A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress imposed restrictions on some federal programs to prevent funding of business relocations. Congress expressed concerns about state and local governments using federal funds to attract jobs to one community at a loss of jobs to another and about compliance with relocation restrictions. This report (1) identifies large federal economic development programs that state and local governments can use as incentives, (2) identifies which programs contain statutory prohibitions on funding relocations, and (3) assesses whether federal agencies had established and implemented procedures to help ensure compliance with prohibitions. To address these objectives, GAO searched federal databases, reviewed relevant statutes and regulations, and conducted limited testing of agency procedures."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Control systems--computer-based systems that monitor and control sensitive processes and physical functions--perform vital functions in many of our nation's critical infrastructures, including electric power, oil and gas, water treatment, and chemical production. The disruption of control systems could have a significant impact on public health and safety, which makes securing them a national priority. GAO was asked to (1) determine cyber threats, vulnerabilities, and the potential impact of attacks on critical infrastructure control systems; (2) determine the challenges to securing these systems; (3) identify private sector initiatives to strengthen the cybersecurity of control systems; and (4) assess the adequacy of public sector initiatives to strengthen the cybersecurity of control systems. To address these objectives, we met with federal and private sector officials to identify risks, initiatives, and challenges. We also compared agency plans to best practices for securing critical infrastructures."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In performing its missions, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) relies extensively on information technology (IT). Recognizing this, DHS's fiscal year 2006 appropriations act required its Chief Information Officer (CIO) to submit a report to congressional appropriations committees that includes, among other things, an IT human capital plan, and the act directs GAO to review the report. GAO's review addressed (1) whether the IT human capital plan is consistent with federal guidance and associated best practices and (2) the status of the plan's implementation. In performing its review, GAO compared DHS's plan and supporting documentation with 27 practices in the Human Capital Assessment and Accountability Framework of the Office of Personnel Management, and examined plan implementation activities at three DHS component agencies."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The nation's remaining grassland has several important benefits, such as providing land for grazing and wildlife habitat for many at-risk species. However, over the past 3 centuries about half of the grassland has been converted to other uses, principally cropland. In addition to losing important grassland values, such conversions may result in increased spending on federal farm programs, such as crop insurance, especially in marginal areas. GAO examined (1) the extent of grassland conversions to cropland and the cost of farm program payments for these newly converted cropland acres; (2) the relative importance of farm program payments versus other factors in producers' decisions to convert grassland to cropland; and (3) any impact the Sodbuster conservation provision--which places soil erosion standards on certain converted land--has had on limiting grassland conversions."

Crime is ordinarily proscribed, tried and punished according to the laws on the place where it occurs. American criminal law applies beyond the geographical confines of the United States, however, under some limited circumstances. The federal exceptions to the general rule usually involve crimes like drug trafficking, terrorism, or crimes committed aboard a ship or airplane. State prosecution for overseas misconduct is limited almost exclusively to multijurisdictional crimes, i.e., crimes where some elements of the offense are committed within the state and others are committed abroad. The Constitution, Congress, and state law define the circumstances under which American criminal law may be used against crimes occurring, in whole or in part, outside the United States

Image processing techniques have been used extensively to identify objects of interest in image data and extract representative characteristics for these objects. However, this can be a challenge due to the presence of noise in the images and the variation across images in a dataset. When the number of images to be analyzed is large, the algorithms used must also be relatively insensitive to the choice of parameters and lend themselves to partial or full automation. This not only avoids manual analysis which can be time consuming and error-prone, but also makes the analysis reproducible, thus enabling comparisons between images which have been processed in an identical manner. In this paper, we describe our approach to extracting features for objects of interest in experimental images. Focusing on the specific problem of fragmentation of materials, we show how we can extract statistics for the fragments and the gaps between them.

This final hazard categorization (FHC) document examines the hazards, identifies appropriate controls to manage the hazards, and documents the commitments for the 116-C-3 Chemical Waste Tanks Remediation Project. The remediation activities analyzed in this FHC are based on recommended treatment and disposal alternatives described in the Engineering Evaluation for the Remediation to the 116-C-3 Chemical Waste Tanks (BHI 2005e).

Bechtel National, Inc. (BNI) is evaluating the alternate Cs ion exchanger, spherical resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF), for use in the River Protection Project-Waste Treatment Plant (RPP-WTP).( ) Previous test activities with spherical RF indicate that it has adequate capacity, selectivity, and kinetics to perform in the plant according to the flowsheet needs. It appears to have better elution and hydraulic properties than the existing alternatives: ground-gel RF and SuperLig® 644 (SL 644).( ) To date, the spherical RF performance testing has been conducted on freshly manufactured resin (within ~2 months of manufacture). The ion exchange resins will be manufactured and shipped to the WTP up to 1 year before being used in the plant. Changes in the resin properties during storage could reduce the capacity of the resin to remove Cs from low-activity waste solutions. Active sites on organic SL-644 resin have been shown to degrade during storage (Arm et al. 2004). Additional testing was needed to study the effects of storage conditions and aging on spherical RF ion exchange performance. Variables that could have a significant impact on ion exchange resins during storage include storage temperature, medium, and time. Battelle—Pacific Northwest Division (PNWD) was contracted to test the effects of various …

As more states propose e-waste legislation, potentially regulated stakeholders (particularly electronics manufacturers and retailers) have expressed concern that they will be required to comply with a patchwork of state requirements throughout the United States. This concern has led to an increased call for federal legislation regarding e-waste management. To help policy makers better understand the impact of state e-waste legislation, this report discusses issues that have led to state action, common elements in state-waste laws and proposals, and an overview of each enacted state law.

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This report concludes a five-year assessment of wind energy potential on the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon lands.

This report discusses the price Indexes, Income Taxes and Indexing Alternatives. It also points out the military retirement, railroad retirement and Poverty Thresholds.

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In order to better understand EPA’s actions, this report provides an analysis of the agency’s final 2006 revisions to the particulates NAAQS, and the estimated costs and benefits of the new standards and of a more stringent alternatives analyzed. The report concludes by highlighting concerns and issues raised regarding the revisions to the particulates standards, including those of the science advisory committee (Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, or CASAC), and actions in Congress.

This report summarizes the debate on the efficacy of U.S. efforts to stabilize Afghanistan. The report considers the founding of a new constitution, the narcotics trade, the Taliban, and the funding Afghanistan is receiving from the U.S.. The report also discusses what the U.S. is currently doing to help stabilize the country.

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