Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-110
§6705 Limitations on Use of Grants
Title 42 › CHAPTER 80 — PUBLIC WORKS EMPLOYMENT › SUBCHAPTER I — LOCAL PUBLIC WORKS › § 6705
Summary
Grants under this law cannot pay for projects whose main goal is changing natural rivers or streams by channelizing, damming, diverting, or dredging them, or for building or enlarging canals (except canals kept as historic sites). Grant money also cannot be used to buy land or to pay ongoing maintenance on projects built with these funds. Applicants must promise that, if money is available, on-site work can start within 90 days of approval. After May 13, 1977, state or local agencies may not do the construction work themselves; work must be done by contract won through competitive bidding and given to the lowest responsible bidder. Applicants must certify they will not award contracts to companies that hire people in the United States illegally under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Only U.S.-made materials are to be used unless the Secretary finds that using them would be against the public interest, unreasonably costly, or not reasonably available in needed amounts and quality. At least 10 percent of each grant must go to minority business enterprises unless the Secretary allows otherwise. Minority business enterprise: a business at least 50% owned by minority group members, or a public business with at least 51% of stock owned by them. Minority group members: Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, African American, Hispanic, Native American, or Alaska Native. Projects must follow accessibility rules for the handicapped and elderly from the August 12, 1968 law, and the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (from the Rehabilitation Act of 1973) can check that they do.
Full Legal Text
Title 42, §6705
The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Projects relating to natural watercourse or canals
No grant shall be made under section 6702, 6703, or 6704 of this title for any project having as its principal purpose the channelization, damming, diversion, or dredging of any natural watercourse, or the construction or enlargement of any canal (other than a canal or raceway designated for maintenance as an historic site) and having as its permanent effect the channelization, damming, diversion, or dredging of such watercourse or construction or enlargement of any canal (other than a canal or raceway designated for maintenance as an historic site).
(b)Acquisition of interest in real property
No part of any grant made under section 6702, 6703, or 6704 of this title shall be used for the acquisition of any interest in real property.
(c)Maintenance costs
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to authorize the payment of maintenance costs in connection with any projects constructed (in whole or in part) with Federal financial assistance under this chapter.
(d)Commencement of on-site labor within 90 days of project approval as prerequisite
Grants made by the Secretary under this chapter shall be made only for projects for which the applicant gives satisfactory assurances, in such manner and form as may be required by the Secretary and in accordance with such terms and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe, that, if funds are available, on-site labor can begin within ninety days of project approval.
(e)Performance of projects by State or local governments prohibited; competitive bidding; illegal aliens
(1)No part of the construction (including demolition and other site preparation activities), renovation, repair, or other improvement of any public works project for which a grant is made under this chapter after May 13, 1977, shall be performed directly by any department, agency, or instrumentality of any State or local government. Construction of each such project shall be performed by contract awarded by competitive bidding, unless the Secretary shall affirmatively find that, under the circumstances relating to such project, some other method is in the public interest. Contracts for the construction of each project shall be awarded only on the basis of the lowest responsive bid submitted by a bidder meeting established criteria of responsibility. No requirement or obligation shall be imposed as a condition precedent to the award of a contract to such bidder for a project, or to the Secretary’s concurrence in the award of a contract to such bidder, unless such requirement or obligation is otherwise lawful and is specifically set forth in the advertised specifications.
(2)No grant shall be made under this chapter for any local public works project unless the State or local government applying for such grant submits with its application a certification acceptable to the Secretary that no contract will be awarded in connection with such project to any bidder who will employ on such project any alien in the United States in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act [8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.] or any other law, convention, or treaty of the United States relating to the immigration, exclusion, deportation, or expulsion of aliens.
(f)Use of products made in United States; minority business enterprises
(1)(A)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no grant shall be made under this chapter for any local public works project unless only such unmanufactured articles, materials, and supplies as have been mined or produced in the United States, and only such manufactured articles, materials, and supplies as have been manufactured in the United States substantially all from articles, materials, and supplies mined, produced, or manufactured, as the case may be, in the United States, will be used in such project.
(B)Subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall not apply in any case where the Secretary determines it to be inconsistent with the public interest, or the cost to be unreasonable, or if articles, materials, or supplies of the class or kind to be used or the articles, materials, or supplies from which they are manufactured are not mined, produced, or manufactured, as the case may be, in the United States in sufficient and reasonably available commercial quantities and of a satisfactory quality.
(2)Except to the extent that the Secretary determines otherwise, no grant shall be made under this chapter for any local public works project unless the applicant gives satisfactory assurance to the Secretary that at least 10 per centum of the amount of each grant shall be expended for minority business enterprises. For purposes of this paragraph, the term “minority business enterprise” means a business at least 50 per centum of which is owned by minority group members or, in case of a publicly owned business, at least 51 per centum of the stock of which is owned by minority group members. For the purposes of the preceding sentence, minority group members are citizens of the United States who are Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islanders, African American, Hispanic, Native American, or Alaska Natives.
(g)Accessibility standards for handicapped and elderly
No grant shall be made under this chapter for any project for which the applicant does not give assurances satisfactory to the Secretary that the project will be designed and constructed in accordance with the standards for accessibility for public buildings and facilities to the handicapped and elderly under the Act entitled “An Act to insure that certain buildings financed with Federal funds are so designed and constructed as to be accessible to the physically handicapped”, approved August 12, 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4151 et seq.). The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board established by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (P.L. 93–112) [29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.] is authorized to insure that any construction and renovation done pursuant to any grant made under this chapter complies with the accessibility standards for public bunldings and facilities issued under the Act of August 12, 1968.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
References in Text
The Immigration and Nationality Act, referred to in subsec. (e)(2), is act June 27, 1952, ch. 477, 66 Stat. 163, which is classified principally to chapter 12 (§ 1101 et seq.) of Title 8, Aliens and Nationality. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see
Short Title
note set out under section 1101 of Title 8 and Tables. Act of August 12, 1968, entitled “An Act to insure that certain buildings financed with Federal funds are so designed and constructed as to be accessible to the physically handicapped”, referred to in subsec. (g), is Pub. L. 90–480, Aug. 12, 1968, 82 Stat. 718, popularly known as the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, which is classified generally to chapter 51 (§ 4151 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see
Short Title
note set out under section 4151 of this title and Tables. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, referred to in subsec. (g), is Pub. L. 93–112, Sept. 26, 1973, 87 Stat. 355, which is classified generally to chapter 16 (§ 701 et seq.) of Title 29, Labor. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see
Short Title
note set out under section 701 of Title 29 and Tables.
Amendments
2016—Subsec. (f)(2). Pub. L. 114–157 substituted “Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islanders, African American, Hispanic, Native American, or Alaska Natives” for “Negroes, Spanish-speaking, Orientals, Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts”. 1977—Subsecs. (e) to (g). Pub. L. 95–28 added subsecs. (e) to (g).
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
42 U.S.C. § 6705
Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare
Last Updated
Sep 23, 2026
Release point: 119-110