A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As part of a broad congestion relief initiative, the Department of Transportation awarded about $848 million from 10 grant programs to five cities (Miami, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle) in 2007 as part of the Urban Partnership Agreements (UPA) initiative. The UPA initiative is intended to demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of comprehensive, integrated, and innovative approaches to relieving congestion, including the use of tolling (congestion pricing), transit, technology, and telecommuting (4Ts). Congestion pricing involves charging drivers a fee that varies with the density of traffic. This report addresses congressional interest in (1) how well the department communicated UPA selection criteria, (2) whether it had discretion to allocate grant funds to UPA recipients and consider congestion pricing as a priority selection factor, and (3) how it is ensuring that UPA award conditions are met and results are assessed. GAO reviewed departmental documents, statutes and case law, and interviewed department officials and UPA applicants."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Small Business Administration's (SBA) Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) program provides federal contracting assistance to small firms located in economically distressed areas, with the intent of stimulating economic development. In July 2008, GAO identified substantial vulnerabilities in SBA's application and monitoring process that demonstrated the HUBZone program is vulnerable to fraud and abuse. GAO also investigated 10 case studies of HUBZone firms in the Washington, D.C., area that misrepresented their eligibility. GAO was asked to determine (1) whether additional cases of fraud and abuse exist outside of the Washington, D.C., area; (2) what actions, if any, SBA has taken to establish an effective fraud prevention program for the HUBZone program; and (3) what actions, if any, SBA took against the 10 case study firms in GAO's July 2008 testimony. To meet these objectives, GAO identified selected HUBZone firms based on certain criteria, such as magnitude of HUBZone contracts and firm location. GAO also interviewed SBA officials and reviewed SBA data."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2001, the Department of Defense's (DOD) spending on goods and services has more than doubled to $388 billion in 2008, while the number of civilian and military acquisition personnel has remained relatively stable. To augment its in-house workforce, DOD relies heavily on contractor personnel. If it does not maintain an adequate workforce, DOD places its billion-dollar acquisitions at an increased risk of poor outcomes and vulnerability to fraud, waste, and abuse. GAO was asked to (1) assess DOD's ability to determine whether it has a sufficient acquisition workforce, (2) assess DOD initiatives to improve the management and oversight of its acquisition workforce, and (3) discuss practices of leading organizations that could provide insights for DOD's acquisition workforce oversight. To do this, GAO analyzed key DOD studies, obtained data from 66 major weapon system program offices across DOD, and interviewed officials from 4 program offices. GAO also met with representatives from six companies recognized as leaders in workforce management."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Academic Competitiveness (AC) and National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) Grants were established by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. The grants provide merit-based financial aid to certain low-income college students eligible for Federal Pell Grants and are administered by the Department of Education (Education). In the first year of implementation, participation was lower than expected. GAO was asked to determine (1) factors affecting AC and SMART Grant student participation; (2) challenges colleges face in administering the grant programs; and (3) the extent to which Education has assisted states and colleges with implementation. To address these objectives, GAO analyzed data on AC, SMART, and Pell Grants, and interviewed officials from Education and 12 state education agencies, administrators from 42 selected colleges, and several national associations."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) program. Created in 1997, the HUBZone program provides federal contracting assistance to small businesses located in economically distressed communities, or HUBZone areas, with the intent of stimulating economic development in those areas. In fiscal year 2007, federal agencies awarded contracts valued at about $8 billion to HUBZone firms. Firms that participate in the program must be located in a HUBZone and employ residents of HUBZones to facilitate the goal of bringing capital and employment opportunities to distressed areas. My statement today is based on work we performed to update the status of recommendations we made in our June 2008 report on the HUBZone program and reiterated in a July 2008 testimony. These recommendations called for SBA to improve its controls over the HUBZone program and assess the program's effectiveness. Specifically, this testimony discusses SBA's progress in (1) ensuring that the HUBZone map is accurate; (2) developing and implementing guidance to ensure that participating firms are eligible; (3) eliminating the backlog of recertifications; (4) formalizing and adhering to time frames for decertifying ineligible firms; and (5) …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "When Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act in December 2006, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) had just completed fiscal year 2006 with its largest mail volume ever--213 billion pieces of mail and a net income of $900 million. Two years later, USPS's financial condition has deteriorated. Mail volume declined by a record 9.5 billion pieces (4.5 percent) in fiscal year 2008, leading to a loss of $2.8 billion--the second largest since 1971. According to USPS, this was largely due to declines in the economy, especially in the financial and housing sectors, as well as shifts in transactions, messages, and advertising from mail to electronic alternatives. Declining mail volume flattened revenues despite rate increases, while USPS's cost-cutting efforts were insufficient to offset the impact of declining mail volume and rising costs in fuel and cost-of-living allowances for postal employees. USPS's initial fiscal year 2009 budget expected that the turmoil in the economy would result in more mail volume decline and a loss of $3.0 billion. This testimony focuses on (1) USPS's financial condition and outlook and (2) options and actions for USPS to remain financially viable in …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Changes in the climate attributable to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases may have significant environmental and economic impacts in the United States. For example, climate change could threaten coastal areas with rising sea levels, alter agricultural productivity, and increase the intensity and frequency of floods and storms. Federal, state, and local agencies are tasked with a wide array of responsibilities that will be affected by a changing climate, such as managing natural resources. Furthermore, climate change could increase the cost of federal programs, such as crop and flood insurance, and place new stresses on infrastructure. Greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere will continue altering the climate system into the future regardless of emissions control efforts. Therefore, adaptation--defined as adjustments to natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climate change--is an important part of the response to climate change. Today's testimony summarizes GAO's prior and ongoing work examining (1) actions that federal, state, local, and international authorities are taking to adapt to a changing climate, (2) the challenges that federal, state, and local officials face in their efforts to adapt, and (3) actions that the Congress …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The mission of the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD) includes enforcing provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which is designed to ensure that millions of workers are paid the federal minimum wage and overtime. Conducting investigations based on worker complaints is WHD's priority. According to WHD, investigations range from comprehensive investigations to conciliations, which consist primarily of phone calls to a complainant's employer. In July 2008, GAO testified on 15 case studies where WHD failed to investigate complaints. This testimony highlights the findings of a follow-up investigation performed at the Committee's request. Specifically, GAO was asked to (1) test WHD's complaint intake process in an undercover capacity, (2) provide additional case study examples of inadequate WHD responses to complaints, and (3) assess the effectiveness of WHD's complaint intake process, conciliations, and other investigative tools. To test WHD's complaint intake process, GAO posed as complainants and employers in 10 different scenarios. To provide case study examples and assess effectiveness of investigations, GAO used data mining and statistical sampling of closed case data for fiscal year 2007. GAO plans to issue a follow-up report with recommendations …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers conservation programs, such as the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP, formerly the Conservation Security Program) and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), to help farmers reduce soil erosion, enhance water supply and quality, and increase wildlife habitat, among other things. This testimony is based on GAO reports on CSP and EQIP, each issued in 2006, and a 2008 report on farm program payments. It discusses (1) the potential for duplicate payments between CSP and other conservation programs, (2) USDA's process for allocating EQIP funds to the states to optimize environmental benefits, and (3) USDA's management controls over farm program payments."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To prepare for forecasted air traffic growth, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), including its Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) and Air Traffic Organization (ATO), is planning for and implementing the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) in partnership with other federal agencies and the aviation industry. NextGen will transform the current radar-based air traffic control system into a more automated aircraft-centered, satellite-based system. GAO's previous work has identified issues related to the usefulness of NextGen planning documents, FAA's organizational structure to manage the transition to NextGen, and FAA's workforce to oversee and implement NextGen. Recently, the focus of NextGen planning and implementation has shifted to capabilities that can be achieved in the midterm, defined as 2012 through 2018. GAO's testimony focuses on (1) JPDO's and ATO's progress in planning NextGen and changes in the NextGen management structure; (2) ongoing efforts to implement midterm capabilities to address capacity constraints, and issues related to these efforts; and (3) key human capital issues, research and development needs, and facilities maintenance and reconfiguration challenges going forward. GAO's testimony updates prior GAO work with FAA data and interviews with agency and union …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From fiscal year 2001 through July 2008, Congress provided more than $808 billion to the Department of Defense (DOD) for the Global War on Terrorism, including military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Moreover, since fiscal year 2003, about $49 billion has been provided to U.S. agencies for reconstruction and stabilization in Iraq and $32 billion for similar efforts in Afghanistan since fiscal year 2002. In February 2009, President Obama announced a new U.S. strategy for Iraq and plans to develop a new comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan. This statement is based on GAO's extensive body of work--more than 150 products since 2003--examining U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

Bi-weekly student newspaper from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.

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

Daily student newspaper from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.

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Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.

The diverse and complex geology of the Nevada Test Site region makes for a challenging environment for identifying and characterizing hydrogeologic units penetrated by wells drilled for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, Underground Test Area (UGTA) Environmental Restoration Sub-Project. Fortunately, UGTA geoscientists have access to large and robust sets of subsurface geologic data, as well as a large historical knowledge base of subsurface geological analyses acquired mainly during the underground nuclear weapons testing program. Of particular importance to the accurate identification and characterization of hydrogeologic units in UGTA boreholes are the data and interpretation principles associated with geophysical well logs. Although most UGTA participants and stakeholders are probably familiar with drill hole data such as drill core and cuttings, they may be less familiar with the use of geophysical logs; this document is meant to serve as a primer on the use of geophysical logs in the UGTA project. Standard geophysical logging tools used in the UGTA project to identify and characterize hydrogeologic units are described, and basic interpretation principles and techniques are explained. Numerous examples of geophysical log data from a variety of hydrogeologic units encountered in UGTA wells are presented to highlight the use …

The objective of this project is to develop dense ceramic membranes that, without using an external power supply or circuitry, can produce hydrogen via coal/coal gas-assisted water dissociation. This project grew from an effort to develop a dense ceramic membrane for separating hydrogen from gas mixtures such as those generated during coal gasification, methane partial oxidation, and water-gas shift reactions. That effort led to the development of various cermet (i.e., ceramic/metal composite) membranes that enable hydrogen production by two methods. In one method, a hydrogen transport membrane (HTM) selectively removes hydrogen from a gas mixture by transporting it through either a mixed protonic/electronic conductor or a hydrogen transport metal. In the other method, an oxygen transport membrane (OTM) generates hydrogen mixed with steam by removing oxygen that is generated through water splitting. This project focuses on the development of OTMs that efficiently produce hydrogen via the dissociation of water. Supercritical boilers offer very high-pressure steam that can be decomposed to provide pure hydrogen by means of OTMs. Oxygen resulting from the dissociation of steam can be used for coal gasification, enriched combustion, or synthesis gas production. Hydrogen and sequestration-ready CO{sub 2} can be produced from coal and steam by using …

The Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) is currently evaluating an alternative Chemical Process Cell (CPC) flowsheet to increase throughput. It includes removal of the steam-stripping step, which would significantly reduce the CPC processing time and lessen the sampling needs. However, its downside would be to send 100% of the mercury that come in with the sludge straight to the melter. For example, the new mercury content in the Sludge Batch 5 (SB5) melter feed is projected to be 25 times higher than that in the SB4 with nominal steam stripping of mercury. This task was initiated to study the impact of the worst-case scenario of zero-mercury-removal in the CPC on the DWPF melter off-gas system. It is stressed that this study is intended to be scoping in nature, so the results presented in this report are preliminary. In order to study the impact of elevated mercury levels in the feed, it is necessary to be able to predict how mercury would speciate in the melter exhaust under varying melter operating conditions. A homogeneous gas-phase oxidation model of mercury by chloride was developed to do just that. The model contains two critical parameters pertaining to the partitioning of chloride among HCl, …

This manual is a general resource tool to assist EMSL users and Laboratory staff within EMSL locate official policy, practice and subject matter experts. It is not intended to replace or amend any formal Battelle policy or practice. Users of this manual should rely only on Battelle’s Standard Based Management System (SBMS) for official policy. No contractual commitment or right of any kind is created by this manual. Battelle management reserves the right to alter, change, or delete any information contained within this manual without prior notice.

A 3-L sludge slurry sample from Tank 12 was characterized and then processed through an aluminum dissolution demonstration. The dominant constituent of the sludge was found to be aluminum in the form of boehmite. The iron content was minor, about one-tenth that of the aluminum. The salt content of the supernatant was relatively high, with a sodium concentration of {approx}7 M. Due to these characteristics, the yield stress and plastic viscosity of the unprocessed slurry were relatively high (19 Pa and 27 cP), and the settling rate of the sludge was relatively low ({approx}20% settling over a two and a half week period). Prior to performing aluminum dissolution, plutonium and gadolinium were added to the slurry to simulate receipt of plutonium waste from H-Canyon. Aluminum dissolution was performed over a 26 day period at a temperature of 65 C. Approximately 60% of the insoluble aluminum dissolved during the demonstration, with the rate of dissolution slowing significantly by the end of the demonstration period. In contrast, approximately 20% of the plutonium and less than 1% of the gadolinium partitioned to the liquid phase. However, about a third of the liquid phase plutonium became solubilized prior to the dissolution period, when the …

The Society for Energy and Environmental Research (SEER) was funded in March 2004 by the Department of Energy, under grant DE-FG-36-04GO14268, to produce a study, and oversee construction and implementation, for the thermo-chemical production of fuel from agricultural and animal waste. The grant focuses on the Changing World Technologies (CWT) of West Hempstead, NY, thermal conversion process (TCP), which converts animal residues and industrial food processing biproducts into fuels, and as an additional product, fertilizers. A commercial plant was designed and built by CWT, partially using grant funds, in Carthage, Missouri, to process animal residues from a nearby turkey processing plant. The DOE sponsored program consisted of four tasks. These were: Task 1 Optimization of the CWT Plant in Carthage - This task focused on advancing and optimizing the process plant operated by CWT that converts organic waste to fuel and energy. Task 2 Characterize and Validate Fuels Produced by CWT - This task focused on testing of bio-derived hydrocarbon fuels from the Carthage plant in power generating equipment to determine the regulatory compliance of emissions and overall performance of the fuel. Task 3 Characterize Mixed Waste Streams - This task focused on studies performed at Princeton University to better …

Fast magnetization dynamics in the micro- and nanometer regime are an interesting field of research. On these length scales magnetic structures can be designed to contain a single vortex or a single domain wall. Both size and speed of these patterns are of great interest in todays research for prospective non-volatile data storage devices. Especially the possibility to move domain-walls by spin-polarized current gained a lot of interest. Magnetic configurations can be imaged by soft X-ray magnetic microscopy with a spatial resolution down to 15 nm. By a stroboscopic pump and probe measurement scheme a temporal resolution below 100 ps is achieved. This provides the opportunity to directly image changes in magnetic domains and domain-wall motion. We image oscillations of a single domain wall in a confining potential in time steps of 200 ps by time resolved X-ray microscopy at the full-field soft X-ray transmission microscope at the Advanced Light Source in Berkeley (beamline 6.1.2). Domain walls are prepared in permalloy nanostructures with a restoring potential. The oscillation of a 180{sup o} domain wall is triggered by nanosecond current pulses. The spin-polarized current and the accompanying Oersted field can contribute to the motion of the wall. By analysis of the …