A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "During a May 2003 congressional hearing, questions were raised about the accuracy of the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) reported costs for collecting payments from veterans and private health insurers for its Medical Care Collections Fund (MCCF). Congress also had questions about VA's practice of using third-party collections to satisfy veterans' first-party debt. GAO's objectives were to determine: (1) the accuracy of VA's reported cost for collecting first- and third-party payments from veterans and private health insurers, and (2) how VA's practice of satisfying first-party debt with third-party payments affects the collections process."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To support the Global War on Terrorism in fiscal year 2004, the Congress appropriated $65 billion to the Department of Defense (DOD) in an emergency supplemental appropriations act. To assist the Congress in its oversight role, GAO reviewed (1) the adequacy of current funding for fiscal year 2004 war-related activities and (2) actions DOD is undertaking to cover anticipated shortfalls, if any. Based on the body of work GAO has done on the cost of contingency operations, GAO is also making observations on efforts to require greater accountability to the Congress on the use of funds appropriated to DOD for contingency operations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Although the federal government has invested substantially in information technology (IT), its success in managing information resources has varied. Agencies have taken steps to implement modern strategies, systems, and management policies and practices, but they still face significant information and technology management challenges. Recognizing the key role of the chief information officer (CIO) in helping an agency to achieve better results through IT, congressional requesters asked GAO to study the current status of CIOs at major departments and agencies. Among the topics this report describes are (1) CIOs' responsibilities and reporting relationships, and (2) current CIOs' professional backgrounds and the tenures of all of the CIOs since enactment of the Clinger-Cohen Act."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is a cooperative program between the Department of Defense (DOD) and U.S. allies for developing and producing next generation fighter aircraft to replace aging inventories. As currently planned, the JSF program is DOD's most expensive aircraft program to date, costing an estimated $200 billion to procure about 2,600 aircraft and related support equipment. Many in DOD consider JSF to be a model for future cooperative programs. To determine the implications of the JSF international program structure, GAO identified JSF program relationships and expected benefits and assessed how DOD is managing cost sharing, technology transfer, and partner expectations for industrial return."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Private defined benefit (DB) pension plans are an important source of retirement income for millions of Americans. However, from 1990 to 2006, plan sponsors have voluntarily terminated over 61,000 sufficiently funded single-employer DB plans. An event preceding at least some of these terminations was a so-called plan "freeze"--an amendment to the plan to limit some or all future pension accruals for some or all plan participants. Available information that the government collects about frozen plans is limited in scope and may not be recent. GAO conducted a stratified probability sample survey of 471 single-employer DB plan sponsors out of a population of 7,804 (with 100 or more total plan participants) to gather more timely and detailed information about frozen plans. We have prepared this report under the Comptroller General's authority as part of our ongoing reassessment of risks associated with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation's (PBGC) single-employer pension insurance program, which, in 2003, we placed on our high-risk list of programs that need broad-based transformations and warrant the attention of Congress and the executive branch. Frozen DB plans have possible implications for PBGC's long-term financial position. …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Transatlantic airline operations between the United States and European Union (EU) nations are currently governed by bilateral agreements that are specific to the United States and each EU country. Since 1992, the United States has signed so-called "Open Skies" agreements with 15 of the 25 EU countries. A "nationality clause" in each agreement allows only those airlines designated by the signatory countries to participate in their transatlantic markets. In November 2002, the European Court of Justice ruled that existing Open Skies agreements were illegal under EU law, in part because their nationality clauses discriminated against airlines of other EU nations. The United States and the EU have been negotiating revisions to these agreements. Experts agree that removing the nationality clause is central to any new agreement. GAO was asked to report on (1) how prevalent Open Skies agreements are and what their effects on airlines and consumers are, (2) what the key ways that commercial aviation between the United States and the EU could be changed by the Court of Justice decision are, and (3) how the elimination of nationality clause restrictions might affect airlines and …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Project BioShield Act of 2004 (BioShield Act) increased the federal government's ability to procure needed countermeasures to address threats from chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear agents. Under the BioShield Act, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was provided with new contracting authorities (increased simplified acquisition and micropurchase thresholds, and expanded abilities to use procedures other than full and open competition and personal services contracts) and was authorized to use about $5.6 billion in a Special Reserve Fund to procure countermeasures. Based on the BioShield Act's mandate, GAO reviewed (1) how HHS has used its purchasing and contracting authorities, and (2) the extent to which HHS has internal controls in place to manage and help ensure the appropriate use of its new authorities. To do this work, GAO reviewed contract files and other HHS documents, including internal control guidance, which GAO compared with federal statutes and federal internal control standards."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) established a voluntary outpatient prescription drug benefit, known as Medicare Part D. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) contracts with private companies to serve as Part D sponsors and administer the Part D prescription drug benefit plans. To protect beneficiaries and the fiscal integrity of the program, the MMA requires Part D sponsors to implement programs to control for fraud and abuse in Part D. Subsequent regulations and guidance from CMS contain requirements and recommended measures for these programs. This report examines (1) the extent to which certain Part D sponsors have implemented programs to control fraud, waste, and abuse and (2) the extent of CMS's oversight of Part D sponsors' programs to control fraud, waste, and abuse. GAO conducted on-site reviews of five of the largest Part D sponsors' fraud and abuse programs. GAO also interviewed officials from CMS and reviewed CMS documents."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Allegations of violations of employment discrimination and whistleblower protection laws against federal agencies can end up in federal court, at which point Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys generally take over representation of the agency. Attorneys within Justice's Civil Division and U.S. Attorneys Offices generally handle this type of litigation. The Notifications and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (No FEAR Act) requires agencies to repay the Department of the Treasury's Judgment Fund for discrimination and whistleblower protection settlements and judgments paid on their behalf. While the No FEAR Act does not require agencies to reimburse DOJ for costs incurred in defending them in cases covered under the Act, it does require GAO to review how DOJ could ascertain the cost of representing agencies in each case and what the burden of performing this accounting would be. Based on this requirement, our report provides information on (1) the methods DOJ says it could use to account for the personnel and non-personnel costs that it incurs in handling cases covered under No FEAR on a per-case basis and how soon the Department expects it would be …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides health care to veterans through the $27 billion Veterans Health Administration (VHA) medical programs. VHA administers and operates VA's medical system, providing care to nearly 5 million patients in 2003. As of September 2003, VHA operated 160 hospitals, 847 outpatient clinics, 134 nursing homes, 42 domiciliaries, and 73 comprehensive home care programs, including facilities in every state, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam. VHA is responsible for effective stewardship of the resources provided to it by Congress, which asked GAO to review internal controls in three areas of operation at selected VHA medical centers. GAO conducted a review to assess the effectiveness of control activities over (1) personal property, (2) drugs returned for credit, and (3) part-time physician time and attendance."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996 established minimum health and safety standards for professional boxing and provided for limited federal oversight by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. In 2000, the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act amended the act to better protect boxers' economic well-being and enhance the integrity of the sport. However, reports of problems continue, including permanent and sometimes fatal injuries, economic exploitation, and corruption. GAO was asked to (1) identify fundamental elements considered important to protect professional boxers and enhance the integrity of the sport; (2) assess the extent to which provisions of the Professional Boxing Safety Act of 1996, as amended (the act), cover these elements and determine whether selected state and tribal boxing commissions have documentation indicating compliance with the act's provisions; (3) determine whether selected states and tribes have provisions that cover additional elements; and (4) identify federal actions taken under the act."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the deficiencies in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) internal controls over royalty income that is distributed to institutes and inventors."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress has long encouraged the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DOD) to share health resources to promote cost-effective use of health resources and efficient delivery of care. In February 2002, the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs described VA and DOD health care resource sharing activities at nine locations. GAO was asked to describe the health resource sharing activities that are occurring at these sites. GAO also examined seven other sites that actively participate in sharing activities. Specifically, GAO is reporting on (1) the types of benefits that have been realized from health resource sharing activities and (2) VA- and DOD-identified obstacles that impede health resource sharing. GAO analyzed agency documents and interviewed officials at DOD and VA to obtain information on the benefits achieved through sharing activities. The nine sites reviewed by the Committee and reexamined by GAO are: 1) Los Angeles, CA; 2) San Diego, CA; 3) North Chicago, IL; 4) Albuquerque, NM; 5) Las Vegas, NV; 6) Fayetteville, NC; 7) Charleston, SC; 8) El Paso, TX; and 9) San Antonio, TX. The seven additional sites GAO examined are: 1) …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress, policy analysts, and groups representing physicians have periodically raised concerns that Medicare's efforts to control spending on physician services by limiting annual updates to physician fees could have an adverse impact on beneficiaries' access to physician services. These concerns were heightened in 2002 when Medicare's formula for setting physician fees required a 5.4 percent reduction in fees to help moderate rapid spending increases. From 2003 to 2006, fees have not grown as rapidly as the estimated cost to physicians of providing services, and concerns about access have remained. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 requires GAO to study access to physician services by beneficiaries in the traditional fee-for-service (FFS) program. This report focuses on (1) trends and patterns in beneficiaries' perceptions of the availability of physician services from 2000 through 2004, (2) trends in beneficiaries' utilization of physician services from 2000 through 2005, and (3) indicators of physician supply and willingness to serve Medicare beneficiaries from 2000 through 2005. GAO analyzed the most recent data available, including several years of data from an annual survey of FFS Medicare beneficiaries as well …

Organizations that implement strategic energy management programs have the potential to achieve sustained energy savings if the programs are carried out properly. A key opportunity for achieving energy savings that plant managers can take is to determine an appropriate level of energy performance by comparing the plant performance with that of similar plants in the same industry. Manufacturing plants can set energy efficiency targets by using performance-based indicators. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), through its ENERGY STAR{reg_sign} program, has been developing plant energy performance indicators (EPIs) to encourage a variety of U.S. industries to use energy more efficiently. This report describes work with the cement manufacturing industry to provide a plant-level indicator of energy efficiency for assembly plants that produce a variety of products, including Portland cement and other specialty cement products, in the United States. Consideration is given to the role that performance-based indicators play in motivating change; the steps needed to develop indicators, including interacting with an industry to secure adequate data for an indicator; and the actual application and use of an indicator when complete. How indicators are employed in the EPA's efforts to encourage industries to voluntarily improve their use of energy is discussed as …

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory conducted slug-test characterization at the final, completed BP-5 Remedial Investigation well 699-52-55A near the 200-East Area at the Hanford Site on April 22, 2008. The slug-test characterization was in support of the BP-5 Remedial Investigation. The portion of the unconfined aquifer tested is composed of sediments of the lower Ringold Formation and the underlying Elephant Mountain basalt flowtop. The basalt flowtop unit was included as part of the effective test-interval length for the slug-test analysis because the flowtop unit is hydraulically communicative with the unconfined aquifer. Estimates of hydraulic conductivity for the effective test-interval length represent composite values for the lower Ringold Formation and the underlying Elephant Mountain basalt flow top.

A research team from the University of Utah is working to make inroads into saving energy in these SAG mills. In 2003, Industries of the Future Program of the Department of Energy tasked the University of Utah team to build a partnership between the University and the mining industry for the specific purpose of reducing energy consumption in SAG mills. A partnership was formed with Cortez Gold Mines, Outokumpu Technology, Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation, and Process Engineering Resources Inc. At Cortez Gold Operations the shell and pulp lifters of the semiautogenous grinding mill was redesigned. The redesigned shell lifter has been in operation for over three years and the redesigned pulp lifter has been in operation for over nine months now. This report summarizes the dramatic reductions in energy consumption. Even though the energy reductions are very large, it is safe to say that a 20% minimum reduction would be achieved in any future installations of this technology.

Research in earth and atmospheric sciences has become increasingly important in light of the energy, climate change, and other environmental issues facing the United States and the world. The development of new energy resources other than fossil hydrocarbons, the safe disposal of nuclear waste and greenhouse gases, and a detailed understanding of the climatic consequences of our energy choices are all critical to meeting energy needs while ensuring environmental safety. The cleanup of underground contamination and the preservation and management of water supplies continue to provide challenges, as they will for generations into the future. To address the critical energy and environmental issues requires continuing advances in our knowledge of Earth systems and our ability to translate that knowledge into new technologies. The fundamental Earth science research common to energy and environmental issues largely involves the physics, chemistry, and biology of fluids in and on the Earth. To manage Earth fluids requires the ability to understand their properties and behavior at the most fundamental molecular level, as well as prediction, characterization, imaging, and manipulation of those fluids and their behavior in real Earth reservoirs. The broad range of disciplinary expertise, the huge range of spatial and time scales, and the …

We have estimated interference from external background radiation for a computed tomography (CT) scanner. Our intention is to estimate the interference that would be expected for the high-resolution SkyScan 1072 desk-top x-ray microtomography system. The SkyScan system uses a Microfocus x-ray source capable of a 10-{micro}m focal spot at a maximum current of 0.1 mA and a maximum energy of 130 kVp. All predictions made in this report assume using the x-ray source at the smallest spot size, maximum energy, and operating at the maximum current. Some of the systems basic geometry that is used for these estimates are: (1) Source-to-detector distance: 250 mm, (2) Minimum object-to-detector distance: 40 mm, and (3) Maximum object-to-detector distance: 230 mm. This is a first-order, rough estimate of the quantity of interference expected at the system detector caused by background radiation. The amount of interference is expressed by using the ratio of exposure expected at the detector of the CT system. The exposure values for the SkyScan system are determined by scaling the measured values of an x-ray source and the background radiation adjusting for the difference in source-to-detector distance and current. The x-ray source that was used for these measurements was not the …

The Americans with Disabilities Act provides broad nondiscrimination protection for individuals with disabilities in employment, public services, and public accommodation and services operated by private entities. Although the ADA does not include provisions specifically discussing its application to disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, its nondiscrimination provisions are applicable to emergency preparedness and responses to disasters. For example, this would mean that emergency planning should include individuals with disabilities and that emergency shelters should be accessible to individuals with disabilities. In order to further the goals of the ADA, President Bush issues an Executive Order on Jluy 22nd, 2004relating to emergency preparedness for individuals with disabilities and establishing the Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities. The Department of Homeland Security issued a Nationwide Plan Review Phase 2 Report, which includes a discussion of people with disabilities and emergency planning and readiness. The National Council on Disability has also issued a recommendation on emergency preparation and disaster relief relating to individuals with disabilities. Legislation has also been introduced to address the needs of individuals with disabilities in emergency planning and relief.

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This report discusses certain provisions of law that commonly are known as “fast-track” or expedited procedures. They are so labeled because these statutory provisions contain special legislative procedures that apply to one or both houses of Congress and that expedite, or put on a fast track, congressional consideration of a certain measure or a narrowly defined class of measures. This report first presents the nature, purpose, and elements of fast-track procedures. Then the report discusses some of the most important ways in which these procedures differ from the normal procedures of the House and Senate and, therefore, how the use of expedited procedures can affect the legislative process in Congress.

This report discusses monetary policy, which can also be defined in terms of the directives, policies, statements, and actions of the Federal Reserve, particularly those from its Board of Governors that have an effect on aggregate demand or national spending.

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