A weekly publication, the Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rulemaking for Texas. Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents such as requests for proposals. After adoption, these rulemaking actions are codified into the Texas Administrative Code.

Daily publication of the U.S. Office of the Federal Register contains rules and regulations, proposed legislation and rule changes, and other notices, including "Presidential proclamations and Executive Orders, Federal agency documents having general applicability and legal effect, documents required to be published by act of Congress, and other Federal agency documents of public interest" (p. ii). Table of Contents starts on page iii.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The recording and broadcast radio industries combined generated over $25 billion for the U.S. economy in 2008. These industries provide jobs for a range of skilled workers, including songwriters, producers, engineers and technicians, and radio announcers, among others. At the same time, recording studios and radio stations allow musicians, vocalists, and performers to share their talents with listeners across the nation. Through their work, the recording and broadcast radio industries contribute to the everyday American experience by creating and delivering music to people in their homes, cars, and workplaces. Beyond providing a popular form of entertainment, the recording and broadcast radio industries have helped music become a prominent feature of American culture. Music, like other forms of creative art, is protected by copyright law. Congress is considering legislation that would expand copyright protection for sound recordings. In particular, the proposed Performance Rights Act would eliminate an exemption that currently allows analog, nonsubscription AM and FM radio (broadcast radio stations) to broadcast a sound recording without acquiring permission from and paying a royalty to the copyright holder, performers, and musicians. The act would amend the statutory license for nonsubscription …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Many individuals receiving monthly compensation and pension benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have mental impairments that prevent them from managing their finances. VA's Fiduciary Program selects and oversees third parties, called fiduciaries, to help manage and protect beneficiaries' funds. GAO examined (1) how effective program policies and procedures are in monitoring fiduciaries and safeguarding beneficiary assets, and (2) challenges VA faces in improving program performance and oversight. GAO reviewed program policies, analyzed a nationally representative random sample of case files, interviewed Central Office managers and staff, and conducted three site visits to Fiduciary Program offices which accounted for 25 percent of program beneficiaries. During these visits GAO interviewed regional office managers and staff and conducted 32 file reviews."

This report collects statistics from a variety of sources on casualties sustained during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), which began on October 7, 2001. OEF actions took place primarily in Afghanistan; however, OEF casualties also includes American casualties in Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Yemen.

The Navy has been procuring Virginia (SSN-774) class nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) at a rate of one per year for the past several years, and a total of 12 boats have been procured through FY2010. The Navy's proposed FY2011 budget increases the procurement rate to two boats per year. This report discusses the Navy's proposed FY2011 budget, which requests $3,441.5 million in procurement funding to complete the procurement cost of the 13th and 14th Virginia-class boats.

The Navy's FY2011 budget proposes canceling the CG(X) program as unaffordable and instead building an improved version of the Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) class Aegis destroyer called the Flight III version. This report provides background information on the CG(X) program as it existed prior to its proposed cancellation.

This report describes Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment Service (VR&E) program services available to veterans with service-connected disabilities and to their families. It provides information about eligibility and entitlement, the application process, and resources available through other agencies. A brief history of the program is also provided.

This report describes several pension benefit programs for veterans and their families, including the eligibility criteria and current benefit levels.

This report provides an introduction to the rising drug trafficking threat and discusses the drug trafficking trends in Africa and the U.S. policy.

This report provides a brief legislative history of Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and an overview of the crimes addressed through VAWA. The report concludes with a brief description of the most recent reauthorization of VAWA.

This report is written in response to numerous requests for war casualty statistics and lists of war dead. It provides tables, compiled by sources at the Department of Defense (DOD), indicating the number of casualties among American military personnel serving in principal wars and combat actions.

This report discusses issues Congress faces regarding the Navy's proposed FY2011 budget, particularly as relating to destroyer procurement plans and programs.

This report discusses the efforts currently underway to improve coordination and encourage better analysis amongst the various agencies within the U.S. Intelligence Community, especially with regard to the ongoing and prominent issue of international terrorism. In particular, this report addresses the false intelligence regarding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and the current efforts in Iraq and Iran in general.

This report examines how small business owners may be affected by tax increases by exploring what is known about the share of small business owners and of small business income that is subject to the top two marginal income tax rates.

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This report is on Asian Carp and the Great Lakes Region.

As an extension of prior work [1-4], we summarize recent observations made on a He-implanted tempered martensitic steel (TMS), F82H mod 3, irradiated in the HFIR, in both as-tempered (AT) and cold-worked (CW) conditions. A novel implantation technique was used to uniformly inject He into 3-mm diameter TEM discs to depths ranging from ≈ 5-8 µm. The He is generated by two-step transmutation reactions in Ni contained in a NiAl coating layer adjacent to paired 3 mm TEM discs. NiAl layers from 1 to 4 μm thick produced He/dpa ratios between 5 and 40 appm/dpa. The irradiations were at temperatures of 300, 400 and 500°C from 3.9 to 9 dpa and 90 to 380 appm He. Electron transparent samples were prepared by a cross-sectional thinning technique that allowed investigating microstructural evolution over a range of implantation depths. Irradiation of the AT alloy to 9 dpa at 500°C and 380 appm He resulted in relatively large, faceted cavities, that are likely voids, along with a much higher density of smaller He bubbles. The cavities were most often aligned in pearl necklace like strings, presumably due to their formation on pre-existing dislocations. A finer distribution of cavities was also present on precipitate …

The approach being followed to evaluate the use of an iron-based alloy waste form to immobilize the Tc-bearing waste streams generated during the aqueous and electrochemical processing of used fuel that is being studied in the DOE Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI) is presented in this report. The objective is to develop an alloy waste form that provides high waste loading within waste form processing limitations, meets waste form performance requirements for durability and the long-term retention of radionuclides, and can be produced with consistent physical, chemical, and radiological properties that meet regulatory acceptance requirements for disposal. Microanalysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to analyze non-radioactive Fe-Mo-Re samples. A sample was prepared for SEM; however, significant unforeseen instrument problems led to delays in conducting the detailed work. The TEM was not available for this particular sample and therefore only preliminary SEM work can be reported. The results are in agreement with previous studies [Ebert 2009]; however, a rhenium-rich region within the Re-Mo phase is clearly visible.

This is an analytical data report prepared for CHPRC from grab samples received for 200-ZP-1 operable unit.

Increasingly nuclear power plant procedures, such as emergency operating procedures, are being presented in computer form with functionality to support operator use and management of the procedures. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) currently has guidance for the review of computer-based procedures (CBPs); however, there remain CBP functions and human performance issues for which up-to-date guidance is lacking. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has initiated a standard development effort to address the human factors engineering (HFE) aspects of CBP systems. When completed, it may provide guidance to supplement the NRC staff's review criteria. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the suitability of the IEEE Standard for use in the NRC's HFE safety reviews of CBP systems and to ensure that the guidance meets the NRC's standard for scientific and engineering rigor used in its own guidance development efforts. We established the following criteria with which to evaluate the Standard: (1) it should meet an existing need of NRC reviewers, (2) it should be based in sound HFE principles, (3) it should be thoroughly peer-reviewed, and (4) it should address CBP-related human performance issues identified in the literature. This report describes the methodology we used to …

New and advanced reactors will use integrated digital instrumentation and control (I&C) systems to support operators in their monitoring and control functions. Even though digital systems are typically highly reliable, their potential for degradation or failure could significantly affect operator performance and, consequently, impact plant safety. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) supported this research project to investigate the effects of degraded I&C systems on human performance and plant operations. The objective was to develop human factors engineering (HFE) review guidance addressing the detection and management of degraded digital I&C conditions by plant operators. We reviewed pertinent standards and guidelines, empirical studies, and plant operating experience. In addition, we conducted an evaluation of the potential effects of selected failure modes of the digital feedwater system on human-system interfaces (HSIs) and operator performance. The results indicated that I&C degradations are prevalent in plants employing digital systems and the overall effects on plant behavior can be significant, such as causing a reactor trip or causing equipment to operate unexpectedly. I&C degradations can impact the HSIs used by operators to monitor and control the plant. For example, sensor degradations can make displays difficult to interpret and can sometimes mislead operators by making it …

Radiochemical analysis of NIF capsule residues has been identified as a potential diagnostic of NIF capsule performance. In particular, alpha-induced nuclear reactions that occur on tracer elements added to the NIF capsule have been shown through simulation to be a very sensitive diagnostic for mix. The short range of the alpha particles makes them representative of the hot spot where they are created through the fusion of deuterium and tritium. Reactions on elements doped into the innermost part of the capsule ablator would therefore be sensitive to material that had mixed into the hot spot. Radiochemical determinations of activated detector elements may perhaps be the only true measure of mix that occurs in a NIF capsule, particularly in cases when the capsule fails.

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