Property Management: Excess and Surplus Personal Property Transfers to Nonfederal Organizations
GGD-88-68
Published: May 13, 1988. Publicly Released: May 13, 1988.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed: (1) executive agencies' procedures regarding the transfer of excess and the donation of surplus federal personal property to nonfederal organizations; and (2) whether the General Services Administration (GSA) conducted timely regional reviews of the operations of state agencies for surplus property.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Energy | The Secretary of Energy should include information on excess personal property furnished to DOE contractors who operate government-owned facilities in its annual report submitted to GSA in compliance with section 202(e) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended. |
Closed – Implemented
DOE developed new reporting with GSA concurrence. Information was collected from all contractors and submitted to GSA in the consolidated annual report in December, 1988.
|
| General Services Administration | The Administrator of General Services should inform the heads of all executive agencies that GSA will issue its summary and analysis report to Congress on a specified date and this report will: (1) include only those executive agency reports that have been submitted to GSA during the calendar quarter following the close of the fiscal year, as required by section 202(e) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended; and (2) identify those executive agencies that have not submitted an annual report on time. |
Closed – Implemented
GSA issued Federal Property Management Bulletin H-54, January 1989, containing the recommended approach.
|
| General Services Administration | The Administrator of General Services should encourage the state agency directors to aggressively promote the benefits of the donation program within their states and advertise the variety of property available through the donation program to those public and private organizations that establish their eligibility. The purpose of this recommendation is to help: (1) increase the amount of surplus personal property some state agencies request from GSA; and (2) expand the number of eligible nonfederal organizations that receive donated property. |
Closed – Implemented
Several actions have been planned or taken. A new permanent regulation was issued in November, 1988 (Amendment H-169).
|
| General Services Administration | The Administrator of General Services should require that regional reviews: (1) be conducted once every 2 fiscal years in compliance with the Donation Handbook; (2) include information on the amount of state agencies' service charges, operating expenses, operating profit/loss, and property donated; (3) develop and use inventory-level criteria to assess and reduce the amount of property in inventory; and (4) increase the coverage of property and inventory control, eligibility of donee organizations, performance of compliance and utilization reviews, the adequacy of the fiscal accounting system, and resolution of the management problems identified. |
Closed – Implemented
Interim steps were taken, with final donation handbook changes issued in July, 1989.
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Topics
state relationsGifts or gratuitiesGOCONoncompliancePersonal propertyPrivate sectorProperty and supply managementReporting requirementsSurplus federal propertyFederal property