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During the first session of the 108th Congress, the House and Senate will consider many different budgetary measures. Most measures will pertain to fiscal year (FY) 2004 (which will begin on October 1, 2003) and beyond. Some also will pertain to the budget for FY2003. As the session progresses, this report will describe House and Senate action on major budgetary legislation within the framework of the congressional budget process and other procedural requirements.

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In this report several other Clean Water Act issues are likely to receive congressional attention, through oversight hearings and possibly in legislative proposals. Among the topics of interest is whether and how the Administration will revise the current program for restoration of pollution-impaired waters (the Total Maximum Daily Load, or TMDL program), in view of controversy over regulatory changes made during the Clinton Administration and continuing disagreement among states, cities, industry, and environmental advocates about program effectiveness and efficiency.

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Cuba under Fidel Castro remains a hard-line communist state with a poor record on human rights that has deteriorated significantly since 2003. With the cutoff of assistance from the former Soviet Union, Cuba experienced severe economic deterioration from 1989 to 1993. While there has been some improvement since 1994, as Cuba has implemented limited reforms, the economy remains in poor shape. This report discusses the most recent development in Cuba, including political and economic conditions and the U.S. policy towards Cuba. It also considers the issues in U.S.-Cuban Relations.

This report discusses the "oil-for-food" program (OFFP) as the centerpiece of a long-standing U.N. Security Council effort to alleviate human suffering in Iraq while maintaining key elements of the 1991 Gulf war-related sanctions regime. The program, in operation from December 1996 until March 2003, is detailed.

This report contains the information related to the fishery, aquaculture, and marine mammal legislation enacted by the 108th Congress

Digital television (DTV) is a new television service representing the most significant development in television technology since the advent of color television in the 1950s. DTV can provide sharper pictures, a wider screen, CD-quality sound, better color rendition, and other new services currently being developed. A successful deployment of DTV requires: the development by content providers of compelling digital programming; the delivery of digital signals to consumers by broadcast television stations, as well as cable and satellite television systems; and the widespread purchase and adoption by consumers of digital television equipment. A key issue in the Congressional debate over the digital transition has been addressing the millions of American over-the-air households whose existing analog televisions will require converter boxes in order to receive digital signals when the analog signal is turned off.

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This report discusses the re authorization of transit programs funded by the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA).

Concurrent resolution introduced by the Texas Senate and House of Representatives relating to declaring that all state departments and agencies be closed for a half day, emergency services excepted, beginning at noon on Friday, April 18, 2003.

The environmental mobility of plutonium (Pu) is profoundly influenced by its oxidation state. Pu(IV) is 2 to 3 orders of magnitude slower moving than Pu(V) or Pu(VI). For performance and risk assessment calculations, Pu waste has been assumed to exist in the less mobile reduced form, Pu(IV). Resent work on the chemistry of Pu02 by Haschke and others (2000) has shown that Pu02 surface is oxidized in the presence of water, forming as much as 27 percent Pu(VI). This has significant implications to existing SRS programs (including the Pu Immobilization, LLW disposal and Remediation of the Old Burial Ground) and future SRS programs (including MOX and pit disassembly). The hypothesis of this Strategic Research and Development study was that even if Pu(VI) is produced in the waste form as suggested by Haschke and others (2000), it will be quickly reduced to Pu(IV) in the SRS subsurface environment. The overall objective of the research was to test this hypothesis through laboratory and computational studies conducted by Savannah River Technology Center and Clemson University scientist.

The results of the environmental surveillance program conducted at Site A/Plot M in the Palos Forest Preserve area for Calendar Year 2002 are presented. Based on the results of the 1976-1978 radiological characterization of the site, a determination was made that a surveillance program be established. The characterization study determined that very low levels of hydrogen-3 (as tritiated water) had migrated from the burial ground and were present in two nearby hand-pumped picnic wells. The current surveillance program began in 1980 and consists of sample collection and analysis of surface and subsurface water. The results of the analyses are used to (1) monitor the migration pathway of water from the burial ground (Plot M) to the handpumped picnic wells, (2) establish if buried radionuclides other than hydrogen-3 have migrated, and (3) monitor the presence of radioactive and chemically hazardous materials in the environment of the area. Hydrogen-3 in the Red Gate Woods picnic wells was still detected this year, but the average and maximum concentrations were significantly less than found earlier. Hydrogen-3 continues to be detected in a number of wells, boreholes, dolomite holes, and a surface stream. Analyses since 1984 have indicated the presence of low levels of strontium-90 …

The project goal was to investigate the possibility of using predictive real-time information from the Internet as an input to building management system algorithms. The objectives were to identify the types of information most valuable to commercial and residential building owners, managers, and system designers. To comprehensively investigate and document currently available electronic real-time information suitable for use in building management systems. Verify the reliability of the information and recommend accreditation methods for data and providers. Assess methodologies to automatically retrieve and utilize the information. Characterize equipment required to implement automated integration. Demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of using the information in building management systems. Identify evolutionary control strategies.

Kraft pulp fibers lose inter-fiber bonding ability when they are dried during the manufacture of paper. Adverse environmental consequences of this loss include (a) limitations on the number of times that kraft fibers can be recycled, (b) reduced paper strength, sometimes making it necessary to use heavier paper or paperboard to meet product strength requirements, increasing the usage of raw materials, (c) decreased rates of paper production in cases where the fiber furnish has been over-refined in an attempt to regain inter-fiber bonding ability. The present study is the first of its type to focus on unbleached kraft fibers, which are a main ingredient of linerboard for corrugated containers. About 90 million tons of unbleached kraft fiber are used worldwide every year for this purpose.

The research plan was divided into three tasks: (a) growth of oxide heterostructures for interface engineering using standard thin film deposition techniques, (b) atomic level characterization of oxide heterostructure using such techniques as STEM-2 combined with AFM/STM and conventional high-resolution microscopy (HRTEM), and (c) property measurements of aspects important to oxide heterostructures using standard characterization methods, including dielectric properties and dynamic cathodoluminescence measurements. Each of these topics were further classified on the basis of type of oxide heterostructure. Type I oxide heterostructures consisted of active dielectric layers, including the materials Ba{sub x}Sr{sub 1-x}TiO{sub 3} (BST), Y{sub 2}O{sub 3} and ZrO{sub 2}. Type II heterostructures consisted of ferroelectric active layers such as lanthanum manganate and Type III heterostructures consist of phosphor oxide active layers such as Eu-doped Y{sub 2}O{sub 3}.

The Penn State Breazeale Nuclear Reactor is the longest operating licensed research reactor in the nation. The facility has played a key role in educating scientists, engineers and in providing facilities and services to researchers in many different disciplines. In order to remain a viable and effective research and educational institution, a multi-phase modernization project was proposed. Phase I was the replacement of the 25-year old reactor control and safety system along with associated wiring and hardware. This phase was fully funded by non-federal funds. Tasks identified in Phases II-V expand upon and complement the work done in Phase I to strategically implement state-of-the-art technologies focusing on identified national needs and priorities of the future.

The overall objective of this project is the three phase development of an Early Entrance Coproduction Plant (EECP) which produces at least one product from at least two of the following three categories: (1) electric power (or heat), (2) fuels, and (3) chemicals using ChevronTexaco's proprietary gasification technology. The objective of Phase I is to determine the feasibility and define the concept for the EECP located at a specific site; develop a Research, Development, and Testing (RD&T) Plan to mitigate technical risks and barriers; and prepare a Preliminary Project Financing Plan. The objective of Phase II is to implement the work as outlined in the Phase I RD&T Plan to enhance the development and commercial acceptance of coproduction technology. The objective of Phase III is to develop an engineering design package and a financing and testing plan for an EECP located at a specific site. The project's intended result is to provide the necessary technical, economic, and environmental information needed by industry to move the EECP forward to detailed design, construction, and operation. The partners in this project are TES (a subsidiary of ChevronTexaco), General Electric (GE), Praxair, and Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) in addition to the U.S. Department …

The overall objective of this project is the three phase development of an Early Entrance Coproduction Plant (EECP) which produces at least one product from at least two of the following three categories: (1) electric power (or heat), (2) fuels, and (3) chemicals using ChevronTexaco's proprietary gasification technology. The objective of Phase I is to determine the feasibility and define the concept for the EECP located at a specific site; develop a Research, Development, and Testing (RD&T) Plan to mitigate technical risks and barriers; and prepare a Preliminary Project Financing Plan. The objective of Phase II is to implement the work as outlined in the Phase I RD&T Plan to enhance the development and commercial acceptance of coproduction technology. The objective of Phase III is to develop an engineering design package and a financing and testing plan for an EECP located at a specific site. The project's intended result is to provide the necessary technical, economic, and environmental information needed by industry to move the EECP forward to detailed design, construction, and operation. The partners in this project are TES (a subsidiary of ChevronTexaco), General Electric (GE), Praxair, and Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) in addition to the U.S. Department …

Lock-in is a non-linear interaction between a flow induced noise source and a resonator when their respective frequencies are near each other. Lock-in has been reported under many different labels and for many different applications. There is a need however for a consistent community wide method to measure the strength of lock-in so that data from different tests and different source/resonator combinations can be compared. This paper discusses three methods for measuring lock-in strength. The first, Resonant Response Method, (RRM) subtracts (in the decibel scale) the linear modal response of the resonator to broadband (BB) flow noise from the resonant response when lock-in occurs. The second, Quality Factor Method (QFM) tracks the change in quality factor of the resonant response. The third defines the strength in terms of the difference between peak response and the local BB levels. The RRM is applied to a fundamental test in water of a weak source from grazing flow over a cavity locking into acoustic resonant modes of a single side branch resonator. The major velocity effects are captured in the resonant response to BB flow and not in lock-in strength. However, Strouhal stage number and modal damping is shown to have a significant …

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