Special Message to the Congress Transmitting Reorganization Plans 15, 16, and 17 of 1950.

To the Congress of the United States:

I am transmitting today Reorganization Plans Nos. 15, 16, and 17 of 1950, prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Reorganization Act of 1949. The three plans transfer various activities of the General Services Administration to other departments and agencies as follows: Plan No. 15 assigns the administration of the Alaska and Virgin Islands public works programs to the Department of the Interior; Plan No. 16 transfers the responsibility for financial assistance to public school districts and grants and loans for water pollution control to the Federal Security Agency; and Plan No. 17 transfers the administration of advances for the planning of non-Federal public works and the management and disposal of certain war public works to the Housing and Home Finance Agency.

These plans will contribute to the further development of the General Services Administration as a central services agency by transferring several specialized functions, which it has at present, to more appropriate locations within the Government. At the same time Reorganization Plans No. 18 and 20, which I am also transmitting to the Congress today, assign to the Administration additional responsibility for such services as the control of space in public buildings and the publication and preservation of various public documents.

The General Services Administration was created by the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to provide a focal point within the Executive Branch for the provision and improvement of such common administrative services as supply, buildings administration and records management. The act sought to achieve this objective by consolidating in the new Administration a group of service activities which had previously been scattered throughout the Executive Branch.

Many of these service activities at the time the act was passed were being performed by the Federal Works Agency. At the same time the Federal Works Agency was performing certain specialized functions not of interest to the government as a whole. When the Congress transferred all the functions of the Federal Works Agency to the General Services Administration it was recognized that these specialized functions should be separated out at a later date by reorganization action. Only if this is done will the General Services Administration be able to fulfill its basic function and concentrate its efforts on the improvement of the vast and complex service activities of the Federal Government.

The transfers effected by these plans are consistent with the recommendations of the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government. The programs which involve direct Federal construction are transferred to the Department of the Interior. The programs involving grants or loans to states and localities are transferred to the departments and agencies having major responsibility for these particular activities.

This general message states my reasons for transmitting Reorganization Plans Nos. 15, 16, and 17. The legal findings as to necessity and savings required by the Reorganization Act of 1949 are included in separate messages transmitting each of the three plans.

REORGANIZATION PLAN NO. 15

(Alaska and Virgin Islands Public Works)

Reorganization Plan No. 15 transfers the responsibilities of the General Services Administrator for public works programs in Alaska and the Virgin Islands to the Secretary of the Interior in order that the direction of these activities may be assumed by the Department generally charged with the development and welfare of Alaska and the Virgin Islands. The Alaska public works program is very new, having been authorized by Public Law 264 of the 81st Congress. This Act empowers the General Services Administrator, with the concurrence of the Secretary of the Interior, to build community facilities for public bodies in the Territory for an average purchase price of one-half of the estimated cost of construction. The Virgin Islands program is much smaller and has been in effect since the approval on December 20, 1944, of Public Law 510, 78th Congress. Under the provisions of this Act, the General Services Administrator builds various public facilities authorized by the legislation.

Both the Alaska and the Virgin Islands programs involve the direct provision of assistance to eligible public bodies. Both projects involve construction by the Federal Government of approved facilities, which upon completion are turned over to the local authorities for which they were built. These responsibilities are thus largely unrelated to the administrative services with which the General Services Administration is primarily concerned.

The Department of the Interior is already charged with the supervision of public works units in the Caribbean area and in Alaska. Chief among these are the Alaska Road Commission and the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration. Moreover, the operations of the Alaska Railroad and the Virgin Islands Corporation are under the supervision of the Department. Also of importance in the administration of these public works programs are the close relationships which exist between the Department of the Interior and the governors of Alaska and the Virgin Islands. These officials are appointed by the President, but they normally report through the Secretary of the Interior. The transfer will thus clarify responsibility and simplify relationships in the execution of public works activities in Alaska and the Virgin Islands.

REORGANIZATION PLAN NO. 16

(Assistance to School Districts and Water Pollution Control)

Reorganization Plan No. 16 transfers the school assistance and water pollution control activities of the General Services Administration to the Federal Security Agency.

The rendering of assistance to local school districts overburdened by the activation of Federal projects or installations was first authorized by the Lanham Act of 1940, as amended. Since the expiration of the Lanham Act there have been four one-year extensions of the program. The plan will place the responsibility for its future administration in the Federal Security Agency, whose Office of Education is generally responsible for the execution of Federal-aid programs designed to improve or extend educational opportunities.

Reorganization Plan No. 16 also consolidates responsibility for the administration of the Water Pollution Control Act of 1948 in the Federal Security Agency by transferring to it the functions of the General Services Administration relating to grants and loans for the planning and construction of sewage treatment plants.

At the present time over 90 percent of the administration of the water pollution control activities authorized by Public Law 845, 80th Congress, is carried on by the Public Health Service of the Federal Security Agency. That agency is already responsible for the preparation of comprehensive water pollution control plans for interstate streams, for the conduct of surveys and research, for the maintenance of relationships with state water pollution control agencies, and for the approval of sewage treatment projects for which grants or loans are requested by state or local authorities. The effect of the plan will be to place the entire responsibility for the approval and administration of the grant and loan provisions of the Water Pollution Control Act in the Federal Security Agency, as the agency with the predominant interest in the attainment of the objectives of the legislation.

The consolidation of water pollution control functions will simplify relationships with the state and local governments participating in the program. Under the existing arrangements two Federal agencies must take part in the review and approval of each request for a grant or loan. The Reorganization Plan will make it possible for applicants to look exclusively to the river basin offices of the Public Health Service in seeking information or assistance in the abatement of water pollution.

REORGANIZATION PLAN NO. 17

(Advance Planning and War Public Works)

Reorganization Plan No. 17 transfers two of the programs of the General Services Administration to the Housing and Home Finance Agency. The first of these involves the administration of advances to state and local governments for the planning of public works. This transfer is consistent with recent action of the Congress which has given the Housing and Home Finance Agency an important function in the orderly planning and development of the public facilities and physical characteristics of American communities.

The advance planning of non-Federal public works was revived as an activity of the Government of the United States by Public Law 352, approved October 13, 1949. It authorizes repayable advances to state and local governments for the planning of a shelf of public works available both for emergencies and to meet the growing needs of communities. Within the limits of available funds, Federal aid is extended to any state or local government which applies for an advance if the proposed project conforms to the over-all plans approved by competent state, local or regional authorities, if the applicant possesses the legal authority to proceed with construction, and if the financial resources of the community are found to be adequate to make the undertaking feasible. Advances have been requested chiefly to aid in the planning of water and sewer systems, schools, urban streets and roads and miscellaneous public buildings. Both the intent of the Act and the nature of the facilities planned require that the Federal agency administering Public Law 352 have an understanding of how advance planning can contribute to community development.

The Housing Act of 1949 assigned to the Housing and Home Finance Administrator the responsibility for executing the slum clearance and community development provisions of the statute. The adequate administration of this program requires that attention be directed to the planning of urban communities, including the various public facilities needed to assure the integrated development of project areas. The Housing and Home Finance Agency must maintain continuous liaison with local officials, it must appraise accurately and thoroughly the capacity of communities to finance the projects authorized by the Housing Act, and it must acquire a detailed knowledge of the legal authority of each participant to build various categories of public works. These are essentially the kinds of knowledge and relationships which are essential to the successful administration of advances for non-Federal public works.

The consolidation of the responsibility for advance planning activities with slum clearance and urban redevelopment functions will make it possible to assure the integration of two programs which are not only closely related in their objectives but now overlap to some extent. A single responsible agency will be able to assure that the authority under both statutes will be used to the maximum advantage of both the Federal Government and the state and local public bodies which seek to participate in the benefits.

The plan will also make possible the unification of the administrative structure and field organization needed to administer the two programs. Moreover, the emergence of a single community development agency will make it possible for public bodies to deal with fewer Federal officials in the advance planning of their public facilities, the elimination of blighted areas, and the promotion of well-balanced residential neighborhoods. The plan will consequently lead to improvements in one important sector of Federal-state and Federal-local relations.

The second transfer provided for by Reorganization Plan No. 17 relates to the management and disposal of sewers, schools, hospitals and other community facilities constructed under Title II of the Lanham Act of 1940, as amended. Its effect will be to consolidate these functions in the Housing and Home Finance Agency, which is already responsible for over 95 percent of remaining Lanham Act properties. The fact that approximately 30 percent of the war public works still in the possession of the General Services Administration are dependent upon war housing projects managed by the Housing and Home Finance Agency further illustrates the closeness of relationships between the current Lanham Act functions of the two agencies.

An additional consideration in support of the transfer is the evolution of the Housing and Home Finance Agency as the unit of the Federal Government best prepared to negotiate with local officials on matters affecting a wide variety of community facilities--a preparedness which will be further enhanced by the transfer of advance planning functions. The reorganization plan will thus lead to improvements in the capacity of the Government to manage and dispose of the public facilities still in its possession in a manner which will simultaneously protect its interests and advance the development of the communities in which the projects are situated.

The transfer of these programs to the agencies where they can be administered with other related activities will lead to the simplification of administrative arrangements, the reduction of unwarranted delays, and the curtailment of the duplication inherent in divided responsibility. The result will be greater ultimate benefits from the execution of the programs. These considerations, together with the beneficial effect which the reorganizations will have on the General Services Administration, lead me to commend Reorganization Plans 15, 16, and 17 to the Congress as important and constructive steps in our program of management reform in the Executive Branch.

HARRY S. TRUMAN