Claim of Entitlement of a Priority To Purchase an Electric System
Highlights
The Pioneer Cooperative of Greenville, Alabama, claimed a priority right to purchase the electric system at the former Craig Air Force Base, Alabama, under the Surplus Property Act of 1944. The General Services Administration (GSA) contended that the system was not a high voltage transmission system as defined and covered by this Act, but instead was a low voltage distribution system falling under the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949. Therefore, GSA proposed to negotiate a sale of the electric system to the Craig Field Airport and Industrial Authority. GAO believes that legislative history and dictionary definition support a nongeneric, strictly technical meaning of the term "transmission." GAO thus concurs with the position of GSA to negotiate the disposal of the surplus property to the Craig Field Airport and Industrial Authority.