Title 43, Public LandsRelease 119-110

§1478 Appraisal and Valuation Services for Real Property

Title 43 › CHAPTER 31 — DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR › § 1478

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Department of the Interior may use a state‑licensed or state‑certified real‑property appraiser who is licensed in only one State to do appraisals for any property where the Secretary has authority. If the Department hires an appraiser who is not a federal employee, it must try, as much as possible, to pick someone who is licensed where the property is located. The Department may hire an out‑of‑state licensed appraiser only if a local one is unavailable, not qualified for the job, or not cost competitive. The Secretary must send a report to Congress no later than 1 year after January 4, 2025, and then once a year for at least the next 4 years. The report must compare request numbers and time to finish appraisals (using data from the reporting period and the five years before it), describe how the single‑State license rule affected flexibility, offer any recommendations for Congress, review the appraisal workforce, and list every case where the rule was used and why. Any policies about appraisal scoping, contracting, or review must be posted online and available on request within 90 days after January 4, 2025. Existing federal or state laws still apply except that laws passed before January 4, 2025, that forced appraisers to be licensed in a particular State do not apply to transactions under the Secretary’s jurisdiction. Definitions (one line each): covered appraiser = a state‑licensed or state‑certified real property appraiser; Department = Department of the Interior; reporting period = the 1‑year before a report is sent; Secretary = Secretary of the Interior; State = each State, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories and possessions.

Full Legal Text

Title 43, §1478

Public Lands, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)License, certification requirement

A covered appraiser needs to be licensed or certified in only 1 State to perform appraisal or valuation services for real property in any State for a transaction over which the Secretary has jurisdiction.

(b)Use of non-Federal covered appraisers

If the Secretary uses a non-Federal covered appraiser to perform appraisal or valuation services for real property for a transaction described in subsection (a), the Secretary—

(1)shall, to the maximum extent practicable, use a non-Federal covered appraiser who is a certified general real property appraiser licensed in a State in which the real property that is the subject of the transaction is located; and

(2)may only use a non-Federal covered appraiser who is a certified general real property appraiser licensed in a State other than one in which the real property that is the subject of the transaction is located if a non-Federal covered appraiser described in paragraph (1) is, as determined by the Secretary—

(A)unavailable to complete an assignment within a reasonable period of time;

(B)not assignment qualified; or

(C)not cost competitive.

(c)Report

Not later than 1 year after January 4, 2025, and annually thereafter for at least the following 4 years, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that includes the following:

(1)A comparison using quantitative data of—

(A)the number of requests for appraisal and valuation services received by the Department during the reporting period and the number of requests for such services received by the Department in each of the 5 years before the reporting period; and

(B)the amount of time required for the Department to complete a request for appraisal or valuation services before January 4, 2025, and after January 4, 2025.

(2)A qualitative assessment of the impact of subsection (a) in providing flexibility to the Secretary when contracting with non-Federal covered appraisers.

(3)Recommendations, if any, for congressional action that could help the Department operate more efficiently or overcome challenges with respect to timely completion of requests for appraisal or valuation services while ensuring the independence, impartiality, and objectivity of such services.

(4)An overview of the workforce of the Department with regard to appraisal and valuation services provided by the Department, including hiring and staffing during the reporting period with respect to employees and contractors of the Department.

(5)A complete list of cases in which the authority granted under this section was used during the reporting period, describing for each case the specific criteria used to satisfy the conditions of this section.

(d)Statutory clarifications

(1)Applicability of relevant laws and regulations

Except as provided in paragraph (3), nothing in this section shall be interpreted to affect the application of any Federal or State law or regulation to a non-Federal covered appraiser with regard to the performance by such non-Federal covered appraiser of appraisal and valuation services for real property.

(2)Jurisdiction requirement

Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to authorize a non-Federal covered appraiser to perform appraisal and valuation services for real property in a State in which such non-Federal covered appraiser is not licensed or certified to perform such services except to the extent that such services are performed for a transaction over which the Secretary has jurisdiction.

(3)Nonapplicability of certain relevant laws and regulations

Any provision of a Federal or State law or regulation enacted before January 4, 2025, that requires a covered appraiser to be licensed or certified in a specific State to perform appraisal or valuation services for real property in that State shall not apply to any transaction over which the Secretary has jurisdiction.

(e)Public availability

Not later than 90 days after January 4, 2025, the text of all policies (including any successor policies), including reference manuals, guidance documents, handbooks, standard operating procedures, and statements of policy specific to the scoping, contracting, and review of appraisals performed for the Department by Federal or non-Federal covered appraisers, shall be made publicly available online and provided upon request.

(f)Definitions

In this section: (1) Covered appraiser

(2)Department

The term “Department” means the Department of the Interior.

(3)Reporting period

The term “reporting period” means the 1-year period before the date on which a report is submitted under subsection (c).

(4)Secretary

The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Interior.

(5)State

The term “State” means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, and each territory and possession of the United States.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

43 U.S.C. § 1478

Title 43, Public Lands

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110