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B-200685 1 (1981-04-30)

handle is hein.gao/gaobabjco0001 and id is 1 raw text is: COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STrATES ;41 WASHINGTON D.C. 20548 B-200685 April 30, 1981 // The Honorable Robert C. Byrd United States Senate t :1mA Dear Senator Byrd: This responds to your letter dated March 18, 1981, concerning a freeze by the Federal Railroad Administration of -its local rail service assistance program. You asked whether the ithhold'ng of funds from te West Virginia Railroad Maintenance Authorityas a result of the freeze violates the,4mpoundment Control Act. We did not conduct a detailed audit because of tight reporting dead- lines presently involved in responding to this and other impound- ment inquiries. Consequently, we limited our efforts to a review of departmental materials and discussions with agency personnel. We also discussed this matter informally with OMB. A summary response to your question is set out in part I below, followed by a more detailed discussion in part II. I. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Department of Transportation, administers the local rail service assistance program pursuant to section 5 of the ,1epartment of Transporta- tion Act, as amended, 49 U.S.C. §1654. Each State eligible to receive assistance is entitled annually to receive funds accord- ing to the statutory formula, but not less than 1 percent of the funds appropriated for each fiscal year. 49 U.S.C. §1654(hO (2). The State receives its funds after the execution of a grant agreement between the Secretary and the State. If a grant agree- ment is not executed before the end of the fiscal year for which the funds were appropriated, the funds are reallocated in the next fiscal year. 49 U.S.C. §1654(h)(3)(B).,- States have been informed of their fiscal year 1981 alloca- tions. However, a freeze has been issued on the awarding of grants because the Administration plans to transfer funds appro- priated for this program to other FRA activities in order to reduce the fiscal year 1981 supplemental appropriation requested by former President Carter. Only a handful of grants had been awarded in this fiscal year before the freeze. Section 1013 of the Impoundment Control Act, i U.S.C. §1403, requires the President to transmit a special message whenever any official of the Executive Branch proposes to defer budget author- ity provided for a specific purpose or project. (The President complied with the Act when he transmitted the sixth special mes- sage for fiscal year 1981, in which he proposed a deferral (D81- 91) of the funds appropriated for this program. 67473j

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