Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1975 )

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November 26. 1975
The Honorable Douglass Hubbard Opinion No. H- 744
Executive Director
The Admiral Nimitz Center Re: Whether the Fleet Admiral
Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 Chester W. Nimitz Memorial
Museum Commission is an
agency eligible to receive a
federal outdoor recreation re-
sources grant.
Dear Mr. Hubbard:
You have requested our opinion regarding whether the Fleet Admiral
Chester W. Nimitz Memorial Museum Commission is a state agency eligible
to receive a federal grant. You state that the Commission desires to acquire
land and construct public use facilities on the basis of matching funds from the
Land and Water Conservation Fund of the Federal Bureau of Outdoor Recreation.
The Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Memorial Museum Commission
was created by Acts 1969, 61 st Leg., ch. 8, p. 19. The Commission is
authorized thereby, in section 3, to
[h] accept on behalf of the State of Texas
donations of money, property and historical
relics.
and to
[i] acquire property and historical relics
by purchase within the limits of funds avail-
able.
The purpose of the Commission is to
foster and commemorate the memory of the
era of supreme United States naval power
upon the seas and the men and women of the
armed services whose gallant and selfless
dedication to duty made this era possible.
Section 3(a).
p. 3160
.
.’
The Honorable Douglass Hubbard - page two (H-744)
The statute was amended in 1971 to permit the Commission to “exercise the
power of eminent domain to acquire the lands that are necessary and proper
for carrying out its purposes.” Acts 1971, 62nd Leg., ch. 304, p. 1239.
In Attorney General Opinion M-1212( 1972), this Office concluded that
the Commission was authorized to enter into a contract with the United States
Department of Housing & Urban Development to receive funds for the purpose
of purchasing or condemning certain real estate that would comprise part of
the museum site. In our view, Attorney General Opinion M-1212 was clearly
correct, since the Commission is expressly authorized to “acquire property”
and to “exercise the power of eminent domain. ” Thus, it is our opinion that
the Commission is an agency eligible to receive federal funds and that it may
expend such funds to purchase or condemn land and other property.
The Commission is not specifically authorized by statute to develop
recreational facilities, however. Although construction of limited public use
facilities would appear to be a means of fulfilling the Commission’s statutory
purpose, and would derive from its authority to acquire property, it will re-
main a fact question whether the development of a particular type of recreation-
al resource would be within the Commission’s purpose provided in section 3a,
supra.
It is of course well established that an administrative agency has only
such powers as are expressly granted to it by statute and those necessarily im-
plied therefrom. Stauffer v. San Antonio, 344 S.W.2d 158 (Tex.Sup. 1961).
Although a statute conferring administrative authority is to be liberally construed,
Railroad Commission of Texas v. Galveston Chamber of Commerce, 145 S.W.
573 (Tex. Sup. 1912). the aeencv must not act bevond the clear intent of the
Legislature: Gulf .&ast w’ate,; Co. v. Cartwriiht, 160 S.W.2d 269 (Tex. Civ.
APP. --Galveston 1942, err. ref. w. 0. m. ).
SUMMARY
The Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz Memorial
Museum Commission is an agency eligible to receive
federal funds and may expend such funds to purchase
or condemn land and other property. The extent to
which the Commission may expend funds to develop
recreational facilities is a fact question.
-Very truly yours,
p. 3161
The Honorable Douglass Hubbard - page three (H-744)
APPROVED:
Opinion Committee
jad:
p. 3162