Public Law 74–836

That subdivision

Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933; amendments.

Vol. 48, p. 60; U. S. C., p. 702.

Post, p. 1607. (i) of section 4 of the Act entitled “An Act to improve the navigability and to provide for the flood control of the Tennessee River; to provide for reforestation and the proper use of marginal lands in the Tennessee Valley; to provide for the agricultural and industrial development of said valley; to provide for the national defense by the creation of a corporation for the operation of Government properties at and near Muscle Shoals in the State of Alabama, and for other purposes”, approved May 18, 1933, be, and the same is hereby, amended by adding thereto the following proviso: “Provided, That

Rights of Corporation.

Vol. 46, p. 1421; U. S. C., p. 1786.

nothing contained herein or elsewhere in this Act shall be construed to deprive the Corporation of the rights conferred by the Act of February 26, 1931 (46 Stat. 1422, ch. 307, secs. 1 to 5, inclusive), as now compiled in section 258a to 258e, inclusive, of Title 40 or the United States Code.”

Sec. 2.

That subdivision (j) of said section 4 of said Act be, and

Vol. 48, p. 61; U. S. C., p. 702.

the same is hereby, amended to road as follows:

“(j) Shall have power to construct such dams, and reservoirs, in the Tennessee River and its tributaries, as in conjunction with Wilson Dam, and Norris, Wheeler, and Pickwick Landing Dams, now under construction, will provide a nine-foot channel in the said river and maintain a water supply for the same, from Knoxville to its mouth, and will best serve to promote navigation on the Tennessee River and its tributaries and control destructive flood waters in the Tennessee and Mississippi River drainage basins; and shall have power to acquire or construct power houses, power structures, transmission lines, navigation projects, and incidental works in the Tennessee River and its tributaries, and to unite the various power installations into one or more systems by transmission lines. The directors of the Authority are hereby directed to report to Congress their recommendations not later than April 1, 1936, for the unified development of the Tennessee River system.”

Sec. 3.

That said section 4 of said Act be, and the same is hereby, further amended by adding a new subdivision, (k), at the end of said section as follows:

“(k)“(k)

At any time before the expiration of five years from the date when this section, as amended, becomes law may in the name of and as agent for the United States and subject to approval of the President, dispose of any of such real property as in the judgment of the Board may be no longer necessary in carrying out the purposes of this Act, but no land shall be conveyed on which there is a permanent dam, hydraulic power plant, fertilizer plant or munitions plant, heretofore or hereafter built by or for the United States or for the Authority.”

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Sec. 4.

That subdivision (c) of section 5 of said Act be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows:

“(c)” To cooperate with National, State, district, or county experimental stations or demonstration farms, with farmers, landowners, and associations of farmers or landowners, for the use of new forms of fertilizer or fertilizer practices during the initial or experimental period of their introduction, and for promoting the prevention of soil erosion by the use of fertilizers and otherwise.”

Sec. 5.

That said Act be, and the same is hereby, further amended by adding a new section after section 9 of said Act, as follows:

“Sec. 9a.

The Board is hereby directed in the operation of any dam or reservoir in its possession and control to regulate the stream flow primarily for the purposes of promoting navigation and controlling

Operation of facilities for power development.

floods. So far as may be consistent with such purposes, the Board is authorized to provide and operate facilities for the generation of electric energy at any such dam for the use of the Corporation and for the use of the United States or any agency thereof, and the Board is further authorized, whenever an opportunity is afforded, to provide and operate facilities for the generation of electric energy in order to avoid the waste of water power, to transmit and market such power as in this act provided, and thereby, so far as may be practicable, to assist in liquidating the cost or aid in the maintenance of the projects of the Authority.”

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Sec. 6.

That section 10 of said Act be, and the same is hereby, amended by adding thereto a proviso as follows: “Provided further, That the Board is authorized to include in any contract for the sale of power such terms and conditions, including resale rate schedules, and to provide for such rules and regulations as in its judgment may be necessary or desirable for carrying out the purposes of this

Voiding contract on failure to comply.

Act, and in case the purchaser shall fail to comply with any such terms and conditions, or violate any such rules and regulations, said contract may provide that it shall be voidable at the election of the

Acquisition of existing facilities.

Board: Provided further, That in order to supply farms and small villages with electric power directly as contemplated by this section, the Board in its discretion shall have power to acquire existing electric facilities used in serving such farms and small villages: And provided further,

Terms construed.

“States”; “counties”; “municipalities.”

That the terms ‘States ’, ‘counties ’, and ‘municipalities’ as used in this Act shall be construed to include the public agencies of any of them unless the context requires a different construction.”

Sec. 7.

That said Act be, and the same is hereby, further amended by adding a new section after section 12 of said Act, as follows:

“Sec. 12a.

In order (1) to facilitate the disposition of the surplus power of the Corporation according to the policies set forth in this Act; (2) to give effect to the priority herein accorded to States, counties, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations in the purchaseof such power by enabling them to acquire facilities for the distribution of such power; and (3) at the same time to preserve existing distribution facilities as going concerns and avoid duplication of such facilities, the Board is authorized to advise and cooperate with and assist, by extending credit for a period of not exceeding five years to. States, Counties, municipalities and nonprofit organizations situated within transmission distance from any dam where such power is generated by the Corporation in acquiring, improving, and operating (a) existing distribution facilities and incidental works, including generating plants; and (b) interconnecting transmission lines; or in acquiring any interest in such facilities, incidental works, and lines.”

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Sec. 8.

That said Act be, and the same is hereby, further amended

Vol. 48, p. 66; U. S. C., p. 705.

by adding to section 14 of said Act the following:

“The Board shall, on or before January 1, 1937, file with Congress

Statement of allocation of properties turned over to Board; filing.

a statement of its allocation of the value of all such properties turned over to said Board, and which have been completed prior to the end of the preceding fiscal year, and shall thereafter in its annual report to Congress file a statement of its allocation of the value of such properties as have been completed during the preceding fiscal year.

“For the purpose of accumulating data useful to the Congress in

Accounts to be kept.

the formulation of legislative policy in matters relating to the generation, transmission, and distribution of electric energy and the production of chemicals necessary to national defense and useful in agriculture, and to the Federal Power Commission and other Federal and State agencies, and to the public, the Board shall keep complete accounts of its costs of generation, transmission, and distribution of electric energy and shall keep a complete account of the total cost of generating and transmission facilities constructed or otherwise acquired by the Corporation, and of producing such chemicals, and a description of the major components of such costs according to such uniform system of accounting for public utilities as the Federal Power Commission has, and if it have none, then it is hereby

Uniform systems.

empowered and directed to prescribe such uniform system of accounting, together with records of such other physical data and operating statistics of the Authority as may be helpful in determining the actual cost and value of services, and the practices, methods, facilities, equipment, appliances, and standards and sizes, types, location, and geographical and economic integration of plants and systems best suited to promote the public, interest, efficiency, and the wider and more economical use of electric energy. Such data shall be reported

Report to Congress.

to the Congress by the Board from time to time with appropriate analyses and recommendations, and, so far as practicable, shall be

Available to Federal Power Commission.

made available to the Federal Power Commission and other Federal and State agencies which may be concerned with the administration of legislation relating to the generation, transmission, or distribution of electric energy and chemicals useful to agriculture. It is hereby

Declaration of policy respecting sale rate of surplus power.

declared to be the policy of this Act that, in order, as soon as practicable, to make the power projects self-supporting and self-liquidating, the surplus power shall be sold at rates which, in the opinion of the Board, when applied to the normal capacity of the Authority’s power facilities, will produce gross revenues in excess of the cost of production of said power and in addition to the statement of the cost of power at each power station as required by section 9 (a) of

Statement to be included in annual report.

the ‘Tennessee Valley Act of 1933 ’, the Board shall file with each annual report, a statement of the total cost of all power generated by it at all power stations during each year, the average cost of such power per kilowatt hour, the rates at which sold, and to whom sold, and copies of all contracts for the sale of power.”

Sec. 9.

That said Act be and the same is hereby further amended by adding after section 15 of said Act a new section as follows:

“Sec. 15a.

With the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, the Corporation is authorized to issue bonds not to exceed in the aggregate $50,000,000 outstanding at any one time, which bonds may

Sale.

be sold by the Corporation to obtain funds to carry out the provisions

Forms and denominations.

of section 7 of this amendatory Act. Such bonds shall be in such forms and denominations, shall mature within such periods not

Redemption.

more than fifty years from the date of their issue, may be redeemable at the option of the Corporation before maturity in such manner as

Interest rates.

may be stipulated therein, shall bear such rates of interest not exceeding 3½ per centum per annum, shall be subject to such terms and conditions, shall be issued in such manner and amount, and sold at such prices, as may be prescribed by the Corporation, with the

Proviso.

Annual investment yield.

approval of the Secretary of the Treasury: Provided, That such bonds shall not be sold at such prices or on such terms as to afford an investment yield to the holders in excess of 3½ per centum per

Guaranty of interest and principal.

annum. Such bonds shall be fully and unconditionally guaranteed both as to interest and principal by the United States, and such guaranty shall be expressed on the face thereof, and such bonds shall be lawful investments, and may be accepted as security, for all fiduciary, trust, and public funds, the investment or deposit of which shall be under the authority or control of the United States or any

Payments by Secretary of the Treasury.

officer or officers thereof. In the event that the Corporation should not pay upon demand, when due, the principal of, or interest on, such bonds, the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay to the holder the amount thereof, which is hereby authorized to be appropriated out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and thereupon to the extent of the amount so paid the Secretary of the Treasury shall succeed to all the rights of the holders of such bonds.

Purchases by.

The Secretary of the Treasury, in his discretion, is authorized to purchase any bonds issued hereunder, and for such purpose the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to use as a public-debt transaction the proceeds from the sale of any securities hereafter issued

Ante, p. 20.

under the Second Liberty Bond Act, as amended, and the purposes for which securities may be issued under such Act, as amended, are extended to include any purchases of the Corporation’s bonds hereunder.

Sales by.

The Secretary of the Treasury may, at any time, sell any of the bonds of the Corporation acquired by him under this section. All redemptions, purchases, and sales by the Secretary of the Treasury of the bonds of the Corporation shall be treated as public-debt

Purchases by Corporation.

transactions of the United States. With the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, the Corporation shall have power to purchase

Approval of contracts by Federal Power Commission.

such bonds in the open market at any time and at any price. No bonds shall be issued hereunder to provide funds or bonds necessary for the performance of any proposed contract negotiated by the Corporation under the authority of section 7 of this amendatory Act until the proposed contract shall have been submitted to and

Consideration of proposed contracts.

approved by the Federal Power Commission. When any such proposed contract shall have been submitted to the said Commission, the matter shall be given precedence and shall be in every way expedited

Expiration of authority to issue bonds.

and the Commission’s determination of the matter shall be final. The authority of the Corporation to issue bonds hereunder shall expire at the end of five years from the date when this section as amended herein becomes law, except that such bonds may be issued at any time after the expiration of said period to provide bonds or funds necessary for the performance of any contract entered into by the Corporation, prior to the expiration of said period, under the authority of section 7 of this amendatory Act.”

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Sec. 10.

That section 26 of said Act be, and the same is hereby,

Vol. 48, p. 71; U. S. C., p. 708.

amended to read as follows:

“Sec. 26.

Commencing July 1, 1936, the proceeds for each fiscal

Proceeds from power sales, disposition of property, etc.

year derived by the Board from the sale of power or any other products manufactured by the Corporation, and from any other activities of the Corporation including the disposition of any real or personal property, shall be paid into the Treasury of the United

Deposit.

States at the end of each calendar year, save and except such part of such proceeds as in the opinion of the Board shall be necessary for the Corporation in the operation of dams and reservoirs, in conducting its business in generating, transmitting, and distributing electric energy and in manufacturing, selling, and distributing fertilizer and fertilizer ingredients. A continuing fund of $1,000,000 is also

Withholding continuing fund.

excepted from the requirements of this section and may be withheld by the Board to defray emergency expenses and to insure continuous operation: Provided, That nothing in this section shall be construed

Proviso.

Use of proceeds accruing prior to July 1, 1936.

to prevent the use by the Board, after June 30, 1936, of proceeds accruing prior to July 1, 1936, for the payment of obligations lawfully incurred prior to such latter date.”

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Sec. 11.

That said Act be, and the same is hereby, further amended

Vol. 48, p. 71.

by adding after section 26 of said Act a new section, as follows:

“Sec. 26a.

The unified development and regulation of the Tennessee

Prohibition on constructions affecting navigation on Tennessee River system; approval required.

River system requires that no dam, appurtenant works, or other obstruction, affecting navigation, flood control, or public lands or reservations shall be constructed, and thereafter operated or maintained across, along, or in the said river or any of its tributaries until Elans for such construction, operation, and maintenance shall have been submitted to and approved by the Board; and the construction, commencement of construction, operation, or maintenance of such structures without such approval is hereby prohibited. When such plans shall have been approved, deviation therefrom either before or after completion of such structures is prohibited unless the modification of such plans has previously been submitted to and approved by the Board.

“In the event the Board shall, within sixty days after their formal

Approval of plans when Board falls to approve.

submission to the Board, fail to approve any plans or modifications, as the case may be, for construction, operation, or maintenance of any such structures on the Little Tennessee River, the above requirements shall be deemed satisfied, if upon application to the Secretary of War, with due notice to the Corporation, and hearing thereon, such plans or modifications are approved by the said Secretary of War as reasonably adequate and effective for the unified development and regulation of the Tennessee River system.

“Such construction, commencement of construction, operation, or

Injunction to restrain violations.

maintenance of any structures or parts thereof in violation of the provisions of this section may be prevented, and the removal or discontinuation thereof required by the injunction or order of any district court exercising jurisdiction in any district in which such structures or parts thereof may be situated, and the Corporation is hereby authorized to bring appropriate proceedings to this end.

“The requirements of this section shall not be construed to be a

Requirements to be additional to existing laws.

substitute for the requirements of any other law of the United States or of any State, now in effect or hereafter enacted, but shall be in addition thereto, so that any approval, license, permit, or other sanction now or hereafter required by the provisions of any such law for the construction, operation, or maintenance of any structures whatever, except such as may be constructed, operated, or maintained by the Corporation, shall be required, notwithstanding the provisions of this section.”

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Sec. 12.

That said Act be, and the same is hereby, further amended by adding at the end of said Act a new section, as follows:

“ Sec. 31.

This Act shall be liberally construed to carry out the purposes of Congress to provide for the disposition of and make needful rules and regulations respecting Government properties entrusted to the Authority, provide for the national defense, improve navigation, control destructive floods, and promote interstate commerce and the general welfare, but no real estate shall be held except what is necessary in the opinion of the Board to carry out plans and

Proviso.

Disposition of unnecessary lands.

projects actually decided upon requiring the use of such land: Provided, That any land purchased by the Authority and not necessary to carry out plans and projects actually decided upon shall be sold by the Authority as agent of the United States, after due advertisement, at public auction to the highest bidder, or at private sale as provided in section 3 of this amendatory Act.”

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Sec. 13.

That section 4 of said Act of May 18, 1933 (48 Stat. 58), be amended by adding subsection (l) as follows:

“(l)“(l)

Shall have power to advise and cooperate in the readjustment of the population displaced by the construction of dams, the acquisition of reservoir areas, the protection of watersheds, the acquisition of rights-of-way, and other necessary acquisitions of land, in order to effectuate the purposes of the Act; and may cooperate with Federal, State, and local agencies to that end.”

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Sec. 14.

That subsection (b) of section 9 of said Act be and the same is hereby amended to read as follows:

“(b)“(b)

All purchases and contracts for supplies or services, except for personal services, made by the Corporation, shall be made after advertising, in such manner and at such times sufficiently in advance of opening bids, as the Board shall determine to be adequate to insure

Proviso.

When advertising waived.notice and opportunity for competition: Provided, That advertisement shall not be required when, (1) an emergency requires immediate delivery of the supplies or performance of the services; or (2) repair parts, accessories, supplemental equipment, or services are required for supplies or services previously furnished or contracted for; or (3) the aggregate amount involved in any purchase of supplies or procurement of services does not exceed $500; in which cases such purchases of supplies or procurement of services may be made in the open market in the manner common among businessmen: Provided further,

Factors to be considered In comparing bids.

That in comparing bids and in making awards the Board may consider such factors as relative quality and adaptability of supplies or services, the bidder’s financial responsibility, skill, experience, record of integrity in dealing, ability to furnish repairs and maintenance services, the time of delivery or performance offered, and whether the bidder has complied with the specifications.

Audit of transactions.

“The Comptroller General of the United States shall audit the transactions of the Corporation at such times as he shall determine, but not less frequently than once each governmental fiscal year, with

Access to books, etc.

personnel of his selection. In such connection he and his representatives shall have free and open access to all paper’s, books, records, files, accounts, plants, warehouses, offices, and all other things, property, and places belonging to or under the control of or used or employed by the Corporation, and shall be afforded full facilities for counting all cash and verifying transactions with and balances in

Report of audit.

depositaries. He shall make report of each such audit in quadruplicate, one copy for the President of the United States, one for the chairman of the Board, one for public inspection at the principal office of the Corporation, and the other to be retained by him forthe uses of the Congress: Provided, That such report shall not be

Proviso.

Examination of report.

made until the Corporation shall have had reasonable opportunity to examine the exceptions and criticisms of the Comptroller General or the General Accounting Office, to point out errors therein, explain or answer the same, and to file a statement which shall be submitted by the Comptroller General with his report. The expenses for each

Expenses of audit.

such audit shall be paid from any appropriation or appropriations for tile General Accounting Office, and such part of such expenses as may be allocated to the cost of generating, transmitting, and distributing electric energy shall be reimbursed promptly by the Corporation as billed by the Comptroller General. The Comptroller

Special report.

General shall make special report to the President of the United States and to the Congress of any transaction or condition found by him to be in conflict with the powers or duties entrusted to the Corporation by law.”

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Sec. 15.

That the sections of this Act are hereby declared to be

Separability clause.

separable, and in the event of any one or more sections of this Act, or parts thereof, be held to be unconstitutional, such holding shall not affect the validity of other sections or parts of this Act.