When the Board deems it convenient, the Authority shall exercise the power of eminent domain by initiating the procedure directly and on its own behalf, or by its request, pursuant to the procedure described in subsection (b) of this section, when deemed convenient by the Board. Any action of eminent domain initiated by the Authority shall be processed in the manner provided in §§ 141—161 of this title, and pursuant to the procedures provided by the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico on eminent domain.
Upon application of the Authority, the Governor of Puerto Rico or the Secretary of Transportation and Public Works shall be empowered to acquire by agreement or eminent domain or by any other lawful means, in the name and on behalf of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, title to any property or interest thereon, which the Board shall deem necessary or convenient for its own purposes. The Authority may make available to those funds, in advance, to said officers that may be needed for the payment of said property, and upon acquisition thereof, may reimburse the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for any amount paid that had not been previously advanced. Upon such reimbursement to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (or, if the total cost or price has been advanced by the Authority within a reasonable period to be determined by the Governor) the title to the property so acquired shall pass to the Authority. The Secretary of Transportation and Public Works of Puerto Rico shall make the arrangements for the operation and control of said property by the Authority on behalf of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico during the period intervening before said title has passed to the Authority. The power conferred hereby shall not limit or restrict in any manner or to any extent the inherent power of the Authority to acquire properties through eminent domain initiated by the Authority directly and on its behalf, under the power conferred by §§ 141—161 of this title. All properties, whether real or personal and rights or interests thereon, that the Authority deems necessary for its corporate purposes, which may be condemned or used by the same are hereby declared of public utility, without the prior declaration of public utility provided in §§ 2901—2913 of Title 32.
History —May 1, 1945, No. 40, p. 138, § 10, renumbered as § 9 and amended on May 3, 1949, No. 163, § 1; June 30, 2002, No. 95, § 5.