IIB 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5787 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 22, 2008 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend title 40, United States Code, to enhance authorities with regard to real property that has yet to be 

reported excess, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Real Property 

3 Disposal Enhancement Act of 2008’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) In January 2003, the Government Account7 ability Office identified Federal real property as a 

8 high-risk area, citing excess property as a long9 standing problem. 

10 (2) The magnitude of the problem with excess 

11 Federal real property continues to put the govern12 ment at risk for lost dollars and missed opportuni13 ties. 

14 (3) The Administration has stated its goal is to 

15 reduce the size of the Federal real property inven16 tory by 5 percent, or $15 billion, by disposing of 

17 unneeded assets by 2015. 

18 (4) The Federal inventory includes many prop19 erties that are no longer relevant to agencies’ mis20 sions and agencies are spending billions of dollars to 

21 maintain these unneeded properties. 

22 (5) The costs of preparing a property for trans23 fer or sale continue to hamper some agencies’ efforts 

24 to address their unneeded properties and serve as a 

25 disincentive to disposal because, in the short-term, it 

26 can be more beneficial economically to maintain a 


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1 property that is not being used than to dispose of 

2 it. 

3 (6) Agencies should give greater attention to 

4 right-sizing their real property portfolios. 

5 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to reduce 

6 the Federal inventory of unneeded and costly property. 

7 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF THE GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRA8 TION AND EXECUTIVE AGENCIES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 524 of title 40, United 

10 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘§ 524. Duties of the General Services Administration 

12 and executive agencies 

13 ‘‘(a) DUTIES OF THE GENERAL SERVICES ADMINIS14 TRATION.— 

15 ‘‘(1) GUIDANCE.—The Administrator shall 

16 issue guidance for the development and implementa17 tion of agency real property plans. Such guidance 

18 shall include recommendations on— 

19 ‘‘(A) how to identify excess properties; 

20 ‘‘(B) how to evaluate the costs and benefits 

21 involved with disposing of real property; 

22 ‘‘(C) how to prioritize disposal decisions 

23 based on agency missions and anticipated fu24 ture need for holdings; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) how best to dispose of those prop2 erties identified as excess to the needs of the 

3 agency. 

4 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Administrator 

5 shall submit an annual report, for each of the first 

6 5 years after 2008, to the Committee on Oversight 

7 and Government Reform of the House of Represent8 atives and the Committee on Homeland Security and 

9 Governmental Affairs of the Senate, based on data 

10 submitted from all executive agencies, detailing exec11 utive agency efforts to reduce their real property as12 sets. 

13 ‘‘(3) ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator shall as14 sist executive agencies in the identification and dis15 posal of excess real property. 

16 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF EXECUTIVE AGENCIES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each executive agency 

18 shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) maintain adequate inventory controls 

20 and accountability systems for property under 

21 its control; 

22 ‘‘(B) continuously survey property under 

23 its control to identify excess property; 

24 ‘‘(C) promptly report excess property to 

25 the Administrator; 


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1 ‘‘(D) perform the care and handling of ex2 cess property; and 

3 ‘‘(E) transfer or dispose of excess property 

4 as promptly as possible in accordance with au5 thority delegated and regulations prescribed by 

6 the Administrator. 

7 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT

8 TO REAL PROPERTY.—With respect to real property, 

9 each executive agency shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) develop and implement a real prop11 erty plan in order to identify properties to de12 clare as excess using the guidance issued under 

13 subsection (a)(1); 

14 ‘‘(B) identify and categorize all real prop15 erty owned, leased, or otherwise managed by 

16 the agency; 

17 ‘‘(C) establish adequate goals and incen18 tives that lead the agency to reduce excess real 

19 property in its inventory; 

20 ‘‘(D) when appropriate, use the authorities 

21 in section 572(a)(2)(B) of this title in order to 

22 identify and prepare real property to be re23 ported as excess. 

24 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—Each exec25 utive agency, as far as practicable, shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) reassign property to another activity 

2 within the agency when the property is no 

3 longer required for the purposes of the appro4 priation used to make the purchase; 

5 ‘‘(B) transfer excess property under its 

6 control to other Federal agencies and to organi7 zations specified in section 321(c)(2) of this 

8 title; and 

9 ‘‘(C) obtain excess properties from other 

10 Federal agencies to meet mission needs before 

11 acquiring non-Federal property.’’. 

12 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating to 

13 section 524 in the table of sections at the beginning of 

14 chapter 5 of such title is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘524. Duties of the General Services Administration and executive agencies.’’. 

15 SEC. 4. ENHANCED AUTHORITIES WITH REGARD TO PRE16 PARING PROPERTIES TO BE REPORTED AS 

17 EXCESS. 

18 Section 572(a)(2) of title 40, United States Code, is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and 

21 (C) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively; and 

22 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol23 lowing new subparagraph: 

24 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY.—(i) From 

25 the fund described in paragraph (1), subject to 


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1 clause (iv), the Administrator may obligate an 

2 amount to pay the direct and indirect costs re3 lated to identifying and preparing properties to 

4 be reported excess by another agency. 

5 ‘‘(ii) The General Services Administration 

6 may be reimbursed from the proceeds of the 

7 sale of such properties for such costs. 

8 ‘‘(iii) Net proceeds shall be dispersed pur9 suant to section 571 of this title. 

10 ‘‘(iv) The authority under clause (i) to ob11 ligate funds to prepare properties to be reported 

12 excess does not include the authority to convey 

13 such properties by sale, lease, exchange, or oth14 erwise, including through leaseback arrange15 ments. 

16 ‘‘(v) Nothing in this subparagraph is in17 tended to affect subparagraph (D).’’. 

18 SEC. 5. ENHANCED AUTHORITIES WITH REGARD TO RE19 VERTED REAL PROPERTY. 

20 (a) AUTHORITY TO PAY EXPENSES RELATED TO RE21 VERTED REAL PROPERTY.—Section 572(a)(2)(A) of title 

22 40, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

23 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(iv) The direct and indirect costs as2 sociated with the reversion, custody, and 

3 disposal of reverted real property.’’. 

4 (b) REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO SALES OF RE5 VERTED PROPERTY UNDER SECTION 550.—Section 

6 550(b)(1) of title 40, United States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(1) IN GEN8 ERAL.—’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘If the 

10 official, in consultation with the Administrator, rec11 ommends reversion of the property, the Adminis12 trator shall take control of such property, and, sub13 ject to subparagraph (B), sell it at or above ap14 praised fair market value for cash and not by lease, 

15 exchange, or leaseback arrangements. 

16 ‘‘(B) Prior to sale, the Administrator shall 

17 make such property available to State and local gov18 ernments and certain non-profit institutions or orga19 nizations pursuant to this section and sections 553 

20 and 554 of this title.’’. 

21 (c) REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO SALES OF RE22 VERTED PROPERTY UNDER SECTION 553.—Section 

23 553(e) of title 40, United States Code, is amended— 

24 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘THIS SECTION.— 

25 ’’; and 


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1 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘If the 

2 Administrator determines that reversion of the prop3 erty is necessary to enforce compliance with the 

4 terms of the conveyance, the Administrator shall 

5 take control of such property and, subject to para6 graph (2), sell it at or above appraised fair market 

7 value for cash and not by lease, exchange, or lease8 back arrangements. 

9 ‘‘(2) Prior to sale, the Administrator shall make such 

10 property available to State and local governments and cer11 tain non-profit institutions or organizations pursuant to 

12 this section and sections 550 and 554 of this title.’’. 

13 (d) REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO SALES OF RE14 VERTED PROPERTY UNDER SECTION 554.—Section 

15 554(f) of title 40, United States Code, is amended— 

16 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘THIS SECTION.— 

17 ’’; and 

18 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘If the 

19 Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator, 

20 recommends reversion of the property, the Adminis21 trator shall take control of such property and, sub22 ject to paragraph (2), sell it at or above appraised 

23 fair market value for cash and not by lease, ex24 change, or leaseback arrangements. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Prior to sale, the Administrator shall make such 

2 property available to State and local governments and cer3 tain non-profit institutions or organizations pursuant to 

4 this section and sections 550 and 553 of this title.’’. 

5 SEC. 6. AGENCY RETENTION OF PROCEEDS. 

6 The text of section 571 of title 40, United States 

7 Code, is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(a) DEPOSIT OF PROCEEDS.—Net proceeds de9 scribed in subsection (d) shall be deposited into the appro10 priate real property account of the agency that had cus11 tody and accountability for the real property. Such funds 

12 shall be expended only as authorized in annual appropria13 tions Acts and only for activities as described in section 

14 524(b) of this title and disposal activities, including paying 

15 costs incurred by the General Services Administration for 

16 any disposal-related activity authorized by this title. Pro17 ceeds shall not be expended for activities or projects sub18 ject to the requirements of section 3307 of this title. 

19 ‘‘(b) EFFECT ON OTHER SECTIONS.—Nothing in this 

20 section is intended to affect section 572(b) or 574 of this 

21 title. 

22 ‘‘(c) DISPOSAL AGENCY FOR REVERTED PROP23 ERTY.—For the purposes of this section, the General Serv24 ices Administration, as the disposal agency, shall be treat25 ed as the agency with custody and accountability for propVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:05 May 23, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5787.RFS H5787

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1 erties which revert to the United States under sections 

2 550, 553, and 554 of this title. 

3 ‘‘(d) PROCEEDS.—The net proceeds referred to in 

4 subsection (a) are proceeds under this chapter from a— 

5 ‘‘(1) transfer of excess property to a federal 

6 agency for agency use; or 

7 ‘‘(2) sale, lease, or other disposition of surplus 

8 property.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 21, 2008. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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