Chapter 67. To provide for the collection and disposal of garbage and miscellaneous refuse of the District of Columbia
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CHAP. 67.— An Act To provide for the collection and disposal of garbage and miscellaneous refuse of the District of Columbia. May 6, 1918.[[H. R. 10613](/us/bill/65/hr/10613).][[Public, No. 143](/us/pl/65/143).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*, That in order that theDistrict of Columbia.Garbage and miscellaneous refuse. service of the collection of garbage and miscellaneous refuse in the District of Columbia and the disposal of the same may be continued without further interruption, the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, if in their judgment it is deemed to be to the best interest540Purchase of plants, etc., of present contractors, authorized. of said District, are hereby authorized to purchase or lease all or any part of the plant, equipment, buildings and grounds used by the Washington Fertilizer Company, the present contractor, for the collection, removal, reduction or disposal of garbage, and for the purchase or lease of all or any part of the plant, equipment, buildings and grounds used by M.
R. Ready, the present contractor, for the collection, removal and disposal of miscellaneous refuse. Sec. 2. Condemnation if no agreement as to price. That in case a price can not be agreed upon between the commissioners and the parties in interest, for the purchase or lease of all or such parts of said plants, equipment, buildings and grounds as may be required, then, and in that event, all or such parts of the said plants, equipment, buildings and grounds, hereinbefore described as may be necessary, are hereby declared to be and the same are hereby condemned and appropriated to and for the use of the UnitedOperation, etc., by Commissioners.
States of America, to be used, operated and controlled by it, by and through the agency hereafter provided, and the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, as agents of the United States, be, and they are hereby authorized and directed on the first day of July, nineteen hundred and eighteen, to take charge and possession, in the name of, for and by the authority of the United States of America, of all or so much of the property, real and personal, described in section one, paragraph one, as may be necessary, and to use the same for the collection, removal, reduction or disposal of garbage and miscellaneous refuse in the District of Columbia.
Sec. 3. Appraisal, etc., of property. That in the event the property hereinbefore described, is not purchased or leased, and is condemned as hereinbefore provided, it shall be the duty of the Attorney General of the United States to appoint a commission of appraisal and award, consisting of three persons, to appraise the value of the properties condemned and appropriated, and to award to the respective owners just compensationReport of value. therefor. The said commission of appraisal and award shall, as soon as possible, file an inventory of the physical assets in use and useful in conducting the service of the collection and removal of garbage and miscellaneous refuse, and the value of the same, proper allowance being made for depreciation.
Each commissioner of the commission of appraisal and award shall make oath before a judgeAuthority of appraisers. of a court of the United States, to faithfully perform such duty. The said commission of appraisal and award shall have power and it shall be its duty, to summon witnesses with books and papers before it for all of the parties in interest and to require such witnesses to testify, and it shall give a full hearing on the compensation to be awarded, and give notice of the filing of such award to the Commissioners ofReview by Court of Appeals, D.
C. the District of Columbia and the owners of said property, and any party in interest dissatisfied with the amount of such award may appeal from the same, which appeal shall be reviewed by the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, which court is hereby vestedAppeal to Supreme Court. with jurisdiction for such purpose; and an appeal may similarly be taken from the decision of such court of appeals to the Supreme Court of the United States for a final review of the amount of theInterest on award. award.
Such final award shall bear interest at the rate of four per centum per annum from the date the Commissioners of the District of Columbia shall have taken possession of the property until the date of its final payment. Sec. 4. Payment of expenses. That the expenses of procuring evidence of title, or expenses of appraisal and award, or both, shall be paid out of such appropriations as are, or may be provided for the collection and disposal of garbage and miscellaneous refuse. Sec. 5.
Amount for purchases of property. That not exceeding $85,000 of the appropriation authorized herein may be expended for the purchase of the property of the gar541 bage contractor; and not exceeding $50,000 may be expended for the purchase of the property of the miscellaneous refuse contractor: *Provided*, That the Commissioners of the District of Columbia are*Proviso*.Lease of plants, etc., of present contractors. authorized to acquire by lease all or any part of the plant, equipment, buildings, and grounds of either of the present contractors engaged in the collection and removal of garbage and miscellaneous refuse, or property used by them, or such other equipment, buildings and grounds as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 6. That should the Commissioners of the District of ColumbiaUse of garbage for feeding pigs, etc., on lands owned, etc., by District of Columbia. find that the garbage in the District can be disposed of in a sanitary manner and as economically by feeding it to pigs, live stock and poultry on the land of the Home for the Aged and Infirm, located at Blue Plains, District of Columbia, or on the land of the workhouse and reformatory, of the District of Columbia, located at Occoquan and Lorton, Virginia, or both, or on such other land as the said commissioners may be able to acquire by purchase or lease in the States of Virginia or Maryland, the said commissioners are authorized to use either or all of said designated lands, or to purchase or lease land in the States of Virginia or Maryland for the purpose, and to adopt the pig, live stock or poultry feeding method of disposal.
Sec. 7. That not exceeding $200,000 of the appropriation authorizedAmount for purchase of pigs, etc. herein may be expended for the purchase of pigs, live stock and poultry. Sec. 8. That should the Commissioners of the District of ColumbiaAlternative disposal of garbage authorized. find that under existing circumstances the methods of disposal of garbage hereinbefore authorized are inadvisable, they are authorized to secure for temporary use sufficient land, and to acquire the necessary equipment to bury the garbage collected in the District of Columbia.
Sec. 9. That every person, corporation, association or institutionTransportation of garbage in metal containers out of the District permitted. in the District of Columbia, under such rules and regulations as the commissioners may prescribe, may transport in closed metal containers from the place of origin to places outside of the District of Columbia any refuse, including meat, bread, and vegetables, not in a decayed or decomposed condition, to be fed to poultry, pigs, or other live stock at any place where such feeding is not prohibited by law.
Sec. 10. That products arising from any method of disposal adoptedSale, etc., of products by Commissioners. by the commissioners under the authority of this Act, may be sold, and the proceeds therefrom shall be repaid to the then current appropriation for the collection and disposal of garbage and miscellaneous refuse. Sec. 11. That in order to put into effect and operate such methodVehicle, equipment, services, etc., for, authorized. of disposal as may be adopted by the commissioners under the provisions of this Act, the said commissioners are authorized to secure the necessary means of transportation, including the hire or purchase of horses and horse-drawn vehicles and passenger-canying and other motor-propelled vehicles; additional equipment, buildings and machinery; and to employ expert and other personal services and labor; and to pay traveling, maintenance, incidental and contingent expenses.
Sec. 12. That for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisionsAppropriation. of this Act an appropriation in the sum of $620,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby authorized, one-half to be paid out of the revenues of the District of Columbia and one-half out of anyHalf from District revenues. money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. Approved, May 6, 1918.