This is the hourly normals meteorological data.

This is the Financial Status Report for this project for the period from May 1, 2012 to September 30, 2012.

This document by the EPA's Office of Water presents data on the concentrations of drinking water contaminants.

This is the 2012 strategic sustainability performance plan in order to reduce the reliance on nonrenewable energy, promote water conservation, waste management strategies, and other issues as well.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Overall, the U.S. Census Bureau’s (Bureau) planning efforts for 2020 are off to a good start, as the Bureau made noteworthy progress within each of the four lessons learned from the 2010 Census. Still, additional steps will be needed within each of the lessons learned in order to sustain those reforms."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Because of delays and cost increases, the General Services Administration (GSA) canceled the authorized 41-courtroom Los Angeles (L.A.), California, courthouse project in 2006. Since then, GSA and the judiciary have been slow to agree upon how to proceed with the project, for which about $366 million in appropriated funds remains available. In 2012, with the judiciary’s support, GSA issued a request for proposal for contractors to design and build a 24-courtoom, 32-chamber courthouse, which would be used in conjunction with 25 existing courtrooms in the Roybal Courthouse. However, this new plan will not address one of the principal justifications for the original project—that the L.A. Court be centralized at one site. Instead, it would increase the distance between the Roybal Courthouse and the planned second court location and the distance to the federal detention center from which prisoners must be transported."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the fall of 2010, State has sanctioned 13 foreign firms under the ISA—2 for investments in Iran’s energy sector and 11 for supplying refined petroleum products."

Course materials for an advanced employment law course in 2012.

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy project sheet summarizing general information about the Grid-Scale Rampable Intermittent Dispatchable Storage (GRIDS) program including critical needs, innovation and advantages, impacts, and contact information. This sheet discusses advanced flow battery electrodes as part of the "Low-Cost, High-Performance 50-Year Electrode" project.

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy project sheet summarizing general information about the Grid-Scale Rampable Intermittent Dispatchable Storage (GRIDS) program including critical needs, innovation and advantages, impacts, and contact information. This sheet discusses advanced flywheel composite rotors as part of the "Low-Cost, High-Energy Density Flywheel Storage Grid Demonstration" project.

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy project sheet summarizing general information about the High Energy Advanced Thermal Storage (HEATS) program including critical needs, innovation and advantages, impacts, and contact information. This sheet discusses an advanced metal-hydrides-based thermal battery as part of the "A New Generation of High Density Thermal Battery Based on Advanced Metal Hydrides" project.

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy project sheet summarizing general information about the Agile Delivery of Electrical Power Technology (ADEPT) program including critical needs, innovation and advantages, impacts, and contact information. This sheet discusses advanced power electronics for LED drivers as part of the "Advanced Technologies for Integrated Power Electronics" project.

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy project sheet summarizing general information about the High Energy Advanced Thermal Storage (HEATS) program including critical needs, innovation and advantages, impacts, and contact information. This sheet discusses advanced thermal energy storage as part of the "Novel Tuning of Critical Fluctuations for Advanced Thermal Energy Storage" project.

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy project sheet summarizing general information about the High Energy Advanced Thermal Storage (HEATS) program including critical needs, innovation and advantages, impacts, and contact information. This sheet discusses an advanced thermo-adsorptive battery as part of the "New Generation of the Advanced Thermo-Adsorptive Battery Climate Control System" project.

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy project sheet summarizing general information about a new program for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (project title "Quaternary Phosphonium Based Hydroxide Exchange Membranes") including critical needs, innovation and advantages, impacts, and contact information. This sheet is the first open solicitation, announcing funding opportunities for involvement in the project.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. government (USG), non-USG coalition, and DOD contractor personnel perform various roles in the ANP training program. These roles include: (1) serving as advisors and mentors to build ministerial capacity in areas such as financial and human resource management at the Afghan Ministry of Interior; (2) serving as mentors and trainers to develop Afghan commanders’ abilities to operate training sites and provide training to ANP recruits in areas such as criminal investigation, weapons, survival skills, and physical fitness; and (3) serving as embedded mentors to help deployed ANP units develop civilian policing skills. DOD contractor personnel also provide maintenance, logistics, and security support at training sites.As of November 2011, about 778 USG, non-USG coalition, and DOD contractor personnel provided ANP training and mentoring at 23 NATO-managed sites. Approximately 66 percent of these trainers and mentors were non-USG coalition personnel, 21 percent were USG personnel, and the remaining 13 percent were DOD contractor personnel. In addition, about 2,825 DOD contractor personnel provided maintenance, logistics, and security services at 12 NATO-managed training sites."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) report progress developing capable Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), but tools used to assess the performance of ANSF units have changed several times. In April 2012, DOD reported progress increasing the number and capability of ANSF, with 7 percent of army units and 9 percent of police units rated at the highest level of capability. GAO has previously found the tools used by DOD and NATO to assess ANSF reliable enough to support broad statements regarding capability. However, issues related to these tools exist. When GAO reported on ANA capability in January 2011, the highest capability rating level was “independent”—meaning that a unit was capable of executing the full spectrum of its missions without assistance from coalition forces. As of August 2011, the highest level had changed to “independent with advisors”—meaning that a unit was capable of executing its mission and can call for coalition forces when necessary. DOD reports, these changes, as well as the elimination of certain requirements for validating units, were partly responsible for the increase in ANSF units rated at the highest …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has experienced systemic challenges that have hindered its ability to manage and oversee contracts and assistance instruments in Afghanistan. Key challenges include gaps in planning for the use of contractors and assistance recipients and having visibility into their numbers. For example, GAO reported in April 2010 that, absent strategic planning for its use of contractors, individual offices within USAID often made case-by-case decisions on using contractors to support contract or grant administration and risks, such as possible conflicts of interest, were not always addressed. While having reliable data on contractors and assistance recipients is a starting point for informing agency decisions and ensuring proper management, GAO has also reported on limitations in USAID’s visibility into the number and value of contracts and assistance instruments in Afghanistan, as well as the number of personnel working under them. USAID, along with other agencies, has not implemented GAO’s recommendation to address such limitations. USAID, however, has taken other actions to mitigate risks associated with awarding contracts and assistance instruments in Afghanistan. In June 2011, GAO reported on USAID’s vendor vetting program, then in its …

A report provided by USAID detailing performance and financial information as well as future goals.

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Budget Control Act of 2011, amending the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, establishes limits on discretionary spending for fiscal years 2012 through 2021. In addition, the Act specifies additional limits on discretionary spending and automatic reductions in direct spending because legislation was not enacted that would reduce projected deficits by at least $1.2 trillion by the end of fiscal year 2021. Among other things, the Budget Control Act requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to calculate, and the President to order, a sequestration of discretionary and direct spending on January 2, 2013, to achieve reductions for that fiscal year."

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy project sheet summarizing general information about the Building Energy Efficiency Through Innovative Thermodevices (BEETIT) program including critical needs, innovation and advantages, impacts, and contact information. This sheet discusses air conditioning with magnetic refrigeration as part of "An Efficient, Green Compact Cooling System Using Magnetic Refrigeration" project.

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Older electricity generating units—those that began operating in or before 1978—provided 45 percent of electricity from fossil fuel units in 2010 but produced a disproportionate share of emissions, both in aggregate and per unit of electricity generated. Overall, in 2010 older units contributed 75 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions, 64 percent of nitrogen oxides emissions, and 54 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel units. For each unit of electricity generated, older units collectively emitted about 3.6 times as much sulfur dioxide, 2.1 times as much nitrogen oxides, and 1.3 times as much carbon dioxide as newer units. The difference in emissions between older units and their newer counterparts may be attributed to a number of factors. First, 93 percent of the electricity produced by older fossil fuel units in 2010 was generated by coal-fired units. Compared with natural gas units, coal-fired units produced over 90 times as much sulfur dioxide, twice as much carbon dioxide and over five times as much nitrogen oxides per unit of electricity, largely because coal contains more sulfur and carbon than natural gas. Second, fewer older units have installed emissions controls, …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Contracting officials from Air Force and Interior generally did not perform lease versus purchase analyses for selected contracts. Based on contract file reviews and discussions with contracting officials, we found that analyses were not performed and that contracting officials had not considered the alternative acquisition method for 24 of the 32 selected contracts. For the 8 contracts with lease versus purchase analyses, 5 were documented in the contract files and 3 were performed but were not documented, according to contracting officials. In most cases, contract files did not contain basic information to make lease or purchase decisions, such as the length of time the equipment would be used. Even files containing documentation of analyses generally did not address the full range of criteria specified in the FAR. For example, the analyses typically lacked a discussion of the financial and operating advantages of alternate approaches that would help contracting officials determine the appropriate acquisition method. Contracting officials noted that their decision to lease or purchase equipment often depends on the nature of the requirement, such as a short-term need for equipment, based on documents or other correspondence from the …