"This report summarizes new and counting activities during calendar year 2009 under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998, Congressionally-authorized debt relief program jointly managed by the Departments of State and Treasury and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)."

An analysis of improving the power output of small wind turbines by adding a venturi housing was done. Including the effects of back pressure developed at the input to the housing lowers the efficiency gain from a factor of 5 to a factor of 2 for a turbine blade radius of 24 inches. The gain is small enough that only large systems could profit from the application.

Electrofuels Project: LBNL is improving the natural ability of a common soil bacteria called Ralstonia eutropha to use hydrogen and carbon dioxide for biofuel production. First, LBNL is genetically modifying the bacteria to produce biofuel at higher concentrations. Then, LBNL is using renewable electricity obtained from solar, wind, or wave power to produce high amounts of hydrogen in the presence of the bacteria—increasing the organism’s access to its energy source and improving the efficiency of the biofuel-creation process. Finally, LBNL is tethering electrocatalysts to the bacteria’s surface which will further accelerate the rate at which the organism creates biofuel. LBNL is also developing a chemical method to transform the biofuel that the bacteria produce into ready-to-use jet fuel.

Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This letter describes the process used by GAO for revising GAGAS, summarizes the proposed major changes, discusses proposed effective dates, and provides instructions for submitting comments on the proposed standards."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To accomplish its mission of protecting about 9,000 federal facilities, the Federal Protective Service (FPS) currently has a budget of about $1 billion, about 1,225 full-time employees, and about 15,000 contract security guards. However, protecting federal facilities and their occupants from a potential terrorist attack or other acts of violence remains a daunting challenge for the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Federal Protective Service. GAO has issued numerous reports on FPS's efforts to protect the General Services Administration's (GSA) facilities. This report (1) recaps the major challenges we reported that FPS faces in protecting federal facilities and discusses FPS's efforts to address them and (2) identifies an additional challenge that FPS faces related to the facility security committees (FSC), which are responsible for addressing security issues at federal facilities. This report is based primarily on our previous work and recent FPS interviews."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This letter is our response to a congressional request concerning carbon trading in the United States and various design and implementation issues to be considered in discussions about a possible national carbon trading program. Industrial activities in the United States emit significant amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases each year, substantially affecting the earth's climate, according to the National Academy of Sciences. In an effort to reduce these emissions, some have suggested capping emissions and allowing them to be traded in secondary markets just as other commodities are traded. We briefed congressional committee staff on the results of our work on July 23, 2010. Specifically, we provided information on (1) carbon-related products currently traded in the United States and the extent of trading; (2) risks and challenges posed by these products; (3) the extent to which and how these products are regulated; and (4) issues that market observers identified for policymaker consideration as part of creating a national cap-and-trade carbon market."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Every day, thousands of AM/FM radio stations, as well as satellite radio, cable radio, and Webcasters, use sound recordings to provide music to their listeners. As a form of intellectual property, sound recordings are protected by copyright law. The copyright holder (e.g., a record company or performer) may use a license to grant third parties permission to use sound recordings, in return for compensation and compliance with other conditions of the license. Congress established a statutory copyright regime, including a statutory license, which among other things, avoids the potential problems associated with thousands of music service providers seeking licenses from many copyright holders. Under this regime, a party may invoke a statutory license to allow it to use sound recordings under certain conditions and according to specific requirements, in exchange for payment of a set royalty amount. Since 1976, the Copyright Royalty Tribunal, Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panels, and Copyright Royalty Judges have been responsible, successively, for recommending or setting rates, terms, and conditions for statutory licenses. In the Copyright Act of 1976, Congress established the Copyright Royalty Tribunal. The Copyright Royalty Tribunal operated until 1993, when Congress abolished …

Guidance issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This publication supersedes GAO-03-584G Information Technology: A Framework for Assessing and Improving Enterprise Architecture Management (Version 1.1), April 2003, and Information Technology: A Practical Guide to Federal Enterprise Architecture, Version 1.0, February 2001."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Enrollment in for-profit colleges has grown from about 365,000 students to almost 1.8 million in the last several years. These colleges offer degrees and certifications in programs ranging from business administration to cosmetology. In 2009, students at for-profit colleges received more than $4 billion in Pell Grants and more than $20 billion in federal loans provided by the Department of Education (Education). GAO was asked to 1) conduct undercover testing to determine if for-profit colleges' representatives engaged in fraudulent, deceptive, or otherwise questionable marketing practices, and 2) compare the tuitions of the for-profit colleges tested with those of other colleges in the same geographic region. To conduct this investigation, GAO investigators posing as prospective students applied for admissions at 15 for-profit colleges in 6 states and Washington, D.C.. The colleges were selected based on several factors, including those that the Department of Education reported received 89 percent or more of their revenue from federal student aid. GAO also entered information on four fictitious prospective students into education search Web sites to determine what type of follow-up contact resulted from an inquiry. GAO compared tuition for the 15 for-profit …

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This is the Spanish Language summary of GAO-10-518. According to Census data, more than 12 million adults in the United States report they do not speak English well or at all. Proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and understanding the English language appears to be linked to multiple dimensions of adult life in the United States, including financial literacy--the ability to make informed judgments and take effective actions regarding the current and future use and management of money. The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 mandated GAO to examine the relationship between fluency in the English language and financial literacy. Responding to this mandate, this report examines the extent, if any, to which individuals with limited English proficiency are impeded in their financial literacy and conduct of financial affairs. To address this objective, GAO conducted a literature review of relevant studies, reports, and surveys, and conducted interviews at federal, nonprofit, and private entities that address financial literacy issues and serve people with limited English proficiency. GAO also conducted a series of focus groups with consumers and with staff at community and financial organizations. GAO …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the results of our investigation of the disability programs managed by the Social Security Administration (SSA). SSA administers two of the nation's largest cash benefit programs for people with disabilities: the Disability Insurance (DI) program, which provides benefits to workers with disabilities and their family members, and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which provides income for aged, blind, or disabled people with limited income and resources. In 2008, the DI program provided about $104 billion to some 9 million beneficiaries, and the SSI program provided about $38 billion in financial benefits to some 7.5 million recipients. Given the magnitude of these cash benefit payments, it is important for SSA to have effective fraud prevention controls in place to minimize fraudulent and improper payments. This statement summarizes our most recent report, describing cases of federal workers, commercial drivers, and commercial vehicle company owners who fraudulently or improperly received disability benefits. The objectives of the investigation were to (1) determine whether federal employees and commercial vehicle drivers and company owners may be improperly receiving disability benefits and (2) develop case study examples of individuals who fraudulently …

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a county’s disclosure on its website of driver’s license photographs received from the Department of Public Safety would violate the Motor Vehicle Records Disclosure Act of the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (RQ-0799-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Combining real property and improvements on one parcel identification number or taxpayer account for appraisal district record purposes (RQ-0827-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Use ad management of a county jail commissary fund under Local Government Code section 351.0415 (RQ-0841-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Status of particular tracts of land annexed into one groundwater conservation district and subsequently included in special legislation creating a different district (RQ-0817-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether a school district may access and use a county’s right-of-way to install fiber optic cable (RQ-0818-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether section 11.1513 of the Education Code prohibits a school superintendent tow home final selection of personnel is delegated from employing persons related to trustees of his district (RQ-0842-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Jurisdiction over land that is annexed by two separate special district (RQ-0812-GA)