§ 2361. Completion of plans and cost estimates
(a)
Restriction on agreements or grants
No agreement or grant which constitutes an obligation of the United States Government in excess of $500,000 under section
1501 of title
31 shall be made for any assistance authorized under part I of subchapter I of this chapter, subpart II of part II of subchapter I of this chapter, or part IV of subchapter II of this chapter—
(1)
if such agreement or grant requires substantive technical or financial planning, until engineering, financial, and other plans necessary to carry out such assistance, and a reasonably firm estimate of the cost to the United States Government of providing such assistance, have been completed; and
(b)
Plans for water or related land resource construction projects; computation of benefits and costs
Plans required under subsection (a) of this section for any water or related land resource construction project or program shall include a computation of benefits and costs made insofar as practicable in accordance with the principles, standards, and procedures established pursuant to the Water Resources Planning Act (42 U.S.C. 1962, et seq.) or acts amendatory or supplementary thereto.
(c)
Contracts for construction outside United States; competitive basis
To the maximum extent practicable, all contracts for construction outside the United States made in connection with any agreement or grant subject to subsection (a) of this section shall be made on a competitive basis.
(d)
Engineering, financial, and other plans
Subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to any assistance furnished for the sole purpose of preparation of engineering, financial, and other plans.
(e)
Certification of country capability to maintain and utilize projects as prerequisite to assistance for capital projects exceeding cost limitations
In addition to any other requirements of this section, no assistance authorized under part I of subchapter I of this chapter, subpart II of part II of subchapter I of this chapter, or part IV of subchapter II of this chapter shall be furnished with respect to any capital assistance project estimated to cost in excess of $1,000,000 until the head of the agency primarily responsible for administering subchapter I of this chapter has received and taken into consideration a certification from the principal officer of such agency in the country in which the project is located as to the capability of the country (both financial and human resources) to effectively maintain and utilize the project taking into account among other things the maintenance and utilization of projects in such country previously financed or assisted by the United States.