[S. 112.]

An Act Providing for a comprehensive development of the park and playground system of the National Capital.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That to preserve the flow of water in Rock Creek, to prevent pollution of Rock Creek and the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers, to preserve forests and natural scenery in and about Washington, and to provide for the comprehensive systematic, and continuous development of the park, parkway, and playground system of the National Capital, there is hereby constituted a commission, to be known as the National Capital Park Commission, composed of the Chief of Engineers of the Army, the Engineer Commissioner of the District of Columbia, the Director of the National Park Service, the Chief of the Forest Service, the officer in charge of public buildings and grounds and the chairmen of the Committees on the District of Columbia of the Senate and House of Representatives. At the close of each Congress the Presiding Officer of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint, respectively, a Senator elect and a Representative elect to the succeeding Congress to serve as members of this commission until the chairmen of committees of the succeeding Congress shall be chosen. The officer in charge of public buildings and grounds shall be the executive and disbursing officer of said commission.

SEC. 2. Said commission or a majority thereof is hereby authorized and directed to acquire such lands as in its judgment shall be necessary and desirable in the District of Columbia and adjacent areas in Maryland and Virginia, within the limits of the appropriations made for such purposes, for suitable development of the National Capital park, parkway, and playground system. That said commission is hereby authorized to acquire such lands by purchase when they can be acquired at prices reasonable in the judgment of said commission, otherwise by condemnation proceedings, such proceedings to acquire lands within the District of Columbia to be in accordance with the provisions of the Act of Congress approved August 30, 1890, providing a site for the Government Printing Office (United States Statutes at Large, volume 26, chapter 837), the Chief of Engineers of the Army being, for the purposes of this Act, hereby clothed with all the power vested by the said Act of August 30, 1890, in the board created by that Act. Said commission is hereby authorized to acquire such lands, located in Maryland or Virginia, either by purchase or condemnation proceedings, by such arrangements as to acquisition and payment for the lands as it shall determine upon by agreement with the proper officials of the States of Maryland and Virginia. In the selection of lands to be acquired the advice of the Commission of Fine Arts shall be requested. The designation of all lands to be acquired by condemnation, all contracts for purchase of

lands, and all agreements between said commission and the officials of the States of Maryland and Virginia shall be subject to the approval of the President of the United States.

SEC. 3. That there is authorized to be appropriated, each year hereafter, in the annual District of Columbia Appropriation Act, a sum not exceeding one cent for each inhabitant of the continental United States as determined by the last preceding decennial census, said sum to be used by said commission for the payment of its expenses and for the acquisition of the lands herein authorized to be acquired by said commission for the purposes named, the compensation for the land, the expense of surveys, ascertainment of title, condemnation proceedings, if any, and necessary conveyancing to be paid from said appropriations. The funds so appropriated shall be paid from the revenues of the District of Columbia and the general funds of the Treasury in the same proportion as other expenses of the District of Columbia. The land so acquired within the District of Columbia shall be a part of the park system of the District of Columbia and be under control of the Chief of Engineers of the United States Army; that areas suitable for playground purposes may, in the discretion of said Commission, be assigned to the control of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia for playground purposes. That the land so acquired outside the District of Columbia shall be controlled as determined by agreement between said commission and the proper officers of the States of Maryland and Virginia, such agreements to be subject to the approval of the President.

SEC. 4. Said commission shall report to Congress annually on the first Monday of December the lands acquired during the preceding fiscal year, the method of acquisition, and the cost of each tract. It shall also submit to the Bureau of the Budget on or before September 15 of each year its estimate of the total sum to be appropriated for expenditure under the provisions of this Act during the succeeding fiscal year.

Approved, June 6, 1924.

[H. R. 8830]

An Act Amending the Act entitled "An Act providing for a comprehensive development of the park and playground system of the National Capital," approved June 6, 1924.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 1 of the Act approved June 6, 1924, entitled "An Act providing for a comprehensive development of the park and playground system of the National Capital," is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SECTION 1. (a) That to develop a comprehensive, consistent, and coordinated plan for the National Capital and its environs in the States of Maryland and Virginia, to preserve the flow of water in Rock Creek, to prevent pollution of Rock Creek and the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers, to preserve forests and natural scenery in and about Washington, and to provide for the comprehensive, systematic, and continuous development of park, parkway, and playground systems of the National Capital and its environs there is hereby constituted a commission to be known as the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, composed of the Chief of Engineers of the Army, the Engineer Commissioner of the District of Columbia, the Director of the National Park Service, the Chief of the Forest Service, the Director of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital, the chairmen of the Committees on the District of Columbia of the Senate and House of Representatives, and four eminent citizens well qualified and experienced in city planning, one of whom shall be a bona fide resident of the District of Columbia, to be appointed for the term of six years by the President of the United States: Provided, That the first members appointed under this Act shall continue in office for terms of three, four, five, and six years, respectively, from the date of the passage of this Act, the terms of each to be designated by the President; but their successors shall be appointed for terms of six years, except that any person chosen to fill a vacancy shall be appointed only for the unexpired term of the member whom he shall succeed. All members of the said commission shall serve without compensation therefor, but each shall be paid actual expenses of subsistence not in excess of $10 per day and of travel when attending meetings of said commission or engaged in investigations pertaining to its activities. At the close of each Congress the presiding officer of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint, respectively, a Senator and a Representative elect to the succeeding Congress to serve as members of this commission until the chairmen of the committees of the succeeding Congress shall be chosen. The Director of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital shall be executive and disbursing officer of said commission.

"(b) That the said commission is hereby charged with the duty of preparing, developing, and maintaining a comprehensive, consistent, and coordinated plan for the National Capital and its en

virons, which plan shall include recommendations to the proper executive authorities as to traffic and transportation; plats and subdivisions; highways, parks, and parkways; school and library sites; playgrounds; drainage, sewerage, and water supply; housing, building, and zoning regulations; public and private buildings; bridges and water fronts; commerce and industry; and other proper elements of city and regional planning. It is the purpose of this Act to obtain the maximum amount of cooperation and correlation of effort between the departments, bureaus, and commissions of the Federal and District Governments. To this end plans and records, or copies thereof, shall be made available to the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, when requested. The commission may, as to the environs of the District of Columbia, act in conjunction and cooperation with such representatives of the States of Maryland and Virginia as may be designated by such States for this purpose. The said commission is hereby authorized to employ the necessary personal services, including the personal services of a director of planning and other expert city planners, such as engineers, architects, and landscape architects. Such technical experts may be employed at per diem rates not in excess of those paid for similar services elsewhere and as may be fixed by the said commission without regard to the provisions of the Act of Congress entitled 'An Act for the classification of civilian positions within the District of Columbia and in the field services,' approved March 4, 1923, and amendments thereto, or any rule or regulation made in pursuance thereof.

"(c) The commission established by section 2 of the Act entitled 'An Act to provide a permanent system of highways in that part of the District of Columbia lying outside of cities' (Twenty-seventh Statutes at Large, pages 532 and 533), known as the Highway Commission, is hereby abolished, and all the functions, powers, and duties conferred and imposed upon said Highway Commission by law are hereby transferred to and conferred and imposed upon the National Capital Park and Planning Commission hereby constituted, and all records of said Highway Commission are hereby transferred to said National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

"(d) All authority, powers, and duties conferred and imposed by law on the National Capital Park Commission shall hereafter be held, exercised, and performed by the National Capital Park and Planning Commission hereby constituted. All appropriations heretofore made for expenditure by the National Capital Park Commission are hereby made available for the use of the commission hereby constituted."

Approved, April 30, 1926.

(S. 1119]

An Act To transfer jurisdiction over the United States reservation numbered 248 from the Director of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That jurisdiction and control over United States reservation numbered 248, bounded by Potomac Avenue, First and O Streets, southeast, in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, is hereby transferred from the Director of Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia and the said commissioners are hereby authorized to erect thereon such permanent structures as may be required for municipal purposes, as appropriations may be made therefor.

Approved, June 25, 1926.

(306)