USDA was to set aside a portion of its community facility funds for rural health center loans for up to 100 percent of project construction and renovation costs. In return. HHS agreed to fund health center operating expenses and to permit repayment of PmHA loans through the use of Public Health Service Act grants. The HHS Office of the General Counsel issued an opinion that this 1978 agreement was entirely proper within sections 329(d) and 330(d) of the Public Health Service Act to fund rural and migrant health centers. The GAO disagreed after the program had been in operation for nearly 3 years.