Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO recently testified before the Committee regarding allegations of death and abuse at residential programs for troubled teens. Recent reports indicate that vulnerable children are being abused in other settings. For example, one report on the use of restraints and seclusions in schools documented cases where students were pinned to the floor for hours at a time, handcuffed, locked in closets, and subjected to other acts of violence. In some of these cases, this type of abuse resulted in death. Given these reports, the Committee asked GAO to (1) provide an overview of seclusions and restraint laws applicable to children in public and private schools, (2) verify whether allegations of student death and abuse from the use of these methods are widespread, and (3) examine the facts and circumstances surrounding cases where a student died or suffered abuse as a result of being secluded or restrained. GAO reviewed federal and state laws and abuse allegations from advocacy groups, parents, and the media from the past two decades. GAO did not evaluate whether using restraints and seclusions can be beneficial. GAO examined documents related to closed cases, including police …

This guide describes how to develop a site in a way that does the least damage to the ecosystem, and provides maximum ecological benefits, including improved air quality, storm water treatment, and energy efficiency.

This publication is intended to catalyze social and political change in order to improve resource efficiency and reduce emissions.

This article discusses climate change and its effects on children's health.

In accordance with the directives outlined in Executive Order #14-03, this Third Biennial Report of the Climate Neutral Working Group (CNWG) provides an update regarding: The state of the science of responding to climate change; Efforts to meet the goals of the Executive Order; Future planned steps and their anticipated impacts, expected challenges, and opportunities; Opportunities to initiate a statewide voluntary greenhouse gas emissions registry; The feasibility of a carbon emissions cap and trading program. Also summarized within this report are a number of related ongoing efforts within state government that will facilitate an expanded and coordinated campaign to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Recommended actions for continued GHG emissions reductions are presented in this report to be considered for implementation during 2009 – 2010 by Vermont State Government.

The white paper on comprehensive environmental policy describes the role of Japan's economy in a sound global environment. In the first part, the report describes current the environmental conditions of the Earth and of Japan, human activities in Japan and overseas, their environmental impacts, and the pathway to the environmental century. The second part of the white paper reports on various measures.

Explanation of industrial and hazardous waste materials and the responsibilities of small-quantity waste generators.

This science plan elaborates upon the concept of Earth system governance, defined as the interrelated systems of formal and informal rules and actor-networks that are set up to steer societies towards preventing, mitigating, and adapting to environmental change within the normative context of sustainable development. The notion of governance here refers to a less hierarchical and more decentralized system than traditional governmental policy-making, inclusive of non-state actors such as non-governmental organizations, indigenous communities, and international organizations.

This book presents the first broad look at the rapidly emerging field of data-intensive science, with the goal of influencing the worldwide scientific and computing research communities and inspiring the next generation of scientists. Increasingly, scientific breakthroughs will be powered by advanced computing capabilities that help researchers manipulate and explore massive datasets. The speed at which any given scientific discipline advances will depend on how well its researchers collaborate with one another, and with technologists, in areas of eScience such as databases, workflow management, visualization, and cloud-computing technologies. This collection of essays expands on the vision of pioneering computer scientist Jim Gray for a new, fourth paradigm of discovery based on data-intensive science and offers insights into how it can be fully realized.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the early 1960s, the United States has maintained an embargo on Cuba through various laws, regulations, and presidential proclamations regarding trade, travel, and financial transactions. A stated purpose of the embargo--the most comprehensive set of U.S. economic sanctions on any country--is to deny hard currency to the Cuban government. The embargo, which the President has broad authority to modify, is implemented primarily by the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) through regulation of financial transactions with Cuba and by the Department of Commerce (Commerce) through regulation of the export of commodities, software, and technology to Cuba. Modifications to the embargo by legislation and presidential policy directives in the 1990s and early 2000s alternately eased and tightened restrictions on travel, remittances, gifts, and exports to Cuba. In September 2009, responding to legislation passed in March and presidential policy directives issued in April, Treasury and Commerce published regulatory changes that further ease some embargo restrictions."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This supplementary report to GAO-09-829 provides individual state appendixes for 16 states and the District of Columbia for GAO's work on the second of its bimonthly reviews of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act). GAO's work focused on nine federal programs that are estimated to account for approximately 87 percent of federal Recovery Act outlays in fiscal year 2009 for programs administered by states and localities."

A study examining the topography, geology, geophysics, currents, hydrography, chemistry and biota of the Northern Gulf of Mexico continental slope.

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This supplementary report to GAO-09-1016 provides individual state appendixes for 16 states and the District of Columbia for GAO's work on the third of its bimonthly reviews of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act). GAO's work focused on nine federal programs that are estimated to account for approximately 87 percent of federal Recovery Act outlays in fiscal year 2009 for programs administered by states and localities."

This report provides an ongoing assessment of the exposure of the U.S. population to environmental chemicals by the use of biomonitoring.

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Presented is GAO's Performance and Accountability Report for fiscal year 2009. In the spirit of the Government Performance and Results Act, this annual report informs the Congress and the American people about what we have achieved on their behalf. The financial information and the data measuring GAO's performance contained in this report are complete and reliable."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses GAO's efforts to coordinate with the accountability community--the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board (the Board), the Inspectors General (IGs), and state and local government auditors--to help ensure effective and efficient oversight of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) funds. The Recovery Act assigns GAO a range of responsibilities including bimonthly reviews of the use of funds by selected states and localities. Because funding streams will flow from federal agencies to the states and localities, it is important for us to coordinate with the accountability community. Also, on March 19, 2009, GAO testified before this Subcommittee about the more than $21 billion in Recovery Act funds estimated to be spent for research and development (R&D) activities at four federal agencies. This statement discusses (1) GAO's efforts to fulfill its responsibilities under the Recovery Act; (2) GAO's coordination with others in the accountability community; (3) GAO's authorities to assist whistleblowers and elicit public concerns; and (4) updated information on the status of Recovery Act funds for R&D. It is based in part on GAO's first bimonthly Recovery Act report, Recovery Act: As Initial Implementation Unfolds in …

This report summarizes NOAA's budget request for the 2010 fiscal year.

This report examines how communities have used green infrastructure solutions to address water management challenges and become more resilient to climate change.

Transcript of a public hearing held by the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq & Afghanistan held December 18, 2009 in Washington, D.C. This hearing includes testimony from federal officials and government contractors on the adequacy and oversight of contract training for Afghanistan's national army and police forces.

The Coal Ash Resources Research Consortium{reg_sign} (CARRC{reg_sign}, pronounced 'cars') is the core coal combustion product (CCP) research group at the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC). CARRC focuses on performing fundamental and applied scientific and engineering research emphasizing the environmentally safe, economical use of CCPs. CARRC member organizations, which include utilities and marketers, are key to developing industry-driven research in the area of CCP utilization and ensuring its successful application. The U.S. Department of Energy is a partner in CARRC through the EERC Jointly Sponsored Research Program, which provides matching funds for industrial member contributions and facilitates an increased level of effort in CARRC. CARRC tasks were designed to provide information on CCP performance, including environmental performance, engineering performance, favorable economics, and improved life cycle of products and projects. CARRC technical research tasks are developed based on member input and prioritization. CARRC special projects are developed with members and nonmembers to provide similar information and to support activities, including the assembly and interpretation of data, support for standards development and technology transfer, and facilitating product development and testing. CARRC activities from 2007 to 2009 included a range of research tasks, with primary work performed in laboratory tasks developed to answer …