II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2485

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve and enhance the authorities of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs relating to the management 

and disposal of real property and facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 1, 2004

Mr. SPECTER (by request) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve and 

enhance the authorities of the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs relating to the management and disposal of real 

property and facilities, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES TO TITLE 38, 

4 UNITED STATES CODE. 

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

6 ‘‘Department of Veterans Affairs Real Property and Fa7 cilities Management Improvement Act of 2004’’. 
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1 (b) REFERENCES TO TITLE 38 UNITED STATES

2 CODE.—Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever 

3 in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

4 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi5 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 

6 section or other provision of title 38, United States Code. 

7 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO USE PROJECT FUNDS TO CON8 STRUCT OR RELOCATE SURFACE PARKING 

9 INCIDENTAL TO A CONSTRUCTION OR NON10 RECURRING MAINTENANCE PROJECT. 

11 Section 8109 is amended by adding at the end the 

12 following new subsection: 

13 ‘‘(j) Funds in a construction account or capital ac14 count that are available for a construction project or non15 recurring maintenance project may be used for the con16 struction or relocation of a surface parking lot incidental 

17 to such project.’’. 

18 SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS OF ENHANCED-USE LEASE AU19 THORITIES. 

20 (a) BUSINESS PLAN CRITERIA.—Section 8162 is 

21 amended—

22 (1) in subsection (a)(2)(B), by striking ‘‘the 

23 Under Secretary for Health for applying the consid24 eration under such a lease to the provision of med25 ical care and services’’ and inserting ‘‘one of the 
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1 Under Secretaries for applying the consideration 

2 under such a lease to the programs and activities of 

3 the Department’’; and 

4 (2) in subsection (b)(4)(A), by striking ‘‘on the 

5 leased property’’. 

6 (b) CONSIDERATION OF PROPOSALS FOR LEASES.—

7 (1) Section 8163 is amended—

8 (A) in subsection (a), by striking the first sen9 tence and inserting the following new sentence: ‘‘If 

10 the Secretary proposes to enter into an enhanced-use 

11 lease with respect to certain property, the Secretary 

12 shall conduct a public hearing before entering into 

13 the lease.’’; 

14 (B) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘of the pro15 posed designation and of the hearing’’ in the matter 

16 preceding paragraph (1) and inserting ‘‘on the pro17 posed lease and the hearing to the congressional vet18 erans’ affairs committees and to the public’’; and 

19 (C) in subsection (c)—

20 (i) in paragraph (1)—

21 (I) by striking ‘‘to designate the prop22 erty involved’’ and inserting ‘‘to enter into 

23 an enhanced-use lease of the property in24 volved’’; and 
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1 (II) by striking ‘‘to so designate the 

2 property’’ and inserting ‘‘to enter into the 

3 lease’’; 

4 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘90-day’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘45-day’’; and 

6 (iii) by striking paragraph (4). 

7 (2)(A) The heading of such section is amended to 

8 read as follows: 

9 ‘‘§ 8163. Proposals for property to be leased’’. 

10 (B) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 

11 81 is amended by striking the item relating to section 

12 8163 and inserting the following new item:

‘‘8163. Proposals for property to be leased.’’.

13 (c) DISPOSAL AUTHORITY.—Section 8164 is amend14 ed—

15 (1) in subsection (a)—

16 (A) by striking ‘‘by requesting the Admin17 istrator of General Services to dispose of the 

18 property pursuant to subsection (b)’’; and 

19 (B) by striking the last sentence; 

20 (2) in subsection (b)—

21 (A) by striking ‘‘and the Administrator of 

22 General Services jointly determine’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘determines’’; and 

24 (B) by striking ‘‘and the Administrator 

25 consider’’ and inserting ‘‘considers’’; and
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1 (3) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘90 days’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘45 days’’. 

3 (d) USE OF PROCEEDS.—Section 8165 is amended—

4 (1) in subsection (a)—

5 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Funds 

6 received’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 

7 paragraph (2), funds received’’; 

8 (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

9 paragraph (3); 

10 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

11 following new paragraph (2): 

12 ‘‘(2) Funds received by the Department under an en13 hanced-use lease implementing a business plan proposed 

14 by the Under Secretary for Benefits or the Under Sec15 retary for Memorial Affairs and remaining after any de16 duction from such funds under subsection (b) shall be 

17 credited to applicable appropriations of the Veterans Ben18 efits Administration or National Cemetery Administra19 tion, as the case may be.’’; and 

20 (D) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated, 

21 by striking ‘‘nursing home revolving fund’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘Capital Asset Fund established 

23 under section 8122A of this title’’; 

24 (2) in subsection (b)—

25 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(b)’’
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1 (B) in paragraph (1), as so designated, by 

2 striking ‘‘for that fiscal year’’; and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

4 paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may also deduct from the pro6 ceeds of any enhanced-use lease an amount to reimburse 

7 applicable appropriations of the Department for any ex8 penses incurred by the Secretary in the development of 

9 additional enhanced-use leases. Amounts so deducted shall 

10 be utilized to reimburse such appropriations.’’; and 

11 (3) by striking subsection (c). 

12 SEC. 4. DISPOSAL OF REAL PROPERTY OF THE DEPART13 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Subchapter II of chapter 81 

15 is amended by inserting after section 8122 the following 

16 new section: 

17 ‘‘§ 8122A. Disposal of real property 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) To the extent provided in ad19 vance in appropriations Acts, the Secretary may, in ac20 cordance with this section and sections 8122 and 8164 

21 of this title, dispose of real property of the Department, 

22 including land and structures and equipment associated 

23 with such property, that is under the jurisdiction or con24 trol of the Secretary by—
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1 ‘‘(A) transfer to or exchange with another de2 partment or agency of the Federal Government; 

3 ‘‘(B) conveyance to or exchange with a State or 

4 a political subdivision of a State, an Indian tribe, or 

5 other public entity; or 

6 ‘‘(C) conveyance to or exchange with any pri7 vate person or entity. 

8 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may exercise the authority in 

9 paragraph (1) notwithstanding the following provisions of 

10 law: 

11 ‘‘(A) Sections 521, 522, and 541 through 545 

12 of title 40. 

13 ‘‘(B) Section 501 of the McKinney-Vento 

14 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11411). 

15 ‘‘(3) In any transfer, exchange, or conveyance of real 

16 property under this subsection, the Secretary shall obtain 

17 consideration in an amount equal to the fair market value 

18 of the property, as determined by the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(b) TREATMENT OF PROCEEDS.—Proceeds from the 

20 transfer, exchange, or conveyance of real property under 

21 subsection (a) shall be deposited in the Capital Asset Fund 

22 under subsection (c). 

23 ‘‘(c) CAPITAL ASSET FUND.—There is established on 

24 the books of the Treasury of the United States a revolving 
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1 fund known as the Capital Asset Fund (in this section 

2 referred to as the ‘Fund’). 

3 ‘‘(d) ELEMENTS OF FUND.—The Fund shall consist 

4 of the following: 

5 ‘‘(1) Amounts authorized to be appropriated to 

6 the Fund. 

7 ‘‘(2) Proceeds from the transfer, exchange, or 

8 conveyance of real property under subsection (a) 

9 that are deposited in the Fund under subsection (b). 

10 ‘‘(3) Funds to be deposited in the Fund under 

11 section 8165(a)(3) of this title. 

12 ‘‘(4) Any other amounts specified for transfer 

13 to or deposit in the Fund by law. 

14 ‘‘(e) USE OF AMOUNTS IN FUND.—Subject to the 

15 provisions of appropriations Acts, amounts in the Fund 

16 shall be available for purposes as follows and in the fol17 lowing order of priority: 

18 ‘‘(1) For costs of the Department in disposing 

19 of real property, including costs associated with 

20 demolition, environmental clean-up, maintenance 

21 and repair, improvements to facilitate disposal, and 

22 associated administrative expenses. 

23 ‘‘(2) For costs of the Department associated 

24 with proposed disposals of real property of the De25 partment.
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1 ‘‘(3) For costs of non-recurring capital projects 

2 of the Department. 

3 ‘‘(f) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall include with the 

4 budget justification documents submitted to Congress 

5 each year with the budget of the President for the fiscal 

6 year beginning in such year (as submitted pursuant to sec7 tion 1105 of title 31) a report setting forth the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) A statement of each disposal of real prop9 erty to be undertaken in such fiscal year that is val10 ued in excess of the major medical facility project 

11 threshold specified in section 8104(a)(3)(A) of this 

12 title. 

13 ‘‘(2) A description of each disposal of real prop14 erty that was completed in the fiscal year ending in 

15 the year before such report is submitted.’’. 

16 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such 

17 chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating 

18 to section 8122 the following new item:

‘‘8122A. Disposal of real property.’’.

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 8164(a) is 

20 amended in the second sentence by inserting ‘‘or 1822A’’ 

21 after ‘‘section 8122’’. 

22 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

23 authorized to be appropriated for the Department of Vet24 erans Affairs for fiscal year 2005, $10,000,000 for deposit 
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1 in the Capital Asset Fund under section 1822A(c) of title 

2 38, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)). 

3 SEC. 5. MODIFICATION OF OTHER REAL PROPERTY DIS4 POSAL AUTHORITIES. 

5 (a) GENERAL LIMITATIONS ON DISPOSAL.—Para6 graph (2) of subsection (a) of section 8122 is amended 

7 to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(2) Except as provided in paragraph (3) of this sub9 section, the Secretary may not during any fiscal year dis10 pose of real property owned by the United States and 

11 under the jurisdiction and control of the Secretary that 

12 has an estimated value in excess of the major medical fa13 cility project threshold specified in subsection 

14 8104(a)(3)(A) of this title unless—

15 ‘‘(A) the disposal is described in the budget jus16 tification documents submitted to Congress each 

17 year with the budget of the President for the fiscal 

18 year beginning in such year (as submitted pursuant 

19 to section 1105 of title 31); 

20 ‘‘(B) the Department receives consideration for 

21 the real property equal to the fair market value of 

22 the property, as determined by the Secretary; and 

23 ‘‘(C) the net proceeds of the disposal are depos24 ited in the Capital Asset Fund under section 

25 8122A(c) of this title.’’. 
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1 (b) DISPOSAL PROCEDURES.—Subsection (d) of such 

2 section is amended—

3 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(d)’’; and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

5 paragraphs: 

6 ‘‘(2)(A) In the case of property (including land and 

7 structures and equipment associated with such property) 

8 that has an estimated value less than the major medical 

9 facility project threshold specified in section 

10 8104(a)(3)(A) of this title, the Secretary may dispose of 

11 the property if—

12 ‘‘(i) the Secretary notifies the Administrator of 

13 General Services of an intent to dispose of the prop14 erty; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) a period of 30 days elapses after notice 

16 under clause (i) during which period no other de17 partment or agency of the Federal Government ex18 presses an interest in assuming jurisdiction of the 

19 property under the condition of paying the Secretary 

20 the fair market value of the property, as determined 

21 by the Secretary, of the property. 

22 ‘‘(B) In disposing of property under subparagraph 

23 (A), the Secretary shall publish a notice of sale in the real 

24 estate section of a local newspaper of general circulation 

25 serving the market in which the property is located. 
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1 ‘‘(3) In the case of property (including land and 

2 structures and equipment associated with such property) 

3 that has an estimated value in excess of the major medical 

4 facility project threshold specified in section 

5 8104(a)(3)(A) of this title, the Secretary may dispose of 

6 the property if—

7 ‘‘(A) the Secretary complies with subsection 

8 (a)(2) with respect to the property; 

9 ‘‘(B) the Secretary—

10 ‘‘(i) notifies the Administrator of General 

11 Services of an intent to dispose of the property; 

12 ‘‘(ii) publishes in the Federal Register no13 tice of an intent to dispose of the property; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) notifies the committees of an intent 

15 to dispose of the property; 

16 ‘‘(C) a period of 30 days elapses after notice 

17 under subparagraph (B)(i) during which period no 

18 other department or agency of the Federal Govern19 ment expresses an interest in assuming jurisdiction 

20 of the property under the condition of paying the 

21 Secretary the fair market value of the property, as 

22 determined by the Secretary, of the property; and 

23 ‘‘(D) a period of 60 days elapses after notice 

24 under subparagraph (B)(iii).’’.
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1 SEC. 6. TERMINATION OF NURSING HOME REVOLVING 

2 FUND. 

3 (a) TERMINATION.—(1) Section 8116 is repealed. 

4 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 

5 81 is amended by striking the item relating to section 

6 8116. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

8 8165(a)(3), as redesignated by section 3(d)(1)(D) of this 

9 Act, is further amended by striking ‘‘nursing home revolv10 ing fund’’ and inserting ‘‘Capital Asset Fund under sec11 tion 1822A of this title’’. 

12 (c) TRANSFER OF UNOBLIGATED BALANCES TO CAP13 ITAL ASSET FUND.—Any unobligated balances in the 

14 nursing home revolving under section 8116 of title 38, 

15 United States Code, as of the date of the enactment of 

16 this Act shall be deposited in the Capital Asset Fund 

17 under section 8122A of title 38, United States Code (as 

18 added by section 4(a) of this Act). 

19 SEC. 7. INAPPLICABILITY OF LIMITATION ON USE OF AD20 VANCE PLANNING FUND TO AUTHORIZED 

21 MAJOR MEDICAL FACILITY PROJECTS. 

22 Section 8104 is amended by adding at the end the 

23 following new subsection: 

24 ‘‘(g) The limitation specified in subsection (f) shall 

25 not apply to projects for which funds have already been 

26 authorized by law in accordance with subsection (a)(2).’’. 
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1 SEC. 8. LEASE OF CERTAIN NATIONAL CEMETERY ADMINIS2 TRATION PROPERTY. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 24 is amended by adding 

4 at the end the following new section: 

5 ‘‘§ 2412. Lease of land and buildings 

6 ‘‘(a) LEASE AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may lease 

7 any undeveloped land and unused or underutilized build8 ings, or parts or parcels thereof, belonging to the United 

9 States and part of the National Cemetery Administration. 

10 ‘‘(b) TERM.—The term of a lease under subsection 

11 (a) may not exceed 10 years. 

12 ‘‘(c) LEASE TO PUBLIC OR NONPROFIT ORGANIZA13 TIONS.—(1) A lease under subsection (a) to any public 

14 or nonprofit organization may be made without regard to 

15 the provisions of section 3709 of the Revised Statutes (41 

16 U.S.C. 5). 

17 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding section 1302 of title 40 or any 

18 other provision of law, a lease under subsection (a) to any 

19 public or nonprofit organization may provide for the main20 tenance, protection, or restoration of the leased property 

21 by the lessee, as a part or all of the consideration for the 

22 lease. 

23 ‘‘(d) NOTICE.—Before entering into a lease under 

24 subsection (a), the Secretary shall give appropriate public 

25 notice of the intention of the Secretary to enter into the 
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1 lease in a newspaper of general circulation in the commu2 nity in which the lands or buildings concerned are located. 

3 ‘‘(e) NATIONAL CEMETERY ADMINISTRATION FA4 CILITIES OPERATION FUND.—(1) There is established on 

5 the book of the Treasury an account to be known as the 

6 ‘National Cemetery Administration Facilities Operation 

7 Fund’ (in this section referred to as the ‘Fund’). 

8 ‘‘(2) The Fund shall consist of the following: 

9 ‘‘(A) Amounts authorized to be appropriated to 

10 the Fund. 

11 ‘‘(B) Proceeds from the lease of land or build12 ings under this section. 

13 ‘‘(C) Proceeds of agricultural licenses of lands 

14 of the National Cemetery Administration. 

15 ‘‘(D) Any other amounts authorized for deposit 

16 in the Fund by law. 

17 ‘‘(3) Amounts in the Fund shall be available to cover 

18 costs incurred by the National Cemetery Administration 

19 in the operation and maintenance of property of the Ad20 ministration. 

21 ‘‘(4) Amounts in the Fund shall remain available 

22 until expended.’’. 
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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

3 at the end the following new item:

‘‘2412. Lease of land and buildings.’’.

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