The Africa Adaptation Programme (AAP) has been designed to support the long-term efforts of targeted countries to further develop their capability to successfully identify, design and implement holistic adaptation and disaster risk reduction programmes that are aligned with national development priorities. This report provides insight into the Africa Adaptation Programme (AAP) and its related country project profiles. The AAP has shifted into implementation, with Namibia and Tunisia as the first countries to complete national inception workshops. Eighteen out of the total twenty programme countries will complete national inception processes and start full-fledged implementation in the coming months.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Authority of the Governor to grant a posthumous pardon (RQ-0810-GA).

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a county or state must defend a district attorney in a civil lawsuit , and whether a district attorney may use assets forfeiture funds to pay for her defense in such a suit (RQ-0816-GA).

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Qualifications for service on the Board of Directors of the Logan Slough Creek Improvement District; elections to the District's Board; and applicability of the Open Meetings Act and Public Information Act to the District (RQ-0814-GA)

The purpose of this scorecard is to assist governments, donors and NGOs to investigate and record significant aspects of aProtected Area (PA) financing system –its accounts and its underlying structural foundations – to show both its current health and status and to indicate if the system is holistically moving over the long-term towards an improved financial situation. The scorecard is designed for national systems of PAs but could be used by sub-national eg state, regional or municipal or networks of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

UNDP promotes equitable access to water resources and water and sanitation services as a fundamental requisite for human development. In a rapidly changing world, UNDP's Water Governance Programme catalyzes efforts towards the achievements of the MDGs. The document provides a brief overview of UNDP's Water Governance Programme.

The report provides the status and trends of biodiversity offset and compensatory mitigation programs by geographical region. It summarizes the total active programs and developing activities, and broad metrics like total known payments and land area protected. It also analyzes the characteristics of offset programs and looks at recent developments in nascent and existing programs in the region.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The December 25, 2009, attempted bombing of flight 253 raised questions about the federal government's ability to protect the homeland and secure the commercial aviation system. This statement focuses on the government's efforts to use the terrorist watchlist to screen individuals and determine if they pose a threat, and how failures in this process contributed to the December 25 attempted attack. This statement also addresses the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) planned deployment of technologies for enhanced explosive detection and the challenges associated with this deployment. GAO's comments are based on products issued from September 2006 through October 2009 and selected updates in January 2010. For these updates, GAO reviewed government reports related to the December 25 attempted attack and obtained information from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and TSA on use of the watchlist and new technologies for screening airline passengers."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), whose reauthorization is the subject of today's hearing, plays a vital role in advancing transportation safety by investigating accidents, determining their causes, issuing safety recommendations, and conducting safety studies. To support the agency's mission, NTSB's Training Center provides training to NTSB investigators and others. NTSB's 2006 reauthorization legislation mandates an annual review by GAO, and from 2006 through 2008, GAO made 21 recommendations to NTSB that address its management, information technology (IT), accident investigation criteria, safety studies, and Training Center use. This testimony addresses NTSB's progress in implementing GAO's recommendations that it (1) follow leading management practices, (2) conduct aspects of its accident investigations and safety studies more efficiently, and (3) increase the use of its Training Center. The testimony also discusses (4) changes NTSB seeks in its 2010 reauthorization proposal. This testimony is based on GAO's assessment from July 2009 to January 2010 of plans and procedures NTSB developed to address these recommendations. NTSB provided technical comments that GAO incorporated as appropriate."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report presents the highlights of GAO's fiscal year 2009 Performance and Accountability Report. The Government Accountability Office, the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the Congress, exists to support the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and accountability of the federal government for the American people. GAO examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help the Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. To fulfill its mission, GAO organizes and manages its resources to support four broad strategic goals. These include helping to address challenges to the well-being and economic security of the American people, U.S. national and homeland security efforts, and modernizing government to meet current and emerging issues. Strategic goal 4 is an internal goal that focuses on enhancing GAO's business and administrative processes through investments in human capital, financial management, information technology, and various processes and systems needed to support the agency and the Congress. GAO maintains a workforce of highly trained professionals across a breadth of academic and scientific disciplines. About three-quarters …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Potential terrorist attacks and the possibility of naturally occurring disease outbreaks have raised concerns about the "surge capacity" of the nation's health care systems to respond to mass casualty events. The statement GAO is issuing today summarizes a June 2008 report, Emergency Preparedness: States Are Planning for Medical Surge, but Could Benefit from Shared Guidance for Allocating Scare Medical Resources (GAO-08-668). In that report, GAO was asked to examine the assistance the federal government had provided to help states prepare for medical surge and what states had done to prepare for medical surge. To do this GAO reviewed documents from the 50 states and federal agencies and interviewed officials from a judgmental sample of 20 states and from federal agencies, as well as emergency preparedness experts."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) relies on thousands of suppliers to ensure it has the weapons and supporting equipment needed to meet U.S. national security objectives. Congress has provided DOD with a variety of authorities to allow it to maintain information on its suppliers and to take actions to ensure that its suppliers can deliver needed items. In October 2008, we reported on our assessment of DOD's efforts to monitor the health of its supplier base and identify and address gaps and recommended that DOD develop a departmentwide framework and consistent approach, which DOD has begun to implement. In light of increased globalization in the defense industry and consolidation of the defense supplier base into a few prime contractors, Congress requested that we review DOD's efforts to assess supplier-base availability for future defense needs."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Hospitals and other health care providers use purchasing intermediaries--group purchasing organizations (GPO)--as a way to control the cost of various medical products. Through GPO-negotiated contracts, hospitals and other health care providers can purchase everything from commodities, such as cotton balls and bandages, to high-technology medical devices, such as pacemakers and stents. By pooling the purchases of these products for their customers, GPOs are in a position to negotiate lower prices from manufacturers, distributors, and other suppliers, which may in turn benefit health care providers and, ultimately, consumers and payers of health care such as insurers and employers. Members of Congress and others have recently raised questions about the extent to which GPOs negotiate lower prices for health care providers. GPO and other trade associations have funded studies on the impact of GPOs. However, these studies have limitations. Congress asked us to review research on the impact of GPOs on pricing for hospitals and other health care providers. This report summarizes the peer-reviewed and nonpeer-reviewed literature on the impact of GPOs on pricing for hospitals and other health care providers that GAO identified in GAO's literature review."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) is the federal government's largest purchaser of contractor-provided services and relies on contractors to support its varied missions. DOD's contractors provide a range of services, such as consulting and administrative support, information technology services, and weapon system and base operations support. However, DOD contract management has been on our high-risk list since 1992, and our recent work continues to identify weaknesses in DOD's management and oversight of services contracts. In particular, we have reported on the need for reliable data on how service acquisition dollars are spent to make informed contract management decisions and achieve positive acquisition outcomes. Congress has enacted legislation in recent years to increase the availability of information on services acquisitions to improve DOD's ability to manage these purchases. As part of those efforts, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 amended 10 U.S.C. 2330a to require DOD to submit an annual inventory of the activities performed pursuant to contracts for services for or on behalf of DOD during the preceding fiscal year. These inventories are to contain a number of different elements for the service contracts listed, …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Political appointees in the federal government sometimes seek appointments to career competitive and other positions which, unlike political appointments, do not terminate at the end of an administration. Conversions of political appointees to career positions must conform to merit system principles requiring that selection be determined solely on the basis of merit after fair and open competition. Sometimes, however, circumstances surrounding conversions can raise questions as to whether the individuals received political favoritism or an unfair advantage in the merit system selection process, even the appearance of which could adversely compromise the integrity of the system. As requested, we are providing you with information on the number of conversions of political appointees to career positions as reported to us by 42 executive branch departments and agencies from May 1, 2005, through May 30, 2009. The types of positions this letter covers and a definition of each, along with the criteria we used to select the 42 departments and agencies, are listed in the scope and methodology section."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Due to recent turmoil in U.S. credit markets, many lenders have been reluctant to offer conventional loans--that is, loans not guaranteed by the federal government--to small businesses so that they can finance their operations and capital needs. While the Small Business Administration's (SBA) principal loan guarantee programs, the 7(a) and 504 programs, are intended to help small businesses raise critical financing that they may have difficulty obtaining from other sources, the availability of such loans has also declined. Under the 7(a) program, SBA traditionally has provided lenders guarantees on up to 85 percent of the value of loans to qualifying small businesses in exchange for fees to help offset the costs of the program. Under the 504 program, which generally applies to small business real estate and other fixed assets, SBA provides certified development companies with a guarantee on up to 40 percent of the financing of the projects' costs in exchange for fees--the small business borrowers and other lenders provide the remaining 60 percent of the financing on an unguaranteed basis. Traditionally, lenders, such as banks, that participate in the 7(a) or 504 programs often sell qualifying …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) has had long-standing difficulties developing and delivering space systems on time and within budget. Some programs have been delayed by years and cost billions of dollars more than their initial estimates. Attempts to reform DOD space acquisitions in the past have sought to leverage commercial approaches or rely more on the commercial sector to meet DOD needs. These efforts have not been successful and, in some cases, have exacerbated problems, particularly with respect to oversight. In view of past challenges with adopting commercial approaches, Congress requested an examination of the following questions: (1) What are the differences between commercial and national security space system missions, requirements, and technology development? (2) What acquisition practices adopted by commercial companies could be used for national security space system acquisitions? (3) Which acquisition practices adopted by commercial companies may not be readily adaptable for national security space system acquisitions?"

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "During this decade, the Coast Guard has been challenged with expanded mission responsibilities, and concerns have been raised about whether sufficient personnel exist within the Coast Guard to fulfill these mission responsibilities. The terrorist attacks of September 11th resulted in additional and expanded security-related mission areas, while major natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, provided lessons learned in allocating personnel and other resources across Coast Guard units. However, the impact of expanding Coast Guard missions and the increasing nationwide need for mission-ready Coast Guard units underscored shortcomings in the Coast Guard's ability to effectively allocate resources, such as personnel, ensure readiness levels, and maintain mission competency. GAO, the Offices of Inspector General at first the Department of Transportation and then the Department of Homeland Security, the National Transportation Safety Board, Congress, and the Coast Guard itself have reported on these types of personnel concerns both before and after the 2001 attacks. Commenting on the Coast Guard's fiscal year 2009 appropriations, congressional appropriators noted in a Senate Appropriations Committee Report that while the Coast Guard workforce is approximately the same size today as it was at the end of …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Fiscal pressures, rising health care costs, and increases in the number of uninsured may lead states to look toward public-private partnerships to help finance health insurance coverage. Through Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), states have had long-standing authority to operate premium assistance programs that subsidize the purchase of private health insurance. Enacted in February 2009, the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA), which reauthorized CHIP and made changes to Medicaid, provided states with additional options for operating premium assistance programs. As of November 2009, states had not implemented premium assistance programs under the new authorities provided by CHIPRA, but, as allowed by CHIPRA, states were continuing to operate their programs under preexisting authorities. Through premium assistance programs, states use Medicaid funds, CHIP funds, or both to subsidize the cost of private health insurance--such as employer-sponsored insurance (ESI)--for eligible individuals. As such, premium assistance programs contrast with direct coverage, where states provide Medicaid or CHIP benefits to enrollees by paying doctors and other providers directly or contracting with managed care organizations. Previous reports on premium assistance programs have described the programs' potential …

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Karger Building, in Comfort, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, original application, narrative, floor plans, and photographs.

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Mesa Water Boosting Station, in El Paso, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, original application, narrative, floor plans, maps, and photographs.

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Magnolia Park City Hall and Central Fire Station, in Houston, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, original application, narrative, floor plans, and photographs.

This document describes the process to establish PCLs for total petroleum hydrocarbon mixtures.

Broad Funding Opportunity Announcement Project: ITN is addressing the high cost of electrochromic windows with a new manufacturing process: roll-to-roll deposition of the film onto flexible plastic surfaces. Production of electrochromic films on plastic requires low processing temperatures and uniform film quality over large surface areas. ITN is overcoming these challenges using its previous experience in growing flexible thin-film solar cells and batteries. By developing sensor-based controls, ITN’s roll-to-roll manufacturing process yields more film over a larger area than traditional film deposition methods. Evaluating deposition processes from a control standpoint ultimately strengthens the ability for ITN to handle unanticipated deviations quickly and efficiently, enabling more consistent large-volume production. The team is currently moving from small-scale prototypes into pilot-scale production to validate roll-to-roll manufacturability and produce scaled prototypes that can be proven in simulated operating conditions. Electrochromic plastic films could also open new markets in building retrofit applications, vastly expanding the potential energy savings.