2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-EIGHT - Public Lands (§§ 1 — 737) › PART II - Land Authority (§§ 241 — 512) › Chapter 31 - Creation and Powers (§§ 241 — 292) › Subchapter II - General Powers and Faculties (§§ 261 — 292) › § 261 - General rights and powers

The Land Authority shall have juridical personality and is hereby vested with, and shall have and may exercise, all the rights and powers necessary or advisable for carrying out the aforesaid purposes, including, but without limiting the scope of said purposes, the following:
(a) To have perpetual succession.
(b) To adopt, alter, and use a seal which shall be judicially noticed.
(c) To draft, adopt, amend, and repeal rules and regulations to govern the policies of its activities in general and to exercise and discharge the powers and duties granted to and imposed on it by law, and upon the approval and promulgation of said rules and regulations by the Board of the Authority they shall have the force of law.
(d) To sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, and litigate and defend itself in all courts of justice.
(e) To have full powers to enforce the agrarian policy of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as herein established.
(f) To enter into contracts and formulate and execute all instruments necessary or advisable in the exercise of any of its powers.
(g) To acquire land by purchase, assignment, transfer, exchange, lease, devise, gift, or by the exercise of the power of eminent domain as provided by §§ 241 et seq. of this title and the laws of Puerto Rico, and to hold, conserve and operate any agricultural enterprise as provided in §§ 241 et seq. of this title, and to acquire through like means, construct or operate plants or factories for the industrial processing of agricultural products or byproducts, or products or byproducts related with or necessary or advisable for the development or promotion of agriculture.
(g-1) To subscribe to, acquire, own, and dispose of stock in corporations and cooperative associations engaged in the production of equipment or in the production or mixture of materials necessary for agriculture, or engaged in the production, industrial processing, purchase, packing or sale of farm produce or byproducts thereof. The Authority is hereby empowered to exercise all the powers and discharge all the duties inherent in its title to such stock.
(h) To hold, possess, or control in any lawful manner or under any title, for such time as it may deem necessary within the purposes of §§ 241 et seq. of this title, land in excess of five hundred (500) acres, but in no case shall subsidiaries having private stockholders exceed the said limit.
(i) To reclaim swamp lands belonging to the Commonwealth Government when, by provision of the Legislature of Puerto Rico, the United States Congress, or any governmental authority, the ownership, possession, or control of the said land is conveyed to the Authority; and likewise to acquire such land for the reclamation or material utilization thereof when, in its judgment, it is necessary for the carrying out of the purposes of §§ 241 et seq. of this title.
(j) To purchase, lease as lessee, or otherwise acquire and possess, as well as to use, land or any interest therein which it may deem necessary or advisable for carrying out the purposes of the Authority, and to sell, convey, exchange, or lease the said land or any part thereof for the purposes and in the manner provided in §§ 241 et seq. of this title. In the event of sales or conveyances of land of whatever kind to [juridical] persons, the latter shall not retain possession of more than five hundred (500) acres after the sale or conveyance is executed.
(k) To borrow money for any of its purposes and to secure the repayment of same by the encumbering, mortgaging, or pledging of all or any of its lands, properties, contracts, revenues, and receipts; to make, issue, and sell bonds of the Authority for any of the said purposes and to secure the payment of its bonds by the encumbering, mortgaging, or pledging of all or any of its lands, properties, contracts, revenues, and receipts.
(l) To make, issue, and sell bonds for the purpose of consolidating, reimbursing, paying, or redeeming any outstanding bonds issued or assumed by it, or any bonds or obligations whose principal and interest are payable in whole or in part from its revenues and receipts.
(m) To accept, either in its own behalf or in behalf of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, financial assistance of any nature, including subsidies, donations, advances, and other assistance of a like nature, from any agency or instrumentality of the Government of the United States of America or of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or of political subdivisions thereof, and to enter into contracts, leases, agreements, or other transactions with any of the said agencies, and invest the proceeds thus received for the purposes established in §§ 241 et seq. of this title.
(m-1) To accept in its own behalf from the Government of the United States of America or of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or from any dependency, instrumentality, or political subdivision of any of the said governments, the transfer of projects of any nature and the funds for the operation, continuation, and maintenance thereof.
(n) To sell or otherwise dispose of any real or personal property which in the opinion of the Authority is no longer necessary for its directly carrying out the purposes of §§ 241 et seq. of this title.
(o) To enter upon any land, upon notice to the owners or holders thereof or their representatives, for the purpose of taking measurements and making surveys and researches with regard to the nature, conditions, and value of the said land; Provided, That these powers shall not be delegated to the subsidiary corporation or corporations created by the Authority.
(p) To appoint such officers, agents, and employees, vest them with such powers, faculties, responsibilities and authorities, impose on them such duties, submit them to such rules, regulations, and provisions, and fix, change, and pay them such compensation for their services, as the Authority may determine, and in the manner determined by the Authority, subject to the policies, regulations and procedures approved by the Board. The administration of all the personnel matters of the Authority and of its subsidiary corporations shall be carried out without subjection to the personnel laws or rules and regulations promulgated by the Office of Personnel of the Government of Puerto Rico.
(q) To advance money through crop loan contracts or such other means as the Authority may deem pertinent, to its subsidiary corporations and to its purchasers, lessees, and colonos, producers or other suppliers, for plants or factories for the industrial processing or products or byproducts operated by it under subsection (g) of this section, when in its judgment such action is advisable for the purposes of §§ 241 et seq. of this title, and to accept liens on crops as security, or any other security which the Authority may deem satisfactory, and to stipulate all other conditions that the Authority may deem advisable and necessary, and the Authority may also make arrangements with federal, Commonwealth or private credit agencies or with individuals in order to facilitate the obtaining of crop, agricultural or other loans by its subsidiary corporations, and by its purchasers, lessees and colonos, producers or other suppliers for the plants or factories for the industrial processing of agricultural products and byproducts operated by it under subsection (g) of this section; Provided, That the Authority may make partial liquidation to said colonos, producers or other suppliers on the products and byproducts delivered, and may likewise accept authorization from said colonos, producers or other suppliers in order that the liquidation on their agricultural products and byproducts, whether final or partial, be paid to the credit agencies or persons that may grant them said loans.
(r) To establish Commonwealth demonstration farms.
(s) To have complete control over and intervention in each and every one of its properties and activities, including the power to determine the nature of and the necessity for all expenses and the manner in which same shall be incurred, authorized, and paid regardless of any provisions of law regulating disbursement of public funds, and such determination shall be final and conclusive for all officers and employees of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(t) To contract jointly with its subsidiary corporations and/or with the proportional-profit farms, crop or [pignorative] loans, or others, and/or to guarantee or act as a surety for its subsidiary corporations and/or for the proportional-profit farms created under the provisions of Title IV of this act on crop or [pignorative] loans or others executed by said subsidiary corporations or by said proportional-profit farms in favor of Commonwealth or federal agencies, banks or private individuals.
(u) To apply for, register, acquire by purchase or other lawful means, and own, hold, use, develop, exploit, and sell, rights and privileges relating to any patents, rights, trademarks, trade names, emblems, copyrights, syndicate rights, inventions, discoveries, concessions, procedures, and formulas of any kind, or to otherwise profit from or dispose of same, whether they are used in relation with patent certificates or otherwise or are obtained under same, or to sell the said rights and privileges belonging to it.
(v) To carry out agricultural development and promotion programs.
(v-1) To engage on a commercial or semi-commercial scale in the production, processing, marketing and distribution of agricultural and cattle products and byproducts related to, or that may be necessary or advisable for agricultural development or promotion.
(v-2) To provide private enterprises engaged in the production, processing, marketing and distribution of agricultural and cattle products and byproducts or products and byproducts related with or necessary and advisable for agricultural development or promotion, for adequate compensation, with such lands and facilities as in its judgment are necessary or convenient for the best development of each business; Provided, That in the case of [juridical] persons so provided with land, the provisions of subsection (j) of this section shall apply.
(v-3) To establish, for its own operation or for lease or sale to private enterprises, facilities for the production, processing, marketing and distribution of agricultural and cattle products and byproducts, or products or byproducts related with or necessary or advisable for agricultural development or promotion; of feeds in general, or of goods and equipment necessary in the production, processing, marketing and distribution of said products and byproducts and feeds.
(v-4) To enter into agreements with other private enterprises or with federal or Commonwealth dependencies for them to carry out scientific research projects relating to the production, processing, marketing and distribution of agricultural and cattle products and byproducts, or products and byproducts related with or necessary or advisable for agricultural development and promotion.
(v-5) To grant loans to individuals and to private organizations which, in the case of [juridical] persons, do not own more than five hundred (500) acres of land, in furtherance of the production, processing, marketing and distribution of agricultural and cattle products and byproducts, or products and byproducts related with or necessary or advisable for agricultural development and promotion.
(v-6) To render services and technical aid, with or without compensation, and to lease and sell equipment or supplies, to persons or entities engaged in the activities of production, processing, marketing or distribution of agricultural and cattle products and byproducts, or products and byproducts related with or necessary or advisable for agricultural development or promotion; or products necessary in the production, processing, marketing and distribution thereof.
(v-7) To carry out, either directly or by contract, the development, promotion and publicizing of the activities, products, and programs of the Authority and/or of its subsidiary corporations.
In the exercise of its powers and faculties and as concerns the subsidiary entities whose creation is authorized by §§ 241 et seq. of this title, both the Authority as well as the said subsidiaries shall promote the acquiring of stock by their workmen and may, insofar as possible, facilitate such acquisition, abiding by the circumstances attending each subsidiary and the purposes of its creation.
History —Apr. 12, 1941, No. 26, p. 388, § 8; May 11, 1942, No. 197, p. 996, §§ 3—6; May 10, 1945, No. 158, p. 536, §§ 1, 2; Apr. 26, 1946, No. 474, p. 1376, § 2; May 13, 1947, No. 355, p. 682; May 13, 1947, No. 358, p. 688; Apr. 19, 1950, No. 65, p. 164; May 15, 1950, No. 429, p. 1048, § 5; Sept. 26, 1950, No. 5, p. 298; May 15, 1952, No. 471, p. 1030; May 28, 1954, No. 46, p. 260, § 6; June 30, 1955, No. 106, p. 622, § 5; June 27, 1958, No. 131, p. 315, § 4.