OFFICIAL OPINION No. 6

OFFICIAL OPINION No. 6 Project 70- Game Comm i ssion- Expenditure of encum bered, unused Project "10 funds 1. Project 70 funds that were certified as encumbered by the Game Com- mission on December 31, 1970, may be expended to complete a project approved prior to that date. OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 13 2. P~oject 70 funds that were certified as encumbered by the Ga,me Com- mis:510n on December 31, 1970, may be expended to expand a Project 70 proJect that was begun prior to that date. Honorable Glenn L. Bowers Executive Director Pennsylvania Game Commission Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Dear Mr. Bowers: Harrisburg, Pa. January 16, 1973 We have received an inquiry from you seeking our advice con- cerning the expenditure of funds under the Project 70 Land Acquisition and Borrowing Act, Act of June 22, 1964, Special Sess., P . L. 131 (72 P.S. §§3946.1 et seq.). Your inquiry, dated November 27, 1972, refers specifically to the Glades Water Fowl Project in State Game Land No. 95. You have initiated this in- quiry because of subsection ( c) of Section 16 of the Act which provides as follows : "On December 31, 1970, all funds still available for ex- penditure under the provisions of this act and not cer- tified as encumbered by the Department of Forest and Waters, Fish Commission, Game Commission and the Department of Commerce, shall be paid into the Project 70 Land Acquisition Sinking Fund, to be devoted to and to be used exclusively for the payment of interest accru- ing on bonds and the redemption of bonds at maturity." 72 P.S. §3946.16 ( c). It is our opinion, and you are advised, that the funds in ques- tion are presently allocable to the Game Commission in accor- dance with the stated purpose of the Act and that the Act does not require the payment thereof into the Sinking Fund. This question, with respect to whether you are obligated to pay the encumbered but unused funds into the Project 70 Land Acquisition Sinking Fund, was also considered in our Attorney General's Opinion No. 143, 2 Pa. B. 1659 (Aug. 3, 1972). In that opinion we specifically advised that funds were properly allo- cable to the Department of Environment! Resources in accor- dance with the purposes of the Act and that the Act did not au- thorize the payment thereof into the Sinking Fund where the funds on December 31, 1970, were encumbered by the Depart- ment of Community Affairs, but with respect to which the De- partment of Community Affairs subsequently abandoned its pro- jects. You have advised us that the total funds originally allocated to the Glades Water Fowl Project were $638,305.88. Of that amount the sum of $378,305.88 has been expended to date and $260,000.00 remains encumbered. The Commission now porposes to utilize $119,100.00 of the encumbered $260,000.00 to purchase five properties and four flooding easements and the balance of $140,900.00 to purchase additional properties. The additional 14 OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL properties will be contiguous to the original project and will ex- pand its boundaries. Since the expenditures will be from funds that were encum- bered on December 31, 1970, they may be used to expand .a.Pro- ject 70 project that was begun prior to that da~e. !he add1t10nal acquisitions can reasonably be deemed to be w1thm the con_ter:i- plation of the original project and are clearly embraced w1thm the specific purposes of the Act. The fact that the funds were en- cumbered on December 31, 1970, means that they are not re- quired to be paid into the Sinking Fund under Subsection (c) of Section 16 of the Act. Very truly yours, Enw ARD J. MoRRIS Deputy Attorney General ISRAEL P ACKEL Attorney General