Corps of Engineers Should Revise Its Policy for Identifying Unneeded Land

摘要

In July 1982 the Corps of Engineers identified 35,000 acres of unneeded land in response to the President's February 1982 Executive Order 12348 asking federal agencies to report real property no longer needed to meet agency objectives. At five projects, GAO identified an additional 16,682 acres which were not being used for project purposes, including 16,002 acres being leased for farming or grazing. The Corps did not consider this land possible disposal because most of it is occasionally flooded. GAO believes this land could be offered for sale, if it meets other federal requirements such as environmental considerations, with easements that give the government the perpetual right to flood the land and prevent incompatible development. GAO is therefore recommending that the Corps revise its land excessing policy to not automatically exclude for possible disposal land which is occasionally flooded and on which the government's interests can be fully protected through the use of easements.(Author)