Senate Offers Bi-Partisan Pilot Disposal Program

Three weeks after an initial hearing on Capitol Hill, the Senate has proposed a five-year pilot program to kick-start the disposal of unneeded federal property.

The Federal Real Property Disposal Pilot Program (S.1667) was introduced in the Senate by Tom Carper (D-DE) on behalf of himself and Tom Coburn (R-OK) on June 20, 2007. The bill was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Some three weeks earlier, Senators Carper and Coburn held a hearing on the issue of surplus real property. On June 15, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) presented a report to Congress, identifying the first 130 federal properties that could be considered most likely candidates for disposal.

“The recent report by the Office of Management and Budget illustrates that the federal government’s property management problems are even worse – and more expensive – than I originally thought,” said Sen. Carper, chairman of the Subcommittee on Federal Finance Management, Government Information, Federal Services and International Security.

“It’s difficult to understand how agencies could continue holding on to so much underused or even completely vacant property,” Carper continued. “The federal dollars spent to maintain these buildings could be put to better use. Congress needs to give agencies the tools they need to eliminate their backlog of unneeded property.”

Under the terms of Carper’s proposed five-year legislation, The Director of the OMB will oversee the development of a program to dispose of real property that does not meet the needs of the government. The director is tasked to identify criteria for property that does not meet those needs.

Agencies will recommend properties to the Director as candidates for disposal in the pilot program. The Director will then work with the head of each executive agency to decide on the properties to be disposed, and to notify the agency of that decision.

Sale price of real property under the pilot program must be not less than the fair market value, and costs associated with disposal may not exceed the fair market value of the property without approval of the Director.

To expedite the disposal of property, the proposed legislation frees agencies from having to comply with section 501 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11411), or any other law regarding the no-cost conveyance of real property owned by the Federal Government.

By way of compensating agencies for the expense of participating in this program, the legislation recommends that administrative expenses related to disposal be returned to the affected agency. After payment of those administrative expenses, 80 percent of sale proceeds are to be deposited into the Treasury. Twenty percent will be returned to the affected agency. After the conclusion of the five-year pilot program, any unobligated amounts are to be transferred to the general fund of the Treasury.

For the full text of the proposed pilot legislation, click here.