A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal Reserve Banks fulfill the coin demand of the nation's depository institutions--which include commercial banks, savings and loan associations, and credit unions--by ordering new coins from the U.S. Mint and managing coins held in inventory at the Reserve Banks and in coin terminals. Reliably estimating the demand for coins and efficiently managing the inventory of circulated coins is important to ensure that depository institutions have enough coins to meet the public's demand and to avoid unnecessary coin production costs. Since late 2006, rising metal prices have driven the costs of producing pennies and nickels above the face values of the coins. This report addresses (1) the Reserve Banks' process for ordering and distributing coins to the nation's depository institutions and (2) the extent to which this process meets depository institutions' demand for coins. GAO interviewed officials responsible for coin distribution at each of the 12 Reserve Banks and met with representatives of 4 large operators of Federal Reserve coin terminals, 2 banking associations, the U.S. Mint, and the nation's largest coin recycling company. GAO also analyzed Reserve Bank data for fiscal years 1993 through 2007. Federal …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Small Business Administration (SBA) helps small businesses gain access to federal contracting opportunities and helps socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses, known as 8(a) firms, by providing management and contracting assistance. SBA negotiates agency-specific goals to ensure that the federal government meets the statutory goal of awarding 23 percent of contract dollars to small businesses. GAO was asked to (1) describe how SBA sets small business contracting goals and the extent to which federal agencies met these goals; (2) examine the role of SBA staff in supporting small business contracting at selected federal agencies; and (3) examine SBA's overall administration of the 8(a) program. To address these objectives, GAO reviewed SBA guidance and SBA Inspector General (IG) reports, interviewed SBA and other federal officials, and conducted site visits and file reviews at four SBA locations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense's (DOD) C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III aircraft play key roles in transporting weapons and other cargo. Since September 2001, these aircraft have delivered over 2.4 million tons of cargo to staging and operating bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet determining the number and mix to meet current and future airlift requirements has become increasingly challenging given distinct differences between the two aircraft. While the C-5 can carry more cargo, the newer C-17 is more flexible since it can deliver to forward-deployed bases and has a higher mission capable rate. GAO was asked to identify the impact C-5 modernization cost increases have had on the mix of aircraft; assess the current C-5 modernization cost estimate; and identify C-17 production plans and issues related to production line shutdown. To conduct its work, GAO reviewed options DOD considered to meet its current and future strategic airlift requirements, and evaluated C-5 modernization and C-17 production line shut down cost estimates."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Competition between federal and private organizations to provide services--referred to as "competitive sourcing"--can be one way to help achieve greater efficiency in government. Under guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), competitive sourcing has been implemented at various executive branch agencies over the years. As required under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 and directed by House Report 110-231, this report examines the use of competitive sourcing at the Department of Labor (DOL). Specifically, GAO examined the comprehensiveness and reliability of DOL's performance and cost assessments in accordance with OMB and DOL guidance as well as the impact of competitive sourcing on certain DOL workers. To address these issues, GAO reviewed relevant statutes, guidance, reports and personnel actions; and interviewed OMB and DOL officials and 60 DOL staff, grouped by role, in four locations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To aid law enforcement efforts against financial crimes, under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) depository institutions must file the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's (FinCEN) currency transaction report (CTR) form on their customers' cash transactions of more than $10,000. While FinCEN's regulations allow institutions to exempt certain customers, over 15 million CTRs were filed in 2006. Public Law 109-351 directed GAO to report on (1) the usefulness of CTRs to law enforcement; (2) depository institutions' costs of meeting CTR requirements; and (3) ways to encourage use of exemptions to avoid unnecessary CTRs. Among other things, GAO obtained data from FinCEN on CTRs and exemptions from 2004 to 2006, surveyed 115 state and local law enforcement agencies and 680 depository institutions, held structured interviews with officials of federal agencies and depository institutions, and reviewed relevant laws and regulations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Private defined benefit (DB) pension plans are an important source of retirement income for millions of Americans. However, from 1990 to 2006, plan sponsors have voluntarily terminated over 61,000 sufficiently funded single-employer DB plans. An event preceding at least some of these terminations was a so-called plan "freeze"--an amendment to the plan to limit some or all future pension accruals for some or all plan participants. Available information that the government collects about frozen plans is limited in scope and may not be recent. GAO conducted a stratified probability sample survey of 471 single-employer DB plan sponsors out of a population of 7,804 (with 100 or more total plan participants) to gather more timely and detailed information about frozen plans. We have prepared this report under the Comptroller General's authority as part of our ongoing reassessment of risks associated with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's (PBGC) single-employer pension insurance program, which, in 2003, we placed on our high-risk list of programs that need broad-based transformations and warrant the attention of Congress and the executive branch. Frozen DB plans have possible implications for PBGC's long-term financial position. …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The share of older persons in the U.S. population age 55 and older is projected to increase to 30 percent by 2025 and continue to grow through 2050. At the same time, more older persons are expected to continue working than in the past and, in doing so, may need employment and training services as they make transitions to different jobs and work arrangements. Several factors will contribute to this phenomenon. The number of older Americans and their proportion of the total population are increasing and are expected to continue to increase. Fewer of these older Americans are expected to have the traditional retirements of previous generations and many will continue working for financial or other reasons. At the same time, labor force growth is expected to slow and employers will be faced with a relatively smaller and younger available workforce. As a result, some businesses will need to retain existing older workers or attract additional older workers to meet their workforce needs. The Department of Labor (Labor) has identified one-stop career centers (one-stops) as a means to link older workers with employers through employment and …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Department of Defense (DOD) officials who serve in senior and acquisition positions and then leave for jobs with defense contractors are subject to the restrictions of post-government employment laws, in order to protect against conflicts of interest. Congress required GAO to report on employment of such officials by contractors who received more than $500 million in DOD's 2005 contract awards. In response, this report (1) provides information on how many former DOD employees worked for contractors in 2006 and estimates how many worked on contracts that were related to their former agencies or to their direct responsibilities and (2) identifies the practices used to monitor restrictions and information challenges in monitoring post-DOD employment. To do this work, GAO matched data from DOD for all employees who left DOD over a 6 year period with data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and from 52 contractors; conducted surveys; and interviewed DOD and contractor officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Securing the control systems that regulate the nation's critical infrastructures is vital to ensuring our economic security and public health and safety. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), a federal corporation and the nation's largest public power company, generates and distributes power in an area of about 80,000 square miles in the southeastern United States. GAO was asked to determine whether TVA has implemented appropriate information security practices to protect its control systems. To do this, GAO examined the security practices in place at several TVA facilities; analyzed the agency's information security policies, plans, and procedures against federal law and guidance; and interviewed agency officials who are responsible for overseeing TVA's control systems and their security."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) established a voluntary outpatient prescription drug benefit, known as Medicare Part D. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) contracts with private companies to serve as Part D sponsors and administer the Part D prescription drug benefit plans. To protect beneficiaries and the fiscal integrity of the program, the MMA requires Part D sponsors to implement programs to control for fraud and abuse in Part D. Subsequent regulations and guidance from CMS contain requirements and recommended measures for these programs. This report examines (1) the extent to which certain Part D sponsors have implemented programs to control fraud, waste, and abuse and (2) the extent of CMS's oversight of Part D sponsors' programs to control fraud, waste, and abuse. GAO conducted on-site reviews of five of the largest Part D sponsors' fraud and abuse programs. GAO also interviewed officials from CMS and reviewed CMS documents."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "About 43,000 people died and another 290,000 were seriously injured on the nation's roads in 2006. To reduce these numbers, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) nearly doubled funding for the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). SAFETEA-LU added requirements for states to develop strategic highway safety plans that include four key elements and to publicly report on at least the top 5 percent of hazardous locations on all of their public roads. The act also set aside funds for a legacy rail-highway crossing program and a new high-risk rural road program. As requested, GAO examined (1) states' implementation of HSIP following SAFETEA-LU, (2) HSIP results to date, and (3) FHWA's guidance and assistance to states. GAO analyzed plans from 25 states, including 19 randomly selected states and 6 states that GAO visited. GAO also interviewed FHWA and state safety officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Agencies are allowed to raise pay caps for their Senior Executive Service (SES) members if the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) certifies and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) concurs that their appraisal systems meet applicable criteria. As requested, this report examines selected agencies' policies and procedures for (1) factoring organizational performance into SES appraisal decisions, (2) making meaningful distinctions in SES performance and (3) building safeguards into SES systems. Also, this report examines OPM and OMB oversight in certifying the pay systems through their statutory roles. GAO selected six agencies based on mission, structure, and number of career SES variations. GAO analyzed the agencies' policies and fiscal year 2007 aggregate SES appraisal data and OPM guidance."

Today's 911 system is built on an infrastructure of analog technology that does not support many of the features that most Americans expect are part of an emergency response. Recognizing the importance of providing effective 911 service, Congress has passed three major bills supporting improvements in the handling of 911 emergency calls. This report includes a detailed overview of the 911 system, as well as related legislation and policies currently in consideration by Congress.

According to various estimates, the U.S. military sprayed approximately 11-12 million gallons of Agent Orange over nearly 10% of Vietnamese territory between 1961 and 1971. This report examines various estimates of the effects of Agent Orange on Vietnam's people and environment, the history of U.S. policy on the issue, the current clean-up efforts in Vietnam, the various forms of assistance -- including U.S. assistance -- provided to people with medical conditions associated with dioxin exposure, and the implications for bilateral relations. It concludes with a brief discussion of possible congressional responses to the issue.

Increasing militant activity in western Pakistan poses three key national security threats: an increased potential for major attacks against the United States itself; a growing threat to Pakistani stability; and a hindrance of U.S. efforts to stabilize Afghanistan. This report addresses this issue at length. It also describes the recent upsurge of militant activity on the Pakistani side of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, as well as the general political climates of Pakistan and Afghanistan and their relationships with the United States.

Employer-provided health insurance is excluded from the determination of employees' federal income taxes, resulting in significant tax savings for many workers. The federal income tax exclusion -- the focus of this report -- is criticized for several reasons. These arguments about the exclusion merit careful consideration as Congress is starting to debate broad health care reform for the first time in 15 years. This report discusses this issue at length, including advantages and disadvantages to keeping the income tax inclusion as Congress undergoes the health policy reform process.

Iraq's political system, the result of a U.S.-supported election process, continues to be riven by sectarianism and ethnic and factional infighting. The Administration is optimistic that the passage of key laws in 2008, including a law to govern provincial elections to be held in early 2009, will sustain recent reductions in violence.

Permits issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorize various types of development projects in wetlands and other waters of the United States. The Corps' regulatory process involves two types of permits: general permits for actions for private landowners that will likely have a minor effect on wetlands, and individual permits for more significant actions. Interest groups have a number of specific criticisms of the permits. For some time, there has been a stalemate in Congress over legislation related to this issue.

This report examines Georgia's efforts to democratize and bolster its free market economy, while surmounting separatism, Russian economic sanctions, and other problems. U.S. policy and assistance are discussed. Basic facts and biographical information are provided. Related products include CRS Report RL33453, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Political Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests, by Jim Nichol.

The overall goal of the DOE EPSCoR Initiative in Structural and Computational Biology was to enhance the competiveness of Vermont research in these scientific areas. To develop self-sustaining infrastructure, we increased the critical mass of faculty, developed shared resources that made junior researchers more competitive for federal research grants, implemented programs to train graduate and undergraduate students who participated in these research areas and provided seed money for research projects. During the time period funded by this DOE initiative: (1) four new faculty were recruited to the University of Vermont using DOE resources, three in Computational Biology and one in Structural Biology; (2) technical support was provided for the Computational and Structural Biology facilities; (3) twenty-two graduate students were directly funded by fellowships; (4) fifteen undergraduate students were supported during the summer; and (5) twenty-eight pilot projects were supported. Taken together these dollars resulted in a plethora of published papers, many in high profile journals in the fields and directly impacted competitive extramural funding based on structural or computational biology resulting in 49 million dollars awarded in grants (Appendix I), a 600% return on investment by DOE, the State and University.

This cleanup verification package documents completion of remedial action, sampling activities, and compliance with cleanup criteria for the 118-F-2 Burial Ground. This burial ground, formerly called Solid Waste Burial Ground No. 1, was the original solid waste disposal site for the 100-F Area. Eight trenches contained miscellaneous solid waste from the 105-F Reactor and one trench contained solid waste from the biology facilities.

Ultrasonic (UT) inspection of Tank 15 was conducted between April and July 2007 in accordance with the Tank 15 UT inspection plan. This was a planned re-inspection of this tank, the previous one was performed in 2002. Ten cracks were characterized in the previous examination. The re-inspection was performed to verify the present models and understanding for stress corrosion cracking. During this re-examination, one indication that was initially reported as a 'possible perpendicular crack <25% through wall' in 2002, was clearly shown not to be a crack. Additionally, examination of a new area immediately adjacent to other cracks along a vertical weld revealed three new cracks. It is not known when these new cracks formed as they could very well have been present in 2002 as well. Therefore, a total of twelve cracks were evaluated during the re-examination. A critical review of the information describing stress corrosion crack behavior for the SRS waste tanks, as well as a summary review of the service history of Tank 15, was performed. Each crack was then evaluated for service exposure history, consistency of the crack behavior with the current understanding of stress corrosion cracking, and present and future impact to the structural integrity …

Twenty five glass compositions were selected for a Phase II study to assess the potential for reducing the conservatism in the nepheline discriminator. The glass compositions were restricted to regions that fell within the validation ranges of the DWPF PCCS models. In addition, the liquidus temperature model was used to restrict the glass compositions so that they could all be melted at the same temperature. The nepheline discriminator was used to force the glass compositions into regions where nepheline formation was predicted to occur. The glasses were fabricated in the laboratory and characterized for crystallization and chemical durability after both quenching and slow cooling. Chemical analysis showed that the fabricated glasses met the target compositions. Nepheline was identified in one of the quenched glasses and several of the CCC glasses. There was no clear relationship between the types of crystallization that occurred in a particular glass and its location on the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-Na{sub 2}O-SiO{sub 2} ternary diagram. A partitioning algorithm was used to identify trends in crystallization behavior based on glass composition. Generally, for the CCC glasses MnO influenced the crystallization of spinels and B{sub 2}O{sub 3} and SiO{sub 2} influenced the crystallization of nepheline. Measured durability responses varied …

Part of the 300 Area Integrated Field-Scale Subsurface Research Challenge (IFC) will be installation of a network of high density borings and wells to monitor migration of fluids and contaminants (uranium), both in groundwater and vadose zone, away from an surface infiltration plot (Figure A-1). The infiltration plot will be located over an area of suspected contamination at the former 300 Area South Process Pond (SPP). The SPP is located in the southeastern portion of the Hanford Site, within the 300-FF-5 Operable Unit. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) with the support of FH shall stake the well locations prior to the start of drilling. Final locations will be based on accessibility and will avoid any surface or underground structures or hazards as well as surface contamination.