There are hereby authorized to be appropriated to the Office for the purpose of making advances under section 3043 of this title an amount not to exceed $14,000,000 for fiscal year 1982. Any amounts appropriated to the Office shall be deposited by the Office in a separate account in the Bank (hereinafter the “Account”), and shall remain available until expended. Repayments of capital investment advances made pursuant to section 3043(a) of this title and interest supplement advances made pursuant to section 3043(b) of this title and payments of interest thereon pursuant to section 3043(c) of this title shall also be deposited in the Account. No other funds of the Bank shall be transferred into the Account. The Account shall be used by the Office only as authorized in section 3043 of this title.

The Office shall make available information and services concerning the organization, financing, and management of cooperatives to best achieve the objectives of this chapter and to best provide the means through which various types of goods, services, and facilities can be made available to members and patrons. The Office may enter into agreements with other agencies of Federal, State, and local governments, colleges and universities, foundations, or other organizations for the development and dissemination of such information, and services described in this subchapter. The Office may make or accept grants or transfer of funds for such purposes.

The Office may undertake investigations of new types of services which can more effectively be provided through cooperative not-for-profit organizations and make surveys of areas where the increased use of such organizations will contribute to the economic well-being of the community.

The Office may, at the request of any eligible cooperative, provide a financial analysis of the applicant’s capital structure and needs and its cost of operations, survey the market for the goods or services the cooperative makes or desires to make available to its members or patrons or the users of its facilities.

The Office shall develop and make available, alone or in concert with other organizations, a program for training directors and staff of eligible cooperatives to improve their understanding of their responsibilities; the problems of and solutions for effective and efficient operation of their organizations or of cooperatives in general; and may by any means it deems appropriate, conduct membership studies, provide membership education programs, and programs for informing consumers and the general public of the advantages of cooperative action. Management supervision, review, and consultations shall be available from the Office to any eligible cooperative.

The Office shall work closely with all United States Government agencies offering programs for which consumer cooperatives may be eligible to assure that information concerning all such programs is made available to eligible cooperatives.

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Office $2,000,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1979, and for each of the two succeeding fiscal years, such sums as may be necessary for the administration of this subchapter. Any sums so appropriated shall remain available until expended.

The Office may make the technical assistance services under this subchapter available for such fees as it may establish, except that such services as the Office may determine may be made available without charge to eligible cooperatives depending on the nature of the services or on ability to pay. Any fees collected shall be accounted for separately and be available for expenses of the Office.