A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Millions of people who live and work near eight Army storage facilities containing 30,000 tons of chemical agents are at risk of exposure from a chemical accident. In 1988, the Army established the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) to assist 10 states with communities near these eight storage facilities. The Army and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) share the federal government's responsibility for the program's funding and execution. Since its inception, the program has received more than $761 million in funding. One third of this amount has been spent to procure critical items. Because each community has its own site-specific requirements, funding has varied greatly. For example, since the states first received program funding in 1989, Illinois received as little as $6 million, and Alabama received as much as $108 million. GAO found that many of the states have made considerable progress in preparing to respond to chemical emergencies. Three of the 10 states in the CSEPP are fully prepared to respond to an emergency and four others are making progress and are close to being fully prepared. This is a considerable improvement since …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1997, 4,369 corporations earned a total of $135 million in Work Opportunity Tax Credits (WOTC). The employers who earned most of the credit were large companies with gross receipts exceeding $1 billion and engaged in nonfinancial services and retail trade. GAO's analysis of state agency data for California and Texas from 1997 through 1999 showed that three percent of participating employers accounted for 82 percent of all hires of WOTC-certified workers. Many employers who participated in the tax credit program in those two states in 1999 say that, besides the opportunity to obtain the credit, their participation in the program was also greatly influenced by such factors as the need to address a labor shortage and the opportunity to be a good corporate citizen. The results of GAO's two state analysis indicate a low probability of replacing employees who were not eligible for the tax credit."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Commerce generates and disseminates important economic information that is of great interest to U.S. businesses, policymakers, and researchers. The dramatic rise in the number and sophistication of cyberattacks on federal information systems is of growing concern. This report provides a general summary of the computer security weaknesses in the unclassified information systems of seven Commerce organizations as well as in the management of the department's information security program. The significant and pervasive weaknesses in the seven Commerce bureaus place the data and operations of these bureaus at serious risk. Sensitive economic, personnel, financial, and business confidential information is exposed, allowing potential intruders to read, copy, modify, or delete these data. Moreover, critical operations could effectively cease in the event of accidental or malicious service disruptions. Poor detection and response capabilities exacerbate the bureaus' vulnerability to intrusions. As demonstrated during GAO's testing, the bureaus' general inability to notice GAO's activities increases the likelihood that intrusions will not be detected in time to prevent or minimize damage. These weaknesses are attributable to the lack of an effective information security program with a lack of centralized …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. government owns a 0.4-acre lot adjoining the U.S. ambassador's residence in a prime location in Paris, France. In 1998, the State Department's Office of the Inspector General reported that the property was underused and that using this high-value property was not economically justified. GAO found that State's decision in February 2000 to continue using the lot for parking was not based on a full consideration of security needs, secure parking alternatives, and the merits of selling the property. French authorities have indicated that the property is valuable and marketable. At a time when the State Department has billions of dollars of security construction and maintenance needs at its embassies and consulates around the world, the sale of the parking lot in Paris, France, should receive serious consideration if State can arrange alternative, cost-effective, and secure parking for official vehicles and if a purchaser would pay $10 million for the lot."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) use different provisions to calculate pay for officers. Fundamental differences in how work is scheduled and how hours are counted also result in pay differences. For overtime, Sunday, and holiday work, Customs officers are generally paid for hours worked, whereas INS officers are often paid on the basis of minimum periods of time worked. Night pay is also fundamentally different. Foreign language awards and the inclusion of overtime pay in calculating retirement benefits are other examples of pay provisions that apply to Customs officers but not to INS officers. Because Customs and INS schedule work differently, it is difficult to compare the two systems and to analyze the effects of differences on officers' pay."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) Program calls for states to provide children and adolescents under age 21 with access to comprehensive, periodic evaluations of health, development, and nutritional status, as well as vision, hearing, and dental services. There is concern that state Medicaid programs are not doing an adequate job of screening children for medical conditions or providing treatment for the children who need it. There is also concern about how these services are faring under managed care plans. This report examines (1) the extent to which children in Medicaid are receiving EPSDT services, (2) efforts that selected states are taking to improve delivery of EPSDT services, particularly within managed care, and (3) federal government efforts to ensure that state Medicaid programs provide covered EPSDT services. GAO found that the extent to which children in Medicaid are receiving EPSDT services are not fully known, but the available evidence indicates that many are not receiving these services. A Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General study found that less than one-half of enrolled children in their sample received any EPSDT …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO tested certain internal controls over federal disbursements processed by the Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service (FMS) in fiscal year 2000. With some exceptions, FMS makes disbursements for all federal agencies through its Regional Financial Centers and Debt Management Operations Center. For fiscal year 2000, FMS reported processing approximately 890 million disbursements totaling more than $1.2 trillion. The centers disburse funds by check, electronic funds transfer (EFT), or Fedwire. FMS reported that these disbursements for fiscal year 2000 included approximately 265 million checks amounting to more than $265 billion, approximately 625 million EFTs amounting to more than $720 billion, and approximately 47,000 Fedwires amounting to more than $275 billion. The centers also process Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP) system enrollments. FMS reported the federal agencies authorized payments of over $254 billion in fiscal year 2000 using the ASAP system. This report reviews the results of GAO's (1) follow-up work on previously recommended improvements and corrective actions taken to address such recommendations and (2) fiscal year 2000 testing and related recommendations for improving controls over safeguarding assets and processing and documenting delegation and designation of agency …

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the Immigration and Naturalization Service's (INS) processes for denying aliens entry at airports and other points of entry, including the expedited removal and credible fear processes. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 included a provision--expedited removal--for dealing with aliens who try to enter the United States by engaging in fraud or misrepresentation (e.g. falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen or misrepresenting a material fact) or who arrive with fraudulent, improper, or no documents (e.g. visa or passport). The expedited removal provision reduces an alien's right to seek review of a determination of inadmissibility decision. The Act also allows expedited removal orders to be issued to aliens who have entered the United States without being inspected or paroled at a port of entry. INS and immigration judges implement the act's provisions on the expedited removal of aliens."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report identifies federal funding for fiscal years 1999 and 2000 that supported reproductive health activities of the following four nonprofit organizations: the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Population Council, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, and The Alan Guttmacher Institute. GAO found that these organizations used $184 million in federal funds for fiscal year 1999 and $196 million in federal funds for fiscal year 2000 to support domestic and international activities related to reproductive health. The Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Agency for International Development were the major sources of these funds. Four Senate committees and four House committees have jurisdiction over the authorization of the programs under which the funding was provided. In addition, the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations each have subcommittees that have jurisdiction over the appropriations for the programs through which the funds are provided."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Well-designed and properly implemented general and application controls are essential to protect the Bureau of Public Debt's (BPD) computer resources and operational environment from inappropriate disclosure and modification of sensitive information, misuse or damage of computer resources, and disruption of critical operations. BPD needs to take preventive measures to further reduce threats to its computer resources and operating environment from unintentional errors or omissions or intentional modification, disclosure, or destruction of data and programs by disgruntled employees, intruders, or hackers. BPD has addressed most of the vulnerabilities GAO identified as part of its audits for fiscal years 1997 through 1999 and has already taken steps to resolve the new vulnerabilities GAO cited in its fiscal year 2000 audit. However, further actions are required to fully address the vulnerabilities discussed in this letter."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report evaluates how the Small Business Administration (SBA) has managed its Women's Business Center Program. GAO found that the two offices that run the program--the Office of WOmen's Business Ownership (program office) and the Office of Procurement and Grants (grants office)--have addressed the weaknesses cited in GAO's 1999 report. For example, files from the program office that GAO reviewed were generally complete, and the few documents that GAO could not locate were provided promptly. The program office was also able to provide various historical documents for 1999 and 2000, and the program office and grants office had tried to improve coordination with each other, such as through better recordkeeping."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report (1) reviews the usefulness of cooperative agreements as a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) contractual mechanism, (2) the reasons behind NASA's aggressive and rapid-style management of the X-33 and X-34 programs, (3) the timeliness of NASA's plans to generate adequate program cost estimates for gauging management reserves in the 15-20 percent range, and (4) the influence of the Young report on NASA's management style regarding the restructured X-34 Program. GAO found that the X-33 cooperative agreement limited NASA's exposure to cost growth and allowed industry to embark on such a program at relatively modest investment. To meet the goal set in 1994 by the White House Space Policy, NASA implemented the Reusable Launch Vehicle Program, incorporating a "fast-track" management approach and "new ways of doing business." NASA did not conduct cost estimates before awarding several contracts, thereby increasing the risk that the management reserves might not be sufficient to cover additional contract costs. NASA restructured the plan for the X-34 Program in response to both X-34 Program technical reviews and other internal assessments of NASA programs, including reports on the failed Mars missions, the shuttle …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO assessed agencies' validation of data submitted by prime contractors on their subcontracting achievements. Of $77 billion in subcontracting reported in fiscal year 2000, $31 billion went to small businesses, such as women-owned, and small disadvantaged businesses, as well as those located in historically underutilized business zones. Both civilian and defense agencies follow a similar process to validate subcontracting data--one that involves visiting contractors, assessing compliance with subcontracting plans, and evaluating accounting systems as well as management support of the subcontracting program. Most contractors GAO reviewed are making good faith efforts to comply with their subcontracting plans. However, these reviews could be improved to enhance the validation and use of subcontracting data."

Three candidate antifoam/defoam agents were tested on a laboratory scale with simulated KTPB slurry using the proposed STTPB process precipitation, concentration, and washing steps. Conclusions are if air entrainment in the slurry is carefully avoided, little or no foam will be generated during normal operations during precipitation, concentration, and washing of the precipitate. Three candidate antifoam/defoam agents were tested on a laboratory scale with simulated KTPB slurry using the proposed STTPB process precipitation, concentration and washing steps. In all cases little or no foam formed during normal operations of precipitation, concentration and washing. Foam was produced by purposely-introducing gas sub-surface into the slurry. Once produced, the IIT B52 antifoam was effective in defoaming the slurry. In separate foam column tests, all antifoam/defoam agents were effective in mitigating foam formation and in defoaming a foamed 10 wt % insoluble solids slurry. Based on the results in this report as well as foam column studies at IIT, it is recommended that IIT B52 antifoam at the 1000 ppmV level be used in subsequent STTPB work where foaming is a concern. This study indicates that the addition of antifoam agent hinders the recovery of NaTPB during washing. Washing precipitate with no antifoam agent …

Crystalline Silicotitanate (CST) was selected as one of the alternatives to the In-Tank Precipitation Process (ITP) for removal of cesium from the salt waste at Savannah River Site. The proposed salt waste treatment process using CST would involve passing a filtered salt waste through a fixed bed of CST. The CST would remove the cesium from the salt waste by ion exchange and the decontaminated salt would be incorporated into the Saltstone Process. This report documents the results of investigations into the mixing and re-suspension characteristics of two 10 wt percent CST slurries.

Expedient methods were developed that could be used by an average person, using only materials readily available, to protect himself and his family from injury by toxic (e.g., radioactive) aerosols. The most effective means of protection was the use of a household vacuum cleaner to maintain a small positive pressure on a closed house during passage of the aerosol cloud. Protection factors of 800 and above were achieved.

This report presents the results of the verification and validation of the analytical data for the Savannah River Fish (SRF) investigation. The data were validated to determine if the records conform to the technical criteria associated with definitive data.

The conclusions of this paper are: 0.5-1.5 G/H and/or BUSG/Y--how much time and money will it take to quantify and WHY BOTHER TO DO SO? No shortage of things to do re truckstop--+ truck!-- electrification; Better that government and industry should put many eggs in lots of baskets vs. all in one or few; Best concepts will surface as most viable; Economic appeal better than regulation or brute force; Launch Ground Freight Partnership and give it a chance to work; Demonstration is an effective means to educate, and learn from, customers--learning is a two way street; Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment (RD 3) are all important but only deployment gets results; TSE can start small in numbers of spaces to accommodate economically inspired growth but upfront plans should be made for expansion if meaningful idle reduction is to follow via TE; 110VAC 15A service/ parking space is minimal--if infrastructure starts like this, upfront plans must be made to increase capacity; Increased electrification of truckstop and truck alike will result in much better life on the road; Improved sleep will improve driver alertness and safety; Reduced idling will significantly reduce fuel use and emissions; Universal appeal for DOD, DOE, DOT, EPA, …

New results on the point defect chemistry of (Ni{sub x}Fe{sub 1-x}){sub 3-delta}O{sub 4} and on the cation tracer diffusion in this spinel solid solution are presented and discussed. The equation system for the defect chemistry of perovskites of the type A{sub 1-x}B{sub 1+x}O{sub 3-delta} have been worked out and used to derive Kr{umlt o}ger-Vink diagrams. The deviation from stoichiometry, delta, in LA{sub 1-x}Mn{sub 1+x}O{sub 3-delta} has been measured at 1100, 1200, and 1300 degrees Celsius as a function of the oxygen activity and the composition variable x. At high and low oxygen activities, the data were fit by taking into account the electrostatic interaction between the charge defects by making use of the Debye H{umlt u}ckel theory.

The SNS is a Department of Energy (DOE) research facility under construction near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The SNS includes a 300-m long, 1 GeV, 2 MW, linear accelerator that produces neutrons by collisions of high-energy protons with mercury target nuclei. The mercury target atoms are in a circulating mercury loop that is water-cooled. The mercury loop operates at a nominal average temperature of 75 C (60 C nominal cold leg temperature and 90 C nominal hot leg temperature). The overall target system also includes circulating fluid systems for supercritical cryogenic hydrogen (to moderate product neutrons to low energy), heavy water (for cooling of shielding), and several light water systems (for shielding cooling, proton beam window and neutron beam window cooling, and to moderate neutrons to energies higher than those from the cryogenic hydrogen moderator).

High magnitude pressure waves are expected in the mercury-filled Spallation Neutron Source target system. An appropriate measure is needed to protect the target system from such high pressure waves. It has been known that inclusion of devices like scattering centers in the pressure field will attenuate pressure waves by scattering waves between scattering centers. A series of experiments have been conducted to test such a concept. After verifying the concept by performing simple scoping experiments, fives series of experiments were conducted with various configuration to measure changes in sound speed and pressure amplitude with inclusion of various scattering centers. Results indicate that for the conditions of our test, no significant change in sound speed was observed; however, substantial attenuation of pressure waves was detected with scattering centers in mercury.

The RIKEN BNL Research Center (RBRC) was established in April 1997 at Brookhaven National Laboratory. It is funded by the ''Rikagaku Kenkysho,'' (RIKEN) The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, of Japan. The Center is dedicated to the study of strong interactions, including hard QCD/spin physics, lattice QCD and RHIC (Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider) physics through nurturing of a new generation of young physicists. The Director of RBRC is Professor T. D. Lee. The first years were dedicated to the establishment of a theory group. This has essentially been completed consisting of Fellows, Postdocs, and RHIC Physics/University Fellows, with an active group of consultants. The center also organizes an extensive series of workshops on specific topics in strong interactions with an accompanying series of published proceedings. In addition, a 0.6 teraflop parallel processor computer has been constructed and operational since August 1998. It was awarded the Supercomputer 1998 Gordon Bell Prize for price performance. An active experimental group centered around the spin physics program at RHIC has subsequently also been established at RBRC. It presently consists of five Fellows, one Postdoc and several scientific collaborators with more appointments being expected in the near future. Members and participants of RBRC on …

Newsletter for the DOE biofuels program. This issue contains articles on the National Energy Policy Plan, national energy policy, the proposed budget for biofuels, and new faces at DOE.

Ultrathin (< 5 nm) hard carbon films are of great interest to the magnetic storage industry as the areal density approaches 100 Gbit/in{sup 2}. These films are used as overcoats to protect the magnetic layers on disk media and the active elements of the read-write slider. Tetrahedral amorphous carbon films can be produced by filtered cathodic arc deposition, but the films will only be accepted by the storage industry only if the ''macroparticle'' issue has been solved. Better plasma filters have been developed over recent years. Emphasis is put on the promising twist filter system - a compact, open structure that operates with pulsed arcs and high magnetic field. Based on corrosion tests it is shown that the macroparticle reduction by the twist filter is satisfactory for this demanding application, while plasma throughput is very high. Ultrathin hard carbon films have been synthesized using S-filter and twist filter systems. Film properties such as hardness, elastic modulus, wear, and corrosion resistance have been tested.