Executive Order 10296—Providing for the Performance of Certain Defense Housing and Community Facilities and Services Functions

By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Defense Housing and Community Facilities and Services Act of 1951 (Public Law 139, 82nd Congress) and the act of August 8, 1950, ch. 646, 64 Stat. 419, and as President of the United States, and having found, with respect to paragraph 4 hereof and in accordance with section 314 of the said Defense Housing and Community Facilities and Services Act of 1951, that the Federal Security Administrator is performing, or has facilities adapted to the performance of, functions similar or directly related to those transferred to him by paragraph 4 of this order, and that the transfers therein ordered will assist the furtherance of national-defense activities, it is ordered as follows: 1. The Director of Defense Mobilization is hereby designated and empowered to perform, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the president, the function vested in the President by section 101 of the said Defense Housing and Community Facilities and Services Act of 1951 of determining critical defense-housing areas and of making the findings relative to such determinations required by section 101(b) of the said Act. 2. The Defense Production Administrator is hereby designated and empowered to perform, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, the following-described functions vested in the President by the said Defense Housing and Community Facilities and Services Act of 1951, hereinafter referred to as the Act: (a) The authority vested in the President by section 401 of the Act to define defense installations, and to make findings that in connection with any defense installation developed or to be developed in an isolated or relatively isolated area (1) housing or community facilities needed for such installation would not otherwise be provided when and where required or (2) there would otherwise by speculation or uneconomic use of land resources which would impair the efficiency of defense activities at such installation. (b) The authority vested in the President by section 402 of the Act to make findings that it is necessary or desirable in the public interest that land shall be acquired by the Housing and Home Finance Administrator not only for the purpose of section 401 of the Act but also for the defense installation to be served thereby. 3. The Housing and Home Finance Administrator is hereby designated and empowered to perform, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President, the function vested in the President by section 102(b) of the Act, relative to the suspension and relaxation of residential credit restrictions under the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended. 4. Except as provided in paragraph 5 hereof, the functions authorized by Title III of the Act to be performed with respect to or in furtherance of the provision, maintenance, or operation of community facilities for, and with respect to or in furtherance of the provision of community services for, recreation and child day-care centers are hereby transferred to the Federal Security administrator and shall be performed by him or by such officers and units of the Federal Security Agency as he may determine. 5. There are hereby excluded from the transfers effected by paragraph 4 hereof (a) functions with respect to site selection and land acquisition for, and the construction (including the letting of construction contracts, the preparation and approval of plans and specifications, and the supervision of construction work and of expenditures therefor) of, projects approved by the Federal Security administrator, whether such construction is performed on behalf of, or is aided by, the Federal Government. (b) the servicing of loans for the construction of projects so approved, and (c) the functions under the second and third provisos of section 304 of the Act and those under sections 103(a) and 103(b) of the Act: Provided, That (1) the Federal Security administrator or his delegate shall determine the general layout, size, and special design features appropriate to the particular type of facility, and (2) that final plans and specifications shall conform to such determinations. 6. In the performance of functions with respect to roads and highways under the Act, the Housing and Home Finance Administrator shall from time to time consult with the Secretary of Commerce or his representative as to the relationship of road and highway projects under the said Act to road and highway programs under the jurisdiction of the said Secretary. 7. In the performance of functions under Title III of the Act in Territories there shall be consultation with the Secretary of the Interior or his representative as to the relationship of proposed facilities and services in Territories to Territorial programs of the Department of the Interior. 8. The Housing and Home Finance Administrator, in connection with the performance of the pertinent functions vested in him by Title III of the Act, shall obtain the approval of the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service or his representative with respect to the public health aspects of sources of water supply developed, utilized, or aided by the said Administrator, and shall consult with the Surgeon General or his representative with respect to the public health aspects of water distribution systems and sewerage systems constructed or aided by the Administrator. 9. Subject to the consent of the Housing and Home Finance Administrator, the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service shall utilize the facilities and services of the Housing and Home Finance Agency for the performance of the following aspects of the functions conferred upon him by section 316b of the Act: (a) the construction by the Federal Government of projects approved by the Surgeon General (including the letting of construction contracts, the preparation or review of plans and specifications, and the supervision of construction work and expenditures therefor), (b) land acquisition for projects to be so constructed, and (c) the obtaining of information required for the purpose of, and the furnishing of recommendations with respect to, (i) the findings provided for in sections 103(a) and 103(b) of the Act, and (ii) the actions provided for in the second and third provisos of section 304 of the Act. The Surgeon General shall pay the Housing and Home Finance Agency for such utilization, either in advance or otherwise, out of funds available to him for the performance of such functions. 10. Subject to the consent of the Federal Security administrator, the Housing and Home Finance Administrator shall utilize the facilities and services of the Federal Security Agency in connection with the providing of library facilities under Title III of the Act in such manner that the division of work with respect to library facilities as between the Housing and Home Finance Administrator and the Federal Security administrator will be the same as that with respect to recreation and child day-care center facilities as indicated in paragraphs 4 and 5 of this order. The Housing and Home Finance Administrator shall pay the Federal Security Administrator for such utilization, either in advance or otherwise, out of funds available to the Housing and Home Finance Administrator for the performance of the functions involved. 11. Paragraphs 9 and 10 shall not be construed as a limitation upon the Surgeon General or the Housing and Home Finance Administrator, as the case may be, with respect to utilization or delegation other than that referred to in such paragraphs and not inconsistent with the provisions of such paragraphs, respectively, or as divesting either the Surgeon General or the Administrator of any function conferred upon him by the Act. 12. As used in this order the term "functions" embraces duties, powers, responsibilities, authority, or discretion, and the term "perform" may be construed to mean "exercise". HARRY S. TRUMAN THE WHITE HOUSE, October 2, 1951