Notice: The uscode.house.gov website is currently operating in a temporary format. While the United States Code remains available from its authoritative source, some website features and functionality are temporarily unavailable.
The United States Code Online is current through Public Law 119-120 (October 7, 2026).
Search & Browse Currency and Updating Classification Tables Popular Name Tool Positive Law Codification Editorial Reclassification Downloads
40 U.S.C. 3501: DefinitionsText contains those laws in effect through Public Law 119-120 (October 7, 2026).
From Title 40-PUBLIC BUILDINGS, PROPERTY, AND WORKSCHAPTER 35-NON-FEDERAL PUBLIC WORKS

§3501. Definitions

In this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(1)  Public agency.⁠—The term “public agency” means a State or a public agency or political subdivision of a State.

(2)  Public works.⁠—The term “public works” includes any public works other than housing.

(3)  State.⁠—The term “State” means a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Palau, and any territory or possession of the United States.

( Pub. L. 107–217 , Aug. 21, 2002 , 116 Stat. 1167 .)

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised

Section

Source (U.S. Code)

Source (Statutes at Large)

3501

40:460.

Aug. 2, 1954, ch. 649, title VII, § 703, 68 Stat. 641; Pub. L. 90–19, § 10(d), May 25, 1967, 81 Stat. 22; Pub. L. 93–383, title IV, § 401(c), Aug. 22, 1974, 88 Stat. 691.

In this section, the text of 40:460(2) is omitted as unnecessary because the complete name of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is used the first time the term appears in a section.

In clause (1), the words “or ‘public agencies’ ” are omitted as unnecessary because of 1:1.

In clause (3), the words “Guam, the Virgin Islands” are added to clarify that the provisions of the source law apply to those jurisdictions. The words “the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Palau” are substituted for “the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands” because of the termination of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. See 48:1681 note prec.