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Title 40 — Public Buildings, Property, and WorksRelease 119-73not60

§8735 Sale of Land by Secretary of the Interior

Title 40 › Subtitle SUBTITLE II— PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND WORKS › Part D— PUBLIC BUILDINGS, GROUNDS, AND PARKS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA › Chapter 87— PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION › Subchapter IV— ACQUIRING AND DISPOSING OF LAND › § 8735

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of the Interior may sell federal land in the District of Columbia that the National Park Service no longer needs if the National Capital Planning Commission agrees and the sale is in the federal government’s best interest. Sales can be for cash or on an approved payment plan. The price must be at least what the government paid and at least the Secretary’s current appraisal. The Secretary must ask for offers or bids publicly or privately as needed and generally sell to the highest acceptable bidder. If a person who owns land next to the parcel offers the same highest price as another bidder, the Secretary may sell to that neighbor. The Secretary may pay reasonable sale costs. After costs, the money from each sale goes to the U.S. Treasury and is split between the federal government and the District of Columbia based on how much each paid or had to repay when the land was originally bought.

Full Legal Text

Title 40, §8735

Public Buildings, Property, and Works — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)With the approval of the National Capital Planning Commission, the Secretary of the Interior, for the best interests of the Federal Government, may sell, by deed or instrument, real estate held by the Government in the District of Columbia and under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service which may be no longer needed for public purposes. The land may be sold for cash or on a deferred-payment plan the Secretary approves, at a price not less than the Government paid for it and not less than its present appraised value as determined by the Secretary.
(b)In selling any parcel of land under this section, the Secretary shall have public or private solicitation for bids or offers be made as the Secretary considers appropriate. The Secretary shall sell the parcel to the party agreeing to pay the highest price if the price is otherwise satisfactory. If the price offered or bid by the owner of land abutting the land to be sold equals the highest price offered or bid by any other party, the parcel may be sold to the owner of the abutting land.
(c)The Secretary—
(1)may pay the reasonable and necessary expenses of the sale of each parcel of land sold; and
(2)shall deposit the net proceeds of each sale in the Treasury to the credit of the Government and the District of Columbia in the proportion that each—
(A)paid the appropriations used to acquire the parcels; or
(B)was obligated to pay the appropriations, at the time of acquisition, by reimbursement.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 8735(a)40:74a.Aug. 5, 1939, ch. 449, §§ 4–6, 53 Stat. 1211. 8735(b)40:74b. 8735(c)40:74c. In subsection (a), the words “in his discretion”, “and convey, in whole or in part”, and “proper” are omitted as unnecessary. In subsection (b), reference to sections 72c to 72e is omitted as unnecessary because the Secretary of the Interior does not have authority to sell land under those sections.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

40 U.S.C. § 8735

Title 40 — Public Buildings, Property, and Works

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60