On Thursday, December 31, 2020, the President signed into law:
S. 461, the “HBCU Propelling Agency Relationships Towards a New Era of Results for Students Act,” which requires Federal agencies to submit annual plans on increasing the participation of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in their programs and to establish the President’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs;
S. 914, the “Coordinated Ocean Observations and Research Act of 2020,” which reauthorizes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Integrated Ocean Observing System through fiscal year 2025; modifies requirements related to the Named Storm Event Model and post-storm assessments; and requires the Commerce Department to establish a National Water Center;
S. 979, the “Federal Advance Contracts Enhancement Act or the FACE Act,” which requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency to submit a report to the Congress on advance contracts, which are established prior to disasters in order to be able to quickly provide life-sustaining goods and services in the immediate aftermath of a disaster;
S. 1130, the “Scarlett’s Sunshine on Sudden Unexpected Death Act,” which authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to develop, maintain, or support programs that address sudden unexpected infant death and sudden unexpected death in childhood;
S. 1342, the “Great Lakes Environmental Sensitivity Index Act of 2020,” which requires the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to update at least once every seven years its environmental sensitivity index products for each coastal area of the Great Lakes;
S. 1694, the “One Small Step to Protect Human Heritage in Space Act,” which requires National Aeronautics and Space Administration to add recommendations and inform other relevant Federal agencies of information relating to the principle of due regard and the limitation of harmful interference with historic Apollo lunar landing site artifacts;
S. 1869, the “Secure Federal Leases from Espionage And Suspicious Entanglements Act or the Secure Federal LEASEs Act,” which requires Federal lessees, before entering into a lease agreement or approving a novation agreement for high-security leased space, to require an entity to identify the immediate or highest-level owner of the space and disclose whether that owner is a foreign person or entity;
S. 2174, the “Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains Act of 2019,” which authorizes the Justice Department to award grants to certain entities to further efforts related to missing persons and unidentified remains;
S. 2216, the “Transparency and Effective Accountability Measures for Veteran Caregivers Act or the TEAM Veteran Caregivers Act,” which requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to formally recognize veterans’ caregivers, notify veterans and caregivers of clinical determinations relating to caregiver program eligibility, and provide time-limited benefits for veterans who are determined ineligible for the program;
S. 2683, the “Child Care Protection Improvement Act of 2020,” which establishes a task force to assist Federal and State agencies in implementing federally required background checks for child care staff;
S. 2730, the “Drone Advisory Committee for the 21st Century Act,” which requires the Federal Aviation Administration to take steps to encourage direct representation of certain interests on the Drone Advisory Committee (DAC) and public participation in the nomination of DAC members;
S. 3312, the “Crisis Stabilization and Community Reentry Act of 2020,” which authorizes the Justice Department to award grants for State and local correctional facilities to provide clinical services for people with serious mental illness who need post-release mental health services;
S. 3989, the “United States Semiquincentennial Commission Amendments Act of 2020,” which amends the United States Semiquincentennial Commission Act of 2016 to modify certain membership and other requirements of the Commission;
