Congress enacts tax, drug, funding bills - C&EN Global Enterprise

GOVERNMENT

Legislation

Budgets. (H.R. 4481) Sets 1989 budget for DOD's RDT&E programs at about $37.7 billion

Congress enacts tax, drug, funding bills

(H.R. 4418) Sets NSF's 1989 budget at about $2 billion

(H.R. 4561, S. 2209) Set NASA's 1989 R&D budget at about $4.4 billion

The 100th Congress passed into history in the wee hours of the morning on Oct. 23. But in its final days Congress enacted a long list of legislation, some of which had been considered a lost cause. Topping the list is the Omnibus Drug Initiative Act of 1988, H.R. 5210, which is designed to prevent the manufacturing, distribution, and use of illegal drugs. To that end, the bill places a number of reporting and record-keeping requirements on the sale, export, and import of 20 chemicals that are either precursors to illegal substances or are essential to make them. The bill also requires federal grantees and contractors to take steps to ensure that they operate drug-free workplaces or risk the loss of their federal funding. And the bill bans the manufacture, sale, or possession of so-called plastic guns that cannot be detected by x-ray screening equipment. Also on the list is the Technical Corrections Act of 1988, H.R. 4333, which started out as a vehicle for correcting typographical errors in the 1986 rewrite of the tax code but soon grew much larger. Among other things, the bill, which many observers once considered as good as dead, requires accelerated payment of estimated corporate taxes, extends the tax credit for a company's increased investment in research and development, and extends tax breaks for employerprovided educational assistance. Congress earlier had managed to pass all of the 13 appropriations bills needed to fund government programs by the beginning of the government's fiscal year on Oct. 1. But it didn't get around to passing the authorization bills for those programs, which are supposed to come first, until just before it adjourned. Thus, the National Science Foundation, which has operated without an authorization bill for many years, now has one—a five-year one at that. Under the bill, H.R. 4418, funding for NSF's research and related activities rises incrementally from $1.6 billion in fiscal 1989 to $3.2 billion in fiscal 1992. Funding for a separate academic research facilities modernization program increases from $85 million to $250 million over the same period. Unfortunately, NSF's fiscal 1989 appropriations bill doesn't include any funding for the program and future ones may not either. Also cleared during the final days were bills authorizing a coordinated, federal groundwater research program; providing increased federal aid for state radon removal programs; speeding up the pesticide reregistration process; providing patent term extensions for animal drugs; and requiring that plastic ring carrier devices for beverages be made from degradable materials. Janice Long 12

October 31, 1988 C&EN

(H.R. 4417, S. 2701) Set National Institute of Standards & Technology's 1989 budget at about $170 million, create a new Technology Administration

Clinical labs. (H.R. 4847, S. 2477) Require clinical testing laboratories to meet new federal standards

Drugs. (H.R. 5210, S. 2852) Control sale of chemicals that could be used to produce illicit drugs

Environment. (H.R. 3054, S. 1894) Place varying levels of control on emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides to control acid rain and/or hazardous air pollution (S. 659) Speeds up process of rechecking, reregistering older pesticides; requires regulation of inert ingredients (H.R. 5430, S. 2030) Set fees for ocean dumping of sewage sludge, ban such dumping after 1991

Health. (H.R. 4847) Requires labeling of chemically hazardous art materials Intellectual property. (H.R. 4848) Enhances protection for process patents, eases requirements for providing domestic injury (H.R. 5372, S. 1883) Update trademarks registration requirements, reduce term from 20 years to 10 years Research. (H.R. 3048) Provides for a five-year plan to guide federal research on superconductivity

Taxes. (H.R. 4333, S. 2238) Extend R&D tax credits, employerfunded education exemptions

Technology. (H.R. 4848) Expands role of Commerce Department, NIST in transferring results of manufacturing research to industry Trade. (H.R. 4848) Makes sweeping changes in U.S. trade policy and practices, requires action against countries that restrain trade, streamlines procedures for obtaining relief from unfair imports (H.R. 4848) Eases licensing requirements for exports to U.S. allies, eliminates need for licenses for exports of widely available, low-technology products (H.R. 5090, S. 2561) Implement U.S.-Canada free trade agreement

House committee

House floor

Senate committee

Senate floor

Passed 9/15/88

Conference

Report filed 9/28/88 (H. Rept. 100-989)

Fate

Signed 9/29/88 P.L. 100-456

Armed Services. Reported, amended 6/28/88 (H. Rept 100-735)

Amended, passed 7/12/88

Science, Space & Technology. Reported, amended 5/24/88 (H. Rept. 100-649)


Labor & Human Resources. Reported 8/7/87 (S. Rept 100-148). Commerce, Science & Transportation. Reported, amended 5/9/88 (S. Rept. 100-331)


Cleared by Congress 10/14/88



Commerce, Science & Transportation. Reported, amended 7/26/88 (S. Rept. 100-426)



Science, Space & Technology. Reported, amended 6/3/88. Energy & Commerce. Reported, amended 7/8/88 (H. Rept. 100-673, Pts. 1 & 2)



Passed 10/5/88


Energy & Commerce. Reported, amended 9/9/88 (H. Rept. 100-692)

Passed 10/6/88

Labor & Human Resources. Reported, amended 9/29/88 (S. Rept. 100-561)

Passed 10/11/88




Amended, passed 9/22/88 Energy & Commerce. Subcommittee on Health & Environment resumed markup 6/15/88 Agriculture. Reported, amended 9/13/88 (H. Rept 100-939)

Environment & Public Works. Reported, amended 11/20/87 (S. Rept 100231)

Dead

Passed 9/20/88

Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry. Reported, amended 5/9/88 (S. Rept. 100-346)

Passed 9/28/88

Passed 10/4/88

Environment & Public Works. Reported, amended 7/26/88 (S. Rept. 100948)


Cleared by Congress 9/28/88 Report filed 10/18/88 (H. Rept. 100-1090)


Passed 10/19/88


Passed 8/3/88

Signed 5/23/88 P.L 100-418

Energy & Commerce. Reported 9/23/88 (H. Rept 100-692)

Passed 10/12/88

Judiciary. Reported, amended 4/22/87 (H. Rept. 100-60). Rules. Folded into H.R. 3, 4/27/87

Passed 7/13/88

Judiciary. Reported, amended 6/23/87 (S. Rept. 100-83)

Judiciary. Reported 10/3/88 (H. Rept. 100-1028)


Judiciary. Reported, amended 9/15/88 (S. Rept 100-515)


Passed 9/20/88

Ways & Means. Reported, amended 7/26/88 (H. Rept. 100-795)


Finance. Reported, amended 8/3/88 (S. Rept. 100-445)



Passed 7/13/88


Passed 8/3/88

Signed 8/23/88 P.L. 100-418

Banking, Finance & Urban Affairs. Education & Labor. Energy & Commerce. Foreign Affairs. Reported, amended 4/6/87 (H. Rept. 100-40, Pts. 1-5)

Passed 7/13/88

Finance. Reported, amended 6/16/87 (S. Rept. 100-71)

Passed 8/3/88

Signed 8/23/88 P.L. 100-418

Foreign Affairs. Reported, amended (Title III of H.R. 3) 4/6/87 (H. Rept. 100-4, Pt. 3)

Passed 7/13/88

Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs. Reported 6/24/87 (S. Rept. 100-85)

Passed 8/3/88

Signed 8/23/88 P.L 100-418

Agriculture. Banking, Finance & Urban Affairs. Energy & Commerce. Foreign Affairs. Government Operations. Judiciary. Ways & Means. Reported, amended 8/3-8/8/88 (H. Rept. 100-816, Pts. 1-8)

Passed 8/9/88

Finance. Reported 9/15/88 (S. Rept. 100-509)

Passed 9/19/88

Signed 9/28/88 P.L. 100-449

Cleared by Congress 10/20/88 Passed 10/5/88

Cleared by Congress 10/21/88 Report filed 10/21/88 (H. Rept. 100-1104)


October 3 1 , 1988 C&EN

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Congress enacts tax, drug, funding bills - C&EN Global Enterprise

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