Chapter 380. To provide for the construction of certain public buildings, and for other purposes
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CHAP. 380.— An Act To provide for the construction of certain public buildings, and for other purposes.May 25, 1926.[[H. R. 6559](/us/bill/69/hr/6559).][[Public, No. 281](/us/pl/69/281).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Public buildings.General authorities for construction of, sides for, etc., in the District of Columbia and elsewhere. That, to enable the Secretary of the Treasury to provide suitable accommodations in the District of Columbia for The executive departments, and independent establishments of the Government not under any executive department, and for courthouses, post offices, immigration stations, customhouses, marine hospitals, quarantine stations, and other public buildings of the classes under the control of the Treasury Department in the States, Territories, and possessions of the Tinted States, he is hereby authorized and directed to acquire, by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, such sites and additions to sites as he may deem necessary, and to cause to be constructed thereon, and upon lands belonging to the Government conveniently located and available for the purpose (but exclusive of military or naval reservations), adequate and suitable buildings for any of the foregoing purposes, Preferences, etc.giving preference, where he considers conditions justify such action, to cases where sites for public buildings have heretofore been acquired or authorized to be acquired, and to enlarge, remodel, and extend existing public buildings under (he control of the Treasury Department, and to purchase buildings, if found to be adequate, adaptable, and suitable for the purposes of this Act, together with the sites thereof, and to remodel, enlarge, or extend such buildings and provide proper approaches and other necessary improvements to the sites New sites in lieu of unsuitable ones formerly acquired.thereof.
When a building is about to be constructed on a site heretofore acquired and such site is found by the Secretary of the Treasury to be unsuitable for its intended purpose, he is hereby further authorized and empowered to acquire a new site in lieu thereof by purchase, condemnation, exchange, or otherwise, and except in case of exchange to dispose of the present site by public sale and631 to execute the necessary quitclaim deed of conveyance: *Provided, however*, That the Secretary of the Treasury is also authorized to*Provisos*.Supreme Court site.*Post*, p. 1254. acquire a site for a building for the Supreme Court of the United States: *Provided further*, That aside from hind that may be acquired for a site for a building for the Supreme Court of theRestriction on acquiring sites in District of Columbia.
United States, and for enlarging the site of the Government Printing Office, or erecting a storage warehouse or warehouses, the sum of $00,900,000, hereinafter authorized for projects in the District of Columbia, shall be used exclusively for the purpose of acquiring by purchase, condemnation, or otherwise, south of Pennsylvania Avenue and west of Maryland Avenue, projected in a straight, line to Twining Lake, such sites or additions to sites as the Secretary of the Treasury may deem necessary to provide such suitable office accommodations in the District of Columbia as are hereinbefore mentioned, of constructing adequate and suitable buildings for the furnishing of such office accommodations on said sites or additions to sites, or on sites already owned by the Government south of Pennsylvania Avenue and west of Maryland Avenue, as above mentioned, and of providing suitable approaches to said buildings, and beautifying and embellishing their surroundings as nearly in harmony with the plan of Peter Charles L’Enfant as may be practicable.
Said buildings shall beStandards in construction. so constructed as to combine high standards of architectural beatify and practical utility: *Provided*, That in carrying into effect the provisionsPost office buildings by joint action with Postmaster General. of this Act, in so far as relates to buildings to be used in whole or in part for post-office purposes, the Secretary of the Treasury, under regulations to be prescribed by him, shall act jointly with the Postmaster General in the selection of towns or cities in which buildings are to be constructed and the selection of sites therein: *Provided further*, That all sketches, plans, and estimates for buildings shall beApproval of heads of departments of plans, etc., therefor. approved by the Secretary of the Treasury and the heads of the executive departments which are to be located in such building.
The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to carry on theConstruction by contract or otherwise. construction work herein authorized by contract, or otherwise, as he deems most advantageous to the United States. In all cases where, the construction of buildings in the District ofClosing of streets, etc., contiguous to squares in District of Columbia. Columbia, under the provisions of this Act, requires the utilization, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Treasury, of contiguous squares as sites thereof, authority is hereby given for closing and vacating such portions of streets as lie between such squares and such alleys as intersect such squares, and the portions of such streets and alleys so closed and vacated shall thereupon become parts of such sites.
Sec. 2.
(a)The work of preparing designs and other drawings,Work under Supervising Architect’s office. estimates, specifications, and awarding of contracts, as well as the supervision of the work authorized under the provisions of this Act, shall be performed by the Office of the Supervising Architect, Treasury Department, under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, except as otherwise provided in this Act.
(b)When deemed by him advantageous the Secretary of thePlans, etc., as guides in special cases.*Post*, p. 1043. Treasury is authorized, in special cases,
(1)to procure by contract the floor plans and designs of buildings developed sufficiently to serve as guides for the preparation of working drawings and specifications, or to employ advisory assistance involving design or engineering features, and
(2)to employ, to the extent deemedArchitects for Departments of Commerce and Labor buildings authorized. necessary by him in connection with the construction of buildings for the Departments of Commerce and Labor, the architects who were successful in competition heretofore hold for a building for the then Department of Commerce and Labor, and to pay reasonable compensation for such services. 632
(c)Additional technical, etc., assistants authorized. *Post*, p. 875. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to employ such additional technical, scientific, and clerical assistance in or under the Office of the Supervising Architect, both in the District of Columbia and in the field, as he deems necessary, and to fix such rates Compensation, etc.of compensation therefor as he deems proper, not, however, in excess of the maximum rates paid for the same or similar service in other departments, such employment to be made in accordance with the civil service laws, rules, and regulations, and to submit to Congress through customary channels, estimates for appropriations for compensation for such personal services, and for travel, subsistence, and other expenses involved in making any investigation or survey of building conditions or in the examination of sites which he may find to be necessary. Sec. 3. Previous building authorizations to be carried out.*Post*, p. 869. The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized to carry into effect the provisions of existing law authorizing the acquisition of land for sites or enlargements thereof, and the erection, enlargement, extension, and remodeling of public buildings Cities designated.thereon in the following cities: Juneau, Alaska; Globe, Arizona; Prescott, Arkansas; Red Bluff and San Pedro, California; Durango, Colorado; Branford and Putnam, Connecticut; Marianna, Florida; West Point, Georgia; Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint, Idaho; Batavia, Metropolis, Mount Carmel, and Paxton, Illinois; Des Moines, Iowa; Shelbyville, Kentucky; Caribou and Fort Fairfield, Maine; Leominster, Malden, Newburyport, Southbridge, Waltham, and Manchester, Massachusetts; Wyandotte, Michigan: Montevideo, Minnesota; Central City, Nebraska; Fallon and Goldfield, Nevada; Bayonne, East Orange, Millville, and Montclair, New Jersey; East Las Vegas, New Mexico; Fort Plain, Long Island City, Syracuse, and Yonkers, New York; Wilson, North Carolina; Jamestown. North Dakota; Akron, Fremont, and Wilmington, Ohio: Donora, Lewistown, McKees Rocks, Olyphant, Sayre, Tamaqua, Tarentum, and Waynesburg, Pennsylvania; Lancaster, South Carolina; Chamberlain, South Dakota; Athens, Tennessee; Seattle, Washington; Williamson, West Virginia; Madison and Tomah, Wisconsin; Buffalo and Cody, Wyoming; Saint Louis, Missouri; Newark, New Jersey; Utica, New York; Missoula, Montana; additional buildings Marine hospitals.for the marine hospital at Chicago, Illinois; medical officers’ quarters at the marine hospital at Savannah, Georgia; construction of marine hospital facilities at Detroit, Michigan. The Secretary Former limits of costs disregarded.*Post*, p. 872.of the Treasury is hereby authorized to disregard the limit of cost fixed by Congress for each of said projects, to purchase additional land for enlargement of sites, and for such purposes to expend Additional amount for.in addition to the amounts heretofore appropriated such additional sums of money for each of said projects as he shall deem advisable, *Proviso*.Space for other activities in, allowed.not exceeding in the aggregate $15,000,000: *Provided*, That in constructing the buildings embraced herein the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized, in his discretion, to provide space in such buildings for other activities or branches of the public service not specifically enumerated in the Act or Acts authorizing the acquisition of the sites, or the construction of the buildings, or both: Contracts authorized.*Provided further*, That in carrying into effect the provisions of this section, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and empowered to enter into contracts for all or so many of said buildings as may be possible within the total additional limit of $15,000,000 hereinbefore authorized. Sec. 4. Complete details of proposed expenditures to be shown in annual estimates. The Secretary of the Treasury shall submit annually and from time to time as may be required estimates to the Bureau of the Budget, in accordance with the provisions of the Budget and Accounting Act, 1021, showing in complete detail the various amounts it is proposed to expend under the authority of this Act633 during the fiscal year for which said estimates are submitted, which shall include a statement of the location of the buildings proposed to be erected, together with a limit of cost for the same: *Provided*,*Provisos*.Allocation of amounts. That in submitting such estimates the Secretary of the Treasury shall allocate the amounts proposed to be expended to the different States where buildings are found by him to be necessary, in such a manner as to distribute the same fairly on the basis of area, population, and postal receipts: *Provided further*, That unless specificallyRestriction on contracts until moneys available, etc. provided for in the Act making appropriations for public buildings, which provision is hereby authorized, no contract for the construction, enlarging, remodeling, or extension of any building or for the purchase of land authorized by this Act shall be entered into until monies in the Treasury shall be made available for the payment of all obligations arising out of such contract, and unless the said Act making appropriations for public buildings shall otherwise specifically provide, as hereinafter authorized, appropriations shall be made, and expended by the Secretary of the Treasury, in accordance with the estimates submitted by the Bureau of the Budget: *Provided further*, That the Act making said appropriationsProvisions for other buildings allowed. may provide for any other buildings contained in the annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury hereinafter provided for: *Provided further*, That the Secretary of the Treasury shall also, in additionStatement as to necessary post office buildings. to submitting estimates to the Bureau of the Budget as herein provided, make an annual report to Congress containing a statement of the location of all public buildings which he and the Postmaster General (where his department is involved) deem necessary to be constructed under the provisions of this Act together with a limit of cost for the same: *Provided further*, That the foregoing provisosNot applicable to previous authorizations.Estimates for at least two post offices in each State. shall not apply to buildings or their modification heretofore provided for by Act of Congress: *Provided further*, That at least two buildings shall be estimated for during the period covered by this Act in each State for post offices with receipts of more than $10,000 during the last preceding year, for which post offices no public buildings have been provided. Sec. 5. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this ActTotal amount authorized. the sum of $150,000,000, in addition to the amount authorized in section 3 hereof, is hereby authorized to be appropriated, but underAnnual limitation. this authorization, and from appropriations (exclusive of appropriations made for “remodeling and enlarging public buildings”), heretofore made for the acquisition of sites for, or the construction, enlarging, remodeling, or extension of, public buildings under the control of the Treasury Department, not more than $25,000,000,*Post*, p. 873. in the aggregate shall be expended annually: *Provided*, That such*Provisos*.Annual and yearly amount for the District. amount as is necessary, not to exceed $50,000,000 of the total amount authorized to be expended under the provisions of this Act shall be available for projects in the District of Columbia, and not more than $10,000,000 thereof shall be expended annually: *Provided*, That at least one-third of the expenditures outside of the DistrictDistribution yearly outside of the District. of Columbia during the fiscal year 1927 shall be for the buildings heretofore authorized and at least one-third of the expenditures for the fiscal year 1928, and at least one-third of the expenditures for the fiscal year 1929, shall be for a like purpose unless a less amount shall be necessary to complete all of such buildings: *Provided further*,State, etc., limitation. That expenditures outside the District of Columbia under the provisions of this section shall not exceed the sum of $5,000,000 annually in any one of the States, Territories, or possessions of the United States. In each of the cities in which a site is to be acquired under theAcquisition of sites. provisions of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall solicit proposals by public advertisement. Such advertisement shall be634 published for a period of twenty days in one of the newspapers in said city having the largest circulation, for the sale of lands suitable Examination, etc., of Offers.for the purpose. The Secretary of the Treasury shall cause the sites offered, and such others as may be found to be suitable or desirable for the purpose, to be examined in person by an agent employed or detailed for the purpose, who shall make written report to said Secretary of the results or said examination and of his recommendation thereon and the reasons therefor, which shall be accompanied by the original proposals and all maps, plats, and statements which shall have come into his possession relating to the said proposed sites. Temporary rental of buildings on acquired sites.That in case a site or additions to a site acquired under the provisions of this Act contains a building or buildings, the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to rent until their removal becomes necessary such of said buildings as may be purchased by the Government, or the land on which the same may be located where the buildings are reserved by the vendors, at a fair rental value, the proceeds thereof to be deposited in the Treasury of the United States, and a report of the proceedings to be submitted to Congress annually. Open space requirement.That, so far as practicable, all buildings constructed, enlarged, or extended under the provisions of this Act shall be unexposed to danger of fire from adjacent buildings by an open space of at least forty feet on each side, including streets and alleys: *Provided*, That *Provisos*.Discretionary reduction permitted.the Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, acquire sites on which an open space of the extent hereinbefore specified cannot be reserved, and he is likewise authorized, whenever in his judgment such action is necessary and warranted, to reduce the open space about any Federal building heretofore constructed and under the custody and control of said department. Demolishing of existing buildings, for erecting new ones.In carrying into effect the provisions of this Act, if the Secretary of the Treasury deems it to be to the best interests of the Government to construct Federal buildings to take the place of existing Federal buildings, he is hereby authorized to cause the present buildings Use of sites or procuring of more advantageous ones.to be demolished, in order that the sites may be utilized in whole or in part for such buildings, or where in his judgment it is more advantageous to construct a Federal building on a different site in Sale, proceeds, etc.the same city, to sell any such building or buildings and the site or sites thereof, at such time and on such terms as he deems proper, Charge against total fund.and to convey the same to the respective purchasers thereof by the usual quitclaim deed, and to deposit the proceeds of the sales thereof in the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts, and to charge against the *Ante*, p. 633.total sum of $150,000,000 hereinbefore authorized only the respective net excess cost, if any, over and above the proceeds of such sales, of providing such new sites and buildings. Sec. 6. Public Buildings Commission.Provisions applicable to authorizations herein for the District.Vol. 40, p. 1269. The provisions of section 10 of the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Appropriation Act for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1920, approved March 1, 1919, relating to the assignment of space in public buildings in the District of Columbia, shall apply to all buildings constructed, extended, or enlarged under the provisions of this Act in the District of Columbia, and no land for sites or enlargement of sites therefor shall be acquired or land belonging to the United States be taken for sites or enlargement of sites therefor, without prior approval of the commission created by said Act Approval of contracts, etc., by.of March 1, 1919; no contract shall be let for any building or the enlargement or extension of any building in the District of Columbia, under the provisions of this Act without the approval of said commission as to the assignment and general arrangement of space To determine order of construction.therein: and said commission shall determine the order in which buildings or enlargement of buildings in the District of Columbia, under the provisions of this Act shall be constructed. 635 Sec. 7. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby furtherGeneral survey, etc., to be made or public building conditions. authorized and empowered to cause such survey and investigations of public building conditions to be made, and such data obtained as he deems necessary properly to carry into effect the provisions of this Act. Sec. 8. That in the event local interests in the city of NewNew Orleans, La.Funds advanced tor quarantine station at, may be received and used therefor. Orleans. Louisiana, shall offer to advance funds for the acquisition of a site for a quarantine station in or near said city, the Secretary of the Treasury may, in his discretion, receive such funds and expend the same in the immediate acquisition of such site, and the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to repay withoutRepayment. interest, from appropriations available for the acquisition of such site, the amounts so advanced or expended. Approved, May 25, 1926.