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 Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents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.

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 Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents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.

This paper presents test results of 610-mm wide (24-in.) by 1219-mm high (48-in.) by 203-or 330-mm (8- or 13-in.) thick prisms constructed of hollow clay tiles. Three prisms were extracted fro existing hollow clay title walls and 69 were constructed in laboratories at The University of Tennessee and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Modulus of Elasticity, E, and compressive strength f{prime}{sub m} were calculated from the results.

Clean Coal Technology (CCT) implies the use of coal in an environmentally acceptable manner. Coal combustion results in the emission of oxides of nitrogen (NO{sub x}), which are precursors of both acid rain and ozone formation. The primary objective of this CCT project is to evaluate the use of Gas Reburning and Low NO{sub x} Burners (GR-LNB) for NO{sub x} emission control from a wall fired boiler. It is anticipated that, if the demonstration is successful, the GR-LNB technology could become commercialized during the 1990`s and will be capable of (1) achieving significant reduction in the emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide (another acid rain precursor) from existing facilities to minimize environmental impacts such as transboundary and interstate pollution and/or (2) providing for future energy needs in an environmentally acceptable manner. Low NO{sub x} burners are designed to delay the mixing of the coal fuel with combustion air to minimize the NO{sub x} formation. Typically, one may obtain up to 50% reduction in NO{sub x} emissions through the use of LNB. For LNB applications, the technology is developed and a number of LNB designs are commercially available. With GR, about 80--85 percent of the coal fuel is fired in …

The existing Los Alamos National Laboratory TA-50 liquid radioactive waste treatment plant RLWP has been in service for over thirty years, during this period many technical, regulatory, and processing changes have occurred. The existing facility can no longer comply with the demands and requirements for continued operation, and would not be able to comply with anticipated stringent future contaminant discharge limitations. Either a major upgrading or replacement of the existing facility is required. In order to assess the most appropriate means of providing an adequate facility to comply with predicted requirements for Ta-50, this Best Available Technology (BAT) Study was conducted to compare feasible technical and economic alternatives in order to define the most favorable technology configuration. This report consists of eleven sections. Section 1 provides a general introduction and background of the TA-50 operations and the basis for this study. Section 2 provides a technical discussion of the unit processes at TA-50 and several other comparable operations at other DOE sites. Section 3 addresses the evaluation and selection of appropriate treatment processes. Section 4 provides an analysis of environmental issues and concerns. Section 5 presents the rationale for the selection of preferred process configurations. Section 6 is the evaluation …

This paper has presented the investigation of the mechanism of geopressure occurrence, the transition of elastic properties from the hydrostatic pressured formation to the geopressured formation, and finally, a novel seismic amplitude analysis technique to map the top-of-geopresure surface. The successful application of our new technique to the Pleistocene, offshore Louisiana, Gulf of Mexico has again demonstrated that seismic attributes analyses are of importantance in the hydrocarbon exploration. There are three parts in this paper corresponding to the above discussed topics: Part I discusses mechanisms of geopressuring, and the effects of changing porosity, pressure, and fluid saturation on the elastic properties; Part II investigates the controlling factors in the geopressure transition zone, their seismic responses, and theoretical derivations of our new prediction method; and Part III demonstrates the application of the proposed method to the Pleistocene, Offshore Louisiana, Gulf of Mexico, the prediction discrpepancy between the seismic predicted top-of-geopressure and that dericed from 145 well logs, and finally, the importance of this hydrodynamic surface.

Results are presented here from several two dimensional numerical calculations of events in Type II supernovae. A new 2-D hydrodynamics and neutrino transport code has been used to compute the effect on the supernova explosion mechanism of convection between the neutrinosphere and the shock. This convection is referred to as exterior convection to distinguish it from convection beneath the neutrinosphere. The model equations and initial and boundary conditions are presented along with the simulation results. The 2-D code was used to compute an exterior convective velocity to compare with the convective model of the Mayle and Wilson 1-D code. Results are presented from several runs with varying sizes of initial perturbation, as well as a case with no initial perturbation but including the effects of rotation. The M&W code does not produce an explosion using the 2-D convective velocity. Exterior convection enhances the outward propagation of the shock, but not enough to ensure a successful explosion. Analytic estimates of the growth rate of the neutron finger instability axe presented. It is shown that this instability can occur beneath the neutrinosphere of the proto-neutron star in a supernova explosion with a growth time of {approximately} 3 microseconds. The behavior of the …

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether House Bill 241, Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 251, prohibits the Teas Department of Health from requiring an examination for recertification of emergency medical service personnel (RQ-580)

Letter opinion issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Effect of certain amendments to the Texas prevailing wage statute, article 5159a, V.T.C.S., and related questions (RQ-591)

Startup problems are described briefly. Project was operational and performing close to specifications. The following are attached: equipment specifications, site installation specifications, and operation and maintenance instructions.

This report discusses the design of the vacuum system for the advanced photon source beamline front ends. Included in this report are discussions on: vacuum calculations, the differential pump; front end vacuum set points; cleaning methods and agents; and continuing and completed research and development.

In this note the authors describe the results of some tests of the message-passing performance of the Intel Paragon. These tests have been carried out under both the Intel-supplied OSF/1 operating system with an NX library, and also under an operating system called SUNMOS (Sandia UNM Operating System). For comparison with the previous generation of Intel machines, they have also included the results on the Intel Touchstone Delta. The source code used for these tests is identical for all systems. As a result of these tests, the authors can conclude that SUNMOS demonstrates that the Intel Paragon hardware is capable of very high bandwidth communication, and that the message coprocessor on Paragon nodes can be used to give quite respectable latencies. Further tuning can be expected to yield even better performance.

In recognition of the increasing pressures upon the nation`s coastal resources, Congress enacted the Coastal Zone Management Act in 1972. Its purpose is to encourage states to preserve, protect, develop, and, where possible, restore or enhance such valuable natural resources as wetlands, floodplains, estuaries, beaches, dunes, barrier islands, and coral reefs, as well as the fish and wildlife utilizing those habitats. A unique feature of the Act is that participation by states is voluntary. One key provision for encouraging states to participate is the availability of federal financial assistance to any coastal state or territory, including those on the Great Lakes, which is willing to develop and implement a comprehensive coastal management program. Additionally, the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA) was passed in 1983. This report contains the legislative history and statues associated with each Act. Regulations for implementation and other guidance are included.

Corrosion products observed on the ITP Hanford Type 40 pin electrical connectors would be expected to adversely affect the power and control signals supplied to process equipment in the filter cell by the connectors. Corrosion products were consistent with those found on similar pins in DWPF. The recommendations based on the findings in this investigation are as follows: (1) Replace male and female rhodium plated pins with gold plated pins. (2) Replace the galvanized carbon steel spring on the male connector with a stainless steel spring. (3) Install protective caps over Hanford connectors when jumpers are removed.

The energy efficiency of various piston engine options for series hybrid automobiles are compared with conventional, battery powered electric, and proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell hybrid automobiles. Gasoline, compressed natural gas (CNG), and hydrogen are considered for these hybrids. The engine and fuel comparisons are done on a basis of equal vehicle weight, drag, and rolling resistance. The relative emissions of these various fueled vehicle options are also presented. It is concluded that a highly optimized, hydrogen fueled, piston engine, series electric hybrid automobile will have efficiency comparable to a similar fuel cell hybrid automobile and will have fewer total emissions than the battery powered vehicle, even without a catalyst.

In the past few years there has been a substantial amount of research on symplectic integration. The subject is only part of a program concerned with numerically preserving a system`s inherent geometrical structures. Volume preservation, reversibility, local conservation laws for elliptic equations, and systems with integral invariants are but a few examples of such invariant structures. In many cases one requires a numerical method to stay in the smallest possible appropriate group of phase space maps. It is not the authors` opinion that symplecticity, for example, automatically makes a numerical method superior to all others, but it is their opinion that it should be taken seriously and that a conscious, informed decision be made in that regard. The authors present here a survey of open problems in symplectic integration, including other problems from the larger program. This is not intended as a review of symplectic integration and is naturally derived from the authors` own research interests. At present, this survey is incomplete, but the authors hope the help of the colleagues to be able to include in the proceedings of this conference a more comprehensive survey. Many of the problems mentioned here call for numerical experimentation, some for application of …

The demands for structural systems to perform reliably under severe temperatures and load conditions continue to increase. These demands will continue with the development of advanced power generation methods, for aging nuclear and fossil fueled power plants, and for future aerospace applications. An understanding of the high-temperature creep crack growth process, which is a frequent failure mechanism in these structures, is important. Many investigations which have appeared to date are concerned with creep crack growth which occurs under a constant load and temperature. However, most structural components experience complicated load histories. The history of degradation and damage which accumulates at the crack tip is greatly influenced by these transients. This program aims at gaining an understanding of the history dependent high temperature failure process through a combined experimental and analytical effort. The development of a useful predictive methodology for characterizing this process is being undertaken.

The objective of this project is to evaluate and demonstrate a cost effective emission control technology for acid rain precursors, oxides of nitrogen (NO{sub x}) and sulfur (SO{sub x}), on two coal fired utility boilers in Illinois. The units selected are representative of pre-NSPS design practices: tangential and cyclone fired. The specific objectives are to demonstrate reductions of 60 percent in NO{sub x} and 50 percent in SO{sub x} emissions, by a combination of two developed technologies, gas reburning (GR) and sorbent injection (SI). With GR, about 80--85 percent of the coal fuel is fired in the primary combustion zone. The balance of the fuel is added downstream as natural gas to create a slightly fuel rich environment in which NO{sub x} is converted to N{sub 2}. The combustion process is completed by overfire air addition. SO{sub x} emissions are reduced by injecting dry sorbents (usually calcium based) into the upper furnace. The sorbents trap SO{sub x} as solid sulfates that are collected in the particulate control device. This project is conducted in three phases. Phases I and II have been completed and Phase III is now in progress at both sites. In phase AIII at Hennepin -- Testing, Data …

This report describes the method of Allan variance and its application to the characterization of a Ring Laser Gyro`s (RLG) performance. Allan variance, a time domain analysis technique, is an accepted IEEE standard for gyro specifications. The method was initially developed by David Allan of the National Bureau of Standards to quantify the error statistics of a Cesium beam frequency standard employed as the US Frequency Standards in 1960`s. The method can, in general, be applied to analyze the error characteristics of any precision measurement instrument. The key attribute of the method is that it allows for a finer, easier characterization and identification of error sources and their contribution to the overall noise statistics. This report presents an overview of the method, explains the relationship between Allan variance and power spectral density distribution of underlying noise sources, describes the batch and recursive implementation approaches, validates the Allan variance computation with a simulation model, and illustrates the Allan variance method using data collected from several Honeywell LIMU units.

The impacts of oil spills -- ranging from the large, widely publicized Exxon Valdez tanker incident to smaller pipeline and refinery spills -- have been costly to both the oil industry and the public. For example, the estimated costs to Exxon of the Valdez tanker spill are on the order of $4 billion, including $2.8 billion (in 1993 dollars) for direct cleanup costs and $1.125 billion (in 1992 dollars) for settlement of damages claims caused by the spill. Application of contingent valuation costs and civil lawsuits pending in the State of Alaska could raise these costs appreciably. Even the costs of the much smaller 1991 oil spill at Texaco`s refinery near Anacortes, Washington led to costs of $8 to 9 million. As a result, inexpensive waming, response and remediation technologies could lower oil spin costs, helping both the oil industry, the associated marine industries, and the environment. One means for reducing the impact and costs of oil spills is to undertake research and development on key aspects of the oil spill prevention, warming, and response and remediation systems. To target these funds to their best use, it is important to have sound data on the nature and size of spills, …

Weekly newsletter discussing natural resources, parks, hunting and fishing, and other information related to the outdoors in Texas.

ave Japan's trade concessions resulted in more U.S. exports? One premise of the more results-oriented trade policy toward Japan now being pursued is that past concessions have not caused U.S. exports to Japan to rise. The only success story seems to be that of semiconductors in which a specific goal of 20 percent of the Japanese market was set and attained.

Twenty-four undergraduate science and mathematics majors who were juniors and seniors in the colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Engineering were recruited, and paid, to participate in an orientation seminar and act as teacher aides in regional schools and the Florida Museum of Natural History. Aides worked with teachers in the schools one semester and as docents in the natural history museum a second semester. Mentoring took place by the principal investigator and participating teachers and docents throughout the program. Success of the program was measured by a specially prepared attitude instrument which was administered to participants before the mentoring started and when it ended each semester. Written logs (field notes) were also prepared and submitted by participants at the end of each semester. Further, a tally was kept of the number of participants who decided to go into science or mathematics teaching as a result of the experience.

The Winter Fuels Report is intended to provide concise, timely information to the industry, the press, policymakers, consumers, analysts, and State and local governments on the following topics: Distillate fuel oil net production, imports and stocks on a US level and for all Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts (PADD) and product supplied on a US level; propane net production, imports and stocks on a US level and for PADD`s I, II, and III; natural gas supply and disposition and underground storage for the US and consumption for all PADD`S; as well as selected National average prices; residential and wholesale pricing data for heating oil and propane for those States participating in the joint Energy Information Administration (EIA)/State Heating Oil and Propane Program; crude oil and petroleum price comparisons for the US and selected cities; and a 6--10 Day, 30-Day, and 90-Day outlook for temperature and precipitation and US total heating degree-days by city.