PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

The Secretary can study, test, and work with others on how to manage, protect, develop, buy, and transfer public lands. The Secretary may make contracts and cooperative agreements for those purposes. The Secretary can accept gifts of money, services, or property (including rights-of-way and surveying on federal or mixed lands). Money received goes into a separate Treasury account and may be used until spent to pay related costs or, in some cases, returned if people gave more than their share. The Secretary can recruit unpaid volunteers to help the Bureau of Land Management without following normal civil service rules. Volunteers cannot do dangerous jobs, law enforcement, policymaking, or replace paid staff. The Secretary may pay for things volunteers need, like travel, supplies, lodging, training, and supervision. Volunteers are not federal employees except for certain legal protections: tort claims under title 28, worker’s compensation under subchapter 1 of chapter 81 of title 5, and claims about volunteer property loss under section 3721 of title 31. For fiscal years starting after September 30, 1984, funds may be appropriated for recruiting volunteers, but no more than $250,000 can be provided in any one year.

Title 43, §1737

Public Lands, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Investigations, studies, and experiments

The Secretary may conduct investigations, studies, and experiments, on his own initiative or in cooperation with others, involving the management, protection, development, acquisition, and conveying of the public lands.

(b)Contracts and cooperative agreements

Subject to the provisions of applicable law, the Secretary may enter into contracts and cooperative agreements involving the management, protection, development, and sale of public lands.

(c)Contributions and donations of money, services, and property

The Secretary may accept contributions or donations of money, services, and property, real, personal, or mixed, for the management, protection, development, acquisition, and conveying of the public lands, including the acquisition of rights-of-way for such purposes. He may accept contributions for cadastral surveying performed on federally controlled or intermingled lands. Moneys received hereunder shall be credited to a separate account in the Treasury and are hereby authorized to be appropriated and made available until expended, as the Secretary may direct, for payment of expenses incident to the function toward the administration of which the contributions were made and for refunds to depositors of amounts contributed by them in specific instances where contributions are in excess of their share of the cost.

(d)Recruitment of volunteers

The Secretary may recruit, without regard to the civil service classification laws, rules, or regulations, the services of individuals contributed without compensation as volunteers for aiding in or facilitating the activities administered by the Secretary through the Bureau of Land Management.

(e)Restrictions on activities of volunteers

In accepting such services of individuals as volunteers, the Secretary—

(1)shall not permit the use of volunteers in hazardous duty or law enforcement work, or in policymaking processes or to displace any employee; and

(2)may provide for services or costs incidental to the utilization of volunteers, including transportation, supplies, lodging, subsistence, recruiting, training, and supervision.

(f)Federal employment status of volunteers

Volunteers shall not be deemed employees of the United States except for the purposes of— (1)

(2)subchapter 1 of chapter 81 of title 5; and

(3)claims relating to damage to, or loss of, personal property of a volunteer incident to volunteer service, in which case the provisions of section 3721 of title 31 shall apply.

(g)Authorization of appropriations

Effective with fiscal years beginning after September 30, 1984, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of subsection (d), but not more than $250,000 may be appropriated for any one fiscal year.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1990—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 101–286 amended subsec. (f) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (f) read as follows: “Volunteers shall not be deemed employees of the United States except for the purposes of the tort claims provisions of title 28 and subchapter 1 of chapter 81 of title 5, relating to compensation for work injuries.” 1984—Subsecs. (d) to (g). Pub. L. 98–540 added subsecs. (d) to (g).

§1737 Implementation Provisions

Summary

Title 43, §1737

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Citations & Metadata