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 APPENDIXES

EXISTING PROVISIONS FOR DEFENSE ROAD IMPROVEMENT BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

For road improvements important to the national defense, the Federal Government has thus far made special provisions of three general kinds, as follows:

1. In appropriations to the War and Navy Departments, funds have been provided which are available for the construction or improvement of roads and streets within military and naval reservations. In general, such funds are not available, under the terms of existing legislation, for road improvements made outside the boundaries of the reservations.

2. The Federal Highway Act of 1940 provides that—

(a) Funds authorized and made available under section 21 of the Federal Highway Act of 1921, as amended, may be used to pay the entire engineering costs of the surveys, plans, specifications, estimates and supervision of construction of projects for such urgent improvements of highways strategically important from the standpoint of the national defense as may be undertaken on the order of the Federal Works Administrator and as the result of request of the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, or other authorized national-defense agency.

(b) In approving Federal-aid highway projects to be carried out with any unobligated funds apportioned to any State, the Commissioner of Public Roads may give priority of approval to, and expedite the construction of, projects that are recommended by the appropriate Federal defense agency as important to the national defense.

3. By the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act, fiscal year 1941, the Commissioner of Work Projects is authorized in his administration of the act to use, on projects certified by the Secretary of War or the Secretary of the Navy as important for military and naval purposes, not to exceed $25,000,000 of the total sum appropriated by the act to supplement amounts normally authorized for expenditure to meet other than labor costs. This provision extends to projects of any nature that are certified by the defense officials named, and is not restricted to projects for the improvement of highways. With various amounts allotted to other classes of projects, only a part of the sum authorized for exceptional expenditure would be available for expenditure on defense-highway projects.

Each of the three special provisions thus far made by the Federal Government is surrounded by definite restrictions which prevent the free use of authority or funds for improvements of any kind required on roads important for the national defense. 15