PAGENO="0001"
REVIEW OF CERTAIN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
RELATING TO DISPOSAL OF PERSONAL PROPERTY BY
EXCHANGE OR SALE UNDER SECTION 201(c) OF THE
FEDERAL PROPERTY ACT
iv. DOG.
iy&f
HEARING
BEFORE A
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NINETIETH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
JULY 9, 1968
Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Operations
1'
~3rnb
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1968
`,P~i/7
PAGENO="0002"
CHET HOLIFIELD, California
JACK BROOKS, Texas
L. H. FOUNTAIN, North Carolina
PORTER HARDY, JR., Virginia
JOHN A. BLATNIK, Minnesota
ROBERT E. JONES, JR., Alabama
EDWARD A. ~ARMATZ, Maryland
JOHN E. MOSS, California
DANTE B. FASCELL, Florida
HENRY S. REUSS, Wisconsin
JOHN 15* MONAGAN, Connecticut
TORBERT H. MACDONALD, Massachusetts
J. EDWARD ROUSH, Indiana
WILLIAM S. MOORHEAD, Pennsylvania
CORNELIUS E. GALLAGHER, New Jersey
WILLIAM J. RANDALL, Missouri
BENJAMIN S. ROSENTHAL, New York
JIM WRIGHT, Texas
FERNAND J. ST GERMAIN, Rhode Island
FLORENCE P. DWYER, New Jersey
OGDEN R. REID, New York
FRANK HORTON, New York
DONALD RUMSFELD, Illinois
JOHN N. ERLENBORN, Illinois
JOHN W. WYDLER, New York
CLARENCE J. BROWN, JR., Ohio
JACK EDWARDS, Alabama
GUY VANDER JAGT, Michigan
JOHN T. MYERS, Indiana
FLETCHER THOMPSON, Georgia
WILLIAM 0. COWOER, Kentucky
MARGARET M. HECKLER, Massachusetts
GILBERT GUDE, Maryland
PAUL N. McCLOSKEY, JR., California
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
WILLIAM L. DAWSON, IllinoIs, Cha4rman
CHRISTINE RAY DAVIS, Staff Director
JAMES A. LANIcAN, General Counsel
MILES Q. ROMNEY, Associate General Counsel
J. P. CARLSON, Minority Counsel
WILLIAM H. COPENHAVER, Minority Professional Staff
SPECIAL SUBCOMMITTEE ON DONABLE PROPERTY
JOHN S. MONAGAN, Connecticut, Chairman
FERNAND J. ST GERMAIN, Rhoda Island MARGARET M. HECKLER, Massachusetts
MILES Q. R0MNEY, Counsel
ANN B. MOLACELAN, Clerk
(II)
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Statement of-
Elson, Sol, Director, Office of Surplus Property Utilization, Depart-
ment of Health, Education, and Welfare `~ accompanied by `William
R. Lawrence, Chief, Personal Property ~Mvision, Office of Surplus
Property Utilization
Griffin, Robert T., Assistant Administrator, General Services Admin-
istration; accompanied by Lewis C. Tuttle, Acting Assistant Com-
missioner, Personal Property Disposal; and Byron Harding, Asso-
ciate General Counsel
Riley, Paul H., Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Supply and
Services) accompanied by Col. Lester T. David, Office of Secretary
of Defense, Military Staff, Supply Policy
Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by-
Griffin, Robert T., Assistant Administrator, General Services Admin-
istration: Letter from L. C. Tuttle, Acting Assistant Commissioner
for Personal Property Disposal, GSA, to Col. Lester T. David,
Data Systems and Supply Policy Division, Office of Assistant
Secretary of Defense (Installations and Logistics), Washington,
D.C., dated July 3, 1968
Monagan, Hon. John S., a Representative in Congress from the State
of Connecticut: Opening statement
Riley, Paul H., Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Supply and
Services): Statement
APPENDIX
Documents and correspondence relating to certain exchange/sale policies
and procedures-Department of Defense and General Services Admin-
istration
(W)
CONTENTS
Page
30
20
4
21
2
5
33
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I
I
PAGENO="0005"
REVIEW OF CERTAIN POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
RELATING TO DISPOSAL OF PERSONAL PROPERTY
BY EXCHANGE OR SALE UNDER SECTION 201(c) OF
TUE FEDERAL PROPERTY ACT
TUESDAY, JULY 9, 1968
HOUSE O~' REPRrJSENTATIVES,
SPECIAL SUBCOMMITTEE ON DONABLE PROPERTY
OP THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS,
Washington, D.C.
The subcommittee convened at 10 :10 a.m., in room 2154, Rayburn
House Office Building, Hon. John S. Monagan presiding.
Present : Representatives John S. Monagan and Fernand 3. St
Germain.
Professional staff members present : Miles Q. Romney, counsel for
the subcommittee : William H. Copenhaver, minority staff member.
Mr. MONAGAN. I will call the hearin~ to order.
I have a statement here, and I think that I will run through it
rather briefly, but the full statement may be made a part of the record.
We are in a little more magisterial surroundings than we usually are
due to the fact that the smaller committee rooms are not available, and
yo~1 will just have to adjust yourselves to this cathedral.
The hearing that we have today is continuing our review of policies
relating to disposal of personal property by exchange/sale under see~
tion 201(c) . All of us here know what the significance of this provisiOn
is. Perhaps 95 percent o.f the surplus prQperty is generated by the
Department of Defense. And previously of course there was a policy
that required prior screening of this property for transfer as excess to
other Federal agencies or for transfer as surplus for donation. There
were various regulations issued revising this disposal. GSA issued re-
vised regulations in March 196G which become effective on July 1, 1966.
They did not require the Department o~ Defense to change its basic
exchange/sale policy. However, the D~partanent advised that it was
making a change in August of 1966 and that the prior screening was
no longer to be required.
We held a hearing on this matter shortly afterwards, and at that
time, the Department agreed to ke~p the subcommittee informed as
to developments that might take place and to furnish copies of addi-
tional instructions in the military departments and the Defense
Supply Agency.
We made a report in October of 1966 on this subject and at that
time called on the D~partment of Defense to hold its policy in abey-
ance until an analysis could be made of the relative merits of disposal
by exchange/sale, transfer to other Federal agencies, or by donations.
(1)
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2
I don't have to discuss the implications and the poiicy questions that
are involved in these different methods.
The subcommittee became interested in one aspect, and that was the
degree to which the impact of this policy on the clonable program
could be limited. In other words, that the supply of sui~plus property
could be continued. And we requested that data be gathered on it for
this purpose. On Dec~mbcr 15, 1967, we requested the Department of
Defense to consider suggestions regarding possible elimination from
exchange/sale of some items showing a low rate of return on the basis
of acquisition cost, and we have asked DOD to compile figures on
proceeds and allowances resulting from exchaiige/sale so that there
would be some reasonable basis for arriving at a general policy on
this matter.
On January 31 of this year, the Department of Defense stated that
it was going to require evaluation of each contemplated exchange/sale
transaction to see whether the expected return would warrant the ad-
ministrative and related costs. We also learned informally that an
instruction to the service departments and the Defense Supply Agency
was being prepared, and this was issued in a two-page memorandum
on March ~7 of this year. The pui~pose of this was to clarify mis-
understandings which a~p:peared to exist in certain programs.
Now, until 3 weeks ago, the March 27 memorandum was the latest
document the subcommittee had received concerning DOD implementa-
tion of its exchange/sale policy. However, there has, we have learned,
been considerable activity within the Department concerning such
implementation, and it is this activity that we want to review at the
hearing this morning.
One a~pect of the exchange/sale procedure that we are interested
in deals with the list of 30 categories and groups of property which
the 1966 GSA regulations made ineligible for exchange/sale disposal.
And we want to see also how the Federal agencies have handled special
waivers releasing an agency from adherence to the restrictions imposed
by the 30-category list.
We are, of course, as I have said, concerned with these categories
and will he concerned if through inadequate supervision and coordiña-
tion among agencies these exchan~e/sa1e transactions are to go beyond
the prescribed or necessary limits with a damaging effect on the
donable program.
And so we are meeting today to have testimony on these matters that
I have discussed generally. We will have witnesses from the various
agencies involved.
(The statement follows:)
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN S. MONAGAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS
FROM THE STATE OF CONNECTICIJT
The hearing today by the Special Subcommittee on Donable Property is part
of our continuing review of Federal policies and procedttres governing the disposal
of personal property by exchange or sale under section 201 (c) of the Federal
Pr~perty Act. Under this provision, when a Federal agency needs to acquire an
item of personal ~roperty it may exchange or sell a similar item and apply the
trade-in allowance or proceeds of sale against the cost of the property being ac-
quired. The General Services Admfriistration is authorized to prescribe regula-
tions governing such exchange/sale transactions, The subcommittee has a srecial
interest in such IIlsposals because, when personal property is thus sold or cx-
changed, it no longer can become avai1~ibje for donation under the Federal dona-
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3
ble property program. Through this program, the Government may ~ donate to
qualified educational, public health, and civil defense organizations personal
property which the Government no longer needs.
Perhaps 95 percent of the Federal surplus property allocated under the Federal
donable property program is generated by the Department of Defense. Until
recently, it was the policy of the Defense Department that property eligible for
exchange or sale under section 201 (c) be given a prior screening, first for traus-
fer as excess to other Federal agencies on a nonreimbursable lasis, and second,
for transfer as surplus for donation.
~ In March 19~6, the General Services Administration issued revised regulations
on the disposal of personal property by exchange or sale. The regulations became
effective on July 1, 1966.
The GSA regulations did not require the Department of Defense to change
its basic exchange/sale policy. However, in August 1966, the Department advised
that it was making such a change and that the prior screening for further Federal
use and donation was no longer to be required within the Department. Shortly
thereafter, the subcommittee held hearings on this matter. During the hearings,
the Department agreed to keep the subcommittee informed as to developments
that might take place and to furnish copies of additional implementing instruc-
tions from the military departments and the Defense Supply Agency.
In October 1966, the Government Operations Committee treated the subject
of exchange/sale disposals at length in its report entitled, "Evaluation of the
Donable Surplus Property Program" (H. Rept. No. 2319, 89th Oong). One roe-
onimenclation in this report called on the Department of Defense to hold its
revised policy in abeyance until the Federal agencies concerned could furnish
an analysis of the relative merits of disposal of Federal property by exchange!
sale, by transfer to other Federal agencies for further Federal use, or by clona-
tion. The Department cUd in fact defer putting the change into effect. On
October 27, 1967, however, the Assistant Secretary of Defense advised the
chairman of the full Committee on Government Operations of DOD's deter-
mination that it would be prudent to discontinue offering exchange/sale property
to other Federal agencies and eligible donees prior to attempting recoupment
of funds or establishment of credit through the exchange/sale authority.
At this point, the subcommittee began to explore with DOD means whereby
the impact of the revised policy on the donabhle property program could be
limited, and the committee staff and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense
( Supply and Services) conferred on certain possible approaches to DOD imple-
mentation of the new policy. The subcommittee requested the Department of
HEW and DOD to gather comparative data on the economies' of exchange/sale
and other disposal methods.
On December 15, 1967, the subcommittee formally requested the Department
of Defense to consider certain suggestions regarding possible elimination from
exchange/sale disposal of some items showing a low rate of return in prior
disposals. The letter also suggested that DOD compile figures on proceeds and
allowances resulting from exchange/sale transactions so that the rate of return
on `original acquisition cost for various categories of property could be ~ ac-
curately computed.
In a letter to the subcommittee dated January 31, 1968, the Department of
Defense stated it was going to require careful evaluation of each contemplated
exchange/sale transaction so as to determine in advance whether the return
expected would warrant the administrative effort and related cost involved. The
subcommittee also learned informally that a DOD instruction to the service
departments and the Defense Supply Agency was being prepared in the Office
of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Installations and Logistics) . That instruc-
tion was issued in a two-page memorandum to the Army, Navy, Air Force, and
DSA dated March 27, 1968. The stated purpose of the memorandum was to "clarify
certain mis~nderstanding5 which appe~reU to exist concerning the purpose and
intent of DOD implementation of FPMR 101-46 as prescribed in DOD instruc-
tion 4160.1 dated August 10, 1966." The memorandum specifically required a
case-by-case evaluation of proposed exchange/sale transactions to determine
whether the return would justify the administrative effort and related costs
involved. It suggested that to ~ large degree this could be ascertained through the
average gross monetary return realized through past competitive sales or
exchanges of similar Items.
Until 3 weeks ago, the March 27 memorandum was the latest document the
subcommittee bad received concerning DOD Implementation of its exchange!
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4
sale policy. * However, there has, we have learned, been considerable activity
with~irL the Department
concerning such implementation. It is this activity
which
will
we
want to review at the hearing this morning.
A special aspect of exchange/sale procedure that the subcommittee will take
up today deals with the list of 30 categories or groups of property which the
GSA in its lOGO
regulations made ineligible for exchange/sale disposal. Specifi-
cally, we want to examine
the Federal agencies concerned have handled
special waivers
releasing an agency from having to adhere to the restriction
imposed by the 30-category list. The subcommittee takes no position with re-
spect to the (leSira:bility
01~ appropriateness of special exemptions from the list.
But we are interested in the
of
adequacy
procedures and practices in granting
such exemptions.
Because property items within the
ineligible categories cannot be disposed
of by exchange or sale, have
a greater chance of being declared surplus prop-
erty and thus becoming available for
use in the Federal donable property pro-
gram. Certainly, would be
greatly concerned if through inadequate supervision
and coordination
among agencies most involved in the exchange/sale and clona-
tion programs, exchange/sale
were to range beyond prescribed or
necessary limits.
Accordingly, the subcommittee
meeting today to hear testimony relating
to the matters I have
on from representatives of the Department
of Defense, the General Services
Administration, and the Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare.
Mr. MONAGAN. Our first witness is Mr. Paul H. Riley, Deputy As-
sistant Secretary of Defense for Supply and Services. Mr. Riley, would
you come up to the table here. We very much appreciate your coming.
I know that you are engaged in very important and urgent business,
and we will try to finish as rapidly as we can.
Mr. Riley, you do have a statement here, I see. Would you like to
read it?
STATThK~T OP PAUL H. RILEY, DEPUTY ASSISTANT
op DEFENSE (SUPPLY AND SERVICES)
ACCOMPANIED BY
;
COL.
LESTER T. DAVID, OPPICE OP SEcRETARY OP
DEFENSE,
TARY STAFF, SUPPLY POLICY
Mr. RILEY. I can do whatever suits
your wishes, Mr. Chairman. I
can present it-I can read the statement, leave it for the record ; or
very quickly, in order to save time, I can give you two or three of
the highlights that are in the statement.
Mr. MONAGAN. This statement, Mr. Riley, may be made a part of the
record at this point, and I think if you would summarize it, we all
know enough about the details and the implications so that we can
take it from there.
Mr. RILEY. All right, sir.
The first part of the statement does deal with some of the past
actions which you, Mr. Chairman, have already covered. That is why
I think it would be prudent at `this time not tO reiterate those. In re-
sponse to your specific request, we have informed you in our statement
that our implementing instructions on the program are out now, have
been published by the military services, and all of our field activities
should have them and should be operating under them. With respect
to the dialog that you requested in connection with granting of
certain exceptions for Federal supply classification groups 15 and
16-this is aircraft structural parts and aircraft components-we did
request the General Services Administration to grant us authority to
proceed to exchange/sale certain aircraft components. This came about
as a result of a request of the Department of the It
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standing there may have been some question in the committee's mind
with respect to the military service activities in this connection. I
have not been officially informed of this, but would like to inform you
that, if there is a problem we and GSA will work this out and correct
whatever the problem seems to be.
Another high point in the statement is to inform you that by this
time next year we will be in a better position to come before you and
tell you precisely the value of the exchange/sale program to the De-
partment of Defense. We will during the year collect the actual sales
proceeds that we require when we sell property or we will be able
to document and aggregate for you the total value of the exchanges
that we do receive when we trade in property. And this will, I think,
strengthen the whole reporting system. And attached to my statement,
Mr. Ohairman, are two tables, one which shows the donation program
by recipient beginning with fiscal year 1964 and on through the 9
months of the fiscal year 1968, which is as far as we have the figures to
date.
The other table on the donation program shows the total program
fiscal year 1964 through, again, the first 9 months of 1968 showing
the total donation program, the value of the exchange/sale type
property that was donated, the value of the exchange/sale type prop-
erty that was sold, and then :the total usable property that was sold by
the De/partment of Defense in those years.
I am prepared to answer your questions.
(The statement follows:)
i
I
PREPARED STATEMENT OF PAUL H. RILEY, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF
DEFENSE ( SUPPLY AND Szavicss)
Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am appearing here today in
response to the chairman's letter of July 3, addressed to the Secretary of De-
fense, which expressed a need for current information and status regarding the
Department of Defense exchange/sale program, with particular emphasis on
two specific points:
1. Status of Implementing instructions relative to the new DOD exchange/sale
policy.
2. CircumstanceS and dialog surrounding the recent partial exemption
granted to DOD from observing the restrictions on Federal supply classification
groups 15 and 16 imposed through GSA's list of 30 property categories ineligible
for exchange/sale disposal.
As the committee is aware, section 201 (c) of the Federal Property and Ad-
ministrative Services Act of 1949, as amended, provides exchange/sale authority
to Federal agencies, and the Federal property management regulations (FPMR)
issued by GSA implements in detail the manner in which this authority can and
cannot be used by Federal agencies. Although the use of this authority is per-
missive, the principal reason for the authority is to allow Federal agencies to
exchange or sell Federal property that requires replacement and to apply the
exchange allowance or proceeds from sale toward the acquisition of a new and
similar replacement item.
On March 21, 1966, the FPMR was revised by GSA ; among other changes, the
number of categories ineligible for exchange/sale was increased from seven to 30
and the eligible categories were rethlced from 09 to 41.
A revision of DOD Instruction 4160.1, dated August 10, lOfifi, subject : "Non-
excess Personal Property To Be Sold or Exchanged for Replacement Purposes,"
was issued to establish uniform policy and procedure throughout the DOD for
compliance with the revised FPMR.
On September 27, 1966, the DOD acceded to the request of the chairmen of the
Senate and House Government Operations Committees to defer implementation
of the DOD Instruction until the second session of the 89th C~ngress had had a~i
opportunity to act upon Senate bill 2010. As you know, S. 2~1O failed of
enactment.
98-864-68----2
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On Ootober 27, 1967, with the approval of the Bureau of the Budget, the
chairmen of the Senate and House Government Operations Committees were
notified that action to implement DOD instruction 4160.1 was `being initiated.
Simultaneously, all DOD components were notified of the removal of the suspen-
sion and were told to initiate implementation action.
During the early phases of implementation there were some cases where a
property disposal Officer withdrew from the "eligible for donation" category
items of property on which State surplus property screeners had already filed a
~ claim. A joint DOD/GSA policy was quickly established whereby such personal
property which had been spoken for would not be withheld from donation by
holding activities even though the necessary paperwork had not reached the
GSA regional office. There were also a few incidents of ineligible items being put
up for exchange or sale ; these were corrected in each ease that was brought to
our attention.
Detailed implementing instructions have now been disseminated to all military
service field activities, and as of July 1 (fiscal year 19~9) we will be in a position
to obtain more exchange/sale data and to determine what effect, if any, this
revised policy will have on the donation program.
With respect to the. circumstances and dialog surrounding the granting of a
partial exception to Federal supply classification groups 15 and 1~, I am happy
to provide this information. On February 21, 1968, representatives of the Naval
Air Systems Command and the Office of the Navy General Counsel visited GSA
to seek relieffrom, or an exception to subpart 101-46.4901, Federal suppiy classifi-
cation group 16, aircraft components and accessories, and the airframe structural
components portion of Federal supply classification group 15. As you are aware,
subpart 101-46.4901 concerns itself with Federal supply classification groups
which are not eligible under the provisions of the exchange/sale regulation.
The basis for the Navy request was that the Navy had acquired several Grum-
man P0-40 aircraft, commercially known as the Grumman Gulf Stream, and
had established a provisioning plan which called for spare parts support to be
provided by the manufactur:er. Upon evaluating this support arrangement, GSA
granted the Navy an interim exception to Federal supply classification group 16
and the airframe structural components portion of Federal supply classification
group 15. This interim exception was to expire on August 31, 1968.
~ On February 23, 1968, GSA notified my office of the exception they had granted
and suggested that perhaps the Army and the Air Force might also `be operating
~ comniercial type aiT~Taft and be dependent upon the manufaetu;rer for spare parts
support. It was ascertained that both the Army and Air Force had had, or
anticipated having much the same problem as the Navy in connection with their
commercially designed and manufactured aircraft. As a result of this determina-
tion, on March 15 we requested GSA to grant authority to exchange/sale the
aforementioned items ; on April 8 this request was approved by GSA. On April 16,
the military departments and the Defense Supply Agency were advised of the
exception granted by GSA, were furnished copies of the DOD/GSA correspon-
dence on the subject, and were requested to initiate appropriate action to incor-
porate the exemption into their respective implementing instructions to their
components.
It is my understanding that pursuant to your staff review of the departmental
implementing instructions, . it has been brought to GSA's attention that the miii-
tary services may have in some instances interpreted the exemption authority
more broadly than was intended by GSA. We have, however, received no formal
notification to this effect. Upon receipt of such notification we will investigate
the alleged misinterpretations and if they are substantiated corrective action will
be taken.
SURPLUS PROPERTY DISPOSITION-DOD DONATION PROGRAM
[Acquisition value, in millions of dollarsj
Fiscal year
Total Exchange/sale Exchange/sale Total usable
donation donated sold property sold
-
273
282
285
231
142
56. 0
33.3
24. 7
17.9
13.6
45. 0
41.8
66. 1
26. 2
14.5
980
975
804
917
684
1964
1965
1986
1967
1988(9 months) -
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Department of Health Education, and Welfare
Public airports
Special education activities
Public bodies
Other authorized donees
Total
251
1I
260
264
l~l
206
~
14
134
~
273 282 285 231 .142
Mr. MON~~GAN. Just on these tables, the first table shows the total
donation, and that is the same figure that appears at the bottom of the
column in the next table ; is it not?
Mr. RILEY. Yes ; that is correct.
Mr. MONAGAN. Now, exchange/sale donations, just what does that
mean?
Mr. RILEY. That means that this property was eligible for ex-
change/sale but under our previous procedures it was screened and
then donated.
Mr. MONAGAN. I see. It actually went into the donation program.
Mr. RILEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. MONAGAN. The remaining amount was sold under the ex-
change/sale program ; is that right?
Mr. RILEY. That is correct.
Mr. MONAnAN. $45 million in the top column. And then is the final
column the total amount of property that is available?
Mr. Rii~y. The final column is the total amount of usable property
that was sold. That is the acquisition value of the property that was
sold.
Mr. MONAGAN. How does that figure relate to the preceding
columns?
Mr. Rin~is~. It is a part of it. In other words, the total usable prop-
erty sold by the Department of Defense in the first 9 months of fiscal
year 1968 amounts to $684 million. Now, of that, $14.5 million was
exchange/sale-type property that was sold, $13.6 million was ex-
change/sale-type property that was donated, and $142 million is the
total donation program.
Mr. MONAGAN. Well, what about the remaining $500 million?
Mr. RILEY. That was sold and went into the Defense Department's
surplus disposal fund.
Mr. MONAGAN. Do you want to ask any questions?
Mr. ROMNEY. Mr. Riley, you said that after you had received data
on the exchange/sale transactions you would be in a position to give
the aggregate of exchange/sale proceeds. Does this mean that you
would not be able to distinguish within that aggregate figure the pro-
ceeds attributable to specific categories of property?
Mr. RILEY. No ; I believe I am correct in saying this, Mr. Romney,
that we will continue to aggregate our figures by category of material
so that we will be able to discuss with you the actual sales proceeds fo~
exchange/sale property or the actual trade-in value by category.
Mr. ROMNEY. You have provided to us copies of the Defense Sur-
plus Sales Office sales summary. The latest copy I have is for the
DOD DONATION PROGRAM, BY RECIPIENT, BEGINNING WITH FISCAL YEAR 1964
[In millions of dollarsj
Fiscal year Fiscal year Fiscal year Fiscal year 9 months,
1964 1965 1966 1967 fiscal year
1968
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8
first half of fiscal 1968 In this sales summary is a section which
analyzes selected categories of property, exchange/sale type property
These disposals took place under the pnor Defense Department policy,
under which the further Federal utilization and donation screening
occurred before selections out for exchange/sale disposal , is that
correct?
Mr RILEY Yes , that is correct
Mr ROMNE-Y My question then is, Will the Defense surplus sales
`summaries he essentially different now after the exchange/sale trans-
actions go into effect ~
Mr. RILEY. Well, I think in terms of the way we will display this,
the reporting formats will remain about the same, except we will have
this additional information There will be additional information
even though technically speaking the exchange/sale transaction will
not involve surplus property The only difference here will be the
nature of the property that we are dealing with that will be reflected
in our change in procedures We will be giving you the actual sales
value of the exchange/sale property or the trade in value
Mr ROMNEY Do you anticipate that will be incorporated into the
subsequent issues of this summary booklet?
Mr RILEY Yes, sir , it will be
Mr MONAGAN Mr Riley, there is one important matter that I
want to talk with you about before you leave, and that is the matter of
coordination between this committee and the Department of Defense
It is also somewhat of a problem with other departments And also
I wish to discuss the coordination between departments
One of the important functions of the Government Operations Com
mittee is to oversee and stimulate exactly this sort of thing And I be-
heve that the situation we have run into here pomts up the importance
of the committee function and also certain important deficiencies in the
r~dationship between the committee and the Department of Defense
Now, there have been both progressive elements and elements that
we think are subject to criticism resulting from this continuing in
vestigation. For instance, Secretary Morris, on October 27, wrote a
letter to Chairman Dawson informing him about what was going
on, `and also wrote to me on January 31 of 1968 telling about proposed
actions and decisions on the exchange/sale policy This was helpful
But since the March 27 letter, a number of significant developments
have taken place within the Department. In April, ASPR revision
No 27 was issued with part 2 on exchange/sale of personal property
In May, the Army and the Air Force issued special implementing
instructions In mid June, the Navy issued special implementing in
structions, and in early June GSA began circulating its revision of
the Defense Disposal Manual Last April your Office and GSA con
cluded an exchange of letters relating to commercial type aircraft
parts being exempted from the 30 category list, which was a signifi
cant permanent alteration of the prior restraints No notification was
sent to us.
So the point is that we should have had a liaison We should have
known about these developments for our own information and also
for the coordination that we are seeking Now, I )ust point out, during
the prior hearings when you testified you were talking about the im-
pact of the exchange/sale program on the total program, and Mr
I
PAGENO="0013"
9
Romney requested at that time that the Department furnish the corn-
mittee with copies of the implementing instructions which the depart-
ments and DSA are requested to supply DOD. I, at that tirne, said
I wanted to reiterate the interest that Oongress had in this program
and the dismay we would feel if anything were done to affect it ad-
versely, and I thought that this would be felt in the Congress and
throughout the country. And I said that we were going to follow
it closely and would appreciate your keeping us informed as to any
developments that may take place.
So it is with a great deal of concern that we find that all these de-
cisions have been taken and communications have been had without
any reference to us.
Mr. RILEY. Mr. Chairman, I was not aware that we were not keep-
ing your staff advised of our activities. It was my understanding that
we had furnished the implementing instructions to you for your staff's
review.
With respect to the most recent action where we have requested
an exemption of two of the aircraft classes, I do not know whether
you were advised of that or not.
Mr. MONAGAN. No, we were not.
Mr. RILEY. I will be happy to leave with your staff the corre-
spondence that took place in connection with that.
Mr. MONAGAN. Well, I don't mean to suggest that we have any
prior ~opinion as to any particular transaction or even as to a policy
change. We might very well approve of the changes. In fact, I think
from the information we have that in many ways, what has been done
has been proper and has shown an attempt to adjust to the realities
of the situation. At the same time, we do want to have this information
furnished as we go along.
Mr. RILEY. Well, I personally had some discussions with members
of your sta.ff and the principal member of my staff, Col. Lester David,
is always available at any time, and I think he and Mr. Romney have
had several conversations.
Mr. MONAGAN. Well, there is no question that when a meeting has
been held we have got the information, but what I want to empha-
size is that there is an obligation on your part to keep us informed.
Mr. RILEY. Yes, sir.
Mr. MONAGAN. And to take the initiative to give us this informa-
tion as we go along.
Mr. Rii~EY. I would like to assure you that I am sensitive to that
commitment, and will follow up `on it.
Mr. MONAGAN. It is in this failure and other aspects to follow along
that we want to point up by this hearing today.
Mr. St Germain, would you like to ask any questions.
Mr. ST GERMAIN. No questions.
Mr. MONAGAN. Thank you very much, Mr. Riley.
Mr. ~ Thank you.
Mr. MONAGAN. Colonel David, we would like to `have you stay here,
sir.
Would you take the chair, please.
Colonel DAVID. Yes, sir.
Mr. MONAGAN. Would you identify yourself for the record, please.
Colonel DAVID. My name is CoL Lester T. David, Air Force. I am
I
I,
PAGENO="0014"
10
I
a military staff adviser to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for in-
stallation and logistics-in particular, Mr. Riley, who is in charge of
the particular area that I am involved in, supply policy, utilization
and disposal.
Mr. ROMNEY. Colonel David, the chairman has just noted a number
, of implementing instructions relating to the exchange/sale policy,
instructions which we did not learn about until very recently. I would
like to know if you can provide us any additional references to im-
plementing instructions that have been issued within the Department
of Defense concerning the exchange/sale policy since Mr. Morris' letter
of March 27, 1~68.
~ Colonel DAVm. Since the March 27 memorandum, there has not
been any additional action taken by me. There has, however, been action
taken ~ *the Defense Supply Agency in obtaining military service
~coordination on common procedures, applicable to the screening and
disposition of exchange/sale property, for inclusion in the Defense
~ Disposal Manual. There has also `been action taken regarding the im-
plementation of the policy on the AJSPR. This latter change became
effective April 15, 1968.
Mr. ROMNEY. Colonel, I wish you would comment on this, if you
can. In a memorandum from the regional representative of HEW's
Office of Surplus Property Utilization, dated June 7, 1968, the regional
~prE~sentative refers to the Air Force Logistics Command CMAL No.
68-21, whh~h is one of the implementing instructions which `have been
issued by the service departments thout exchange/sale. It was issued
in May of this year. The memorandum goes on to say, and I quote,
"We," me&ning OSPU, San Francisco, "have had considerable dis-
cussion of this with our central office and in turn they have probed
the matter with the Air Force. Given `below are some of the facts in
the case as received by us."
~ Then they proceed to state th~ purpose of the implementing in-
struction and then say, "No instructions have been sent by the Air
Force to the purchasing people in the field variously known as the
AFLO item managers or the owning units. In time, instructions will
be sent to the AFLO item managers setting up guidelines for field
determinations as to what property will be designated for exchange/
sale disposal."
Can you give us any information with respect to any proposed
instructions as to AFLO item managers setting out guidelines for field
determinations on exchange/sale items?
Colonel DAVID. I am not familiar with the letter that you are quot-
ing from, but there is a requirement for the services and DSA to notify
them, including inventory managers-these are the people who deal
in the wholesale `side of supply management-to notify them of the
policy and procedures for the execution of the exchange/sale author-
ity, and to notify them of the items which are eligible and those items
which are ineligible. To my knowledge, there is a piece of paper at the
`present time being developed within the Defense Supply Agency to
effect coordination among the inventory control managers. Implement-
ing instructions have not been put out as a DOD regulation or in-
struction at this time, other than the DOD instruction 4160.1, which
you are familiar with,
PAGENO="0015"
11
Mr. ROMNEY. Would this piece of paper try to set out guidelin~s for
determinations by field offices as to what should and should not be dis-
posed of by exchange/sale~
Colonel DAVID. It would not be to field activities as we commonly
talk about them. It would be the inventory manag~rs, the people who
have exchange/sale property in their warehouses under a wholesale-
type operation, not down at the level whereby an individual wants to
trade in *a typ~~writer on a new one. This is the inventory manager who
may have hundreds of items that he wants to dispose of by exdhange/
sale.
Mr. ROMNEY. This then brings me to the point that is emphasized
in Secretary Morris' memorandum to the service departments and
DSA on March 21, 1968. In it, he said that each exchange/sale transac-
tion would be carefully evaluated to see whether the expected return
would warrant the administrative effort and associated costs involved.
Now, among the departments and DSA, taking them one by one, if
you can, who, and at what level makes the determinations as to whether
a given item would not warrant the effort and cost involved in ex-
change/sale disposal?
Colonel DAVID. In order to explain this, I think I should break it
into two parts, Mr. Romney.
If it is at the inventory manager level-let me give you an example,
and this is an actual example. The Army had a requirement for the
replacement of apprwdmately 3,000 %-ton trucks. And it was deter-
mined that they could trade these 3,000 3/4-ton trucks in on a new vehicle
and obtain approximately $495 apiece. As a result of this transaction,
which would save considerable numbers of dollars, Mr. Morris, Assist-
ant Secretary for Installations and Logistics approached the Secre-
tary of Defense, and in this particular case authority was granted to
exchange/sale these 3,000 vehicles for approximately $495 each. Sub-
sequently, there was a situation whereby another 1,000 3/4-ton trucks
which needed replacement, and this time the highest trade-in allow-
ance offered was $75 per vehicle. This to us was considered scrap
value, and in this particular case we declared the vehicles as surplus,
and turned them in to the Property Disposal Office and did not execute
an exchange/sale transaction because we did not feel that it would
warrant the time, effort, and cost to move the vehicles and subse-
quently make them available to a contractor.
In the case of the retail level where an individual has a requirement,
say, for 15 or 20 calculators on a particular base, he will discuss this
matter with his procurement officer, who in turn will go out and make
an inspection of the typewritérs or calculators or whatever this may
be, office machine equipment, and if it is determined that the trade-in
allowance for all of the pieces of equipment is a reasonable trade-in
allowance, then he will go ahead and execute a trade transaction or
exchange transaction. He does this after he obtains in most cases
three bids5 orif he has had past experience, he will. use his own judg-
ment as to whether or not it is a reasonable trade-in or exchange al-
lowance. If, however, there are three or four of the office machine
equipments which are in pretty unserviceable condition and possibly
are of no value to the contractor, in that case, he most likely would
go ahead and withhold those three or four or whatever it may be, turn-
ing those into, the PDO as surplus and exchange just the remaining
portion of the equipment that is available.
PAGENO="0016"
I
12
Mr. MONAGAN. `Could I ask something here. In the case of the
trucks for which you were getting $495, have you any figures there as
to what percentage either of acquisition value or of market value that
$495 would represent~
Colonel DAVID I really cannot answer that question specifically,
but I will give you-the $495 offer that we got from the company
was the same company that offered us only $75 on the group of vehi
des , the reason for the low offer was that as a result of the first trans
action the manufacturer determined that they were not worth $495
and he couldn't sell them, and it cost too much to get them repaired So
in considermg the second group of vehicles the best offer he would
make was $~`5 or scrap value
Mr MONAGAN What you are saymg is that this was probably close
to a sort of market value of the equipment at that time The reason I
ask is that there is another consideration that we are interested m,
and that is the possible use of equipment in the donable program
When the return falls to a certain level, it might well be more im
portant from the public welfare point of view that it be donated and
be sold, and that is why I wondered if you had any information as to
that.
Colonel DAVID Well, it turned out to be more than fair market value
because he could not sell the same vehicles for the amount of money
he gave us for the first group of vehicles
Mr MONAGAN Mr Copenhaver
Mr COPENHAVER Colonel David, on the first item of the $4~T5 or
$490 per truck, was that offer for a sale or exchange under competi
tive bid ~
Colonel DAVID Yes, it was
Mr COPENHAVER And the second also ~
Colonel DAVID Yes , it was
Mr. ROMNEY. The implementing instructions which I have seen
do not make clear who specifically deternunes whether in a given
case the item would warrant the expense and effort of exchange/sale
in view of the expected return, and I am still not clear as to what is
the procedure now as these implementing instructions begin to move
into effect Who is going to make the specific decision, at what level ~
Colonel DAVID Mr Romney, a contracting officer in the Department
of Defense has a moral responsibility of obtaining the best prices that
he can either if he is buying something or selling something And
we in accordance with the Armed Forces procurement regulations
have actually delegated the responsibility of making this determina-
tion to a certified contracting officer, when it comes to the fair mar
ket value of a particular item. There may be other judgments taken
into consideration, as I tried to explain on this 3,000 vehicle deal where
it came all the way up to the Secretary of Defense level. But in most
cases ]Jt is left to the judgment of the individuals who have the re
quirement and the person who has the sellmg responsibility, or the
trade in responsibihty When it comes to the sale, that is entirely
thffereait, because sales are accomplished by competitive bid through
the normal iitvitation for bid procedures The trade in is the only
area where judgment basically takes effect
Mr ROMNEY You say it does not occur in the DOD sales because
the history of the prior sales prices is a basis for making this decision ~
PAGENO="0017"
13
Colonel DAVID. We don't normally sell an item other than through
formal competitive-type bidding, and the highest bider, as you know,
would be the successful bidder, and that would be the price that we got
for the items. It may be below or above the market price.
Mr. ROMNEY. But before you proceed into the competitive bid sale,
determinations had to be made, evaluations had to be made of this
proposed exchange/sale disposal as to whether it would warrant the
cost and effort involved. I still don't see how this determination is go-
ing to be made. ~
Colonel DAVID. You have a booklet up there which tells us what we
have been getting for property in the past.
~ Mr. R0MNEY. Yes. ~
Colonel DAVth. And I believe as an example it shows that the aver-
age return for a bus is 3.9 percent of acq~uisition cost. Now, the prop-
erty that we have sold as exchange/sale in that booklet was property
that had gone completely through the donation program and the Fed-
eral utilization program. No one wanted it, in other words. So based
upon past experience, we know that the average return on buses is
3.9 percent. Now, we may have gotten as much as 20-percent return on
specific buses that are in fair condition. In the future we will be able
to know the return on buses that have gone through the offering stage
to other Federal agencies and have not been made available to the
donees. Based upon this information, we will know in the future the
fair price for a reasonably conditioned bus. Now, I am not saying it is
going to be more than 3.9 percent, but it could very well be.
Mr. ROMNEY. I would like to proceed now to the matter ~f coordina'
tion.
Colonel David, in your capacity a~ military staff, Assistant Secre-
tary of Defense Office, did you receive advance copies of the imple-
mentation instructions by the Air Force, Army, and Navy before
they were issued~
Colonel DAVID. I did not. ~
Mr. ROMNEY. When did you receive these copies ~
Colonel DAVID. After your staff visit over to my office.
Mr. R0MNEY. WhO has ~ the responsibility within the Department
for coordinating these various implementing instructions to see
whether the Department's policies, GSA's regulations, are beiiig car-
ned out effectively and appropriately ? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . ~ ~ . ~
Coknei DAVID. The responsibility to see that DOD directives and
DOD instructions as they pertain to exchange/sale oi~ utilization or
disposal are properly implemented is the responsibility of my office.
The responsibility for the implementation to the field activities is a
military and Defense Supply Agency responsibility.
Now, we have two situation~ here. The implementing instructions
for DOD instruction 4160.1 a~ the~r relate to common fun~tions are
being developed by the Defense Supply Agency in conjunction with
the military departments. The second~situation-~--the military depart-
ments have put out necessary internal implementing instructions. The
overall DOD implementing instruction being put out by the General
Services Administi~ation obtains otircoordiliation after they have been
coordinated With the military d~partments.
Do I make myself clear ~
Mr. RO~NEY. ~Hôw is GSA putting these Out ~ -
98-564-68----3
PAGENO="0018"
14
Colonel DAVID. GSA is putting the instruotions out as a chang~ of
the Defense Disposa~1 Manual, 4160.21-M. This is a manual-
Mr. ROMNEY. I be~ your pardon. I misheard you, Colonel David.
I thought you had said GSA and you meant DSA.
Colonel DAVID. Excuse me. I meant DSA if I said GSA. They are
putting it out as a change to the Disposal Manual, 4160.21-M.
Mr. ROMNEY. These letters or memorandums and instructions that
have been put out by the Navy, Air Force, and the Army all have slight
variations. None of them seems to follow the previously prescribed
format. Some are more detailed than others. I am wondering whether
you feel that there should be some review, perhaps at the DOD level,
to make sure that there are not interim inconsistencies of such a serious
nature as to make disposal problems and the recipients of disposal
property confused.
Colonel DAVID. In this particular case, it is my understanding that
once the Disposal Manual instruction has been put out, that will be
the guidance that all of the field activities will be using. As an internal
procedure, however, the military departments have gone out with this
guidance that you have copies of to inform the military field activities
as to how to conduct the exchange/sale program since it is, as you know
a permissive program. Included are items which will be declared as
ineligible and these two classes, 15 and 16, that have been given a full
or partial exemption.
Mr. ROMNEY. I would point that the draft of the Defense Disposal
Manual rewrite `which was provided to us contains a relatively brief
section dealing with the exchange/sale activity. By contrast, the De-
partment of the Navy has issued NAVSUP Instruction 4540.1 which
covers 10 pages. If the DSA Defense Disposal rewrite is to supplement
this, then it would seem that much of what is contained in the Navy
instruction would be superseded, is that right?
Colonel DAVID. No. It is, however, my understanding at the present
time that the Navy during their coordination of the Defense Disposal
proposed revision is submitting comments requesting changes to the
Defense Disposal proposal.
Mr. ROMNEY. I see. You mentioned a short time ago, Colonel, that
under the ASPR change, the procurement officers have certain respon-
sibiliti~s under an exchange/sale situation. This ASPR suggests that
procuring or administrative contracting officers will actually be selling
exchange/sale property, not simply exchanging it but selling it. Can
you explain what this reference means?
Colonel DAVID. Yes, it basically pertains to that exchange/sale prop-
erty in the hands of contractors. Property in the hands of contractors
that is eligible for exchange/sale, is handled directly through the
contracting `officer or the administrative officer of the contract. Now,
there may be actual cases also whereby we authorize a particular ac-
tivity to conduct a local spot-bid sale, say, for instance, it may be
10 items of exchange/sale which does not warrant a national screening
as we normally go through on the `larger sales of property, and we
authorize the `contracting officer to conduct the sale.
Mr. ROMNEY. Colonel, I `would like `to go `to a slightly different sub-
ject. We were advised that the Naval Supply Center in Oakland, Calif.,
on the first of May proceeded to move into full imp1erne~ntatioii of
the new Defense Department exchange/sale policy, and did so on
PAGENO="0019"
15
the basis of an oral instruction from Washington. Did you know that
this local activity had been directed by the Washington-
Colonel DAVID. I was not aware of it, but throughout the unplemen~
tation of the exchange/sale authority we have had situations whereby
people in the field had received verbal information and have taken it
upon themselves to invoke restrictions on ineligible property and to
refuse State agencies property that had previously been spoken for.
I am not aware of the specific case. I was not aware of it at the time.
I became aware of it since you had brought the subject matter up,
but not in detail. I don't know of any details.
Mr. ROMNEY. It was my understanding that the departments and
DSA were to wait until their implementing instructions had been
issued before such action would occur.
Colonel DAVID. That is right.
Mr. R0MNEY. And the implementing instructions issued by the
Navy did not appear until June 18.
Colonel DAvID. It is my understanding that the Oakland Supply
Office jumped the gun based upon an authorized test procedure or test
plan by the Navy here in Washington. That was the only facility
that I know of that was given `any type of authority to execute the
program in advance of published instructions.
Mr. R0MNEY. Turning to the matter of exemption grant for air.~
craft components, When did you first learn that this change had been
requested?
Oolonel DAVID. I first learned of the change officially through a
letter from GSA to the Department of Defense indicating that repre-
sentatives of the Navy had gone to their offices, to GSA's office, and
requested relief or an exemption to these two classes of ineligible items.
And GSA in their letter to the secretary indicated that there may be
a similar situation in the Air Force and in the Army. In response to
this, we queried the Army and the Air Force and found that there
were or anticipated similar situations in these two services in that they
also had commercial aircraft, and were relying upon contractors for
supply support.
We, in turn, went back to GSA and requested a waiver not only for
the Navy, which by the way, their exemption was to expire in August
of 1968, but we went back in turn and asked for an exemption, for the
Navy, A~r Force, and the Army, and it was subsequently granted.
Mr. ROMNEY. You were not aware of a speed letter which the Naval
Air Systems Oommand sent to GSA dated February 21, asking for
this special exemption?
Colonel DAVID. The speed letter was attached to the correspondence
from GSA to us.
Mr. ROMNEY. At the time the speed letter went out you were not
aware of it?
Colonel DAVID. I was not aware of it.
Mr. ROMNEY. The contact which the Navy made with the GSA was
not cleared through your office?
Colonel DAVID. It is quite unusual that something like this would
happen.
Mr. RoM~EY. I would like `to call to your attention, ~olo'nel, that in
the Navy's implementing instructions of June 17, 1968, they have a pro-
vision, and I will read it, in paragraph 96, which says, "unless specific
authority is obtained from GSA through the Office of Asthstant Secre-
PAGENO="0020"
16
tary of Defense, Installation and Logistics, an exchange/sale trans-
action may not be executed if the items fall within any of the 30 cate-
gories of eligible items."
I won't speculate as to the reason that this appears here, but would
you say that the procedure used with respect to the aircraft parts for
the DC-40 aircraft which the Navy followed and contacted GSA
about was in accordance with what now appears in the instructions?
Colonel DAVID. It is not in accordance with any of our procedures.
Normally, DOD in these matters-OSD, I should say, is the interface
with GSA. The military departments, other than occasions when the
Defense Supply Agency is working in behalf of the OSD, will not con-
tact GSA directly,
Mr. ROMNEY. Did your office or anyone in the Defense Department
to your knowledge supply the Department of Health, Education, and
Welfare with any information about this proposed change in groups
15 and 16?
Colonel DAVID. No, sir ; my office did not furnish HEW with any
information. It is our understanding and agreement with GSA that
matters of this sort become the responsibility of GSA. We have no
interface with HEW other than personal communications.
Mr. ROMNEY. Is there a written agreement to this effect?
Colonel DMTID, No ; but it is just a matter of operation. We corn-
~iminicate with HEW. . If `they have a problem, they call us up. But
when it comes to changing of a GSA instruction or requesting of a
waiver to a GSA regulation, we feel that it is GSA's responsibility to
execute the necessary notification.
Mr. ST GERMAIN. You referred to an agreement when Mr. Romney
asked if there was a written agreement that GSA would notify HEW.
You were rather cloudy on the answer to that. Is this just a helter-
skelter thing ? Suppose the two parties arrived at this agreement, one
from GSA and the other from your agency. Who' is going to handle
it ? I mean, wouldn't it be proper and orderly and businesslike to have a
written memorandum on this stating that these are the guidelines,. this
is our operation?
Colonel DAvID. Well, sir, the execution of the Federal property
management regulations or changes thereto happens to be a GSA re-
sponsibility. Now, GSA asks us for our comments on coordination of
many of the regulations. When it comes to the implementation or the
granting of exemptions, we expect GSA to' take this responsibility of
notification.
Mr. 5p GERMAIN. Well, let's just stick to the proposition. Say there
is an agreement that GSA will notify HEW, to disseminate this infor-
mation to HEW
Colonel DAVID. Well, when I say agreement, maybe I should not use
the term "agreement," I probably should use the term it has been my
understanding that it is GSA's responsibility to notify HEW, in this
particular case.
Mr. ST GERMAIN. So in the absence of any written memorandum or
regulation or what have you on this, then in actuality, there is no-it
is just an opinion on your part, is it not? You do not have anything to
hang your hat on, do you?
Colonel DAVID. No ; but it is another Federal agency, and as the
responsible Federal agency, we expect GSA to effect notification if it
PAGENO="0021"
17
affects c~ther Federal agencies, just like we do not expect GSA to . get
into the Department of Defenseareas of responsibility. .
Mr. ST GERMAIN. SO what your answer should have been Is, it is
the responsibility of GSA to notif~r HEW ?
. ~ Colonel DAVID. Yes, sir. *. ~ ~
Mr. ST GflRMAIN. That is the answer.
Colonel DAVID. That is right.
Mr. ROMNEY. Colonel David, how was the information that was
contained in Mr. Knott's letter of April 8, 1968, approving the ox-
change of groups 15 and 16 communicated to the service departments?
Colonel DAVrD. On the exemption?
Mr. ROMNEY. On the exemption ; yes, sir. ~
Colonel DAvm. The first notification came out by a letter that was
sent to the military-correction. Let me put it this way. The exemp-
tion that was granted by GSA, plus a letter of transmittal and a letter
from the Department of Defense to GSA was put into a package and
it was sent to the military departments and DSA for implementation.
In other words, we took our letter that we received from GSA recom-
mending an exemption, the letter that we sent back to GSA requesting
an exemption, and the letter that came back from GSA granting the
exemption, and we put the three letters together in a letter of transmit-
tal and sent it to the military departments and DSA informing them
of what transpired between DOD and GSA and requested that they
implement this exemption. Subsequent to that the military depart-
ments and DSA made interpretations of the letters and then in turn
issued implementing instructions accordingly.
Mr. ROMNEY. Were you aware of the interpretations which had been
given to these instructions at any time prior to this committee's interest
in this matter?
Colonel DAVID. No, sir ; I was not.
Mr. ROMNET. Mr. Chairman, I would like to request permission to
include in the record the documents which the three services and DSA
have issued which set forth the new descriptions of groups 15 and 16
with the exemptions for aircraft parts and structural components:
The Navy implementing instructions of June 17, 1968, the Air Force
implementing instruétions of May 28, 1968, the Department of the
Army's letter of May 8, 1968, spelling out the language for the new
exemptions granted for 15 and 16, and the Defense Supply Agency's
letter of April 30, 1968, also spelling out the new language for the
exemptions for groups 15 and 16.
Mr. MONAGA~. Without objection, this may be entered in the record.1
Mr. R0MNEY. Mr. Chairman, I have one further question I would
like to ask the colonel to comment on.
In the Navy instructions of June 17, 1968, there is a discussion of
the replacement standards with respect to furniture. Now, this Navy
instruction is directed to implementing the exchange/sale policy. And
furniture happens to be one of the items that are ineligible for
exchange/sale. Could you comment on why the Navy instructions deal
with furniture in this exchange/sale implementation document?
Oolbhel DAvin. I am not sure that I o~n propetly answer that que~-
tion, but I think possibly that GSA may be able to answer this ques-
tion, because of the way the furniture rebuild and trade-in prograni
The documents are printed in the appendix.
PAGENO="0022"
18
is operated. They have an extensive program in this particular area
and I think can answer it for the record, sir.
Mr. Sp GERi~t~IN. Colonel, I am new in this area, but it seems to
me that nobody is running this railroad. We get trains going in all
directions on various timetables, if you will. It seems to me nobody
is in charge. Don't you think this program would be helped tremen-
dously and many problems could be done away with if someone were
running the railroad?
Now, with your answer to this cjuestion just now, I am afraid that
when we get the GSA representatives up here, they are going to look
at us with blank stares, because I do not think that they have the
answer to it either. Therefore, is there anybody who is actually in
charge of this program?
Colonel DAVID. The reason I answered the question the way I
did-
Mr. ST GERMAIN. Because you really do not know.
Colonel DAVID (continuini~) . Is because I do not know exactly how
the furniture program ties into the overall exchange/sale authority.
As far as the exchange/sale is concerned and as far as our own instruc-
tions and guidance and what GSA has put out, I feel we understand
that, but this one particular area of furniture is handled differently.
GSA has furniture contracts all over the United States, in prisons and
other places, and it is handled differently than what I am familiar
with.
Mr. ST GERMAIN. Let us go back to my real question or the impor-
tant question. Do you not feel as though this program could be run in
a much more orderly manner with much more efficiency if there was
someone in authority who would then have the responsibility of the
program?
Colonel DAVID. Well, I have to agree that there is room for
improvement.
Mr. ST GERMAIN. Thank you.
Mr. MONAGAN. Well, we have made progress with that admission.
Mr. Copenhaver has a question.
Mr. COPENHAVER. Colonel David, with regard to the same announced
subinstruction that Mr. Romney had been talking about, there is a
provision in it which says this : "Purchasing activities, in disposing of
property based on cash bids that it receives, will request from the
nearest surplus sales office the market value of the property. When
the market value of the property is $50 higher than the cash offer, the
property will be transferred to the servicing PDO for sale."
Now, it would seem to me that this is handling exchange/sale prop-
erty and turning it over to the disposal officer for sale as if it were
surplus. If it were this case, would it not be required to go through
donation property first?
Colonel DAVID. No, the property is identified as exchange/sale prop-
erty. The only way that we can sell this property, or the way we
normally sell the property is through the property disposal route
whereby the PDO takes the property, identifies it, writes up a descrip-
tion and eventually it is put into a catalog and the item is sold. The
item is identified through the entire procedure as an exchang~/sale
iteni, not a surplus iteim. Once the sale has been made, the proceeds
from that particular item go into the account for the repurchase of a
I
PAGENO="0023"
I
F.
19
new or similar replacement item. It is the only way we have, generally
speaJdng, of getting the property sold. It is the normal procedure of
selling. It is not regarded as surplus.
Mr. COPENHAVER. Going back to this truck sale you referred to
earlier, $475 and the $75 bid, that was presumably, as you say, com~
petitive bidding on the exchange aspect of it. Presumably, more than
one company was solicited for the value they would give you on these
trucks in exchange for new trucks. And I presume-of course, you
would not know specifically for all matters, but on this truck deal
presrniiabiy the installation, the service officer in charge of the ex-
change/sale would have had to check with the surplus disposal officer
for his branch, is that correct, to see what the value of the truck would
have been if it was sold. .
Colonel DAVID. An evaluation was made of all the trucks. Origi-
nally we were going to repair these vehicles. When we found out that
we could get more in trade-in and buy a brandnew vehicle for about
the cost of an overhauled one, the exchange/sale trade-in procedure
was adopted. An evaluation was made of all the various vehicles
around the country located at post camps and stations, and were
turned in on a one-for-one basis. We told the company, Here is .a
vehicle at Camp Pendleton, or wherever the station may be, and at
that time the vehicle was transferred over to the contractor as part of
the exchange/sale.
Mr. COPENHAVER. Well, perhaps I did not make my point clear. On
the second go-around you were only offered $75 for the trucks on the
exchange end of it, and you said that Mr. Morris said, No, go on that
bid, right ~
Colonel DAVID. That is right.
Mr. COPENITAVER. But did you also seek to ~nd out what the surplus
sale of the item would be., whether it was higher and could be moved
over to the surplus officer for sale ~
Colonel D2~vin. For the $75 vehicle?
Mi*. COPENHAVER. Yes.
Colonel DAVID. The $7.5 vehicles were determined to he. no more
than scrap. This was why the price was $75, but the vehicles were
eventually turned over the the PDO, for processing as DOD excess.
If they did survive utilization screening and were not donated, then
they were eventually sold. The proceeds in this particular case were
not given back to the exchange/sale account because the vehicles were
sold as surplus.
Mr. MONAGAN. Colonel, I had not read Mr. Riley's statement
before. I just had an opportunity to look at the last paragraph. And
since lie is not here, I call it to your attention. It says:
It ha s been brought to GSA's attention that military services may have in some
inst.anees interpreted the exemption authority more broadly than was intended
by GSA. We have, however, received no formal notification to this effect. Upon
receipt of such notification, we will invesigate the alleged misinterpretations, and
if they are substantiated, corrective action will be taken.
I think that is a little on the stiff side. We are all involved in this
thmg. We are all involved in seeing that the regulations are carried
out properly, and I hope that you do not have to have a grand jury
proceeding or an indictment before you adjust the procedures here.
Colonel DAVID. I do not believe, Mr. Chairman, that Mr. Riley
intended to be stern about this a,lleged situation.
PAGENO="0024"
20
: Mr. MONAGAN. ~ H~niay not have be&i, but whoever his wHtér is was
stiff. ~ ~ ~ : ~ . , ~
Colonel DAVID. Our relations with GSA are * absolutely flawless a~
far as I am concerned. We get along very well.
Mr. MONAGAN. That is ~oft music for them down there.
Colonel DAVID. We have no bones to pick with them. We do have
problems of interpretation, and as Mr. Ronmey just entered into the
~ecord the military departments' interpretation of the exemption of
these classes 15 and 16, you will find that each one of the military
departments unanimously interpreted the exemptions the same. Now
we have, I understand, a change in the interpretation. We will make
changes as GSA feels appropriate.
Mr. MONAGAN. Well, on this pleasant note, we will permit you to
tak~ your leave.
Colonel DAVID. Thank you, sir.
Mr. MONAGAN. Thank you very much.
STAThMLNT OP ROBERT T. GRIFFIN, ASSISTANT ADIVEINISTRATOR,
GENERAL SE1~VICE5 ADMINISTRATION; ACCOMPANIED BY LEWIS
0. TUTTLE, ACTING ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, PERSONAL PROP-
ERTY DISPOSAL; AND BYRON RARDING, ASSOCIATE GENERAL
COUNSEL
Mr. MONAGAN. Mr. Griffin, is Mr. Tuttle going to-
Mr. GRIFFIN. No, I will be able to proceed. Mr. Tuttle is with me.
Mr. MONAGAN. Fine. Glad to have you.
Mr. Grnn~m-. Glad to be here, Mr. Chairman.
I have with me, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Lewis Tuttle, the Acting Assist-
ant Commissioner of Personal Property Disposal, and Mr. Byron
Harding, our Associate General Counsel.
I do not have a prepared statement in accordance with our agree-
ment with Mr. Romney.
I would like to begm by reading for the record part of a letter we
wrote to the Department of Defense on July 3, which is 1 day after
Mr. Romney's visit:
Speciflcaliy, an exception was granted with respect to those items in Federal
Supply Olaissifieat~on Group 16, Aircraft Components and Accessories and the
4Urframe Structural Components o~f FS'O Group 15, the exception to be ap~
plieable in those cases where the military departments rely on a contract with
a manufacturer for full spare parts support for commercial-type aircraft.
As you know, the exception stemmed from an earlier request from the Naval
Air Systems Command. The Navy had just procured several commercial type
Gulfstream aircraft and was about to contract with the manufacturer to re-
quire it to provide full spare parts support. The contract would mean that Navy
would not procure and bring into Navy supply systems an inventory of spare
parts, as is usually done when aircraft are procured by the military services.
After reviewing the proposal, GSA determined that this approach offered a po.
tential for substantial economies ; and it agreed to provide the interim exception
the Navy would need to accomplish its plan.
In recognition that the other military departments might also be operating or
planning to operate commercial type aircraft with reliance on full spare parts
Support by a manufacturer, in lieu of carrying a Government.owned inventory,
the General Services Administration letter of April 8, 19f~8, granted the limited
exception to.. the Departmei~it of Defense as referenced above.
We have' recently reviewed directives issued by the Army, Navy, and Air
Force, implementing a recent POD policy statement on exchange/sale property
(Office of Assistant Secretary `of Defense (Installations and Logistics)' mem*
PAGENO="0025"
21
orandum, dated 27 March 1968) . Those directives are broader than the ex-
ception provided to DOD in that they do not limit application of the exception
to cases, such as the support for the Navy Gulfstream, wherein the mann-
facturer, not the military service supply system, is responsible for providing
the spare parts.
Accordingly, it is requested that prompt action be taken to amend the instruc-
tions in AFLO C1VEAL No. 68-21 of May 28, 1968 ; NAVSUPINST 4540.1 oJ~ June
17, 1968 ; and Department of the Army letter LOG/SP-PPB of May 14, 1968, as
they apply to subject exception.
So the day after Mr. Romney brought it to our attention, we wrote
immediately to the Department of Defense and asked that the cor-
reotions be made.
(The letter follows:)
JULY 3, 1968.
Col. LEsTER T. DAVID,
Datci~ ~System$ a'acl E~I14pp~1I PoZicy Division, Office 01 Assistant S~cretary ~ of De-
fense (Installations and Logistics) , Washington, D.C.
DrAi~ COLONEL DAVID : By letter of April 8, 1968, to the Honorable Thomas D.
Morris, Assistant Secretary oi~ Defense (Installations and Logistics) , the Ad-
ministrator of General SerVices granted a limited exception to that portion of the
exchange/sale provisions of the Federal property management regulation, part
101-46, which enumerates the kinds oi~ property which are ineligible for cx-
change/sale.
Specifically, an exception was granted with respect to those items in Federal
supply classification group 16, aircraft components and accessories and the air-
frame structural components of FSC group 15, the exception to be applicable in
those cases where the military departments rely on a contract with a mann-
facturer for full spare parts support for commercial type aircraft.
As you know, the exception stemmed from an earlier request from the Naval
Air Systems Command. The Navy had just procured several commercial type
Gulfstream aircraft and was about to contract with the manufacturer to re-
quire it to provide full spare parts support. The contract would mean that Navy
would not procure and bring into Navy supply systems an inventory of spare
parts, as is usually done when aircraft are procured by the military services.
After reviewing the proposal, GSA determined that this approach offered a
potential for substantial economies ; and it agreed to provide the interim exception
~ the Navy would need to accomplish its plan.
In recognition that the other military departments might also be operating
or planning to operate commercial type aircraft with reliance on full spare parts
support by a manufacturer, in lieu of carrying a Government-owned inventory,
the General Services Administration letter of April 8, 1968, granted the limited
exception to the Department of Defense as referepced above. *
We have recently reviewed directives issued by the Army, Navy, and Air
Force implementing a recent DOD policy statement on exchange/sale property
(Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense (Installations and Logistics) mem-
orandum, dated March 27, 1962) . These directives are~ broader than the exception
provided to DOD in that they do not limit application of the exception to cases,
~ such as the support for the Navy Gulfstream, wherein the manufacturer, not
the military service supply system, is responsible for providing the spare parts.
Accordingly, it is requested that prompt action be taken to amend the instruc-
tions in AFLC CMAL No. 68-21 of May 28, 1968 ; NAVSUPINST 4540.1 of
June 17, 1968 ; and Department of the Army letter LOG/SP-FPB of May 1~4,
1968, as they apply to subject exception.
Sincerely,
Ii. C. TxYTTLE,
~ ~ Acting Assistant Commissioner for Personal Property Disposal.
Mr. MONAGAN. And this is a letter dated July 3, did you say?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes, sir.
Mr. MONAGAN. And that refers essentially to the regulations that
we referred to before on April 8,1 believe?
Mr. GRIFFIN. This refers to the implementations by the military
services of the DOD policy statement which had been coordinated
and developed in conjunction with GSA. This refers to the specific
98-864-68-4
PAGENO="0026"
22
part of the implementations which exempt aircraft components and
parts ~ without reserving or highlighting the fact that only those air-
craft components and parts for those, contracts which rely on the manu-
facturer to supply fully the spare parts rather than taking a supply
of spare parts into the military systems. In other words, they gave a
broad general exception without `the limitation which had been placed
on the exemption by GSA.
Mr. MON~GAN. Well, what I am trying to bring out is that the
Defense Supply Agency communication was dated April 30 of 1968,
and the Department of the Army was dated' May 8, 1968, so that there
are substantial period.s of time which had elapsed. There was appar-
ently an absence `of coordination as to these subjects.
Mr. GRIFrIN. I would agree it looks like that, in DOD.
Mr. MONAGAN. Mr. Griffin, I do not want to embarrass you in any
way or put you on the spot, but what we are interested in doing, as
you can see from our discussion here today, is finding out what pro-
cedures have been followed and when checkups have been made over
the last 2 years. We had a hearing in 1966. You appeared `at that time.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes, sir.
Mr. MONAGAN. And we expressed concern over what the future
might be because of the policy decisions that had been made on this
program. And you indicated at that time that there would be regular
reviews and that you were going to make periodic reviews. And what I
want to do is to ask you what reviews you have made and what find-
ings there have been. Now, you may be prepared in a general way to
answer that and give us specifics for the record, but answer it any way
you can at this `time.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Well, as you pointed out, Mr. Chairman, in 1966 when
we discussed this exchange/sale program extensively with this sub-
committee, we presented to the subcommittee and published and is-
sued, after complete coordination with all the departments and agen-
des of government, and particularly the principal generators of
excess and surplus property, we issued a new exchange/sale regulation
which, in our opinion, tightened the situation up. And we expected
that it would work more effectively and also would render consider-
able protection to the douation program.
Now, one of the things that we required in the reg,, as you recall, is
an `annual report. And I would like to point out to you, Mr. Chairman,
that as a result of the annual report in fiscal year 1966, we found,
based on the data we had reported to us, a total of $111,532,000-this
is an `acquisition cost figure-this amount of property was disposed of
under the exchange/sale provision.
Now, after we tightened the regulations up, in fiscal year 1967 we
found that the $111 million figure which was disposed of in 1966
dropped to $65,124,000. In other word's, we had almost a 50-percent
drop in ~he volume disposed `of under this provision of law.
. I think this gives good evidence that the new regulation did, in fact,
tighten up the authority.
Since the regulations have been issued, Mr. Chairman, we have re-
quired, and DOD has been perfectly willing `to furnish copies to us,
of every sale that they conduct under our regulations. We review every
sale, without exception.
Now, in `the course of this 2-year review we have found instances of
four or five ineligible items appearing in public sales which had not
PAGENO="0027"
23
been properly reported as excess and disposed of as excess or surplus
under the Federal Property Act.
We have a continuing dialog with the Department of Defense.
Very few examples have been brought to our attention of abuses of
the program. As you know, for the rest of the departments of the Gov-
ernment, we sell actually more than 90 percent of `the personal* prop-
erty, surplus property and exchange/sale property, of other
departments of the Government. So that we are reviewing on a first-
hand basis the practices in other departments and agencies and what
they interpret to be properly exchange/sale property. In addition,
we coordinate with DOD, and we discuss these things on a regular
basis.
In fact, the communications between the two departments have
never been more effective `and more free than they are now.
I, and my associate Mr. Tuttle, know of very few instances of abuses
in this program. We have not really had any cause either through our
own reviews or through matters being brought to our attention, either
through HEW or the State agencies, who are normally quite willing
to suggest improvements or changes. No categories have been added
because we have not seen the need to add any categories to the excluded
categories of property to be handled under this regulation.
Incidentally, Mr. Chairman, we do have copies of the complete ex-
change/sale summary reports for these 2 years, agency by agency,
which we will submit to you either now or for inclusion in the record or
for your information.
Mr. MONAGAN. Well, we are, of course, very much interested in hair-
ing them. That was one of the questions I was going to ask you, because
in 1966 both the Department of Defense and you indicated a belief
that the impact of this would not be particularly strong. And what
you say here, if there's nothing else involved, would tend to indicate
that that was the case.
Mr. GRIFFIN. And we believe the same trend will persist for this
year.
In fact, since the instructions which DOD has put out to their field
requiring what is practically a cost-benefit study before they put
something into exchange/sale, there is no inclination that we can see on
the part of the field installations of the DOD, various military depart-
ments, to use the exchange/sale authority in any greater frequency
than they have been using it. In fact, there's some indication it may
be less.
Mr. MONAGAN. Well, there have been-of course, you have heard
what we have been talking about here. There have been some indica-
tions in certain categories that this is not exactly the case, and because
of the desirability of certain of these items for the donable program we
have naturally been sensitive to it. And it has appeared here that the
way in which the decisions have been made has been without coordina-
tion between the services, between the military and the civilians in
DOD, and now apparently between you and the Department of
Defense.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Oh, I haven't said that.
Mr. MONAGAN. Pardon me?
Mr. GRIFFIN. I haven't said that.
Mr. MONAGAN. No, you didn't say it. I said it.
PAGENO="0028"
24 N
Mr. GRwi~'IN. Actually, Mr. Chairman, it has always been our prac-
tice and our belief in executing our regulation responsibility that we
deal at the departmental level, and we do. We deal on a day-by-day
basis with the Department of Defense. And I agree with practically
everything I heard Colonel David say. I didn't hear Mr. Riley's
testimony.
Now, actually GSA sat in with great frequency on the development
of the DOD policy statement. In fact, we helped DOD in drafting it-
their policy statement to the field.
Now, as a result of the incident involved in the aircraft components
and parts, it is Mr. Tuttle's plan to meet with Colonel David or with
Mr. Riley, and see if we should not institute some steps and procedures,
with the approval of the Department of Defense, in coordinating
further the implementations by the individual military services. It has
not been our belief in the past and it has not been necessary in the past
to take this last step because__and I would ask Mr. Tuttle, who is on
this on a day-by-day basis-it has' not been brought to my attention
that a mistake of this nature has happened in this program, a mistake
in implementation.
Now, I think, just hindsight, and I think that Colonel David prob-
ably would agree with me, it would have been preferable that instead
of just disseminating and distributing the copies of the correspondence
between the DOD `and GSA, which were eminently clear, it would
have been better if DOD at the departmental level had reduced the
instruction to a concise memorandum or directive rather than relying
on their interpretations of the correspondence. I think this is where the
mistake took place.
Mr. MONAGAN. Well, you have answered my next question already.
You have anticipated me. So we can't ask for any better statement of
intention than you have already given.
Mr. GRIFFIN. There is absolutely no desire on our part to withhold
any information on any of this from DOD or from HEW. We `have
some judgments to make, but, in GSA we have a multiplicity of pro-
grams, and I know of no other program in GSA' which has a better
exchange of information among the major participants than in this
program, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. MONAGAN. Well, you have indicated that better coordination is
possible-
` Mr. GRIFFIN. Right, sir.
Mr. MONAGAN (continuing) . Desirable, and that you are looking
into it, and that's what we want to accomplish.
Oh, by the way, I think we should put this letter in the record.
This letter has been sent ?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Oh, yes. It went July 3. Absolutely. `
Mr. MOWAGAN. This may be made-
Mr. GRIFFIN. Mr. Romney brought the problem to our attention and
also told us we Were going to have a hearing, so we certainly wanted tO
get the letter sent before the hearing.
Mr. MONAGAN. Even hand-delivered.
Well, this letter may be made a part of the record at the beginning of
Mr. Griffin's testimony where he refers to it, if there is no objection.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Would you want these annual reports as part of the
record as well, Mr. Chairman?
Mr. MONAGAN. Well, we will accept them for the file.
PAGENO="0029"
25
Mr. GRIFFIN. Very good, sir.
Mr. MONAGAN. And such portions as are pertinent may be put in the
record, but primarily for the file.
Thank you.
Mr. St Germain, have you any questions?
Mr. ST GERMAIN. Well, I will not make this an absolute questIon.
If my good friend Mr. Griffin would like to comment on the furlilture
aspect, we would be happy to hear him.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I would be happy to comment on it. I think it' is'
simply a mistake. There's no application of the furniture repla~ement
standards in the exchange/sale regulation. It was included `as a rnis~
take, because there is no cross-reference. And while Colonel David m~y
have reason to question whether or not the furniture program may
have an impact or bearing, it has not. There is no connection. And "it
is simply a mistake. It should simply not have been in the exchange/:
sale regulation. ` `
Mr. ST GERMAIN. Thank you.
Mr. MONAGAN. Mr. Romney.
Mr. ROMNEY. Mr. Griffin, I would normally be addressing these
questions to Mr. Tuttle but, of course, if you wish to answ~r any ques-
tions or have me refer them to Mr. Tuttle, I think I would do as you
would prefer at this time.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Go right ahead. Between us we will answer them. . .
Mr. R0MNEY. Mr. Tuttle, the GSA and the Office of Surplus Prop-
erty Utilization in the Department of HEW have maintained clo~
working relationships for a good many years, have they not ?
Mr. TurrLE. That's certainly true.
Mr. ROMNEY. Yet the Department of Health, Education, and WêJ-
fare was not advised of the proposal by Navy and then later by the
Defense Department itself to waive certain portions of groups 15 and
16 on the 30-category list, was it ? .
Mr. TUTmE. That's true, Mr. Romney. I would `say that DHEW and
GSA hold a good many meetings with respect to joint pro)ects that
are undertaken ; and, also, proposed regulation changes, as Mr. Griffin
mentioned, are submitted to HEW for comment before finalizing a
GSA reg change. ` ~*
In the particular case of this limited exception that' was' asked for
by the Department of Defense and granted to Defense, DHEW wtts
not notified or consulted in advance. There was a rationale for it. * ~ ``
You are familiar with the Navy situation that Navy brought over
to us. We cOnsidered that there were no Government-owned inventories
involved, in the Navy proposal and that, therefore, this was not a mat-
ter which would be of particular interest to the DHEW~ ` . `
I will agree, however, in view of the nltimate implementations that
were put out by the military departments, which we feel exceeded
somewhat the limited exception that waS granted, it would have been
much better if HEW had been aware of the application from the
Navy for this exception and the granting of the exception. ~ `
Mr. R0MNEY. When was the first information received by you or
anyone associated with you in your office, as to how the Defense De-
partment wa~ interpreting the exemption granted by the Administra-
tor in his April. 8 letter? . `
Mr. Turrr1E. With respect to the aircraft parts?
PAGENO="0030"
26
- Mr. ROMNEY. Yes.
Mr. Turrr~E. My first clue came when you visited my office on July 2.
it did turn out that we had received the implementation issuance of
one of the military departments in one of our divisions, but it hadn't
bt?en brought to my attention.
~ `~ Mr. oi~r~r. Which one was that?
Mr. TUTTLE. I believe it was the Air Force implementation.
~ Mr. ROMNEY. And that implementation did have as an attachment
to it the new language for groups 15 and 16 setting out the exceptions?
Mr: TUTrLE. That is correct. This Air Force implementation sheet
had just been received in the first part of July I'm told, and so the
DivisioR `Director hadn't had a ~ chance to bring it to our attention for
a discussion of what to do.
~ We feel, Mr. Romney, that the way this program works with so
many field people involved and all of them with a need to be knowl-
edgeable, that ultimately we would have received the other two serv-
ice implementations or had them brought to our attention probably
by a GSA regional office. We are on the mailing list for many DOD,
DSA, and military service issuances, but they have so many vehicles
for issuance that we certainly are not on all of them in our central
office. *
Mr. ROMNEY. I would like to go back in history a little bit, Mr.
~ Tuttle, back to November of 1965, when the various Federal agencies
were being asked to comment on the proposed GSA revision of the
Federal Property Management Regulations 101-46, that is, the ex-
change/sale regulations. `These are regulations which were issued in
March of 1966 and became effective in Julyof 1966.
The Department of Agriculture commenting to the Commissioner,
Mr. Howard Greenberg, said this :
Both the Forest Service and the Agricultural Research Service operate a small
fleet of aircraft. These agencies usually replace one or more units each year. For
many years we have disposed of the released units either by exhango or sale and
applied the exchange allowance or proceeds of sale toward the cost of replace-
inent. This action hasbeen followed with components and accessories.
The matter of the desirability of exchanging and selling the air-
craft parts then was brought to your attention back in 1965 but no
exception was granted with respect to' that. I am wondering whether
nOW having. granted the exception to the Defense Department you
might want to consider the same thing for the Department of
Agriculture.
Mr. TUTTLE. . You are speaking only of aircraft parts, not an air-
craft itself.
Mr. ROMNEY. That's correct. I `said that the comment in the De-
partment's letter of NoveuTher 22, 1965, covered `both aircraft and
parts.
Mr. Ttrn~i~E. It i.s too early to tell. This is part of the evaluation job
that I know the committee feels that we should be doing and we feel
we are doiiig. The limited exception given to Defense~-we would, like
to talk with DOD a year from now and see how much value it has had
before consider~n:g whether to make a permanent change in the regu-
lation. At the present time, of course, the exception is granted only
to the Department of Defense.
The Agriculture Department `has never come back on that par-
ticular request. Most of the `airplanes that they operate are excess
PAGENO="0031"
27
property to begin with and, therefore, there is a good supply of spare
parts for thoir airplanes that are available in the normal excess sur-
plus channels.
Mr. GRIFJnN. Let me add to that, Mr. Rornney, that one of the
critical factors in studying whether or not an exemption will be
granted will be the impact on the donation program. It isn't. strictly a
matter of economics. It's also a question of evaluating the disposal
by exchange or sale against the relative beneiits to the donation pro-
gram, the public health and educational uses of the property. So that
it's just not simply a cost-benefit criteria. There are other elements
in the review which would bear heavily on the decision whether or
not to grant a one-time waiver or a continuing waiver. *
Mr. ROMNEY. Would your continuing review of implementation .
tins waiver for 15 and 16 inciude consideration of the economic `bene-
fit or dollar sa~ving to be obtained `as opposed to mere administrative
convenience which might make it feasible for Navy or Air ` Force
activities to enter into a provisioning plan simply to avoid stocking
parts ?
Mr. Turrr~. Mr. Romney, the reason the Navy plan was accepted
by , GSA after some consideration was that it was fairly' unique. It
offered, it seemed to us, an unusual opportunity for some real `savings.
We `see in our program a steady and large flow of excess and surplus
aircraft parts coming out of military supply systems. And here was a
case where the military service was going to buy `some aircraft and
not set up a supply system `with parts stored at a number `of locations
for immediate or instant provisioning wherever the aircraft `happened
to land and need repair. The Navy felt that it would be much more
economical to do it that way than to buy a lot of parts and put them in
inventory, and we agreed with them.
Mr. GRIFFIN. And, also, not too many of these aircraft parts are
being requested for donation either. So that the donation factor w~s
also reviewed in this judgment as well.
Mr. ROMNEY. Mr. Tuttle, could you comment on the a~plicati'on ~f
this exemption to the type of aircraft which the donation `program
has frequently had available, namely the C-45?
Mr. Turrr~E. If I understand your question correctly, it oertamly
was not the intent in granting this limited exceptiOn to the Defense
Department that it would have any application th any C-45 spare
parts that would be generated as excess, or determined unneeded, `by
any of the military departments'. That limited exception was not meant
to apply to existing Government~owned inventories of parts.
Mr. ROMNI~Y. Is there a policy with which you regard requests for
waivers `from the restriction to limitation of part 101-46?
Mr. Tu~rmE. I would say there are several criteria which come into
play. Mr. Griffin has mentioned the relationship or effect that grant-
ing an exception might have on the donation program. There is the
economic aspect ; for example, there is a chance for the Government
to go clown a road which could produce some additional savings.
There are oases of hardship. Actually this regulation has been tight-
ened up a great deal, and there is sort of a built-in management aspect
to it in that there are so many more in~ligible items that if an agency
does have a hardship `as a result of these additional limitations, they
can come in and have them evaluated.
PAGENO="0032"
28
~ The Forest Service case was an example of a hardship ca~e. I think
~ it is in the file that we furnished to you. The Forest Service had an
aircraft in the hands of a State and the State had planned to acquire
~a~new one and usc the exchange allowance of an old one. The State
. legislature had already acted on the thing, and had appropriated funds
.on the. basis of the net amount needed to buy the new aircraft.
~ . So the Forest Servicer asked for an exception, a one-time exception
on that basis. That's a hardship case.
~ .. Mr. ROMNEY. I would like to ask if you could tell us how many of
`. the,se.requests forwaivers have been received-
~ Mr. GRIFFIN. Seven.
Mr. ROMNEY. How many have been approved, how many have been
~. dethéd, how many are pending?
Mr. GRTFFIN~ There have been seven received. One has been rejected,
. thi~e contiiiuing.waivers have been granted, and three one-time waivers
. have been granted.
~ Mr.ROMNEY. Two of the continuing waivers dealt with the Depart-
ment of State and the U.S. Information Agency, did they not?
. : Mr. GmFi~'iN. That's right.
Mr. ROMNEY. The Department of State's original request was for
~ a complete exemption from part 101-46.
~ ~ Mr. GRIFFIN. Right.
Mr. ROMNEY. However, the waiver was only granted with respect
~ to the 30* categories of ineligible items, is that correct?
. Mr. GRIFFIN. ~ That's correct.
: Mr. ROMNEr. But the USIA, which made a request for essentially
.~ the ~ same reasons, since it was operating overseas, was only given an
: exception, a waiver with respect to groups 41 and 71, and I wonder
if you could comment why the State Department should have had the
~ entire .0 categories but USIA only two.
~ Mr. GI~IFFIN. I think it is fair to say, Mr. Romney, that the State
Department was not consulted on the development of the reg, because
~ theyarenot a major domestic generator of excess and surplus property.
: `When th~y bi~ought the matter to us for discussion, it was readily ap-
parent that the property at this time which becomes excess to their
~e~is~oveiseas .is not eligible for donation. And a provision would have
been included in the reg to exempt these overseas sales by the State
~.Departm~nt until such time as we complete the study, which is going
Qfl flOW~ and we undoubtedly would review it then.
Now, on the USIA, it has been my experience overseas that there
is considerable support in the way of furniture and furnishings given
;to USIA by both the.State Department and the AID missions, so USIA
itself owns considerably less property. So USIA brought to our atten-
tidnthe two: categories of property which they have in more abundance
and which gave them a continuing problem, and the review was con-
ducted on the re~quest they made. But I am sure that the significant
: fact . is that they have considerably fewer types of property. I don't
think that USIA maintains many vehicles and rolling equipment
overseas. Practically all of their support. comes from the embassy or
~the count~y team appro~ch.
Mr.. R9MNEY. Let me ask a technical question of Mr. Tuttle with
respect to the State Department's exemption from the 30 categories.
Once this exemption was granted, did these 30 categories then merge
PAGENO="0033"
29
in with the 41 category. of items for which under the regulations specific
findings of similarity need not be made ? ~ ~
Mr. Tt~rmE. I , think I had better defer ~ to counse' on that one,
Counselor. I haven't given that question any thought. If State were to
call me this morning and ask me that question, I would , probably
hazard a guess and then check with counsel. And my guess would be
that they would fall into the category where you have to make a speciffc
determination of similarity rather than into the 41-category list.
Mr. MONAGAN. ~ Mr. Tuttle, included in the regulations are various
types of requirements or possible courses to ~ follow the required judg-
ment as to where exchange/sale disposal should be through competi-
tive `bidding or through negotiated sale, what the cost-benefit ratio is
and other sales. There are requirements that there be a 1-year limita-
tion. There is the 1-for-i so-called requirement. Do you have any record
of your determinations or any examination of these transactions with
respect to these different standards and how they have been applied or
whether they have been applied in the exchange/sale program?
Mr. Tu'rmi~. Well, Mr. Chairman, the regulation does have a large
number of requirements and you have mentioned most of them. We
review practically all of the items which are disposed of by the Govern-
ment agencies, including Defense, line item by line item at the time of
the sale. We do not have that kind of exposure to the trade-in practices
of the agencies, but the great bulk of exchange/sale traffic is on the
sale end of it, much~Iess on the exchange or outright trade-in.
On the test of similarity, this has come up `before. I believe it was
mentioned in the last report that your subcommittee issued or that
the full committee issued. To the extent that we can, if we note in a
disposal document some question of similarity, we can raise it. But
ordinarily this is something that would have to be determined `by
pulling a file drawer open in a Government agency and checking
the procurement document against the propic~s:ed disposal document;
in other words, looking at the old item as against the proposed pur-
chase of the new item and seeing that they are similar within the
meaning of the regulation. And we have felt that at this point we have
to stop short, that we cannot audit the internal decisions on similarity
by individual transaction reviews. I think this is true also of the
other point you mentioned, the use of negotiation and the use of corn-
petitive bid and the economic values of each. The test in the regulation
is simply that the contracting officer has the responsibility to maximize
the return to the Government, whether it means getting the best
trade-in value or, if he can do better on an open sale, then it is his
responsibility to take the open sale.
Mr. MONAGAN. Well, what does your review cover then, if you
say you review each transaction ? If it doesn't cover the. standards
that you just referred to, what does it cover?
Mr. TtrrrLri. It oovers the aspect which we think is quite important,
and I know HEW feels too that it is probably the most siguificant
thing, and that is the eligibility-
Mr. MONAGAN. You mean whether or n~t it comes within a category?
Mr. TtrrrLE. Yes, sir, some agency proposing to exchange/sale a
firetruck when the regulation says it can't be done.
Mr. MONAGAN. Well, that wouldn't be a very demanding exercise
of judgment, would it? .. ` . :` .
PAGENO="0034"
30
I
Mr. TUTTLE. No, ~ir ; it would not.
Mr. MONAGAN. Thank you very much, gentlemen.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Thank you very much.
Mr. MONAOAN. I ~ would like to ask you to stay for a minute, Mr.
Griffin, if you will.
Mr Griffin, Mr Ronmey asks if you could supply us with informa..
tion about the special waivers granted in the future
Mr. GRIFFn~. Oh, yes ; I would be happy to. We have already fur-
nished a copy of all of the cases in the past We will be happy to
furnish the future cases, Mr Chairman
Mr MONAGAN Mr Elson and Mr Lawrence, would you step up,
please.
Mr ROMNF~Y Mr Elson, I can address my questions to you and
Mr. Lawrence can answer or you can answer, either way.
I would first like to ask when the information first came to the
attention of your office that a special exeLlnption had been granted with
respect to airframe structural components and aircraft parts.
STATF2~ENT OP SOL ELSON, DIRECTOR, OITICE 0]? SURPLUS PROP-
ERTY UTILIZATION, DEPARTMENT OP HEALTH, EDITCATION, AND
WELFARE, ACCOMPANIED BY WILLIAM B LAWRENCE, CHIEF,
PERSONAL PROPERTY DIVISION, OFFICE OP SURPLUS PROPERTY
UTILIZATION
Mr ELSON I believe Mr Lawrence can answer that best
Mr LAWPENCE We became aware of this, Mr Romney, on or about
June 4 at a session in our office with some representatives of the De-
partment of Army We had received the Air Force CMAL letter (68-
21) which indicated that there were exceptions granted with regard to
FSC groups 15 and 16.
Mr. ROMNEY. Where was the discussion held?
Mr. LAWReNCE. In my office in HEW.
Mr ROMNEY And what action did you take after you had noted
this?
Mr LAWRENOE We subsequently received the Department of
Army's implementation Along with it was the interchange of corre
spondence, and then we took this up with Mr Elson, and we did `discuss
it with our counterparts in GSA
Mr ROMNEY And when did you discuss it with your counterparts
in GSA?
Mr LAWIU~NCE June 13
Mr ROMNEY Who were the people in GSA that you discussed this
with?
Mr L&WRENOE Mr Flynn and Mr Donaldson
Mr ROMNEY And what knowledge did they have on this change ~
Mr LAWRDNOE' I WaS assured by Mr Flynn that he was not aware
of this exception Mr Donaldson indicated that he was aware of it
Mr ROMNEY Did he state how he had become aware of it ~
Mr LAWRENCE No, he did not
Mr ROMNEY Did he have any of the documents~
Mr LAWRENCE He did have the Air Force CMAL letter He had
5ust received it that day.
Mr. ROMNEY. That was on June 13?
I
PAGENO="0035"
31
Mr. LAWRENCE. That is correct.
Mr. ROMNEY. And that is the letter which attaches the list of
ineligible items and includes the new language for grotips 15 ~nd 16 ~
Mr. LAWRENCE. That is right.
Mr. ROMNEY. Did the General Services Administration have any
comments during the course of this discu~sio~i about the exception?
Mr. LAWImNOB. Not to my recollection, sir. A statement was made
that they were eognizai~t of the interchange of correspondence with
DOD with regard to the Navy exception, and as far as the exception
with regard to the communications between GSA and DOD on the
groups 15 and 16, there was no indication of any information with
regard to that discussion.
Mr. ROMNEY. When did you first obtain a copy of the exchange
of correspondence between the Defense Department and GSA.?
Mr. LAWRENCE. I received that on June 13.
Mr. ROMNEY. `This included the administrative letter of-
Mr. LAWRENCE. I am sorry, sir. It was June 11 we received a copy
of the interchange of correspondence between DOD and GSA.
Mr. ROMNEY. What was the interpretation within the Office of
Surplus Property Utilization of the language used in the implemenit-
ing instructions that you saw?
Mr. ELSON. It was my feeling at that time that there appeared to
be an erosion of the number of categories which were not eligible for
exchange/sale in view of the fact that the State agencies concerned
had kept me constantly informed of the fact that there was a lessening
of the amount of property available to them for donation purposes.
And then with these two broad categories now also being declared
eligible rather than ineligible, I became fearful of the fact that there
would be a further deterioration in the donation program. That was
my initial reaction to it, because of its broad aspects.
Mr. ROMNEY. Were you present this morning, Mr. Elson, when the
General Services Administration witnesses gave the explanation of
their intent in granting this exception?
Mr. ELSON. Yes, I was.
Mr. ROMNEY. And did your understanding at the time you first be-
~: aware of this change correspond with the explanation given by
Mr. ELS0N. No, not at all. As a matter of fact, my fears are now
much more allayed since the writing of the letter that Mr. Griffin
quoted.
Mr. ROMNEY. I want to go back in time before the July 3 letter
from GSA to the Defense Department. At the time you became aware
of the change in groups 15 and 16 and construed it, as you put it, as
an erosion of two important categories, what wa~ your evaluation of
the specific impact on actual donations, in existence and in prospect,
of aircraft and of aircraft parts and structural components?
Mr. EL50N. Well, we have better than 100 institutions now who are
involved in the training of aeronautics and aeronautic engineering
who rely very heavily on our program for support by way of parts
as well as entire aircraft. With these two categories being excluded,
we felt that this would be very harmful to the furtherance of those
programs.
PAGENO="0036"
Mr. MONAOAN. I think that covers all that we have in mind at the
present time.
Thank you very much for coming.
We will adjourn the hearing.
(Thereupon, at 12:40 p.m. the hearing adjourned, to reconvene
subject to call of the Chair.)
PAGENO="0037"
DOCUMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO CERTAIN EXCHANGE!
SAiL PoLICIEs AND PROOEDU1u~s-DErARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
ASSISTANT SE~ORETARY OF DEFENSE,
Washington, D.C., October 27, 1967.
Hon. WILLIAM L. DAwSON,
Chairman, Comnvittee on Government Operations,
House of Representatives,
Washington, D.C.
DEAR Mn. OHAIRMAN Reference is made to your letter of August 31, 1966
requesting the Department of Defense (DOD) to hold in abeyance the imple-
mentation of DOD Instruction 4160.1, dated August 10, 1966, entitled "Nonexcess
Personal Property to be Sold or Exchanged for Replacement Purposes," until the
Second Session of the 89th Congress had completed its consideration of certain
legislative proposals affecting exchange/sale authority.
You were advised by our letters dated September 22 and Novemher 18, 1966
that the DOD would withhold implementation of the instruction until Congress
rhad had the opportunity to act On the proposed legislation. As you are aware,
the proposed legislation failed of enactment ; we have, however, continued to
withhold implementation of the General Services Administration (GSA) regula-
tions set forth in that instruction. The DOD is the only department or agency
in the executive branch that is withholding use of the exchange/sale authority.
I am sure you know that over the past several years, the DOD has endeavored
to make every concession to make available to other Federal agencies and eligible
donees DOD excess and surplus personal property, as prescribed in governing
legislation. In fiscal year 1967, over $309 million in DOD excess personal ~`roperty
~was transferred to other Federal agencies and $231 million in surplus property
was donated to eligible donees. During the same period $27 million in ex-
change/sale type property was transferred and $18.0 donated. Eased upon the
average rate of return over the past few years of 21 percent, $8 to $10 million
would have been available to procure replacement equipment in fisëal year 1967.
Our estimiates indicate that this saving wOuld increase in fiscal year 1968.
In view of the increased emphasis by the Congress on reducing expenditures
within the executive branch, and our own efforts to reduce defense costs wher-
~ever possible, the DOD exchange/sale policy has been reevaluated as one of
many ar~as where potential economies exist. As a result of this evaluation, it has
been determined that it would be prudent for the DOD to discontinue offering
exchange/stale personal property to other Federal agencies and eligible donees
prior to attempting the recoupment of funds or the establishment of credit by
use of the exchange/sale atahority. In this regard, it should be clearly understood
that we are referring to DOD property which is not exceSs or surplus, and which
may be exchanged for similar new replacement items or sold and ~he proceeds
applied to the purchase price of replacement items.
We believe this action is clearly consistent with the desire of the Congress that
the executive branch search all areas where a potential exists for reduciflg the
budget. We believe also that it is consistent with our obligation to the Americati
taxpayers to assure that their funds are managed with maximum efficiency and
economy.
* This letter is to advise you that the DOD intends to direct the inimedi~te
Implementation of the GSA Federal Profwrty Management flegulatlon Part
101-46, Subchapter H-Utilization and Disposal, outlined in I1~QD `Instruction
4160.1, copy of which was furnished you with our letter of ~ptember ~2, 1966.
Sincerely,
THOMAS D. Monnis,
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Insta'lations and Logistics).
APPENDIX
(33)
PAGENO="0038"
34
DECEMBER 15, 1967.
Hon. THOMAS P. MORRIS,
Assistant &~cretary of Defense (In8tallation and Logistic8),
Wa8ltington, D.C.
DEAR ME MORRIS On October 27 1967 you advised us that the Department of
Defense had determined it would be prudent to discontinue offering exchange/
sale property to other Federal agencies and eligible donees prior to attempting
the recoupment of funds or the establishment of credit by using the exchange/sale
authority in secti~u 201 (c) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services
Act of 1949 as amended and regulations of the General Services Administration
(41 OFR pt 101-46) At the time your October 27 letter was transmitte~j, Mr
Paul H Riley Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Material Requirements)
conferred with the subcommittee staff Mr Riley was requested to update some
statistics he had furnished the subcommitte during its hearings in August 1966
Those statistics consist of a breakout of exchange/sale type property sold by
category acquisition cost and rate of return for fiscal years 1965 and 1966 The
list comprises 69 property categories. It appears on pages 58 and 59 of the printed
hearings.
On November 17, your office sent us the statistics for fiscal year 1967. Study
of the figures for the 3 fiscal years shows that for a large number of property
categories, the percent of return has consistently been. quite low.
Using the 69 categories of property in the DOD statistics the Department of
Health Education and Welfare has furnished the subeommitte a list of 31 prop
erty categories in greatest demand for the Federal donable property program
The HEW list breaks out the 10 most wanted categories and arranges them in
order of priority. The remaining 21 categories are merely described as greatly
needed and do not appear in any order based on priority
We have serutinised DOD s percent-of return figures for the 31 categories in
the HEW list In all but five of the 81 categories the percent of return is under
15 percent for all S years In 14 categories the percent is under 10 percent Nine
categories have never shown a percent of return over 5 percent ~ttached is a
copy of the HEW list to which we have added the percentages of return for fiscal
years 1965, 1966, and 1967.
A few of the 69 categories are of course ineligible for exchange/sale disposal
under GSA regulatIons. Also, we recognize that any analysis based solely on the
DOD statistics must be further qualified by such considerations as condition and
high or low volume transactions H~wever we feel that the figures there establish
general guidelines as to the types of equipment for which a relatively small re
turn can usually be expected in exchange/sale disposal
As GSA S 1966 testimony before our subcommittee clearly implies there would
be no legal impediment to your Department s removing certain categories of items
. from the list of those for which it will seek exchange/sale disposal. We are re-
questing therefore that the Department study the 69 categories of property and
particularly the 31 listed in the attachment with a view to excluding from
immediate exchange/sale disposal those for which the anticipated return would
be relatively low This would mean of course that such property would receive
prior screening for further Federal use and donation and thus appreciably im-
prove the supply of DOD property for the donable property program
In connection with exchange/sale disposals, it would appear feasible in most
instances for the Department of Defense to compile in addition to acquisition
cost as now required by GSA regulations figures on the proceeds or allowances
obtained from which statistics on the percentage of return could be calculated
This type of reporting has obviously been done by the Department of Defense
with respect to the disposals which make up the statistics referred to above. The
Department could then make regular reviews category by category on property
being disposed of by exchange or sale and remove or restore exchange/sale eli
gibility of categories depending on the degree of financial advantage to the
Department.
We would appreciate your carefully considering these suggestions for some
further alleviation of the problem of exchange/sale disposal via a vis the disposal
of property for further Federal use and donation Please advise us at an early
date of your conclusions and any action that may be taken.
Sincerely yours,
JOHN S. MONAGAN,
Chairman, ~peozai Subcommittee on Donabie Property
I
I
PAGENO="0039"
35
ASSISTANT SECRFTARY OF DEFENSE,
Washington, D. U., January 31, 1968.
Hon. JOHN S. MONAGAN,
Chairman, Special ~Subconz~mittee on Donable Property, Convinittee on Government
Operations, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.
Dn~u~ MR. CHAIRMAN : Red~erence is made to your letter 0cC December 15, 1967, reV'
questing our consideration of certain suggestionS regarding the possi:ble removal
of some categories of items from the list of those currently eligible for exchange!
sale disposal. At the time we received your letter we were in the process of re-
evaluating the exchange/sale program to determine what, if any, further changes
should be made at this time. One conclusion reached coincides with your sug-
gestion that whenever the anticipated return from the exchange/Sale procedure
is relatively low, it might be more advantageous for DOD to declare the prop-
erty excess and make it available for further Federal use and, if not so utilized,
to the Federal donable property program, prior to sale.
Accordingly, we have decided to instruct the military departments and Defense
Supply Agency (DSA) to carefully evaluate each contemplated exchange/sale
transaction and determine in advance whether the monetary return anticipated
by the exchange/sale transaction warrants the administrative effort and associ-
ated cost involved. Therefore, under this procedure it will not be necessary for
the DOD to deviate from the 41 categories listed in the FPMR, thus retaining
standardization and continuity throughout all Federal agencies.
Although your analysis indicates that there are 14 categories wherein less
than 10 percent of the acquisition cost has been realized from sales, it must be
understood that the exchange/sale property sold during the years indicated
(fiscal years 19(35, 1966, and 1967) was that exchange/sale property which sur-
vived all utilization and donation screening. For the most part, exchange/sale
property that survives the complete ~~ree~ing~transfer-donatiOfl cycle is not
very desirable, and therefore would not command a high rate of return from
sale. Furthermore, the statistics referred to represent only those proceeds received
as a result of sale, and not any exchange allowances. In the future we will be
maintaining both exchange and sale return ; therefore, a more realistic evaluation
of the exchange/stale program can be made.
Recently we have been receiving numerous letters from eligible deuce groups
expressing concern over the donation program "drying up" as a result of DOD
implementation of the exchange/sale authority. I wish to assure you that this is
not the case. In fiscal year 1967, over $205 million of DOD surplus property was
donated to the 50 State agencies for health, education, and civil defense purposes.
Of this amount, less than $18 million was exchange/sale type property. In this
regard, it should be clearly understood that we are referring to DOD exchange!
sale property which is not excess or surplus but property for which replacement is
required. In view of the recent revision of DOD policy to conform with the FP1~tR
on exchange/sale, it is premature to attempt to determine accurately the impact
the change will have on the donation program. It is, however, our opinion that
the overall effect will be minimal.
Sincerely,
THOMAS D. MORRIS,
Assistant Secretary of Defense (InstaiZations and Logistics).
AsSIsTANT SECRETARY OF DzFENsE,
Washington, D.C., March 27, 1968.
Memorandum for the Assistant Secretary oct the Army (Installation and Logis-
tics) ; Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Installation and Logistics) ; Assistant
Secretary of the Air Force (Installation and Logistics) ; Director, Defense
Supply Agency.
Subject : Exchange/sale.
Federal Property Management Regulation (FPMR) part 101-46 provIdes the
Goveriuneutwide authority for, and sets forth the limitations on exchange/sale
of personal property. The purpose of this memorandum is to clarify certain
misuuderstandings which appear to exist concerning the purpose and intent of
DOD implementation of FPMR 101-46 as prescribed in DOD instruction 4160.1,
dated August 10, 1966, subject: "Nonexcess personal property to be sold or
exchanged for replacement purposes."
The primary purpose of the exchange/sale authority is to provide a means for
the sale or exchange of certain nonexcess personal property when such actions
PAGENO="0040"
are justified and warranted, and to apply the exchange allowance or proceeds
derived from sale In whole or part payment for the replacement of required
similar items.
In the exercise of the exchange/sale provisions, each contemplated transaction
must be carefully evaluated in order to . determine, in advance, whether the
monetary return anticipated by the exchange/sale transaction warrants the
administrative effort and associated costs which are in~iirred in the u~e of the
exchange/sak provisions. This judgment can be determined to a large degree
by the average gross monetary return realized through past competitive bid
sales or exchanges o~ similar items.
Prior to executing an exchange/sale transaction, to the extent practicable and
economical and within the time limits permitted to acquire the replacement
property, the activity authorized to initiate the procurement will report to the
appropriate General Services Administration (GSA) regional office that the
property to be exchanged or sold is available for DOD and Federal civil agency
utilization screening. Screening will be accomplished in accordance with GSA's
established procedures. No attempt need be made to obtain utilization for that
exchange/sale property which is eligible for replacement In accordance with
established DOD/GSA replacement standards.
If during the utilization screening the property is requisitioned within the
DOD, the property will be declared excess to the DOD component and transferred
on a nonreimbursabie basis to the requisitioner in accordance with the procedures
for excess materiel. If the property is requisitioned by another Federal agency,
it will be transferred with reimbursement and treated as an exchange/sale
transaction. 1~eimbursement for these transactions will not be more than the
estimated gross competitive bid value or exchange allowance. Exchange/sale
property for which replacement Is required will not be made available for
~onaUon screening.
Property which otherwise would be eligible for exchange/sale but for which
no replacement is required, will not be classified as exchange/sale but rather,
DOD excess/surplus, and any net proceeds derived from the sale of such property
will be deposited to d~posit fund account 97-6460.5191 rather than deposit fund
account xx-6845.
The attention of all concerned should be ii~vited to the fact that the cx-
change/sale authority is not applicable to the 30 Federal supply classification
groups which are listed in subpart 101-46.4901 of enclosure i to DOD instruction
4160.1.
It should also be emph~asized that it is mandatory that all (less cost of sale)
proceeds derived through sale of exchange/sale property be utilized for the
acquisitioi~ of similar replacement , items of personal property within the fiscal
year in which the sale was made or the fiscal year immediately following.
` ` .` ` ThOMAs D. MORRIS,
A.ssista~t &~cretary of Defense (Instaflrtions a~d Logistic,g).
FRBRUARY 23, 1968.
Hon. THOMAS D. MoRRIS,
Assistant ~Seoretary of Defense (Manpower) (InstaiZati~ns and Logistics), Wash-
in~~iton, D.C.
DEAR MR. MORRIS : On February 21, 1968, representatives of the Naval Air Sys-
tems Command and the Navy Office of Counsel visited this office to seek relief
from certain requirements of the Federal property management regulations
relative to e~ch~pge-saI~ of personal property. Specifically, they asked for an
exception to subpart 101-46.4901, Federal supply classification group 16 and
the airframe structural components portion of Federal supply classification
group 15. Subpart 101-46.4901 concerns itself ~v~th FSC groups which are not
eligible for handling under the provisions of the exchange/sale regulation.
The basis for the Navy request is that the Navy has acquired several Grumman
T~-4O aircraft, commonly known as the Grumman Gulfstream, and has estab-
lished a provisioning plan which calls for spare ` parts `support to be provided
by the manufacturer. This type of an arrangement, wherein a military depart-
. ment relies upon a manufacturer for spare parts support, makes it necessary for
the military' services to have the authority to turn in used spare parts and air-
frame `structural components' to the manufacturer for prompt replacement with
new or remanufactured identical items. ` ,` `
In view of ~tiT1e Navy's stateipent that it would' be h~itánt to thake the newly
acqiured (~rumman aircraft operthonal until there was an assured arrangement
PAGENO="0041"
37
with the manufacturer for prompt support, we suggested that they request an
interim exception along the lines stated above, to be followed by a formal request
for an exception to be made by the Navy Department to your office for referral
to GSA as a Department of Defense proposal. In this regard, it occurs to us that
the Air Force and the Army may be operating commercial-type aircraft and
depending upon the manufacturer for spare parts support.
Accordingly, on the basis of the speedletter of February 21 from the Naval
Air Systems Command Headquarters, copy attached, the interim exception is
hereby granted to the Navy Department with respect to FSO group 16 and the
airframe structural components of FSO group 15, limited to the program for
support of the Grumman TO-4C aircraft.
This interim exception will expire on August 31, 1968. A copy of this letter
is being sent to the Commander, Naval Air Systems Command.
Sincerely yours,
JOHN C. HARLAN, Jr., Commissioner,
Property Management and Disposa' service.
SPEEDLETTEE
FEBRUARY 21,1968.
From : NAVAIRSYSCOMHO.
To : RUEPGS/General Services Administration.
Washington, D.C.
UNCLASSIrIED.
A. Conf February 21, 1968, between Mr. Lewis C. Tuttle, manager Pers Prop
Disp ; Mr. Frank P. Donaldson, Dir UP Div PMDS And NAVAIR Reps.
B. DOD Inst 4160.1 and ENO 1 thereto (FED PROP MGT BEG 101-46).
1. From AIR-000. For Mr. John G. Harlan, Commissioner, Property Manage-
uLent and Disposal Service.
2. In accordance with ref A it is requested that an interim exemption to
item No. 16 and airframe structural components of item No. 15 on the listing of
ineligible property of the Fed supp class groups be granted (ref (B)).
3. This exemption shall apply only to Grumman TC-40 aircraft and com-
ponents. This aircraft is a commercial aircraft with military configuration.
4. A formal request VIA the info addressees will follow.
5. Priority action this message is requested because this aircraft is preseutly
operational.
AssIsTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE,
Washington, D.C., March 15, 1968.
Mr. JOHN 0. HARLAN, Jr.,
Commissioner, Property Management and Disposai Service,
Generai Services Administration,
WashMgton, D.C.
Dw~ Mn. HARLAN : Reference is made to your letter of February 28, 1968,
advising us that you have granted the Department of the Navy an interim
exception to Federal Property Management Regulation (FPMR) subpart 101-
46.4901 concerning property ineligible for exchange/sale. It is noted that the
exception covers those items in Federal supply classification (FSC) group 16,
aircaft components and accessories, and the airfame structural components
portion of FSC group 15, and that it will expire on August 31, 1968.
As a result of your letter, a review of this matter has been made with the
Departments of the Army and Air Force. We have ascertained that they have,
or anticipated having much the same problem as the Navy, in that they have
in their inventories commercially designed and manufactured aircraft, and
rely upon the manufacturer for parts suppovt for them.
In view of the existence of these parts support agreements which depend upon
trade-ins, it is. believed to be in the best interest of the U.S. Government for the
DOD to be authorized to exchange/sale nonexcess replacement commercial type
aircraft spare parts and airframe structural components with the manufacturer
for Immediate replacement with new or remanufactured similar items.
PAGENO="0042"
38
It is therefore requested that the DOD be granited the authority to exch'ange/
sale the aforementioned items in P50 groups 15 and 16.
Your courtesy in bringing this matter to our attention is appreciated.
Sincerely,
PAUL H. RILEY,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Supply and Services).
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION,
Washington, D.C., April 8, 1968.
Hon. THOMAS D. Moinus,
Assistant Secretary of Defense
(Installations and Logistics),
Washington, D.C.
DEAR MR. MORRIS : By letter of March 15, 1968, Mr. Paul H. Riley, Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Supply and Services) , requested that the Depart-
ment of Defense be granted an exception to that portion of the exchange/sale
provisions of Federal Property Management Regulation, part 101-46, which
enumerates the kinds of property which are ineligible for exchange/sale.
Specifically, an exception was requested with respect to those items in Federal
supply classification (P50 ) group 16, aircraft components and accessories, and
the airfame structural components of FSO group 15. By letter dated Febru-
ary 28, 1968, GSA granted an interim exception of this same nature on behalf
of the Department of the Navy in respect to its Grumman TO-dO aircraft. The
TO-tO aircraft are substantially similar in configuration to the commercial
Grumman Gulfstream.
Mr. Riley's letter states that, "~ * * it is believed to be in the best interest
of the U.S. Government for the DOD to be authorized to exchange/sale nonexcess
replacement commercial type aircraft spare parts and airframe structural com-
ponents with the manufacturer for immediate replacement With new or remanu-
factured similar items." In view of this finding, and in recognition that the
requested exception to the regulation is needed if the military departments are to
contract for full spare parts support of commercial type aircraft, an exception
is hereby granted, as requested in Mr. Riley's letter of March 15.
It is understood that the military services, in trading in or exchanging spare
parts and aircraft components applicable to commercial type aircraft, will be
bound by all other provisions of part 101-46, governing exchange/sale policy
and prooedures.
We are pleased to be able to assist the Department of Defense in such
undertakings.
Sincerely YOUrS,
LAwsON B. KNOTT, Jr., Administrator.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE,
Washington, D.C., April 10, .1968.
Memorandum for the Assistant Secretary of `the Navy (I&L) ; Assistant Secre.
tary of the Navy (I&L) ; Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (I&L)
Director, Defense Supply Agency.
Subject : Exchange/sale.
The enclosed correspondence between this office and the General Servicei
Administration relating to the exchange/sale of certain aircraft spares, acces-
sories and components is self-explanatory.
The Director, Defense Supply Agency is requested to initiate the necessary
action to incorporate this exception into military serviees/DSA imiplementing
instructions as promptly as possible.
PAUL H. Rmnr,
Deputy Assistant Secretairy of Defense (Supply and Services).
PAGENO="0043"
39
DEFENSE SUPPLY AGENCY,
Alecoandria, Va~., ApriZ ~3O, 1968.
Subject : Property ineligible fer sale under exchange/sale procedures.
To : Chief, Support Services (SPPS-PD) Department of the Army ; Commander,
Naval Supply Systems Oommand (SUP 0463) , Department o~f the Navy;
Director of Supply and Services (AFSSSDA) , Department o~ the Air
Force ; Office o~ the Quartermaster General, Headquarters, U.S. Marine
Corps
1. Reference : Letter, DSAH-~SMP, January 30, 1968, subject as above, and
enclosure thereto.
2. Federal supply classification groups (FSCG) 15 and 1~ of the enclosure,
property ineligible for exchange/sale, are hereby modified to' read as 1~ollows:
15: Aircraft; and airframe structural components, except those required for
support of commercial type aircraft.
16: Aircraft components and accessories, except tho'se required for support of
commercial type aircraft.
The excepted items; that is, airframe structural components and aircraft com-
ponents and accessories required for support of commercial type aircraft, may
now be reported to sales offices for sale under exchange/sale procedures.
3. It is requested that all property disposal activities, including sales offices
under your jurisdiction, be advised of this policy change.
For the Director:
PAUL M. SOMERVILLE,
Chief, DisposaZ Division, Technical and Logistics $ervices.
DEPARTMENT or THE ARMY,
OFFICE OF THE ADJUTANT GENERAL,
Washington, D.C., May 8, 1968.
Subject : Property ineligible for sale under exchange/sale procedures.
1. Reference is made to letter, AGAM-P (M) (February 13, 1968) SPTS-LSPD,
Headquarters, Department of the Army, February 15, 1968, subject as above.
2. The group identification and exceptions listed for FSCG 15 and 16 in in-
closure 1 of the above reference are modified to read as follows:
PSOG 15: Aircraft; and airframe structural components, except those required
for support of commercial aircraft.
FSCG 16: Aircraft components and accessories, except those required for sup-
port of commercial aircraft.
Airframe structural components and aircraft components and accessories re-
quired for support of commercial type aircraft may now be reported and sold
under exchange/sale procedures.
By order of the Secretary of the Army
C. A. STANFIEL,
Colonel, AGU, Acting The Adjutant General.
DILPARTMENT OF THE ARMY,
OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR LOGISTICS,
Washington, D.C., May 14, 1968.
1. Federal Property Management Regulation (FPMR) part 101-46 provides
the Government-wide authority for, and sets forth the limitations on exchange/
sale of personal property. The purpose of this letter is to clarify certain mis-
understandings which appear to exist concerning the purpose and intent of DOD
Instruction 4160.1, dated August 10, 1966, subject "Nonexcess Personal Property
To Be Sold or Exchanged for Replacement Purposes."
2. The primary purpose of the exchange/sale authority is to provide a means
for the sale or exchange of certain nonexcess personal property when such
actions are justified and warranted, and to apply the exchange allowance or pro-
ceeds derived from sale in whole or part payment for the replacement of required
similar items.
3. In the exercise of the exchange/sale provisions, each contemplated transac-
tion must be carefully evaluated in order to determine, in advance, whether the
monetary return anticipated by the exchange/sale transael~ion warrants the ad-
ministrative effort and associated costs which are incurred in the use of the
PAGENO="0044"
40
I
exchange/sale provisioi~s. This judgment can be determined to a large degree by
the average gross monetary return realized through past competitive bid sales
or exchanges of similar items.
4 Prior to executing an exchange/sale transaction to the extent practicable
and economical and within the time limits permitted to acquire the replacement
property, the activity authorized to initiate the procurement will report to the
appropnate Genei~al Services Administration (GSA) regional olfice that the
property to be exchanged or sold is available for DOD and Federal Civil Agency
utilization screening Screening will be accomplished in accordance with GSA s
established procedures No attempt need be made to obtain utilization for that
exchange/sale property which is eligible for replacement in accordance with
established DOD/GSA replacement standards
5 If during the utilization screening the property is requisitioned within the
DOD, the property will be declared excess to the DOD component and transferred
on a nonreimbursable basis to the requisitioner in accordance with the procedures
for excess materiel. If the property is requisitioned by another Federal agency,
it will be transferred with reimbursement and treated as an exchange/sale trans
action Reimbursement for these transactions will not be more than the estimated
gross competitive bid value or exchange allowance Exchange/sale property for
which replacement is required will not be made available for donation screening
6 Property which otherwise would be eligible for exchange/sale but for which
no replacement is required will not be classified as exchange/sale but rather
DOD excess/surplus, and any net proceeds derived from the sale of such property
will be deposited to deposit fund account 97-0460 5191 rather than deposit fund
a~ccount xx-~845.
7. The attention of all concerned should be invited to the fact that the
exchange/sale authority is now not applicable to the 28 Federal supply elassifica-
tion groups which are listed in subpart 101-46.4901 of enclosure 1 t& DOD In-
struction 4160 1 AS D(I & L ) has granted an exception to those items in FSC
group 15, airframe structural components and FSO group 16, aircraft components
and accessories Accordingly authorization is granted to exchange/sale non
ext~ess ~eplacemient conuneiicial type aircraft repair parts and aarframe structural
components with the manufacturer for immediate replacement with new or re
manufactured similar items.
8 It is also emphasized that it is mandatory that all (less cost of sale) pro
ceeds derived through sale of exchange/sale property be utilized for the acquisi
tion of similar replacement items of personal property within the fiscal year in
which the sale was made or the fiscal year immediately following
9 It is requested that the above gmdance concerning materiel utilized and
exchange/sale proceeds utilization be disseminated to all concerned
For the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics
WILLIAM H. MCDONALD,
Colonel, G~, DeplAty Director of supply.
DEPARTMENT OF THE Am Fo~c~,
HEADQUARTERS Am FORCE LOGISTICS COMMAND,
Wright-Patter~o~ Air Force Ba,se, Ohio, May 28, 1968..
AFLO OMAL No. 68-21-Redistribution and marketing.
Subject : Exchange/sale property.
To MAJOOM s-CONUS and overseas s Mu Acft Stor Dspn Con and
AFB's-CONTJS and overseas.
Expires when Incorporated in DOD 4160 21-M or in volume VI AFM 67-1 or
May 28, 1969, unless sooner updated, rescinded or superseded.
Authority : Paragraph 4, chapter 1, volume VI, AFM 67-1.
Note -Directive this CMAL furnishes information regarding pending changes
to the exchange/sale program and provides guidance to be followed during the
interim pending implementation of these changes Applies to all redistribution
and marketing activities worldwide COmpliance by all activities concerned is
mandatory.
1 Changes pending to the exchange/sale program are anticipated to include
the following:
(a) Application will be on a case-by case basis with the determination being
made by the AFLC item manager (IM) for centrally procured items (or any
other service/agency IM) or the base supply o~1cer for locally purchased items
(b) Redistribution and marketing (R. & M.) will not designate items as ex-
I,
I
PAGENO="0045"
41
change/sale. Only those items so designated by the turn-in activity will be
processed as exchan~e/sale.
(C) Necessary screening will be done by the turn-in activity. Property to be
exchanged will not be turned in to a property disposal officer (PDO). Only prop-
erty to be sold will be turned in to the PDO and the only action required of th~
PDO is to report the property for sale.
(d) Items designated are not to be donated.
(e) Turn-in doennients for property to be sold wtll be identified as exchange!
sale by the turn-in activity and will cite the appropriation to which the proceeds
from sale (less 10 percent) are to be deposited. It is anticipated that the separate
category deposit accounts will be abolished when all property currently on hand
has been sold, the proceeds deposited, and disposition is made of the proceeds.
(1) All items are subject to application of exchange/sale procedures except
items cataloged in the Federal supply classification groups (FSCG's) listed in
attachment 1 hereto~ The group listing contained in DOD 4160.21-M (attachment
2, ch. III, pt. 2) is no longer to be considered an eligible list.
2. In view of the above, the following procedures apply pending further ma-
plementatlon of the pending changes:
( a) For property currently on hand:
(1) Compliance with AFLO OMAL No. ~8-11 dated February 19, 1968, (hereby
rescinded) should have resulted in all items in FSCG's listed In attachment 1,
which have not reached the point of final util:ization or sale, being transferred
to the appropriate excess and surplus inventory record. If this has not been done,
compliance with AFLC CMAL 68-il should be accomplished prior to discarding.
(2) All remaining items will be processed to final disposal action according
to currently published procedures. These actions will be recorded in the current
exchange/sale records. Proceeds from the sale of these items will be deposited
as in the past to the existing categorized accounts.
(b) New generations:
(1) Only those items identified by the turn-in activity as exchange/sale
will be processed as such. The turn-in document will cite the appropriation to
which the proceeds from sale are to be deposited (less 10 percent for sales cost).
(2) Items designated by the turn-in activity as exchange/sale which fall with-
in the ineligible list (attachment 1) will be processed as excess and surplus
property. When these changes are made, the turn-in activity will be advised.
(3) Items properly identified as exchange/sale will not be subject to utiliza-
tion screening or donation after receipt by the PDO. The turn-in activity is the
only activity permitted to obtain the property (by withdrawal). The only a~ctions
required by the PDO are normal sales actions and furnishing to the sales office
the appropriation to which 90 percent of the proceeds is to be deposited.
All of the required utilization screening will be performed by the appropriate
item manager at depot or base level prior to turn-in to the R. & M. activity.
3. Exchange/sale property presently on hand and new generations identified
by the turn-in activity to be processed as exchange/sale will be separately a~-
counted for as presently prescribed and will be reported on the AF form 362b
through June 1968. Effective with the inventory data report (RSC HAF-S57)
for the month of July 1968, the total on-hand inventory on the AF form 362b
(line 75, col. P) from the month of June will be reflected on line 42, column A,
AF form 362 and all exchange/sale transactions will be shown under the appro-
priate column of that line. All entries in line 42 will be included in line 43 totals
of the AF form 362. Entries in sections IV, V, VI, VII and VIII will include
exchange/sale transactions. Entries in section IX will exclude breakout of on-
hand status of exchange/sale property and be limited to excess and surplus
property only. Therefore, the status of on-hand Inventory ( see. IX, AF form
362) will equal the total on-hand inventory reflected on line 43, column N minus
the on-hand inventory of exchange/sale property, line 42, column N. Subsequent
to the reporting of exchange/sale property on the AF form 362b for the month
of June 1968, the AF form 362b is obsolete. Effective with the start of July report
period, all monetary records for exchange/sale may be maintained on one record
or by category breakout if desired; however, care should be taken to insure class
and Item (C. & I.) records are maintained by a compatible method.
For the Commander:
C. ID. BRowN,
Redistribution and Marketing Division, Directorate of
Investment Materiels D~f1/~iuppZy.
PAGENO="0046"
42
16_
milling
nuclear
DEFENSE SUPPLY AGENCY,
Ale~vandria, Va., June 5, 1968.
Subject : Rewrite of Part 2, Defense Disposal Manual, DoD 4160.21-M.
To : Director, Defense Atomic Support Agency ; Director, Defense Communica-
tions Agency ; Director, Defense Intelligence Agency ; Director, National
Security Agency ; Chief, Support Services ( SI~TS-PD) , Department of the
Army ; Commander, Naval Supply Systems Command ( SUP 0463) , Depart-
ment of the Navy ; Director of Supply and Services (AFSSSDA) , Depart-
ment of the Air Force ; Office of the Quartermaster General, Headquarters,
U.S. Marine Corps ; Commandant (F3) , U.S. Coast Guard.
:1. Reference is made to foreword of the Defense Disposal Manual DoD
4160.21-M wherein it is stated that changes will receive appropriate military
service review and coordination.
2. Enclosed for review is a draft of the proposed revision of part 2 of the
manual. Since this draft may be considered to be a complete rewrite, underlining
has not been used.
3. The textual portions of the draft were prepared utilizing only the left-hand
side of the page. Typed or written comments regarding each paragraph may be
made on the right-hand side directly opposite the affected paragraph. If pre-
ferred, comments may be submitted separately. In addition to the number of
copies normally furnished for your review, an additional copy has been pro-
vided if comments are ,~nade on the right-hand margin of each page.
4. Upon `receipt of service comments, and prior to any meeting which may be
required, a second di~aft incorporating service comments, will be forwarded for
your review. The draft `will reflect service acceptance or contain a capsule sum-
mary of service comments in those cases where differences exist.
PROPERTY INELIGIBLE FOR EICHANGE/&4LE
Group idetvtification a~zd ecocepUons
F~CG
10 ~. Weapons.
11 Nuclear ordnance.
12 Fire control equipment.
14 Guided missiles.
15 Aircraft and airframe structural, components, except those re-
quired for support of commercial-type aircraft.
Aircraft components and accessories, except those required for
support of commercial aircraft.
17 Aircraft 1aun~hing, landing, and ground handling equipment.
20 Ship and marine equipment.
22 Railway equipment.
31 Bearings.
32 . Woodworking machinery and equipment, except lathes, milling
machines, and saws, circular or band.
34 Metalworking machinery, except drill presses, lathes,
machines, and saws, circular or band.
40 ~ Rope, cable, chain, and fittings.
41 Refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment.
42 Firefighting, rescue, and safety equipment.
44 - Furnace,. steamplant, and drying equipment ; and
reactors.
45 Plumbing, heating, and sanitation equipment.
46 Water purification and sewage treatment equipment.
47 Pipe, tubing, hose, and fittings.
48 Valves.
51 Handtools.
53 Hardware and abrasives.
54 Prefabricated structures and scaffolding.
55 Lumber, miliwork, plywood, and veneer.
56 Construction and building materials.
68. Chemicals and chemical products, except medicinal chemicals~
71 Furniture.
75 Office supplies and devices, except cards, tabulating.
83 Textiles, leather, and furs.
84 Clothing and individual equipment.
PAGENO="0047"
.43
5. The key provisions of the attached draft include-
(a) A lowering of the reporting criteria.
( b ) The streamlining of the criteria for reporting excess for mechanized
utilization screening.
(c) The inclusion of screen procedures relating to subjects not previously
covered such as final asset screening (FAS ) and shelf-line property.
(d) The updating of methods and procedures, relating to recent OSD
changes regarding programs such as the exchange/sale and redistributable
MAP programs.
6. It is requested that comments/concurrence in the proposed revisions be fur-
nished this Agency, attention : DSAH-SIE, by July 8, 1968.
For the Director :
ROLAND SAvILLA,
COZ0GWZ, U.s.A., UMef, Utilization Division~.
[Draft]
* * * * * * *
9. 1~xchange/sale property:
(a) The exchange/sale authority contained in section 201 (c) of the Federal
Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (68 Stat. 38-) , as amended (40
U.S.C. 481(c) ) may be exercised by DOD components as prescribed in military
service/detfen~e agency regulations.
Exchange/sale property, as defined, is property not excess to the needs of the
owning agency but which is eligible for replacement. Such U.S. Government-
owned property, located within and outside of the United States, may be offered
for exchange or sale in, order to apply the exchange allowance or proceeds of
sale in whole or part payment for the replacement of similar or like items.
(b) When the turn-in activity has determined that property is to be processed
as exchange/sale, and so identifies the property on the turn-in document, the
PDO will process the property for sale if the document indicates screening is not
required. If the document is not so annotated, the property will be processed by
the PDO as follows:
(1) Property identified `as exchange/sale located in the United States,
Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands which meets the minimum reporting re-
quirements set forth in chapter II, attachment I, this part, will be reported
to DLSC for DOD screening in the same manner as excess property. Such
property which survives the DOD screening will be referred by DLSC to
GSA for civilian Federal agency screening~
(2) Property identified as exchange/sale located overseas, having a line
item value of $500 or over, will be reported to DLSC for DOD utilization
screening only.
(3) Property identified as exchange/sale which does not meet the reporting
criteria set forth in subparagraphs b (1) and (2) above will be processed as
nonreportable property.
(4) A reimbursement code for CONUS materiel and code 2 for overseas
materiel will always be used when reporting exchange/sale property. All
transfers within the DOD will be on a noureimbursable basis ; however,
transfers to civil agencies will be on a reimbursable basis.
(d)1 Property which is listed in attachment 2 is not subject to the provisions
of `the exchange/sale procedure. This type of property when received by a PDO
will be processed as normal excess property even though "exchange/sale" was
indicated on the turn-in document.
(e) Property which is identified as exchange/sale and which is not utilized
by any Federal agency will be processed in accordance with instructions of the
turn-in activity.
(1) Exchange/sale property reported on an SF-120 will be reported as pre-
scribed in chapter IV, paragraph B, this part. Such reports will clearly identify
the property by insertion of the following statement on the first entry in block
18b: "This property is designated as eligible for exchangn/sale."
(g) Exchange/sale property is not donablO.
(h) To accommodate a reporting requirement of the military service/defense
agencies to higher authority, the PDO will furnish to each turn4n activity, by
letter or memo, immediately following each sale, the acquisition value for all
property sold identified separately by each exchange/sale.
I No paragra~th (C) in original.
PAGENO="0048"
44
I
10. Fore4gn equity property : This property, which is excess to the needs of the
Owning country and the service/agency lOP, will be processed In the same manner
as declared service/agency excess except that (a) Property selected by DOD
activities or Federal agencies, as a resuit o~ DOD-GSA screening, will be trans-
ferred only on a reimbursable basis. ..
ATTACHMENT 2-EXCHANGE/SALE CATEGORY Lxs~
(a) En the acquisition exchange or sale of property in the categories below
both the item to be acquired and the item to be replaced must fall within a single
numbered category:
1. Agriculture prodnets, processed fo~d~s and forage.
5 Ammunition ~Ln4t ammun~tion comJponents
6 Ammals and ammal products
9. Battertes, storage. * ~
14. Oards:, tabulating.
19. Ditching machines.
20. Dozer blades.
21. Drill presses.
22. Earth augers.
24. Graders, self-powered and towed.
25. Lathes.
26. Machines, adding and calculating.
27. Machines, adclaessing and mailing.
28. Machines, dictating and transcribing.
29. Machines, duplicating.
30 Machines punched card bookkeeping tabulating and accounting
31. Milling machines. ~
32. Mixers, concrete, portable or truck mounted.
36. Piledrivers.
39. Shovels, power.
46. Road rollers, wheeled and sheepafoot.
4~. Saws, circular or band.
48. Scrapers, earth moving (self-powered).
49. Scrapers, earth moving, towed.
50. Sed~tns, station wagons, coupes, limousines.
M. Plows, snow, motorized.
52. Spreaders, aggregate and lime.
53. Tractors, warehouse.
54. Tractors, wheeled or crawler, with or without special attachments, up to
65 horsepower.
5~. Tractors, wheeled or crawler, with or without special attachments, 65 horse-
power and up.
56. Trailers, general purpose, multiple axle.
57. Trailers, general purpose, single axle.
58. Prailers, tank mounted.
63. T~rucks, forklift.
64. Trucks, general purpose, cargo and construction, 12,500 through 28,000 GVW
(including truck tractors, dump, multiple drive, etc.).
65. Trucks, general purpose and utility, up to 12,500 GVW (including suburbans,
carryalls, and sedan deliveries) .
66. Trucks, straddle.
67. Trucks, tank (special purpose trailer of which the tank is an integrated part
of the construction).
68. Trucks, warehouse, platform, electric and gasoline powered.
~i9. T~ypewriters, manual and electric.
`TO. Aircraft and airframe structural components requested for support of corn-
mercial-type aircraft.
71 Aircraft components and accessories required for support of commercial type
. aircraft.
72. Drugs, biologicals and official reagents.
(b) Items which are found in any of the Federal ~supply classification groups
listed below are not eligible for handling under the exchange/sale provisions.
PAGENO="0049"
Group identifloat~Ofl
Weapons.
Nuclear ordnance.
J~ire control equipment.
Guided missiles.
Aircraft ; and airframe structural components
except those requested for support of corn-
mercial type aircraft (category 70).
Aircraft components and accessoriea except those
required for support of commercial type air-
craft (category 71).
Aircraft launching, landing, and ground-han-
dling equipment.
Ship and marine equipment.
Railway equipment.
Bearings.
Woodworking machinery and equipment, except
lathes, milling machines, and saws, circular or
band (categories 25, 31, and 47).
Metalworking machinery, except drill presses,
lathes, milling machines, and saws, circular
or band (categories 25, 31, and 47).
Rope, cable, chain, and fittings.
Refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment.
Firefighting, rescue, and safety equipment.
Furnace, steamplant, and drying equipment ; and
nuclear reactors.
Plumbing, heating, and sanitation equipment.
Water purification and sewage treatment equip-
ment.
Pipe, tubing, hose, and fittings.
Valves.
Handtools.
Hardware and abrasives.
Prefabricated structures and scaffolding.
Lumber, miliwork, plywood, and veneer.
Construction and building materials.
Chemicals and chemical products, except medic-
inal chemicals.
Furniture.
Office supplies and devices, except cards, tabu-
lating.
Textiles, leather, and furs.
Clothing and individual equipment.
DEPARTMENT or urns NAvY,
NAVAL SUPPLY SYSTEMS COMMAND,
Wash~wto~, D.C., Juno 17, 1968.
NAVSUP INSTRUCTION 4540.1
Prom : Commander, Naval Supply Systems Command.
To : Distribution list.
Subject : Exchange/sale personal property disposal authority ; use of references:
(a) Defense Disposal Manual (DOD 4160.21-M) ; (b) Armed Services Pro-
curement Regulations ; (c) NAVSUPINST 4570.12A (NOTAL).
Enclosures : (1) Exchange/sale category list ; (2) Lists of property not eligible
for exchange/sale.
1. Pt~rpose.
To promulgate policies and procedures to Navy activities using the exchange!
sale authority contained in section 201(c) of the Federal Property and Adminis-
trative Services Act of 1949,63 Stat. 384, as amended.
Group No.
in
45
11
12
14
15
16
17
20
22
31
32
34
40
41
42
44
45
46
47
48
51
53
54
55
56
68
71.
83~
QA
PAGENO="0050"
2. Cancellations
(a) Navy Property Redistribution and Disposal Regulation No. 1, paragraph
306.
(b) ONM Instruction 4500.40 of October 1, 1962, subject: Use of the exchange/
sale property disposal authority.
The conflicting portions of reference (a) are under revision.
~1. Other implementation,s
Certain portions of this instruction will be incorporated into references (a) and
(b) at some future time. In the event of conflict between this instruction and the
revised references (a) and (b), references (a) and (b) will supersede
4. Applicability
This instruction is applicable to Navy activities exchanging or selling U.S.
Government-owned property, worldwide.
5. Backgro~und
The FPMR (Federal property management regulation), which is administered
by the GSA (General Services Administration), implements the authority for the
Federal Government. DOD (Department of Defense) Instruction 4160.1 of
August 10, 1966, subject: Nonexcess personal property to be sold or exchanged
for replacement purposes, implements the FPMR exchange/sale authority for
the military services and defense agencies. This instruction implements the DOD
instruction for the Navy.
6. Definitions
(a) Acquire : This term refers to procuring, purchasing or obtaining in any
manner, except by lease and including by transfer, manufacture, or production
at Government owned or `operated plants or facilities.
( Ii) Exchange/sale property : This term refers to property not excess to the
requirements of the owning activity, but which is eligible for replacement. Such
property is offered for exchange or sale to apply the exchange allowance or sales
proceeds in whole or part payment to the similar replacement item.
(c) Similar items: In exchange/sale transactions, the term refers to items
being acquired and replaced which fall within a single category in enclosure
(1), or which are not categorized in enclosure (1), but are designed and con-
structed for the same specific purpose as the item to be replaced, £he term also
refers to containers for similar noncategorized items and to repair parts for
similar categorized and noncategorized items.
7. General
~ (a) The primary purpose of the exchange/sale authority is to provide a means
for the sale or exchange of certain nonexcess personal property when such actions
are justified and warranted, and to apply the exchange allowance or proceeds
derived from sale in whole or part payment for the replacement of required
similar items.
( b ) In the exercise of the exchange/sale provisions, each contemplated trans-
action must be carefully evaluated in order to determine, in advance, whether
the monetary return anticipated by the exchange/sale transaction warrants the
administrative effort and associated costs which are incurred in the use of
exchange/sale provisions. This judgment can be determined, to a large degree,
by the average gross monetary return realized through past competitive bid
sales or exchanges of similar items.
8. Authority
Subject to the limitations contained herein, purchasing activities are author-'
ized to apply the exchange allowance or proceeds from sale (as prescribed by
NAVCOMPT . (Comptroller of the Navy) ) in whole or part payment in acquiring
similar replacement personal property, worldwide.
9. Limitations
( a) An exchange/sale transaction may be executed after `the property has
been offered for utilization in accordance with paragraph 10(a) below, and when
all of the following conditions have been met:
(1) The item or items to be sold or exchanged are similar to the item or
items to be acquired.
(2) The item or items to be sold or exchanged are not excess and the item or
items to be acquired are required for approved programs.
I
46
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47
(3) A single item to be acquired is to replace a single similar item. The only
authorized exceptions to the 1 for 1 rule are that greater or lesser numbers
of items may be acquired when they perform substantially all of the tasks per~
formed by the item or items to be replaced and that greater or lesser numbers
of containers or spare parts for items may be acquired in replacing containers and
spare parts for similar items.
(4) A written administrative determination was prepared at the time of ex-
change or sale or at the time of acquisition, when acquisition precedes sale. The
determination will indicate that the exchange allowance or sales proceeds will
be applied to the item to be acquired, that the transaction festers the economical
and efficient accomplishment of an approved program, that the property has
been offered to known users (see subpar. 10 ( a) below) and the users did not
request transfer and that the property has been rendered safe or innocuous
or has been demilitarized (see subpar. 9(e) below).
Note : Detailed cross-references between eld and new items are net required.
However, in the absence of a cross-reference, sufficient data should be retained
to permit the GAO (General Accounting Office) to establish compliance with
the law. Specifically, data are required to show that similar items were exchanged
or sold, that exchange allowances or sales proceeds were available for applica-
tion and that the transaction was otherwise in accordance with this instruction.
(b) Unless specific authority is obtained from GSA through the OASD (L. & L.)
( Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense ( Installations and Logistics) ) , an ex-
change/sale transaction may not be executed if the items fall within any of the
PSO (Federal supply classification) groups shown in enclosure (2) . Requests
for waiver, which must be well justified, may be submitted to the NAVSIJPSYS-
COM (Naval Supply Systems Command) (SUP-M463).
(C) This instruction will not be construed to authorize:
(1) The acquisition of personal property which is not authorized by law.
(2) The acquisition of personal property which is contravened by other
restrictions on procurement of commodities, or by replacement policies or
standard~s promulgated by a competent authority.
(3) The acquisition of personal property when procurement under a con-
solidated purchasing, stores program or Federal supply schedule contract is re-
quired, except when acquired under such program or contract. However, when
property is acquired under consolidated procurement, program or contract, the
exchange allowance or sales proceeds may be applied in whole or part payment
for the item being acquired.
(4) The sale, exchange, or transfer of excess and surplus property even
though otherwise eligible in connection with the acquisition of personal property.
(5) The sale, exchange, or transfer of strategic or critical material, unless
the quantity at one location at one time is less than * the minimum quantities
specified in reference (a) , part 3, chapter XV, and the owning activity ~J~ter-
mines that there is no reasonable prospect of accumulating the minimum quail-
tity within the following 12-month period.
(6) The sale, exchange, or transfer of Atomic Energy Commission controlled
material, except in accordance with the C~de of Federal Regulations, parts
30, 40, and 70, and with the prior approval of the Chief of Naval Operations.
( 7 ) The sale or exchange of narcotics, except in accordance with reference
(a), part 3, chapter X.
( 8) The sale of new or unused personal property in connection with the
acquisition of similar property. However, new or unused personal property may
be exchanged.
(9) The sale, exchange, or transfer of scrap property in connection with the
acquisition of personal property.
(10) The sale or exchange of property otherwise eligible, which was acquired
from another agency as nonexcess, excess, or surplus, unless that property
was in use for 1 year after acquisition.
(a) This instruction does not apply to national stockpile materials (50 U.S.C.
98-98h) , supplemental stockpile materials (7 U.S.C. 1704(b) ) and Defense Pro-
duction Act inventory (50 U.S.C. app. 2093.)
(e) Property will be rendered safe or innocuous or when required by part 3,
chapter XIV of reference (a) will be demilitarized prior to exchange or sale.
Demilitarization should be accomplished so as to preserve to the maximum ex-
tent feasible any civilian utility or commercial value of the property.
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I
and accounting.
48
10. Transfer and ecochange ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . . ~ ~
(a) Screening Navy activities with items available for exchange or sale to
the extent practicable and economical and within the time limits permitted
to acquire the replacement property will make the items available for utiliza
tion screening as provided for in reference (a), `part 2. However, no attemptneed
be made to obtain further utilization when the property to be exchanged or
sold is ehg~ble for replacement m accordance with appropriate replacement
standards Property may be exchanged for-
ExcHANaE/S~i~E CATEGORY LIsT
:1 Agriculture products processed foods and forage
2. Ammunition and ammunition components. :
3. Animals and animal products.
4. Batteries, storage.
5. Cards, tabulating.
6. Ditching machines.
7. Dozer blades.
8. Drill presses. ~
~ 9. Drugs, biologicals, and official reagents.
10. Earth augers.
11. Graders, self-powered and towed.
12. Lathes.
18. Machines, adding and calculating.
14. Machines, addressing and mailing.
15. Machines, dictating and transcribing.~
16. Machines, duplicating.
17. Machines, punched card, bookkeeping, tabulating,
18. Milling machines.
19. Mixers, concrete, portable, or truck mounted.
20. Pile drivers.
21. Plows, snow, motorized.
22. Road rollers, wheeled and sheepsfoot.
23. Saws, circular or band.
24. Scrapers, earth moving, self-powered.
25 Scrapers earth moving towed
26. Sedans, station wagons, coupes, limousines.
27. Shovels, power.
28. Spreaders, aggregate and lime.
29 Tractors warehouse
30. Tractors, wheeled or crawler, with or without special
up to 65 hp.
31 Tractors wheeled or crawler with or without special
65 hp and up.
32. Trailers, general purpose, multiple axle.
33. Trailers, general purpose, single axle.
~4. Trailer, tank mounted.
35. Trucks, forklift.
36. Trucks, general purpose, cargo and construction, 12,500 GVW through 28,000
GVW (including trucks tractors dump multiple drive, etc)
37 Trucks general purpose and utility, up to 12 500 GVW (including suburbans
carryalls, and sedan deliveries).
38. Trucks, straddle.
39. Trucks, tank (special-purpose trailer, of which the tank Is an integral part
of the construction).
40. Trucks, warehouse, platform, electric, and gasoline powered.
41. Typewriters, manual and electric.
LIsTs OF PROPERTY NOT ELIGIBLE FOR ExCHANGE/SALE
FEDERAL SUPPLY CLA5SIFICATION-c~Roup NUMBER AND GROUP IDENTIFICATION
10. Weapons.
11. Nuclear ordnance.
12. Fire-control equipment.
14. Guided missiles.
15. AIrcraft, and airframe structural components.i
attachments,
attachments,
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:16. Aircraft components and accessories.1
17. Aireraftiannehing, landing, alid ground-handling equipment. ~ ° ~ .
20. Ship and marine equipment.
22. Railway equipment.
31. Bearings.
32. WooUworking machinery and equipment, except lathes, milling machines, and
saws, circular or band. .
34. Metalworking machinery, except drill presses, lathes, milling machines, and
saws, circular or band.
40. Rope, cable, chain, and fittings.
41. Refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment.
42. Firefighting, rescue, and safety equipm4~nt.
44. Furnace, steamplant, and drying equipment ; and nuclear reactors.
45. Plumbing, heating, and sanitation equipment.
46. Water purification and sewage treatment equipment.
47. Pipe, tubing, hose, and fittings.
48. Valves.
51. Handtools.
53. Hardware and abrasives.
54. Prefabricated structures and scaffolding.
55. Lumber, millwork, plywood, and veneer.
56. Construction and building materials.
68. Ohemicals and chemical products, except medicinal chemicals.
71. Furniture.
75. Office supplies and devices, except cards, tabulating.
83. Textiles, leather, and furs.
84. Olothing and individual equipment.
(b) Reimbursement : Transfers of exchange/sale property within DOD will
be without reimbursement. Transfers of exchange/sale property to ether Federal
agencies will be with reimbursement and treated as an exchange/sale transaction.
Reimbursement will not be more than the gross estimated competitive bid value
or exchange allowance. Funds derived from transfers to other Federal agencies
may be applied in the acquisition of similar personal property in the manner
prescribed for sales proceeds In subparagraph 10(g) of this instruction.
(o) Utilization reporting : Forms used in reporting nonexcess material for
utilization will be clearly annotated, "This property is offered in accordance
with the exchange/sale provisions of the Federal Property and Administrative
Services Act of 1949, as amended."
(d) Solicitation of bids : In selling or exchanging property pursuant to this
instruction, the primary objective will be to maximize return to the Government.
Both cash and exchange (trade-in) bids will be solicited for each transaction,
except that:
(1) Items may be exchanged without the solicitation of bids when the per-
sonal property sought to be acquired also may be procured without solicitation
of bids under applicable laws and regulations.
(2) Cash bids need not be solicited when the items sought to be sold or
exchanged may be disposed of without solicitation of bids under applicable laws
and regulations.
(3) Only one type of bid (cash or trade-in) need be solicited when recent
solicitations for identical items have produced only that type of offer under
circumstances indicating the futility of further advertising for any other type
of offer. Since market conditions frequently change, tests should be made at
reasonable intervals to reaffirm the validity for the use of the authority con-
tamed in this subparagraph.
(4) Only one type of bid (cash or trade-in) need be solicited when solicitations
for the other type of bid has proven clearly ineffective in reducing the cost of the
acquisition. Tests should be made at reasonable intervals to reaffirm the validity
for the use of the authority contained in this subparagraph.
(5) Only one type of bid (cash) need be solicited when used vehicles are dis~
posed of for replacement purposes under a consolidated vehicle purchase
program.
(6) Purchasing activities, in disposing of property based on cash bids solicited
and received, will verbally request from the nearest surplus sales office the
1 Except those required for support of commercial type aircraft, similar property with
other Federal agencies, including the Senate, House of Representatives, Capitol Architect
and activities under his direction, District of Columbia and mixed ownership Government
corporations.
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50
market value of the property. When the market value of the property provided
by the sales offlee is $~O higher than the best cash offer, the property will be trans-
ferred to the servicing PDO (property disposal officer) for sale. These findings
will be made part of the procurement transaction file.
(7) A minimum of 14 calendar days ~hould be allowed in CONUS for the
inspection of property being offered for exchange/sale. For sales outside of
CONUS, the minimum inspection period should normally be 21 calendar days.
(e) &zle of ea,change/sale property
(1) The methods of sale, terms, and conditions of sale and forms prescribed
in appropriate regulations will be used in the sale of property being replaced,
except that the only circumstances permitting negotiated sales of exchange/sale
personal property are contained in section 3709, RevIsed Statutes, as amended
(41 U.S.C. 5).
(2) While it is the policy to sell exchange/sale property after publicly adver-
tising for bids, such property also may be ~sold by negotiation subject to obtaining
such competition as is feasible, when ( i) The reasonable value involved in any
one case does not exceed $500, or when (ii) Otherwise authorized by the ASPR
(Armed Services Procurement Regulations) or law.
(3) All invitations for bids containing only exchange/sale property shall
include the statement prescribed by snbparagraph 10(c) above. When an JFB
(invitation for bids) Includes both surplus and exchange/sale property, the,
foregoing statement will be modified to identify the items in the invitation that
are exchange/sale property.
(4) PDQ's may accomplish the sale of exchange/sale property if so requested.
Otherwise, the property may be sold and awarded as provided for in paragraph
f below.
(1) E~vchange of ecechange/scae property
(1 ) The normal procedure applicable to a procurement, coupled with an
exchangeVsaie transaction, is formal advertising (see suhpar. 10 ( e) alrnrve) . How-
ever, exchange/sale property may be listed for exchange on a negotiated procure-
ment in the same solicitation which seeks proposals on the new (replacement)
items being procured.
(2) If pnrc'hase of the new items is to be advertised formally (and as
excepted in su'bpar. 1O(d~) above) , each Solicitation listing exchange/sale prop-
erty, in addition to asking for prices for the new items being procured, shall
ask for offers in terms oi~ either cash or exchange (trade-in allowance) for the
exchange/sale property listed. Also, the solicitation in such cases should provide
for award(s) on the basis or bases resulting in the best overall arrangement to
the Government. Examples : If the lowest net price to the Government of the
items to be procured (i.e., the price of the new items less the amount offered for
the exchange/sale items either in cash or in trade-in) results from an offer by
a supplier of the new item (s) who agrees to accept the exchange/sale item (s)
as a trade-in, a single award would be made which would cover both the acquisi-
tion `by the Government of the new item (s) and the disposal of the exchange/sale
item (s) by tr~de-in. If the lowest net price to the Government results frc~m
combining a low offered price from a supplier of the new item ( s') , and a high
cash offer from a different offerer to purchase the exchangq/sale item ( s) , two
awards would be made-one for acquisition of the new item(s) , and the other
for the sale of the exchange/sale property.
(3) If new items are to be `acquired by negotiation under authority contained
In 10 U.S.C. 2304(a) (1) through (17) , exchange/sale property will be offered
for exchange only (i.e., application of a trade-in allowance to the purchase price).
Such negotiated disposal is authorized by the same authority as the acquisition.
(See subpar. tOe.)
(U) Availability of proceeds : Proceeds of sale derived from the sale, exchange,
or reimbursable transfer of property pursuant to this instruction will be ac-
counted for in accordance with appropriate NAVOOMPT instructions,. However,
it is mandatory that all proceeds derived from the sale of exchange/sale prop-
erty be utilized for the acquisition of similar replacement item (s) within the
fiscal year or the fiscal year following the fiscal year of the sale.
11. Donation
Property designated for exchange/sale pursuant to this instruction is not
eligible `for donation and will not be made available for that purpose.
12. Eligibility of books and periodicals for ewekange
Notwithstanding any other provision of this instruction, Navy activities may
exchange, without monetary appraisal or detailed listing or reporting, `books and
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r~
periodicals in their libraries not needed for permanent use or other books and
periodicals.
13. RepkwenW~t standards
Minimum replacement standards to be used by Navy activities desiring to
replace specific types of property are indicated in this paragraph.
( a) Motor vehicles : Replacement standards for motor vehicles are set forth
in SEONAV (Secretary of the Navy) Instruction 11240.8A of April 17, 1963W
(b) Materials handling equipment : Replacement standards for materials
handling equipment are set forth in NAVSUP Publication 289.
( c) Furniture : Furniture will not be replaced unless the estimated cost of
repair or rehabilitation (based on GSA term contracts) , including transportation
expenses, exceeds 75 percent of the cost of a new item of the same type and
class. The cost of the new item.s should be based on current GSA catalogs,
schedules or market prices. An exception to the 75 percent criterion is authorized
when the rehabilitation cost would not proportionately extend the useful life
of the item. This latter determination may be made by the requesting activity
head or his designee.
(d) Office machines : The acquisition cost of comparable machines may be
oitained from applicable Federal supply schedules, providing consideration is
given to prices obtainable when the quantities involved exceed the maximum
order limitation. In such instances, price information, if not available within
the activity, will be obtained from the appropriate GSA contracting office.
Estimated repair or overhaul costs, including transportation costs, will be
obtained from contractors providing services to GSA under contract o~r at the
lowest rate available from other sources.
(1) Electrically (not electronically) operated office machines under 12 years
of age and manually operated office machines under 15 years of age will not
be replaced unless (i ) the estimated one-time repair or overhaul cost of a
machine under 8 years of age exceeds 50 percent of the replacement cost for a
comparable new item without regard to trade-in or sale value ; or (ii ) the esti-
mated one-time repair or overhaul cost of a machine 8 years of age and over
exceeds 25 percent of the replacement cost for a comparable new item without
regard to trade-in or sale value.
(2) Notwithsttamding the limitations prescribed in subparagraph (1) above,
office machines may be replaced under the following conditions, providing a
written justification supporting the replacement is approved by the commanding
officer or his designee and is retained in the transaction files : (i) Where there
is a record of breakdowns and productivity loss, judgments may be made based
on repair records ; ( ii ) where machines lack essential features required to per-
form a specific task of a continuing nature and substitute machines are not
available. However, this condition will not be used to support or justify
typewriter replacements.
(e) Limitations: Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraphs (o) and
(d) above, the acquisition of new office furniture and typewriters and the re-
placement of correspondence filing cabinets are governed by other applicable
Navy regulations which may be in existence.
14. Reports
As soon as practicable after the close of each fiscal year quarter, but in no
event later than 40 days thereafter, the Navy activity, using exchange/sale
authority (i.e., the activity effecting the trade-in or sale) , will submit a report
of transactions as indicated below. Purchasing activities will submit the report
in letter form to NAVSUPSYSCOM (SUP 0463) . PIDO's will include this data
in the "Remarks Section" of the Report of Excess and Surplus Materiel at
Holding Activities (PD Form 1143) ROS PD I. & L. (Q) 496 (4570). Reference
(C) is modified accordingly.
FSO Group (two~-digit group)
Total acquisition cost of property exchanged during the quarter reported
(nearest dollar).
Total acquisition cost of property sold during the quarter reported
(nearest dollar).
(a) Books and periodicals transactions will not be reported.
(b) Property originally designated for exchange/sale but transferred for
further Federal use will not be reported.
(o) Negative reports are not required.
51
PAGENO="0056"
iö. Aotfo~
The policies and procedures promulgated by this instruction are effective upon
receipt. Implementing instructions may be promulgated, as necessary, to insure
compliance with. the policies an.d procedures prescribed herein. Procurement
or disposal actions, involving ex~hange/sale property, in process upon receipt
of this instruction may be completed, using former procedures. Report Confrol
Symbol No. ROS GSA-NAVSUP 4540.1 is assigned to the report required in
paragraph 14.
B. H. BIERI, Jr.
DEFENSE SUPPLY AGENCY,
Me~vondria, Va., Jaly 23, 1968.
Subject : Property ineligible for sale under exchange/sale procedures.
To : Chief, Support Services (SPTS-PD) , Department of the Army ; Commander,
Naval Supply Systems Command (SUP 0463), Department of the Navy;
Director of Supply and Services (AFSSSDA), Department of the Air Force;
Office of the Quartermaster General, Headquarters, U.~. Marine Corps.
1. References:
(a) Letter, OSA, July 3, 1968, to O~S'D (L. & L.).~
(b) Letter, DSAH-SMP, April 30, 1968, sitbjeot as above.
(0) Letter, DSAH-SMP, January 30, 1968, subject as above, and enclosnre
thereto.
2. Reference 1(b), which modified Federal Supply Classification Gronps
(PSOG) 15 and 16 of the enclosure to reference 1(o) , is hereby rescinded.
3. The foregoing decision is in consonance with reference 1 (a) , copy attached.
which grants exception only on the basis of direct exchange in those cases
where the military departments rely on a contract with a manufacturer for full
spare parts support for commercial type aircraft. Therefore, the above Federal
supply classification groups will not be reported to sales offices for sale under
the exchange/sale procedures.
4. It is requested that expeditious action be taken to rescind existing instruc-
tions and a copy of the amended instructions be furnished this Agency, Attn:
DSAH-SMP.
For the Director:
FRANK ALESI,
Assi$tOnt Chief, Disposal Division,
Technical and Logistics services.
Letter of ~uly 3, 19G8, appears at p. 21, supra.
0