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B-194541 1 (1979-05-22)

handle is hein.gao/gaobabjnp0001 and id is 1 raw text is: G C-? COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES WASHINGTON, D.C. 20548 MAY 2 979 B-194541 The Honorable Edward N. Kennedy Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary S--l0 United States Senate Dear Mr. Chairman: / This concerns you for our &, ments 400 S a bill to relieve cert n-p1Kvately owned' libraries in Pennsylvania from liability for repayment of $561,066.09 erroneously remitted to them by the Federal Government. In June, 1972, as a result of Hurricane Agnes, the six privately owned libraries identified in S. 400 suffered varying degrees of damage. C Subsequent to the President declaring Pennsylvania a major disaster area, the Federal Disaster Assistance Admiistration (FDA) approved applica- tions from a number of local governments in Pennsylvania ontehalf of the libaries, pursuant to the Thsaster Relief Act of 1970, Pub. L..N6C 91-66, 94 Stat. 1744. (That Act has be esyentialy repealed by the isaster Relief Act of 1974, 88 Stat. '43, Y64 t4 U.S.C. § 5121 et seq. (1976)). A total of $561,066.09 was provided to the libraries for repairs. In the Spring of 1976, while reviewing a request for a time extension for completion of repairs for one of the libraries, the FDAA questioned the / eligibility of the libraries to receive assistance as publicly owned facil- ities. In June 1976, the Office of General Counsel of the Department of -. C.. p. Housing and Urban Delaveopment (HUD) issued a legal opinion concluding that oO2-3 the funds were improperly provided to the libraries since they were pri- vately owned; assistance awards under the Disaster Relief Act of 1970 were limited to publicly owned institutions. By the time this conclusion was reached, the libraries apparently had expended all or nearly all of the funds received. A private relief bill similar toS. 400\S..,147 95th Congress) was reported on favorably by your Committee and was passed by the Senate on September 14, 1978; however, it was never voted on in the House, presumably due to time considerations. In response to a request for its comments on S. 1147, HUD's Office of General Counsel concluded that relief for the libraries was warranted because: The libraries, although technically privately oMed, served the public without charge. Given the speed with which

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