A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 1992 Congress authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to implement the Delaware River deepening project, which would deepen the river's shipping channel from 40 to 45 feet. In 2002 GAO reviewed the Corps' economic analysis of the project, concluding that it contained significant limitations. GAO recommended that the Corps prepare a comprehensive economic reanalysis, which the Corps completed in 2004. GAO was asked to determine the extent to which (1) the reanalysis addressed the limitations GAO identified; (2) the reanalysis's benefit projections, as updated, reflect current and anticipated market and industry conditions; and (3) the Corps has accounted for other key issues that could affect the project. GAO reviewed Corps project documentation and interviewed federal officials along with representatives of affected states, firms, and environmental groups."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) provides health care and mental health care through its TRICARE program. Under TRICARE, beneficiaries may obtain care through TRICARE Prime, an option that includes the use of civilian provider networks and requires enrollment. TRICARE beneficiaries who do not enroll in this option may obtain care from nonnetwork providers through TRICARE Standard, or from network providers through TRICARE Extra. In addition, qualified National Guard and Reserve servicemembers may purchase TRICARE Reserve Select, a plan whose care options are similar to those of TRICARE Standard and TRICARE Extra. We refer to servicemembers who use TRICARE Standard, TRICARE Extra, or TRICARE Reserve Select as nonenrolled beneficiaries. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 directed GAO to analyze the adequacy of DOD's surveys of TRICARE beneficiaries and providers and report what the surveys' results indicate about access to care for nonenrolled beneficiaries. To do so, GAO evaluated the surveys' methodology by interviewing DOD officials and reviewing relevant documentation, including the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) survey standards. GAO also assessed the surveys' results by interviewing DOD officials, obtaining relevant documentation, and analyzing …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2008, VA provided health care to over 281,000 women veterans, a fast growing subgroup of veterans. Women veterans seeking VA health care need access to an array of services and Congress has raised concerns about how well VA is prepared to meet the physical and mental health care needs of women. GAO was asked to examine (1) the on-site availability of health care services at VA facilities for women veterans, (2) the extent to which VA facilities are following VA policies that apply to the delivery of health care to women veterans, and (3) key challenges that VA facilities face in providing health care to women veterans and how VA is addressing these challenges. GAO reviewed applicable laws and VA policies, interviewed officials, and visited a judgmental sample of 9 VA medical centers (VAMC) and 10 community-based outpatient clinics (CBOC) chosen, in part, based on the number of women using services. GAO also visited 10 VA counseling centers (Vet Centers)."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) conducted a mandated 3-year project from March 2005 through March 2008 to demonstrate the use of recovery audit contractors (RAC) in identifying Medicare improper payments and recouping overpayments. CMS implemented a mandated national RAC program, which began in March 2009. GAO was asked to examine specific issues that arose during the demonstration project and CMS's efforts to address them in the national RAC program. This report examines the extent to which CMS (1) developed a process and took corrective actions to address vulnerabilities identified by the RACs that led to improper payments, (2) resolved coordination issues between the RACs and the Medicare claims administration contractors, and (3) established methods to oversee RAC claim review accuracy and provider service during the national program. GAO reviewed CMS documents and interviewed officials from CMS and contractors and provider groups affected by the demonstration project."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO and others have shown that successful organizations use strategic workforce planning to help meet present and future mission requirements. Although agency approaches to strategic workforce planning can vary depending on needs and mission, GAO and the Office of Personnel Management have identified six leading principles that workforce planning should address. The Appropriations Committees directed GAO to review workforce planning at the Department of the Interior (Interior), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. GAO examined (1) workforce planning processes used at each agency, (2) the extent to which these processes incorporate the six principles, and (3) how, if at all, the agencies link workforce planning with the annual budget allocation processes. GAO reviewed agencies' workforce plans, strategic plans, and budget documents and interviewed human resources, planning, and budget officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Medicare covers dialysis for most individuals with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Beginning in January 2011, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is required to use a single payment to pay for dialysis and related services, which include injectable ESRD drugs. Questions have been raised about this new payment system's effects on the access to and quality of dialysis care for certain groups of beneficiaries, such as those who receive above average doses of injectable ESRD drugs. GAO examined (1) Medicare expenditures for injectable ESRD drugs, by demographic characteristics; (2) factors likely to result in above average doses of these drugs; (3) CMS's approach for addressing beneficiary differences in the cost of dialysis care under the new payment system; and (4) CMS's plans to monitor the new payment system's effects. GAO analyzed 2007 data--the most recent available--on Medicare ESRD expenditures and input from 73 nephrology clinicians and researchers collected using a Web-based data collection instrument. GAO also reviewed reports and CMS's proposed rule on the payment system's design and interviewed CMS officials."

This report summarizes Detection and Analysis of Threats to the Energy Sector (DATES), a project sponsored by the United States Department of Energy and performed by a team led by SRI International, with collaboration from Sandia National Laboratories, ArcSight, Inc., and Invensys Process Systems. DATES sought to advance the state of the practice in intrusion detection and situational awareness with respect to cyber attacks in energy systems. This was achieved through adaptation of detection algorithms for process systems as well as development of novel anomaly detection techniques suited for such systems into a detection suite. These detection components, together with third-party commercial security systems, were interfaced with the commercial Security Information Event Management (SIEM) solution from ArcSight. The efficacy of the integrated solution was demonstrated on two testbeds, one based on a Distributed Control System (DCS) from Invensys, and the other based on the Virtual Control System Environment (VCSE) from Sandia. These achievements advance the DOE Cybersecurity Roadmap [DOE2006] goals in the area of security monitoring. The project ran from October 2007 until March 2010, with the final six months focused on experimentation. In the validation phase, team members from SRI and Sandia coupled the two test environments and carried …

This program was undertaken in response to the US Department of Energy Solicitation DE-PS30-03GO93010, resulting in this Cooperative Agreement with the Ford Motor Company and BP to demonstrate and evaluate hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and required fueling infrastructure. Ford initially placed 18 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCV) in three geographic regions of the US (Sacramento, CA; Orlando, FL; and southeast Michigan). Subsequently, 8 advanced technology vehicles were developed and evaluated by the Ford engineering team in Michigan. BP is Ford's principal partner and co-applicant on this project and provided the hydrogen infrastructure to support the fuel cell vehicles. BP ultimately provided three new fueling stations. The Ford-BP program consists of two overlapping phases. The deliverables of this project, combined with those of other industry consortia, are to be used to provide critical input to hydrogen economy commercialization decisions by 2015. The program's goal is to support industry efforts of the US President's Hydrogen Fuel Initiative in developing a path to a hydrogen economy. This program was designed to seek complete systems solutions to address hydrogen infrastructure and vehicle development, and possible synergies between hydrogen fuel electricity generation and transportation applications. This project, in support of that national goal, was designed …

A technical and design evaluation was carried out to meet DOE hydrogen fuel targets for 2010. These targets consisted of a system gravimetric capacity of 2.0 kWh/kg, a system volumetric capacity of 1.5 kWh/L and a system cost of $4/kWh. In compressed hydrogen storage systems, the vast majority of the weight and volume is associated with the hydrogen storage tank. In order to meet gravimetric targets for compressed hydrogen tanks, 10,000 psi carbon resin composites were used to provide the high strength required as well as low weight. For the 10,000 psi tanks, carbon fiber is the largest portion of their cost. Quantum Technologies is a tier one hydrogen system supplier for automotive companies around the world. Over the course of the program Quantum focused on development of technology to allow the compressed hydrogen storage tank to meet DOE goals. At the start of the program in 2004 Quantum was supplying systems with a specific energy of 1.1-1.6 kWh/kg, a volumetric capacity of 1.3 kWh/L and a cost of $73/kWh. Based on the inequities between DOE targets and Quantum’s then current capabilities, focus was placed first on cost reduction and second on weight reduction. Both of these were to be …

ECR International and its joint venture company, Climate Energy, are at the forefront of the effort to deliver residential-scale combined heat and power (Micro-CHP) products to the USA market. Part of this substantial program is focused on the development of a new class of steam expanders that offers the potential for significantly lower costs for small-scale power generation technology. The heart of this technology is the scroll expander, a machine that has revolutionized the HVAC refrigerant compressor industry in the last 15 years. The liquid injected cogeneration (LIC) technology is at the core of the efforts described in this report, and remains an excellent option for low cost Micro-CHP systems. ECR has demonstrated in several prototype appliances that the concept for LIC can be made into a practical product. The continuing challenge is to identify economical scroll machine designs that will meet the performance and endurance requirements needed for a long life appliance application. This report describes the numerous advances made in this endeavor by ECR International. Several important advances are described in this report. Section 4 describes a marketing and economics study that integrates the technical performance of the LIC system with real-world climatic data and economic analysis to …

Hydrogen storage materials based on the hydrogen spillover mechanism onto metal-doped nanoporous carbons are studied, in an effort to develop materials that store appreciable hydrogen at ambient temperatures and moderate pressures. We demonstrate that oxidation of the carbon surface can significantly increase the hydrogen uptake of these materials, primarily at low pressure. Trace water present in the system plays a role in the development of active sites, and may further be used as a strategy to increase uptake. Increased surface density of oxygen groups led to a significant enhancement of hydrogen spillover at pressures less than 100 milibar. At 300K, the hydrogen uptake was up to 1.1 wt. % at 100 mbar and increased to 1.4 wt. % at 20 bar. However, only 0.4 wt% of this was desorbable via a pressure reduction at room temperature, and the high lowpressure hydrogen uptake was found only when trace water was present during pretreatment. Although far from DOE hydrogen storage targets, storage at ambient temperature has significant practical advantages oner cryogenic physical adsorbents. The role of trace water in surface modification has significant implications for reproducibility in the field. High-pressure in situ characterization of ideal carbon surfaces in hydrogen suggests re-hybridization is …

The following report documents the progress of the Cummins Power Generation (CPG) Diesel Fueled SOFC for Class 7/Class 8 On-Highway Truck Auxiliary Power (SOFC APU) development and final testing under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) contract DE-FC36-04GO14318. This report overviews and summarizes CPG and partner development leading to successful demonstration of the SOFC APU objectives and significant progress towards SOFC commercialization. Significant SOFC APU Milestones: Demonstrated: Operation meeting SOFC APU requirements on commercial Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) fuel. SOFC systems operating on dry CPOX reformate. Successful start-up and shut-down of SOFC APU system without inert gas purge. Developed: Low cost balance of plant concepts and compatible systems designs. Identified low cost, high volume components for balance of plant systems. Demonstrated efficient SOFC output power conditioning. Demonstrated SOFC control strategies and tuning methods.

Five alternatives to vapor compression technology were qualitatively evaluated to determine their prospects for being better than vapor compression for space cooling and food refrigeration applications. The results of the assessment are summarized in the report. Overall, thermoacoustic and magnetic technologies were judged to have the best prospects for competing with vapor compression technology, with thermotunneling, thermoelectric, and thermionic technologies trailing behind in that order.

This report documents progress made on all LDRD-funded projects during fiscal year 2009. As a US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC) national laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has an enduring mission to bring molecular and environmental sciences and engineering strengths to bear on DOE missions and national needs. Their vision is to be recognized worldwide and valued nationally for leadership in accelerating the discovery and deployment of solutions to challenges in energy, national security, and the environment. To achieve this mission and vision, they provide distinctive, world-leading science and technology in: (1) the design and scalable synthesis of materials and chemicals; (2) climate change science and emissions management; (3) efficient and secure electricity management from generation to end use; and (4) signature discovery and exploitation for threat detection and reduction. PNNL leadership also extends to operating EMSL: the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a national scientific user facility dedicated to providing itnegrated experimental and computational resources for discovery and technological innovation in the environmental molecular sciences.

The main objective of this report is to provide quantitative data to support the Committee in its task of establishing a report to support rulemaking on medium- and heavy-duty fuel efficiency improvement. In particular, it is of paramount importance for the Committee to base or illustrate their conclusions on established models and actual state-of-the art data. The simulations studies presented in the report have been defined and requested by the members of the National Academy committee to provide quantitative inputs to support their recommendations. As such, various technologies and usage scenarios were considered for several applications. One of the objective is to provide the results along with their associated assumptions (both vehicle and drive cycles), information generally missing from public discussions on literature search. Finally, the advantages and limitations of using simulation will be summarized. The study addresses several of the committee tasks, including: (1) Discussion of the implication of metric selection; (2) Assessing the impact of existing technologies on fuel consumption through energy balance analysis (both steady-state and standard cycles) as well as real world drive cycles; and (3) Impact of future technologies, both individually and collectively.

The Nevada Test Site (NTS) is located approximately 105 km (65 mi) northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office (NNSA/NSO) is the federal lands management authority for the NTS and National Security Technologies LLC (NSTec) is the Management and Operations contractor. Access on and off the NTS is tightly controlled, restricted, and guarded on a 24-hour basis. The NTS is posted with signs along its entire perimeter. NSTec is the operator of all solid waste disposal sites on the NTS. The site will be used for the disposal of refuse, rubbish, garbage, sewage sludge, pathological waste, Asbestos-Containing Material (ACM), industrial solid waste, hydrocarbon-burdened soil, hydrocarbon-burdened demolition and construction waste, and other inert waste (hereafter called permissible waste). Waste containing free liquids or regulated under Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) will not be accepted for disposal at the site. Waste regulated under the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA), excluding Polychlorinated Biphenyl [PCB], Bulk Product Waste (see Section 6.2.5) and ACM (see Section 6.2.2.2) will not be accepted for disposal at the site. The disposal site will be used as the sole depository of permissible waste which is: (1) Generated by entities …

Jackson Park Hospital completed the construction of a new Medical Office Building on its campus this spring. The new building construction has adopted the City of Chicago's recent focus on protecting the environment, and conserving energy and resources, with the introduction of green building codes. Located in a poor, inner city neighborhood on the South side of Chicago, Jackson Park Hospital has chosen green building strategies to help make the area a better place to live and work. The new green building houses the hospital's Family Medicine Residency Program and Specialty Medical Offices. The residency program has been vital in attracting new, young physicians to this medically underserved area. The new outpatient center will also help to allure needed medical providers to the community. The facility also has areas designated to women's health and community education. The Community Education Conference Room will provide learning opportunities to area residents. Emphasis will be placed on conserving resources and protecting our environment, as well as providing information on healthcare access and preventive medicine. The new Medical Office Building was constructed with numerous energy saving features. The exterior cladding of the building is an innovative, locally-manufactured precast concrete panel system with integral insulation that …

Pulverized coal power plants which fire lignites and other low-rank high-moisture coals generally operate with reduced efficiencies and increased stack emissions due to the impacts of high fuel moisture on stack heat loss and pulverizer and fan power. A process that uses plant waste heat sources to evaporate a portion of the fuel moisture from the lignite feedstock in a moving bed fluidized bed dryer (FBD) was developed in the U.S. by a team led by Great River Energy (GRE). The demonstration was conducted with Department of Energy (DOE) funding under DOE Award Number DE-FC26-04NT41763. The objectives of GRE's Lignite Fuel Enhancement project were to demonstrate reduction in lignite moisture content by using heat rejected from the power plant, apply technology at full scale at Coal Creek Station (CCS), and commercialize it. The Coal Creek Project has involved several stages, beginning with lignite drying tests in a laboratory-scale FBD at the Energy Research Center (ERC) and development of theoretical models for predicting dryer performance. Using results from these early stage research efforts, GRE built a 2 ton/hour pilot-scale dryer, and a 75 ton/hour prototype drying system at Coal Creek Station. Operated over a range of drying conditions, the results from …

The objective of this program is to develop phosphor systems that will enable LED lamps with 96 lm/W efficacy at correlated color temperatures, (CCTs) ~3000 K, and color rendering indices (CRIs) >80 and 71 lm/W efficacy at CCT<3100 K and CRI~95 using phosphor downconversion of LEDs. This primarily involves the invention and development of new phosphor materials that have improved efficiency and better match the eye sensitivity curves.

This report represents findings of a design review team that evaluated construction documents (at the 70% level) and operating specifications for a new control tower and support building that will be built in Las Vegas, Nevada by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The focus of the review was to identify measures that could be incorporated into the final design and operating specification that would result in additional energy savings for the FAA that would not have otherwise occurred.

This report represents findings of a design review team that evaluated construction documents (at the 100% level) and operating specifications for a new control tower and support building that will be built in Palm Springs, California by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The focus of the review was to identify measures that could be incorporated into the final design and operating specifications that would result in additional energy savings for the FAA that would not have otherwise occurred.

Lean NO{sub x} traps (LNTs) represent a promising technology for the abatement of NO{sub x} under lean conditions. Although LNTs are starting to find commercial application, the issue of catalyst durability remains problematic. LNT susceptibility to sulfur poisoning is the single most important factor determining effective catalyst lifetime. The NO{sub x} storage element of the catalyst has a greater affinity for SO{sub 3} than it does for NO{sub 2}, and the resulting sulfate is more stable than the stored nitrate. Although this sulfate can be removed from the catalyst by means of high temperature treatment under rich conditions, the required conditions give rise to deactivation mechanisms such as precious metal sintering, total surface area loss, and solid state reactions between the various oxides present. The principle objective of this project was to improve understanding of the mechanisms of lean NO{sub x} trap aging, and to understand the effect of washcoat composition on catalyst aging characteristics. The approach utilized involved detailed characterization of model catalysts prior to and after aging, in tandem with measurement of catalyst performance in NO{sub x} storage and reduction. In this manner, NO{sub x} storage and reduction characteristics were correlated with the evolution of catalyst physico-chemical properties …

The goals of this project were to develop innovative 3D seismic attribute technologies and workflows to assess the structural integrity and heterogeneity of subsurface reservoirs with potential for CO{sub 2} sequestration. Our specific objectives were to apply advanced seismic attributes to aide in quantifying reservoir properies and lateral continuity of CO{sub 2} sequestration targets. Our study area is the Dickman field in Ness County, Kansas, a type locality for the geology that will be encountered for CO{sub 2} sequestration projects from northern Oklahoma across the U.S. midcontent to Indiana and beyond. Since its discovery in 1962, the Dickman Field has produced about 1.7 million barrels of oil from porous Mississippian carbonates with a small structural closure at about 4400 ft drilling depth. Project data includes 3.3 square miles of 3D seismic data, 142 wells, with log, some core, and oil/water production data available. Only two wells penetrate the deep saline aquifer. Geological and seismic data were integrated to create a geological property model and a flow simulation grid. We systematically tested over a dozen seismic attributes, finding that curvature, SPICE, and ANT were particularly useful for mapping discontinuities in the data that likely indicated fracture trends. Our simulation results in …

Federal support for renewable energy deployment in the United States has traditionally been delivered primarily through tax benefits, including the production tax credit ('PTC') in Section 45 of the U.S. tax code, investment tax credits ('ITC') in Sections 25D and 48, and accelerated tax depreciation in Section 168. Many renewable power project developers are unable to use the majority of these tax benefits directly or immediately, however, and have therefore often relied on third-party 'tax equity' investors for the necessary investment capital in order to monetize the available tax benefits. As has been well-publicized, most of these tax equity investors were hit hard by the global financial crisis that unfolded in the last months of 2008 and, as a result, most either withdrew from the renewable power market at that time or reduced their available investment capital. This left a significant financing gap beginning in late 2008, and placed at some risk the continued near-term growth of renewable energy supply in the U.S. In recognition of these developments, the U.S. Congress passed two stimulus bills - The Energy Improvement and Extension Act ('the Extension Act') in October 2008 and The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ('the Recovery Act') in February …