A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act, every 5 years the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is to determine for at least five contaminants, such as chemicals, whether regulation is warranted, considering those that present the greatest public health concern. Since 1996, EPA had not recommended any new contaminants for regulation until February 2011, when it reversed its controversial 2008 preliminary decision to not regulate perchlorate, an ingredient in rocket fuel and other products. GAO was asked to (1) evaluate the extent to which EPA's implementation of the 1996 amendments has helped assure the public of safe drinking water and (2) review the process and scientific analyses used to develop the 2008 preliminary regulatory determination on perchlorate. GAO analyzed relevant statutory provisions and regulatory determination documents and interviewed EPA officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States' growing dependence on space systems makes them vulnerable to a range of threats. DOD has undertaken a variety of initiatives to provide space situational awareness (SSA)--the knowledge and characterization of space objects and the environment on which space operations depend. GAO was asked to (1) review key systems being planned and acquired to provide SSA, and their progress meeting cost, schedule, and performance goals; and (2) determine how much an integrated approach is being used to manage and oversee efforts to develop SSA capabilities. To achieve this, GAO analyzed documentation and interviewed key officials on major SSA development efforts and oversight and management of SSA. This report is an unclassified version of a classified report issued in February 2011."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal agencies rely on a multisector workforce of federal employees and contractor personnel to perform services needed to carry out their missions. Determining whether to obtain services through insourcing with current or new federal employees, outsourcing with private-sector contractors, or sourcing with a combination of the two is an important economic and strategic decision essential to the federal government's effective and efficient use of taxpayer dollars. Since fiscal year 2006, civilian agencies have obligated over $100 billion annually to obtain a range of services from contractors. Almost 80 percent of contract obligations made by civilian agencies in fiscal year 2010 were for service contracts. Since the mid-1950s, the executive branch has encouraged federal agencies to obtain commercially available services from the private sector when outsourcing is cost effective. In 2009, however, the President issued a memorandum on government contracting that expressed concern about whether agencies have become overly reliant on contractors and have appropriately outsourced services. In particular, the President noted that the line between inherently governmental functions--those that must be performed by federal employees--and commercial activities that may be contracted for has been blurred. In the memorandum, …

Presentation for the 2011 Phoenix Staff Development Day discussing how to assess the critical thinking skills of students in single library instruction classes. The challenges and solutions are discussed, as well as a recommendation for, and example of, a library instruction worksheet that can be used.

The 112th Congress is under renewed pressure to come to a decision about the assignment of a block of radio frequency spectrum licenses referred to as the D Block, and to provide a plan for federal support of broadband networks for emergency communications. The cost of constructing new networks (wireless and wireline) is estimated by experts to be in the tens of billions of dollars over the long term, with similarly large sums needed for maintenance and operation. Identifying money for federal support in the current climate of budget constraints provides a challenge to policy makers. The greater challenge, however, may be to assure that funds are spent effectively toward the national goals that Congress sets.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) provides a statutory framework by which government agencies may, when gathering foreign intelligence investigation,1 obtain authorization to conduct electronic surveillance2 or physical searches,3 utilize pen registers and trap and trace devices,4 or access specified business records and other tangible things. Authorization for such activities is typically obtained via a court order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), a specialized court created to act as a neutral judicial decision maker in the context of FISA.

From the start of the 112th Congress, reform of the current U.S. corporate tax system has been widely debated as an option to stimulate the economy. Most of the debate has focused on lowering the corporate tax rate and moving towards a territorial system. An exception to this is a plan to reduce the tax rate on repatriated dividends that has received some consideration. Under such a plan, the U.S. tax that U.S. firms pay when their overseas operations remit ("repatriate") their foreign earnings as dividends to their U.S. parent corporations would be reduced. Variations of this type of proposal have been introduced in several bills, including H.R. 1036, H.R. 1834, and S. 727, in the 112th Congress.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

This report discusses the current political and foreign policy status of Morocco, especially with regard to its relationship with the United States and its struggles combating terrorism.

A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Weekly newspaper from Dallas, Texas that includes local, state, and national news and advertising of interest to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Requirements for real property to qualify as an "ecological laboratory" under section 23.51, Tax Code (RQ-0934-GA)

Bill introduced by the Texas House of Representatives relating to proceedings that may be referred to and the powers of a criminal law magistrate in Bexar County.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to the vaccination against bacterial meningitis of entering students at public and private or independent institutions of higher education.

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Through particle-in-cell simulations, the evolution of nonlinear plasma waves is examined in one-dimensional collisionless plasma undergoing mechanical compression. Unlike linear waves, whose wavelength decreases proportionally to the system length L(t), nonlinear waves, such as solitary electron holes, conserve their characteristic size {Delta} during slow compression. This leads to a substantially stronger adiabatic amplification as well as rapid collisionless damping when L approaches {Delta}. On the other hand, cessation of compression halts the wave evolution, yielding a stable mode.

Results from the 9975 shipping package Storage and Surveillance Program at the Savannah River Site (SRS) are summarized for justification to extend the life of the 9975 packages currently stored in the K-Area Complex (KAC). This justification is established with the stipulation that surveillance activities will continue throughout the extended time to ensure the continued integrity of the 9975 materials of construction and to further understand the currently identified degradation mechanisms. The 10 year storage life justification was developed prior to storage. A subsequent report was later used to validate the qualification of the 9975 shipping packages for 10 years in storage. However the qualification for the storage period was provided by the monitoring requirements of the 9975 Storage and Surveillance Program. This report summarizes efforts to determine a new safe storage limit for the 9975 shipping package based on the surveillance data collected since 2005 when the 9975 Storage and Surveillance Program began. The Program has demonstrated that the 9975 package has a robust design that can perform under a variety of conditions. The primary emphasis of the on-going 9975 Storage and Surveillance Program is an aging study of the 9975 Viton{reg_sign} containment vessel O-rings and the Celotex{reg_sign} fiberboard …

Long-term demonstration tests of advanced sorbent enhancement additive (SEA) technologies have been completed at five coal-fired power plants. The targeted removal rate was 90% from baseline conditions at all five stations. The plants included Hawthorn Unit 5, Mill Creek Unit 4, San Miguel Unit 1, Centralia Unit 2, and Hoot Lake Unit 2. The materials tested included powdered activated carbon, treated carbon, scrubber additives, and SEAs. In only one case (San Miguel) was >90% removal not attainable. The reemission of mercury from the scrubber at this facility prevented >90% capture.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to exempting persons who are convicted of certain sexual offenses from registering as a sex offender in this state.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to protective orders for stalking victims.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to inclusion of pets and other companion animals in protective orders; providing a penalty.

Joint resolution introduced by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate proposing a constitutional amendment to clarify references to the permanent school fund, to allow the General Land Office to distribute revenue derived from permanent school fund land or other properties to the available school fund, and to provide for an increase in the market value of the permanent school fund for the purpose of allowing increased distributions from the available school fund.

Bill introduced by the Texas Senate relating to requirements to vote, including presenting proof of identification; providing criminal penalties.