trification Administration created by this Act the jurisdiction and control of the records, property (including office equipment), and personnel used or employed in the exercise and performance of the functions of the Rural Electrification Administration established by such Executive order. SEC. 9. This Act shall be administered entirely on a nonpartisan basis, and in the appointment of officials, the selection of employees, and in the promotion of any such officials or employees, no political test or qualification shall be permitted or given consideration, but all such appointments and promotions shall be given and made on the basis of merit and efficiency. If the Administrator herein provided for is found by the President of the United States to be guilty of a violation of this section, he shall be removed from office by the President, and any appointee or selection of officials or employees made by the Administrator who is found guilty of a violation of this Act shall be removed by the Administrator. SEC. 10. The Administrator shall present annually to the Congress not later than the 20th day of January in each year a full report of his activities under this Act. SEO. 11. In order to carry out the provisions of this Act the Administrator may accept and utilize such voluntary and uncompensated services of Federal, State, and local officers and employees as are available, and he may without regard to the provisions of civilservice laws applicable to officers and employees of the United States appoint and fix the compensation of attorneys, engineers, and experts, and he may, subject to the civil-service laws, appoint such other officers and employees as he may find necessary and prescribe their duties. The Administrator is authorized, from sums appropriated pursuant to section 6, to make such expenditures (including expenditures for personal services; supplies and equipment; lawbooks and books of reference; directories and periodicals; travel expenses; rental at the seat of government and elsewhere; the purchase, operation, or maintenance of passenger-carrying vehicles; and printing and binding) as are appropriate and necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. SEC. 12. The Administrator is authorized and empowered to extend the time of payment of interest or principal of any loans made by the Administrator pursuant to this Act: Provided, however, That with respect to any loan made under section 4, the payment of interest or principal shall not be extended more than five years after such payment shall have become due, and with respect to any loan made under section 5, the payment of principal or interest shall not be extended more than two years after such payment shall have become due: And provided further, That the provisions of this section shall not apply to any obligations or the security therefor which may be held by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation under the provisions of section 3. SEC. 13. As used in this Act the term "rural area" shall be deemed to mean any area of the United States not included within the boundaries of any city, village, or borough having a population in excess of fifteen hundred inhabitants, and such term shall be deemed to include both the farm and nonfarm population thereof; the term "farm" shall be deemed to mean a farm as defined in the publications of the Bureau of the Census; the term "person" shall be deemed to mean any natural person, firm, corporation, or association; the term "Territory" shall be deemed to include any insular possession of the United States. SEC. 14. If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances, is held invalid, the remainder of the Act and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby. Approved, May 20, 1936. [CHAPTER 827-18T SESSION] AN ACT To authorize an appropriation for the construction of small reservoirs under the Federal reclamation laws. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That from the special fund in the Treasury of the United States created by the Act of June 17, 1902, and therein designated "The Reclamation Fund", there is hereby authorized to be appropriated the sum of $500,000 for expenditure by the Secretary of the Interior, under the Federal reclamation laws, in the construction of small storage reservoirs at such locations within the States subject to the Federal reclamations laws, as the said Secretary may select, no reservoir to be constructed hereunder the estimated cost of which exceeds $50,000. Approved, August 26, 1937. (138) [CHAPTER 870-1ST SESSION] [S. 2863] AN ACT To promote conservation in the arid and semiarid areas of the United States by aiding in the development of facilities for water storage and utilization, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it is hereby recognized that the wastage and inadequate utilization of water resources on farm, grazing, and forest lands in the arid and semiarid areas of the United States resulting from inadequate facilities for water storage and utilization contribute to the destruction of natural resources, injuries to public health and public lands, droughts, periodic floods, crop failures, decline in standards of living, and excessive dependence upon public relief, and thereby menace the national welfare. It is therefore hereby declared to be the policy of Congress to assist in providing facilities for water storage and utilization in the arid and semiarid areas of the United States. SEC. 2. In order to effectuate this policy and promote proper land use in the said areas, the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized, from time to time (1) To formulate and keep current a program of projects for the construction and maintenance in the said areas of ponds, reservoirs, wells, check-dams, pumping installations, and other facilities for water storage or utilization, together with appurtenances to such facilities. The facilities to be included within such program shall be located where they will promote the proper utilization of lands and no such facilities shall be located where they will encourage the cultivation of lands which are submarginal and which should be devoted to other uses in the public interest; (2) To construct and to sell or lease, with or without a money consideration, under such terms and conditions as will advance the purposes of this Act, the facilities mentioned in section 2 (1) and included within the program there provided for, including the lands upon which such facilities are located if they have been acquired or reserved for the purposes of this Act; (3) To cooperate or enter into agreements with, or to furnish financial or other aid to, any agency, governmental or otherwise, or any person, subject to such conditions as he may deem necessary for the purposes of this Act; and (4) To obtain options upon and to acquire lands, or rights or interests therein, or rights to the use of water, by purchase, lease, gift, exchange, condemnation, or otherwise, only when necessary for the purposes of this Act. SEC. 3. The facilities included in the program provided for in section 2 (1) may be located (a) On lands owned or controlled by the United States or any of its agencies, with the cooperation of the agency having jurisdiction thereof; and (b) On any other lands upon obtaining proper consent or the necessary rights or interests in such lands. SEC. 4. As a condition to extending benefits under this Act to any lands not owned or controlled by the United States or any of its agencies, the Secretary of Agriculture may, insofar as he may deem necessary for the purposes of this Act, require (1) The enactment of State and local laws providing for soil conserving land uses and practices, and the storage, conservation and equitable utilization of waters; (2) Agreements or covenants in regard to the maintenance and permanent use of such water, facilities, or lands benefited by such facilities; (3) Contributions in money, services, materials, or otherwise to any operations conferring such benefits. SEC. 5. The Secretary of Agriculture, in administering the provisions of this Act, shall utilize the officers, employees, and facilities of agencies within the Department of Agriculture whose functions are related to the program provided for in this Act, and may allot to such agencies or transfer to such other agencies of the Federal Government as he may request to assist in carrying out any of the provisions of this Act, any funds available for the purposes of this Act. SEC. 6. For the purposes of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture may (1) Secure the cooperation of any governmental agency; (2) Make expenditures for personal services and rent in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, for the purchase of law books and books of reference, for printing and binding, for the purchase, exchange, operation, and maintenance of passenger-carrying vehicles, for supplies and equipment, for traveling expenses and for other administrative expenses; and (3) Perform such acts, and prescribe such rules and regulations as he may deem proper to carry out the provisions of this Act. SEC. 7. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this Act such sums as Congress may from time to time determine to be necessary. Approved, August 28, 1937. |