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 Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents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

Report that introduces the main steps through which a bill (or other item of business) may travel in the legislative process, from introduction to committee and floor consideration to possible presidential consideration.

Report that is designed to provide Members of Congress and congressional staff with a general overview of principles and foundations of federal emergency management in the United States as well as the types of activities provided by various federal agencies.

Report providing an overview of the New Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty (START), including a comparison to the original START Treaty, the belief of the Obama Administration and outside analysts that New START will enhance U.S. national security, and the criticisms of those who say that New START is a distraction from more important items on the nonproliferation agenda.

Report that describes several policy issues regarding chemical facility security and identifies policy options for congressional consideration.

Report that examines alternative approaches to reducing the deficit, relating to the immediate issues arising from the Budget Control Act and the expiring tax cuts as well as to ongoing longer term decisions about how to bring the debt under control.

Report that discusses the current political state of Afghanistan, as well as the Afghan government. This report also discusses Afghanistan's relationship with the United States, particularly U.S. efforts to urge President Hamid Karzai to address corruption within the Afghan government. Election fraud and corruption in Afghanistan are also discussed.

Report that covers health benefits made available to Members of Congress through federal government employment, including Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), dental and vision insurance, flexible spending accounts, long-term care insurance, services at the Office of the Attending Physician and military hospitals, and Medicare. It also offers a comparison of FEHBP to health benefits offered by the private sector and state and local governments and a discussion of the effect of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on Members' health benefits.

Report that covers the logistics and background of the Congressional Pension program.

Report that describes the steps which precede the joint session and the procedures set in the Constitution and statute by which the House and Senate jointly certify the results of the electoral vote. It also discusses the procedures set in law governing challenges to the validity of an electoral vote, and makes reference to the procedures followed during the joint session in 2005 by which the election of George W. Bush was certified.

Report that discusses House and Senate rules and guidelines, laws, and regulations affecting congressional casework, as well as the role of caseworkers. It also provides sample outlines and document templates for implementing and managing congressional casework.

Report that describes statutory requirements for allocating congressional nominations to service academies. It also identifies the qualifications that must be met by potential nominees. Includes a sample document.

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "We found that:"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of State's (State) Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund (NDF) has several key authorities that provide it significant operational flexibility; however, it has not determined its needed carryover balances and it has taken years to close out many of its projects in the absence of guidance for closing them. Annual appropriations bills have consistently provided NDF with three key authorities that it has used to carry out its activities. First, NDF has the authority to undertake projects notwithstanding any other provision of law. NDF has used this authority to fund projects in countries, such as North Korea, where U.S. assistance is prohibited by U.S. sanctions and other legal restrictions. Second, NDF has the authority to undertake projects globally. NDF has used this authority to fund projects in numerous regions around the world, in contrast with other U.S. nonproliferation programs, which have historically focused on countries in the former Soviet Union. Third, NDF's appropriations do not expire within a particular time period, enabling NDF to carry over balances from year to year not designated for specific projects. However, NDF has not determined appropriate levels for these balances, …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), part of the Department of Transportation (DOT), has established a number of key controls designed to prevent commercial driver’s license (CDL) holders from operating commercial vehicles while impaired. First, drivers are required to undergo regular medical exams by a certified medical examiner. Second, employers are responsible for drug testing employees at various points of employment. Third, state and federal roadside-inspection programs are in place to identify impaired drivers and perform other safety checks. If these key controls are operating effectively, they will help identify commercial drivers who are not capable of driving safely. However, GAO’s prior work has found that these controls were vulnerable to abuse or manipulation. The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, enacted in July 2012, will require additional measures to ensure that disqualified drivers do not operate commercial vehicles, and could help address some of these vulnerabilities. For example, the law requires DOT to implement a national clearinghouse of commercial-driver controlled-substance and alcohol test results by July 2014. DOT has also taken some actions, and now requires CDL holders to provide a …

This report discusses the current political state of Afghanistan, as well as the Afghan government. This report also discusses Afghanistan's relationship with the United States, particularly U.S. efforts to urge President Hamid Karzai to address corruption within the Afghan government.

This report explores the reasons behind government funding of research and development and subsequent efforts to facilitate private sector commercialization of the results of such work.

The project supported graduate students working on experimental and numerical modeling of rock fracture, with the following objectives: (a) perform laboratory testing of fluid-saturated rock; (b) develop predictive models for simulation of fracture; and (c) establish educational frameworks for geologic sequestration issues related to rock fracture. These objectives were achieved through (i) using a novel apparatus to produce faulting in a fluid-saturated rock; (ii) modeling fracture with a boundary element method; and (iii) developing curricula for training geoengineers in experimental mechanics, numerical modeling of fracture, and poroelasticity.

Carbonsheds are regions in which the estimated cost of transporting CO{sub 2} from any (plant) location in the region to the storage site it encompasses is cheaper than piping the CO{sub 2} to a storage site outside the region. We use carbonsheds to analyze the cost of transport and storage of CO{sub 2} in deploying CCS on land and offshore of the continental U.S. We find that onshore the average cost of transport and storage within carbonsheds is roughly $10/t when sources cooperate to reduce transport costs, with the costs increasing as storage options are depleted over time. Offshore transport and storage costs by comparison are found to be roughly twice as expensive but t may still be attractive because of easier access to property rights for sub-seafloor storage as well as a simpler regulatory system, and possibly lower MMV requirements, at least in the deep-ocean where pressures and temperatures would keep the CO{sub 2} negatively buoyant. Agent-based modeling of CCS deployment within carbonsheds under various policy scenarios suggests that the most cost-effective strategy at this point in time is to focus detailed geology characterization of storage potential on only the largest onshore reservoirs where the potential for mitigating emissions …

To further our understanding and develop the method for measuring the DICs under geological sequestration conditions, we studied the infrared spectra of DICs under high pressure and temperature conditions. First principles simulations of DICs in brine conditions were performed using a highly optimized ReaxFF-DIC forcefield. The thermodynamics stability of each species were determined using the 2PT method, and shown to be consistent with the Reax simulations. More importantly, we have presented the IR spectra of DIC in real brine conditions as a function of temperature and pressure. At near earth conditions, we find a breaking of the O-C-O bending modes into asymmetric and symmetric modes, separated by 100cm{sup -1} at 400K and 5 GPa. These results can now be used to calibrate FTIR laser measurements.

Executive Summary Introduction and Motivation This analysis provides the first insights into the leveraging potential of distributed photovoltaic (PV) technologies on rooftop and electric vehicle (EV) charging. Either of the two technologies by themselves - at some high penetrations – may cause some voltage control challenges or overloading problems, respectively. But when combined, there – at least intuitively – could be synergistic effects, whereby one technology mitigates the negative impacts of the other. High penetration of EV charging may overload existing distribution system components, most prominently the secondary transformer. If PV technology is installed at residential premises or anywhere downstream of the secondary transformer, it will provide another electricity source thus, relieving the loading on the transformers. Another synergetic or mitigating effect could be envisioned when high PV penetration reverts the power flow upward in the distribution system (from the homes upstream into the distribution system). Protection schemes may then no longer work and voltage violation (exceeding the voltage upper limited of the ANSI voltage range) may occur. In this particular situation, EV charging could absorb the electricity from the PV, such that the reversal of power flow can be reduced or alleviated. Given these potential mutual synergistic behaviors of …

A silicon carbide (SiC) based electronic temperature sensor prototype has been demonstrated to operate at 300°C. We showed continuous operation of 1,000 hours with SiC operational amplifier and surface mounted discreet resistors and capacitors on a ceramic circuit board. This feasibility demonstration is a major milestone in the development of high temperature electronics in general and high temperature geothermal exploration and well management tools in particular. SiC technology offers technical advantages that are not found in competing technologies such as silicon-on-insulator (SOI) at high temperatures of 200°C to 300°C and beyond. The SiC integrated circuits and packaging methods can be used in new product introduction by GE Oil and Gas for high temperature down-hole tools. The existing SiC fabrication facility at GE is sufficient to support the quantities currently demanded by the marketplace, and there are other entities in the United States and other countries capable of ramping up SiC technology manufacturing. The ceramic circuit boards are different from traditional organic-based electronics circuit boards, but the fabrication process is compatible with existing ceramic substrate manufacturing. This project has brought high temperature electronics forward, and brings us closer to commercializing tools that will enable and reduce the cost of enhanced geothermal …

Geological sequestration has been proposed as a viable option for mitigating the vast amount of CO{sub 2} being released into the atmosphere daily. Test sites for CO{sub 2} injection have been appearing across the world to ascertain the feasibility of capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide. A major concern with full scale implementation is monitoring and verifying the permanence of injected CO{sub 2}. Geophysical methods, an exploration industry standard, are non-invasive imaging techniques that can be implemented to address that concern. Geophysical methods, seismic and electromagnetic, play a crucial role in monitoring the subsurface pre- and post-injection. Seismic techniques have been the most popular but electromagnetic methods are gaining interest. The primary goal of this project was to develop a new geophysical tool, a software program called GphyzCO2, to investigate the implementation of geophysical monitoring for detecting injected CO{sub 2} at test sites. The GphyzCO2 software consists of interconnected programs that encompass well logging, seismic, and electromagnetic methods. The software enables users to design and execute 3D surface-to-surface (conventional surface seismic) and borehole-to-borehole (cross-hole seismic and electromagnetic methods) numerical modeling surveys. The generalized flow of the program begins with building a complex 3D subsurface geological model, assigning properties to the models …

As a result of past operations, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Oak Ridge Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12 Plant) has extensive mercury-contamination in building structures, soils, storm sewer sediments, and stream sediments, which are a source of pollution to the local ecosystem. Because of mercury’s toxicity and potential impacts on human health and the environment, DOE continues to investigate and implement projects to support the remediation of the Y-12 site.URS and #9122;CH2M Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) under its prime contract with DOE has cleanup responsibilities on the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation and is investigating potential mercury-contaminated soil treatment technologies through an agreement with Babcock and Wilcox (B and W) Y-12, the Y-12 operating contractor to DOE. As part of its investigations, UCOR has subcontracted with Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) to conduct laboratory-scale studies evaluating the applicability of the Sulfur Polymer Stabilization/Solidification (SPSS) process using surrogate and actual mixed waste Y-12 soils containing mercury (Hg) at 135, 2,000, and 10,000 ppm.SPSS uses a thermoplastic sulfur binder to convert Hg to stable mercury sulfide (HgS) and solidifies the chemically stable product in a monolithic solid final waste form to reduce dispersion and permeability. Formulations containing 40 – 60 dry wt% Y-12 soil …