The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), enacted in 1985, enables producers to retire highly erodible or environmentally sensitive cropland, usually for 10 years. Congress reauthorized and amended the CRP in the 1996 Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act (P.L. 104-127; 16 U.S.C. 3811, et seq.). The law caps enrollment at 36.4 million acres and makes funding mandatory through the commodity Credit Corporation.

There is general agreement that damaging earthquakes will occur in the United States in the next few decades, likely causing dozens of deaths and tens of billions of dollars in losses. They cannot be prevented, and, thus far, cannot be predicted. Whether or not an earthquake prediction or earthquake warning is issued, public awareness of earthquake hazards is important. This report reviews the geologic background of earthquakes and seismic hazards in regions across the United States, describes the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, and reviews the new National Earthquake Loss Reduction Program.

Executive Order 12919 concerns industrial preparedness during times of war and national emergency. This brief report uses simple language to describe what Executive Order 12919 does. It is intended to clarify common misunderstandings about the Order’s purpose and scope.

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 Information published in the Texas Register includes proposed, adopted, withdrawn and emergency rule actions, notices of state agency review of agency rules, governor's appointments, attorney general opinions, and miscellaneous documents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

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO: (1) discussed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) budget justification for the Science and Technology account; and (2) presented observations on EPA's budget justifications for fiscal years (FY) 1999, 2000, and 2001."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its recent reports concerning the export controls for high performance computers, focusing on how the executive branch: (1) assesses the national security risks associated with the export of high performance computers going to countries of concern; and (2) determines when the exports of computers at existing performance levels can no longer be controlled."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the factors that complicate small businesses' efforts to comply with the tax laws and the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) efforts to provide better service to small businesses and self-employed taxpayers."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the data that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the states have for making critical water quality decisions required by the Clean Water Act, focusing on: (1) the adequacy of the data for identifying waters for states' 303(d) lists; (2) the adequacy of data for developing total maximum daily loads (TMDL) for those waters; and (3) key factors that affect the states' abilities to develop TMDLs."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the substantial gainful activity (SGA) level established for blind beneficiaries of Social Security Disability Insurance (DI), focusing on the: (1) differences in employment circumstances affecting people with blindness compared with those affecting people with other disabilities; and (2) potential impact of changes in SGA levels on the DI program and on the Social Security trust funds."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the potential need to consolidate homeless assistance programs administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), focusing on the: (1) different program requirements for HUD's four Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act programs--the Emergency Shelter Grants Program, the Supportive Housing Program, the Shelter Plus Care Program, and the Section 8 Single-Room Occupancy Program; (2) coordination and administrative challenges that the four programs pose; and (3) actions that HUD has taken to overcome these challenges."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the effectiveness of the Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA) two safety-net programs--the Community and Migrant Health Center program and the National Health Service Corps--to improve access to medically underserved populations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed Medicare Choice program payment issues, focusing on: (1) whether program spending for Medicare Choice plan enrollees has exceeded what Medicare-covered care for these beneficiaries would have cost in the fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare program; and (2) the extent to which payments to individual plans differ from expected FFS costs."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Department of Labor's (DOL) new rule on birth and adoption unemployment compensation. GAO noted that: (1) the final rule would allow state agencies that administer the Unemployment Compensation (UC) program to provide partial wage replacement, on a voluntary, experimental basis, to parents who take approved leave or who otherwise leave employment following the birth or placement for adoption of a child; (2) the rule permits interested states to experiment with methods for following the use of the UC program for this purpose; and (3) DOL complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) logistics reengineering initiatives, focusing on: (1) what actions are underway and how complete the Department's plans for reengineering are; (2) what the potential effect of the reengineering effort is on combat forces; and (3) what factors could limit the achievement of reengineering goals."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) processes to ensure that dialysis facilities meet quality-of-care standards, focusing on: (1) the extent to which on-site inspections of dialysis facilities are performed and problems are identified; (2) whether an effective process exists to ensure that dialysis facilities correct problems; and (3) what steps are being taken to use available monitoring resources as effectively as possible."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the design and implementation of the Customs Service's Self-Inspection Program (SIP), focusing on: (1) SIP's principal features; (2) the basis for Customs' design for SIP; (3) how SIP differs from Customs' previous management inspection program; and (4) SIP design issues identified by Customs to date and what Customs is doing to respond to them."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) major rule on the privacy of consumer financial information. GAO noted that: (1) the final rule implements notice requirements and restrictions on a financial institution's ability to disclose nonpublic personal information about consumers to nonaffiliated third parties; (2) the final rule prohibits a financial institution from disclosing such information to nonaffiliated third parties unless the institution satisfies various notice and opt-out requirements and the consumer has not elected to opt out of the disclosure; (3) statutory law requires institutions to provide its customers with a notice of its privacy policies and practices; and (4) FTC complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) efforts to implement the maintenance, repair, and operations prime vendor program, focusing on: (1) how much the program is being used and how selected installations are using the program; and (2) whether DOD has a mechanism for evaluating the program's effectiveness relative to other procurement alternatives and for identifying and addressing implementation obstacles."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Army's procedures for tracking and controlling spare parts and other inventory items that have been shipped from one location to another to support military forces, focusing on the: (1) extent to which the Army can identify inventory lost during shipment; and (2) Army's adherence to procedures for controlling shipped inventory."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the military services' efforts to meet their recruiting goals and cut attrition, focusing on the services': (1) responses to recent recruiting shortfalls; and (2) efforts to reduce their historically high attrition rates for first-term enlistees."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA) new rule on the distribution of fiscal year (FY) 2000 Indian Reservation Roads Funds. GAO noted that: (1) the temporary rule would requires distribution of one-half of the FY 2000 Indian Reservation Roads funds to projects on or near Indian reservations using the Relative Need Formula adopted in 1993; (2) this rule follows a previous temporary rule published on February 15, 2000 which permitted distribution of the first half of the FY 2000 funds; and (3) BIA complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO: (1) analyzed possible revisions to the tax rules governing S-corporations; and (2) determined the potential impact such revisions might have, primarily on community banks."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) new rule on the control of air pollution from new motor vehicles. GAO noted that: (1) the new rule is designed to reduce the emissions from new passenger cars and light trucks, including pickup trucks, vans, minivans, and sport utility vehicles; (2) the new rule finalizes a single set of tailpipe emission standards that will, for the first time, apply to all passenger cars, light trucks, and larger passenger vehicles operated on any fuel; (3) the new rule requires reduced gasoline sulfur levels nationwide; and (4) EPA complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) recent efforts to address weaknesses in how the central office and regional offices work together to oversee Medicare contractors, and the continuing management challenges HCFA faces."