A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal and other decision makers have had a renewed interest in how high speed rail might fit into the national transportation system and address increasing mobility constraints on highways and at airports due to congestion. GAO was asked to review (1) the factors affecting the economic viability--meaning whether total social benefits offset or justify total social costs--of high speed rail projects, including difficulties in determining the economic viability of proposed projects; (2) the challenges in developing and financing high speed rail systems; and (3) the federal role in the potential development of U.S. high speed rail systems. GAO reviewed federal legislation; interviewed federal, state, local, and private sector officials, as well as U.S. project sponsors; and reviewed high speed rail development in France, Japan, and Spain."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress established the child support enforcement program in 1975 to ensure that parents financially supported their children. State agencies administer the program and the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) in the Department of Health and Human Services oversees it. In 2002, state agencies collected over $20 billion in child support, but $657 million in collections from 2002 and previous years were undistributed--funds that were delayed or never reached families. One method used to collect child support, intercepting federal tax refunds, involves all state agencies, OCSE, and two Department of the Treasury agencies--the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Financial Management Service (FMS). GAO was asked to address (1) how the total amount of undistributed collections changed over the years, (2) the causes of undistributed collections, (3) states' efforts to reduce these funds, and (4) OCSE's efforts to assist states. GAO analyzed OCSE data, administered a survey, visited 6 state agencies and interviewed officials."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Because the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) can inspect only a fraction of 7 million U.S. worksites each year in its efforts to ensure safe and healthy working conditions, the agency has increasingly supplemented enforcement with "voluntary compliance strategies" to reach more employers and employ its resources most effectively. GAO assessed the types of strategies used, the extent of their use, and their effectiveness. GAO also obtained suggestions from specialists for additional voluntary compliance strategies."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act (P.L. 107-273) requires GAO to report on how investigation and arrest statistics are reported and used by federal law enforcement agencies. This report provides information on (1) the guidance and procedures followed by federal law enforcement agencies regarding counting investigations and arrests, (2) how investigation and arrest statistics are used, and (3) whether multiple agencies are counting and reporting the same investigations and arrests. GAO selected six agencies for review: the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the U.S. Marshals Service, the former U.S. Customs Service, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS)."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In the 1990s, states sued major tobacco companies to obtain reimbursement for health impairments caused by the public's use of tobacco. In 1998, 46 states and four of the nation's largest tobacco companies signed a Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) that requires the tobacco companies to make annual payments to the states in perpetuity as reimbursement for past tobaccorelated health care costs. The MSA commits the tobacco companies to pay the states approximately $206 billion over the first 25 years. Some of the states have arranged to receive upfront proceeds based on the amounts that tobacco companies owe by issuing bonds backed by future payments. The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 requires GAO to report annually on the amount of MSA payments states receive through fiscal year 2006. This third report provides information on the payments the 46 states received in fiscal year 2003 and expect to receive in fiscal year 2004, and states' allocations of these funds to various program categories and changes from prior years. To conduct this study, GAO surveyed the 46 states."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To protect species that are at risk for extinction, the Endangered Species Act requires that federal agencies consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service (the Services) to ensure that activities they authorize, fund, or conduct will not jeopardize endangered species or adversely modify their critical habitat. While federal agencies recognize that consultations benefit species, some are concerned about the time and resources consumed. In this report, GAO (1) assesses the federal data on consultations, (2) identifies steps by federal agencies to improve the process, and (3) discusses lingering concerns of federal and nonfederal parties about the process. GAO limited this study to consultations with the Forest Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Bureaus of Land Management and Reclamation in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Having invested billions of dollars in drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, the federal government has a major interest in protecting its investment and in ensuring that future assistance goes to utilities that are built and managed to meet key regulatory requirements. The Congress has been considering, among other things, requiring utilities to develop comprehensive asset management plans. Some utilities are already implementing asset management voluntarily. The asset management approach minimizes the total cost of buying, operating, maintaining, replacing, and disposing of capital assets during their life cycles, while achieving service goals. This report discusses (1) the benefits and challenges for water utilities in implementing comprehensive asset management and (2) the federal government's potential role in encouraging utilities to use it."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1982, Congress enacted the Coastal Barrier Resources Act. The Coastal Barrier Resources Act, as amended (CBRA), designates 585 units of undeveloped coastal lands and aquatic habitat as the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS). CBRA prohibits most federal expenditures and assistance within the system that could encourage development, but it allows federal agencies to provide some types of assistance and issue certain regulatory permits. In 1992, GAO reported that development was occurring in the CBRS despite restrictions on federal assistance. GAO updated its 1992 report and reviewed the extent to which (1) development has occurred in CBRS units since their inclusion in the system and (2) federal financial assistance and permits have been provided to entities in CBRS units. GAO electronically mapped address data for structures within 91 randomly selected CBRS units and collected information on federal financial assistance and permits for eight federal agencies."

Laboratory work was completed on a set of evaporation tests designed to establish a feed envelope for the fractional crystallization process. The feed envelope defines chemical concentration limits within which the process can be operated successfully. All 38 runs in the half-factorial design matrix were completed successfully, based on the qualitative definition of success. There is no feed composition likely to be derived from saltcake dissolution that would cause the fractional crystallization process to not meet acceptable performance requirements. However, some compositions clearly would provide more successful operation than other compositions.

New cancer gene hybridization probes to carry radionuclides were made. Noninvasive technetium-99m gamma imaging of CCND1 cancer gene activity in human breast cancer tumors in mice was demonstrated, followed by noninvasive technetium-99m imaging of MYC cancer gene activity. Noninvasive imaging of CCND1 cancer gene activity in human breast cancer tumors in mice was demonstrated with a positron-emitting copper-64 probe, followed by noninvasive positron imaging of IRS1 cancer gene activity.

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This document provides a description of the survey performed on different componentsof the ATLAS Pixel Detector at different stages of its assembly.

The present research program is centered on the experimental and numerical study of the hydrodynamics of shock-accelerated spherical density inhomogeneities. These flows are part of a broader category of shock-induced mixing flows that play a critical role in the implosion of D-T pellets in laser-driven ICF experiments. For the past year, our work has consisted of both experimental and numerical activities which were presented at two conferences and resulted in the publication of one journal article and the submission of a second one. The papers from one of the conferences are inlcuded here.

This month's issue has the following articles: (1) Biomedical Technology Has a Home at Livermore--Commentary by Cherry A. Murray; (2) Shaping the Future of Aneurysm Treatments--Livermore foam devices may offer significant advantages for treating some forms of aneurysms; (3) Ring around a Stellar Shell: A Tale of Scientific Serendipity--Using a three-dimensional model, Livermore scientists have solved a long-standing puzzle of stellar evolution; and (4) On Assignment in Washington, DC--Livermore personnel in Washington, DC, support federal sponsors and become valuable assets to Laboratory programs.

In accordance with the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1987, Yucca Mountain was designated as the site to be investigated as a potential repository for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste. The Yucca Mountain site is an undeveloped area located on the southwestern edge of the Nevada Test Site (NTS), about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The site currently lacks rail service or an existing right-of-way. If the Yucca Mountain site is found suitable for the repository, rail service is desirable to the Office of Civilian Waste Management (OCRWM) Program because of the potential of rail transportation to reduce costs and to reduce the number of shipments relative to highway transportation. A Preliminary Rail Access Study evaluated 13 potential rail spur options. Alternative routes within the major options were also developed. Each of these options was then evaluated for potential land use conflicts and access to regional rail carriers. Three potential routes having few land use conflicts and having access to regional carriers were recommended for further investigation. Figure 1-1 shows these three routes. The Jean route is estimated to be about 120 miles long, the Carlin route to be about 365 miles long, and Caliente route to …

The 100-D-2 Lead Sheeting waste site was located approximately 50 m southwest of the 185-D Building and approximately 16 m north of the east/west oriented road. The site consisted of a lead sheet covering a concrete pad. In accordance with this evaluation, the verification sampling results support a reclassification of this site to Interim Closed Out. The results of verification sampling show that residual contaminant concentrations do not preclude any future uses and allow for unrestricted use of shallow zone soils. The results also demonstrate that residual contaminant concentrations are protective of groundwater and the Columbia River.

The second meeting of the Co-ordinated Research Project on"Reference Database for Neutron Activation Analysis" was held at the IAEA, Vienna from 7-9 May, 2007. A summary of the presentations made by participants is given, along with reports on specifically assigned tasks and subsequent discussions. In order to meet the overall objectives of this CRP, the outputs have been reiterated and new task assignments made.

This report summarizes the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to- Know Act (EPCRA) and the major regulatory programs that mandate reporting by industrial facilities of releases of hazardous chemicals to the environment, as well as local planning to respond in the event of significant, accidental releases.

This report discusses a new law, Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), that the European Union (EU) began to implement On June 1, 2007.

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This report consists of the budget for fiscal year 2009.