This report sketches issues underlying broader use of cost-benefit analysis. It focuses on cost-benefit as one of several related frameworks for assessing regulatory actions or policies. Cost-benefit is the broadest of these frameworks, which also include impact assessment, risk assessment, and cost-effectiveness. Which analytical framework is appropriate depends on the regulatory context.

Over the past 30 years, U.S. trade negotiators have pressured Japan to open its market to foreign goods and services. These outside pressures, known as gaiatsu in Japan, have been based partly on economically coercive bargaining and partly on invitation. The coercive element, which has entailed threats of retaliatory market constriction should a satisfactory resolution of the market opening dispute not be forthcoming, generally has been a necessary ingredient in obtaining concessions from Japan. The invitational component, which has included requests for U.S. pressures from Japanese interests who favor reforms, generally has facilitated Japanese concessions and made the gaiatsu process unique.

There have been varying estimates of the number of U.S. automobile dealerships that would be affected by the Administration's recently announced plan to impose a 100-percent tariff on imported Japanese luxury automobiles. This report examines the assumptions which result in some of the differences. also provides a State-by-State estimate of numbers of dealers potentially affected if the higher tariffs are imposed.

fallout of Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui's June 1995 visit to the United States has included a carefully calibrated PRC effort to cut off or suspend contacts and communications with the United States and Taiwan over a range of important policy questions. Prospects for a resumption of these contacts are unclear, especially since domestic politics in Beijing,

Chinese officials and opinion leaders claim that recent U.S. actions contrary to the interests of the People's Republic of China (PRC) have convinced the Beijing regime that the U.S. Government is determined to do what it can to weaken and hold back China's growing power. Dismissing evidence of often fractious debate over China policy in the United States, Beijing leaders are said to see a consensus among policymakers in the The United States that is directed at working against China's emerging strength and influence in world affairs. The U.S. specialists are unsure if Chinese leaders are misguided but sincere in their views, or if Chinese leaders are using anti-U.S. themes for tactical advantage in boosting their political standing at home, in seeking concessions from the United States, or as a defensive strategy to deflect criticism of Chinese actions seen by many international experts as bordering on irresponsible. Regardless of Chinese motives, some Americans urge that the United States make concessions and take steps to reassure Beijing of U.S. intentions and restore the wide range of U.S.-China contacts cut off as a result of U.S.-Chinese friction in recent weeks. Other Americans judge that U.S. interests would be better served by a …

The United States and Japan are closely tied economically. Japan ranks second only to Canada as the largest U.S. export market. Japan is the leading market for American agricultural exports, such as corn and meat; for U.S. crude materials such as wood; and for U.S.-produced aircraft. Japan is also the second largest supplier of U.S. imports. These include cars, consumer electronics, telecommunications equipment, and computers. The United States ranks as Japan's number one export market and import supplier.

The Bureau of the Census estimated the U.S. resident population at nearly 262.0 million as of March 1, 1995, up 5.3% from 248.7 million in 1990, 15.6% from 226.5 million in 1980, and 73.1% from 151.3 million in 1950. The population has grown, on average, by slightly under 1.1% a year since 1990—faster than the world's developed countries overall (0.6%), but slower than the developing countries (1.9%,). Current projections indicate a possible U.S. population of 392.0 million by 2050—over 250% growth in a century and nearly a 50% increase from 1995.

The Rural Abandoned Mine Program (RAMP) was designed to restore agricultural land that has been disturbed by strip mining. The program is carried out by the Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service at a current cost of about $10 million per year--a modest share of total Federal abandoned surface mining reclamation efforts that currently exceed $110 million per year, and that has been higher in the past. Critics contend that the RAMP program is inefficient and duplicates other Federal and State reclamation activities. Proponents contend that the effort has been underfunded and thus unable to fulfill its goals and to realize potential efficiencies. With the efforts of the 104th Congress to cut Federal expenditures and programs, the RAMP program appears highly vulnerable to being cut or eliminated.

Participants at a CRS seminar on Hong Kong's transition to Chinese rule generally agreed that there are now-- and are likely to be more--difficulties for U.S. interests as a result of PRC pressures on Hong Kong's political autonomy, rule of law and individual rights. PRC pressures and resistance in Hong Kong could also have negative effects on U.S. interests in Hong Kong's economic progress, although Hong Kong seems poised to continue to advance economically along with the rest of coastal China.

On May 9, 1995, the United States initiated action designed to resolve a dispute with Japan dealing with automobiles and auto parts. In an effort to move negotiations along and resolve a U.S. unfair trade practices case (Section 301) dealing with barriers in the aftermarket for auto parts in Japan, the United States has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on imports of thirteen Japanese luxury passenger cars (Honda Acura, Nissan Infiniti, Toyota Lexus, Mazda 929 and Millenia, and Mitsubishi Diamante). The decision will be made by June 28, 1995. The United States also is pursuing a broad unfair trading case dealing with access to Japan's automotive market at the World Trade Organization. Japan, meanwhile, has also initiated a case at the WTO challenging the legality of the threatened increase in U.S. tariffs. Consultations under the WTO on these issues began in Geneva on June 12, 1995.

This report, completed in June 1995, discusses the content and context of the January 1995 proposal by then-United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali that U.N. Member States consider the creation of a special rapid reaction force to perform U.N. peacekeeping operations. It contains brief background information on similar proposals and a description of the current U.N. "standby forces" system. It reviews the concerns and issues raised by the Boutros-Ghali proposal, including political acceptability, financing, and the problems of force design and operation. It concludes with an analysis of the strategic, budgetary, political and military implications for the United States. This report will not be updated.

A report on information about the Earth obtained from satellite systems assists the National Weather Service (NWS) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in conducting its legislatively mandated programs to provide weather and flood forecasts and warnings for the American public, improve public safety, and provide weather information for commerce and science.

This paper first presents an overview of the nature and extent of the brownfields problem and discusses several key issues relating to their cleanup and redevelopment. Next, it examines three primary state approaches for addressing brownfields, with a particular focus on state voluntary cleanup programs. It then presents more detailed information on the voluntary programs in Minnesota, California, and Ohio.

The focus of this paper is the history of Department of Defense (DoD) Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs) over the past 50 years, which forms part of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) study of defense modeling and simulation.

Now algorithms were investigated for image reconstruction in emission tomography which could incorporate complex instrumental effects such as might be obtained with a coded aperture system. The investigation focused on possible uses of the wavelet transform to handle non-stationary instrumental effects and analytic continuation of the Radon transform to handle self-absorption. Neither investigation was completed during the funding period and whether such algorithms will be useful remains an open question.

On June 6, 1995, a waiver to Hanford Site Solid Waste Acceptance Criteria, was approved by the US Department of Energy Richland Operations Office (RL) to replace the low-level, mixed, and transuranic (TRU) generator assessment programs with the Solid Waste Assurance Program (SWAP). This is associated with a waiver that was approved on March 16, 1995 to replace the Storage/Disposal Approval Record (SDAR) requirements with the Waste Specification System (WSS). This implementation plan and the SWAP applies to Solid Waste Disposal (SWD) functions, facilities, and personnel who perform waste acceptance, verification, receipt, and management functions of dangerous, radioactive, and mixed waste from on- and off-site generators who ship to or within the Hanford Site for treatment, storage, and/or disposal (TSD) at SWD TSD facilities.

This document presents the functional design criteria for installing liquid observation wells (LOWs) into single-shell tanks containing ferrocyanide wastes. The LOWs will be designed to accommodate the deployment of gamma, neutron, and electromagnetic induction probes and to interface with the existing tank structure and environment.

During first quarter 1995, samples collected from the four HAC monitoring wells at the H-Area Acid/Caustic Basin were analyzed for selected heavy metals, herbicides/pesticides, indicator parameters, major ions, radionuclide indicators, and other constituents. Monitoring results that exceeded the final Primary Drinking Water Standards (PDWS) or the Savannah River Site (SRS) flagging criteria or turbidity standard during third quarter are the focus of this report. Tritium exceeded the final PDWS in all four HAC wells during first quarter 1995. Carbon tetrachloride exceeded the final PDWS in well HAC 4. Aluminum exceeded its Flag 2 criterion in all four HAC wells. Iron was elevated in wells HAC 2 and 3. Total organic halogens was elevated in well HAC 3. The HAC 3 sample also exceeded the SRS turbidity standard. Groundwater flow direction in the water table beneath the H-Area Acid/Caustic Basin was to the northwest during first quarter 1995. This data is consistent with previous quarters, when the flow direction has been to the northwest or the north- northwest.

The glass melter would thermally treat mixed waste (hazardous waste contaminated with radioactive constituents largely tritium, Pu-238, and/or Th-230) that was generated at the Mound Plant and is now in storage, by stabilizing the waste in glass blocks. Depending on the radiation level of the waste, the glass melter may operate for 1 to 6 years. Two onsite alternatives and seven offsite alternatives were considered. This environmental assessment indicates that the proposed action does not constitute a major Federal action significantly affecting the human environment according to NEPA, and therefore the finding of no significant impact is made, obviating the need for an environmental impact statement.

This document presents the details of the inorganic and organic analysis that was performed on samples from the headspace of Hanford waste tank 241-TX-105. The results described were obtained to support the safety and toxicological evaluations. A summary of the results for the inorganic and organic analytes is included, as well as, a detailed description of the results which appears in the text.

The increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) concentrations (as well as in other radiatively active trace gases) because of human activity has produced serious concern regarding the heat balance of the global atmosphere (Moore and Braswell 1994). The increasing concentrations of these gases may intensify the earth`s natural greenhouse effect, and force the global climate system in ways that are not well understood. The oceans play a major role in global carbon cycle processes. Carbon in the oceans is unevenly distributed because of complex circulation patterns and biogeochemical cycles, neither of which are completely understood. To better understand the ocean`s role in climate and climatic changes, several large experiments have been conducted in the past, and others are currently under way. The World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) is a major component of the World Climate Research Program. Although total carbon dioxide (TC0{sub 2}) is not an official WOCE measurement, a coordinated effort, supported in the United States by the US Department of Energy (DOE), is being made on WOCE cruises (through 1998) to measure the global, spatial, and temporal distributions of TC0{sub 2} and other carbon-related parameters. The CO{sub 2} survey goals include estimation of the meridional transport of …

The Ceramic Technology Project was originally developed by the Department of Energy`s Office of Transportation Systems (OTS) in Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. This project, part of the OTS`s Materials Development Program, was developed to meet the ceramic technology requirements of the OTS`s automotive technology programs. Significant accomplishments in fabricating ceramic components for the Department of Energy (DOE), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Department of Defense (DoD) advanced heat engine programs have provided evidence that the operation of ceramic parts in high-temperature engine environments is feasible. However, these programs have also demonstrated that additional research is needed in materials and processing development, design methodology, and data base and life prediction before industry will have a sufficient technology base from which to produce reliable cost-effective ceramic engine components commercially. In response to extensive input from industry, the plan is to extend the engine types which were previously supported (advanced gas turbine and low-heat-rejection diesel engines) to include near-term (5-10 years) applications in conventional automobile and diesel truck engines. To facilitate the rapid transfer of this technology to U.S. industry, the major portion of the work is being done in the ceramic industry, with technological support from government laboratories, other …

This report provides methodologies for providing defensible estimates of expected transuranic waste storage container lifetimes at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex. These methodologies can be used to estimate transuranic waste container reliability (for integrity and degradation) and as an analytical tool to optimize waste container integrity. Container packaging and storage configurations, which directly affect waste container integrity, are also addressed. The methodologies presented provide a means for demonstrating Resource Conservation and Recovery Act waste storage requirements.

Landfills within the DOE Complex as of 1990 are estimated to contain 3 million cubic meters of buried waste. The DOE facilities where the waste is predominantly located are at Hanford, the Savannah River Site (SRS), the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL), the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR), the Nevada Test Site (NTS), and the Rocky Flats Plant (RFP). Landfills include buried waste, whether on pads or in trenches, sumps, ponds, pits, cribs, heaps and piles, auger holes, caissons, and sanitary landfills. Approximately half of all DOE buried waste was disposed of before 1970. Disposal regulations at that time permitted the commingling of various types of waste (i.e., transuranic, low-level radioactive, hazardous). As a result, much of the buried waste throughout the DOE Complex is presently believed to be contaminated with both hazardous and radioactive materials. DOE buried waste typically includes transuranic-contaminated radioactive waste (TRU), low-level radioactive waste (LLW), hazardous waste per 40 CFR 26 1, greater-than-class-C waste per CFR 61 55 (GTCC), mixed TRU waste, and mixed LLW. The mission of the Landfill Stabilization Focus Area is to develop, demonstrate, and deliver safer,more cost-effective and efficient technologies which satisfy DOE site needs for the …