This report discusses the Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime of November 2001, which includes forty-two countries and the United States.

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The purpose for agency action is to preclude surface entry and the location of new mining claims, subject to valid existing rights, within and surrounding the Caliente rail corridor as described in the Yucca Mountain FEIS (DOE 2002). This protective measure is needed to enhance the safe, efficient, and uninterrupted evaluation of land areas for potential rail alignments within the Caliente rail corridor. The evaluation will assist the DOE in determining, through the Rail Alignment environmental impact statement (EIS) process, whether to construct a branch rail line, and to provide support to the BLM in deciding whether or not to reserve a ROW for the rail line under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA). The BLM participated as a cooperating agency in preparing this EA because it is the responsible land manager and BLM staff could contribute resource specific expertise.

This report is a guide to one of the regular appropriations bills that Congress considers each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies. It summarizes the status of the bill, its scope, major issues, funding levels, and related congressional activity, and is updated as events warrant.

Quarterly publication of the Texas Comptroller's Office regarding sales and use tax in the state of Texas, including an analysis by county, analysis by industry, and related notes.

This report provides a brief legislative history of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and an overview of the crimes addressed through VAWA. It concludes with a brief description of the most recent reauthorization of VAWA.

This report discusses the ongoing debate about whether or not to approve energy development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Current law forbids energy leasing in the Refuge. This report addresses several legislative options on the issue, as well as policymakers' arguments for and against development, especially in the wake of increasing terrorism since 2000-2001.

The Chemical Flooding process, like a polymer treatment, as a tertiary (enhanced) oil recovery process can be a very good solution based on the condition of this field and its low cost compared to the drilling of new wells. It is an improved water flooding method in which high molecular-weight (macro-size molecules) and water-soluble polymers are added to the injection water to improve the mobility ratio by enhancing the viscosity of the water and by reducing permeability in invaded zones during the process. In other words, it can improve the sweep efficiency by reducing the water mobility. This polymer treatment can be performed on the same active oil producer well rather than on an injector well in the existence of strong water drive in the formation. Some parameters must be considered before any polymer job is performed such as: formation temperature, permeability, oil gravity and viscosity, location and formation thickness of the well, amount of remaining recoverable oil, fluid levels, well productivity, water oil ratio (WOR) and existence of water drive. This improved oil recovery technique has been used widely and has significant potential to extend reservoir life by increasing the oil production and decreasing the water cut. This new …

This brochure describes the sustainability of the Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse in Denver, Colorado.

This report amends and updates the geographic areas that are regulated under the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program in Texas. Using Digital Geospatial Metadata, a GIS layer is added to reflect the changes in land boundaries and the re-designation of areas as transition zones, contributing zones, and recharge zones; the result will serve as a replacement for hard copy maps of the area.

This report discusses about Airspace Restriction and special flight rules, The flight restriction zone, The Maryland Three Airports and The Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

Solar is Saving Energy for the Alfred A. Arraj U.S. Courthouse is a case study that describes how building-integrated photovoltaic systems can be incorporated into the federal sector, and also how they can provide opportunities to meet federal renewable energy goals.

An archaeological survey report of the proposed site of the White Settlement expansion pipeline route in Parker and Tarrant Counties, Texas, performed to determine whether any historic resources were located on the proposed construction sites.

This report discusses the Jackson-Vanik amendment, which was enacted as part of the Trade Act of 1974 and was directly a U.S. reaction to the severe restrictions the Soviet Union had placed in late 1972 on the emigration of its citizens, but was expanded in its scope to apply to all so-called “nonmarket economy” (NME) countries. The amendment, in effect, requires compliance with its specific free-emigration criteria as a key condition for the restoration of certain benefits theretofore denied to NME countries in their economic relations with the United States.

West Carney field--one of the newest fields discovered in Oklahoma--exhibits many unique production characteristics. These characteristics include: (1) decreasing water-oil ratio; (2) decreasing gas-oil ratio followed by an increase; (3) poor prediction capability of the reserves based on the log data; and (4) low geological connectivity but high hydrodynamic connectivity. The purpose of this investigation is to understand the principal mechanisms affecting the production, and propose methods by which we can extend the phenomenon to other fields with similar characteristics. In our experimental investigation section, we continue to describe the use of surfactant to alter the wettability of the rock. By altering the wettability, we should be able to change the water-gas ratio in the reservoir and, hence, improve the productivity from the well. In our Engineering and Geological Analysis section, we present our rock typing analysis work which combines the geological data with engineering data to develop a unique rock characteristics description. The work demonstrates that it is possible to incorporate geological description in engineering analysis so that we can come up with rock types which have unique geological characteristics, as well as unique petrophysical characteristics. Using this rock typing scheme, we intend to develop a detailed reservoir description …

Genetic engineering techniques allow the manipulation of inherited traits to modify organisms. Genetically modified (GM) fish and seafood products are currently under development and may offer potential benefits such as increasing aquaculture productivity and addressing human health concerns. However, some critics of this rapidly evolving field are concerned that current technological and regulatory safeguards are inadequate to protect the environment and ensure public acceptance of these products. This report discusses various regulatory and environmental concerns regarding GM fish and seafood, then discusses the possible benefits and disadvantages of their use.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On May 13, 2005, the Secretary of Defense submitted proposed base realignment and closure (BRAC) actions to an independent commission for its review. The Commission must submit its recommendations to the President by September 8, 2005, for his acceptance or rejection in their entirety. Congress has final action to accept or reject these recommendations in their entirety later this year. The law requires that GAO issue a report on the Department of Defense's (DOD) recommendations and selection process by July 1, 2005. GAO's objectives were to (1) determine the extent to which DOD's proposals achieved its stated BRAC goals, (2) analyze whether the process for developing recommendations was logical and reasoned, and (3) identify issues with the recommendations that may warrant further attention. Time constraints limited GAO's ability to examine implementation details of most of the individual recommended actions."

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The California Energy Commission is considering updating its requirements for residential ventilation in the next round of its energy code, known as ''Title 24''. This report contains recommendations for potential changes to the code. These recommendations must be further developed into specific wording before they can be formally considered. Residential ventilation standards always address local and whole-house ventilation rates and some basic source control requirements, but there are many interactions with building systems that must also be considered. McKone and Sherman [8] laid out a set of additional issues that should be addressed before any specific changes to the code should be made. Those key issues included the following: Adventitious Air Flow; Air Distribution; Filtration and Air Cleaning; Occupant Acceptability and Control; Outdoor Air; Peak Demand; Unusual Sources and High-Polluting Events; and Window Operation. McWilliams and Sherman reviewed the literature on residential ventilation and in particular these key issues. They also reviewed codes, standards and guidelines relevant to residential ventilation. That literature serves as the technical basis for this report.

This report discusses proposals for international tsunami early warning systems and examines U.S. policy regarding tsunamis.

Assessment of soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration potential of reclaimed minesoils (RMS) is important for preserving environmental quality and increasing agronomic yields. The mechanism of physical SOC sequestration is achieved by encapsulation of SOM in spaces within macro and microaggregates. The experimental sites, owned and maintained by American Electrical Power, were characterized by distinct age chronosequences of reclaimed minesoils and were located in Guernsey, Morgan, Noble, and Muskingum Counties of Ohio. These sites were reclaimed both with and without topsoil application, and were under continuous grass or forest cover. In this report results are presented from the sites reclaimed in 2003 (R03-G), in 1973 (R73-F), in 1969 (R69-G), in 1962 (R62-G and R62-F) and in 1957 (R57-F). Three sites are under continuous grass cover and the three under forest cover since reclamation. Three bulk soil samples were collected from each site from three landscape positions (upper; middle, and lower) for 0-15 and 15-30 cm depths. The samples were air dried and using wet sieving technique were fractionated into macro (> 2mm), meso (2-0.25 mm) and microaggregate (0.25-0.053 mm). These fractions were weighted separately and water stable aggregation (WSA) and geometric mean (GMD) and mean weight (MWD) diameters of aggregates were …

This report discusses the Deepwater program, which is a 20- to 25-year acquisition effort to replace or modernize 93 aging Coast Guard ships and 207 aging Coast Guard aircraft. The program’s estimated total acquisition cost is $19 billion to $24 billion. On March 25, 2005 the Coast Guard submitted to Congress a revised implementation plan for the program that alters the planned capabilities and numbers of Deepwater assets and the schedule for acquiring or modernizing them. Some Members of Congress have criticized the revised implementation plan. The Coast Guard’s proposed FY2006 budget requests $966 million for the program.

West Carney field--one of the newest fields discovered in Oklahoma--exhibits many unique production characteristics. These characteristics include: (1) decreasing water-oil ratio; (2) decreasing gas-oil ratio followed by an increase; (3) poor prediction capability of the reserves based on the log data; and (4) low geological connectivity but high hydrodynamic connectivity. The purpose of this investigation is to understand the principal mechanisms affecting the production, and propose methods by which we can extend the phenomenon to other fields with similar characteristics. In our experimental investigation section, we present the data on methane injection using huff-n-puff process. It appears that additional oil can be recovered using methane as a solvent. Additional experiments will be needed to confirm our analysis. Our engineering analysis has laid out detailed indicators to make the de-watering successful. Using those indicators, we are currently investigating potential in fill well locations in West Carney field. Our technology transfer activities continued this quarter with two presentations and one workshop.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1990, Congress established an investor visa category, referred to as EB-5, whereby immigrants are granted conditional residence and after 2 years, permanent residence status in the United States if they invest in a commercial enterprise that will benefit the U.S. economy and create at least 10 full-time jobs. The Basic Pilot Program Extension and Expansion Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-156) mandates that GAO provide certain information regarding the EB-5 employment category. In response to the mandate, this report provides information on immigrant participation, including the number of participants, their countries of origin, and the number who sought U.S. citizenship. Also, this report includes information about the types of business established and where they were established."