pppropriations acts generally make budget authority (or BA) available for use (or obligation) at the start of the fiscal year covered by the act. Sometimes appropriations bills provide a different date for specified budget authority within the act to become first available so that the funding cycle does not coincide with the fiscal year generally covered by the act. There are three types of this kind of budget authority: advance appropriations, forward funding, and advance funding.

The Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP) is a single, highly integrated technical program for maintaining the surety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile. The SSP uses past nuclear test data along with current and future non-nuclear test data, computational modeling and simulation, and experimental facilities to advance understanding of nuclear weapons. It includes stockpile surveillance, experimental research, development and engineering (D&E) programs, and an appropriately scaled production capability to support stockpile requirements. This integrated national program requires the continued use of current facilities and programs along with new experimental facilities and computational enhancements to support these programs. The Advanced Simulation and Computing Program (ASC) is a cornerstone of the SSP, providing simulation capabilities and computational resources to support the annual stockpile assessment and certification, to study advanced nuclear weapons design and manufacturing processes, to analyze accident scenarios and weapons aging, and to provide the tools to enable stockpile Life Extension Programs (LEPs) and the resolution of Significant Finding Investigations (SFIs). This requires a balanced resource, including technical staff, hardware, simulation software, and computer science solutions. In its first decade, the ASC strategy focused on demonstrating simulation capabilities of unprecedented scale in three spatial dimensions. In its second decade, ASC is …

This report discusses legislation related to the Pakistan Enduring Assistance and Cooperation Enhancement Act (H.R. 1886), the Afghanistan-Pakistan Security and Prosperity Enhancement Act (H.R. 1318), and the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 (H.R. 2410). It also discusses the Afghanistan and Pakistan Reconstruction Opportunity Zones Act (S. 496).

The focus of this report is Algeria, a country in North Africa that is increasingly important for U.S. efforts to counter international terrorism as a key partner in the fight against Al Qaeda linked groups. As an energy producer, it also is a significant source of natural gas for the United States and not a major recipient of U.S. aid. This report discusses Algeria's current political conditions and Algeria-related U.S. policy.

This report provides an overview of current issues surrounding alternative fuels and advanced technology vehicles - issues discussed in further detail in other CRS reports referred to in each section.

The objective of this survey was to obtain user feedback to, among other things, determine how to organize the exponentially growing data within the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility, and identify users’ preferred data analysis system. The survey findings appear to have met this objective, having received approximately 300 responses that give insight into the type of work users perform, usage of the data, percentage of data analysis users might perform on an ARM-hosted computing resource, downloading volume level where users begin having reservations, opinion about usage if given more powerful computing resources (including ability to manipulate data), types of tools that would be most beneficial to them, preferred programming language and data analysis system, level of importance for certain types of capabilities, and finally, level of interest in participating in a code-sharing community.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Army Working Capital Fund (AWCF) collected over $16 billion for goods and services provided to customers in fiscal year 2009. Cash generated from sales is used by AWCF to cover its expenses such as paying employees. In light of the Army's changing role in the Middle East, GAO was asked to determine whether (1) AWCF's monthly cash balances fell within the Department of Defense's (DOD) cash requirements for fiscal years 2000 through 2009, (2) the cash transfers resulted in AWCF's monthly cash balances falling below the minimum amount required by DOD, and (3) the AWCF's projected monthly cash balances are expected to fall below DOD's minimum cash requirement for fiscal years 2010 and 2011 and actions the Army can take to manage those balances. To address these objectives, GAO (1) reviewed relevant DOD guidance, (2) obtained and analyzed AWCF budget and accounting reports containing cash information, and (3) interviewed DOD and Army officials."

A Demonstration tokamak (Demo) is an essential next step toward a magnetic-fusion based reactor. One based on advanced-tokamak (AT) plasmas is especially appealing because of its relative compactness. However, it will require many plasma measurements to provide the necessary signals to feed to ancillary systems to protect the device and control the plasma. This note addresses the question of how much intrusion into the blanket system will be required to allow the measurements needed to provide the information required for plasma control. All diagnostics will require, at least, the same shielding designs as planned for ITER, while having the capability to maintain their calibration through very long pulses. Much work is required to define better the measurement needs and the quantity and quality of the measurements that will have to be made, and how they can be integrated into the other tokamak structures.

Tall wind turbines, with hub heights at 80 m or above, can extract large amounts of energy from the atmosphere because they are likely to encounter higher wind speeds, but they face challenges given the complex nature of wind flow and turbulence at these heights in the boundary layer. Depending on whether the boundary layer is stable, neutral, or convective, the mean wind speed, direction, and turbulence properties may vary greatly across the tall turbine swept area (40 to 120 m AGL). This variability can cause tall turbines to produce difference amounts of power during time periods with identical hub height wind speeds. Using meteorological and power generation data from a West Coast North American wind farm over a one-year period, our study synthesizes standard wind park observations, such as wind speed from turbine nacelles and sparse meteorological tower observations, with high-resolution profiles of wind speed and turbulence from a remote sensing platform, to quantify the impact of atmospheric stability on power output. We first compare approaches to defining atmospheric stability. The standard, limited, wind farm operations enable the calculation only of a wind shear exponent ({alpha}) or turbulence intensity (I{sub U}) from cup anemometers, while the presence at this …

This report provides an overview of how automated political calls are used in federal campaigns, including attention to recent spending estimates and polling data regarding these calls. The report also discusses legislation that would affect the calls, with descriptions of various policy options and how the options or their regulation may be related to campaign finance law and to the First Amendment.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Cost growth and schedule delays are prevalent problems in acquiring defense weapon systems. Manufacturing systems has proven difficult, particularly as programs transition to production. In December 2008, the Department of Defense (DOD) issued an updated version of its acquisition policy that reflects earlier consideration of manufacturing risks. A joint defense and industry group developed manufacturing readiness levels (MRL) to support assessments of manufacturing risks. Use of MRLs on all weapon acquisition programs has been proposed. In response to a congressional request, this report assesses the manufacturing problems faced by DOD, how MRLs can address manufacturing problems, how MRLs compare to manufacturing best practices of leading commercial firms, and challenges and barriers to implementing MRLs at DOD. In conducting our work, we contacted DOD, military services, and contractors; held interviews with leading commercial firms; reviewed program documents and policy proposals; and spoke with manufacturing experts."

A dense array of 99 Langmuir probes has been installed in the lower divertor region of the National Spherical Torus Experiments (NSTX). This array is instrumented with a system of elec- tronics that allows flexibility in the choice of probes to bias as well as the type of measurement (including standard swept, single probe, triple probe and operation as passive floating potential and scrape-off-layer (SOL) current monitors). The use of flush-mounted probes requires careful inter- pretation. The time dependent nature of the SOL makes swept-probe traces difficult to interpret. To overcome these challenges, the single- and triple-Langmuir probe signals are used in comple- mentary fashion to determine the temperature and density at the probe location. A comparison to mid-plane measurements is made. Work is supported by DOE contracts DE-AC02-09CHI1466 and DE-PS02-07ER07-29.

This report briefly describes biochar, its potential advantages and disadvantages, legislative support, and research and development activities underway in the united states and abroad.

This report provides a description of BCAP program overview and its Selected issues.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2005, the Department of State (State) began issuing electronic passports (e-passports) with embedded computer chips that store information identical to that printed in the passport. By agreement with State, the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) produces blank e-passport books. Two foreign companies are used by GPO to produce e-passport covers, including the computer chips embedded in them. At U.S. ports of entry, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspects passports. GAO was asked to examine potential risks to national security posed by using foreign suppliers for U.S. e-passport computer chips. This report specifically examines the following two risks: (1) Can the computer chips used in U.S. e-passports be altered or forged to fraudulently enter the United States? (2) What risk could malicious code on the U.S. e-passport computer chip pose to national security? To conduct this work, GAO reviewed documents and interviewed officials at State, GPO, and DHS relating to the U.S. e-passport design and manufacturing and e-passport inspection systems and procedures."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government's reliance on leased space underscores the need to physically secure this space and help safeguard employees, visitors, and government assets. In April 2010 the Interagency Security Committee (ISC), comprised of 47 federal agencies and departments and chaired by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), issued Physical Security Criteria for Federal Facilities (the 2010 standards) which supersede previous ISC standards. In response to Congress' direction to review ISC standards for leased space, this report (1) identifies challenges that exist in protecting leased space and (2) examines how the 2010 standards address these challenges. To conduct this work, GAO analyzed agency documents and interviewed federal officials from ISC, four federal departments selected as case studies based on their large square footage of leased space, and the Federal Protective Service (FPS). GAO also consulted prior work on federal real property and physical security, including key practices in facility protection."

This report discusses the merit of various business tax incentives and their effectiveness in providing fiscal stimulus during the recession. The two most common measures to provide business tax incentives for new investment are investment tax credits and accelerated deductions for depreciation.

The Primary objective of the proposed project is to apply and extend the latest advancements in LWR fuel management optimization to the design of advanced boiling water reactor (BWR) fuel assemblies specifically for the recycling of minor actinides (MAs).

This report discusses report authorship, Lignocellulosic Feedstocks, supply logistics, and Cellulosic Biofuel Conversion Technologies.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States recognized the independence of all the former Central Asian republics, supported their admission into Western organizations, and elicited Turkish support to counter Iranian influence in the region. The Administration's diverse goals in Central Asia reflect the different characteristics of these states. U.S. interests in Kazakhstan include securing and eliminating Soviet-era nuclear and biological weapons materials and facilities. In Tajikistan, U.S. aid focuses on economic reconstruction. U.S. energy firms have invested in oil and natural gas development in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. This report outlines the above, as well as several ongoing debates regarding general relations between the U.S. and Central Asia.

Natural accumulations of CO{sub 2} occur in the Duperow and other Devonian strata on the western flank of the Williston Basin in lithologies very similar to those into which anthropogenic CO{sub 2} is being injected as part of an EOR program in the Weyburn-Midale pool. Previous workers have established the stratgraphic and petrographic similarities between the Duperow and Midale beds (Lake and Whittaker, 2004 and 2006). As the CO{sub 2} accumulations in the Devonian strata may be as old as 50 Ma, this similarity provides confidence in the efficacy of long-term geologic sequestration of CO{sub 2} in the Midale-Weyburn pool. Here we attempt to extend this comparison with whole rock and mineral chemistry using the same sample suite used by Lake and Whittaker. We provide XRD, XRF, and electron microprobe analysis of major constituent minerals along with extensive backscattered electron and x-ray imaging to identify trace phases and silicate minerals. LPNORM analysis is used to quantify modal concentrations of minerals species. Samples from depth intervals where CO{sub 2} has been observed are compared to those where CO{sub 2} was absent, with no systematic differences in mineral composition observed. Gas accumulation can be correlated with sample porosity. In particular gas-bearing samples …

This report discusses the Haiti Assistance Income Tax Incentive Act (HAITI Act; H.R. 4462), a bill passed on January 20, 2010 to accelerate the income tax benefits for charitable cash contributions for the relief of earthquake victims.

The presence of corrosive and inhibiting chemicals on the tank walls in the vapor space, arising from the waste supernatant, dictate the type and degree of corrosion that occurs there. An understanding of how waste chemicals are transported to the walls and the affect on vapor species from changing supernatant chemistry (e.g., pH, etc.), are basic to the evaluation of risks and impacts of waste changes on vapor space corrosion (VSC). In order to address these issues the expert panel workshop on double-shell tank (DST) vapor space corrosion testing (RPP-RPT-31129) participants made several recommendations on the future data and modeling needs in the area of DST corrosion. In particular, the drying of vapor phase condensates or supernatants can form salt or other deposits at the carbon steel interface resulting in a chemical composition at the near surface substantially different from that observed directly in the condensates or the supernatants. As a result, over the past three years chemical modeling and experimental studies have been performed on DST supernatants and condensates to predict the changes in chemical composition that might occur as condensates or supernatants equilibrate with the vapor space species and dry at the carbon steel surface. The experimental studies …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Through the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) subsidizes child care for low-income families whose parents work or attend education or training programs. In fiscal year 2009, the CCDF budget was $7 billion. States are responsible for determining program priorities and overseeing funds. Providers--who range from child care centers to relatives--bill the state for caring for approved children. Unregulated relatives represent 12 percent of providers in the CCDF program. In response to program fraud and abuse, GAO (1) proactively tested selected states' fraud prevention controls, (2) examined closed case studies of fraud and abuse, and (3) interviewed parents waitlisted for child care about the effect of this lack of assistance on their families. To do this, GAO investigators posed as parents and unregulated relative providers in 10 scenarios in five states with no waiting lists that each received more than $100 million in CCDF funding for fiscal year 2009. These states did not require fingerprint criminal history checks or site visits. For case studies of past program fraud, GAO reviewed criminal court records and interviewed agency officials. …