Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Nationwide, underground storage tanks (UST) containing petroleum and other hazardous substances are leaking, thereby contaminating the soil and water, and posing health risks. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which implements the UST program with the states, required tank owners to install leak detection and prevention equipment by the end of 1993 and 1998 respectively. The Congress asked GAO to determine to what extent (1) tanks comply with the requirements, (2) EPA and the states are inspecting tanks and enforcing requirements, (3) upgraded tanks still leak, and (4) EPA and states are cleaning up these leaks. In response, GAO conducted a survey of all states in 2000 and issued a report on its findings in May 2001. This testimony is based on that report, as well as updated information on program performance since that time."

This report provides an overview of the implementation phase of the department organization and management of the Homeland Security.

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We propose to establish the feasibility of a passive aerosol sampler for bio-agent collection through laboratory experiments and theoretical analysis. The passive sampler, unlike the typical active sampler, does not require pumps and complex fixtures, and thereby allows for large-scale field monitoring not possible with current active samplers. We plan to conduct experiments using model (both biological and non-biological) aerosols generated in an instrumented test chamber and compare the particles collected on various passive samplers to conventional filter samplers, commercial aerosol measuring instruments and to conventional surface swipes. Theoretical analysis will be used to design prototype passive samplers and to compare experimental results with theory. A successful feasibility study will be used to seek outside funding for applications that will greatly enhance current LLNL programs such as NARAC's atmospheric dispersal modeling, NAI's programs in bioagent monitoring in public locations and fixed sampling stations, and EPD's environmental monitoring and decontamination research. In addition, the feasibility study will position us favorably for responding to new calls for proposals by NIH and EPA for large scale environmental studies.

To address concerns about crab entrainment during maintenance dredging at the Mouth of the Columbia River, direct measurements of crab entrainment rates were conducted during the summer of 2002 from River Mile 3 to River Mile+3. The entrainment rate for all age classes over all sampling in the MCR was 0.0603 crabs per cy. The sex ratio of the older crabs entrained in the MCR was significantly skewed to the females. A modified DIM was used to calculate the entrainment (E), Adult Equivalent Loss (AEL) at Age 2+ and Age 3+ and the Loss to the Fishery (LF) for the dredged volumes accomplished in 2002 and for the five-year average dredged volumes (both for the Essayons and the contractor dredges). For both sets of projections, the coefficients of variation on the E, AEL, and LF were all under 5%. For the MCR total dredged volume (4,600,378 cy) in the summer of 2002, the estimated AEL at age 2+ was 180,416 crabs with 95% confidence limits from 163,549 to 197,283 crabs. The AEL at age 3+ estimated for the summer 2002 in the MCR was 81,187 with 95% confidence limits from 73,597 to 88,777 crabs. The projected LF for summer 2002 …

CH2M HILL Hanford Group, Inc. (CH2M HILL) is in the process of identifying and developing supplemental process technologies to accelerate the tank waste cleanup mission. One technology targets disposal of Hanford transuranic (TRU) process wastes stored in single-shell tanks (SSTs). Ten Hanford SSTs are candidates for designation as contact-handled TRU waste type: the B-200 series tanks (241-B-201, -B-202, -B-203, and -B-204), the T-200 series tanks (241-T-201, -T-202, -T-203, and -T-204), and Tanks 241-T-110 and T-111. Current plans identify a process in which these wastes are retrieved from the tanks, either dry or with a recycled liquid stream to help mobilize the waste in the tank and through transfer lines and vessels, dewatered to remove excess liquid, and transferred to waste packages in a form suitable for disposal. CH2M HILL seeks to procure a process for dewatering, handling, and packaging the contact-handled TRU waste after it is retrieved. An understanding of waste physical properties is needed to support design of the SST TRU handling and packaging system and to produce suitable physical simulants to test such a process. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has been tasked with developing these waste simulants. This report summarizes PNNL's assessment of available waste physical property …

I review investigations of the quark confinement mechanism that have been carried out in the framework of SU(N) lattice gauge theory. The special role of Z(N) center symmetry is emphasized.

1,N{sup 6}-Ethanoadenine (EA) is an exocyclic adduct formed from DNA reaction with the antitumor agent, 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU). To understand the role of this adduct in the mechanism of mutagenicity or carcinogenicity by BCNU, an oligonucleotide with a site-specific EA was synthesized using phosphoramidite chemistry. We now report the in vitro miscoding properties of EA in translesion DNA synthesis catalyzed by mammalian DNA polymerases (pols) {alpha}, {beta}, {eta} and {iota}. These data were also compared with those obtained for the structurally related exocyclic adduct, 1,N{sup 6}-ethenoadenine ({var_epsilon}A). Using a primer extension assay, both pols {alpha} and {beta} were primarily blocked by EA or {var_epsilon}A with very minor extension. Pol {eta} a member of the Y family of polymerases, was capable of catalyzing a significant amount of bypass across both adducts. Pol {eta} incorporated all four nucleotides opposite EA and {var_epsilon}A, but with differential preferences and mainly in an error-prone manner. Human pol {iota}, a paralog of human pol {eta}, was blocked by both adducts with a very small amount of synthesis past {var_epsilon}A. It incorporated C and, to a much lesser extent, T, opposite either adduct. In addition, the presence of an A adduct, e.g. {var_epsilon}A, could affect the specificity of …

The causes of the decline in China's energy consumption between 1996 and 2000 are analyzed.

This report is the first milestone report for the actinic mask blank inspection project conducted at the VNL, which forms sub-section 3 of the Q1 2003 mask blank technology transfer program at the VNL. Specifically this report addresses deliverable 3.1.1--design review and preliminary tool design. The goal of this project is to design an actinic mask inspection tool capable of operating in two modes: high-speed scanning for the detection of multilayer defects (inspection mode), and a high-resolution aerial image mode in which the image emulates the imaging illumination conditions of a stepper system (aerial image or AIM mode). The purpose and objective of these two modes is as follows: (1) Defect inspection mode--This imaging mode is designed to scan large areas of the mask for defects EUV multilayer coatings. The goal is to detect the presence of multilayer defects on a mask blank and to store the co-ordinates for subsequent review in AIM mode, thus it is not essential that the illumination and imaging conditions match that of a production stepper. Potential uses for this imaging mode include: (a) Correlating the results obtained using actinic inspection with results obtained using other non-EUV defect inspection systems to verify that the non-EUV …

This report discusses the information related to the World Trade Organization, its background and policy issues.

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We discuss two volume rendering methods developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The first, cell projection, renders the polygons in the projection of each cell. It requires a global visibility sort in order to composite the cells in back to front order, and we discuss several different algorithms for this sort. The second method uses regularly spaced slice planes perpendicular to the X, Y, or Z axes, which slice the cells into polygons. Both methods are supplemented with anti-aliasing techniques to deal with small cells that might fall between pixel samples or slice planes, and both have been parallelized.

This report presents detailed results for three flow problems involving CO2 migration in saline aquifers, that had been posed as part of an international code intercomparison study. Selected data for PVT properties of aqueous mixtures involving CO2 are given, and the dynamics of immiscible displacement of an aqueous phase by supercritical CO2 is discussed. Simulations were conducted with a version of the TOUGH2 general purpose reservoir simulator that includes a special property package for supercritical CO2. The results can serve as benchmarks for debugging numerical simulation models.

This document is a close-out report describing the work done under this DOE grant to improve Federal Energy Productivity. Over the four years covered in this document, the Alliance To Save Energy conducted liaison with the private sector through our Federal Energy Productivity Task Force. In this time, the Alliance held several successful workshops on the uses of metering in Federal facilities and other meetings. We also conducted significant research on energy efficiency, financing, facilitated studies of potential energy savings in energy intensive agencies, and undertook other tasks outlined in this report.

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This report provides current and historical information on the budget resolution. It provides a list of the budget resolutions adopted and rejected by Congress since implementation of the CBA, including the U.S. Statutes-at-Large citations and committee report numbers, and describes their formulation and content. The report provides a table of selected optional components, a list of reconciliation measures, and information on the number of years covered by budget resolutions. It also provides information on the consideration and adoption of budget resolutions, including an identification of the House special rules that provided for consideration of budget resolutions; the amendments in the nature of a substitute to the budget resolution considered in the House; the number and disposition of House and Senate amendments to budget resolutions; and dates of House and Senate action on budget resolutions.

This issue brief views reorganization and management as involving the alteration of the program administrative structure and operations of the executive branch for reasons of efficiency, economy, and direction. The underlying issue is who reorganizes or sets management policy—Congress or the President— and by what authority and, also, for what purpose?

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This report provides an overview of U.S. policy concerns and relations with countries in central Asia. The report discusses issues such as Fostering Pro-Western Orientations, Obstacles to Peace and Independence, Democratization and Human Rights, Security and Arms Control, Trade and Investment, and provides an Aid Overview.

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The World Trade Organization (WTO) was established on January 1, 1995, under an agreement reached during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations. The Uruguay Round was the last of a series of periodic trade negotiations held under the auspices of the WTO’s predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Among the questions asked during debate on U.S. trade policy and the WTO are: To what extent should the United States meet its trade goals in theWTO versus other options? Can the United States maintain its sovereignty as a member of the WTO? Are U.S. interests served through the WTO dispute process? Should the WTO continue to cover traditional trade issues only, or should it be broadened to include nontraditional issues such as labor and the environment? What is the role of Congress in U.S. participation in the WTO?