On March 19, 2003, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 975, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2003. H.R. 975, as introduced, was substantially similar to the legislation (H.R. 333) approved by both the House and the Senate during the 107th Congress, but omitted the Schumer Amendment which would have prevented the discharge of liability for willful violation of protective orders and violent protests against providers of “lawful services,” including reproductive health services. As passed by the House, H.R. 975 was amended to add sections to, among other things, increase the cap on wage and employee benefit claims. The Senate did not consider H.R. 975 during the first session of the 108th Congress. This report provides an overview of selected major provisions of the legislation.

This report identifies the most commonly used motions and requests available to Members during proceedings in the House of Representatives. This report divides the motions and requests into seven broad categories, based on when the motion or request is in order and who can make the motion or request.

At the request of Jose Hernandez we performed some feasibility DR/CT scanning of BSTRA Balls of different sizes. To this point we have scanned all the specimens on a single system, HECAT. This particular system employs a 9 meV LINAC as the x-ray source and a THALES 12 x 16 inch 14-bit Amorphous Silicon panel as the detector. In this report we describe the system, detail some of its properties, describe the scans performed and present the data. Figure 1 contains a couple of images of the system as fielded in the 9 MeV bay. The LINAC is in the right portion of the picture. The black panels in the blue frame constitute the High Energy collimator developed specifically for High Energy DR/CT scanning (known here as Stonehenge II). The holes in the collimator panels are beveled to match the distribution of the x-rays from the LINAC, and are sized to just subtend the active area of the THALES Amorphous Silicon panel. Consequently the source to detector distance is restricted to a few positions. Nominally our source to detector distance is 6 meters. The part manipulator, part holder fixturing consists of a translate-rotate assembly on a NEWPORT air bearing table. …

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With the Nation's coal-burning utilities facing the possibility of tighter controls on mercury pollutants, the U.S. Department of Energy is funding projects that could offer power plant operators better ways to reduce these emissions at much lower costs. Sorbent injection technology represents one of the simplest and most mature approaches to controlling mercury emissions from coal-fired boilers. It involves injecting a solid material such as powdered activated carbon into the flue gas. The gas-phase mercury in the flue gas contacts the sorbent and attaches to its surface. The sorbent with the mercury attached is then collected by the existing particle control device along with the other solid material, primarily fly ash. During 2001, ADA Environmental Solutions (ADA-ES) conducted a full-scale demonstration of sorbent-based mercury control technology at the Alabama Power E.C. Gaston Station (Wilsonville, AL). This unit burns a low-sulfur bituminous coal and uses a hot-side electrostatic precipitator (ESP) in combination with a Compact Hybrid Particulate Collector (COHPAC{trademark}) baghouse to collect fly ash. The majority of the fly ash is collected in the ESP with the residual being collected in the COHPAC{trademark} baghouse. Activated carbon was injected between the ESP and COHPAC{trademark} units to collect the mercury. Short-term mercury removal …

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Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code (MCNP) (Reference 1) is the code of choice for doing complex neutron/photon/electron transport calculations for the nuclear industry and research institutions. The Visual Editor for Monte Carlo N-Particle (References 2 to 11) is recognized internationally as the best code for visually creating and graphically displaying input files for MCNP. The work performed in this grant enhanced the capabilities of the MCNP Visual Editor to allow it to read in a 2D Computer Aided Design (CAD) file, allowing the user to modify and view the 2D CAD file and then electronically generate a valid MCNP input geometry with a user specified axial extent.

The results presented here demonstrate that the Paul Trap Simulator Experiment (PTSX) simulates the propagation of intense charged particle beams over distances of many kilometers through magnetic alternating-gradient (AG) transport systems by making use of the similarity between the transverse dynamics of particles in the two systems. Plasmas have been trapped that correspond to normalized intensity parameters s = wp2 (0)/2wq2 * 0.8, where wp(r) is the plasmas frequency and wq is the average transverse focusing frequency in the smooth-focusing approximation. The measured root-mean-squared (RMS) radius of the beam is consistent with a model, equally applicable to both PTSX and AG systems that balances the average inward confining force against the outward pressure-gradient and space-charge forces. The PTSX device confines one-component cesium ion plasmas for hundreds of milliseconds, which is equivalent to over 10 km of beam propagation.

In this quarter, a simulation has been carried out to validate the FEM model for a production facility mill configuration, focusing on the shape change evolution of the slab. Results of ingot shape evolution for a 13 pass rolling simulation are given in Figure 1. It was observed that the rollover of the slab is strongly dependent on friction. More studies on friction laws may be necessary for more accurate prediction. Another important feature is the mesh dependence of the result. More frequent remeshing may be necessary to be able to capture the deformation behavior more accurately. These issues are currently being investigated. Also, we expect that ATC will provide the refined fracture model to LLNL shortly. Once available, appropriate modifications will be made in the FEM subroutines, and the validation process for slab fracture will continue.

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This is the sixth quarterly technical report for the RP-5 Renewable Energy Efficiency Project. The report summarizes the work progress, effort and activities that took place during the period from October 1, 2003 through December 31, 2003. The report has been prepared in accordance with the Department of Energy (DOE) Guidelines. In coordination with the DOE, IEUA has revised the original Cooperative Agreement to reflect the actual and current project scope of work. The original Agreement statement of work (SOW) included conceptual and preliminary equipment and systems, which were further evaluated for feasibility and suitability for the project. As a result, some of the equipment was taken out of the project scope. In response to questions from the DOE, IEUA has submitted a summary report on the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) secondary power generation units for availability and suitability for this project and associated safety concerns pointed out by the DOE. IEUA has awarded the consulting engineering contract to Parsons Water and Infrastructure, Inc. to provide the project's design and construction services. The project's pre-design kickoff meeting was held at IEUA's headquarters on December 11, 2003. IEUA has submitted a proposal for a grant offered by California Energy Commission (CEC) …

This report provides summaries of the federal laws and regulations particular to telemarketing, the establishment of a national do-not-call registry, and the options that are available to consumers to limit the calls that they receive from telemarketers and to report questionable telemarketing practices to local or federal authorities. The report also lists sources of additional information with addresses, phone numbers, and Internet sites (if available).

The goal of this program was to reduce the long term technical risks that were keeping the lighting industry from embracing and developing organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology for general illumination. The specific goal was to develop OLEDs for lighting to the point where it was possible to demonstrate a large area white light panel with brightness and light quality comparable to a fluorescence source and with an efficacy comparable to that of an incandescent source. it was recognized that achieving this would require significant advances in three area: (1) the improvement of white light quality for illumination, (2) the improvement of OLED energy efficiency at high brightness, and (3) the development of cost-effective large area fabrication techniques. The program was organized such that, each year, a ''deliverable'' device would be fabricated which demonstrated progress in one or more of the three critical research areas. In the first year (2001), effort concentrated on developing an OLED capable of generating high illumination-quality white light. Ultimately, a down-conversion method where a blue OLED was coupled with various down-conversion layers was chosen. Various color and scattering models were developed to aid in material development and device optimization. The first year utilized this approach …

This report documents progress made on the subject project during the period of September 1, 2003 through February 28, 2004. The TERESA Study is designed to investigate the role played by specific emissions sources and components in the induction of adverse health effects by examining the relative toxicity of coal combustion and mobile source (gasoline and/or diesel engine) emissions and their oxidative products. The study involves on-site sampling, dilution, and aging of coal combustion emissions at three coal-fired power plants, as well as mobile source emissions, followed by animal exposures incorporating a number of toxicological endpoints. The DOE-EPRI Cooperative Agreement (henceforth referred to as ''the Agreement'') for which this technical progress report has been prepared covers the analysis and interpretation of the field data collected at the first power plant (located in the Upper Midwest), followed by the performance and analysis of similar field experiments at two additional coal-fired power plants utilizing different coal types and with different plant configurations. Modifications to the original study design, which will improve the atmospheric aging component of the project and ensure that emissions are as realistic as possible, have resulted in project delays, and, at the time of report preparation, fieldwork at the …

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From a public policy perspective, the goals are to ensure that broadband deployment is timely, that industry competes fairly, and that service is provided to all sectors and geographical locations of American society. The federal government -- through Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) -- is seeking to ensure fair competition among the players so that broadband will be available and affordable in a timely manner to all Americans who want it. While the FCC's position is not to intervene at this time, some assert that legislation is necessary to ensure fair competition and timely broadband deployment. One proposal would ease certain legal restrictions and requirements, imposed by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, on incumbent telephone companies who provide high speed data (broadband) access. Another proposal would compel cable companies to provide "open access" to competing Internet service providers.

This report details the information related to budget allocation for FY 2005 The contents include Budget Action, Outlays, Receipts, deficits, and Surpluses, etc.

An In Tank Processing (ITP) technology was developed at the Savannah River Site to remove Cs-137 from high-level waste supernates. During the ITP process monosodium titanate and sodium tetraphenylborate (NaTPB) were added to the salt supernate to adsorb Sr-90/Pu-238 and precipitate Cs-137 as CsTPB, respectively. This process was demonstrated at the SRS in 1983. The demonstration produced 53,000 gallons of 2.5 weight per cent Cs rich precipitate containing TPB, which was later washed and diluted to 250,000 gallons. This material is currently stored in SRS tanks. The washed precipitate was to ultimately be disposed in borosilicate glass in the Defense Waste Processing Facility. Due to safety concerns the ITP process was abandoned in 1998, and new technologies are being researched for Cs-137 removal. In order to make space in the SRS Tank farm, the tank waste must be removed. Therefore, the tank waste must be processed to reduce or eliminate levels of nitrates, nitrites, and sodium tetra phenylborate (NaTPB) in order to reduce impacts of these species before it is vitrified at the DWPF. Fluidized Bed Steam Reforming (FBSR) is being considered as a candidate technology for destroying the nitrates and the NaTPB prior to melting. The purposes of the …

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Stray electrons can be introduced in positive-charge accelerators for heavy ion fusion (or other applications) as a result of ionization of ambient gas or gas released from walls due to halo-ion impact, or as a result of secondary-electron emission. We are developing a capability for self-consistent simulation of ion beams with the electron clouds they produce. We report on an ingredient in this capability, the effect of specified electron cloud distributions on the dynamics of a coasting ion beam. We consider here electron distributions with axially varying density, centroid location, or radial shape, and examine both random and sinusoidally varying perturbations. We find that amplitude variations are most effective in spoiling ion beam quality, though for sinusoidal variations which match the natural ion beam centroid oscillation or breathing mode frequencies, the centroid and shape perturbations can also be effective. We identify a possible instability associated with resonance with the beam-envelope ''breathing'' mode. One conclusion from this study is that heavy-ion beams are surprisingly robust to electron clouds, compared to a priori expectations.