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Title 16 — ConservationRelease 119-73not60

§79g Contract Authorization Within Prescribed Cost Limits; Installments: Duration, Interest; Provisions for Payment of Judgments and Compromise Settlements Applicable to Judgments Against United States

Title 16 › Chapter 1— NATIONAL PARKS, MILITARY PARKS, MONUMENTS, AND SEASHORES › Subchapter VII— REDWOOD NATIONAL PARK › § 79g

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary may buy land the same way the Treasury Secretary can. The Secretary and a landowner can agree to pay the purchase price in regular payments over a period not longer than ten years. Interest on what is still owed cannot be higher than the current average market yield on similar U.S. government securities. If a court orders the United States to pay more than the amount already deposited in court for these cases, the payment follows existing federal payment rules. Final partial judgments and settlement payments can be made only after the Attorney General tells the Comptroller General that paying is in the United States’ interest.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §79g

Conservation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall have the same authority with respect to contracts for the acquisition of land and interests in land for the purposes of this subchapter as was given the Secretary of the Treasury for other land acquisitions by section 3171 of title 40, and the Secretary and the owner of land to be acquired under this subchapter may agree that the purchase price will be paid in periodic installments over a period that does not exceed ten years, with interest on the unpaid balance thereof at a rate which is not in excess of the current average market yield on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States with remaining periods to maturity comparable to the average maturities on the installments.
(b)Judgments against the United States, including final partial judgments and compromise settlements of claims referred to the Attorney General for defense of suits against the United States, for amounts in excess of the deposit in court in actions under section 79c of this title shall be paid in accordance with the provisions of section 1304 of title 31, and section 2414 of title 28. Final partial judgments and compromise settlements are payable only after certification by the Attorney General to the Comptroller General that it is in the interest of the United States to do so.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification “Section 3171 of title 40” substituted in subsec. (a) for “section 34 of the Act of May 30, 1908 (35 Stat. 545; 40 U.S.C. 261)” on authority of Pub. L. 107–217, § 5(c), Aug. 21, 2002, 116 Stat. 1303, the first section of which enacted Title 40, Public Buildings, Property, and Works.

Amendments

1985—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 99–151, in amending subsec. (b) generally, inserted provisions relating to final partial judgments and compromise settlements, substituted reference to actions under section 79c of this title for reference to condemnation actions, and deleted reference to section 2517 of title 28.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 79g

Title 16 — Conservation

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60