33 U.S.C. § 578
Section 578 · Disposal of surplus property for development of public port or industrial facilities
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case United States v. Rands (1967)
Most recently applied in United States v. Mango (March 1998)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Whenever the Secretary of the Army, upon the recommendation of the Chief of Engineers, determines that notwithstanding the provisions of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended [40 U.S.C. 471 et seq.], with respect to disposal of surplus real property, (1) the development of public port or industrial facilities on land which is part of a water resource development project under his jurisdiction will be in the public interest; (2) that such development will not interfere with the operation and maintenance of the project; and (3) that disposition of the property for these purposes under this section will serve the objectives of the project within which the land is located, he may convey the land by quitclaim deed to a State, political subdivision thereof, port district, port authority, or other body created by the State or through a compact between two or more States for the purpose of developing or encouraging the development of such facilities. In any case, where two or more political subdivisions thereof, or bodies created by, a State or group of States, seek to obtain the same land, the Secretary of the Army shall give preference to that political subdivision or body whose intended use of land will, in his opinion, best promote the purposes for which the project involved was authorized.
Any conveyance authorized by this section shall be made at the fair market value of the land, as determined by the Secretary of the Army, upon condition that the property shall be used for one of the purposes stated in the subsection (a) of this section only, and subject to such other conditions, reservations or restrictions as the Secretary may determine to be necessary for the development, maintenance, or operation of the project or otherwise in the public interest.
Prior to the conveyance of any land under the provisions of this section, the Secretary of the Army shall, in the manner he deems reasonable, give public notice of the proposed conveyance and afford an opportunity to interested eligible bodies in the general vicinity of the land to apply for its purchase.
The Secretary of the Army may delegate any authority conferred upon him by this section to any officer or employee of the Department of the Army. Any such officer or employee shall exercise the authority so delegated under rules and regulations approved by the Secretary.
The proceeds from any conveyance made under the provisions of this section shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
The Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended, referred to in subsec. (a), is act June 30, 1949, ch. 288, 63 Stat. 377, as amended. Provisions of that act relating to disposal of government property are classified to chapter 10 (§471 et seq.) of Title 40, Public Buildings, Property, and Works. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 471 of Title 40 and Tables.