Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 94 Part 2.djvu/388

 94 STAT. 1666

GAO audits.

Communities, grant eligibility.

42 USC 5318.

PUBLIC LAW 96-399—OCT. 8, 1980

funds under this section has carried out activities substantially as described in its application, whether such actions and activities conformed to the requirements of this section and other applicable laws, and whether the recipient has a continuing capacity to carry out such actions and activities in a timely manner. The Secretary shall adjust, reduce, or withdraw grant funds, or take other action as appropriate in accordance with such reviews and audits. "(3) Insofar as they relate to funds provided under this section, the financial transactions of recipients of such funds may be audited by the General Accounting Office under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Comptroller General of the United States. The representatives of the General Accounting Office shall have access to all books, accounts, records, reports, files, and other papers, things, or property belonging to or in use by such recipients pertaining to such financial transactions and necessary to facilitate the audit. "(m)(l) Grants made under this section shall only be used to carry out planning and related activities necessary to carry out the purposes of this section. "(2) Grant assistance under this section shall not be used to defray the cost of the acquisition, construction, repair or rehabilitation of, or the preparation of engineering drawings or similar detailed specifications for, specific housing, capital facilities, public works projects, or for financing routine administrative responsibilities of any State or local government. "(3) Grant assistance under this section may be made available for— "(A) communities with populations of 25,000 or less; or "(B) communities with populations above 25,000 but less than 50,000 which meet the criteria set forth in section 119(e) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974; for the preparation of applications for Federal financial assistance, except that there shall be a priority for such assistance to communities with populations of 25,000 or less. "(n)(l) The Secretary shall utilize, to the maximum extent practicable, the plans and strategies approved by the Secretary under this section to guide policy and funding decisions with respect to the programs and activities of the Department of Housing and Urban Development which affect the geographical areas covered by such plans. "(2) The Secretary shall encourage other Federal departments and agencies to use the plans and strategies approved by the Secretary, to the maximum extent practicable, to guide policy and funding decisions with respect to their programs and activities which affect the geographical areas covered by such plans and strategies. The Secretary shall encourage other Federal departments and agencies, consistent with their program authority, to adopt approved plans (or components thereof) as all or part of the planning requirements of such departments or agencies. "(3) A plan and strategy approved by the Secretary under this section shall remain in effect for a maximum of three years following the date of its approval. Any extension of a plan and strategy beyond such three-year term, or any major modification (as approved by the Secretary) of such a plan and strategy during such term, shall meet all of the requirements of this section and must be approved by the Secretary. Any proposed modification shall be submitted to the Secretary prior to its incorporation into the plan or strategy.

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