Department of Justice’s Role in Investigating and Prosecuting Hate Crimes
In 2019, law enforcement agencies reported 7,314 hate crimes involving 8,812 victims and 6,406 known offenders to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Most hate crimes are investigated by local ...
EU Data Transfer Requirements and U.S. Intelligence Laws: Understanding Schrems II and Its Impact on the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield
On July 16, 2020, in a decision referred to as Schrems II, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield (Privacy Shield). Privacy Shield is a framework deve...
Unemployment Insurance Provisions in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
The Unemployment Insurance (UI) provisions in Title IX, Subtitle A, of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA; P.L. 117-2; enacted March 11, 2021) make four significant changes to UI programs and ...
Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Selected Policy Options
Congress may consider a range of policy options that could be used to limit or remove human-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous...
Green Building Overview and Issues
Buildings, whether residential, commercial, government, or special-use, are core components of the nation’s infrastructure. Their construction, operation, and demolition are increasingly recognized as...
Liability Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) (42 U.S.C. §§ 9601 et seq.) establishes a framework to remediate certain types of contaminated sites and to hold the ...
The Digital Divide: What Is It, Where Is It, and Federal Assistance Programs
As the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began to unfold, many federal, local, and state governments, in addition to large and small businesses, implemented remote working or distance learn...
Produce Safety: Requirements, Implementation, and Issues for Congress
In the United States, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and sprouts continue to be associated with a series of foodborne illness outbreaks across the country, resulting in hundreds of illnesses and hospitaliz...
Medicare Hospital Payments: Adjusting for Variation in Geographic Area Wages
Medicare paid $112 billion for inpatient services at short-term, acute-care hospitals in 2018. Of the approximately 4,700 such hospitals in 2018, 3,220 were paid under the Medicare inpatient prospecti...
Pipeline Transportation of Hydrogen: Regulation, Research, and Policy
Some in Congress have proposed hydrogen as an environmentally superior alternative to conventional fossil fuels for vehicles and power generation, among other applications. Delivering hydrogen to scat...
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Streamgaging Network: Overview and Issues for Congress
Streamgages are fixed structures at streams, rivers, lakes, and reservoirs that measure water level and related streamflow—the amount of water flowing through a water body over time. The U.S. Geologic...
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 Broadband Provisions: In Brief
Broadband––defined as high speed internet with speeds of at least 25/3 megabits per second (Mbps)––is provided by a variety of technologies (e.g., cable, telephone wire, fiber, satellite, and mobile a...
Climate Change Adaptation: Department of the Interior
The Department of the Interior (DOI) and many agencies within it, including the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Fish and Wildlif...
CIC Services v. Internal Revenue Service: Interpreting the Tax Anti-Injunction Act
On December 1, 2020, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in CIC Services v. Internal Revenue Service, a case that could resolve conflicts resulting from the way courts have interpreted the Tax Anti-...
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act: History, Impact, and Issues
The Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) culminated years of effort by state and local government officials and business interests to control, if not eliminate, the imposition of unfunded inter...