[CHAPTER 404—2D SESSION]

[H. R. 5407]

AN ACT

To grant to the Federal Works Administrator certain powers with respect to site acquisition, building construction, purchase of buildings, and other matters.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Federal Works Administrator is hereby authorized under the provisions of the Public Buildings Act of May 25, 1926, as amended (40 U. S. C. 341-347), and as hereby further amended

(a) For projects outside of the District of Columbia: To construct extensions to the marine hospitals at Seattle, Washington, and San Francisco, California; to purchase buildings either unencumbered or subject to existing leases where in his determination it is advantageous to do so and to remodel the same; and to establish the limits of cost and design new building projects where the sites are in Government ownership, notwithstanding the fact that appropriations for construction work shall not have been made. The total limit of cost for the foregoing shall be $13,000,000, and the unobligated balances of appropriations heretofore made for the construction of projects outside the District of Columbia are hereby made available for this

purpose.

(b) To acquire additional land in and contiguous to the area in the District of Columbia defined in the Act of March 31, 1938 (52 Stat. 149), under a limit of cost of $2,000,000. Funds for this purpose are hereby made available from the unobligated balances of appropriations heretofore made for the construction of buildings outside the District of Columbia.

SEC. 2. The limit of cost for the site and building for the West Central Heating Plant, Washington, District of Columbia, authorized in the First Supplemental Civil Functions Appropriation Act, 1941, as amended by Public Law 371, Seventy-seventh Congress, approved December 23, 1941, is hereby increased to $7,750,000.

SEC. 3. For the extension of the site of the Barge Office, New York, New York, and to permit the city of New York to proceed with the development of its highway system, the Federal Works Administrator is hereby authorized to exchange a portion of the site of the Barge Office, for land owned by the city upon such terms and conditions as are mutually satisfactory to the Administrator and the city government of New York.

SEC. 4. The last two provisos of section 2 of the Act of August 27, 1935, as amended (40 U. S. C. 304b), beginning with the words: "Provided further, That the amount so charged against any Federal agency *" to the end of the section are hereby repealed. Section 3 of the Act of August 27, 1935, as amended (40 U. S. C. 304c), is hereby amended to read as follows:

* *

"The Commissioner of Public Buildings is authorized to procure space by lease, on such terms and for such period not in excess of five years as he may deem in the public interest, for the housing of any Federal agency or agencies outside of the District of Columbia, except the Post Office Department, and to assign and reassign such space. To the extent that the appropriations of the Public Buildings Administration not otherwise required are inadequate therefor, the Commissioner of Public Buildings may require each Federal agency to which leased space has been assigned to pay promptly by check to the Public Buildings Administration out of its available appropriations, either in advance or during occupancy of such space, all or part of the estimated cost of rent, repairs, alterations, maintenance, operation, and moving: Provided, That when space in a building is occupied by two or more agencies, the Commissioner of Public Buildings shall determine and equitably apportion rental, operation, and other charges on the basis of the total amount of space so leased."

SEC. 5. The Commissioner of Public Buildings is authorized to maintain a survey of the use of Government-owned and leased office space in the larger metropolitan centers and the District of Columbia, including adjacent areas, and to study and determine the extent to which consolidation, reassignment, and reallocation of office space, including the cancellation of uneconomical leases, would be advantageous to the Government. Where he finds uneconomical use of space in buildings operated or leased by the Public Buildings Administration, he shall direct and prescribe its economical use or its surrender. Where such conditions are found to exist in space operated or leased by others than the Public Buildings Administration, he shall report his findings to those responsible therefor to the end that economical use of office space and cooperation between all agencies of the Government on space problems may be achieved. This section shall not apply to the Executive Mansion and Office of the President, buildings under the jurisdiction of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, buildings in or under the legislative branch of the Government, buildings structurally or domestically maintained by the Architect of the Capitol, or to buildings operated by the Post Office Department.

SEC. 6. That portion of the Act of March 2, 1913 (40 U. S. C. 36), pertaining to the leasing of storage space in the District of Columbia, is hereby amended to read as follows:

"The Commissioner of Public Buildings is authorized to enter into contracts for the leasing, for periods of not exceeding five years, of storage accommodations within the District of Columbia for the use of the several activities of the Government, subject to the provisions of section 322 of the Act of June 30, 1932, as amended (40 U. S. C. 278a), payable from appropriations that Congress may from time to time make for rent of buildings in the District of Columbia: Provided, That the authority granted herein shall also extend to the head of any department or establishment of the Government to which an appropriation is made specifically for the rental of storage accommodations within the District of Columbia."

SEC. 7. The Commissioner of Public Buildings is authorized to provide and operate public utility communications services serving

one or more governmental activities, in and outside the District of Columbia, where it is found that such services are economical and in the interest of the Government. This section does not apply to communications systems for handling messages of a confidential or secret nature, or to the operation of cryptographic equipment or transmission of secret, security, or coded messages, or to buildings operated or occupied by the Post Office Department, except upon request of the department or agency concerned.

SEC. 8. Hereafter, subject to applicable provisions of existing law relating to the functions in the District of Columbia of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts, only the Commissioner of Public Buildings shall be required to approve sketches, plans, and estimates for buildings to be constructed by the Public Buildings Administration, except in the case of buildings designed for post-office purposes which shall be approved by the Commissioner of Public Buildings and the Postmaster General.

SEC. 9. In the prosecution of construction projects or planning programs assigned to the Public Buildings Administration for which funds are provided by direct appropriation or transferred under authority contained in the Act of June 15, 1938 (40 U. S. C. 265), an amount administratively determined as necessary for the payment of salaries and expenses of personnel engaged upon the preparation of plans and specifications, field supervision, and general office expense, may be transferred and consolidated on the books of the Treasury Department into a special account for direct expenditure in the prosecution of said work, such expenditures to be subsequently allocated and reported upon by projects in accordance with procedures prescribed by the General Accounting Office.

SEC. 10. The Federal Works Administrator is hereby authorized to dispose of that parcel of land situated in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, described as lot numbered 71 in square 234, improved by premises 2218 Thirteenth Street Northwest, together with the improvements thereon, in such manner and upon such terms as he may deem to be for the best interest of the United States, to convey the said land, together with improvements thereon, to the purchaser thereof by quitclaim deed, and to deposit the proceeds of said sale in the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts.

SEC. 11. The Federal Works Administrator is hereby authorized to assume permanent custody and control for the use of the Public Buildings Administration, without reimbursement, of that portion of the Denver Ordnance Plant, Denver, Colorado (which has been declared surplus and assigned to the Public Buildings Administration as disposal agency by the Surplus Property Administration), comprised of section 9, and the west half of the west half of section 10, township 4 south, range 69 west, the tract numbered 1, township 4 south, range 69 west (railroad right-of-way), located in section 4, and tract numbered 1 (pump house property), comprising an area one hundred and five feet by four hundred feet located in section 34, township 3 south, range 69 west, together with all buildings, appurtenances, equipment, and supplies necessary for the maintenance, operation, and protection of the area described, and the Public

Buildings Administration may operate the plant and assign and reassign space to such Federal agencies as may be accommodated therein.

66

SEC. 12. The Federal Works Administrator is authorized to convey, upon such terms as he shall deem to be in the public interest, that parcel of land, together with the improvements thereon, described as "All of block 172, City of Portland, in the City of Portland, County of Multnomah, State of Oregon", in exchange for any lands in such city which, in his determination, are more suitable for use as a site for the erection of a new Federal building.

Approved June 14, 1946.

[PUBLIC LAW 455-80TH CONGRESS]

[CHAPTER 147-2D SESSION]

[H. R. 3506]

AN ACT

To provide for the acquisition of a site for a new Federal Building in Huntington, West Virginia, adjoining existing Federal buildings there, as an economy measure, before land values have increased as a result of improvements.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Federal Works Administrator is authorized and directed to acquire, by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, a plot of land approximately two hundred feet long and approximately ninety feet wide, together with all improvements thereon, situated at the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue and Eighth Street in the city of Huntington, West Virginia, for use as a site for the erection of a new Federal building. Such plot of land is more particularly described as follows:

Beginning at a point where the south line of Fifth Avenue intersects with the east line of Eighth Street; thence along the line of Eighth Street approximately two hundred feet to an alley; thence in an easterly direction and with the north line of said alley to a point; thence in a northerly direction and parallel with the line of Eighth Street approximately two hundred feet to a point in the south line of Fifth Avenue; thence in a westerly direction and with the south line of Fifth Avenue approximately ninety feet to the place of beginning. Approved March 25, 1948.

[CHAPTER 148-2D SESSION]

[H. R. 4836]

AN ACT

To authorize the purchase of a new post-office site at Omaha, Nebraska.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Federal Works Administrator is authorized and directed to acquire by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, a suitable site in Omaha, Nebraska, for the purpose of erecting thereon a building for the use and accommodation of the United States post office at Omaha.

Approved March 25, 1948.

[PUBLIC LAW 457-80TH CONGRESS]
[CHAPTER 149-2D SESSION]

[H. R. 4967]

AN ACT

To provide for the acquisition of a site and preparation of plans and specifications for a new postal building and for remodeling of the existing main post-office building in Portland, Oregon, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Federal Works Administrator is authorized and directed to acquire by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, a suitable site in Portland, Oregon, and to prepare or cause to be prepared plans and specifications for a new building to be located on such site and for the remodeling of the existing main post office all to provide additional postal facilities in said city. The cost of such plans and specifications and the acquisition of the site shall not exceed $300,000.

Approved March 25, 1948.