Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In July 2001, the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) and the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) issued the GAO/PCIE Financial Audit Manual (FAM). In April 2003, we issued an update to the FAM. The FAM provides guidance for performing financial statement audits of federal entities. The FAM is a key tool for enhancing accountability over taxpayer-provided resources. GAO and the PCIE are committed to keeping the FAM current. With this goal in mind,we are now requesting comments on an exposure draft that will revise the Checklist for Reports Prepared Under the CFO Act (CFO Checklist). This update will replace the current CFO Checklist in the FAM Volume II, Section 1004. Once finalized,the updated CFO Checklist will be designated in the FAM Volume II at section 1050."

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication supersedes GAO-02-762G, Benefit System Requirements: Checklist for Reviewing Systems under the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act, September 2002. The Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA) requires, among other things, that agencies implement and maintain financial management systems that substantially comply with federal financial management system requirements. These requirements are detailed in the Federal Financial Management System Requirements series issued by the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program (JFMIP) and in the guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB): Circular A-127, Financial Management Systems, and the January 4, 2001, Revised Implementation Guidance for the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act (FFMIA) of 1996. JFMIP intends for the requirements to promote understanding of key financial management systems concepts and requirements, to provide a framework for establishing integrated financial management systems to support program and financial managers, and to describe specific requirements of financial management systems. We are issuing this checklist, which reflects JFMIP's Benefit System (JFMIP-SR-01-01, September 2001), to assist (1) agencies in implementing and monitoring their benefit systems and (2) managers and auditors in reviewing their benefit systems to determine if they substantially comply …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government faces longstanding problems with excess and underutilized real property, deteriorating facilities, unreliable real property data, and costly space. These problems have multibillion-dollar cost implications and can seriously jeopardize agencies' missions. In addition, federal agencies face many challenges securing real property due to the threat of terrorism. This testimony discusses long-standing, complex problems in the federal real property area and what actions are needed to address them."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has faced persistent challenges in managing its grants, which, at about $4 billion annually constitute over one-half of the agency's total budget. EPA awards grants to thousands of recipients to implement its programs to protect human health and the environment. Given the size and diversity of EPA's programs, its ability to efficiently and effectively accomplish its mission largely depends on how well it manages its grant resources and builds accountability into its efforts. In our comprehensive report on EPA's management of its grants, released last week, we found that EPA continues to face four key grants management challenges despite past efforts to address them--(1) selecting the most qualified grant applicants, (2) effectively overseeing grantees, (3) measuring the results of grants, and (4) effectively managing its grant staff and resources. The report also discusses EPA's latest competition and oversight policies and its new 5-year plan to improve the management of its grants. This testimony, based on our report, focuses on the extent to which EPA's latest policies and plan address (1) awarding grants competitively, (2) improving oversight of grantees, and (3) holding staff and …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Leading public organizations here and abroad recognize that a more strategic approach to human capital management is essential for change initiatives that are intended to transform their cultures. To that end, organizations are looking for ways to identify and develop the leaders, managers, and workforce necessary to face the array of challenges that will confront government in the 21st century. The Subcommittee on Civil Service and Agency Organization, House Committee on Government Reform, requested GAO to identify how agencies in four countries--Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom--are adopting a more strategic approach to managing the succession of senior executives and other public sector employees with critical skills."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The 1998 Head Start Act mandated that 50 percent of all Head Start teachers nationwide have a minimum of an associate degree in early childhood education, or, in a related field with preschool teaching experience, by September 30, 2003. This law also required that each classroom in center-based programs (those that primarily provide services in classroom settings) without such a degreed teacher have a teacher with a Child Development Associate credential or an equivalent state certificate. In preparation for the reauthorization of Head Start in fiscal year 2003, GAO was asked to examine: (1) the extent to which Head Start has met legislative mandates concerning teacher qualifications; (2) whether Head Start teachers' salaries have increased and enabled grantees to attract and retain teachers with degrees; and (3) the extent to which degree and other programs in early childhood education are available for Head Start teachers and if grantees have taken steps to enhance access to them."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Computerized control systems perform vital functions across many of our nation's critical infrastructures. For example, in natural gas distribution, they can monitor and control the pressure and flow of gas through pipelines; in the electric power industry, they can monitor and control the current and voltage of electricity through relays and circuit breakers; and in water treatment facilities, they can monitor and adjust water levels, pressure, and chemicals used for purification. In October 1997, the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection emphasized the increasing vulnerability of control systems to cyber attacks. The House Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations, and the Census asked GAO to testify on potential cyber vulnerabilities. GAO's testimony focused on (1) significant cybersecurity risks associated with control systems; (2) potential and reported cyber attacks against these systems; (3) key challenges to securing control systems; and (4) steps that can be taken to strengthen the security of control systems, including current federal and private-sector initiatives."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony focuses on the factors that have contributed to the recent increases in insurance premium rates and the differences in rates among states that have passed varying levels of tort reform laws. Our findings are based on two reports we recently issued addressing various aspects of the recent increases in medical malpractice insurance rates. Recognizing that the medical malpractice market varies considerably across states, as part of these reviews we judgmentally selected a number of states and conducted more in-depth reviews in each of those states. Both our analyses and our conclusions are based in part on data and information we received from the states we visited and in part on analyses of national data from various sources."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO testified about how homeland security is vulnerable to identity fraud. Today, counterfeit identification is easily produced and used to create fraudulent identities. Tests GAO has performed over the past 3 years demonstrate that counterfeit identification documents can be used to (1) enter the United States; (2) purchase firearms; (3) gain access to government buildings and other facilities; (4) obtain genuine identification for both fictitious and stolen identities; and (5) obtain social security numbers for fictitious identities."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 2002, the Administration announced its Global Climate Change Initiative. It included, among other things, a goal concerning U.S. carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, which are widely believed to affect the earth's climate. The Administration's general goal was to reduce the growth rate of emissions, but not total emissions, between 2002 and 2012. Its specific goal was to reduce emissions intensity 18 percent, 4 percentage points more than the 14 percent decline already expected. Emissions intensity measures the amount of greenhouse gases emitted per unit of economic output. In the United States, this ratio has generally decreased for 50 years or more. Under the Initiative, emissions would increase, but less than otherwise expected. GAO was asked to testify on whether the Administration's publicly available documents (1) explain the basis for the Initiative's general and specific goals, (2) identify elements to help reduce emissions and contribute to the 18 percent reduction goal, as well as their specific contributions, and (3) discuss plans to track progress in meeting the goal. This testimony is based on ongoing work, and GAO expects to issue a final report on this work …

Research is being conducted under United States Department of Energy (DOE) Contract DE-FC26-02NT41621 to develop a conceptual design and determine the performance characteristics of a new IGCC plant configuration that facilitates CO{sub 2} removal for sequestration. This new configuration will be designed to achieve CO{sub 2} sequestration without the need for water gas shifting and CO{sub 2} separation, and may eliminate the need for a separate sequestration compressor. This research introduces a novel concept of using CO{sub 2} as a working fluid for an advanced coal gasification based power generation system, where it generates power with high system efficiency while concentrating CO{sub 2} for sequestration. This project supports the DOE research objective of development of concepts for the capture and storage of CO{sub 2}.

This document serves as the Topical Report documenting the first year of work completed by Washington State University (WSU) under US Department of Energy Grant, Developing Innovative Wall Systems that Improve Hygrothermal Performance of Residential Buildings. This project is being conducted in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and includes the participation of several industry partners including Weyerhaeuser Company, APA - The Engineered Wood Association, CertainTeed Corporation and Fortifiber. This document summarizes work completed by Washington State University August, 2002 through October, 2003. WSU's primary experimental role is the design and implementation of a field testing protocol that will monitor long term changes in the hygrothermal response of wall systems. In the first year WSU constructed a test facility, developed a matrix of test wall designs, constructed and installed test walls in the test facility, and installed instrumentation in the test walls. By the end of the contract period described in this document, WSU was recording data from the test wall specimens. The experiment described in this report will continue through December, 2005. Each year a number of reports will be published documenting the hygrothermal response of the test wall systems. Public presentation of the results will be made …

Weekly newspaper from Rusk, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.

Weekly student newspaper from the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas that includes campus news and commentaries along with advertising.

Weekly student newspaper from Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas that includes campus and local news along with advertising.

Monthly report written by the Texas Daily Newspaper Association's (TDNA's) office manager, Darla Thompson, to Phil Berkebile providing a summary of revenues and account balances, programs, meetings, and other activities in the office during the previous month.

Summarizes the University of Wisconsin-Madison's work under contract to DOE's Distribution and Interconnection R&D to demonstrate the value of distributed resources for high-value power.

Summarizes the work of EPRI PEAC Corp., under contract to DOE's Distribution and Interconnection R&D, to develop a certification model program and interconnection agreement tools to support the interconnection of distributed energy resources.

The principal goal of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's (PNNL's) Remote Spectroscopy Project is to explore and develop the science and technology behind point and stand off infrared (IR) spectroscopic chemical sensors that are needed for detecting weapons proliferation activity and countering terrorism. Missions addressed include detecting chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons and their production; counter terrorism measures that involve screening luggage, personnel, and shipping containers for explosives, firearms, narcotics, chemical weapons and/or their residues; and mapping of contaminated areas. The science and technology developed in this program is dual use in that it additionally supports progress in a diverse set of agendas that include chemical weapons defense programs, air operations activities, emissions monitoring, law enforcement, and medical diagnostics. Sensors for these missions require extremely low limits of detection because many of the targeted signature species are either present in low concentrations or have extremely low vapor pressures. The sensors also need to be highly selective as the environments that they will be operated in will contain a variety of interferent species and false positive detection is not an option. PNNL has been working on developing a class of sensors that draw vapor into optical cavities and use laser-based spectroscopy to …

Sargent& Lundy LLC conducted an independent analysis of parabolic trough and power tower solar technology cost and performance.

Summarizes the work of the Gas Technology Institute and Encorp Inc., under contract to DOE's Distribution and Interconnection R&D, to develop interconnection and control systems for distributed power.

This report updates earlier information concerning North Korea's ballistic missile development and that country's technological missile-launch capabilities.

A top-level overview of the mechanical design for the 2002 Robust Point Design (RPD-2002) fusion chamber is introduced. It is based on the HYLIFE-II design and includes modifications to the liquid pocket configuration and first structural wall (FSW), facilitates periodic maintenance or replacement of internal components, and is compliant with all other RPD-2002 parameters. This work has been carried out by constructing a parametric computer model capable of being updated as future changes become necessary.

Quarterly newsletter from DOE's Industrial Technologies Program to promote the use of energy efficiency industrial systems.