(a) The Secretary is authorized to appoint such employees, including citizens of other countries, as may be necessary for carrying out the provisions of sections 171 to 173 of this title. Such appointments may be made without regard to the provisions of the civil-service laws. (Sections 321, 322, 324, and 325a of title 40 1 shall not apply to any nursery, planting, cultivating or harvesting operations conducted pursuant to sections 171 to 173 of this title.) All appointments so made by the Secretary shall be made only on the basis of merit and efficiency.
(b) The Secretary may delegate any of the powers and duties conferred on him by sections 171 to 173 of this title to any agency or bureau of the Department of Agriculture.
(c) The Secretary, with the consent of any board, commission, independent establishment, corporation, or executive department of the Government, including any field service thereof, may avail himself of the use of information, services, facilities, officers and employees thereof, in carrying out the provisions of sections 171 to 173 of this title.
(d) The Secretary may allot to bureaus and offices of the Department of Agriculture, or may transfer to such other agencies of the State and Federal Governments as may be requested by him to assist in carrying out sections 171 to 173 of this title, any funds made available to him under said sections.
(e) In carrying out the provisions of sections 171 to 173 of this title the Secretary shall have all of the authority conferred upon him by section 502 of title 16.
(f) The Secretary may lease at reasonable rentals structures erected by the Government with essential facilities for such periods as such structures and facilities are not required for the purposes of sections 171 to 173 of this title; and any part of land or structures with essential facilities acquired by lease, deed, or other agreement pursuant to said sections, which are not required or suitable for the purposes of said sections during the period the United States is entitled to possession thereof may be leased or subleased at a reasonable rental; and any surplus water controlled by the United States on land owned or leased by the United States for the purposes of said sections may be disposed of at reasonable rates.
References in Text
Sections 321, 322, 324, and 325a of title 40, referred to in subsec. (a), mean sections 321, 322, 324, and 325a of former title 40 which were repealed by Pub. L. 87–581, title II, §203, Aug. 13, 1962, 76 Stat. 360. See sections 3702, 3703, and 3708 of Title 40, Public Buildings, Property, and Works.
Codification
In the second sentence of subsec. (a), the words "and the compensation of the persons so appointed may be fixed without regard to the provisions of the Classification Act of 1923, as amended" were omitted as obsolete. Sections 1202 and 1204 of the Classification Act of 1949, 63 Stat. 972, 973, repealed the 1923 Act and all laws or parts of laws inconsistent with the 1949 Act. While section 1106(a) of the 1949 Act provided that references in other laws to the 1923 Act should be held and considered to mean the 1949 Act, it did not have the effect of continuing the exceptions contained in this subsection because of section 1106(b) which provided that the application of the 1949 Act of any position, officer, or employee shall not be affected by section 1106(a). The Classification Act of 1949 was repealed by Act Sept. 6, 1966, Pub. L. 89–554, §8(a), 80 Stat. 632 (of which section 1 revised and enacted Title 5, U.S.C., into law). Section 5102 of Title 5 contains the applicability provisions of the 1949 Act, and section 5103 of Title 5 authorizes the Office of Personnel Management to determine the applicability to specific positions and employees.
Amendments
1942—Subsec. (a). Act Oct. 20, 1942, §§5, 7, substituted "other countries" for "countries in the Western Hemisphere" and inserted sentence relating to inapplicability of certain sections of title 40.
Subsecs. (e), (f). Act Oct. 20, 1942, §6, added subsecs. (e) and (f).
Transfer of Functions
Functions of all officers, agencies, and employees of Department of Agriculture transferred, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of Agriculture by 1953 Reorg. Plan No. 2, §1, eff. June 4, 1953, 18 F.R. 3219, 67 Stat. 633, set out as a note under section 2201 of this title.
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