Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Because of delays and cost increases, the General Services Administration (GSA) canceled the authorized 41-courtroom Los Angeles (L.A.), California, courthouse project in 2006. Since then, GSA and the judiciary have been slow to agree upon how to proceed with the project, for which about $366 million in appropriated funds remains available. In 2012, with the judiciary’s support, GSA issued a request for proposal for contractors to design and build a 24-courtoom, 32-chamber courthouse, which would be used in conjunction with 25 existing courtrooms in the Roybal Courthouse. However, this new plan will not address one of the principal justifications for the original project—that the L.A. Court be centralized at one site. Instead, it would increase the distance between the Roybal Courthouse and the planned second court location and the distance to the federal detention center from which prisoners must be transported."

Agenda for the August 7th meeting of the Dallas Way listing the order of topics to discuss for the meeting.

The "Aligning National Approaches to Digital Preservation" (ANADP) conference was held at the National Library of Estonia, from May 23-25, 2011. More than 125 delegates from more than 20 countries were gathered in Tallinn, Estonia and explored how to create and sustain international collaborations to support the preservation of digital cultural memory. This publication contains a collection of peer-reviewed essays that were developed by conference panels and attendees in the months following ANADP.

"This report examines variation in testing of ER, PR, HER2, BRCA, and lymph nodes in women ages 65 and older who were enrolled in the Medicare program and diagnosed with DCIS between 2004 and 2007."

Document listing the bridge underclearance data including location, the features carried, the lower roadway, and the minimum clearance of the overpass.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Almost all ANS hardware and most software development were completed prior to its cancellation, according to the Army and GDRS. The software for the most advanced capabilities was not completed, which potentially presented the greatest complexities. GDRS had demonstrated many of ANS’s capabilities to some extent, including its capability to avoid obstacles and follow a leading vehicle through varying terrain. ANS had not yet progressed to the independent testing phase, however. In cancelling ANS and MM-UGV, the Army estimated that approximately $2.5 billion in planned funding for fiscal years 2013 to 2017 could be made available for other Army efforts. According to Army officials, the government owns the work completed on ANS to date."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "While CRA should increase investor demand for LIHTCs, quantifying the extent of any effect of CRA on LIHTC equity contributions is difficult given data and methodological challenges. In part because of the qualitative nature of the CRA investment test, regulatory ratings cannot be systematically linked to banks' LIHTC investments. Although a bank's overall rating and the associated narrative of its CRA examination are publicly available, the performance evaluation report does not individually list qualified investments and how they were considered for that examination. Furthermore, quantifying potential bank demand for LIHTCs in specific geographic areas is complicated because not every bank assessment area is considered to the same degree in a CRA examination. Although one way to assess demand for LIHTCs is by examining how much equity investors are willing to contribute, the common LIHTC price measure--the ratio of investors' equity contribution to the total amount of LIHTCs in nominal dollars--is subject to misinterpretation. Specifically, an investor's equity contribution reflects the value of not just the LIHTCs, but also any other tax and regulatory benefits--such as higher CRA ratings--plus project risks. Such other tax benefits include deductions for depreciation …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In summary, DOD reported having taken or planned actions that directly align with about half of the CWC recommendations applicable to it, and State and USAID each reported having taken or planned actions that directly align with about one-third of the recommendations applicable to each of them. Officials from the three agencies explained that for the remaining recommendations no actions were taken or planned that directly aligned with the specific recommendation. This was because, for example, the agencies had determined that existing policies or practices already meet the intent of the recommendations or had disagreed with the recommendations. The following are examples of actions that DOD, State, and USAID have taken or planned that directly align with specific CWC recommendations:"

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We identified 1,340 potential, separate initiatives that DOD funded from fiscal year 2008 through the first quarter of fiscal year 2012 that, in DOD officials’ opinion, met the above definition for C-IED initiatives. We relied on our survey, in part, to determine this number because DOD has not determined, and does not have a ready means for determining, the universe of C-IED initiatives. Of the 1,340 initiatives, we received detailed survey responses confirming that 711 initiatives met our C-IED definition. Of the remaining 629 initiatives for which we did not receive survey responses, 481 were JIEDDO initiatives. JIEDDO officials attribute their low survey returns for reasons including that C-IED initiatives are currently not fully identified, catalogued, and retrievable; however, they expect updates to their information technology system will correct this deficiency. Our survey also identified 45 different organizations that DOD is funding to undertake these 1,340 identified initiatives. Some of these organizations receive JIEDDO funding while others receive other DOD funding. We documented $4.8 billion of DOD funds expended in fiscal year 2011 in support of C-IED initiatives, but this amount is understated because we did not receive …

News release about the appointment of James F. Adams to the DART board of directors, representing the city of Dallas.

News release about the naming of Scott Carlson as DART's new general counsel.

News release about DART's adjusted service schedule in observance of the Labor Day holiday.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "DOD incorporated results-oriented management practices into the planning and development of the four ongoing DSO improvement efforts. Additionally, it appears that DOD is incorporating those practices into its planning for the fifth effort—strategic network optimization—which is still under development. On the basis of our assessment of DOD’s key planning documents and other information for the process improvement, surface optimization, air optimization, and supply alignment efforts, we found that DOD addressed the six characteristics found in the framework. For example, DOD identified the main purpose of the improvement efforts, their scope, and the resources needed to execute individual efforts. Preliminary observations of DOD's planning for strategic network optimization indicate that agency officials are also incorporating results-oriented management practices for this effort. For example, DOD has developed a mission statement and established mechanisms to coordinate with stakeholders. However, because planning is still underway for strategic network optimization, we were unable to fully assess the extent to which DOD has used result-oriented management practices to develop and implement this improvement effort. For example, DOD has not yet decided how to implement the effort nor developed specific performance measures to assess progress."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "DOD's rationale for waiving WSARA's competitive prototyping requirement for CAPS covered both bases provided in the statute; however, DOD did not provide complete information about the potential benefits of competitive prototyping or support for its conclusion that prototyping would result in schedule delays. In the waiver, DOD found reasonable the Air Force's conclusion that the additional $49 million cost of producing competing prototypes exceeded the negligible expected life-cycle benefits because minimal opportunities exist to increase CAPS technological and design maturity through competitive prototyping. The Air Force's conclusions about CAPS technical and design risk are supported by its market research, but its cost-benefit analysis was incomplete because neither the waiver nor the business case analysis supporting it provided an estimated dollar value for the expected benefits. Further, the Air Force's cost estimate of competitively prototyping CAPS was based on a program office estimate, which has not been independently reviewed by DOD's Office of Cost Assessment and Performance Evaluation. DOD also did not provide support in the waiver for its conclusion that implementing competitive prototyping will delay EPS's initial operational capability and result in DOD being unable to meet critical …

This document is intended to help public water systems (PWSs) understand the processes and requirements for obtaining authorization for emergency use of water wells that have not been previously approved for use as a source of public drinking water.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S.-funded global health programs have put regulatory and policy requirements in place to help prevent procurement of substandard drugs. USAID, for example, reviews quality assurance information for all drugs before they are procured. Specifically, USAID requires implementing partners to obtain written approval from the agency before purchasing drugs. Through its approval process, USAID determines whether there is sufficient information available to assure that the drug is of acceptable quality. Although USAID’s review process varies for some drugs, the type of information USAID reviews generally includes prior FDA approval of the drug or approval by a comparable stringent regulatory authority, as well as results of prior testing of the drug by an independent laboratory. As an additional quality assurance measure, USAID prequalifies selected wholesalers to procure drugs for U.S.-funded global health programs based on factors such as site visits to the wholesaler’s facility and a review of the wholesaler’s quality assurance practices and procedures. According to CDC officials, CDC requires its implementing partners to follow program-specific quality assurance requirements. For example, CDC’s implementing partners must follow the same requirements as the USAID/PMI program when procuring malaria drugs and as …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We found that the Federal Real Property Council (FRPC) has not followed sound data collection practices in designing and maintaining the Federal Real Property Profile (FRPP) database, raising concerns that the database is not a useful tool for describing the nature, use, and extent of excess and underutilized federal real property. The FRPC has not ensured that key data elements—including buildings’ utilization, condition, annual operating costs, mission dependency, and value—are defined and reported consistently and accurately. For example, we documented buildings reported to the FRPP as underutilized even though they were fully occupied and we also documented others that were vacant but reported as utilized. We also saw severely dilapidated buildings that were reported as being in excellent condition. In fact, at 23 of the 26 locations visited, we identified inconsistencies and inaccuracies related to these data elements. As a result, FRPC cannot ensure that FRPP data are sufficiently reliable to support sound management and decision making about excess and underutilized property. In addition to problems with data consistency, we found problems with collaboration and reporting issues, among others."

The Green Economy is one in which the vital linkages among the economy, society, and environment are taken into account. This selection of articles and excerpts emerged in response to the need to fill the knowledge gap on practical, concrete, and on the ground green economy country experience. It is in this spirit that the articles and excerpts included in this publication have been selected: to provide information and knowledge for policy and decision makers and practitioners on the positive implications of greening some priority sectors, including job creation, resource efficiency, and generally contribution to sustainable development through an extensive review of scientific publications and magazines.

Application materials submitted to the Texas Historical Commission requesting a historic marker for the Carl and Hilda Biehl House, in Galveston, 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 Gustav Blersch House, in San Antonio, 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 H.P. Luckett House, in Bastrop, 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 Robert E. Lee High School, in Baytown, 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 Southside School, in San Marcos, 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 Witcher House, in Lampasas, Texas. The materials include the inscription text of the marker, original application, narrative, floor plans, and photographs.