The leading property rights bills in the Congress are the Contract with America-derived H.R. 9 (Division B), as passed by the House in March, 1995, and S. 605, as reported from the Committee on the Judiciary.

Interest in salvaging timber has increased markedly since extensive forest fires in 1994. The focus is to use the dead and dying timber before it goes to waste and to increase the supply of Federal timber available to the wood products industry. Supporters also note that salvage sales are one tool that can be used to improve forest health. Critics counter that some dead and dying trees are necessary for healthy ecosystems, and that salvage sales are costly to the U.S. Treasury and to the environment. This report describes the concerns over forest health, and then examines the benefits, costs, and financial consequences of salvage timber sales.

Interest in fuel management, to reduce fire control costs and damages, has been renewed with the numerous, destructive wildfires spread across the West during the summers of 1988 and 1994.

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 Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents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

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 Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents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

Letter opinion 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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Texas Board of Health is authorized by the Medical Radiologic Technologist Certification Act, V.T.C.S. art. 4512m, to promulgate rules establishing a class of certificate for students who perform radiologic procedures in an academic or clinical setting as part of a training program which meets minimum standards adopted by the board (ID# 39225)

Letter opinion 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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Eligibility for mandatory release of inmates convicted of indecency with a child under Penal Code section 21.11(a)(11) (ID# 39210)

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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether a county court at law judge, with an unexpired term greater than one year, who declared at a county commissioners court meeting that he was a candidate for the district judgeship has announced his candidacy or "in fact become a candidate" for purposes of article XVI, section 65 of the Texas Constitution and related questions (RQ-820)

Letter opinion 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, Dan Morales, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether the filing of an application for school board trustee results in an automatic resignation from the office of criminal district attorney under article XVI, section 65 of the Texas Constitution (ID# 35324)

None

Effectiveness and efficiency of software development can be greatly increased by writing modularized code using informal (styles) and formal (standards) work approaches. Software development is about connecting pieces into a coherent whole. Thus consistent work approaches provide a structure that allows individuals and teams to minimize the time and thought put into making these connections. These investments in structure return even more benefits in the maintenance phase when old code has to be examined by new programmers, or after time has passed. We present some examples of coding style for Avenue: a simplified form of Hungarian notation (notationHungarian, stringCustomerName, etc.), script naming prefixes and suffixes, and options in script headers. We demonstrate several modular, object-like utility scripts that can be used alone or combined into other utilities. These include developer tools such as a System.Echo substitute for Windows, a Window inspector, and a script for detecting and dealing with multiple display resolutions.

An interlaboratory comparison exercise for {sup 129}I has been organized and conducted. A total of seven laboratories participated in the exercise to either a full or limited extent. In the comparison, a suite of 11 samples was used. This suite of standards contained both synthetic `standard type` materials (i.e., AgI) and environmental materials. The isotopic {sup 129}I/{sup 127}I ratio of the samples varied from 10{sup -8} to 10{sup -14}. Results of the comparison are presented.

Diagnostics have been developed and fielded at the Nova laser facility that image scattered light in the vicinity of the final laser focusing lens. The absolute calibration of optical components exposed to the target debris have been achieved by a combination of routine in situ calibration and maintenance. The scattering observed from plasmas relevant to ignition experiments indicates that light scattered just outside the lens can be larger than that collected by the lens, and is a significant factor in the energy balance when the f number is high.

In the first quarter of calendar year 1996, 9 days of combust-boiler tests were performed. Between these tests, modifications and improvements that were indicated by these tests were implemented. In January and early February, the modifications and installations indicated by the 6 days of testing in December 1995 were implemented. This was followed by 6 additional consecutive test days in mid- February. This was in turn followed by additional modifications, followed by a series of 3 one day, coal fired tests at end of March. These latter tests were the first ones in which slagging conditions were achieved in the combustor. The maximum thermal input was 13 MMBtu/hr, which equals two-thirds of the rated boiler heat input. The measured thermal, combustion, and slagging performance achieved in the combustor was superior to that achieved in the final series of tests conducted in Williamsport in 1993. The combustor-boiler facility is now ready for implementation of the task 5 site demonstration.

There are several goals for the neutron source strength monitor system for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). Desired is a stable, reliable, time-dependent neutron detection system which exhibits a wide dynamic range and broad energy response to incident neutrons while being insensitive to gamma rays and having low noise characteristics in a harsh reactor environment. This system should be able to absolutely calibrated in-situ using various neutron sources. An array of proportional counters of varying sensitivities is proposed along with the most promising possible locations. One proposed location is in the pre-shields of the neutron camera collimators which would allow an integrated design of neutron systems with good detector access. As part of an ongoing conceptual design for this system, the detector-specific issues of dynamic range, performance monitoring, and sensitivity will be presented. The location options of the array will be discussed and most importantly, the calibration issues associated with a heavily shielded vessel will be presented.

The authors discuss, with illustrations drawn from the simple example of a dielectric grating under total internal reflection illumination, the use of electric field, energy density and Poynting vector as tools for understanding phenomena associated with dielectric gratings. The electric field has greatest direct observational interest, and exhibits patterns of nodes and antinodes that are both expected and intuitive. The energy density, though not directly linked with photoelectric response, has readily understood global patterns. The Poynting vector has more elaborate structure, involving patterns of curls, but the patterns are sensitive to small changes in illumination angle or groove depth. Plots of Poynting vectors may not be as useful for dielectric structures as they are for metals.

The likelihood of lightning striking a new facility at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) has been considered in conjunction with a Lightning Hazard Mitigation study for that facility. Probability was estimated using both an older {open_quotes}traditional{close_quotes} method and a new method in which five years of actual NTS lightning strike data was analyzed. We believe the new method provides a more credible estimate. An important finding is that the NTS data exhibits a distribution of return-stroke peak-current amplitudes that is significantly less severe than that generally used by the lightning protection community, or found in other parts of the United States.

The production of a variable array of optical point sources from a single point source can be achieved through the self-imaging properties inherent in a rectangular waveguide. Two prototype devices, based upon this concept, were designed and constructed. The resulting output patterns are discussed along with future design considerations and applications.

Progress during the ninth quarter of a three-year study of ash formation and deposition was made in several areas. One of the key contributions this quarter was the development of an enhanced method for classification of CCSEM data. This classification algorithm permits grouping and comparison of particles previously labeled as ``unclassifiable.`` A second analytical advancement, also made this quarter, provides more detailed information on the distribution of minerals in the coal and the potential for coalescence. This new multiple analysis technique is also applicable to ash and will permit identification of heterogeneous ash particles. Additional analyses of ash samples were also performed and it was found that the firing of Pittsburgh {number_sign}8 under staged combustion conditions yields an ash with a significantly larger particle size distribution than that obtained under conventional firing conditions, but without a significant change in composition. the size difference was noted previously, but the new classification algorithm allowed a detailed comparison of all composition groups, including unclassifiable particles, in the ashes. A mechanistic explanation for this behavior has been developed and is provided in the report. Finally, a paper documenting the new classification algorithm has been prepared and is scheduled for presentation at the March ACS …

The Savannah River Site (SRS) has upgraded its aqueous emergency response capability to model the transport of pollutants released from SRS facilities during normal operation or accidents through onsite streams to the Savannah River. The transport and dispersion modules from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) WASP5 model were incorporated into the SRS emergency response system, called the Weather Information and Display (WIND) System. WASP5 is a water quality analysis program that simulates surface water pollutant transport, using a finite difference method to solve the advective transport equation. Observed tritium concentrations in the SRS streams and the Savannah River from an accidental release from K-Reactor, one of the SRS nuclear material production reactors, were used to benchmark the new model. Although all SRS reactors have since been deactivated, this release of tritiated water occurred between December 22 and 25, 1991, through the K-Reactor secondary cooling water discharge. Analyses of reactor discharge water suggested the leak began sometime during December 22. The leak was positively identified and isolated on December 25. Following the release, tritium concentrations were tracked and measured as the tritiated water flowed from the K-Area outfall into Indian Grave Branch and pen Branch, through the Savannah River swamp, …

This report discusses the uses of programming by object-orientation. Included in this report are the following: overview of concepts; software development; user interfaces; and databases.

On December 9, 1995, the Secretary of Energy requested that the Department`s Inspector General (IG) conduct a thorough examination of all Secretarial foreign travel from 1993 to December 1995 to include the purpose of each trip, the activities of each Federal participant in each trip, the funding of each trip, and claims for reimbursements for expenses by Federal trip participants. The Secretary also requested that the review include an assessment of travel authorization, voucher, traveler reimbursement, and auditing systems employed by the Department to identify steps that could be taken to reduce errors and improve accounting oversight. Additionally, the Secretary requested that the Inspector General conduct a thorough examination of the establishment and filling of the Department`s Ombudsman position. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiated a review into these matters and assigned primary responsibility for the review to the Office of Inspections. The purpose of this inspection was to conduct a thorough examination of the 16 Secretarial foreign trips from June 1993 to December 1995. This report focuses on the four trade missions because of their extent and cost. We examined a number of Departmental management systems and processes involved in planning and executing the 16 foreign trips. To …

Significant quantities of weapons-usable fissile materials [primarily plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU)] are becoming surplus to national defense needs in both the United States and Russia. These stocks of fissile materials pose significant dangers to national and international security. The dangers exist not only in the potential proliferation of nuclear weapons but also in the potential for environmental, safety, and health (ES&H) consequences if surplus fissile materials are not properly managed. This document summarizes the results of analysis concerned with existing light water reactor plutonium disposition alternatives.

In situ inspections were performed on tarp-covered 55-gallon drums of transuranic (TRU) waste stored underground at the Hanford Site. These inspections were part of a task to characterize TRU drums for extent of corrosion degradation and uncertainty in TRU designation (inaccuracy in earlier assay determinations may have led to drums that actually were low-level waste to be termed TRU), and to attempt to correlate accuracy of existing records with actual drum contents. Two separate storage trench sites were investigated; a total of 90 drums were inspected with ultrasonic techniques and 104 additional drums were visually inspected. A high-humidity environment in the underground storage trenches had been reported in earlier investigations and was expected to result in substantial corrosion degradation. However, corrosion was much less than expected. Only a small percentage of drums had significant corrosion (with one breach) and the maximum rate was estimated at 0.051 mm/yr (2 mils/yr). The corrosion time of underground exposure was 14 to 15 years. These inspection results should be applicable to other similar environments (this applicability should be restricted to arid climates such as the Hanford Site) where drums are stored underground but shielded from direct soil contact by a tarp or other means. …