All 68 Stat. 654. State for such year increased (if it is less than such State's "(B) A State's 1954 Federal share means the percentage which 1954 Federal (i) the base allotment of such State is of (ii) the sum of such share. allotment and the amount of 1954 State funds. "(C) The 1954 State funds for any State shall be the amount 1954 State funds. of State and other non-Federal funds available for expenditures, under such State's plan approved under this Act, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1954, as estimated by the Secretary for purposes of determining such State's allotment for such year for such expenditures, except that the 1954 State funds for the District of Columbia shall be the amount appropriated for such fiscal year out of the general fund of the District of Columbia for vocational rehabilitation. "(c) If in any State there is, during the fiscal year ending June 30, Services for 1954, a State agency administering or supervising the administration the blind. of the part of the State plan under which vocational rehabilitation services are provided for the blind, separate 'from the State agency administering or supervising the administration of the remainder of the State plan "(1) for each consecutive fiscal year during which there are Division of such separate agencies, the portion of such State's allotment which allotment. is equal to such State's base allotment shall be divided between the two agencies in the same proportion as the amount allotted to the State under this Act for expenditures during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1954, was divided between such agencies; "(2) for each such consecutive fiscal year ending prior to July Separate Fed1, 1962, separate Federal shares shall be established for such agen- eral shares. cies for purposes of subsection (b) (2), and for such purposes— "(A) the 1954 Federal share for each shall be the percentage which (i) the portion of the State's allotment for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1954, which was made available to each, is of (ii) the portion of the sum of such allotment and the amount of 1954 State funds available to each for expenditures, under the State plan approved under this Act, during such year; and "(B) the portion of the allotment referred to in subsection (b) (2) (A) for each shall be the portion of the State's allotment allocated to each pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection. "GRANTS TO STATES FOR EXTENSION AND IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS "SEC. 3. (a) (1) From the sums available for any fiscal year for Basis of grants to States to assist them in initiating projects for the extension allotments. and improvement of vocational rehabilitation services, each State shall be entitled to an allotment of an amount bearing the same ratio to such sums as the population of such State bears to the population of all the States. The allotment to any State under the preceding sentence for any fiscal year which is less than $5,000 (or such other amount as may be specified as a minimum allotment in the Act appropriating such sums for such year) shall be increased to that amount, the total of the increases thereby required being derived by proportionately reducing the allotments to each of the remaining States under the preceding sentence, but with such adjustments as may be necessary to All 68 Stat. 655. HEW payment. Project approval. Duration. Restriction. ing, eto. Program expansion. prevent the allotment of any of such remaining States from being thereby reduced to less than that amount. "(2) From each State's allotment under this section for any fiscal year, the Secretary shall pay to such State a portion of the cost of approved projects for the extension and improvement of vocational rehabilitation services (including their administration) under the State plan. The Secretary shall approve any project for purposes of this section only if the plan of such State approved under section 5 includes such project or is modified to include it and only if he finds the project constitutes an extension or improvement of vocational rehabilitation services under the State plan or will contribute materially to such an extension or improvement. (b) Payments under this section with respect to any project may be made for a period of not to exceed three years beginning with the commencement of the first fiscal year for which any payment is made with respect to such project from an allotment under this section. To the extent permitted by the State's allotment under this section, such payments with respect to any project shall be equal to 75 per centum of the cost of such project, except that, at the request of the State, such payments may be less than such percentage of the cost of such project. "(c) No payment may be made from an allotment under this section with respect to any cost with respect to which any payment is made under section 2. "GRANTS FOR SPECIAL PROJECTS "SEC. 4. (a) From the sums available therefor for any fiscal year, the Secretary shall make grants to States and public and other nonResearch, train profit organizations and agencies (1) for paying part of the cost of projects for research, demonstrations, training, and traineeships, and projects for the establishment of special facilities and services, which, in the judgment of the Secretary, hold promise of making a substantial contribution to the solution of vocational rehabilitation problems common to all or several States, and (2) for planning, preparing for, and initiating, during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1955, and the fiscal year ending June 30, 1956, a substantial nationwide expansion of vocational rehabilitation programs in the States. No grant shall be made under clause (1) or clause (2) of this subsection for furnishing to an individual any one course of study extending for a period in Direct services. excess of two years. Any grant of funds under this subsection which Approval. will be used for direct services to physically handicapped individuals or for establishing facilities which will render direct services to such individuals must have the prior approval of the appropriate State Limitations. Demonstration rehabilitation center, Washington, D. C., area, Payments. agency. "(b) The Secretary shall be authorized to cooperate in assisting with the financing of a pilot demonstration rehabilitation center in the metropolitan Washington area to be used as a guide for rehabilitation centers which may be set up later in other parts of the country. Sums made available for such a pilot demonstration center in the Washington area may be used during such initial period as the Secretary may determine for such services as hospitalization, domiciliary care, and rehabilitation training, including costs of board and room of trainees and other services essential to the program, as in the discretion of the Secretary deems desirable. The services of such a pilot demonstration rehabilitation center in the metropolitan Washington area shall be made available to area civil service employees as well as to other patients. "(c) Payments under this section may be made in advance or by way of reimbursement for services performed and purchases made, as may All 68 Stat. 656. be determined by the Secretary; and shall be made on such conditions as the Secretary finds necessary to carry out the purposes of this section. Rehabilitation. "(d) (1) There is hereby established in the Department of Health, National AdEducation, and Welfare a National Advisory Council on Vocational visory Council Rehabilitation, consisting of the Secretary, or his designee, who shall on Vocational be Chairman, and twelve members appointed without regard to civil- Members. service laws by the Secretary. The twelve appointed members shall be leaders in fields concerned with vocational rehabilitation or in public affairs, and six of such twelve shall be selected from leading medical, educational, or scientific authorities who are outstanding for their work in the vocational rehabilitation of physically handicapped individuals. Three of the twelve appointed members shall be persons who are themselves physically handicapped. Each appointed member Term of office. of the Council shall hold office for a term of four years, except that any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor is appointed shall be appointed for the remainder of such term and except that, of the members first appointed, three shall hold office for a term of three years, three shall hold office for a term of two years, and three shall hold office for a term of one year, as designated by the Secretary at the time of appointment. None of such twelve members shall be eligible for reappointment until a year has elapsed after the end of his preceding term. "(2) The Council is authorized to review applications for special Duties. projects submitted to the Secretary under this section and recommend to the Secretary for grants under this section any such projects or any projects initiated by it which it believes show promise of making valuable contributions to the vocational rehabilitation of physically handicapped individuals. The Secretary is authorized to utilize the services of any member or members of the Council in connection with matters relating to the administration of this section, for such periods, in addition to conference periods, as he may determine. "(3) Appointed members of the Council, while attending meetings Per diem payof the Council or while otherwise serving at the request of the Secre- ments. tary, shall be entitled to receive compensation at a rate to be fixed by the Secretary, but not exceeding $50 per diem, and shall also be entitled to receive an allowance for actual and necessary traveling and subsis tence expenses while so serving away from their places of residence. "(4) The Secretary shall transmit to the Congress annually a report Report to concerning the special projects initiated under this section, the recom- Congress. mendations of the National Advisory Council on Vocational Rehabilitation, and any action taken with respect to such recommendations. "STATE PLANS "SEC. 5. (a) To be approvable under this Act, a State plan for voca- Requirements. tional rehabilitation services shall— "(1) designate the State agency administering or supervising the administration of vocational education in the State, or a State rehabilitation agency (primarily concerned with vocational rehabilitation), as the sole State agency to administer the plan, or to supervise its administration in a political subdivision of the State by a sole local agency of such political subdivision, except that where under the State's law the State blind commission, or other agency which provides assistance or services to the adult blind, is authorized to provide them vocational rehabilitation services, such State blind commission or other State agency may be designated as the sole State agency to administer the part of the plan under which vocational rehabilitation services are provided for the blind (or to supervises the administration of such All 68 Stat. 657. Approval. part in a political subdivision of the State by a sole local agency of such political subdivision) and the State vocational education agency or the State rehabilitation agency shall be designated as the sole State agency with respect to the rest of the State plan; "(2) provide that the head of the vocational rehabilitation bureau, division, or other unit of a State vocational education agency designated pursuant to paragraph (1), shall be subject only to the supervision and direction of such agency or its executive officer; "(3) provide for financial participation by the State, and provide that the plan shall be in effect in all political subdivisions of the State; "(4) show the plan, policies, and methods to be followed in carrying out the work under the State plan and in its administration and supervision, and in case vocational rehabilitation services cannot be provided all eligible physically handicapped individuals who apply for such services, show the order to be followed in selecting those to whom vocational rehabilitation services will be provided; "(5) provide such methods of administration, other than methods relating to the establishment and maintenance of personnel standards, as are found by the Secretary to be necessary for the proper and efficient administration of the plan; "(6) contain (A) provisions relating to the establishment and maintenance of personnel standards, including provisions relating to the tenure, selection, appointment, and qualifications of personnel, and (B) provisions relating to the establishment and maintenance of minimum standards governing the facilities and personnel utilized in the provision of vocational rehabilitation services, but the Secretary shall exercise no authority with respect to the selection, method of selection, tenure of office, or compensation of any individual employed in accordance with such provisions; "(7) provide that, in addition to training, maintenance, placement, and guidance, physical restoration services will be provided under the plan; "(8) provide that the State agency will make such reports, in such form and containing such information, as the Secretary may from time to time reasonably require to carry out his functions under this Act, and comply with such provisions as he may from time to time find necessary to assure the correctness and verification of such reports; "(9) provide for cooperation by the State agency with, and the utilization of the services of, the State agency administering the State's public assistance program, and the Bureau of Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (Department of Health, Education, and Welfare) and of other Federal, State, and local public agencies providing services relating to vocational rehabilitation services; "(10) provide for entering into cooperative arrangements with the system of public employment offices in the State and the maximum utilization of the job placement and employment counseling services and other services and facilities of such offices; and "(11) provide that vocational rehabilitation services provided under the State plan shall be available to any civil employee of the United States disabled while in the performance of his duty on the same terms and conditions as apply to other persons. "(b) The Secretary shall approve any plan which the Secretary finds fulfills the conditions specified in subsection (a) of this section. All 68 Stat. 658. "(c) Whenever the Secretary, after reasonable notice and oppor- Withholding of tunity for hearing to the State agency administering or supervising payments. the administration of the State plan approved under this section, finds that "(1) the plan has been so changed that it no longer complies with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section; or "(2) in the administration of the plan there is a failure to comply substantially with any such provision; the Secretary shall notify such State agency that no further payments will be made to the State under section 2 or 3 (or, in his discretion, that further payments will not be made to the State for projects under or parts of the State plan affected by such failure), until he is satisfied that there is no longer any such failure. Until he is so satisfied the Secretary shall make no further payments to such State under section 2 or 3 (or shall limit payments to projects under or parts of the State plan in which there is no such failure). "(d) If any State is dissatisfied with the Secretary's action under Appeal. subsection (c) of this section, such State may appeal to the United States district court for the district where the capital of such State is located and judicial review of such action shall be on the record in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. 60 Stat. 237. "METHOD OF COMPUTING AND MAKING PAYMENTS "SEC. 6. The method of computing and paying amounts pursuant to section 2 or 3 shall be as follows: "(1) The Secretary shall, prior to the beginning of each calendar quarter or other period prescribed by him, estimate the amount to be paid to each State under the provisions of such section for such period, such estimate to be based on such records of the State and information furnished by it, and such other investigation, as the Secretary may find necessary. "(2) The Secretary shall pay, from the allotment available therefor, the amount so estimated by him for such period, reduced or increased, as the case may be, by any sum (not previously adjusted under this paragraph) by which he finds that his estimate of the amount to be paid the State for any prior period under such section was greater or less than the amount which should have been paid to the State for such prior period under such section. Such payments shall be made prior to audit or settlement by the General Accounting Office, shall be made through the disbursing facilities of the Treasury Department, and shall be made in such installments as the Secretary may determine. "ADMINISTRATION "SEC. 7. (a) In carrying out his duties under this Act, the Secre tary shall 5 USC 1001 note. "(1) make studies, investigations, demonstrations, and reports Studies, etp. with respect to abilities, aptitudes, and capacities of physically handicapped individuals, development of their potentialities, and their utilization in gainful and suitable employment; "(2) cooperate with and render technical assistance to States in Technical matters relating to the vocational rehabilitation of physically assistance, eto. handicapped individuals; "(3) provide short-term training and instruction in technical Training. matters relating to vocational rehabilitation services, including the establishment and maintenance of such research fellowships and traineeships, with such stipends and allowances (including travel and subsistence expenses), as he may deem necessary, except that no such training or instruction (or fellowship or scholarship) shall |