SEPARABILITY SEC. 10. Notwithstanding any other evidence of the intent of Congress, it is hereby declared to be the intent of Congress that if any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any persons or circumstances, shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdication to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder of this Act or its application to other persons and circumstances, but shall be confined in its operation to the provision of this Act, or the application thereof to the persons and circumstances, directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered. EFFECTIVE DATE AND INTERIM APPOINTMENTS SEC. 11. (a) The provisions of this Act shall take effect upon the expiration of the first period of sixty calendar days following the date on which this Act is approved by the President, or on such earlier date as the President shall specify by Executive order published in the Federal Register, except that any of the officers provided for in sections 3(a), 4(a) and 4(b) of this Act may be nominated and appointed, as provided in such sections, at any time after the date this Act is approved by the President. (b) In the event that one or more officers required by this Act to be appointed, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall not have entered upon office on the effective date of this Act, the President may designate any person who was an officer of the Housing and Home Finance Agency immediately prior to said effective date to act in such office until the office is filled as provided in this Act or until the expiration of the first period of sixty days following said effective date, whichever shall first occur. While so acting such persons shall receive compensation at the rates provided by this Act for the respective offices in which they act. Approved September 9, 1965. EXCERPTS FROM HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1970 [Public Law 91-609; 84 Stat. 1784; 12 U.S.C. 1701z-1] TITLE V-RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATIONS SEC. 501. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is authorized and directed to undertake such programs of research, studies, testing, and demonstration relating to the mission and programs of the Department as he determines to be necessary and appropriate. There are authorized to be appropriated for activities under this title not to exceed $19,000,000 for fiscal year 1984, and such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 1985. Of the amount appropriated under the preceding sentence for fiscal year 1984, not less than $2,000,000 shall be provided for implementation of a research program to be developed in consultation with public housing agencies, which program shall identify current problems of public housing management, specific solutions to such problems, and incentives to encourage implementation of such solutions. All funds so appropriated shall remain available until expended unless specifically limited. GENERAL PROVISIONS SEC. 502. (a) The Secretary shall require, to the greatest extent feasible, the employment of new and improved technologies, methods, and materials in housing construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance under programs administered by him with a view to reducing costs, and shall encourage and promote the acceptance and application of such advanced technology, methods, and materials by all segments of the housing industry, communities, industries engaged in urban development activities, and the general public. To the extent feasible, in connection with the construction, major rehabilitation, or maintenance of any housing assisted under section 501, the Secretary shall assure that there is no restraint by contract, building code, zoning ordinance, or practice against the employment of new or improved technologies, techniques, materials, and methods or of preassembled products which may reduce the cost or improve the quality of such construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance, and therefore stimulate expanded production of housing, except where such restraint is necessary to insure safe and healthful working and living conditions. (b) To encourage large-scale experimentation in the use of new technologies, methods, and materials, with a view toward the ultimate mass production of housing and related facilities, the Secretary shall wherever feasible conduct programs under section 501 in which qualified organizations, public and private, will submit plans for development and production of housing and related facilities using such new advances on Federal land which has been made available or acquired by the Secretary for the purpose of this subsection or on other land where (1) local building regulations permit such experimental construction, or (2) necessary variances from building regulations can be granted. The Secretary may utilize the funds and authority available to him under the provisions of sec tion 501 to assist in the implementation of plans which he approves. (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary is authorized, in connection with projects under this title, to acquire, use and dispose of any land and other property required for the project as he deems necessary. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, any land which is excess property within the meaning of such Act and which is determined by the Secretary to be suitable in furtherance of the purposes of subsection (b) may be transferred to the Secretary upon his request. (d) In order to effectively carry out his activities unde section 501, the Secretary is authorized to provide such advice and technical assistance as may be required and to pay for the cost of writing and publishing reports on activities and undertakings financed under section 501, as well as reports on similar activities and undertakings, not so financed, which are of significant value in furthering the purposes of that section. He may disseminate (without regard to the provisions of section 3204 of title 39, United States Code, or section 4154 of such title with respect to any period before the effective date of such section 3204 as provided in section 15(a) of the Postal Reorganization Act) any reports, data, or information acquired or held under this title, including related data and information otherwise available to the Secretary through the operation of the programs and activities of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, in such form as he determines to be most useful to departments, establishments, and agencies of Federal, State, and local governments, to industry, and to the general public. (e) The Secretary is authorized to carry out the functions authorized in section 501 either directly or, without regard to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes, by contract or by grant. Advance and progress payments may be made under such contracts or grants without regard to the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of section 3324 of title 31, United States Code, and such contracts or grants may be made for work to continue for not more than four years from the date thereof. (f) In carrying out activities under section 501, the Secretary shall utilize to the fullest extent feasible the available facilities of other Federal departments and agencies, and shall consult with, and make recommendations to such departments and agencies. The Secretary may enter into working agreements with such departments and agencies and contract or make grants on their behalf or have such departments and agencies contract or make grants on his behalf and such departments and agencies are hereby authorized to execute such contracts and grants. The Secretary is authorizied to make or accept reimbursement for the cost of such activities. The Secretary is further authorized to undertake activities under this title under cooperative agreements with industry and labor, agencies of State or local governments, educational institutions, and other organizations. He may enter into contracts with and receive funds from such agencies, institutions, and organizations, and may exercise any of the other powers vested in him by section 502(c) of the Housing Act of 1948. (g) The Secretary is authorized to request and receive such information or data as he deems appropriate from private individuals and organizations, and from public agencies. Any such information or data shall be used only for the purposes for which it is supplied, and no publication shall be made by the Secretary whereby the information or data furnished by any particular person or establishment can be identified, except with the consent of such person or establishment. REPEAL OF EXISTING RESEARCH AUTHORITIES SEC. 503. Effective July 1, 1971, the following provisions of law are repealed; except that such repeal shall not affect contracts, commitments, reservations, or other obligations entered into pursuant to such provisions prior to that date: (1) title III of the Housing Act of 1948; (2) section 314 of the Housing Act of 1954; (4) section 207 of the Housing Act of 1961; (5) section 301 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965; (6) sections 1010 and 1011 of the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966; and (7) section 1714(b) of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968. HOUSING ALLOWANCES SEC. 504. (a) The Secretary is authorized to undertake on an experimental basis programs to demonstrate the feasibility of providing housing allowances payments to assist families in meeting rental or homeownership expenses. (b)(1) No housing allowance payments shall be made after July 1, 1985. After January 1, 1975, the Secretary shall not enter into contracts under the United States Housing Act of 1937 to carry out the purposes of this section. The Secretary may contract with public or private agencies for the performance of administrative functions in connection with the programs authorized by this section. (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), the Secretary shall, to the extent approved in appropriation Acts, extend the annual contributions contracts for the experimental housing allowance supply program through September 30, 1989, on the same terms and conditions as the orginal contracts, for the sole purpose of providing assistance for homeowners participating in such program on June 1, 1983. In extending such contracts, the Secretary may, to the extent approved in appropriation Acts, use authority available under section 5(c) of the United States Housing Act of 1937. (c) The Secretary shall report to the Congress on his findings pursuant to this section not later than eighteen months after the enactment of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. DEMONSTRATION WITH RESPECT TO ABANDONED PROPERTIES SEC. 505. (a) In carrying out activities under section 501, the Secretary may undertake programs to demonstrate the most feasible means of providing assistance to localities in which a substantial number of structures are abandoned or are threatened with abandonment for the purpose of arresting the process of housing abandonment in its incipiency or in restoring viability to blighted areas in which abandonment is pervasive. For this purpose, the Secretary is authorized to make grants, subject to the limitations of this section, to assist local public bodies in planning and implementing demonstration projects for prompt and effective action in alleviating and preventing such abandonment in designated demonstration areas. (b) In administering this section, the Secretary shall give preference to those demonstration projects which in his judgement can reasonably be expected to arrest the process of abandonment in the demonstration area within a period of two years and which provide for innovative approaches to combating the problem of housing abandonment. Such projects may include, but shall not be limited to (1) acquisition by negotiated purchase, lease, receivership, tax lien proceedings, or other means authorized by law and satisfactory to the Secretary, of real property within the demonstration area or areas which is abandoned, deteriorated, or in violation of applicable code standards; (2) the repair of streets, sidewalks, parks, playgrounds, publicly owned utilities, public buildings to meet needs consistent with the revitalization and continued use of the area; (3) the demolition of structures determined to be structurally unsound or unfit for human habitation or which contribute adversely to the physical or social environment of the locality involved; (4) the establishment of recreational or community facilities including public playgrounds; (5) the improvement of garbage and trash collection, street cleaning and other essential services necessary to the revitalization and maintenance of the area; (6) the rehabilitation of privately and publicly owned real property by the locality; and (7) the establishment and operation of locally controlled, nonprofit housing management corporations and municipal repair programs. (c) Subject to such conditions as the Secretary may prescribe, real property held as part of a project assisted under this section may be made available to (1) a limited dividend corporation, nonprofit corporation, or association, cooperative or public body or agency, or other approved purchaser or lessee, or (2) a purchaser who would be eligible for a mortgage insured under section 221(d)(3) or (d)(4), section 221(h)(1), section 235(i) or (i)(1), or section 236 of the National Housing Act, for purchase or lease at fair market value for use by such purchaser or lessee, as, or in the provision of, new or rehabilitated housing for occupancy by families or individuals of low or moderate income. (d) Grants under this section shall be in amounts which do not exceed 90 per centum of the net project cost as determined by the Secretary. There are authorized to be appropriated for demonstra |