40 U.S.C. 483

PROPERTY UTILIZATION

SEC. 202. (a) (1) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (2) of this subsection, in order to minimize expenditures for property, the Administrator shall prescribe policies and methods to promote the maximum utilization of excess property by executive agencies, and he shall provide for the transfer of excess property among Federal agencies and to the organization specified in section 109(f) of this Act. The Administrator, with the approval of the Director of the Bureau of the Budget,15 shall prescribe the extent of reimbursement for such transfers of excess property: Provided, That reimbursement shall be required of the fair value, as determined by the Administrator, of any excess property transferred whenever net proceeds are requested pursuant to section 204(b) of this Act or whenever either the transferor or the transferee agency (or the organizational unit affected) is subject to the Government Corporation Control Act (59 Stat. 597, 31 U.S.C. 841) or is an organization specified in section 109(f) of this Act; and that excess property determined by the Administrator to be suitable for distribution through the supply centers of the General Services Administration shall be retransferred as16 prices fixed by the Administrator with due regard to prices established in accordance with section 109(b) of this Act.

(2) The Adminstrator shall prescribe such procedures as may be necessary in order to transfer without compensation to the Secretary of the Interior excess real property located within the reservation of any group, band, or tribe of Indians which is recognized as eligible for services by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Such excess real property shall be held in trust by the Secretary for the benefit and use of the group, band, or tribe of Indians, within whose reservation such excess real property is located: Provided, That such transfers of real property within the State of Oklahoma shall be made to the Secretary of the Interior to be held in trust for Oklahoma Indian tribes recognized by the Secretary of the Interior when such real property (I) is located within boundaries of former reservations in Oklahoma as defined by the Secretary of Interior and when such real property was held in trust by the United States for an Indian tribe at the time of acquisition by the United States, or (2) is contiguous to real property presently held in trust by the United States for an Oklahoma Indian tribe and was at any time held in trust by the United States for an Indian tribe.

(b) Each executive agency shall (1) maintain adequate inventory controls and accountability systems for the property under its control, (2) continuously survey property under its control to determine which is excess property, and promptly report such property.

to the Administrator, (3) perform the care and handling of such excess property, and (4) transfer or dispose of such property as promptly as possible in accordance with authority delegated and regulations prescribed by the Administrator.

(c) Each executive agency shall, as far as practicable, (1) make reassignments of property among activities within the agency when such property is determined to be no longer required for the purposes of the appropriation from which it was purchased, (2) transfer excess property under its control to other Federal agencies and to organizations specified in section 109(f), and (3) obtain excess property from other Federal agencies.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, Federal agencies are prohibited from obtaining excess personal property for purposes of furnishing such property to grantees of such agencies, except as follows:

(1) Under such regulations as the Administrator may prescribe, any Federal agency may obtain excess personal property for purposes of furnishing it to any institution or organization which is a public agency or is nonprofit and exempt from taxation under section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1974, and which is conducting a federally sponsored project pursuant to a grant made for a specific purpose with a specific termination made:

Provided, That

(A) such property is to be furnished for use in connection with the grant; and

(B) the sponsoring Federal agency pays an amount equal to 25 per centum of the original acquisition cost (except for costs of care and handling) of the excess property_furnished, such funds to be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.

Title to excess property obtained under this paragraph shall vest in the grantees and shall be accounted for and disposed of in accordance with procedures governing the accountability of personal property acquired under grant agreements.

(2) Under such regulations and restrictions as the Administrator may prescribe, the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to the following:

(A) property furnished under section 608 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended where and to the extent that the Administrator of General Services determines that the property to be furnished under such Act is not needed for donation pursuant to section 203(j) of this Act;

(B) scientific equipment furnished under section 11(e) of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended (42 U.S.C. 1870(e));

(C) property furnished under section 203 of the Department of Agriculture Organic Act of 1944 (16 U.S.C. 580a), in connection with the Cooperative Forest Fire Control Program, where title is retained in the United States; or

(D) property furnished in connection with grants to Indian tribes as defined in section 3(c) of the Indian Financing Act (25 U.S.C. 1452(c)).

This paragraph shall not preclude any Federal agency obtaining property and furnishing it to a grantee of that agency under paragraph (1) of this subsection.

(e) Each executive agency shall submit during the calendar quarter following the close of each fiscal year a report to the Administrator showing, with respect to personal property

(1) obtained as excess property or as personal property determined to be no longer required for the purposes of the appropriation from which it was purchased, and

(2) furnished in any manner whatsoever within the United States to any recipient other than a Federal agency,

the acquisition cost, categories of equipment, recipient of all such property, and such other information as the Administrator may require. The Administrator shall submit a report to the Senate (or to the Secretary of the Senate if the Senate is not in session) and to the House of Representatives (or to the Clerk of the House if the House is not in session) summarizing and analyzing the reports of the executive agencies.

(f) [Repealed].

(g) Whenever the Administrator determines that the temporary assignment or reassignment of any space in excess real property to any Federal agency for office, storage or related facilities would be more advantageous than the permanent transfer of such property, he may make such assignment or reassignment for such period of time as he shall determine and obtain, in the absence of appropriation available to him therefor, appropriate reimbursement from the using agency for the expense of maintaining such

space.

(h) The Administrator may authorize the abandonment, destruction, or donation to public bodies of property which has no commercial value or of which the estimated cost of continued care and handling would exceed the estimated proceeds from its sale. [(Act of Oct. 17, 1976, P.L. 94-519, Sec. 5, found at 40 U.S.C. 483c. This section is not an amendment to the

Federal Property and Administration Services Act of 1949)

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 40 U.S.C. 483c and except as the Administrator of General Services may otherwise provide on recommendation of the head of an affected Federal agency, excess personal property acquired by a Federal agency pursuant to the authority of section 202 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 and furnished to and held by a grantee of such agency prior to October 17, 1977, under grants made pursuant to programs established by law shall be regarded as surplus property. The Administrator of General Services upon receipt of a certification by the head of an agency that the property is being used by the grantee for the purposes for which it was furnished shall transfer title to the property to the grantee. The grantor agency shall survey Federal property acquired from excess sources in the possession of its grantees and shall notify the Administrator of General Services, not later than two hundred and forty days from October 17, 1976, of those items of property which are being used by each grantee for the purpose for which it was furnished, and those items which are not being used by each grantee. If the property is not being used, the Administrator shall transfer such property to an appropriate State agency, upon its request, for distribution in accordance with subsection 203(j) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949. Property not so transferred shall be otherwise disposed of pursuant to the provisions of that Act.]

DISPOSAL OF SURPLUS PROPERTY

SEC. 203. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this 40 U.S.C. 484 section, the Administrator shall have supervision and direction over the disposition of surplus property. Such property shall be disposed of to such extent, at such time, in such areas, by such agencies, at such terms and conditions, and in such manner, as may be prescribed in or pursuant to this Act.

(b) The care and handling of surplus property, pending its disposition, and the disposal of surplus property, may be performed by the General Services Administration or, when so determined by the Administrator, by the executive agency in possession thereof or by any other executive agency consenting thereto.

(c) Any executive agency designated or authorized by the Administrator to dispose of surplus property may do so by sale, exchange, lease, permít, or transfer, for cash, credit, or other property, with or without warranty, and upon such other terms and conditions

as the Administrator deems proper, and it may execute such documents for the transfer of title or other interest in property and take such other action as it deems necessary or proper to dispose of such property under the provisions of this title.

(d) A deed, bill of sale, lease, or other instrument executed by or on behalf of any executive agency purporting to transfer title or any other interest in surplus property under this title shall be conclusive evidence of compliance with the provisions of this title insofar as concerns title or other interest of any bona fide grantee or transferee for value and without notice of lack of such compliance.

(e)(1) All disposals or contracts for disposal of surplus property (other than by abandonment, destruction, donation, or through contract brokers) made or authorized by the Administrator shall be made after publicly advertising for bids, under regulations prescribed by the Administrator, except as provided in paragraphs (3) and (5) of this subsection.

(2) Whenever public advertising for bids is required under paragraph (1) of this subsection

(A) the advertisement for bids shall be made at such time previous to the disposal or contract, through such methods, and on such terms and conditions as shall permit that full and free competition which is consistent with the value and nature of the property involved;

(B) all bids shall be publicly disclosed at the time and place stated in the advertisement;

(C) award shall be made with reasonable promptness by notice to the responsible bidder whose bid, conforming to the invitation for bids, will be most advantageous to the Government, price, and other factors considered: Provided, That all bids may be rejected when it is in the public interest to do so.

(3) Disposals and contracts for disposal may be negotiated, under regulations prescribed by the Administrator, without regard to paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection but subject to obtaining such competition as is feasible under the circumstances, if

(A) necessary in the public interest during the period of a national emergency declared by the President or the Congress, with respect to a particular lot or lots of personal property or, for a period not exceeding three months, with respect to a specifically described category or categories of personal property as determined by the Administrator;

(B) the public health, safety, or national security will thereby be promoted by a particular disposal of personal property;