Congressional Research Service Reports - 34 Matching Results

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The Brownfields Program Authorization: Cleanup of Contaminated Sites

Description: This report provides background on the issue(including state voluntary cleanup programs), surveys the Environmental Protection Agency's current program, and reviews congressional action, including a description of the new law.
Date: January 27, 2002
Creator: Reisch, Mark
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Global Climate Change

Description: This report briefly reviews the status of climate science, international negotiations, and congressional activity focused specifically on climate change.
Date: March 27, 2002
Creator: Justus, John R. & Fletcher, Susan R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Global Climate Change: Market-Based Strategies to Reduce Greenhouse Gases

Description: This report discusses global climate change and the possibility that human activities are releasing gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), at rates that could affect global climate change.
Date: August 27, 2002
Creator: Parker, Larry
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Clean Water Act Issues in the 108th Congress

Description: In this report several other Clean Water Act issues are likely to receive congressional attention, through oversight hearings and possibly in legislative proposals. Among the topics of interest is whether and how the Administration will revise the current program for restoration of pollution-impaired waters (the Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL program), in view of controversy over regulatory changes made during the Clinton Administration and continuing disagreement among states, cities, indus… more
Date: January 27, 2003
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Clean Water Act Issues in the 108th Congress

Description: In this report several other Clean Water Act issues are likely to receive congressional attention, through oversight hearings and possibly in legislative proposals. Among the topics of interest is whether and how the Administration will revise the current program for restoration of pollution-impaired waters (the Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL program), in view of controversy over regulatory changes made during the Clinton Administration and continuing disagreement among states, cities, indus… more
Date: May 27, 2003
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Clean Water Act Issues in the 108th Congress

Description: The Clean Water Act Issues has again received attention in the 108th Congress. At issue is how the federal government will assist states and cities in meeting needs to rebuild, repair, and upgrade wastewater treatment plants, especially in light of capital costs which are projected to be as much as $390 billion over the next two decades. In October 2004, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee reported legislation to authorize $20 billion in funding for clean water infrastructure (S. … more
Date: August 27, 2003
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Environmental Protection Agency's FY2004 Budget

Description: For FY2004, the President’s budget requested $7.6 billion in budget authority for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), $448 million (or 6%) less than the $8.1 billion current funding level. The House approved $8.0 billion in H.R. 2861 (H.Rept. 108-235) on July 25. Senate action is anticipated in September. The request consisted of $3.1 billion for EPA operating expenses, $3.1 billion for assisting state and local governments, and $1.4 billion for cleaning up Superfund toxic waste sites. W… more
Date: August 27, 2003
Creator: Lee, Martin R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Brownfields and Superfund Issues in the 108th Congress

Description: This report discusses the Superfund program for cleaning up the nation's worst hazardous waste sites, created by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, or CERCLA (P.L. 96-510, as amended). It includes recent development and background issues, superfund issues, revenue issues, comprehensive reauthorization, and legislation regarding superfund program.
Date: October 27, 2004
Creator: Reisch, Mark
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Global Climate Change: The Kyoto Protocol

Description: This report discusses the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that was completed December 11, 1997, committing the industrialized nations to specified, legally binding reductions in emissions of six “greenhouse gases.”
Date: October 27, 2004
Creator: Fletcher, Susan R.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Environmental Protection Issues in the 109th Congress

Description: Environmental protection concerns span a wide variety of issues, including clean air, water quality, chemical security, and environmental aspects of other major issue areas such as transportation and defense. This issue brief provides an overview of key environmental issues that are receiving or may receive attention in the 109th Congress. The sections on specific issues contain references to more detailed and extensive CRS reports on the subjects covered.
Date: April 27, 2005
Creator: Fletcher, Susan R. & Isler, Margaret M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Military Base Closures: Role and Costs of Environmental Cleanup

Description: The upcoming 2005 round of military base closings has stimulated interest among potentially affected communities in how the bases to be selected for closure might be economically redeveloped to replace lost jobs. Environmental contamination can present a challenge to economic redevelopment if funding or technological constraints would limit the cleanup of the land to a degree that would be safe for its intended use. Most of the lands on bases closed under the previous four rounds have been clea… more
Date: June 27, 2005
Creator: Bearden, David M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Clean Water Act Issues in the 109th Congress

Description: Congress has recently focused legislative attention on narrow bills to extend or modify selected Clean Water Act (CWA) programs, rather than taking up comprehensive proposals. In the 109th Congress, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has approved S. 1400, a bill authorizing $20 billion in federal grants to capitalize state clean water infrastructure loan programs. Also, a House committee has approved bills to reauthorize several Clean Water Act programs: H.R. 624 would provide $1… more
Date: October 27, 2005
Creator: Copeland, Claudia
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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National Environmental Education Act of 1990: Overview, Implementation, and Reauthorization Issues

Description: This report presents an overview of the National Environmental Education Act of 1990, discusses appropriations, examines Environmental Protection Agency (EPA's) implementation of the act, and analyzes potential issues for reauthorization that may be considered in the 109th Congress.
Date: February 27, 2006
Creator: Bearden, David M.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Climate Change: Action by States To Address Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Description: This report covers state actions that directly and explicitly address greenhouse gas emissions. First, the report describes the different types of state actions, both individual and cooperative efforts, that are either proposed or underway, and highlights several of the more significant developments. Second, the report examines state actions from a federal policymaking perspective, including both the potential effects of state-led actions and their limitations.
Date: April 27, 2007
Creator: Ramseur, Jonathan L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The Endangered Species Act and "Sound Science"

Description: This report provides a context for evaluating legislative proposals through examples of how science has been used in selected cases, a discussion of the nature and role of science in general, and its role in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) process in particular, together with general and agency information quality requirements and policies, and a review of how the courts have viewed agency use of science.
Date: September 27, 2007
Creator: Buck, Eugene H.; Corn, M. L.; Baldwin, Pamela & Alexander, Kristina
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America: An Overview and Selected Issues

Description: The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) is a trilateral initiative that was launched in March 2005 for the purpose of increasing and enhancing security and prosperity in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. This initiative promoted communication and cooperation across several key policy areas of mutual interest, such as improving certain sectors of the economy, developing higher health and safety standards, and addressing environmental concerns. This report describes th… more
Date: May 27, 2009
Creator: Villarreal, M. Angeles & Lake, Jennifer E.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Oil Spills in U.S. Coastal Waters: Background, Governance, and Issues for Congress

Description: This report reviews the history and trends of oil spills in the United States; identifies the legal authorities governing oil spill prevention, response, and cleanup; and examines the threats of future oil spills in U.S. coastal waters.
Date: August 27, 2009
Creator: Ramseur, Jonathan L.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress

Description: The diminishment of Arctic sea ice has led to increased human activities in the Arctic, and has heightened interest in, and concerns about, the region's future. The United States, by virtue of Alaska, is an Arctic country and has substantial interests in the region. The Arctic has increasingly become a subject of discussion among political leaders of the nations in the region. In varying degrees, the Arctic coastal states have indicated a willingness to establish and maintain a military presenc… more
Date: February 27, 2012
Creator: O'Rourke, Ronald
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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