20 U.S.C. § 107a : US Code - Section 107A: Federal and State responsibilities

Search 20 U.S.C. § 107a : US Code - Section 107A: Federal and State responsibilities

(a) Functions of Secretary; surveys; designation of State licensing
agencies; qualifications for license; evaluation of programs
The Secretary of Education shall -
(1) Insure that the Rehabilitation Services Administration is
the principal agency for carrying out this chapter; and the
Commissioner shall, within one hundred and eighty days after
enactment of the Randolph-Sheppard Act Amendments of 1974,
establish requirements for the uniform application of this
chapter by each State agency designated under paragraph (5) of
this subsection, including appropriate accounting procedures,
policies on the selection and establishment of new vending
facilities, distribution of income to blind vendors, and the use
and control of set-aside funds under section 107b(3) of this
title;
(2) Through the Commissioner, make annual surveys of concession
vending opportunities for blind persons on Federal and other
property in the United States, particularly with respect to
Federal property under the control of the General Services
Administration, the Department of Defense, and the United States
Postal Service;
(3) Make surveys throughout the United States of industries
with a view to obtaining information that will assist blind
persons to obtain employment;
(4) Make available to the public, and especially to persons and
organizations engaged in work for the blind, information obtained
as a result of such surveys;
(5) Designate as provided in section 107b of this title the
State agency for the blind in each State, or, in any State in
which there is no such agency, some other public agency to issue
licenses to blind persons who are citizens of the United States
for the operating of vending facilities on Federal and other
property in such State for the vending of newspapers,
periodicals, confections, tobacco products, foods, beverages, and
other articles or services dispensed automatically or manually
and prepared on or off the premises in accordance with all
applicable health laws, as determined by the State licensing
agency, and including the vending or exchange of chances for any
lottery authorized by State law and conducted by an agency of a
State; and
(6) Through the Commission,(!1) (A) conduct periodic
evaluations of the program authorized by this chapter, including
upward mobility and other training required by section 107d-4 of
this title, and (B) take such other steps, including the issuance
of such rules and regulations, as may be necessary or desirable
in carrying out the provisions of this chapter.
(b) Duty of State licensing agencies to prefer blind
The State licensing agency shall, in issuing each such license
for the operation of a vending facility, give preference to blind
persons who are in need of employment. Each such license shall be
issued for an indefinite period but may be terminated by the State
licensing agency if it is satisfied that the facility is not being
operated in accordance with the rules and regulations prescribed by
such licensing agency. Such licenses shall be issued only to
applicants who are blind within the meaning of section 107e of this
title.
(c) Selection of location and type of facility
The State licensing agency designated by the Secretary is
authorized, with the approval of the head of the department or
agency in control of the maintenance, operation, and protection of
the Federal property on which the facility is to be located but
subject to regulations prescribed pursuant to section 107 of this
title, to select a location for such facility and the type of
facility to be provided.
(d) Buildings occupied by United States departments, agencies, and
instrumentalities required to provide sites for facilities;
exceptions
(1) After January 1, 1975, no department, agency, or
instrumentality of the United States shall undertake to acquire by
ownership, rent, lease, or to otherwise occupy, in whole or in
part, any building unless, after consultation with the head of such
department, agency, or instrumentality and the State licensing
agency, it is determined by the Secretary that (A) such building
includes a satisfactory site or sites for the location and
operation of a vending facility by a blind person, or (B) if a
building is to be constructed, substantially altered, or renovated,
or in the case of a building that is already occupied on such date
by such department, agency, or instrumentality, is to be
substantially altered or renovated for use by such department,
agency, or instrumentality, the design for such construction,
substantial alteration, or renovation includes a satisfactory site
or sites for the location and operation of a vending facility by a
blind person. Each such department, agency, or instrumentality
shall provide notice to the appropriate State licensing agency of
its plans for occupation, acquisition, renovation, or relocation of
a building adequate to permit such State agency to determine
whether such building includes a satisfactory site or sites for a
vending facility.
(2) The provisions of paragraph (1) shall not apply (A) when the
Secretary and the State licensing agency determine that the number
of people using the property is or will be insufficient to support
a vending facility, or (B) to any privately owned building, any
part of which is leased by any department, agency, or
instrumentality of the United States and in which, (i) prior to the
execution of such lease, the lessor or any of his tenants had in
operation a restaurant or other food facility in a part of the
building not included in such lease, and (ii) the operation of such
a vending facility by a blind person would be in proximate and
substantial direct competition with such restaurant or other food
facility except that each such department, agency, and
instrumentality shall make every effort to lease property in
privately owned buildings capable of accommodating a vending
facility.
(3) For the purposes of this subsection, the term "satisfactory
site" means an area determined by the Secretary to have sufficient
space, electrical and plumbing outlets, and such other facilities
as the Secretary may by regulation prescribe, for the location and
operation of a vending facility by a blind person.
(e) State licensing agency in States having vocational
rehabilitation plans
In any State having an approved plan for vocational
rehabilitation pursuant to the Vocational Rehabilitation Act or the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 [29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.], the State
licensing agency designated under paragraph (5) of subsection (a)
of this section shall be the State agency designated under section
101(a)(2)(A) of such Rehabilitation Act of 1973 [29 U.S.C.
721(a)(2)(A)].