This report discusses a number of issues affecting U.S. agriculture have been or are being addressed by the 109th Congress. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-171), enacted in February 2006, included a net reduction in spending on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) mandatory programs of $2.7 billion over five years, and the reauthorization of a dairy income support program. Other issues of importance to agriculture during the second session of the 109th Congress include the consideration of emergency farm disaster assistance; multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations; concerns about agroterrorism, food safety, and animal and plant diseases (e.g., “mad cow” disease and avian flu); high energy costs; environmental issues; agricultural marketing matters; the reauthorization of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and farm labor issues.

This report discusses a plan announced by EPA in January 2005, called the Air Compliance Agreement, that would produce air quality monitoring data on animal agriculture emissions from a small number of farms, while at the same time protecting all participants (including farms where no monitoring takes place) through a “safe harbor” from liability under certain provisions of federal environmental laws.

Key components of federal policies to reduce fuel consumption include the promotion of alternatives to petroleum fuels and the promotion of more efficient vehicles. This report provides an overview of current issues surrounding alternative fuels and advanced technology vehicles — issues discussed in further detail in other CRS reports referred to in each section.

The CFEST (Coupled Flow, Energy, and Solute Transport) simulator described in this User’s Guide is a three-dimensional finite-element model used to evaluate groundwater flow and solute mass transport. Confined and unconfined aquifer systems, as well as constant and variable density fluid flows can be represented with CFEST. For unconfined aquifers, the model uses a moving boundary for the water table, deforming the numerical mesh so that the uppermost nodes are always at the water table. For solute transport, changes in concentra¬tion of a single dissolved chemical constituent are computed for advective and hydrodynamic transport, linear sorption represented by a retardation factor, and radioactive decay. Although several thermal parameters described in this User’s Guide are required inputs, thermal transport has not yet been fully implemented in the simulator. Once fully implemented, transport of thermal energy in the groundwater and solid matrix of the aquifer can also be used to model aquifer thermal regimes. The CFEST simulator is written in the FORTRAN 77 language, following American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards. Execution of the CFEST simulator is controlled through three required text input files. These input file use a structured format of associated groups of input data. Example input data lines are …

Steady-state analyses of generic PBPK models for volatile organic chemical (VOC) exposure and risk assessment have been undertaken and applied for nearly two decades now. Chiu and White's paper on this subject adds little new to this earlier work. Their dismissive claim that ''Similar analyses have been done for specific chemicals and for inhalation'' is misleading, because some of this earlier work did indeed focus on ''generic'' PBPK models generally applicable to VOC exposure by multiple routes. In particular, the earliest of these previous studies developed steady-state solutions for generic PBPK models including respiratory and 1-compartment oral routes of exposure, and further specified how to add injection and dermal exposure routes. Chiu and White included a 2-compartment oral pathway and a lung compartment in an otherwise identical generic PBPK model, but did not consider other exposure pathways such as dermal uptake. Each of the earlier studies first presented a steady-state solution to a generic, multiroute PBPK model, and only then applied the generic solution to a problem or illustration involving a specific compound--i.e., the same approach used later by Chiu and White. For example, the earlier study included a simple, intuitive expression for low-dose metabolized fraction f*{sub m} of any …

This report summarizes the case and congressional action in response to it (H.R. 2389), which passed the House on July 19, 2006, and S. 1046).

Three types of chemically and functionally different thermoplastic polymers have been chosen for evaluation with the fly ash derived filler: high density polyethylene (HDPE), thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The selections were based on volumes consumed in commercial and recycled products. The reference filler selected for comparison was 3 {micro}m calcium carbonate, a material which is commonly used with all three types of polymers. A procedure to prepare filled polymers has been developed and the polymer/filler blends have been prepared. Selected samples of filled polymers were subjected to SEM analysis to verify that the fly ash derived filler and the calcium carbonate were well dispersed. Material taken from a utility ash pond was classified using a novel combination of hydraulic and lamellar classifiers to produce an ultra-fine ash product. This product was dried and used in a series of tests to determine its potential as a filler in plastics. The general properties of the ultra-fine ash from several runs are as follows: D{sub 50}: 3-5 {micro}m; Specific gravity: {approx}2.41; Loss on ignition: 2-3%; Carbon content: 1-2%; Color: dark grey on content: 1-2%; and Morphology: spherical. The addition of fillers increased the modulus of the HDPE composite, but decreased …

Equipment wear is a major concern in the mineral processing industry, which dramatically increases the maintenance cost and adversely affects plant operation efficiency. In this research, novel surface treatment technologies, High Density Infrared (HDI) and Laser Surface Engineering (LSE) surface coating processes were developed for the surface enhancement of selected mineral processing equipment. Microstructural and mechanical properties of the coated specimens were characterized. Laboratory-simulated wear tests were conducted to evaluate the tribological performance of the coated components. Test results indicate that the wear resistance of ASTM A36 (raw coal screen section) and can be significantly increased by applying HDI and LSE coating processes. Field testing has been performed using a LSE-treated screen panel and it showed a 2 times improvement of the service life.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Hurricane Katrina demonstrated difficulties involved in evacuating communities and raised questions about how hospitals and nursing homes plan for evacuations and how the federal government assists. Due to broad-based congressional interest, GAO assessed the evacuation of hospital patients and nursing home residents. Under the Comptroller General's authority to conduct evaluations on his own initiative, GAO examined (1) the challenges hospital and nursing home administrators faced, (2) the extent to which limitations exist in the design of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) to assist with patient evacuations, and (3) the federal requirements for hospital and nursing home disaster and evacuation planning. GAO reviewed documents and interviewed federal officials, and interviewed hospital and nursing home administrators and state and local officials in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi and Hurricane Charley in Florida."

Gallium nitride (GaN) is the III-V semiconductor used to produce blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and blue and ultraviolet solid-state lasers. To be useful in electronic devices, GaN must be doped with elements that function either as electron donors or as acceptors to turn it into either an n-type semiconductor or a p-type semiconductor. It has been found that GaN can easily be grown with n-conductivity, even up to large concentrations of donors--in the few 10{sup 19}cm{sup -3} range. However, p-doping, the doping of the structure with atoms that provide electron sinks or holes, is not well understood and remains extremely difficult. The only efficient p-type dopant is Mg, but it is found that the free hole concentration is limited to 2 x 10{sup 18}cm{sup -3}, even when Mg concentrations are pushed into the low 10{sup 19}cm{sup -3} range. This saturation effect could place a limit on further development of GaN based devices. Further increase of the Mg concentration, up to 1 x 10{sup 20}cm{sup -3} leads to a decrease of the free hole concentration and an increase in defects. While low- to medium-brightness GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are remarkably tolerant of crystal defects, blue and UV GaN lasers are much …

A generalization of Richardson-Gaudin models to the rank-2 SO(5) and SO(3,2) algebras is used to describe systems of two kinds of fermions or bosons interacting through a pairing force. They are applied to the proton-neutron neutron isovector pairing model and to the Interacting Boson Model 2, in the transition from vibration to gamma-soft nuclei, respectively. In both cases, the integrals of motion and their eigenvalues are obtained.

This report discusses human cloning science and federal policy regarding human embryo research. It provides background on the topic, federal policies, state laws, Congressional actions, and ethical issues.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections since 2003 have revealed almost two decades' worth of undeclared nuclear activities in Iran, including uranium enrichment and plutonium separation efforts. The Security Council called upon Iran to take steps requested of it by the IAEA Board in February -- reinstate its suspension of enrichment and reprocessing, reconsider construction of its heavy water reactor, ratify and implement the Additional Protocol, and implement transparency measures. Iran has continued enrichment activities and failed to meet the Security Council's request.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections since 2003 have revealed almost two decades' worth of undeclared nuclear activities in Iran, including uranium enrichment and plutonium separation efforts. The Security Council called upon Iran to take steps requested of it by the IAEA Board in February -- reinstate its suspension of enrichment and reprocessing, reconsider construction of its heavy water reactor, ratify and implement the Additional Protocol, and implement transparency measures. Iran has continued enrichment activities and failed to meet the Security Council's request.

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The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) uses the Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Model (LPDM) in conjunction with the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System as an operational tool for emergency response consequence assessments for the Savannah River Site (SRS). The LPDM is an advanced stochastic atmospheric transport model used to transport and disperse passive tracers subject to the meteorological field generated by RAMS from sources of varying number and shape. The Atmospheric Technologies Group (ATG) of the SRNL is undertaking the task of reviewing documentation and code for LPDM Quality Assurance (QA). The LPDM QA task will include a model technical description, computer coding descriptions, model applications, and configuration control. This report provides a comprehensive technical description of the LPDM model.

This report discusses the nuclear energy policy issues facing Congress, which include the implementation of federal incentives for new commercial reactors, radioactive waste management policy, research and development priorities, power plant safety and regulation, and security against terrorist attacks.

The objectives of our research were to develop the first automated radiochemical process analyzer including sample pretreatment methodoology, and to initiate work on new detection approaches, especially using modified diode detectors.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal regulation is one of the basic tools of government used to implement public policy. In 1980, the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) was enacted in response to concerns about the effect that regulations can have on small entities, including small businesses, small governmental jurisdictions, and certain small not-for-profit organizations. Congress amended RFA in 1996, and the President issued Executive Order 13272 in 2002, to strengthen requirements for agencies to consider the impact of their proposed rules on small entities. However, concerns about the regulatory burden on small entities persist, prompting legislative proposals such as H.R. 682, the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act, which would amend RFA. At the request of Congress, GAO has prepared many reports and testimonies reviewing the implementation of RFA and related policies. On the basis of that body of work, this testimony (1) provides an overview of the basic purpose and requirements of RFA, (2) highlights the main impediments to the Act's implementation that GAO's reports identified, and (3) suggests elements of RFA that Congress might consider amending to improve the effectiveness of the Act. GAO's prior reports and testimonies contain recommendations to improve the …

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