antitrust enforcement grants

antitrust enforcement grants Sec. 116. Part C of title I of such Act is amended by inserting immediately after section 308 the following new section: “Sec. 309. (a) The Attorney General is authorized to provide assistance and make grants to States which have State plans approved under subsection (c) of this section to improve the antitrust enforcement capability of such State. “(b) The attorney general of any State desiring to receive assistance or a grant under this section shall submit a plan consistent with such basic criteria as the Attorney General may establish under subsection (d) of this section. Such plan shall— “(1) provide for the administration of such plan by the attorney general of such State; “(2) set forth a program for training Stale officers and employees to improve the antitrust enforcement capability of such State; “(3) establish such fiscal controls and fund accounting procedures as may be necessary to assure proper disposal of and accounting of Federal funds paid to the State including such funds paid by the State to any agency of such State under this section; and “(4) provide for making reasonable reports in such form and containing such information as the Attorney General may reasonably require to carry out his function under this section, and for keeping such records and affording such access thereto as the Attorney General may find necessary to assure the correctness and verification of such reports. “(c) The Attorney General shall approve any State plan and any modification thereof which complies with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section. “(d) As soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this section the Attorney General shall, by regulation, prescribe basic criteria, for the purpose of establishing equitable distribution of funds received under this section among the States. “(e) Payments under this section shall be made from the allotment to any State which administers a plan approved under this section. Payments to a State under this section may be made in installments, in advance, or by way of reimbursement, with necessary adjustments on 90 STAT. 2416account of underpayment or overpayment, and may be made directly to a State or to one or more public agencies designated for this purpose by the State, or to both. “(f) The Comptroller General of the United States or any of his authorized representatives shall have access for the purpose of audit and examination to any books, documents, papers, and records that are pertinent to any grantee under this section. “(g) Whenever the Attorney General, after giving reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing to any State receiving a grant under this section, finds— “(1) that the program for which such grant was made has been so changed that it no longer complies with the provisions of this section; or “(2) that in the operation of the program there is failure to comply substantially with any such provision; the Attorney General shall notify such State of his findings and no further payments may be made to such State by the Attorney General until he is satisfied that such noncompliance has been, or will promptly be, corrected. However, the Attorney General may authorize the continuance of payments with respect to any program pursuant to this part which is being carried out by such State and which is not involved in the noncompliance. “(h) As used in this section the term— “(1) ‘State’ includes each of the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; “(2) ‘attorney general’ means the principal law enforcement officer of a State, if that officer is not the attorney genera] of that State; and “(3) ‘State officers and employees’ includes law or economics students or instructors engaged in a clinical program under the supervision of the attorney general of a State or the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division. “(i) In addition to any other sums authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this title, there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the purposes of this section not to exceed $10,060,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1977; not to exceed $10,000,600 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1978; and not to exceed $10,006,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1979.”.