This report describes the statutory background of the Title V program and the status of implementation, in terms of federal approval of state and local permitting authorities and permit issuance. It also discusses broad policy issues identified by various stakeholders, including program complexity and costs, and inconsistencies due to a lack of sufficient federal guidance.

Report discussing specifics of the U.S. Clean Water Act. Section 401 of the Clean Water Act requires that an applicant for a federal license or permit provide a certification that any discharges from the facility will comply with the act, including water quality standard requirements. Disputes have arisen over the states' exercise of authority under Section 401. For the most part, the debate over the Section 401 certification issue has been between states and hydropower interests.

The Clean Water Act prescribes performance levels to be attained by municipal sewage treatment plants in order to prevent the discharge of harmful wastes into surface waters.

Interactions between plasmas and their surrounding materials (plasma facing components) are of great interest to present and future magnetic fusion experiments, and ITER [ITER Physics Basis Editors, ITER Physics Exper Group Chairs, ITER Joint Central Team, and Physics Inte gration Unit, Nucl. Fusion 39, 2137 (1999)] in particular. This interest is the result of concerns with the survivability of these materials, as well as the impact of these interactions back on the plasma. These interactions begin on the surface, but can have consequences a few microns into the material.This mini-conference on these "first microns" was designed to bring to the Division of Plasma Physics Meeting experts on these topics who would otherwise not attend. At the same time, the mini-conference was intended to expose the broader fusion community to these issues. The mini-conference covered in three, half-day sessions the topics of lithium coatings and surfaces, mixed materials characteristics, and issues associated with graphite.

This research effort was directed towards the development of a novel cold-setting adhesive for the manufacture of laminated veneer lumber, LVL. The adhesives studied were isocyanate-reactive polyurethanes that cure at room temperature and bond to high moisture content veneer (12%). The elimination of hot-pressing and the reduction in veneer drying is expected to provide substantial energy savings and decreases in VOC emissions. Furthermore, the use of higher moisture content veneer was expected to reduce or eliminate the tendency for veneer over drying, and the related reduction in wood surface energy. The effort produced a novel emulsion polymer isocyanate (EPI) adhesive that performed better than the standard phenol-formaldehyde adhesive. This performance comparison/evaluation suggested that the new adhesive could perhaps meet the original project goals, stated above. However, this effort was not translated into technological practice, nor evaluated on a larger pilot scale, because the participating companies experienced personnel changes that altered outlook for this technology.

This report examines the congressional budget process timetable, which is intended to ensure that Congress completes its work on budgetary legislation by the start of the fiscal year on October 1.

Biodiesel is a renewable fuel conventionally generated from vegetable oils and animal fats that conforms to ASTM D6751. Depending on the free fatty acid content of the feedstock, biodiesel is produced via transesterification, esterification, or a combination of these processes. Currently the cost of the feedstock accounts for more than 80% of biodiesel production cost. The main goal of this project was to evaluate and develop non-conventional feedstocks and novel processes for producing biodiesel. One of the most novel and promising feedstocks evaluated involves the use of readily available microorganisms as a lipid source. Municipal wastewater treatment facilities (MWWTF) in the USA produce (dry basis) of microbial sludge annually. This sludge is composed of a variety of organisms, which consume organic matter in wastewater. The content of phospholipids in these cells have been estimated at 24% to 25% of dry mass. Since phospholipids can be transesterified they could serve as a ready source of biodiesel. Examination of the various transesterification methods shows that in situ conversion of lipids to FAMEs provides the highest overall yield of biodiesel. If one assumes a 7.0% overall yield of FAMEs from dry sewage sludge on a weight basis, the cost per gallon of extracted …

This report discusses the reconciliation under the congressional budget act of 1974 by which congress implements budget resolution policies affecting mainly permanent spending and revenue programs.

This report provides an overview of this issue and implications for U.S.-China trade relations and will be updated as events warrant.

This report provides an overview of the categories and rules for committee assignments of the house committees.

Both House and party rules detail procedures for committee assignments. House rules address the election and membership of committees, especially limitations on membership. The Democratic Caucus and Republican Conference rules designate categories of committees (shown below) and specify service limitations in addition to those in the House rules.

This report provides a description of debt-for-nature transactions and a summary of the Tropical Forest Conservation Act.

This report describes the characteristics of the Great Lakes, the interests they support, and possible threats to lake levels.

This report is about the America COMPETES act and the budget for the fiscal year 2009.

A Corporate Assess, Improve, and Modernize review was conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to evaluate the LLNL Radiation Safety Program and recommend actions to address the conditions identified in the Internal Assessment conducted July 23-25, 2007. This review confirms the findings of the Internal Assessment of the Institutional Radiation Safety Program (RSP) including the noted deficiencies and vulnerabilities to be valid. The actions recommended are a result of interviews with about 35 individuals representing senior management through the technician level. The deficiencies identified in the LLNL Internal Assessment of the Institutional Radiation Safety Program were discussed with Radiation Safety personnel team leads, customers of Radiation Safety Program, DOE Livermore site office, and senior ES&H management. There are significant issues with the RSP. LLNL RSP is not an integrated, cohesive, consistently implemented program with a single authority that has the clear roll and responsibility and authority to assure radiological operations at LLNL are conducted in a safe and compliant manner. There is no institutional commitment to address the deficiencies that are identified in the internal assessment. Some of these deficiencies have been previously identified and corrective actions have not been taken or are ineffective in addressing the issues. Serious …

This report contains an overview of the appeal process for veterans' claims.

This report discusses the organization, funding, and goals of the FreedomCAR and Fuel partnerships, and issues for Congress.

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