An Act to amend section 355 of the Revised Statutes, as amended, concerning approval by the Attorney General of the title to lands acquired for or on behalf of the United States, and for other purposes
PL 91-393 (H.R.15374), enacted 09/01/1970

84 STAT.] 
PUBLIC LAW 91-393-SEPT. 1, 1970 
835 
Public Law 91-393 
A N A C T 
September 1, 1970 
To amend section 355 of the Revised Statutes, as amended, concerning approval 
[H.R. 15374] 
by the Attorney General of the title to lands acquired for or on behalf of the 
I'nited States, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and Hou-ne of Re present at] ves of the 
United States of America in Congress a.^sembleds That the first seven 
pjira^raplis of section 855 of the Revised Statutes, as amended (40 
r . S . ( \ 255; 88 U.S.C. 788; and 50 U.S.C. 175) are hereby repealed, 
and in lieu tliereof there are substituted the following paragraphs: 
"Unless the Attorney General gives prior written approval of the 
sufficiency of the title to land for the purpose for which the property 
is being acquired by the United States, public money may not be 
expended for the purchase of tlie land or any interest therein. 
"The Attorney General may delegate his responsibility under this 
section to other departments and agencies, subject to his general super-
vision and in accordance with regulations promulgated by him. 
"Any Federal department or agency which has been delegated the 
responsibility to approve land titles under this section may request 
the Attorney General to render his opinion as to the validity of the 
title to any real property or interest therein, or may request the advice 
or assistance of the Attorney General in connection with determina-
tions as to the sufficiency of titles. 
"Except where otherwise authorized by law or provided by contract, 
the expenses of procuring certificates of title or other evidences of title 
as the Attorney General may require may be paid out of the appro-
])riations for the acquisition of land or out of the appropriations made 
for the contingencies of the acquiring department or agency." 
The foregoing provisions of this section shall not be construed to 
affect in any manner any existing provisions of law which are appli-
cable to the acquisition of lands or interests in land by the Tennessee 
Valley Authoritjr. 
SEC. 2. The third full paragraph on page 941 of volume 25 of the 
Statutes at Large, in the Act of March 2,1889, as amended (40 U.S.C. 
256), is repealed. 
SEC. 3. Section 8 of the Act of March 1,1911 (36 Stat. 962 (16 U.S.C. 
517)) is amended by adding after "Attorney General" the words "or 
his designee". 
SEC. 4. Section 5 of the Act of February 26, 1931 (46 Stat. 1422 (40 
U.S.C. 258e)) is amended by deleting the words ", notwithstanding 
the provisions of section 855 of the Revised Statutes of the United 
States". 
SEC. 5. Sections 4776 and 9776 of title 10, United States Code, are 
each amended by deleting the sentence: "In such a case, section 175 
of title 50 does not apply." 
SEC. 6. Section 6 of the Act of February 18, 1929 (45 Stat. 1228, as 
amended (16 U.S.C. 715e)) is further amended by adding the words, 
"or his designee" after "Attorney General". 
Approved September 1, 1970. 
Lands acquired 
by U. S. 
Title approval 
by Attorney 
General. 
Repeal, 
75 Stat. 577. 
70A Stat. 270, 
591. 
49 Stat. 381.