1. U.S. Code
  2. title 20
  3. chapter 48
  4. subchapter IV
  5. part B
  6. § 3473

Collapse to view only § 3473. Reorganization of Department

§ 3471. General authority
(a) Force and effect of actions by Secretary
(b) Reporting requirements
(1) The director of any office continued in the Department the director of which was required, prior to May 4, 1980, to report to the Commissioner of Education or the Assistant Secretary for Education of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, shall report to the Secretary.
(2) The Secretary is authorized to delegate reporting requirements vested in the Secretary by paragraph (1) to any officer or employee of the Department.
(Pub. L. 96–88, title IV, § 411, Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 683.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3471

§ 3472. Delegation of functions

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the Secretary may delegate any function to such officers and employees of the Department as the Secretary may designate, and may authorize such successive redelegations of such functions within the Department as may be necessary or appropriate. No delegation of functions by the Secretary under this section or under any other provision of this chapter shall relieve the Secretary of responsibility for the administration of such functions.

(Pub. L. 96–88, title IV, § 412, Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 684.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3472

§ 3473. Reorganization of Department
(a) Authorization; limitationsThe Secretary is authorized, subject to the requirements of section 3412(f) of this title, to allocate or reallocate functions among the officers of the Department, and to establish, consolidate, alter, or discontinue such organizational entities within the Department as may be necessary or appropriate, but the authority of the Secretary under this subsection does not extend to—
(1) any office, bureau, unit, or other entity transferred to the Department and established by statute or any function vested by statute in such an entity or officer of such an entity, except as provided in subsection (b);
(2) the abolition of organizational entities established by this chapter; or
(3) the alteration of the delegation of functions to any specific organizational entity required by this chapter.
(b) Alteration, consolidation, or discontinuance of statutory and organizational entities
(1) The Secretary may, in accordance with paragraph (2) of this subsection, consolidate, alter, or discontinue any of the following statutory entities, or reallocate any functions vested by statute in the following statutory entities:
(A) the Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students;
(B) the Teacher Corps;
(C) the Community College Unit;
(D) the National Center for Education Statistics;
(E) the National Institute of Education;
(F) the Office of Environmental Education;
(G) the Office of Consumers’ Education;
(H) the Office of Indian Education;
(I) the Office of Career Education;
(J) the Office of Non-Public Education;
(K) the bureau for the education and training for the handicapped; and
(L) the administrative units for guidance and counseling programs, the veterans’ cost of instruction program, and the program for the gifted and talented children.
(2) The Secretary may alter, consolidate, or discontinue any organizational entity continued within the Department and described in paragraph (1) of this subsection or reallocate any function vested by statute in such an entity, upon the expiration of a period of ninety days after the receipt by the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives of notice given by the Secretary containing a full and complete statement of the action proposed to be taken pursuant to this subsection and the facts and circumstances relied upon in support of such proposed action.
(Pub. L. 96–88, title IV, § 413, Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 684; Pub. L. 96–496, title II, § 202, Dec. 4, 1980, 94 Stat. 2593; Pub. L. 104–208, div. A, title I, § 101(e) [title VII, § 709(c)], Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009–233, 3009–313; Pub. L. 107–110, title X, § 1072(b), Jan. 8, 2002, 115 Stat. 2089.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3473

§ 3474. Rules and regulations

The Secretary is authorized to prescribe such rules and regulations as the Secretary determines necessary or appropriate to administer and manage the functions of the Secretary or the Department.

(Pub. L. 96–88, title IV, § 414, Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 685; Pub. L. 99–145, title XII, § 1204(a)(5), Nov. 8, 1985, 99 Stat. 720; Pub. L. 103–382, title II, § 271(d)(1), Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 3930.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3474

§ 3475. Contracts
(a) Authorization of Secretary
(b) Limitations
(Pub. L. 96–88, title IV, § 415, Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 685.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3475

§ 3476. Regional and field offices

The Secretary is authorized to establish, alter, discontinue, or maintain such regional or other field offices as the Secretary may find necessary or appropriate to perform functions of the Secretary or the Department.

(Pub. L. 96–88, title IV, § 416, Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 685.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3476

§ 3477. Acquisition and maintenance of property
(a) Authorized properties; establishment of necessary facilitiesThe Secretary is authorized—
(1) to acquire (by purchase, lease, condemnation, or otherwise), construct, improve, repair, operate, and maintain—
(A) schools and related facilities (but only to the extent that operation of schools and related facilities by the Department is authorized by this chapter);
(B) laboratories;
(C) research and testing sites and facilities;
(D) quarters and related accommodations for employees and dependents of employees of the Department; and
(E) personal property (including patents), or any interest therein,
as may be necessary; and
(2) to provide by contract or otherwise for the establishment of eating facilities and other necessary facilities for the health and welfare of employees of the Department at its installations, and purchase and maintain equipment therefor.
(b) Day care center facilities
(c) Special purpose facilities
(Pub. L. 96–88, title IV, § 417, Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 685.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3477

§ 3478. Facilities at remote locations
(a) Authorized services, supplies and facilities
The Secretary is authorized to provide, construct, or maintain for employees and their dependents stationed at remote locations as necessary and when not otherwise available at such remote locations—
(1) emergency medical services and supplies;
(2) food and other subsistence supplies;
(3) dining facilities;
(4) audiovisual equipment, accessories, and supplies for recreation and training;
(5) reimbursement for food, clothing, medicine, and other supplies furnished by such employees in emergencies for the temporary relief of distressed persons;
(6) living and working quarters and facilities; and
(7) transportation for dependents of employees of the Department to the nearest appropriate educational facilities.
(b) Reimbursements
(c) Appropriation credits and refunds
(Pub. L. 96–88, title IV, § 418, Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 686.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3478

§ 3479. Use of facilities
(a) Federal, State, local and foreign government facilities
(b) Public and private permittees
(c) Appropriation credits and refunds
(d) Interests in real property
(Pub. L. 96–88, title IV, § 419, Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 686; Pub. L. 99–145, title XII, § 1204(a)(2), Nov. 8, 1985, 99 Stat. 720.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3479

§ 3480. Copyrights and patents
The Secretary is authorized to acquire any of the following described rights if the property acquired thereby is for use by or for, or useful to, the Department:
(1) copyrights, patents, and applications for patents, designs, processes, and manufacturing data;
(2) licenses under copyrights, patents, and applications for patents; and
(3) releases, before suit is brought, for past infringement of patents or copyrights.
(Pub. L. 96–88, title IV, § 420, Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 687.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3480

§ 3481. Gifts and bequests

The Secretary is authorized to accept, hold, administer, and utilize gifts, bequests and devises of property, both real and personal, and to accept donations of services, for the purpose of aiding or facilitating the work of the Department. Gifts, bequests, and devises of money and proceeds from sales of other property received as gifts, bequests, or devises shall be deposited in the Treasury and shall be available for disbursement upon the order of the Secretary.

(Pub. L. 96–88, title IV, § 421, Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 687; Pub. L. 103–382, title II, § 271(d)(2), Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 3930.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3481

§ 3482. Technical advice
(a) Authorization
(b) Consolidation of applications for grants and contracts
(Pub. L. 96–88, title IV, § 422, Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 687.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3482

§ 3483. Working capital fund
(a) Establishment; administrative services included
The Secretary, with the approval of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, is authorized to establish for the Department a working capital fund, to be available without fiscal year limitation, for expenses necessary for the maintenance and operation of such common administrative services as the Secretary shall find to be desirable in the interests of economy and efficiency, including such services as—
(1) a central supply service for stationery and other supplies and equipment for which adequate stocks may be maintained to meet in whole or in part the requirements of the Department and its components;
(2) central messenger, mail, telephone, and other communications services;
(3) office space, central services for document reproduction, and for graphics and visual aids; and
(4) a central library service.
(b) Capital; reimbursement of funds; credit; miscellaneous receipts; transfers
(Pub. L. 96–88, title IV, § 423, Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 687.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3483

§ 3483a. Department of Education Nonrecurring Expenses Fund

There is hereby established in the Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as the “Department of Education Nonrecurring Expenses Fund” (the Fund): Provided, That unobligated balances of expired discretionary funds appropriated for this or any succeeding fiscal year from the General Fund of the Treasury to the Department of Education by this or any other Act may be transferred (not later than the end of the fifth fiscal year after the last fiscal year for which such funds are available for the purposes for which appropriated) into the Fund: Provided further, That amounts deposited in the Fund shall be available until expended, and in addition to such other funds as may be available for such purposes, for information and business technology system modernization and facilities infrastructure improvements necessary for the operation of the Department, subject to approval by the Office of Management and Budget: Provided further, That amounts in the Fund may be obligated only after the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate are notified at least 30 days in advance of the specific information and business technology system modernization project or facility infrastructure improvement obligations planned for such amounts.

(Pub. L. 116–260, div. H, title III, § 313, Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 1609.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3483a

§ 3484. Funds transfer

The Secretary may, when authorized in an appropriation Act in any fiscal year, transfer funds from one appropriation to another within the Department, except that no appropriation for any fiscal year shall be either increased or decreased pursuant to this section by more than 5 percent and no such transfer shall result in increasing any such appropriation above the amount authorized to be appropriated therefor.

(Pub. L. 96–88, title IV, § 424, Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 688.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3484

§ 3485. Seal of Department

The Secretary shall cause a seal of office to be made for the Department of such design as the Secretary shall approve. Judicial notice shall be taken of such seal.

(Pub. L. 96–88, title IV, § 425, Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 688.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3485

§ 3486. Annual report
(a) Contents
The Secretary shall, as soon as practicable after the close of each fiscal year, make a single, comprehensive report to the President for transmission to the Congress on the activities of the Department during such fiscal year. The report shall include a statement of goals, priorities, and plans for the Department together with an assessment of the progress made toward—
(1) the attainment of such goals, priorities, and plans;
(2) the more effective and efficient management of the Department and the coordination of its functions; and
(3) the reduction of excessive or burdensome regulation and of unnecessary duplication and fragmentation in Federal education programs,
accompanied where necessary by recommendations for proposed legislation for the achievement of such objectives.
(b) Estimate on non-Federal personnel employed
(Pub. L. 96–88, title IV, § 426, Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 688.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3486

§ 3487. Repealed. Pub. L. 103–382, title II, § 271(a)(1), Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 3929

CITE AS: 20 USC 3487

§ 3488. Authorization of appropriations

Subject to any limitation on appropriations applicable with respect to any function or office transferred to the Secretary or the Department, there are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 1980 and each succeeding fiscal year such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter and to enable the Secretary to administer and manage the Department. Funds appropriated in accordance with this section shall remain available until expended.

(Pub. L. 96–88, title IV, § 427, formerly § 428, Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 689; renumbered § 427, Pub. L. 103–382, title II, § 271(a)(2),

CITE AS: 20 USC 3488

§ 3489. General extension of authorizations
Subject to the limitations contained in subtitle A of this title, there are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal years 1982, 1983, and 1984 such sums as may be necessary to carry out each of the following provisions of law:
(1) the Act of September 30, 1950 1
1 See References in Text note below.
(Public Law 874, 81st Congress);
(2) the Act of September 23, 1950 1 (Public Law 815, 81st Congress);
(3) the General Education Provisions Act [20 U.S.C. 1221 et seq.];
(4) the Indian Education Act;
(5) titles XI [25 U.S.C. 2000 et seq.], XIV [20 U.S.C. 921 et seq.], and XV of the Education Amendments of 1978 and part H of title XIII of the Education Amendments of 1980;
(6) the Adult Education Act; 1
(7) section 342 of the Education Amendments of 1976 [20 U.S.C. 2532];
(8) the Asbestos School Hazards Detection and Control Act [20 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.];
(9) the Joint Resolution of October 19, 1972 (86 Stat. 907);
(10) the Vocational Education Act of 1963; 1
(11) title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 [42 U.S.C. 2000c et seq.];
(12) the Navajo Community College Act and the Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Assistance Act of 1978 [25 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.];
(13) part C of title IX of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965,1 relating to Women’s Educational Equity; and
(14) title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.1
(Pub. L. 97–35, title V, § 528, Aug. 13, 1981, 95 Stat. 450; Pub. L. 98–211, § 20, Dec. 8, 1983, 97 Stat. 1418; Pub. L. 104–208, div. A, title I, § 101(e) [title VII, § 709(a)(2)], Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009–233, 3009–312; Pub. L. 105–244, title IX, § 901(d), Oct. 7, 1998, 112 Stat. 1828; Pub. L. 110–315, title IX, § 941(k)(2)(E), Aug. 14, 2008, 122 Stat. 3466.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3489

§ 3490. Potential financial interests or impaired objectivity of covered individuals or entities
(a) Maintenance of integrity and ethical values within Department of Education
Within 60 days after December 26, 2007, the Secretary of Education shall implement procedures—
(1) to assess whether a covered individual or entity has a potential financial interest in, or impaired objectivity towards, a product or service purchased with, or guaranteed or insured by, funds administered by the Department of Education or a contracted entity of the Department; and
(2) to disclose the existence of any such potential financial interest or impaired objectivity.
(b) Review by Inspector General
(1) Within 60 days after the implementation of the procedures described in subsection (a), the Inspector General of the Department of Education shall report to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate on the adequacy of such procedures.
(2) Within 1 year, the Inspector General shall conduct at least 1 review to ensure that such procedures are properly implemented and are effective to uncover and disclose the existence of potential financial interests or impaired objectivity described in subsection (a).
(3) The Inspector General shall report to such Committees any recommendations for modifications to such procedures that the Inspector General determines are necessary to uncover and disclose the existence of such potential financial interests or impaired objectivity.
(c) Definition
For purposes of this section, the term “covered individual or entity” means—
(1) an officer or professional employee of the Department of Education;
(2) a contractor or subcontractor of the Department, or an individual hired by the contracted entity;
(3) a member of a peer review panel of the Department; or
(4) a consultant or advisor to the Department.
(Pub. L. 110–161, div. G, title III, § 306, Dec. 26, 2007, 121 Stat. 2198.)

CITE AS: 20 USC 3490