Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 87.djvu/605

 87 STAT. ]

PUBLIC LAW 93-152-NOV. 13, 1973

" F. The salaries and personal expenses of each Commissioner shall be paid by the Ciovernment which he represents. All other expenses which are incurred by the Commission incident to the administration of this Compact shall be borne equally by the two States and shall be paid by the Commission out of the 'Arkansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact Fund,' initiated and maintained as provided in Article IX (B)(5) below. The States hereby mutually agree to appropriate sums sufficient to cover its share of the expenses incurred in the administration of this Compact, to be paid into said fund. Disbursements tshall be made from said fund in such manner as may be authorized by the Commission. Such funds shall not be subject to the audit and accounting procedures of the States; however, all receipts and disbursements of funds handled by the Commission shall be audited by !i <iualified independent public accountant at regular intervals, and the report of such audit shall be included in and become a part of the uiinual report of the Commission, provided b;^ Article IX (B)(6) below. The Commission shall not pledge the credit of either State and shall not incur any obligations prior to the availability of funds ade((uate to meet the same. "ARTICLE

IX

"A. The Commission shall have the power to: "(1) Employ such engineering, legal, clerical and other personnel as in its judgment may be necessary for the performance of its functions under this Compact; "(2) Enter into contracts with appropriate State or Federal agencies for the collection, correlation, and presentation of factual data, for the maintenance of records and for the preparation of reports; "(3) Establish and maintain an office for the conduct of its affairs; "(4) Adopt and procure a seal for its official use; " (5) Adopt rules and regulations governing its operations. The proceduies employed foi- the administration of this Compact shall not be subject to any Administrative Procedures Act of either State, but shall be subject to the provisions hereof and to the rules and regulations of the Commission: Provided, however. All rules and regulations of the Commission shall be filed with the Secretary of State of the signatory States. "(6) Cooperate with Federal and State agencies and political subdivisions of the signatory States in developing principles, consistent with the provisions of this Compact and with Federal and State policy, for the storage and release of water from reservoirs, both existing and future within the Arkansas River Basin, for the purpose of assuring their operation in the best interests of the States and the United States; '' (7) Hold hearings and compel the attendance of witnesses for the purpose of taking testimony and receiving other appropriate and proper evidence and issuing such appropriate orders as it deems necessary for the proper administration of this Compact, which orders shall be enforceable upon the request by the Commission or any other interested part j in any court of competent jurisdiction within the county wherein the subject matter to which the order relates is in existence, subject to the right of review through the appellate courts of the State of situs. Any hearing held for the promulgation and issuance of orders shall be in the county and State of the subject matter of said hearing;

573

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