An Act to facilitate the performance of research and development work by and on behalf of the Departments of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, and for other purposes
PL 82-557 (H.R.1180), enacted 07/16/1952

66 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 557-JULY 16, 1952 
725 
tion thereof, and shall record, in such index the names and addresses 
of the principal debtors, trustees, guarantors and other parties thereto, 
as well as such other facts as may be necessary to facilitate the deter-
mination of the rights of the parties to such transactions." 
Approved July 16, 1952. 
Public Law 557 
CHAPTER 882 
AN ACT 
To facilitate the performance of research and development work by and on behalf 
of the Departments of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That each of the 
Secretaries of the military departments is hereby authorized to estab-
lish such advisory committees or panels as may be necessary for the 
conduct of the research and development activities of his department, 
and to employ such part-time advisory personnel as they may deem 
necessary in carrying out such activities. Persons holding other 
offices or positions under the United States for which they receive 
compensation, while serving as members of such committees, shall 
receive no additional compensation for such service. Other members 
of such committees and other part-time advisory personnel so 
employed may serve without compensation or may receive compensa-
tion at a rate not to exceed $50 for each day of service, as determined 
by the appointing authority. 
SEC. 2. No provision of law prohibiting employment of or payment 
of compensation or expenses to any person not a citizen of the United 
States shall apply to any expert, scientific, technical, or professional 
person whose appointment or employment in connection with the 
research and development activities of the military departments is 
determined by the Secretary concerned to be necessary. 
SEC. 3. Contracts of the military departments for services and use 
of facilities for research or development may be made for a term not 
to exceed five years, and may be extended for an additional period not 
to exceed five years, subject to the availability of appropriations 
therefor. 
SEC. 4. Any contract of the military departments for research or 
development, or both, may provide for the acquisition or construction 
by, or furnishing to, the contractor of such research, developmental, 
or test facilities and equipment as may be determined by the Secre-
tary concerned to be necessary for the performance thereof. 
Such 
research, developmental, or test facilities and equipment, including 
specialized housmg therefor, may be acquired or constructed at Gov-
ernment expense, and may be furnished to the contractor by lease, 
loan, or sale at fair value, and with or without reimbursement to the 
Government for the use thereof: Provided^ That nothing contained 
in this subsection shall be deemed to authorize new construction or 
improvements having general utility: Provided further^ That nothing 
contained herein shall be deemed to authorize the installation or con-
struction of facilities on property not owned by the Government 
which would not be readily removable or separable without unreason-
able expense or unreasonable loss of value, unless adequate provision 
is made in the contract for (1) reimbursement to the Government of 
the fair value of such facilities upon the completion or termination 
of the contract, or within a reasonable time thereafter, or (2) an 
July 16, 1952 
[H. R. 1180] 
Armed forces. 
Re search and de-
velopment. 
Employment of 
noncitizens. 
Contracts. 
PUBLIC LAW 557-JULY 16, 1952 
[66 S T A T . 
Reports. 
Regvilations. 
Delegations of 
authority. 
option in the Government to acquire the underlying land, or (3) such 
other provisions as will in the opinion of the Secretary concerned be 
adequate to protect the Government's interest in such facilities: And 
provided further, That all moneys arising from sales or reimburse-
ment under this section shall be covered into the Treasury as miscel-
laneous receipts, except to the extent otherwise authorized by law 
with respect to contractor-acquired property. 
The Secretary of each 
of the military departments shall transmit to the Congress reports 
covering contracts for research or development entered into during 
each six months following the enactment of this Act. 
Each such 
report shall contain (1) a list of each contract for research or develop-
ment entered into during such period the total cost of which to the 
Government will exceed $50,000, and (2) specific information with 
respect to each such contract, except that specific information the 
disclosure of which he deems incompatible with the security of the 
United States may be excluded from such reports. 
SEC. 5. With the approval of the Secretary concerned, any contract 
of the military departments for research or development, or both, may 
provide that the Government will indemnify the contractor against 
either or both of the following, to the extent that they arise out of the 
direct performance of said contract and are not compensated by 
insurance or otherwise: (1) Liability on account of claims (including 
reasonable expenses of litigation or settlement of such claims) by 
third persons, including employees of the contractor, for death, bodily 
injury, or loss of or damage to property, arising as a result of a risk 
defined in the contract to be unusually hazardous: Provided, That any 
contract so providing shall also contain appropriate provisions for 
notice to the Government of suits or actions filed or claims made, 
against the contractor, with respect to any alleged liability for such 
death, bodily injury, or loss of or damage to property, and for control 
of or assistance in the defense of any such suit, action, or claims, 
by the Government, at its election; and (2) loss of or damage to prop-
erty of the contractor arising as a result of a risk defined in the contract 
to be unusually hazardous: And provided further, That no payment 
shall be made by the Government under authority of this section 
unless the amount thereof shall first have been certified to be just and 
reasonable by the Secretary concerned or by an official of the depart-
ment designated for such purpose by the Secretary. 
Any such 
payment may be made, with the approval of the Secretary concerned, 
out of any funds obligated for the performance of such contract or 
out of funds available for research and development work and not 
otherwise obligated; or out of any funds appropriated by the Congress 
for the making of such payments. 
SEC. 6. Each of the Secretaries of the military departments is 
authorized to prescribe, with the approval of the Secretary of Defense 
and of the Comptroller General of the United States, regulations for 
his department stating the extent to which vouchers for funds 
expended under any contract for research or development, or both, 
shall be subject to itemization, substantiation, or certification prior to 
payment, without regard to the limitations of other laws relating 
to the expenditure of public funds and accounting therefor. 
SEC. 7. Each of the Secretaries of the military departments is 
authorized to delegate any authority provided by this Act to the Under 
Secretary or any Assistant Secretary of his department and, except 
the authority under the second proviso in section 4 hereof, the said 
Secretaries may delegate any authority provided by this Act to the 
chiefs of the technical services, bureaus, or offices and to one assistant 
66 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 559-JULY 16, 1952 
727 
to each such chief. 
The power to negotiate, execute, and administer 
contracts for research or development, or both, may be further 
delegated, subject to the provisions of any other applicable law. 
Approved July 16, 1952. 
Public Law 558 
CHAPTER 883 
AN ACT 
To amend title IV of the National Housing Act, as amended. 
July 16, 1952 
[H. R. 3177] 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 401 (b) 
of the National Housing Act, as amended, is hereby amended to 
read as follows: 
"(b) The term 'insured member' means an individual, partnership, 
association, or corporation which holds an insured account. 
Each 
officer, employee, or agent of the United States, of any State of the 
United States, of the District of Columbia, of any Territory of the 
United States, of Puerto Rico, of the Virgin Islands, of any county, 
of any municipality, or of any political subdivision thereof, herein 
called 'public unit', having official custody of public funds and law-
fully investing the same in an insured institution shall, for the 
purpose of determining the amount of the insured account, be deemed 
an insured member in such custodial capacity separate and distinct 
from any other officer, employee, or agent of the same or any public 
unit having official custody of public funds and lawfully investing 
the same in the same insured institution in custodial capacity. Funds 
held in fiduciary capacity, when invested in an insured institution, 
shall be insured in an amount not to exceed $10,000 for each trust 
estate, and notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, such 
insurance shall be separate from and additional to that covering 
other investments by the owners of such trust funds or the beneficiaries 
of such trust estates." 
Approved July 16, 1952. 
Insured member. 
48 Stat. 1255. 
12 u s e 1724. 
Public Law 559 
CHAPTER 884 
AN ACT 
To amend the Act entitled "An Act to authorize the conveyance of a portion of 
the United States military reservation at Fort Schuyler, New York, to the 
State of New York for use as a maritime school, and for other purposes", 
approved September 5, 1950. 
July 16, 1952 
[H. R. 4021] 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the first section 
of the Act entitled "An Act to authorize the conveyance of a portion 
of the United States military reservation at Fort Schuyler, New York, 
to the State of New York for use as a maritime school, and for other 
purposes", approved September 5, 1950 (Public Law 755, Eighty-first 
Congress), is hereby amended to read as follows: "That the Secretary 
of the Army is authorized to convey to the people of the State of New 
York all that portion of the United States Military Keservation at 
Fort Schuyler, in the borough and county of Bronx in the city of 
New York, State of New York, together with all improvements 
thereon, bounded and described as follows, to wit: Commencing at 
a point (latitude forty degrees forty-eight minutes twenty-three sec-
onds north; longitude seventy-three degrees forty-seven minutes fifty-
U. S. M i l i t a r y 
Reservation, Fort 
Schuyler, N. Y. 
Conveyance. 
64 Stat. 591.