Showing 1071–1080 of 2202

• 6/16/1982

  Federal "Non-Reserved" Water Rights

  The following memorandum of law deals with the scope of the federal government's rights to unappropriated water flowing across federally owned lands in the western states. It discusses the background and development of the federal "non-reserved" water rights theory, and concludes that that theory does not provide an appropriate legal basis for a broad assertion of water rights by federal agencies without regard to state laws. It then sets forth the legal standards and considerations that are applicable to an analysis of federal water rights in connection with the management of particular federal lands under specific statutes authorizing federal land management. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/23061/download.

  6/16/1982

• 6/16/1982

  Funding an Agency's Functions From Its Working Capital Fund

  The Secretary of Commerce may designate certain agency functions now funded out of his Department's General Administration (GA) appropriation as "central services" and transfer responsibility for their funding to the working capital fund, 15 U.S.C. § 1521, so that they will henceforth be paid for with funds appropriated to the various component bureaus of the Department of Commerce. The Secretary may thereby avoid exhaustion of the GA account, the likely consequence of a ruling of the Comptroller General disallowing direct reimbursement of the GA by the bureaus on grounds that it would unlawfully augment the GA appropriation. The authority for a working capital fund in 15 U.S.C. § 1521 constitutes an exception to the Comptroller General's rule prohibiting an agency from switching responsibility for funding a particular service from one appropriation account to another. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/23066/download.

  6/16/1982

• 6/9/1982

  United States Secret Service Use of the National Crime Information Center

  The United States Secret Service (USSS) has authority under 18 U.S.C. § 3056 to investigate and maintain files on an individual who it reasonably believes might pose a threat to the physical safety of those it is responsible for protecting, even though that individual is not the subject of an arrest warrant or under investigation for any prior criminal activity. The USSS has authority to disclose information in its investigative files to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other law enforcement agencies through entry of this information into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). The Attorney General is also independently authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 534 to disseminate information on criminal investigations, including information on USSS-monitored subjects, for law enforcement purposes. An exchange of information among law enforcement agencies through the NCIC must satisfy the requirements of the Privacy Act. In order to avoid that statute's general prohibition on disclosure, the USSS and FBI must satisfy the procedural requirements of the " routine use" exemption contained in 5 U.S C. § 552a(b)(3). Disclosure of information from the NCIC on USSS-monitored subjects for non-law enforcement purposes, such as employment or licensing, is prohibited by the Privacy Act, and may raise serious constitutional problems under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. Both 28 U.S.C. § 534 and the Privacy Act require that reasonable efforts be made to assure that information contained in the NCIC is accurate and relevant to its use for law enforcement purposes. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/23056/download.

  6/9/1982

• 6/8/1982

  Title VI and Urban Indian Housing

  The Department of Housing and Urban Development is not authorized by statute or regulation to provide tenant rental assistance to an urban housing program whose occupancy is limited to Indians, and such assistance to a program with a racially or ethnically exclusive tenant policy is affirmatively prohibited by Titles VI and VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and by the Fifth Amendment. Legislation affecting Indians should be construed in their interest; however, if Congress does not explicitly single out Indians for preferential treatment, courts should not imply an intent to treat Indians more favorably or differently from all other citizens. While Congress has approved special aid for Indians in connection with housing on reservations and Indian areas, neither the Housing Act of 1937 nor long-settled and congressionally ratified administrative practice under that Act sanction off-reservation Indian housing preferences which would otherwise violate statutory or constitutional nondiscrimination requirements. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/23051/download.

  6/8/1982

• 6/3/1982

  Applicability of the Hatch Act to the Chairman of the Native Hawaiians Study Commission

  The Native Hawaiians Study Commission is an "Executive agency" whose employees are covered by the Hatch Act, even though its functions are by statute confined to advising Congress. The part-time Chairman of the Commission is covered by the Hatch Act on the days she is paid to perform government services. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/23046/download.

  6/3/1982

• 5/26/1982

  Immunity of Veterans Administration Medical Facilities From Alabama State Utility License Tax

  The utility license tax imposed by the State of Alabama on public utilities operating within that State, whose economic burden is passed on by the utilities to their customers by order of the state public utility commission, is constitutionally valid as applied to federal agencies, since its legal incidence falls on the utilities and not on their customers. In determining whether the legal incidence of a state tax was intended by the legislature to fall upon the federal government, and is thus prohibited under the Supremacy Clause, a tax scheme as a whole and the context in which it operates, as well as the terms of the taxing statute, must be considered. The fact that the terms of the taxing statute do not require the tax to be passed on to customers, and do not provide a mechanism for doing so, is indicative of the legislature's intent that the incidence of the license tax remain on the utilities. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/23041/download.

  5/26/1982

• 5/24/1982

  Debt Obligations of the National Credit Union Administration

  Debt obligations of the National Credit Union Administration, lawfully incurred on behalf of the Central Liquidity Facility, pursuant to 12 U.S.C. § 1795f(a), represent obligations of the United States backed by its full faith and credit. There is a presumption, historically reflected in opinions of the Attorney General, that federal agency obligations are supported by the full faith and credit of the United States, unless the statute authorizing such obligations expressly provides otherwise. This presumption extends to obligations incurred by an agency on behalf of a non-federal entity. While principles of restraint and respect for the Comptroller General as an agent of Congress ordinarily require that his opinions be accorded substantial weight by the Attorney General, in this case the Comptroller General failed properly to apply the legal principles governing full faith and credit which are delineated in the opinions of the Attorney General. Opinions of the Attorney General on matters of law are, as a matter of course, to be followed by all officers of the Executive Branch. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/23036/download.

  5/24/1982

• 5/21/1982

  Delegation of Cabinet Members' Functions as Ex Officio Members of the Board of Directors of the Solar Energy and Energy Conservation Bank

  Under settled principles of administrative law, Cabinet members serving as ex officio members of the Board of Directors of the Solar Energy and Energy Conservation Bank may delegate their directorial functions to subordinates, even though the legislation establishing the Bank does not expressly authorize such delegation. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/23031/download.

  5/21/1982

• 5/20/1982

  Exchange Authority for Kaloko Honokohau National Historical Park

  The Department of the Interior is authorized to acquire privately held land for the Kaloko Honokohau National Historical Park by exchanging it for surplus federal land of equivalent value within the State of Hawaii. Its exchange authority does not, however, extend to excess as well as surplus federal land, nor to land outside the State of Hawaii. The power to dispose of property of the United States is committed under the Constitution to Congress, and the Executive's disposition of federal land in any particular case must be undertaken in accordance with whatever rules Congress has established for this purpose. In this case, the Department of the Interior's specific exchange authority in connection with the Park is presumptively limited by the otherwise applicable general legal restrictions on federal land exchange transactions. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/23026/download.

  5/20/1982

• 5/7/1982

  Application for Approval of a Joint Operating Arrangement Under the Newspaper Preservation Act

  The Attorney General is not required as a matter of law to disapprove an application for a joint operating arrangement under the Newspaper Preservation Act because the allegedly failing participant in the, proposed arrangement has not been offered for sale, and no good faith efforts have been made to find a purchaser ready, willing, and able to operate it independently. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/23021/download.

  5/7/1982