Egion 8 neblo Army Depot, Avondale, Colo. boele Army Depot, Tooele, Utah. egion 9 erra Army Depot, Herlong, Calif. efense Depot Tracy, Tracy, Calif. avajo Army Depot, Bellemont, Ariz. aval Ammunition Depot, Hawthorne, Nev. egion 10 matilla Army Depot, Ordnance, Oreg. egion 2 2 8 9 9 9 9 10 10 Region LIST OF 17 "OTHER" GOVERNMENT-OWNED SITES U.S. Silver Depository, West Point, N.Y. Tennessee Valley Authority, Muscle Shoals, Ala. LIST OF 38 INDUSTRIAL PLANTSITE LOCATIONS 1 Norton, Co., Worcester, Mass., aluminum oxide and aluminus oxide abrasive grain. 2 Carborundum Co., Whitefield, N.Y., Aluminum oxide abrasives, and aluminum oxide abrasives grain. Hercules Powder Co., Inc., Glens Fals, N.Y., Chrome-chemical. Air Reduction Co., Niagara Falls, N.Y., chrome-met. Allan-Wood Steel Co., Conshohocken, Pa., beryl ore, chrome-ref. manganese-bat., and manganese-chem. Kawecki Berylco Industries, Temple, Pa., beryl ore. Bethlehem Steel Corp., Johnstown, Pa., manganese-met. Carnegie-Illinois Steel Co., Curry Hollow, Pa., Manganese-met. The Gardner Warehouse, Avis, Pa., bauxite-ref. The Clearfield Foundation, Woodland, Pa., bauxite-ref. Pennsylvania Railroad Co., Derry, Pa., Manganese-met. Norfolk & Western Railway Co., Large, Pa., ferrochrome-BC., ferro- Wilmington Marine Terminal, Wilmington, Del., Flourspar-acid. Harbison-Walker Refractories Co., Baltimore, Md., chrome-ref. Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Co., Rivervile, Va., manganese-chem. and Union Carbide Corp., Alloy, W. Va., chrome-met., and manganese met. Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co., Boyles, Ala., ferromanganese and Air Reduction Co., Charleston, S.C., chrome-met. and manganese-met. Aluminum Co. of America, East St. Louis, Ill., fluorspar-acid. Reynolds Metals Co., McCook, Ill., aluminum. Union Carbide Corp., Marietta, Ohio, chrome-met. and manganese-met. Macklin Co., Jackson, Mich., aluminum oxide abrasive grain. Harbison-Walter Refractories Co., Vandalia, Mo., bauxite-ref. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp., Baton Rouge, La., bauxite-met Reynolds Metals Co., Gregory, Tex., bauxite-met. Joseph D. Koza (lessor (x-Dickson gun plant)), Houston, Tex., man ganese-met. and ferromanganese. Aluminum Co. of America, Point Comfort, Tex., bauxite-met. Colorado Fuel & Iron Corp., Minnequa, Colo., ferromanganese and fluorspar-met. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp., Moss Landing, Calif., chrome-ref. LIST OF 11 MISCELLANEOUS LEASED SITES City of Eagle Pass, Eagle Pass, Eagle Pass, Tex. Leytess Metal & Chemical Corp., Marathon, Tex. Region 8 Union Pacific Railroad Co., Northgate, Colo. The Anaconda Co., Nye, Mont. Domestic Manganese and Development Co., Butte, Mont. Southern Pacific Railroad Co., Douglas, Ariz. Harvey Aluminum Co., The Dalles, Oreg. Union Carbide Co., Jakalof Bay, Alaska. JEWEL BEARINGS AND TITANIUM Mr. ROBISON. On the same page, I note the only material scheduled for new acquisition-for cash-is $615,000 worth of jewel bearings, and-by exchange another 14.5 million pounds of titanium sponge. What is the use and need for both the jewel bearings and that quantity of titanium sponge? Also, with regard to the letter, how do you normally work out such an exchange? Mr. THAWLEY. Maintaining a stock of jewel bearings, which are used in instruments and timepieces, and titanium has been considered essential to national defense. Titanium is exchanged for other commodities which are excess to our stockpile objectives. The commodities used for exchange purposes are exchanged at market prices. REAL PROPERTY ACTIVITY Mr. ROBISON. There has been recent announcement about numerous defense base closures around the Nation, with more perhaps to come. Are these decisions reflected in your estimates of activity, here? Won't GSA be acquiring, if these decisions hold up, some additional properties, and some with a substantial value, to dispose of? And, also, what is the situation with respect to what we have read about HUD having to take title to numerous public housing projects, and the like, as a result of foreclosures, defaults, and the like; do you handle these kinds of properties, as well? Mr. THAWLEY. The estimates of real property utilization and disposal activity were developed prior to the April announcement by DOD that defense realignments were planned which might result in a number of installations being reported excess of GSA. However, our estimates do contemplate that a significant number of DOD properties will be reported excess in any given year. Therefore, in this context the base closings are included in our estimates of activity. Accelerated HUD foreclosures would have no effect on GSA's workload since HUD has separate statutory authority to dispose of its properties. STOCKPILE STORAGE COSTS Mr. ROBISON. On the next page-V-7-you tell us that storage costs for fiscal year 1974 will increase by over 15 percent. Unless I am reading this wrong, I don't see that such an increase is reflected in your estimate. Are you absorbing it? Mr. THAWLEY. Page V-7 states that DOD depot expenses will increase and that this increase is reflected in storage costs for fiscal year 1974. Page V-9 reflects the 15 percent increases at military depots in unit costs as follows: Open storage: 1973 unit cost.. 1974 unit cost_. Closed storage: 1973 unit cost.... 1974 unit cost $.074 .085 2. 227 2.561 UTILIZATION TRANSFERS Mr. ROBISON. On V-12, you tell us the 1974 estimate provides for something called "utilization transfers of 130 properties, plus the sale of 410 surplus properties and other surplus disposals through donation, et cetera-totaling 370 properties. Please explain that first term, and then describe the procedures followed by GSA in connection with these several methods of disposing of real property. Also, give us some kind of an idea, if you can, of the kind of backlog of properties awaiting disposal that you have on hand, and what you are doing to find underutilized or unutilized Federal properties and to dispose of them so we will have the available receipts for the Treasury from their sale and also get them back on local tax rolls. Mr. THAWLEY. When real property is no longer required for the discharge of a Federal agency's responsibilities, that agency reports the property to GSA for further Federal utilization or disposal pursuant to the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 and various related statutes. GSA first notifies other Federal agencies that real property has been reported excess and is available for further use. Agencies have 30 days to notify GSA of their interest in acquiring the property. If a transfer is requested, GSA determines whether the request is fully justified and, if so, the property is made available to the requesting agency for further use. However, the concurrence of the Office of Management and Budget is required with respect to a transfer request where the property is valued at $100,000 or more. Such utilization procedures provide economies in Government operations by eliminating expenditures by agencies for additional property when suitable property is already owned by the Federal Government. The terr utilization transfer means the action whereby real property no longe needed by one agency is made available for an appropriate use b another agency. If no further Federal need for an excess property develops, or can not be justified, the property is determined surplus by GSA. After such determination, State and local governmental bodies and nonprofi health and educational institutions are notified as to the availability of surplus real property which they may acquire for specific uses pursu ant to various provisions of law. Eligible applicants are given a perio of 20 days to inform GSA of their desire to acquire the property, al though additional time may be granted. The main purposes for which surplus real property may be made available to eligible local interests at the discretion of GSA, and any monetary consideration involved. are as follows: Public park and public recreational purposes at up to 100-percent public benefit allowance; historic monument purposes without monetary consideration; public health or educational purposes at up to 100-percent public benefit allowances; wildlife conservation purposes without consideration; public airport purposes without consideration; and by negotiated sale without use restriction at fair market value. Frequently, interest in acquiring a property is expressed by more than one public body or nonprofit institution. Where there are competing interests involved, GSA encourages coordination among the applicants. However, GSA at its discretion, must make the final decision in this regard and in so doing GSA considers not only the interests of the Federal Government, but the overall interests of the community concerned. GSA considers many factors in this regard, but no criteria can be applied as a general rule. In any event, if a local plan for the use of surplus real property is approved by GSA after recommendation of the Federal agency concerned, the property is conveyed to the local public body or nonprofit institution. Surplus real property which is not disposed of for local public use is offered for sale. Ordinarily, properties are offered for sale to the public after advertising on a competitive-bid basis. The appraised fair market value of the property underlies sale transactions. GSA sells by every method known to the trade, although sealed bid and public auction sales are favored. Properties may also be disposed of by exchange although this method of disposal is relatively seldom used. Negotiated sales to private purchasers are authorized, but are strictly limited to certain unusual situations. Proceeds from the sale of surplus real property are placed in a land and water conservation fund which is available for this purpose. The disposition of Federal real property, whether by further Federal use, disposal for local use by public bodies or nonprofit institutions, or public sale, makes a major contribution to the Nation's social and economic life. On the basis of our December 31, 1972, semiannual report in this regard, GSA had 666 real properties on hand for further utilization or disposal with a total acquisition cost of approximately $1.2 billion. These properties were in both the excess and surplus categories and in arious stages of disposition, from those which were newly disposed of to others pending award and conveyance. These properties represent all types of real estate uses: residential; commercial; and industrial, as well as special purpose uses particular to the holding agency uch as airports, shipping facilities, hospitals, and missile sites. Properties may range from a small unimproved rural tract of land of relatively little value to a multimillion-dollar highly improved urban inustrial complex. Before real property no longer needed by an agency can be transferred to another agency having a need for it, or, if an alternative Federal need does not exist, before it it can be conveyed for local public or private use, the excess property involved must be identified as such. Therefore, in order to improve real property management in this regard, the President issued Executive Order No. 11508, providing for the identification of unneeded Federal real property, with Government-wide applicability. The basic objective of the Executive order is to insure prompt identification and release by executive agencies of real property holdings that are no longer essential to their activities and responsibilities. This objective is promoted by two areas of esponsibility. First, the Executive order required GSA to prescribe policies, proedures and standards for the identification of unneeded real property to be followed by Federal agencies in reviewing their real property holdings. GSA has issued regulations for this purpose and agencies are required to make reviews thereunder annually. Second, the Executive order provides for a new and sweeping approach to Federal real property management by requiring an onsite physical survey of real property holdings of executive agencies by GSA. This is the program whereby we attempt to resolve with the gencies whether there is any real justification for retention of certain facilities or portions thereof which we feel come within the purview of The order. Under this program, a GSA regional office field team prepares a formal report containing a description of the facts concerning land utilization applicable to a particular property. This report is then submitted to the GSA general office for final review and approval. If an approved survey report recommends that certain property should be reported excess to GSA a copy of the report is sent to the affected agency for comment. The department or agency is requested to respond within 20 days to the GSA report. If the report does not recommend that any property be reported excess, or if the affected agency agrees to report property excess as recommended by the report, case operations are closed. If GSA and the affected agency are unable to reach agreement on an excessing action recommended by a survey, the case is subject to further higher level review including review by the Property Review Board within the Executive Office of the President. Such reviews may ultimately result in the formulation of a recommendation to be made to the President relative to the release of the property for further utilization or disposal. In any event all pertinent views concerning retention or release of the property are fully considered. |