Characteristics of the site significant to the prospect for geothermal development are described, including: physiography, demography, economy, and the goals and objectives of the citizens as they relate to geothermal development. The geothermal resource evaluation is described, including the depth to reservoir, production rates of existing water wells, water quality, and the resource temperature. Uses of the energy that seem appropriate to the situation both now and in the foreseeable future at Gabbs are described. The essential institutional requirements for geothermal energy development are discussed, including the financial, environmental, legal, and regulatory requirements. The main resource, engineering and institutional considerations involved in a geothermal district heating system for Gabbs are summarized.

A report to the Weather Bureau, Washington DC, from the chairman of the Subcommittee on the Atmosphere in Relation to Aeronautics describing the activities accomplished and the proposal of work to be undertaken by the subcommittee.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) permits borrowers to obtain down payment assistance from third parties; but, research has raised concerns about the performance of loans with such assistance. Due to these concerns, GAO examined the (1) trends in the use of down payment assistance with FHA-insured loans, (2) the impact that the presence of such assistance has on purchase transactions and house prices, (3) how such assistance influences the performance of these loans, and (4) FHA's standards and controls for these loans."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Because of the significance of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) collections to overall federal receipts and, in turn, to the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government, which GAO is required to audit, and Congress's interest in financial management at IRS, GAO audits IRS's financial statements annually to determine whether (1) the financial statements are reliable and (2) IRS management maintained effective internal controls. GAO also tests IRS's compliance with selected provisions of significant laws and regulations and its financial systems' compliance with the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA)."

The Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) is an armored amphibious vehicle program that originated two decades ago to replace the 1970s-era Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV). The EFV has experienced a variety of developmental difficulties, resulting in significant program delays and cost growth. While the Marine Corps and Department of Defense remain optimistic about the future of the EFC program, there continue to be major concerns about the EFV's reliability and escalating costs.

This report discusses the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 4173), which was implemented as part of financial regulatory reform initiatives undertaken by Congress in light of the recent global economic crisis. The legislation focuses on executive compensation.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In GAO's opinion, the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) fiscal years 2012 and 2011 financial statements are fairly presented in all material respects. However, in GAO's opinion, IRS did not maintain effective internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2012, because of a material weakness in internal control over unpaid tax assessments. In addition, GAO found that IRS's financial management systems were not in substantial compliance with Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA) requirements because of the systems issues underlying the material weakness. GAO also found no reportable instances of noncompliance in fiscal year 2012 with provisions of the laws and regulations it tested."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Department of Defense (DOD) obligations for service contracts rose from $82.3 billion in fiscal year 1996 to $141.2 billion in fiscal year 2005. DOD is becoming increasingly more reliant on the private sector to provide a wide range of services, including those for critical information technology and mission support. DOD must maximize its return on investment and provide the warfighter with needed capabilities and support at the best value for the taxpayer. GAO examined DOD's approach to managing services in order to (1) identify the key factors DOD should emphasize to improve its management of services and (2) assess the extent to which DOD's current approach exhibited these factors."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2003, violent conflict in Darfur, Sudan broke out between rebel groups, government troops, and government-supported Arab militias, known as the Janjaweed. The conflict has displaced about 2 million Darfurians and has so affected over 1.9 million others that they require assistance. Since October 2003, the U.S. government has provided humanitarian assistance in Darfur and supported African Union Mission in Sudan's (AMIS) efforts to fulfill a peace support mandate. This report reviews (1) U.S. humanitarian assistance provided to Darfur and the challenges that have been encountered and (2) African Union efforts to fulfill its mandate and challenges that have affected these efforts."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) provision required the Department of Defense (DOD) to close the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP). GAO was asked to address the status and potential impact of implementing this BRAC provision. This report discusses (1) key services AFIP provides to the military and civilian communities; (2) DOD's plans to terminate, relocate, or outsource services currently provided by AFIP; and (3) the potential impacts of disestablishing AFIP on military and civilian communities. New legislation requires DOD to consider this GAO report as it develops its plan for the reorganization of AFIP. GAO reviewed DOD's plans, analysis, and other relevant information, and interviewed officials from the public and private sectors."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "There have been long-standing concerns regarding the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) oversight of postmarket drug safety. In 2006, GAO reported that FDA had not clearly defined the roles of two offices involved in making decisions about postmarket safety--the Office of New Drugs (OND) and the Office of Surveillance and Epidemiology (OSE). GAO and others reported additional concerns such as limitations in the data FDA relies on to identify postmarket drug safety issues and the systems it uses to track such issues. At that time, GAO made recommendations, including that FDA improve the independence of its program for resolving scientific disputes related to postmarket drug safety. In 2007, legislation further expanded FDA's postmarket responsibilities. This report examines the steps that FDA is taking to (1) enhance its processes for making decisions about the safety of marketed drugs, (2) improve access to data that help the agency identify drug safety issues, and (3) build its capacity to fulfill its postmarket drug safety workload. GAO reviewed FDA policies and planning documents, and interviewed FDA officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Because of the significance of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) collections to overall federal receipts and, in turn, to the consolidated financial statements of the U.S. government, which GAO is required to audit, and Congress's interest in financial management at IRS, GAO audits IRS's financial statements annually to determine whether (1) the financial statements are reliable, and (2) IRS management maintained effective internal controls. GAO also tests IRS's compliance with selected provisions of significant laws and regulations and its financial systems' compliance with the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 (FFMIA)."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under Department of Defense (DOD) policy, the export of classified and controlled spare parts must be managed to prevent their release to foreign countries that may use them against U.S. interests. GAO has issued a series of reports on the foreign military sales program in which weaknesses in the military services' internal controls were identified. This report highlights (1) a systemic problem that GAO identified in the internal controls of the military services' requisition-processing systems and (2) a potential best practice that GAO identified in one service that provides an additional safeguard over foreign military sales of classified and controlled parts."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2003, violent conflict in Darfur, Sudan, broke out between rebel groups and government troops and government-supported Arab militias. While few would dispute that many thousands of Darfur civilians have died, less consensus exists about the total number of deaths attributable to the crisis. Estimates by the Department of State (State) and other parties report death tolls up to about 400,000 for varying populations and periods of time between February 2003 and August 2005. Based on the views of experts convened by GAO and the National Academy of Sciences, interviews with estimate authors, and a review of relevant literature, this report (1) evaluates six Darfur death estimates, (2) identifies general challenges to estimating deaths in such crises, and (3) discusses measures to improve death estimates."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Agencies are required to report improper payment information under the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (IPIA) and recovery auditing information under section 831 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002, commonly known as the Recovery Auditing Act. Since the first year of implementation, fiscal year 2004, limited improper payments reporting by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and concerns raised by NASA's auditors about its risk assessment process prompted scrutiny from the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security, during several oversight hearings. Because the subcommittee noted that USAID's and NASA's performance and accountability report (PAR) reporting on improper payments and recovery auditing was minimal, GAO was asked to review both agencies' IPIA risk assessment methodologies, recovery auditing procedures, and actions under way to improve their IPIA and recovery audit reporting."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Federal law states that not more than 50 percent of annual depot maintenance funding can be used for work by private sector contractors. In an earlier report, GAO could not determine whether the Department of Defense (DOD) had complied with the 50-percent limitation. More recent GAO testimony highlighted continuing and pervasive weaknesses in DOD's financial management systems, operations, and controls that impair its ability to accurately accumulate and report reliable budget execution and cost data. This report found that the military had mixed results complying with the 50-50 requirement for private sector workloads in fiscal years 1999 and 2000. The projections of the Army, Air Force, and Navy in DOD's report for fiscal years 2001 through 2005 are neither accurate nor reasonable estimates of the future allocations of public and private sector workloads. The services placed much less emphasis on the future-years data and reports. The reported projections use incorrect data and questionable assumptions and are inconsistent with existing budgets and management plans. DOD's report should be viewed with caution because it does not provide the best data available to DOD decisionmakers and congressional overseers, and …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To improve its oversight of housing agencies, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) implemented its Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS). PHAS provides HUD with a system to measure the performance of its housing agencies. GAO found that the effectiveness of HUD's ability to measure housing agencies' performance under PHAS has not been greatly improved for several reasons. First, HUD does not verify the accuracy of self-certified data submitted by the agencies in response to PHAS requirements. According to GAO's survey, in several instances, agencies that certified themselves as "standard" or "high performers" were later found to be troubled. Second, HUD's field offices indicated that they are adequately prepared in some areas to assist troubled housing agencies but that in other areas, such as adequate staffing, they are not. Furthermore, HUD's experience indicated that although the use of sanctions against poor performing agencies can be an effective tool for improving performance, most of its field offices fail to use them."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Postal Service's acceptance controls for business mail, focusing on whether the Service had made the changes GAO recommended previously and whether those changes were working."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Panama Canal Treaty called for the United States to transfer control over the Panama Canal to Panama and withdraw U.S. military forces and equipment from Panama. The treaty allowed the U.S. government to remove or dispose of all equipment and supplies acquired by U.S. forces. U.S. plans for withdrawal from Panama required excess property to be processed using disposal procedures that gave the military services and the federal agencies the first opportunity to receive the property. During 1998 and 1999, the Department of Defense's (DOD) Panama disposal office processed excess property valued at $136.7 million. Of this amount, $691,000 worth of property (less than one percent) was unaccounted for during this period. Disposal office records show that the property was written off as lost. DOD recognizes the need to properly manage and account for its assets and is working on a long-term strategy to provide in-transit control and visibility over excess property through information technology. DOD also has developed a new lesson segment for training its personnel on control procedures, but it has not taken adequate steps to ensure that the appropriate field personnel have …

We have continued our laboratory studies of forward gasification in small blocks of coal mounted in 55-gal drums. A steam/oxygen mixture is fed into a small hole drilled longitudinally through the center of the block, the coal is ignited near the inlet and burns toward the outlet, and the product gases come off at the outlet. Various diagnostic measurements are made during the course of the burn, and afterward the coal block is split open so that the cavity can be examined. Development work continues on our mathematical model for the small coal block experiments. Preparations for the large block experiments at a coal outcrop in the Tono Basin of Washington State have required steadily increasing effort with the approach of the scheduled starting time for the experiments (Fall 1981). Also in preparation is the deep gasification experiment, Tono 1, planned for another site in the Tono Basin after the large block experiments have been completed. Wrap-up work continues on our previous gasification experiments in Wyoming. Results of the postburn core-drilling program Hoe Creek 3 are presented here. Since 1976 the Soviets have been granted four US patents on various aspects of the underground coal gasification process. These patents are …

The preliminary designs of Stationkeeping Subsystems (SKSS) for the OTEC Modular Experiment Plant are being prepared for a barge and spar platform. The SKSS selected by NOAA for the barge is a multiple anchor leg mooring with active tensioning (MAL), while that for the spar is a tension anchor leg (TAL) moor. The development and testing program required to provide design data and to validate performance predictions is described. Basic assumptions are made with regard to site characteristics, behavior of the SKSS and platform in the sea state, and characteristics of SKSS components. The test program is intended to provide the data necessary to confirm assumptions or to support design revisions. The testing program for the multiple anchor leg system is considered first, followed by the tension anchor leg program. Development and testing are recommended in the areas of materials, components and procedures which are beyond modest extrapolation of current ocean engineering practice. (WHK)

The basic premises of the conceptual design for the linac upgrade are pursued to establish lengths, gradients, power dissipation, etc., for the 400 MeV linac and matching section. The discussion is limited to accelerating and focusing components. Wherever values depend on the choice of the accelerating structure, the disk-and-washer structure is emphasized; the results are generally relevant to the side coupled cavity choice also.

The results of the analyses as well as a plan for geothermal development are described. The major findings and specific barriers to development that would have to be addressed are identified. Characteristics of the site significant to the prospect for geothermal development are described. These characteristics include physiography, demography, economy, and the goals and objectives of the citizens as they would relate to geothermal development. The geothermal resource evaluation is described. Based on available information, the reservoir is generally described, defining the depth to the reservoir, production rates of the existing water wells, water quality, and the resource temperature. Uses of the energy that seem appropriate to the situation both now and in the foreseeable future at Gabbs are described. The amounts and types of energy currently consumed, by end-user, are estimated. From this information, a conceptual engineering design and cost estimates are presented. Finally, the results of a life cycle analysis of the economic feasibility are discussed. A time-line chart shows the tasks, the time estimated to be required for each and the interrelatioships among the activities. The essential institutional requirements for geothermal energy development are discussed. These include the financial, environmental, legal and regulatory requirements. The main resource, …

The purpose of this report is to provide background and analysis for Congress on U.S. rule of law (ROL) and justice sector assistance programs to Afghanistan. The report also describes the scope of the ROL problem in Afghanistan, including the role of corruption, and surveys the range of Afghan justice sector institutions. In addition, the report describes U.S., Afghan, and multilateral policy approaches to the Afghan justice sector since the U.S. military invasion of Afghanistan in 2001; U.S. policy coordination and funding; and current U.S. justice sector assistance programs in Afghanistan.