District Heating Act of 1980
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs.
District Heating Act of 1980 - Authorizes the Secretary of Energy to make grants upon the application of a qualified municipality (a self-governing town or city of population 100,000 or less which meets the Federal assistance requirements prescribed by the Secretary) to fund: (1) feasibility studies on district heating (the provision through pipelines of residential, commercial, and industrial water and space heating, and process steam from electric powerplants or other thermal sources) in such municipality; and (2) engineering and design studies for district heating in such municipality. Authorizes the Secretary upon application by a qualified municipality to make guaranteed interest loans to such municipality to cover the costs establishing a district heating system. Requires that each loan application contain plans, specifications, and estimates for the proposed heating system. Sets forth the criteria for approval of loan applications by the Secretary. States that loan application approval by the Secretary shall be deemed a contractual obligation of the United States to grant the loan for the district heating system. Conditions Federal assistance for district heating systems on the disclosure of complete information on any such system to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to make grants to States for studies by the States and local government entities on organization problems related to the establishment of district heating systems.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on May 21, 1980. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on May 21, 1980: Referred to House Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
JAMES OBERSTAR (D-MN) introduced it on May 21, 1980, and 10 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 8 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on May 21, 1980, 16913 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 16913 days ago, on May 21, 1980.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers