federal agencies hold statutory responsibilities for egg safety.
- Food Additive Regulations: A Chronology
- The 104th Congress is actively debating proposals to reform several aspects of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) process for regulating consumer products, including its approval process for food additives. In June 1995, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced at a House Government Reform and Oversight Subcommittee hearing several policy shifts in its food additive pre-market approval process which will soon be implemented.
- Federal Regulation of Working Hours: The Ballenger and Ashcroft Proposals (H.R. 1 and S.4)
- No Description Available.
- NAFTA: A Broad Economic Perspective
- Most economists believe that the main economic benefit of NAFTA will be that, over time, it will increase productivity and incomes in the United States, Mexico and Canada. In this view, living standards of all three countries will be higher than without a NAFTA. In the near term, some reallocation of resources will occur within each country, generating gains for some producers and costs for others. New industries emerge, some industries expand, some contract, and some die. Since the Mexican and Canadian economies are small relative to the U.S. economy, it is expected that both the aggregate benefits and costs of the NAFTA to the United States will be relatively small.