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 Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents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

This report provides an overview of industry and federal activities related to LNG security. The report describes U.S. LNG infrastructure, the industry's safety record and security risks, and the industry's security initiatives since September 11, 2001. It summarizes recent changes in federal LNG and maritime security law and related changes in the security roles of federal agencies. The report discusses several policy concerns related to federal LNG security efforts: 1) public costs of marine security, 2) uncertainty regarding LNG terrorism risks, and 3) security implications of promoting U.S.-flagged LNG tankers and U.S. crews.

This report discusses the impact of the 2008 farm bill (P.L. 110-234, The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act) on the U.S. dairy industry. It includes an overview of provisions and issues that result from the bill and looks specifically at the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program, the dairy price support program, federal milk marketing orders, and dairy import assessment. There is also some analysis of the implications regarding World Trade Organization (WTO) limitations. An appendix provides a comparison of the 2008 provisions and those from previous legislation.

This report examines the interrelationships of the variables regarding the debate on climate change to explore their implications for policies that address the problem. The three variables underpinning the debates and justified response to the issue are: the magnitude and rates of change of (1) population growth, (2) incomes, and (3) intensity of greenhouse gas emissions relative to economic activities.

This report provides an overview of Smart Grid, a distribution system that allows for flow of information from a customer's meter in two directions. It discusses both regulatory and technological barriers that have limited the implementation of Smart Grid technology.

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether, under Local Government Code chapter 334, Terrell County may borrow money to construct an approved venue project, to be repaid from the venue project fund.

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the criminal trespass provisions of section 30.05 of the Penal Code apply to recreational vehicle parks (RQ-0621-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether Senate Bill 1161 (2007) and House Bill 2884 (2007), both of which amended Education Code section 25.0951, can be harmonized (RQ-0625-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether article 2.122(a)(6) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which grants certain state felony law enforcement authority to inspectors of the United States Postal Service, applies to inspectors of both the United States Postal Inspection Service and the United States Postal Service, Office of Inspector General (RQ-0628-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Meaning of "administrative costs" for purposes of section 352.1015(c), Tax Code relating to the expenditures from the hotel occupancy tax (RQ-0714-GA)

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, Greg Abbott, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether the county commissioners court may establish an electronic monitoring program under Code of Criminal Procedure article 42.035(b) (RQ-0718-GA)

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) maintains approximately 2.5 million security clearances on servicemembers, federal DOD civilian employees, industry personnel for DOD and 23 other federal agencies, and employees in the legislative branch. Delays in determining eligibility for a clearance can heighten the risk that classified information will be disclosed to unauthorized sources, increase contract costs, and pose problems in attracting and retaining qualified personnel. In this statement, GAO addresses: (1) the status of DOD's efforts to improve its projections of the numbers of clearances needed for industry personnel, and (2) other long-standing challenges that have a negative effect on the efficiency and effectiveness of DOD's personnel security clearance program for industry personnel. This statement is based on a report GAO is issuing today (GAO-08-350) and other prior work, which included reviews of clearance-related documents and interviews of senior officials at DOD and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) is the single largest U.S. energy consumer. About three-fourths of its total consumption consists of mobility energy--the energy required for moving and sustaining its forces and weapons platforms for military operations. GAO was asked to discuss DOD's efforts to manage and reduce its mobility energy demand. This testimony addresses (1) energy issues that are likely to affect DOD in the future, (2) key departmental and military service efforts to reduce demand for mobility energy, and (3) DOD's management approach to guide and oversee these efforts. This testimony is based primarily on work conducted for a report that GAO issued today (GAO-08-426) on DOD's management of mobility energy."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Investments in the education and health of children are critical to the nation's future, as the nation's security and well-being depend on a productive citizenry. While families play the essential role in nurturing their children, the federal government has traditionally provided aid to disadvantaged children and families. However, federal spending on current health care and retirement programs--Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security--is projected to grow dramatically and absorb an increasing share of the federal budget and economic output. Absent meaningful changes, little room will be left in the federal budget to address other priorities, including programs designed to assist and ensure opportunities for disadvantaged children and families. GAO convened this forum on June 25, 2008, to identify key areas of concern related to disadvantaged children and their families and to discuss ideas to address these concerns within this fiscal environment."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Established in 1971, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) library network provides access to critical environmental information that the agency needs to fulfill its mission of protecting human health and the environment. The library network also provides information and services to the public. In fiscal year 2006, the network included 26 libraries across headquarters, regional offices, research centers, and laboratories. These libraries were independently operated by several different EPA program offices, depending on the nature of the libraries' collections. In 2006, facing proposed budget cuts, EPA issued a plan to reorganize the network beginning in fiscal year 2007. The plan proposed a phased approach to closing libraries and dispersing, disposing of, and digitizing library materials. GAO was asked to summarize the findings in its report being released today, Environmental Protection: EPA Needs to Ensure That Best Practices and Procedures Are Followed When Making Further Changes to Its Library Network (GAO-08-304). GAO made four recommendations in this report aimed at best practices and procedures that EPA should follow when continuing to reorganize its library network. The agency agreed with the recommendations."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Today's testimony discusses several important topics: (1) provisions of H.R. 3268, the GAO Act, that would bolster our ability to attract and retain a highly skilled and diverse workforce needed to serve the Congress and provide for operational improvements and administrative efficiencies; (2) steps we are taking to establish and maintain a constructive working relationship with the GAO Employees Organization, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE); and (3) my commitment to ensure fair and equitable treatment for all segments of our diverse workforce, as reinforced by our commissioning of a study of various performance assessment issues related to African-American Analysts at GAO."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The use of information technology (IT) is crucial to the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) mission to promote the health, welfare, and dignity of all veterans in recognition of their service to the nation. In this regard, the department's fiscal year 2009 budget proposal includes about $2.4 billion to support IT development, operations, and maintenance. VA has, however, experienced challenges in managing its IT projects and initiatives, including cost overruns, schedule slippages, and performance problems. In an effort to confront these challenges, the department is undertaking a realignment to centralize its IT management structure. This testimony summarizes the department's actions to realign its management structure to provide greater authority and accountability over its IT budget and resources and the impact of these actions to date. In developing this testimony, GAO reviewed previous work on the department's realignment and related budget issues, analyzed pertinent documentation, and interviewed VA officials to determine the current status and impact of the department's efforts to centralize the management of its IT budget and operations."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began operations in March 2003 with missions that include preventing terrorist attacks from occurring within the United States, reducing U.S. vulnerability to terrorism, minimizing damages from attacks that occur, and helping the nation recover from any attacks. GAO has reported that the implementation and transformation of DHS is an enormous management challenge and that the size, complexity, and importance of the effort make the challenge especially daunting and critical to the nation's security. GAO's prior work on mergers and acquisitions found that successful transformations of large organizations, even those faced with less strenuous reorganizations than DHS, can take at least 5 to 7 years to achieve. This testimony is based on GAO's August 2007 report evaluating DHS's progress between March 2003 and July 2007, selected reports issued since July 2007, and our institutional knowledge of homeland security issues."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since its inception, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has focused much of its efforts on aviation security, and has developed and implemented a variety of programs and procedures to secure commercial aviation. More recently, TSA has taken actions to secure the nation's surface transportation modes. TSA funding for aviation security has totaled about $26 billion since fiscal year 2004, and for surface transportation security activities, about $175 million since fiscal year 2005. This testimony focuses on TSA's efforts to secure the commercial aviation system-- through passenger screening, air cargo, and watch-list matching programs--and the nation's surface transportation modes. It also addresses challenges remaining in these areas. GAO's comments are based on GAO products issued from February 2004 through April 2008 including selected updates obtained in February through April 2008."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "While aviation accidents in the United States are relatively infrequent, recent incidents have heightened concerns about safety on airport runways. As the nation's aviation system becomes more crowded every day, increased congestion at airports may exacerbate ground safety concerns. This statement discusses (1) the trends in runway incursions, (2) what FAA has done to improve runway safety, and (3) what more could be done. This statement is based on GAO's November 2007 report issued to this committee on runway safety. GAO's work on that report included surveying experts on the causes of runway incidents and accidents and the effectiveness of measures to address them, reviewing safety data, and interviewing agency and industry officials. This statement also contains information from FAA on recent incursions and actions taken since November 2007."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses H.R. 3268, the "Government Accountability Office (GAO) Act of 2007" and other GAO reforms, to discuss the results of the survey that Congress previously requested that the Employee Advisory Council (EAC) conduct of all GAO employees (except Senior Executive Service/SL and interns) on GAO's Band II restructuring and the Watson Wyatt market-based compensation study used to set salary ranges. The EAC was established by Comptroller General David Walker to provide a consolidated forum for him to meet with representatives from the various employee liaison groups (e.g. Advisory Council for Persons with Disabilities, Blacks In Government, Gay and Lesbian Employee Association, etc.) so that these groups could voice the concerns of their constituency groups. He also decided to include representatives from each of the staff positions (i.e. Administrative Professional Support Staff (APSS), attorneys, and each of the Band levels). Consequently, the EAC was chartered in January 2000 to serve as an advisory body to the Comptroller General and other senior executives by seeking and conveying the views and concerns of the individual employee groups they represent, proposing solutions to those concerns where appropriate, providing input by …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)--an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)--and the Congress, through the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), recently acted to constrain spending on imaging services, one of the fastest growing set of services under Medicare Part B, which covers physician and other outpatient services. GAO was asked to provide information to help the Congress evaluate imaging services in Medicare. In this report, GAO provides information on (1) trends in Medicare spending on imaging services from 2000 through 2006, (2) the relationship between spending growth and the provision of imaging services in physicians' offices, and (3) imaging management practices used by private payers that may have lessons for Medicare. To do this work, GAO analyzed Medicare claims data from 2000 through 2006, interviewed private health care plans, and reviewed health services literature."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) relies heavily on petroleum-based fuel for mobility energy--the energy required for moving and sustaining its forces and weapons platforms for military operations. Dependence on foreign oil, projected increases in worldwide demand, and rising oil costs, as well as the significant logistics burden associated with moving fuel on the battlefield, will likely require DOD to address its mobility energy demand. GAO was asked to (1) identify key efforts under way to reduce mobility energy demand and (2) assess the extent to which DOD has established an overarching organizational framework to guide and oversee these efforts. GAO reviewed DOD documents, policies, and studies, and interviewed agency officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal agencies are increasingly using electronic mail (e-mail) for essential communication. In doing so, they are potentially creating messages that have the status of federal records, which must be managed and preserved in accordance with the Federal Records Act. Under the act, both the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and federal agencies have responsibilities for managing federal records, including e-mail records. In view of the importance that e-mail plays in documenting government activities, GAO was asked, among other things, to review the extent to which NARA provides oversight of federal records management, describe selected agencies' processes for managing e-mail records, and assess these agencies' e-mail policies and key practices. To do so, GAO examined NARA guidance, regulations, and oversight activities, as well as e-mail policies at four agencies (of contrasting sizes and structures) and the practices of selected officials."