§554 Property for Development or Operation of a Port Facility

Summary

The law lets the General Services Administrator, or the Secretary of Defense for certain closed military bases, set aside surplus federal land and buildings for use as a port and give that property to the Secretary of Transportation to get rid of. The Transportation Secretary can then transfer that property, without charging money, to a State or a local government for building or running a port unless the Administrator or the Secretary of Defense objects within 30 days of the proposed transfer. Before a transfer, the Transportation Secretary must (1) find the property is in an area of serious economic trouble after talking with the Secretary of Labor, (2) accept an economic development plan for using the property after consulting the Secretary of Commerce, and (3) send Congress an explanatory statement like the one called for under section 545(e). Definitions: “base closure law” means what Title 10, section 101(a)(17) says; “State” includes DC, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Palau, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The deed must require the property be used and kept for the stated port purpose forever, and if it stops being used that way the Government can take back all or part of it in its current condition. The Secretary of Transportation enforces those rules, can correct or change the transfer documents if needed, and can release or give up Government rights if the property no longer serves the original purpose, possibly with conditions to protect Government interests.