(m) to achieve the prompt and full utilization of surplus property at fair prices to the consumer through disposal at home and abroad with due regard for the protection of free markets and competitive prices from dislocation resulting from uncontrolled dumping;

(n) to utilize normal channels of trade and commerce to the extent consistent with efficient and economic distribution and the promotion of the general objectives of this Act (without discriminating against the establishment of new enterprises);

(o) to promote production, employment of labor, and utilization of the productive capacity and the natural and agricultural resources of the country;

(p) to foster the development of new independent enterprise; (q) to prevent insofar as possible unusual and excessive profits being made out of surplus property;

(r) to dispose of surplus property as promptly as feasible without fostering monopoly or restraint of trade, or unduly disturbing the economy, or encouraging hoarding of such property, and to facilitate prompt redistribution of such property to con

sumers;

(s) to dispose of surplus Government-owned transportation facilities and equipment in such manner as to promote an adequate and economical national transportation system; and

(t) except as otherwise provided, to obtain for the Government, as nearly as possible, the fair value of surplus property upon its disposition.

DEFINITIONS

SEC. 3. As used in this Act

(a) The term "Government agency" means any executive depart-, ment, board, bureau, commission, or other agency in the executive branch of the Federal Government, or any corporation wholly owned (either directly or through one or more corporations) by the United States.

(b) The term "owning agency", in the case of any property, means the executive department, the independent agency in the executive branch of the Federal Government, or the corporation (if a Government agency), having control of such property otherwise than solely as a disposal agency.

(c) The term "disposal agency" means any Government agency designated under section 10 to dispose of one or more classes of surplus property.

(d) The term "property" means any interest, owned by the United States or any Government agency, in real or personal property, of any kind, wherever located, but does not include (1) the public domain, or such lands withdrawn or reserved from the public domain as the Surplus Property Board (created by section 5) determines are suitable for return to the public domain for disposition under the general land laws, or (2) naval vessels of the following categories: Battleships, cruisers, aircraft carriers, destroyers, and submarines.

(e) The term "surplus property means any property which has been determined to be surplus to the needs and responsibilities of the owning agency in accordance with section 11.

(f) The term "contractor inventory" means (1) any property related to a terminated contract of any type with a Government agency or to a subcontract thereunder; and (2) any property acquired under a contract pursuant to the terms of which title is vested in the Government, and in excess of the amounts needed to complete performance thereunder; and (3) any property which the Government is obligated to take over under any type of contract as a result of any change in the specifications or plans thereunder.

(g) The term "care and handling" includes completing, repairing, converting, rehabilitating, operating, maintaining, preserving, protecting, insuring, storing, packing, handling, and transporting, and, in the case of property which is dangerous to public health or safety, destroying, or rendering innocuous, such property.

(h) The term "person" means any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, trust, estate, or other entity.

(i) The term "State" includes the several States, Territories, and possessions of the United States, and the District of Columbia.

(j) The term "tax-supported institution" means any scientific, literary, educational, public-health, or public-welfare institution which is supported in whole or in part through the use of funds derived from taxation by the United States, or by any State or political subdivision thereof.

(k) The term "veteran" means any person in the active military or naval service of the United States during the present war, or any person who served in the active military or naval service of the United States on or after September 16, 1940, and prior to the termination of the present war, and who has been discharged or released .therefrom under honorable conditions.

DISPOSITION OF SURPLUS PROPERTY-GENERAL RULE

SEC. 4. Surplus property shall be disposed of to such extent, at such times, in such areas, by such agencies, at such prices, upon such terms and conditions, and in such manner, as may be prescribed in or pursuant to this Act.

SURPLUS PROPERTY BOARD

SEC. 5. (a) There is hereby established in the Office of War Mobilization, and in its successor, a Surplus Property Board (hereinafter called the "Board"), which shall be composed of three members, each of whom shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and shall receive compensation at the rate of $12,000 per annum. The term of office of the members shall be two years, except that the term of office of the members first appointed shall expire two years from the date of the enactment of this Act, and the next succeeding terms shall then begin, and any person appointed to fill a vacancy caused by the death, resignation, or removal of a member prior to the expiration of the term of such

member shall be appointed only for such unexpired term. The President shall designate one of the members of the Board as Chairman.

(b) The Board may, within the limits of funds which may be made available, appoint and fix the compensation of such officers and employees, and may make such expenditures for supplies, facilities, and services, as may be necessary to carry out its functions. Without regard to the provisions of the civil-service laws and the Classification Act of 1923, as amended, the Board may appoint such special assistants, and may employ such certified public accountants, qualified cost accountants, industrial engineers, appraisers, and other experts, and fix their compensation, and may contract with such certified public accounting firms and qualified firms of engineers, as may be necessary to carry out its functions.

DUTIES AND AUTHORITY OF BOARD

SEC. 6. The activities of the Board shall be coordinated with the programs of the armed forces of the United States in the interests of the war effort. Until peace is concluded the needs of the armed forces are hereby declared and shall remain paramount. The Board shall have general supervision and direction, as provided in this Act, over (1) the care and handling and disposition of surplus property, and (2) the transfer of surplus property between Government agencies.

COOPERATION WITH INTERESTED GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

SEC. 7. The Board shall advise and consult with other interested Government agencies with a view to obtaining all aid and assistance possible in coordinating the functions of the several agencies affected by the disposition of surplus property.

DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY

SEC. 8. The head of any Government agency, except the Board, may delegate, and authorize successive redelegations of, any authority conferred upon him or his agency by or pursuant to this Act to any officer, agent, or employee of such agency or, with the approval of the Board, to any other Government agency.

REGULATIONS

SEC. 9. (a) The Board shall prescribe regulations to effectuate the. provisions of this Act. In formulating such regulations, the Board shall be guided by the objectives of this Act.

(b) Regulations issued pursuant to subsection (a) may, except as otherwise provided in this Act, contain provisions prescribing the extent to which, the times at which, the areas in which, the agencies by which, the prices at which, and the terms and conditions under which, surplus property may be disposed of, and the extent to which and the conditions under which surplus property shall be subject to care and handling.

(c) Each Government agency shall carry out regulations of the Board expeditiously and shall issue such further regulations, not

inconsistent with the regulations of the Board, as it deems necessary or desirable to carry out the provisions of this Act.

(d) Regulations prescribed under this Act shall be published in the Federal Register.

DESIGNATION OF DISPOSAL AGENCIES

SEC. 10. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the Board shall designate one or more Government agencies to act as disposal agencies under this Act. In exercising its authority to designate disposal agencies, the Board shall assign surplus property for disposal by the fewest number of Government agencies practicable and, so far as it deems feasible, shall centralize in one disposal agency responsibility for the disposal of all property of the same type or

class.

(b) The United States Maritime Commission shall be the sole disposal agency for surplus vessels which the Commission determines to be merchant vessels or capable of conversion to merchant use, and such vessels shall be disposed of only in accordance with the provisions of the Merchant Marine Act, 1936, as amended, and other laws authorizing the sale of such vessels.

DECLARATION AND DISPOSITION OF SURPLUS PROPERTY

SEC. 11. (a) Each owning agency shall have the duty and responsibility continuously to survey the property in its control and to determine which of such property is surplus to its needs and responsibilities.

(b) Each owning agency shall promptly report to the Board and the appropriate disposal agency all surplus property in its control which the owning agency does not dispose of under section 14.

(c) Whenever in the course of the performance of its duties under this Act, the Board has reason to believe that any owning agency has property in its control which is surplus to its needs and responsibilities and which it has not reported as such, the Board shall promptly report that fact to the Senate and House of Representatives. Each owning agency and each disposal agency shall submit to the Board (1) such information and reports with respect to surplus property in the control of the agency, in such form, and at such reasonable times, as the Board may direct; (2) such information and reports with respect to other property in the control of the agency, to such extent, and in such form, as the Board may direct and as the agency deems consistent with național security.

(d) When any surplus property is reported to any disposal agency under subsection (b) of this section, the disposal agency shall have responsibility and authority for the disposition of such property, and for the care and handling of such property pending its disposition, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Board. Where the disposal agency is not prepared at the time of its designation under this Act to undertake the care and handling of such surplus property the Board may postpone the responsibility of the agency to assume its duty for care and handling for such period as the Board deems necessary to permit the preparation of the agency therefor..

(e) The Board shall prescribe regulations necessary to provide, so far as practicable, for uniform and wide public notice concerning surplus property available for sale, and for uniform and adequate time intervals between notice and sale so that all interested purchasers may have a fair opportunity to buy.

(f) No surplus property which was processed, produced, or donated by the American Red Cross for any Government agency shall be disposed of except after notice to and consultation with the American Red Cross. All or any portion of such property may be donated to the American Red Cross, upon its request, solely for charitable

purposes.

(g) Each disposal agency shall maintain in each of its disposal offices such records of its inventories of surplus property and of each disposal transaction negotiated by that office as the Board may prescribe. The information in such records shall be available at all reasonable times for public inspection.

UTILIZATION OF SURPLUS PROPERTY BY FEDERAL AGENCIES

SEC. 12. (a) It shall be the duty of the Board to facilitate the transfer of surplus property from one Government agency to other Government agencies for their use; and the transfer of surplus property under this section shall be given priority over all other disposals provided for in this Act.

(b) It shall be the responsibility of all Government agencies, in order to avoid making purchases through commercial channels, continuously to consult the records of surplus property established by the Board and to determine whether their requirements can be satisfied out of such surplus property. It shall also be the responsibility of the head of each Government agency to submit to the Board such estimates of the needs of the agency and such reports in relation thereto as the Board may deem necessary to promote the fullest utilization of surplus property. It shall be the responsibility of the Board to determine whether Government agencies are acquiring surplus property to the fullest possible extent, and to notify agencies whenever, in its judgment, they are not so doing.

(c) The disposal agency responsible for any such property shall transfer it to the Government agency acquiring it at the fair value of the property as fixed by the disposal agency, under regulations prescribed by the Board, unless transfer without reimbursement or transfer of funds is otherwise authorized by law.

DISPOSAL TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND NONPROFIT INSTITUTIONS

SEC. 13. (a) The Board shall prescribe regulations for the disposition of surplus property to States and their political subdivisions and instrumentalities, and to tax-supported and nonprofit institutions, and shall determine on the basis of need what transfers shall be made. In formulating such regulations the Board shall be guided by the objectives of this Act and shall give effect to the following policies to the extent feasible and in the public interest:

(1) (A) Surplus property that is appropriate for school, classroom, or other educational use may be sold or leased to