Subject to the provisions and limitations of this subchapter and subchapter VIII of this chapter, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (hereinafter referred to as the “Secretary”) is authorized to provide housing in any areas (subject to the provisions of section 1591 of this title) needed for defense workers or military personnel or to extend assistance for the provision of, or to provide, community facilities or services required in connection with national defense activities in any area which the President, pursuant to the authority contained in said section, has determined to be a critical defense housing area.

The cost per family dwelling unit for any housing project constructed under the authority of this subchapter shall not exceed an average of $9,000 for two-bedroom units in such project, $10,000 for three-bedroom units in such project, and $11,000 for four-bedroom units in such project: Provided, That the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may increase any such dollar limitation by not exceeding $1,000 in any geographical area where he finds that cost levels so require: Provided further, That in the Territories and possessions of the United States the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may increase any such dollar limitation by 50 per centum: And provided further, That for the purposes of this section the cost of any land acquired by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development upon the filing of a declaration of taking in proceedings for the condemnation of fee title shall be considered to be the amount determined by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development upon the basis of competent appraisal, to be the value thereof.

In furtherance of the purposes of this subchapter and subject to the provisions hereof, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may make loans or grants, or other payments, to public and nonprofit agencies for the provision, or for the operation and maintenance, of community facilities and equipment therefor, or for the provision of community services, upon such terms and in such amounts as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may consider to be in the public interest: Provided, That grants under this subchapter to any local agency for hospital construction may be made only after such action by the local agency to secure assistance under Public Law 725, Seventy-ninth Congress, approved August 13, 1946, as amended, or Public Law 380, Eighty-first Congress, approved October 25, 1949, as is determined to be reasonable under the circumstances, and only to the extent that the required assistance is not available to such local agency under said Public Law 725, or said Public Law 380, as the case may be: Provided further, That grants or payments for the provision, or for the maintenance and operation, of community facilities or services under this section shall not exceed the portion of the cost of the provision, or the maintenance and operation, of such facilities or services which the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development estimates to be attributable to the national defense activities in the area and not to be recovered by the public or nonprofit agency from other sources, including payments by the United States under any other provisions of this Act or any other law: And provided further, That any such continuing grant or payment shall be reexamined and adjusted annually upon the basis of the ability of the agency to bear a greater portion of the cost of such maintenance, operation, or services as a result of increased revenues made possible by such facility or by such defense activities.

Any Federal agency may, upon request of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, transfer to his jurisdiction without reimbursement any lands, improved or unimproved, or other property real or personal, considered by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to be needed or useful for housing or community facilities, or both, to be provided under this subchapter, and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is authorized to accept any such transfers. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may also utilize any other real or personal property under his jurisdiction for the purpose of this subchapter without adjustment of the appropriations or funds involved. Any property so transferred or utilized, and any funds in connection therewith, shall be subject only to the authorizations and limitations of this subchapter. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may, in his discretion, upon request of the Secretary of Defense or his designee, transfer to the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense without reimbursement any land, improvements, housing, or community facilities constructed or acquired under the provisions of this subchapter and considered by the Department of Defense to be required for the purposes of the said Department. Upon the transfer of any such property to the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense, the laws, rules, and regulations relating to property of the Department of Defense shall be applicable to the property so transferred, and the provisions of this subchapter and the rules and regulations issued thereunder shall no longer apply.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the acquisition by the United States of any real property pursuant to this subchapter or subchapter X of this chapter shall not deprive any State or political subdivision thereof of its civil or criminal jurisdiction in and over such property, or impair the civil or other rights under the State or local law of the inhabitants of such property. Any proceedings by the United States for the recovery of possession of any property or project acquired, developed, or constructed under this subchapter or subchapter X of this chapter may be brought in the courts of the States having jurisdiction of such causes.

The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall pay from rentals annual sums in lieu of taxes and special assessments to any State and/or political subdivision thereof, with respect to any real property, including improvements thereon, acquired and held by the Secretary under this subchapter for residential purposes (or for commercial purposes incidental thereto), whether or not such property is or has been held in the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States. The amount so paid for any year upon such property shall approximate the taxes and special assessments which would be paid to the State and/or subdivision, as the case may be, upon such property if it were not exempt from taxation and special assessments, with such allowance as may be considered by the Secretary to be appropriate for expenditures by the Federal Government for the provision or maintenance of streets, utilities, or other public services to serve such property.

Moneys derived from rentals, operation, or disposition of property acquired or constructed under the provisions of this subchapter shall be available for expenses of operation, maintenance, improvement, and disposition of any such property, including the establishment of necessary reserves therefor and administrative expenses in connection therewith: Provided, That such moneys derived from rentals, operation, or disposition may be deposited in a common fund account or accounts in the Treasury: And provided further, That the moneys in such common fund account or accounts shall not exceed $5,000,000 at any time, and all moneys in excess of such amount shall be covered into miscellaneous receipts.

The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall fix fair rentals based on the value thereof as determined by the Secretary which shall be charged for housing accommodations operated under this subchapter and may prescribe the class or classes of persons who may occupy such accommodations, preferences, or priorities in the rental thereof, and the terms, conditions, and period of such occupancy.

Subject to all of the limitations and restrictions of this Act, including, specifically, the requirements of subsection (c) of section 1591b of this title and of subsections (c) and (d) of section 1592h of this title, where any other officer, department, or agency is performing, or, in the determination of the President, has facilities adapted to the performance of, functions, powers and duties similar, or directly related, to any of the functions, powers and duties which the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is authorized by this subchapter to perform with respect to the construction, maintenance or operation of community facilities for recreation, and daycare centers, or the provision of community services, the President may transfer to such other officer, department, or agency any of the functions, powers, and duties authorized by this subchapter to be performed with respect thereto if he finds that such transfer will assist the furtherance of national defense activities, and upon any such transfer, funds in such amount as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall determine, but in no event in excess of the balance of any moneys appropriated to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to the authorization therefor contained in this subchapter for the performance of the transferred functions, powers, and duties, may also be transferred by the President to such other officer, department, or agency: Provided, That the President, by Executive Order or otherwise, may prescribe or direct the manner in which any functions, powers, and duties, which the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is authorized by this subchapter to perform with respect to assistance for the construction, or the construction of, any community facilities, shall be administered in coordination with other officers, departments, or agencies having functions or activities related thereto.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, all functions, powers, and duties under this subchapter and section 1591b of this title with respect to health, refuse disposal, sewage treatment, and water purification shall be exercised by and vested in the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service: Provided, That the Surgeon General shall have power to delegate to any other Federal agency functions, powers, and duties with respect to construction.