DOCUMENTATION U.S. Office of Emergency Planning, "Federal Disaster Assistance." Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1962. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Government Operations, 86th Congress, 1st session, "Federal Disaster Relief Manual," a committee print. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1959. U.S. Office of Emergency Planning, "Federal Disaster Assistance Handbook for State Governors." Washington: multilith draft, March 4, 1963. "Federal Disaster Assistance," part 1710, chapter XVII, title 32, reprinted from the Federal Register of Saturday, September 1, 1962 (27 F.R. 8789). U.S. Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization, "Reimbursement of Other Federal Agencies Performing Major Disaster Relief Functions," Advisory Bulletin No. 252. Washington: multilith, May 23, 1960. U.S. Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization, "Eligibility and Preparation of Claims for Financial Assistance in Natural Disasters." Washington: multilith, April 1961. CC. SURPLUS LAND DISPOSAL DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM Under this program, land, buildings, and other real property belonging to the Federal Government but no longer needed for Federal purposes, is declared to be surplus and is offered on a first priority basis to State and local governments. The property can be transferred to an interested State or local government: (1) without monetary consideration for use as historic monuments, wildlife conservation preserves, or airports; (2) with public benefit allowances up to 100 percent for public health or educational uses; (3) for 50 percent of fair market value for public park or recreation uses; and (4) at fair market value for unrestricted uses. If no State or local government acquires the property, it is sold to private interests. The program is carried out through the provisions of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended (40) U.S.C.A. 484), and certain other laws. The General Services Administration, in cooperation with several other Federal agencies, administers the program. COORDINATION WITHIN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GSA is the coordinating agency of the Federal Government for surplus property disposal. It checks with the other Federal agencies to make sure there is no Federal requirement for a property before it is declared surplus, and seeks the advice of any and all other Federal agencies with special competence and responsibility in the substantive program fields affected by each disposal project. Such Federal agencies include the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Department of the Interior, the Housing and Home Finance Agency, the Federal Aviation Agency, and the Bureau of Public Roads. EFFECTS ON THE ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENTS IN AREAS RECEIVING AID Types of units affected. The public agency receiving surplus Federal property must have the responsibility and authority to acquire and make use of the property in the manner proposed. Otherwise there are no special requirements regarding the form of the public agency. If public agencies do not acquire the surplus property, private persons or groups may do so. Area of jurisdiction. So long as the public agency's area of jurisdiction includes the property it would receive, it is eligible to take part in this program. The agency would be an existing State or local unit of government, although not necessarily general purpose unit of government. Areawide agencies having responsibilities within the geographic jurisdictions of other units of government may be eligible. 40 U.S.C.A. 484. Cooperation between jurisdictions.-When more than one State or local unit of government is interested in using a particular piece of surplus land, they are urged to work together on the preparation of a comprehensive and coordinated plan for the use of the land. The issues of difference between these non-Federal units of government normally must be resolved before the Federal Government will approve disposal. Several different State and local agencies, as well as private persons and groups, may be involved in the final land disposal and use plan. When a large Federal installation, employing many people (i.e., a military base) becomes surplus, a special interagency team of Federal representatives is sent into the local community to help the people find a suitable reuse for the property and to advise them of all Federal programs which might be of assistance. The State industrial development agency is brought in at the same time and every effort is made to coordinate planning for reuse. EFFECTS ON STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL PLANNING PROCESSES Functional planning.-Each individual use of surplus land undertaken by a public body in the fields of health and education must be "an integrated part" of a program for providing public health and educational services. In many cases of surplus disposal to public agencies, the use to be made of the property will be in the field of com petence of a Federal agency other than GSA, and the property may even be developed with the assistance of another Federal aid program. In these cases the program standards of the other programs and agencies are considered very carefully before GSA approves the transfer of land for specific purposes. Comprehensive planning.-Comprehensive development plans of the local urban community are taken into account primarily as they affect the local public agency's proposals for use of the surplus property, but reuse is thought of by GSA more in terms of its appraisers' concept of "highest and best use," a concept of economic potential.20 There is no requirement that the use approved by GSA must be consistent with a comprehensive urban development plan, nor that such a plan must exist. GSA itself might decide that a certain use contrary to a local plan would be the best use of the land and sell it for that purpose. Relation between planning and action programs.-Other than requiring that agencies competing for acquisition and use of the surplus property must resolve their differences, there are no necessary reviews or approvals by other State and local agencies. The fact that all State and local agencies in the area affected are notified of the proposed surplus land disposal, allows them to have their say. The proposed activity must meet all requirements of State and local law. If a GSA decision, about what the use of the surplus property should be, runs counter to the use requested by the State or local government, the State or local government is still given first priority in buying the property at fair market value to assure its use in accordance with State and local desires. U.S. General Services Administration, "Disposal of Surplus Real Property" (Washing ton; March 1962), p. 9. 10 Ibid., pp. 3, 4. Federal review of planning.-The State or local plan for use of the surplus property is reviewed in detail by the Federal Government, first by the Federal agency with competence in judging the type of use proposed, and second by GSA. In most cases GSA retains final approval authority over the adequacy of the use plan. Reviews of comprehensive development plans for surrounding areas are made only as they affect the surplus property use plan. EVALUATION OF ORGANIZATION AND PLANNING REQUIREMENTS The reuse of land or other real property disposed of by the Federal Government, under the surplus property disposal program, can be quite critical to the implementation of urban development plans. Formal review by all official metropolitan and local planning agencies with jurisdiction over the area affected by potential reuses might well be required to be submitted to GSA with applications for State or local acquisition, and with applications for private acquisition. Reuses allowed by a proposed disposal contract might also be reviewed at the local level prior to execution to determine its relationship to official metropolitan and local urban development plans. DOCUMENTATION U.S. General Services Administration, "Disposal of Surplus Real Property." Washington: March 1962. DD. LAND FOR RECREATION AND PUBLIC PURPOSES DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM Under the Recreation Act of 1926 (43 U.S.C. 869), as amended by the Recreation and Public Purposes Act of 1954 and others, the Department of the Interior may lease or sell certain public domain lands for recreation and other public purposes. The act sets a limitation of 640 acres on the land which may be sold in any one year to any one applicant for recreation purposes, and another 640 acres for other public purposes, except that the States may acquire up to 6,400 acres per year for recreation purposes. To encourage the use of the act for recreation, educational, and health purposes, the Secretary of the Interior has set the purchase price for lands applied for by States and local governments for such purposes at $2.50 an acre, and the lease rental at 25 cents an acre per year. This feature makes the program, in effect, one of Federal grants-in-aid on a matching basis. Lands conveyed for historic monument purposes are outright Federal donations, with no cost to the State or local applicant. All lands conveyed or leased under this program revert to Federal ownership if they cease to be used for the prescribed purposes. Additional public domain lands may be sold or leased by the Department of the Interior under the Small Tract Act (43 U.S.C. 682(a) through (e)) in tracts not to exceed 5 acres each for residence, recreation, business, or community site purposes. Land for cemeteries may be sold in tracts up to 80 acres in size.11 11 The Secretary of the Interior can also establish townsites on public domain lands and convey such lands.12 In addition, "Areas of not to exceed six hundred and forty acres for any one application may be set aside and designated by the Secretary of Agriculture as a townsite from any national forest land or land administered by the Secretary of Agriculture under this subchapter, upon application by any county, city, or other local governmental subdivision. Areas so designated may be divided into townlots and offered for sale by the Secretary of Agriculture at public sale to the highest bidder for not less than the appraised value thereof: * * *" 13 COORDINATION WITHIN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT All applications for lease or acquisition for lands under this program are reviewed, as appropriate, by the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation for recreation aspects, the National Park Service for archeological and historical aspects, or the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare for educational and health aspects. EFFECTS ON THE ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNMENTS IN AREAS RECEIVING AID Types of units affected.-Applicants wishing to buy or lease lands under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act may be States and 11 43 U.S.C. 682. 12 U.S. Department of the Interior, "Community Recreation and the Public Domain: The Recreation and Public Purposes Act and Related Laws" (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, May 1963), p. 19. 137 U.S.C.A. 1012. |