Congressional Research Service Reports - 3,668 Matching Results

Search Results

Results: 1 - 24 next
open access

National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Overview, FY2009 Budget, and Issues for Congress

Description: This report discusses budget issues for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which conducts U.S. civilian space and aeronautics activities. The President's 2004 Moon/Mars Vision for Space Exploration is the major focus of NASA's activities.
Date: June 19, 2008
Creator: Morgan, Daniel & Behrens, Carl E.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies: FY2009 Appropriations

Description: This report is a guide to one of the regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It summarizes the status of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related congressional activity.
Date: April 29, 2008
Creator: Vincent, Carol H.; Bamberger, Robert; Bearden, David M.; Corn, M. L.; Esworthy, Robert; Gorte, Ross W. et al.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Conservation Reserve Program: Status and Current Issues

Description: This report discusses the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) enacted in 1985, which provides payments to farmers to take highly erodible or environmentally-sensitive cropland out of production for ten years or more to conserve soil and water resources.
Date: September 11, 2008
Creator: Cowan, Tadlock
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Air Quality Issues and Animal Agriculture: EPA's Air Compliance Agreement

Description: This report discusses a plan announced by EPA in January 2005, called the Air Compliance Agreement, intended to produce air quality monitoring data on animal agriculture emissions from a small number of farms, while at the same time protecting all participants (including farms where no monitoring takes place) through a "safe harbor" from liability under certain provisions of federal environmental laws.
Date: August 26, 2008
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Country-of-Origin Labeling for Foods

Description: This report discusses the 2002 farm bill (P.L. 107-171) as amended by the 2008 farm bill (P.L. 110-246), which states that many U.S. retailers must begin providing country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for fresh produce, red meats, peanuts, chicken, ginseng, pecans, and macadamia nuts.
Date: September 16, 2008
Creator: Becker, Geoffrey S.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

FEMA Flood Map Modernization Funding

Description: This report discusses the implementation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)'s Flood Map Modernization (Map Mod) Initiative (FMMI) and its ongoing Map Mod program. FEMA introduced the FMMI in September 1997 as a strategic plan to convert paper flood insurance rate maps (FIRMs) to digital electronic format, or DFIRMs.
Date: May 1, 2008
Creator: Morrissey, Wayne A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Rural Water Supply and Sewer Systems: Background Information

Description: This report discusses the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act, which impose requirements regarding drinking water quality and wastewater treatment in rural areas. Approximately 27% of the U.S. population lives in areas defined by the Census Bureau as rural. Many rural communities need to complete water and waste disposal projects to improve the public health and environmental conditions of their citizens.
Date: August 25, 2008
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

U.S. National Science Foundation: An Overview

Description: This report provides an overview of developments and considerations regarding wave, tidal, and in-stream energy generation technology. It summarizes federal involvement in the regulation of this new industry and highlights current issues in the field.
Date: July 3, 2008
Creator: Matthews, Christine M.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Drinking Water State Revolving Fund: Program Overview and Issues

Description: This report discusses the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments of 1996, which authorized a drinking water state revolving loan fund (DWSRF) program to help public water systems finance infrastructure projects needed to comply with federal drinking water regulations and to protect public health.
Date: February 22, 2008
Creator: Tiemann, Mary
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Wetlands Coverage of the Clean Water Act Is Revisited by the Supreme Court: Rapanos v. United States

Description: This report discusses the Supreme Court decision in Rapanos v. United States, which addressed the asserted jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over wetlands adjacent to "waters of the United States," the problematic phrase used by the Clean Water Act (CWA) to define the geographic scope of the act's wetlands permitting program.
Date: April 22, 2008
Creator: Meltz, Robert & Copeland, Claudia
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Air Quality: EPA's 2006 Changes to the Particulate Matter (PM) Standard

Description: On October 17, 2006,3 the EPA published its revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulates to provide protection against potential health effects associated with short- and long-term exposure to particulate matter (including chronic respiratory disease and premature mortality). In order to better understand EPA's actions, this report provides an analysis of the agency's final 2006 revisions to the particulates NAAQS, and the estimated costs and benefits of the … more
Date: April 17, 2008
Creator: Esworthy, Robert & McCarthy, James E.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Particulate Matter (PM2.5): Implementation of the 1997 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

Description: Particulate matter (PM), including fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and larger, but still inhalable particles (PM10), is one of the six principal pollutants for which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) under the Clean Air Act (CAA). This report outlines the implementation process for the 1997 PM2.5 NAAQS and describes issues raised as EPA and states develop implementation strategies.
Date: September 11, 2008
Creator: Esworthy, Robert
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Use of Federal Troops for Disaster Assistance: Legal Issues

Description: This report summarizes the possible constitutional and statutory authorities and constraints relevant to the use of armed forces, including National Guard units in federal service, to provide assistance to states when a natural disaster impedes the operation of state local police.
Date: November 28, 2008
Creator: Elsea, Jennifer K. & Mason, R. Chuck
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Reforms: Regulatory Impacts Upon Innovation and Competition

Description: This report reviews the USPTO rules that would restrict claims and continuing applications. It begins by offering a summary of the patent system and the role of patents in innovation policy. The context, details, and legal challenges to the new USPTO rules are then explained. The report then offers both the policy justifications for the new rules, as well as concerns that patent professionals and other observers have expressed over their effectiveness and impact. The report closes by identifyin… more
Date: March 21, 2008
Creator: Thomas, John R.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The USDA’s Authority to Recall Meat and Poultry Products

Description: This report provides an overview of the USDA's authority to regulate meat, poultry, and their products. Specifically, the report discusses the requirements of USDA inspections and import regulations, as well as the USDA's role in product recalls. This report also addresses some of the issues that arise when considering possible changes to recall authority and reviews proposed legislation regarding the role of the USDA in the recall process. The Appendix of this report provides information regar… more
Date: January 7, 2008
Creator: Brougher, Cynthia & Becker, Geoffrey S.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Veterans Benefits: Merchant Seamen

Description: This report will provide a brief overview of seamen of the U.S. merchant marine and World War II, post-war efforts for benefits for merchant seamen, the efforts by merchant seamen for recognition and legislation introduced int he 110th Congress.
Date: December 23, 2008
Creator: Scott, Christine & Weimer, Douglas Reid
Item Type: Refine your search to only Report
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
Back to Top of Screen