Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) science activities, in the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Performance report, focusing on: (1) how fiscal year (FY) 1999 performance report/FY 2001 performance plan addresses FAA's science activities; (2) the extent to which FAA's science activities in the President's FY 2001 budget request are linked to DOT's FY 2001 performance plan; and (3) the extent to which DOT's FY 2001 performance plan addresses weaknesses regarding FAA's science activities."

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to the State Preservation Board's (Board) fiscal year 2000 annual report on the Capitol Fund, which accurately depicts the Fund's activity for the related year and complies with state regulations.

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to determining if 19 selected agencies fully complied with the revised historically underutilized business (HUB) statutory requirements, or if they reported complete and accurate data to the State General Services Commission (Commission).

Report of the Texas State Auditor's Office related to determining compliance with a rider related to contract workforce requirements set forth in the General Appropriations Act, Article IX, Section 9-11.18 during fiscal year 2000.

Our goal is to improve geophysical imaging of the vadose zone. We will achieve this goal by providing new methods to improve interpretation of field data. The purpose of this EMSP project is to develop relationships between laboratory measured geophysical properties and porosity, saturation, and fluid distribution, for partially saturated soils. Algorithms for relationships between soil composition, saturation, and geophysical measurements will provide new methods to interpret geophysical field data collected in the vadose zone at sites such as Hanford, WA. This report summarizes work after 10 months of a 3-year project. We have modified a laboratory ultrasonics apparatus developed in a previous EMSP project (No.55411) so that we can make velocity measurements for partially-saturated samples rather than fully-saturated or dry samples. We are testing the measurement apparatus using standard laboratory sand samples such as Ottawa sand samples. Preliminary results indicate that we can measure both compressional and shear velocities in these sand samples. We have received Hanford soil samples (sands from split-spoon cores from an uncontaminated site) and expect to make ultrasonic measurements on them also. We have used the LLNL x-ray facility to perform x-ray computed tomography (XCT) imaging for several partially-saturated Ottawa sand and Lincoln sand samples, …

The Department of Energy's Geothermal Program serves two broad purposes: 1) to assist industry in overcoming near-term barriers by conducting cost-shared research and field verification that allows geothermal energy to compete in today's aggressive energy markets; and 2) to undertake fundamental research with potentially large economic payoffs. The four categories of work used to distinguish the research activities of the Geothermal Program during FY 2000 reflect the main components of real-world geothermal projects. These categories form the main sections of the project descriptions in this Research Update. Exploration Technology research focuses on developing instruments and techniques to discover hidden hydrothermal systems and to explore the deep portions of known systems. Research in geophysical and geochemical methods is expected to yield increased knowledge of hidden geothermal systems. Reservoir Technology research combines laboratory and analytical investigations with equipment development and field testing to establish practical tools for resource development and management for both hydrothermal reservoirs and enhanced geothermal systems. Research in various reservoir analysis techniques is generating a wide range of information that facilitates development of improved reservoir management tools. Drilling Technology focuses on developing improved, economic drilling and completion technology for geothermal wells. Ongoing research to avert lost circulation episodes in …

This report provides information on the timing of submission of the mid-session review for FY1980-FY2009, a 30-year period that covers all or part of the administrations of five Presidents, applying to the last two years of the Carter Administration, and the full terms of the Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush Administrations.

Palladium used at Savannah River (SR) for process tritium storage is currently obtained from a commercial source. In order to understand the processes involved in preparing this material, SR is supporting investigations into the chemical reactions used to synthesize this material. The material specifications are shown in Table 1. An improved understanding of the chemical processes should help to guarantee a continued reliable source of Pd in the future. As part of this evaluation, a work-for-others contract between Westinghouse Savannah River Company and Ames Laboratory (AL) was initiated. During FY98, the process for producing Pd powder developed in 1986 by Dan Grove of Mound Applied Technologies, USDOE (the Mound muddy water process) was studied to understand the processing conditions that lead to changes in morphology in the final product. During FY99 and FY00, the process for producing Pd powder that has been used previously at Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories (the Sandia/LANL process) was studied to understand the processing conditions that lead to changes in the morphology of the final Pd product. During FY01, scale-up of the process to batch sizes greater than 600 grams of Pd using a 20-gallon Pfaudler reactor was conducted by the Iowa State University …

This report shows in tabular form how much the Administration requested and how much Congress appropriated during the past 11 years for U.S. payments to the multilateral development banks (MDBs). It also provides a brief description of the MDBs and the ways they fund their operations. It will be updated periodically. Three companion reports provide further information on the MDBs. See CRS Report RS20793, Multilateral Development Banks: Basic Background, CRS Report RS20791, Multilateral Development Banks: Procedures for U.S. Participation, and CRS Report RS22134 International Financial Institutions: Funding U.S. Participation.