§ 107a — Federal And State Responsibilities

(a) 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) (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) 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) 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. (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) 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)].