General Services Administration's Procedures for Disposing of Federal Property

Despite authorizing legislation, the General Services Administration (GSA) has not always promoted maximum utilization of excess land by the executive agencies. In some cases, GSA disposal of land outside the government led to unnecessary expenditures by the requesting agency, resulted in litigation, and caused uncertainty to an agency which delayed disposal of federal property. Further, the reduced screening period on certain types of property did not expedite the disposal of property outside the federal government.

The denying of a land exchange request by the Air Force adjacent to an Air Force base and a Coast Guard request to consolidate operations in Boston led to increased costs to the government. In three other cases in which GSA favored disposal of property outside the government, the results led to: (1) litigation; (2) such uncertainty that an agency with excess property will not report it for disposal; and (3) referral to the White House for resolution. Reduced screening time for land disposal relative to two programs for land suitable for parks and recreation and for easing the economic impact of military base closures did not expedite the disposal process in any way.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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