Tasks reported on this term include optimization of chlorided Pt- alumina catalysts, testing of the optimum Pt/Cl alumina catalysts, preparation and testing of zirconia superacid catalyst. (VC)

In this report, we present an improved, feasible and potentially cost effective method of cleaning and beneficiating ultrafine coal. Increased mechanization of mining methods and the need towards depyritization, and demineralization have led to an increase in the quantity of coal fines generated in recent times. For example, the amount of {minus}100 mesh coal occurring in coal preparation plant feeds now typically varies from 5 to 25% of the total feed. Environmental constraints coupled with the greatly increased cost of coal have made it increasingly important to recover more of these fines. Our method chemically modifies the surface of such coals by a series of gaseous phase treatments employing Friedel-Crafts reactions. By using olefins (ethene, propene and butene) and hydrogen chloride catalyst at elevated temperature, the surface hydrophobicity of coal is enhanced. This increased hydrophobicity is manifest in surface phenomena which reflect conditions at the solid/liquid interphase (zeta potential) and those which reflect conditions at the solid/liquid/gas interphases (contact angle, wettability and floatability).

This report looks at how Article V of the Constitution allows Congress to propose amendments -- specifically the process of organizing an Article V Convention, a method that has never been used and which is only briefly outlined in the Constitution.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2001, Labor has spent nearly $900 million on three workforce employment and training grant initiatives: High Growth Job Training Initiative (High Growth), Community-Based Job Training Initiative (Community Based), and the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED). GAO was asked to examine (1) the intent of the grant initiatives and the extent to which Labor will be able to assess their effects, (2) the extent to which the process used competition, was adequately documented, and included key players, and (3) what Labor is doing to monitor individual grantee compliance with grant requirements. To answer these questions, GAO obtained from Labor a list of grants for fiscal years 2001 through 2007, and reviewed relevant laws and Labor's internal grant award procedures. GAO interviewed grantees, and state and local workforce officials in seven states where grantees were located, Labor officials, and subject matter experts."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. officials have experienced delays in obtaining Pakistani visas that disrupt the delivery and oversight of U.S. assistance to Pakistan. According to Pakistani Consular Services, and as confirmed by the Department of State (State), the goal of the embassy of Pakistan is to issue visas for U.S. officials within 6 weeks. GAO's analysis of data provided by State, the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Justice (DOJ), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) found that U.S. officials experience delays in the issuance of both visas to travel to Pakistan and visa extensions. For instance, GAO found that of about 4,000 issued visas, approximately 18 percent took more than 6 weeks, with approximately 3 percent taking 16 weeks or longer. Moreover, of approximately 2,200 visa extensions, about 59 percent took longer than 6 weeks to be issued, with approximately 5 percent taking 16 weeks or longer. U.S. officials stated that they receive little specific information from Pakistan on the reasons for visa delays, but they noted that visa delays disrupt the effective implementation and oversight of U.S. programs and efficient use of resources in Pakistan. Visa …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As of March 31, 2013, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) had received about $222 billion from its Capital Purchase Program (CPP) investments, exceeding the approximately $205 billion it had disbursed. Treasury estimated at the end of December 2012 that CPP would have an approximate lifetime income of $15 billion after all institutions had exited the program. Treasury's March 2013 data showed that 534 of the original 707 institutions had exited CPP. Most of these institutions exited by repurchasing their preferred shares in full or by refinancing their investments through other federal programs. In March 2012, Treasury began selling its investments in the institutions through auctions, expediting the exit of a number of CPP participants. A relatively small number of the remaining 173 institutions accounted for most of the funds outstanding. Specifically, 25 institutions accounted for $4.2 billion, or 68 percent, of the $6.1 billion in outstanding investments. These investments were relatively widely dispersed throughout the United States, with 39 states having at least one institution with investments outstanding and 12 states having at least 5 such institutions."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Department of Energy's (DOE) community assistance program for minimizing the impact of downsizing its contractor workforce, focusing on: (1) how much funding DOE had committed to spend and spent in support of its worker and community assistance program for fiscal years (FY) 1994 through 1998; (2) who received benefits during FY 1997 and FY 1998; (3) comparing DOE's separation benefits with the benefit packages of other federal and nonfederal organizations; and (4) what effect DOE's criteria had on determining which communities received assistance."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report contains in a single document the budgetary implications of selected program reforms discussed in past GAO work but not yet implemented or enacted. Since 1994, we have prepared annual reports similar to this product, in order to continue to assist congressional committees in identifying approaches to reduce federal spending or increase revenues. This year's report contains over 100 examples of budget options organized by budget function. Where possible, budgetary savings estimates provided by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) or the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) are presented."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In March 2004, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) launched the financial management line of business (FMLOB) initiative, in part, to reduce the cost and improve the quality and performance of federal financial management systems by leveraging shared service solutions and implementing other reforms. In March 2006, GAO reported that OMB's approach did not fully integrate certain fundamental system implementation-related concepts and recommended OMB take specific actions. This report discusses (1) OMB's progress in addressing GAO's prior FMLOB recommendations and implementation challenges and (2) the effectiveness of OMB's monitoring of financial management system modernization projects and their costs. GAO's methodology included reviewing OMB's FMLOB-related guidance and reports and interviewing OMB and Financial Systems Integration Office (FSIO) staff."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has approved about $7 billion in grants to developing countries; the U.S. has contributed $1.9 billion. The State Department's Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) coordinates the U.S. government's overseas AIDS programs, with participation from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In 2003, Congress directed GAO to report on the Global Fund every 2 years. This report assesses the Global Fund's (1) documentation of information used to support performance-based funding decisions, (2) progress in implementing a risk assessment model and early warning system, and (3) oversight of the performance of "local fund agents" (LFAs), which monitor grant progress in recipient countries. GAO reviewed the documentation for funding decisions and interviewed key officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In May 2008, the United States enacted the Consolidated Natural Resources Act (CNRA), amending the United States' Covenant with the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to establish federal control of CNMI immigration in 2009, with several CNMI-specific provisions affecting foreign workers and investors during a transition. CNRA requires that GAO report on implementation of federal immigration law in the CNMI. This report describes the steps federal agencies have taken to (1) secure the border in the CNMI and (2) implement CNRA with regard to workers, visitors, and investors. GAO reviewed federal laws, regulations, and agency documents; met with U.S. and CNMI officials; and observed federal operations in the CNMI."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Given record budget deficits and continuing fiscal pressures, the federal government must seek to deliver results more efficiently. The prior Administration sought to improve efficiency under the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) by requiring programs to have at least one efficiency measure and procedures for improving efficiency, and show annual efficiency gains. The current administration has also emphasized efficiency in some initiatives. GAO was asked to examine (1) the types of PART efficiency measures and the extent to which they included typical elements of an efficiency measure; (2) the extent to which selected programs showed gains and how they used efficiency measures for decision making; (3) the challenges selected programs faced in developing and using efficiency measures; and (4) other strategies that can be used to improve efficiency. GAO analyzed the 36 efficiency measures in 21 selected programs in 5 agencies and a generalizable sample from the other 1,355 measures governmentwide, reviewed documents and interviewed officials from selected programs, reviewed literature on efficiency, and interviewed experts."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress needs the best available data about DOD's resource tradeoffs between the dual priorities of transformation and fighting the global war on terrorism. To help shape its priorities, in 2001 DOD developed a capabilities-based approach focused on how future adversaries might fight, and a risk management framework to ensure that current defense needs are balanced against future requirements. Because the Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) is DOD's centralized report providing DOD and Congress data on current and planned resource allocations, GAO assessed the extent to which the FYDP provides Congress visibility over (1) projected defense spending and (2) implementation of DOD's capabilities-based defense strategy and risk management framework."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "With a workforce of about 35,000, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) provides engineering services for civil works and military programs in the United States and overseas. Recently, the Corps' focus has shifted to also support contingency operations, such as responding to natural disasters. To meet its mission and emerging priorities, the Corps must have effective human capital planning processes to ensure that it can maintain its workforce. In this context, GAO was asked to examine the (1) extent to which the Corps has aligned its human capital plan with its strategic plan, (2) extent to which the Corps has the information necessary to identify and meet current and future workforce needs, and (3) challenges the Corps faces in meeting its workforce needs. To address these issues, GAO reviewed agency human capital and strategic planning documents, conducted structured interviews with eight Corps divisions and a purposeful sample of 14 of its districts, and interviewed other Corps officials."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The consensus of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the World Health Organization, and other major health agencies is that the research to date does not show radiofrequency energy emitted from mobile phones has harmful health effects, but there is not yet enough information to conclude that they pose no risk. Although most of the epidemiological and laboratory studies done on this issue have found no adverse health effects, the findings of some studies have raised questions about cancer and other health problems that require further study. The Cellular Telecommunication & Internet Association (CTIA) and FDA will jointly conduct research on mobile phone health affects. Although the initiative is funded solely by CTIA, FDA's active role in setting the research agenda and providing scientific oversight should help alleviate concerns about the objectivity of the report. The media has widely reported on the debate over whether mobile phones can cause health problems. Thus, the federal government's role in providing the public with clear information on this issue is particularly important. FDA has a consumer information update on mobile phone health issues but has not revised that data …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Energy's (DOE) progress in implementing performance-based contracting at its national laboratories, focusing on: (1) the status of performance-based contracting in DOE's national laboratory contracts; and (2) DOE's efforts to determine the impact of performance-based contracting."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Transportation's (DOT) performance plan for fiscal year (FY) 2000, focusing on: (1) the usefulness of DOT's plan in providing a clear picture of intended performance across the Department; (2) the strategies and resources that DOT will use to achieve its goals; and (3) whether DOT's performance information will be credible."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on: (1) the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) monitoring of general aviation airports' compliance with federal land-use requirements; and (2) FAA's use of enforcement tools to resolve cases of noncompliance."

The study reported here was initiated to determine if, with the Cable Downhole System (CDS) currently under development, there is an advantage to using continuous wire rope to lower the emplacement package to the bottom of the hole. A baseline design using two wire ropes as well as several alternatives are discussed in this report. It was concluded that the advantages of the wire-rope emplacement system do not justify the cost of converting to such a system, especially for LLNL's maximum emplacement package weights.

This report describes the declaration process and the types of declarations that can be issued under the Stafford Act: (1) emergency and major disaster declarations, and (2) Fire Management Assistance Grants. The report also examines how the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) is financed and analyzes the issues related to the DRF, including the debate over supplemental appropriations, how the DRF is budgeted, and the influence the Budget Control Act has had on the DRF.

This report examines the spending trends of 10 major need-tested benefit programs or groups of programs: (1) health care from Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP); (2) the refundable portion of the health insurance tax credit enacted in the 2010 health care reform law; (3) the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); (4) assisted housing; (5) financial assistance for post-secondary students (Pell Grants); (6) compensatory education grants to school districts; (7) the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC); (8) the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC); (9) Supplemental Security Income (SSI); and (10) Family Support Payments.

This report surveys the process of "designation," an alternative method used by Congress that allows current federal judges to serve temporarily on another federal court without undergoing a separate constitutional appointment. It explores how a reviewing court might evaluate the constitutionality of these proposals that would shift the authority to select Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) judges away from the Chief Justice alone, and vest it in other officials within the judicial, executive, and legislative branches.

This report summarizes legislative actions taken to repeal, defund, delay, or otherwise amend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) since the law's enactment.

This report discusses the recent development regarding the negotiations with Iran about its nuclear program. It provides background information on Iranian nuclear program and debates the November 24 Joint Plan of Action Elements.