TITLE 48 - US CODE - CHAPTER 17 - NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS

TITLE 48 - US CODE - SUBCHAPTER I - APPROVAL OF COVENANT AND SUPPLEMENTAL PROVISIONS

48 USC 1801 - Approval of Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

The Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America, the text of which is as follows, is hereby approved.

48 USC 1802 - Consideration of issues affecting relations with United States

It is the sense of the Congress that pursuant to section 902 of the foregoing Covenant, and in any case within ten years from March 24, 1976, the President of the United States should request, on behalf of the United States, the designation of special representatives to meet and to consider in good faith such issues affecting the relationship between the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States as may be designated by either Government and to make a report and recommendations with respect thereto.

48 USC 1803 - Financial assistance to Government of Northern Mariana Islands

Pursuant to section 701 of the foregoing Covenant, enactment of this section shall constitute a commitment and pledge of the full faith and credit of the United States for the payment of $228 million at guaranteed annual amounts of direct grant assistance for the Government of the Northern Mariana Islands for an additional period of seven fiscal years after the expiration of the initial seven-year period specified in section 702 of said Covenant, which assistance shall be provided according to the schedule of payments contained in the Agreement of the Special Representatives on Future United States Financial Assistance for the Government of the Northern Mariana Islands, executed July 10, 1985, between the special representative of the President of the United States and the special representatives of the Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands. The islands of Rota and Tinian shall each receive no less than a 1/8 share and the island of Saipan shall receive no less than a 1/4 share of annualized capital improvement project funds, which shall be no less than 80 per centum of the capital development funds identified in the schedule of payments in paragraph 2 of part II of the Agreement of the Special Representatives. Funds shall be granted according to such regulations as are applicable to such grants.

48 USC 1804 - Direct grant assistance

(a) Composite price index adjustments not applicable 
Section 704(c) of the foregoing Covenant shall not apply to the Federal financial assistance which is provided to the Government of the Northern Mariana Islands pursuant to section 1803 of this title.
(b) Additional years of assistance 
Upon the expiration of the period of Federal financial assistance which is provided to the Government of the Northern Mariana Islands pursuant to section 1803 of this title, payments of direct grant assistance shall continue at the annual level provided for the last fiscal year of the additional period of seven fiscal years except that, for fiscal years 1996 through 1999, payments to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands pursuant to the multi-year funding agreements contemplated under the Covenant shall be $11,000,000 annually and for fiscal year 2000, payments to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands shall be $5,580,000, but shall return to the level of $11,000,000 annually for fiscal years 2001 and 2002. In fiscal year 2003, the payment to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands shall be $5,420,000. Such payments shall be subject to an equal local match and all other requirements set forth in the Agreement of the Special Representatives on Future Federal Financial Assistance of the Northern Mariana Islands, executed on December 17, 1992 between the special representative of the President of the United States and special representatives of the Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands with any additional amounts otherwise made available under this section in any fiscal year and not required to meet the schedule of payments in this subsection to be provided as set forth in subsection (c) of this section until Congress otherwise provides by law.
(c) Specific allocations for capital infrastructure projects 
The additional amounts referred to in subsection (b) of this section shall be made available to the Secretary for obligation as follows:
(1) for fiscal years 1996 through 2001, $4,580,000 annually for capital infrastructure projects as Impact Aid for Guam under section 1904 (e)(6)1 of this title;
(2) for fiscal year 1996, $7,700,000 shall be provided for capital infrastructure projects in American Samoa; $4,420,000 for resettlement of Rongelap Atoll; and[2]
(3) for fiscal years 1997 and thereafter, all such amounts shall be available solely for capital infrastructure projects in Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands: Provided, That, in fiscal year 1997, $3,000,000 of such amounts shall be made available to the College of the Northern Marianas and beginning in fiscal year 1997, and in each year thereafter, not to exceed $3,000,000 may be allocated, as provided in appropriations Acts, to the Secretary of the Interior for use by Federal agencies or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to address immigration, labor, and law enforcement issues in the Northern Mariana Islands. The specific projects to be funded in American Samoa shall be set forth in a five-year plan for infrastructure assistance developed by the Secretary of the Interior in consultation with the American Samoa Government and updated annually and submitted to the Congress concurrent with the budget justifications for the Department of the Interior. In developing budget recommendations for capital infrastructure funding, the Secretary shall indicate the highest priority projects, consider the extent to which particular projects are part of an overall master plan, whether such project has been reviewed by the Corps of Engineers and any recommendations made as a result of such review, the extent to which a set-aside for maintenance would enhance the life of the project, the degree to which a local cost-share requirement would be consistent with local economic and fiscal capabilities, and may propose an incremental set-aside, not to exceed $2,000,000 per year, to remain available without fiscal year limitation, as an emergency fund in the event of natural or other disasters to supplement other assistance in the repair, replacement, or hardening of essential facilities: Provided further, That the cumulative amount set aside for such emergency fund may not exceed $10,000,000 at any time.[3]
(4) for fiscal year 2000, $5,420,000 shall be provided to the Virgin Islands for correctional facilities and other projects mandated by Federal law.
(d) Resettlement of Rongelap Atoll 
Within the amounts allocated for infrastructure pursuant to this section, and subject to the specific allocations made in subsection (c) of this section, additional contributions may be made, as set forth in appropriations Acts, to assist in the resettlement of Rongelap Atoll: Provided, That the total of all contributions from any Federal source after April 26, 1996, may not exceed $32,000,000 and shall be contingent upon an agreement, satisfactory to the President, that such contributions are a full and final settlement of all obligations of the United States to assist in the resettlement of Rongelop[4] Atoll and that such funds will be expended solely on resettlement activities and will be properly audited and accounted for. In order to provide such contributions in a timely manner, each Federal agency providing assistance or services, or conducting activities, in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is authorized to make funds available through the Secretary of the Interior, to assist in the resettlement of Rongelap. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to limit the provision of ex gratia assistance pursuant to section 1905 (c)(2) of this title including for individuals choosing not to resettle at Rongelap, except that no such assistance for such individuals may be provided until the Secretary notifies the Congress that the full amount of all funds necessary for resettlement at Rongelap has been provided.
[1] See References in Text note below.
[2] So in original. The word “and” probably should not appear.
[3] So in original. The period probably should be “; and”.
[4] So in original. Probably should be “Rongelap”.

48 USC 1805 - Failure to meet performance standards; resolution of issues; withholding of funds

Should the Secretary of the Interior believe that the performance standards of the agreement identified in section 1803 of this title are not being met, he shall notify the Government of the Northern Mariana Islands in writing with the intent to resolve such issue in a mutually agreeable and expeditious manner and notify the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate. Should the issue not be resolved within thirty days after the notification is received by the Government of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Secretary of the Interior may request authority from Congress to withhold payment of an appropriate amount of the operations funds identified in the schedule of payments in paragraph 2 of part II of the Agreement of the Special Representatives for a period of less than one year but no funds shall be withheld except by Act of Congress.

TITLE 48 - US CODE - SUBCHAPTER II - JUDICIAL MATTERS

48 USC 1821 - District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands

(a) Establishment; judicial circuit; terms of court 
There is established for and within the Northern Mariana Islands a court of record to be known as the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. The Northern Mariana Islands shall constitute a part of the same judicial circuit of the United States as Guam. Terms of court shall be held on Saipan and at such other places and at such times as the court may designate by rule or order.
(b) Appointment, tenure, removal, compensation, etc., of District Court judge; appointment of United States attorney and United States marshal 

(1) The President shall, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint a judge for the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands who shall hold office for the term of ten years and until his successor is chosen and qualified, unless sooner removed by the President for cause. The judge shall receive a salary payable by the United States which shall be at the rate prescribed for judges of the United States district courts.
(2) The Chief Judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit of the United States may assign justices of the High Court of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands or judges of courts of record of the Northern Mariana Islands who are licensed attorneys in good standing or a circuit or district judge of the ninth circuit, including a judge of the District Court of Guam who is appointed by the President or a recalled senior judge of the District Court of Guam or of the District Court of the Northern Mariana Islands, or the Chief Justice of the United States may assign any other United States circuit or district judge with the consent of the judge so assigned and of the chief judge of his circuit to serve temporarily as a judge in the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands whenever such an assignment is necessary for the proper dispatch of the business of the court. Such judges shall have all the powers of a judge of the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, including the power to appoint any person to a statutory position, or to designate a depository of funds or a newspaper for publication of legal notices.
(3) The President shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a United States attorney and United States marshal for the Northern Mariana Islands to whose offices the provisions of chapters 35 and 37 of title 28, respectively, shall apply.
(4) If the President appoints a judge for the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands or a United States attorney or a United States marshal for the Northern Mariana Islands who at that time is serving in the same capacity in another district, the appointment shall, without prejudice to a subsequent appointment, be for the unexpired term of such judge or officer.
(c) Applicability of Federal rules and statutory requirements 
Where appropriate, and except as otherwise provided in articles IV and V of the Covenant approved by the Act of March 24, 1976 (90 Stat. 263), the provisions of part II of title 18 and of titles[1] 28, the rules of practice and procedure heretofore or hereafter promulgated and made effective by the Congress or the Supreme Court of the United States pursuant to titles 11, 18, and 28 shall apply to the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands and appeals therefrom; except that the terms Attorney for the government and United States attorney, as used in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, shall, when applicable to cases arising under the laws of the Northern Mariana Islands, include the Attorney General of the Northern Mariana Islands or such other person or persons as may be authorized by the laws of the Northern Mariana Islands to act therein.
[1] So in original.

48 USC 1822 - Jurisdiction of District Court; original jurisdiction; procedural requirements

(a) The District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands shall have the jurisdiction of a District Court of the United States, including, but not limited to, the diversity jurisdiction provided for in section 1332 of title 28 and that of a bankruptcy court of the United States.
(b) The district court shall have original jurisdiction in all causes in the Northern Mariana Islands not described in subsection (a) of this section jurisdiction over which is not vested by the Constitution or laws of the Northern Mariana Islands in a court or courts of the Northern Mariana Islands. In causes brought in the district court solely on the basis of this subsection, the district court shall be considered a court of the Northern Mariana Islands for the purposes of determining the requirements of indictment by grand jury or trial by jury.

48 USC 1823 - Appellate jurisdiction of District Court; procedure; review by United States Court of Appeals for Ninth Circuit; rules

(a) Appellate jurisdiction of District Court 
Prior to the establishment of an appellate court for the Northern Mariana Islands the district court shall have such appellate jurisdiction over the courts established by the Constitution or laws of the Northern Mariana Islands as the Constitution and laws of the Northern Mariana Islands provide, except that such Constitution and laws may not preclude the review of any judgment or order which involves the Constitution, treaties, or laws of the United States, including the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America (90 Stat. 263) (hereinafter referred to as Covenant), or any authority exercised thereunder by an officer or agency of the Government of the United States, or the conformity of any law enacted by the legislature of the Northern Mariana Islands or of any orders or regulations issued or actions taken by the executive branch of the government of the Northern Mariana Islands with the Constitution, treaties, or laws of the United States, including the Covenant or with any authority exercised thereunder by an officer or agency of the United States.
(b) Appellate division of District Court; quorum; presiding judge; designation of judges; decisions 
Appeals to the district court shall be heard and determined by an appellate division of the court consisting of three judges, of whom two shall constitute a quorum. The judge appointed for the court by the President shall be the presiding judge of the appellate division and shall preside therein unless disqualified or otherwise unable to act. The other judges who are to sit in the appellate division at any session shall be designated by the presiding judge from among the judges assigned to the court from time to time pursuant to section 1821 (b)(2) of this title: Provided, That no more than one of them may be a judge of a court of record of the Northern Mariana Islands. The concurrence of two judges shall be necessary to any decision by the appellate division of the district court on the merits of an appeal but the presiding judge alone may make any appropriate orders with respect to an appeal prior to the hearing and determination thereof on the merits and may dismiss an appeal for want of jurisdiction or failure to take or prosecute it in accordance with the applicable law or rules of procedure.
(c) United States Court of Appeals for Ninth Circuit; jurisdiction; appeals; rules 
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit shall have jurisdiction of appeals from all final decisions of the appellate division of the district court. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit shall have jurisdiction to promulgate rules necessary to carry out the provisions of this subsection.

48 USC 1824 - Relations between courts of United States and courts of Northern Mariana Islands; applicability of statutory provisions

(a) The relations between the courts established by the Constitution or laws of the United States and the courts of the Northern Mariana Islands with respect to appeals, certiorari, removal of causes, the issuance of writs of habeas corpus, and other matters or proceedings shall be governed by the laws of the United States pertaining to the relations between the courts of the United States including the Supreme Court of the United States, and the courts of the several States in such matters and proceedings, except as otherwise provided in article IV of the covenant: Provided, That for the first fifteen years following the establishment of an appellate court of the Northern Mariana Islands the United States court of appeals for the judicial circuit which includes the Northern Mariana Islands shall have jurisdiction of appeals from all final decisions of the highest court of the Northern Mariana Islands from which a decision could be had in all cases involving the Constitution, treaties, or laws of the United States, or any authority exercised thereunder, unless those cases are reviewable in the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands pursuant to section 1823 of this title.
(b) Those portions of title 28 which apply to Guam or the District Court of Guam shall be applicable to the Northern Mariana Islands or the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, respectively, except as otherwise provided in article IV of the covenant. The district court established by this subchapter shall be a district court as that term is used in section 3006A of title 18.

48 USC 1825 - Effective date

This subchapter shall come into force upon its approval or at the time proclaimed by the President for the Constitution of the Northern Mariana Islands to become effective, whichever is the later date.

48 USC 1826 - Authorization of appropriations

There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this subchapter.

TITLE 48 - US CODE - SUBCHAPTER III - MISCELLANEOUS

48 USC 1841 - Funds and services

(a) Acquisition and construction of powerplant and distribution facilities 
There is hereby authorized to be appropriated for expenditure after October 1, 1978, not more than $12,000,000 plus or minus such amounts, if any, as may be justified by reason of ordinary fluctuations in construction costs from October 1978 price levels as indicated by engineering cost indexes applicable to the types of construction involved, to assist in the acquisition and construction of a powerplant for the Northern Mariana Islands together with upgrading, rehabilitation, or replacement of distribution facilities.
(b) Services and facilities of Federal agencies; grants-in-aid; availability of appropriations in succeeding fiscal years 

(1) The government of the Northern Marianas in carrying out the purposes of this Act, Public Law 95134, or Public Law 94241 [48 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.], may utilize, to the extent practicable, the available services and facilities of agencies and instrumentalities of the Federal Government on a reimbursable basis. Such amounts may be credited to the appropriation or fund which provided the services and facilities. Agencies and instrumentalities of the Federal Government may, when practicable, make available to the government of the Northern Marianas, upon request of the Secretary, such services and facilities as they are equipped to render or furnish, and they may do so without reimbursement if otherwise authorized by law.
(2) Any funds made available to the Northern Mariana Islands under grant-in-aid programs by section 502 of the Covenant To Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union With the United States of America (Public Law 94241), or pursuant to any other Act of Congress enacted after March 24, 1976, are hereby authorized to remain available until expended.
(3) Any amount authorized by the Covenant described in paragraph (2) or by any other Act of Congress enacted after March 24, 1976, which authorizes appropriations for the Northern Mariana Islands, but not appropriated for a fiscal year is authorized to be available for appropriation in succeeding fiscal years.
(c) Food stamps and distribution of donated foods 
Notwithstanding the provisions of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 [7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.], the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized, upon the request of the Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands, acting pursuant to legislation enacted in accordance with section 5 and 7 of article II of the Constitution of the Northern Mariana Islands, and for the period during which such legislation is effective,
(1)  to implement a food stamp program in part or all of the Northern Mariana Islands with such income and household standards of eligibility, deductions, and allotment values as the Secretary determines, after consultation with the Governor, to be suited to the economic and social circumstances of such islands: Provided, That in no event shall such income standards of eligibility exceed those in the forty-eight contiguous States, and
(2)  to distribute or permit a distribution of federally donated foods in any part of the Northern Mariana Islands for which the Governor has not requested that the food stamp program be implemented. This authority shall remain in effect through September 30, 1981, and shall not apply to section 1421q–1 or 1574–11 of this title.
(d) Administration and enforcement of revenue and taxation provisions of Covenant 

(1) The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed, upon the request of the Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands, acting pursuant to legislation enacted in accordance with sections 5 and 7 of article II of the Constitution of the Northern Mariana Islands, or upon receipt of a resolution adopted by both houses of the legislature of the Northern Mariana Islands accompanied by a letter of request from either the Governor or the Lieutenant Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands, without reimbursement or other cost to the government of the Northern Mariana Islands, to administer and enforce the provisions of section 601, 603, or 604 of the Covenant To Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union With the United States of America (Public Law 94241; 90 Stat. 263, 269) and in order to administer and enforce the collection of any payroll tax or other tax measured by income which may be in force in the Northern Mariana Islands pursuant to section 602 of such Covenant. This authority shall continue until such time as the Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands, acting pursuant to legislation enacted in accordance with sections 5 and 7 of article II of the Constitution of the Northern Mariana Islands, requests the Secretary of the Treasury to discontinue the administration and enforcement of such taxes. The administration and enforcement of such taxes by the government of the Northern Mariana Islands shall begin on January 1 of the year following the year in which such Northern Mariana Islands law is enacted.
(2) For purposes of carrying out any administration and enforcement required by this subsection, the Secretary of the Treasury (hereinafter in this subsection referred to as the Secretary), or his delegate, at no cost to the Northern Marianas government, may
(A)  employ citizens of the Northern Mariana Islands (as defined by Article III of the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States (approved, Public Law 94241; 90 Stat. 265), or
(B)  use the services of employees of the government of the Northern Mariana Islands, upon agreement to pay such government for the use of such services. In addition, the Secretary, or his delegate, shall make every effort to assure that citizens of the Northern Mariana Islands (as so defined) are trained to ultimately assume the administration and enforcement duties required of the Secretary or his delegate under this section. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary or his delegate is authorized to the maximum extent feasible in administering and enforcing the requested sections of the Covenant, to employ and train Northern Mariana Islands citizens without regard to United States Civil Service hiring or job classification laws or any employment ceilings imposed upon the Secretary. The preceding sentence shall not exempt such Northern Mariana Islands citizens so hired from any other laws affecting Federal or Internal Revenue Service employees and shall remain in effect until the end of the third full fiscal year following March 12, 1980.
(3) As part of the administration of taxes required by this subsection, the Secretary or his delegate shall establish, at no cost to the Northern Marianas government, a taxpayers information service to provide such information and assistance to citizens of the Northern Mariana Islands (as so defined) as may be necessary for the filing of returns and the payment of such taxes.
[1] See References in Text note below.

48 USC 1842 - Covering into Commonwealth treasury of tax proceeds collected pursuant to Covenant

The Secretary shall take such steps as are necessary to ensure that the proceeds of taxes collected under the provisions of sections 601, 602, 603, and 604 of the Covenant (Public Law 94241) are covered directly upon collection into the treasury of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

48 USC 1843 - Exemption from taxation for income derived from sources within Commonwealth

(a) Taxable years beginning after December 31, 1978, but not after January 1, 1985 
Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, any person, including an individual, trust, estate, partnership, association, company, or corporation, which is a resident of or which is organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and which is subject to the provisions of section 601 of the Covenant to Establish the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States (Public Law 94241), shall be exempted from the requirements of such section with respect to income derived from sources within the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands for taxable years beginning after December 31, 1978, until, but not after, January 1, 1985. Nothing in this section shall be construed as relieving such person from the obligation to comply with the requirements of section 601 with respect to income derived from sources outside of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
(b) Taxable years beginning after December 31, 1980, and before January 1, 1982 
Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, any person, including an individual, trust, estate, partnership, association, company, or corporation, which is a resident of or which is organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and which is subject to the provisions of section 601 of the Covenant to Establish the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (Public Law 94241), shall be exempt from the requirements of such section with respect to income from sources within the Northern Mariana Islands for its taxable year beginning after December 31, 1980, and before January 1, 1982: Provided, That the Secretary receives written notice from the Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands not later than September 30, 1980, that sections 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of chapter 2 of Public Law 130 of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands or its successor, have been repealed in their entirety, effective December 31, 1981.
(c) Tax rebates 
As provided in section 6021 of Public Law 94241 (90 Stat. 263, 270) the term rebate of any taxes shall, effective January 1, 1985, apply only to the extent taxes have actually been paid pursuant to section 6011 of said Act, shall not exceed the amount of tax actually paid for any tax year, and may only be paid following the close of the tax year involved. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, effective January 1, 1985, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands shall maintain, as a matter of public record, the name and address of each person receiving such a rebate, together with the amount of the rebate, and the year for which such rebate was made.
[1] See References in Text note below.

48 USC 1844 - Political union between Territory of Guam and Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands

In the event that a political union is effected at a future time between the Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federal Government and each of its agencies is authorized and directed to assure that
(i) there will be no diminution of any rights or entitlements otherwise eligible to said territory and Commonwealth in effect on the effective date of such union,
(ii) there will be no adverse effect on any funds which have been or may hereafter be authorized or appropriated for said territory or Commonwealth, as of the effective date of such union, or
(iii) no action is taken that would in any manner discourage such unification.

Whenever any discrepancy exists or arises between the benefits available for either said territory or Commonwealth under any policies or programs authorized by law (including, but not limited to, any formulas for matching grants-in-aid or comparable programs or benefits), the most favorable terms available to either said territory or Commonwealth shall be deemed applicable to said unified area after the effective date of unification.

48 USC 1845 - Plans for development, utilization, and conservation of water and related land resources

(a) The Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers and in cooperation with the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, is hereby authorized and directed to study and draft plans for development, utilization, and conservation of water and related land resources of the Commonwealth. To carry out the purposes of this section there are authorized to be appropriated effective October 1, 1983, such sums as may be necessary.
(b) Such studies shall include appropriate consideration of the needs for flood protection; wise use of flood plain lands; navigation facilities; hydroelectric power generation; regional water supply and waste water management facilities systems; general recreational facilities; enhancement and control of water quality; enhancement and conservation of fish and wildlife; and other measures for environment improvement and economic and human resources development. Such studies shall also be compatible with comprehensive development plans formulated by local planning agencies and other interested Federal agencies.

48 USC 1846 - Exemption from assessment and taxation of real property owned by Commonwealth in United States capital

Real property owned by the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in the capital of the United States and used by the Resident Representative thereof in the discharge of his representative duties under the Covenant shall be exempt from assessment and taxation.