The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1988 (Stafford Act) generally defines the federal government's role during the response and recovery after a major disaster. It establishes the programs and processes through which the federal government provides disaster assistance to state and local governments, tribes, certain nonprofit organizations, and individuals.

Charter schools are public schools created to achieve a number of goals, including encouraging innovation in public education and addressing failing schools. Charter schools operate with more autonomy than traditional public schools in exchange for agreeing to improve student achievement, an agreement that is formalized in a contract or charter with the school's authorizing body.

Health Center Program grantees are private, nonprofit community-based organizations or, less commonly, public organizations such as public health department clinics. Health centers funded through HRSA's Health Center Program are typically managed by an executive director, a financial officer, and a clinical director, and provide comprehensive primary care services including enabling services, such as translation and transportation, that help facilitate access to health care.

DOD spends billions of dollars annually to maintain complex weapon systems including aircraft, ships, ground-based systems, missiles, communications equipment, and other types of electronic equipment that require regular and emergency maintenance to support national security goals. Maintenance of this equipment is divided into three levels corresponding to the extent and complexity of these repairs-depot-level, intermediate, and organizational.

Title IV aid and tax expenditures help reduce the cost of attendance for students and families. Students and families may be eligible for multiple Title IV programs and tax expenditures, depending on each program's rules. We identified seven Title IV programs and eight tax expenditures that help students and families save for, pay, and repay the costs of higher education; the seven Title IV programs we reviewed account for about 89 percent of the total aid available for higher education and training through Education in fiscal year 2011.

Given the changes in the federal workforce over the last 30 years, there has been growing interest in reexamining the federal pay system-how pay is determined and how comparisons with other sectors are made. Specifically, we have reported on the importance of considering the skills, knowledge, and performance of employees as well as the local labor market in making pay decisions.

Under the Rehabilitation Act, a person is considered to have a disability if the individual has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.4 Existing federal efforts are intended to promote the employment of individuals with disabilities in the federal workforce and help agencies carry out their responsibilities under the Rehabilitation Act.

CPSC was created in 1972 by the Consumer Product Safety Act to regulate certain consumer products and address those that pose an unreasonable risk of injury; assist consumers in using products safely; and promote research and investigation into product-related deaths, injuries, and illnesses.

The Transportation Security Administration has taken three primary actions since October 2010 to enhance security of inbound cargo on passenger and all-cargo aircraft.

This section describes the role of coal in generating electricity, the four key EPA regulations, actions involved in maintaining electric reliability, and federal and state government roles in electricity markets.