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CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 3194, CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2000 -- (House of Representatives - November 17, 1999)

he conference agreement appropriates $49,771,000 for salaries and expenses from the

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Trust Fund, instead of $49,404,000 as proposed by the House and $50,138,000 as proposed by the Senate. The agreement includes a definite annual appropriation for black lung benefit payments and interest payments on advances made to the Trust Fund as proposed by the House instead of an indefinite permanent appropriation as proposed by the Senate.

There is concern about the structural deficit in the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. The Administration is directed to provide its recommended solution for the problem of the increasing indebtedness of the Trust Fund to the Congress as part of its fiscal year 2001 budget request.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

SALARIES AND EXPENSES

The conference agreement appropriates $382,000,000, instead of $337,408,000 as proposed by the House and $388,142,000 as proposed by the Senate. The agreement does not include language proposed by the Senate that would have earmarked one-half of the increase over the FY 1999 appropriation for State consultation grants and one-half for enforcement and all other purposes. The House bill had no similar provision. The detailed table at the end of this joint statement reflects the activity distribution agreed upon.

The Department is urged to consider allowing the use of all FDA-approved devices which reduce the risk of needlestick injury, whether or not such safety feature is integrated into the needle or other sharp medical object, if the non-integrated device is at least as safe and effective as other FDA-approved devices.

Without any intent to delay pending regulations, the conference agreement includes $450,000 elsewhere in this bill for a National Academy of Sciences study of the proposed standard on tuberculosis.

Concerns have been expressed about recommendations of the Metalworking Fluids Standards Advisory Committee, established by the Department, with respect to metalworking fluids exposure levels. The Department is expected to carefully consider peer-reviewed scientific research and examine the technical feasibility and economic consequences of its recommendations. An economic analysis to the three-digit SIC code and a risk assessment should be completed on the impact of reduced exposure levels.

Mine Safety and Health Administration

SALARIES AND EXPENSES

The conference agreement appropriates $228,373,000, instead of $211,165,000 as proposed by the House and $230,873,000 as proposed by the Senate. The agreement includes $2,500,000 over the budget request for physical improvements at the National Mine Safety and Health Academy.

The agreement does not include language proposed by the House that would have prohibited the use of funds to carry out the miner training provisions of the Mine Safety and Health Act with respect to certain industries, including sand and gravel and surface stone, until June 1, 2000. The Senate bill did not include a similar provision.

The agreement also does not include language proposed by the Senate that would have allowed MSHA to retain and spend up to $1,000,000 in fees collected for the approval and certification of mine equipment and materials. The House bill did not include a similar provision.

Concerns have been expressed about the possible ramifications of a rulemaking on the use of conveyor belts in underground coal mines, including concerns about the validity of the testing on which the rule is based. MSHA is urged to carefully examine the record and to conduct additional research that may be required to address any significant concerns that have been raised.

MSHA is urged to examine the ongoing NCI/NIOSH study of Lung Cancer and Diesel Exhaust among Non-Metal Miners in connection with the promulgation of a proposed rule on diesel exhaust.

Bureau of Labor Statistics

SALARIES AND EXPENSES

The conference agreement appropriates $413,444,000, instead of $409,444,000 as proposed by the Senate and $394,697,000 as proposed by the House.

Departmental Management

SALARIES AND EXPENSES

The conference agreement appropriates $241,788,000, instead of $191,131,000 as proposed by the House and $247,311,000 as proposed by the Senate. The agreement includes language proposed by the Senate that authorizes the expenditure of funds for the management or operation of Departmental bilateral and multilateral foreign technical assistance. The House bill included no such language. The agreement does not include language proposed by the Senate that would have authorized the use of up to $10,000 of DOL salaries and expenses funds in this Act for receiving and hosting officials of foreign states and official foreign delegations. The House bill included no such language. Instead, the agreement authorizes the Secretary to use up to $20,000 from funds available for salaries and expenses for official reception and representation expenses in a general provision in title V of the bill (504), instead of $15,000 as proposed in both the House and Senate bills.

International child labor activities are funded at the level requested in the President's budget.

The agreement does not include statutory language proposed by the Senate requiring a report to Congress containing options to promote a legal domestic workforce in the agricultural sector, provide for improved compensation and benefits, improved living conditions and better transportation between jobs and address other issues related to agricultural labor that the Secretary determines to be necessary. However, the Department is instructed to prepare such a report and submit it to Congress as soon as possible.

The conference agreement includes $500,000 in the Executive Direction activity for activities of the Twenty-First Century Workforce Commission, as authorized by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.

Assistant Secretary for Veterans Employment and Training

The conference agreement appropriates $184,341,000, instead of $182,719,000 as proposed by the House and $185,613,000 as proposed by the Senate.

Office of Inspector General

The conference agreement appropriates $51,925,000 as proposed by the Senate instead of $47,500,000 as proposed by the House.

General Provisions

JOB CORPS PAY CAP

The conference agreement includes language proposed by the House adjusting the salary cap for employees of Job Corps contractors from Federal Executive Level III to Executive Level II. The Senate bill left the cap at the current level of Executive Level III.

DAVIS-BACON HELPE R REGU LATIONS

The conference agreement does not include language proposed by the House that would have prohibited the use of funds in the bill to implement the proposed Davis-Bacon helpe r regu lations issued by the Wage and Hour Division on April 9, 1999. The Senate bill contained no such provision.

HEALTH CLAIMS REGULATIONS

The conference agreement does not include language proposed by the House that would have prohibited the use of funds in the bill to implement the proposed regulations issued by the Labor Department on September 9, 1998 concerning changes in ERISA health claims processing requirements. The Senate bill contained no such provision.

PROPERTY TRANSFER

The conference agreement includes language that was not contained in either the House or Senate bill that requires the Secretary of Labor to transfer a building to the city of Salinas, CA.

TITLE II--DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration

HEALTH RESOURCES AND SERVICES

The conference agreement includes $4,584,721,000 for Health Resources and Services instead of $4,204,395,000 as proposed by the House and $4,365,498,000 as proposed by the Senate.

The conference agreement includes bill language identifying $122,182,000 for the construction and renovation of health care and other facilities instead of $10,000,000 as proposed by the Senate. The House bill contained no similar provision. These funds are to be used for the following projects: Northwestern University/Evanston Hospital Center for Genomics and Molecular Medicine; Sinai Family Health Centers of Chicago; Condell Medical Center Regional Center for Cardiac Health Services; Northwestern Memorial Hospital; Hackensack University Medical Center; Brookfield Zoo/Loyola University School of Medicine; Westcare Fresno Community Healthcare Campus, Fresno, California; Northern Illinois University Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault; Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, Houston, Texas; George Mason University Center for Services to Families and Schools; Dominican College Center for Health Sciences; Marklund Children's Home, Bloomingdale, Illinois; Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies Perinatal Data Center; Aging Health Services Center, Somerset, Kentucky; St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center, Syracuse, New York; Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine; Gateway Community Health Center, Laredo, Texas; Uvalde County Clinic, Uvalde, Texas; Vida y Salud Community Health Center, Crystal City, Texas; Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas; University of Mississippi Medical Center, Guyton Building; Children's Hospital of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama; Edward Health Services, Naperville, Illinois; Marquette University School of Dentistry; St. Christopher-Ottilie Residential Treatment Center, Sea Cliff, Long Island; Louisiana State University Feist-Weiller Cancer Center, Shreveport, Louisiana; Columbus Community Healthcare Center, Buffalo, New York; Children's Hospital Los Angeles Research Institute; Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, Englewood, New Jersey; Marywood University Northeast Pennsylvania Healthy Families Center, Scranton, Pennsylvania; Temple University Outpatient Facility; Temple University Children's Medical Center; Pittsburgh Magee-Women's Hospital Women's Center; College of Physicians, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Drexel University National Chemical and Biological Research Center; University of Pittsburgh Cancer Center; Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, Fairbanks, Alaska; Yukon-Kuskokwim

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Health Corporation, Bethel, Alaska; University of Vermont Cancer Center; Burlington, Vermont community health center; Central Wyoming community health center; Clinical Diabetes Islet Transplanation Research Center at the former NIH/Perrine, Florida Animal Research Facility; Cooper Green Hospital, Alabama; Central Ozarks Medical Center, Richland, Missouri; University of Alabama at Birmingham Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Institute; Mississippi Institute for Cancer Research; Jackson Medical Mall Foundation, Mississippi; Union Hospital, Terre Haute, Indiana; St. Joe's Hospital of Ohio; University of Northern Colorado, Rocky Mountain Cancer Rehabilitation Institute; National Jewish Medical and Research Center; University of Florida Genetics Institute; Hidalgo County Health Complex, Lordsburg, New Mexico; community health centers in Iowa; Medical University of South Carolina Cancer Center; Child Health Institute at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; Harts Health Center, Harts, West Virginia; West Virginia University Eye Institute; University of South Dakota Medical School Research Facility; Tufts University, Biomedical/Nutrition Research Center; New York University Program in Women's Cancer; Laguna Honda Hospital, San Francisco, California; University of Montana Institute for Environmental and Health Sciences; Idaho Brain Tumor Center; Roseland Hospital Emergency Department in Illinois; Calumuet Center at Metropolitan Family services in Illinois; Burbank Health Alliance Regional Cancer Center in Fitchburg, Massachusetts; Doermer Family Center for Health Science Education at the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Indiana; Cancer Institute of Long Island, New York; University of Rochester Medical Center Emergency Department; Sound Shore Medical Center in New Rochelle, New York; Mt. Vernon Community Health Center in Mt. Vernon, New York; University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; Lessie Bates Davis Center in E ast St. Louis; Worcester City Campus of UMASS Memorial Healthcare in Worcester, Massachusetts; Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Center in Albany, New York; Laclede County Health Department in Missouri; Community Health Care, Inc. to construct a community health center in Silvis, Illinois; Columbia University Audubon Biomedical Science and Technology Park in New York; Napa Valley Vintners Health Center in California; San Francisco Community Health Center; Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, New York; Carl Sagan Discovery Center Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York; and Biotech Laboratory Building at the University of Connecticut.

The conference agreement includes bill language identifying $238,932,000 for family planning instead of $215,000,000 as proposed by the House and $222,432,000 as proposed by the Senate.

There is concern that there has been a steady erosion of title X funds being made available by the Department for authorized section 1001 clinical services. The Department is directed to allocate at least 90 percent of the funds appropriated for title X specifically for clinical services. The conference agreement concurs with the language contained in the Senate report regarding the expenditure of year-end funds and allocation of title X funds to regional offices.

The conference agreement does not include a provision to allow funds to be used to operate the Council on Graduate Medical Education as proposed by the Senate. The House bill contained no similar provision. The Health Professions Education Partnerships Act of 1998 authorizes the use of funds for this purpose.

The conference agreement provides $75,000,000 for the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act instead of $20,000,000 as proposed by the House and $50,000,000 as proposed by the Senate. This funding is included in the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund as proposed by the House. The Senate bill provided funding in the HRSA account. Within the total provided, $10,000,000 shall be for HRSA administrative costs.

The conference agreement does not include a provision related to the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Data Collection Program as proposed by the Senate. The House bill contained no similar provision.

The conference agreement provides $1,024,000,000 for community health centers as proposed by the Senate instead of $985,000,000 as proposed by the House. Within the total provided, $5,000,000 is for native Hawaiian health programs.

The demonstration project by the Utah area health education centers was identified under community health centers in the Senate report and should be considered under the area health education centers account.

The conference agreement provides $38,244,000 for the national health service corps, field placements as proposed by the House instead of $36,997,000 as proposed by the Senate. Within the total provided, $1,000,000 is to expand the availability of behavioral and mental health services nationwide.

The conference agreement provides $78,666,000 for national health service corps, recruitment instead of $78,166,000 as proposed by both the House and Senate. The amount provided includes $500,000 to increase the number of SEARCH grantees so as to include the Illinois Primary Health Care Association. The conference agreement concurs with the Senate report language concerning increasing health care availability in underserved areas.

The conference agreement provides $344,277,000 for health professions instead of $301,986,000 as proposed by the House and $226,916,000 as proposed by the Senate. The conference agreement includes $1,000,000 within allied health special projects for expansion of the Illinois Community College Board's program, in coordination with the Illinois Department of Human Services, to train and place welfare recipients in the allied health field using distance technology. HRSA is urged to expand the training of health care providers and providers-in-training under area health education centers to improve the detection, diagnosis, treatment, and management of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFIDS) patients.

The conference agreement includes $40,000,000 for pediatric graduate medical education, subject to authorization. The funds would be used to support health professions training at children's teaching hospitals. The Secretary is directed to provide a detailed operating plan that clearly specifies those hospitals deemed eligible for funding, the methodology and criteria used in determining payments, and performance measurements and outcomes. It is intended that the funds provided for this activity will be a one-time payment, pending action by the authorizing Committees to establish statutory guidelines for the structure and operation of the program.

The conference agreement provides $20,282,000 for Hansen's Disease Services instead of $18,670,000 as proposed by the House and $17,282,000 as proposed by the Senate. The conference agreement includes $3,000,000 to continue the Diabetes Lower Extremity Amputation Prevention (LEAP) programs at the University of South Alabama, the Louisiana State University School of Medicine, and the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation.

The conference agreement provides $710,000,000 for the maternal and child health block grant instead of $800,000,000 as proposed by the House and $695,000,000 as proposed by the Senate. The conference agreement includes bill language designating $109,307,000 of the funds provided for the block grant for special projects of regional and national significance (SPRANS) instead of $198,742,000 as proposed by the House. The Senate bill contained no similar provision. It is intended that $5,000,000 of this amount be used for the continuation of the traumatic brain injury State demonstration projects as authorized by title XII of the Public Health Service Act, $150,000 is for the Whole Kids Outreach program in southeast Missouri, and an additional $500,000 is for the Family Voices program to expand health care information and education for families of children with special health care needs.

Within the funds provided, sufficient funds are included to initiate a multi-state dental sealant demonstration program identified in the Senate bill. The agency is urged to work closely with the Departments of Health of New Mexico and Alaska to develop dental sealant programs that address the needs of medically underserved children, especially those living in rural, American Indian, and Native Alaskan communities.

Within the total provided, the agency is encouraged to support the efforts of the Kids Peace program in Orefield, Pennsylvania, that assist children to overcome situational crises.

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