Texas Register, Volume 43, Number 50, Pages 7969-8186, December 14, 2018 (open access)

Texas Register, Volume 43, Number 50, Pages 7969-8186, December 14, 2018

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 Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents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.
Date: December 14, 2018
Creator: Texas. Secretary of State.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The Portal to Texas History
The $50 Billion Threshold in the Dodd-Frank Act: Key Findings (open access)

The $50 Billion Threshold in the Dodd-Frank Act: Key Findings

This report provides an overview key findings from the newly issued CRS Report R45036, Bank Systemic Risk Regulation: The $50 Billion Threshold in the Dodd-Frank Act. It includes some background information and a list of bills that may also affect the legislation.
Date: December 14, 2017
Creator: Labonte, Marc & Perkins, David W.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Federal Procurement Law and Natural Disasters (open access)

Federal Procurement Law and Natural Disasters

This report discusses the federal procurement laws regarding federal agencies hiring contractors for disaster recovery work and the encouragement to use local contractors for the work to help the local economy recover.
Date: December 14, 2017
Creator: Carpenter, David H. & Lunder, Ericka K.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Plant and Plutonium Disposition: Management and Policy Issues (open access)

Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Plant and Plutonium Disposition: Management and Policy Issues

This report discusses an agreement made between Russia and the U.S. to dispose of excess weapons-grade plutonium, and describes both Russian and U.S. methods and plans for disposal. The U.S. plans are discussed in more detail, with various Congressional considerations regarding funding of the program.
Date: December 14, 2017
Creator: Holt, Mark & Nikitin, Mary Beth D.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Softwood Lumber Imports from Canada: Current Issues (open access)

Softwood Lumber Imports from Canada: Current Issues

This report discusses the latest softwood lumber dispute between the U.S. and Canada, known as Lumber V. This report provides background information on the dispute, summarizes the key issues leading to the tensions between the United States and Canada over softwood lumber, and examines current developments in Lumber V.
Date: December 14, 2017
Creator: Hoover, Katie & Fergusson, Ian F.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant: A Primer on TANF Financing and Federal Requirements (open access)

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant: A Primer on TANF Financing and Federal Requirements

This report the Temporary Assistance for Needy Children (TANF) block grant. It provides an overview of TANF financing and rules for state programs, describing federal TANF grants and state funds under a "maintenance-of-effort" (MOE) requirement; how federal TANF and state MOE funds may be used to help achieve the purpose and goals of the TANF block grant; rules that apply when TANF or MOE funds are used to provide "assistance" to needy families with children; rules that apply when TANF or MOE funds are used for benefits and services other than assistance; certain accountability requirements, including requirements that states submit plans and report data to the federal government; and provisions of TANF law not directly related to grants to states, such as competitive grants for promoting healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood, and tribal TANF provisions.
Date: December 14, 2017
Creator: Falk, Gene
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS): In Brief (open access)

The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS): In Brief

This report provides a basic description of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which mandates that U.S. transportation fuel must contain a minimum volume of biofuel, and is a federal statutory requirement. The mandated minimum volume increases annually and can be met using both conventional biofuel (e.g., cornstarch ethanol) and advanced biofuels. This report also includes some of the widely-discussed issues.
Date: December 14, 2016
Creator: Bracmort, Kelsi
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Texas Attorney General Opinion: KP-0046 (open access)

Texas Attorney General Opinion: KP-0046

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, Ken Paxton, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Authority of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County to participate in the Uptown Houston Transit Project otherwise known as the Post Oak Boulevard Dedicated Bus Lanes Project (RQ-0028-KP).
Date: December 14, 2015
Creator: Texas. Attorney-General's Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Area & Regional Offices (open access)

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Area & Regional Offices

Sheet from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) listing contact information for each of the 16 Texas regional offices as well as the watermasters. The back includes a map showing the counties included in each of the corresponding regions.
Date: December 14, 2015
Creator: Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Object Type: Pamphlet
System: The Portal to Texas History
Advanced Motors (open access)

Advanced Motors

Project Summary Transportation energy usage is predicted to increase substantially by 2020. Hybrid vehicles and fuel cell powered vehicles are destined to become more prominent as fuel prices rise with the demand. Hybrid and fuel cell vehicle platforms are both dependent on high performance electric motors. Electric motors for transportation duty will require sizeable low-speed torque to accelerate the vehicle. As motor speed increases, the torque requirement decreases which results in a nearly constant power motor output. Interior permanent magnet synchronous motors (IPMSM) are well suited for this duty. , , These rotor geometries are configured in straight lines and semi circular arc shapes. These designs are of limited configurations because of the lack of availability of permanent magnets of any other shapes at present. We propose to fabricate rotors via a novel processing approach where we start with magnet powders and compact them into a net shape rotor in a single step. Using this approach, widely different rotor designs can be implemented for efficiency. The current limitation on magnet shape and thickness will be eliminated. This is accomplished by co-filling magnet and soft iron powders at specified locations in intricate shapes using specially designed dies and automatic powder filling …
Date: December 14, 2012
Creator: Knoth, Edward A.; Chelluri, Bhanumathi & Schumaker, Edward J.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Assssment and Mapping of the Riverine Hydrokinetic Resource in the Continental United States (open access)

Assssment and Mapping of the Riverine Hydrokinetic Resource in the Continental United States

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funded the Electric Power Research Institute and its collaborative partners, University of Alaska ? Anchorage, University of Alaska ? Fairbanks, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, to provide an assessment of the riverine hydrokinetic resource in the continental United States. The assessment benefited from input obtained during two workshops attended by individuals with relevant expertise and from a National Research Council panel commissioned by DOE to provide guidance to this and other concurrent, DOE-funded assessments of water based renewable energy. These sources of expertise provided valuable advice regarding data sources and assessment methodology. The assessment of the hydrokinetic resource in the 48 contiguous states is derived from spatially-explicit data contained in NHDPlus ?a GIS-based database containing river segment-specific information on discharge characteristics and channel slope. 71,398 river segments with mean annual flow greater than 1,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) mean discharge were included in the assessment. Segments with discharge less than 1,000 cfs were dropped from the assessment, as were river segments with hydroelectric dams. The results for the theoretical and technical resource in the 48 contiguous states were found to be relatively insensitive to the cutoff chosen. Raising the cutoff to 1,500 …
Date: December 14, 2012
Creator: Jacobson, Paul T.; Ravens, Thomas M.; Cunningham, Keith W. & Scott, George
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006: Implementation Issues (open access)

Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006: Implementation Issues

The report is about Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006. The report contains Program Evaluation, Relationship with Workforce investment act and alternative funding mechanisms.
Date: December 14, 2012
Creator: Dortch, Cassandria
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Constraints on Dark Matter Annihilation in Clusters of Galaxies with the Fermi Large Area Telescope (open access)

Constraints on Dark Matter Annihilation in Clusters of Galaxies with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

None
Date: December 14, 2012
Creator: Ackermann, M.; Ajello, M.; Allafort, A.; Baldini, L.; Ballet, J.; Barbiellini, G. et al.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
DOD Alternative Fuels: Policy, Initiatives and Legislative Activity (open access)

DOD Alternative Fuels: Policy, Initiatives and Legislative Activity

This report provides background information and identifies issues for Congress regarding Department of Defense alternative fuel initiatives, a subject of debate at congressional hearings on the Department of Defense's proposed FY 2013 budget.
Date: December 14, 2012
Creator: Blakeley, Katherine
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
DOJ Workforce Planning: Grant-Making Components Should Enhance the Utility of Their Staffing Models (open access)

DOJ Workforce Planning: Grant-Making Components Should Enhance the Utility of Their Staffing Models

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Justice's (DOJ) three grant-making components--the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), and the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)--have partially met five of six leading practices, and fully met another, to ensure that the staffing models the contractor prepared for each of them to assess their workloads and workforce capacities are sound and reliable. These six leading practices are broad areas that represent a summary of the activities that should take place during the three stages of model design, development, and deployment. For example, the components partially met the leading practice for ensuring the credibility of data used in the models. This practice includes both verifying with staff that the models accurately depict the component's operations--an activity in which they fully engaged--and testing the models for logic and accuracy--an activity in which they partially engaged. Specifically, the components did not comprehensively check all of the models' formulas, and GAO found errors with all three components' models' retirement calculations. When left uncorrected, such errors have implications for workforce-related decisions and, ultimately, can affect the efficiency and effectiveness …
Date: December 14, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effect of Thermal Anneal on Growth Behavior of Laser-Induced Damage Sites on the Exit Surface of Fused Silica (open access)

Effect of Thermal Anneal on Growth Behavior of Laser-Induced Damage Sites on the Exit Surface of Fused Silica

None
Date: December 14, 2012
Creator: Raman, R N; Negres, R A; Matthews, M J & Carr, C W
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Final report for the NSF/DOE partnership in basic plasma science grant DE-FG02-06ER54906 '˜Laser-driven collisionless shocks in the Large Plasma Device'™ (open access)

Final report for the NSF/DOE partnership in basic plasma science grant DE-FG02-06ER54906 '˜Laser-driven collisionless shocks in the Large Plasma Device'™

We have performed several thousand high-energy laser shots in the LAPD to investigate the dynamics of an exploding laser-produced plasma in a large ambient magneto-plasma. Debris-ions expanding at super-Alfvenic velocity (up to MA=1.5) expel the ambient magnetic field, creating a large (> 20 cm) diamagnetic cavity. We observed field compressions of up to B/B{sub 0} = 1.5 at the edge of the bubble, consistent with the MHD jump conditions, as well as localized electron heating at the edge of the bubble. Two-dimensional hybrid simulations reproduce these measurements well and show that the majority of the ambient ions are energized by the magnetic piston to super-Alfvenic speeds and swept outside the bubble volume. Nonlinear shear-Alfven waves ({delta}B/B{sub 0} > 25%) are radiated from the cavity with a coupling efficiency of 70% from magnetic energy in the bubble to the wave. While the data is consistent with a weak magneto-sonic shock, the experiments were severely limited by the low ambient plasma densities (10{sup 12} cm{sup -3}). 2D hybrid simulations indicate that future experiments with the new LAPD plasma source and densities in excess of 10{sup 13} cm{sup -3} will drive full-blown collisionless shocks with MA>10 over several c/wpi and shocked Larmor radii. …
Date: December 14, 2012
Creator: Niemann, Christoph; Gekelman, W.; Winske, D. & Larsen, D.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Follow-up on the Haiti Earned Import Allowance Program (open access)

Follow-up on the Haiti Earned Import Allowance Program

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Exports of Haitian apparel to the United States under EIAP have increased substantially since we last reported in 2011. Although only three account holders are actively earning credits and two have begun to use them, in the 12-month period ending November 19, 2012, the number of credits OTEXA issued increased to about 42 million SMEs from approximately 8 million SMEs during the same period 1 year earlier. Similarly, over this period, the number of credits redeemed, or used by account holders increased to about 25 million SMEs from approximately million SMEs in 2011. In addition, exports of Haitian apparel to the United States under EIAP have grown faster than non-EIAP exports. Last year, we reported that about $350,000 in Haitian apparel had been exported to the United States under EIAP from January through August of 2011--about 0.07 percent of all Haitian apparel exported to the United States during that period. In contrast, from January through August of 2012, nearly $18 million in Haitian apparel was exported under EIAP--about 4 percent of Haitian apparel exported to the United States during this period. Increased use of the program may be …
Date: December 14, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Fundamental Physics at the Intensity Frontier (open access)

Fundamental Physics at the Intensity Frontier

None
Date: December 14, 2012
Creator: Hewett, J. L.; Weerts, H.; Brock, R.; Butler, J. N.; Casey, B. C. K.; Collar, J. et al.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Halo-to-Halo Similarity and Scatter in the Velocity Distribution of Dark Matter (open access)

Halo-to-Halo Similarity and Scatter in the Velocity Distribution of Dark Matter

Examines the velocity distribution function (VDF) in dark matter halos from milky way to cluster mass scales.
Date: December 14, 2012
Creator: Mao, Yao-Yuan; Strigari, Louis E.; Wechsler, Risa H.; Wu, Hao-Yi & Hahn, Oliver
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Indian Health Care: Impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (open access)

Indian Health Care: Impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)

None
Date: December 14, 2012
Creator: Heisler, Elayne J.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Inmate Reentry Programs: Enhanced Information Sharing Could Further Strengthen Coordination and Grant Management (open access)

Inmate Reentry Programs: Enhanced Information Sharing Could Further Strengthen Coordination and Grant Management

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2011, the Departments of Justice (DOJ), Labor (Labor), and Health and Human Services (HHS) separately administered nine fragmented but minimally overlapping reentry grant programs with low risk of duplication. Specifically, GAO found that these grant programs are fragmented since more than one federal agency is involved in administering the programs. Further, GAO found that overlap across the nine programs was minimal because the programs varied in (1) their applicant eligibility criteria, (2) the extent to which their funds solely benefit the reentry population, and (3) their primary services funded. For example, Labor's reentry program limits eligibility to private, nonprofit organizations that will use the funds primarily to assist current or former inmates--residing in or released from any facility--with their employment needs. In contrast, one of DOJ's reentry programs limits eligibility to governmental entities that will use the funds primarily to assist current or former inmates--residing in or released from state, local, or tribal facilities--with their substance abuse treatment needs. Given the variance across eligible applicants, beneficiaries, and primary services, the overlap across the nine programs is minimal and the risk of duplication--when two …
Date: December 14, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Institute for Molecular Medicine Research Program (open access)

Institute for Molecular Medicine Research Program

The objectives of the project are the development of new Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging instrumentation, chemistry technology platforms and new molecular imaging probes to examine the transformations from normal cellular and biological processes to those of disease in pre-clinical animal models. These technology platforms and imaging probes provide the means to: 1. Study the biology of disease using pre-clinical mouse models and cells. 2. Develop molecular imaging probes for imaging assays of proteins in pre-clinical models. 3. Develop imaging assays in pre-clinical models to provide to other scientists the means to guide and improve the processes for discovering new drugs. 4. Develop imaging assays in pre-clinical models for others to use in judging the impact of drugs on the biology of disease.
Date: December 14, 2012
Creator: Phelps, Michael E.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Lightweight Aluminum/Nano composites for Automotive Drive Train Applications (open access)

Lightweight Aluminum/Nano composites for Automotive Drive Train Applications

During Phase I, we successfully processed air atomized aluminum powders via Dynamic Magnetic Compaction (DMC) pressing and subsequent sintering to produce parts with properties similar to wrought aluminum. We have also showed for the first time that aluminum powders can be processed without lubes via press and sintering to 100 % density. This will preclude a delube cycle in sintering and promote environmentally friendly P/M processing. Processing aluminum powders via press and sintering with minimum shrinkage will enable net shape fabrication. Aluminum powders processed via a conventional powder metallurgy process produce too large a shrinkage. Because of this, sinter parts have to be machined into specific net shape. This results in increased scrap and cost. Fully sintered aluminum alloy under this Phase I project has shown good particle-to-particle bonding and mechanical properties. We have also shown the feasibility of preparing nano composite powders and processing via pressing and sintering. This was accomplished by dispersing nano silicon carbide (SiC) powders into aluminum matrix comprising micron-sized powders (<100 microns) using a proprietary process. These composite powders of Al with nano SiC were processed using DMC press and sinter process to sinter density of 85-90%. The process optimization along with sintering needs to …
Date: December 14, 2012
Creator: Chelluri, Bhanumathi; Knoth, Edward A. & Schumaker, Edward J.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library