§ 102-35.20 — -35.20 Definitions

The following definitions apply to GSA's personal property regulations in parts 102-35 through 102-42 of this subchapter.

Accountability means the ability to account for personal property by providing a complete audit trail for property transactions from receipt to final disposition.

Acquire means to procure or otherwise obtain personal property, including by lease.

Acquisition cost means the original purchase price of an item.

Allocation means the process by which GSA identifies the recipient to receive excess property per § 102-36.140 of this subchapter, or surplus property per § 102-37.40 of this subchapter.

Ammunition as defined in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(17), means ammunition or cartridge cases, primers, bullets, or propellant powder designed for use in any firearm.

Ammunition components mean the individual parts of ammunition, including cartridge cases, primers, bullets/projectiles, and propellant powder.

Auction means a competitive sale where the bid amounts of different bidders are disclosed as they are submitted, providing bidders with the option to increase their bids if they choose. Bids are submitted as specified by the selling agency. The bidder with the highest bid at the close of each bidding process is normally awarded the property.

Bid means a response to an offer to sell that, if accepted, would bind the bidder to the terms and conditions of the contract (including the bid price).

Bidder means any entity that is responding to or has responded to an offer to sell.

Biologicals means hazardous materials associated with the products and operations of applied biology and/or biochemistry, especially serums, vaccines, etc., produced from microorganisms.

Cannibalization means to remove serviceable parts from one item of equipment to install them on another item of equipment.

Combat material means arms, ammunition, and implements of war listed in the U.S. munitions list (22 CFR part 121).

Commerce Control List Items (CCLIs) are dual use (commercial/military) items that are subject to export control by the Bureau of Industry and Security, Department of Commerce. These items have been identified in the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (15 CFR part 774) as export controlled for reasons of national security, crime control, technology transfer, and scarcity of materials.

Control means the ongoing function of maintaining physical oversight and surveillance of personal property throughout its complete life cycle using various property management tools and techniques considering the environment in which the property is located and its vulnerability to theft, waste, fraud, or abuse.

Controlled substances mean:

(1) Any narcotic, depressant, stimulant, or hallucinogenic drug, or any other drug or substance included in Schedules I, II, III, IV, or V of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812), except exempt chemical preparations and mixtures and excluded substances contained in 21 CFR part 1308; or

(2) Any other drug or substance that the Attorney General determines to be subject to control under Subchapter I of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801, et seq.); or

(3) Any other drug or substance that by international treaty, convention, or protocol is to be controlled by the U.S.

Cooperative means the organization or entity that has a cooperative agreement with a Federal agency.

Cooperative agreement means a legal instrument reflecting a relationship between a Federal agency and a non-Federal recipient, made in accordance with the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act of 1977 (31 U.S.C. 6301-6308), under any or all the following circumstances:

(1) The purpose of the relationship is the transfer, between a Federal agency and a non-Federal entity, of money, property, services, or anything of value to accomplish a public purpose authorized by law, rather than by purchase, lease, or barter, for the direct benefit or use of the Federal Government.

(2) Substantial involvement is anticipated between the Federal agency and the cooperative during the performance of the agreed upon activity.

(3) The cooperative is a State or local government entity, or any person or organization authorized to receive Federal assistance or procurement contracts.

Demilitarization means, as defined by the Department of Defense, the act of destroying the military capabilities inherent in certain types of equipment or material. Such destruction may include mutilation, cutting, crushing, scrapping, melting, burning, or alteration to prevent further use of the item for its originally intended purpose.

Donee means any of the following entities that receive Federal surplus personal property through a State Agency for Surplus Property (SASP):

(1) A service educational activity (SEA).

(2) A public agency which uses surplus personal property to carry out or promote one or more public purposes. (Public airports are an exception and are only considered donees when they elect to receive surplus property through a SASP, but not when they elect to receive surplus property through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as discussed in part 102-37 of this subchapter.)

(3) An eligible nonprofit tax-exempt educational or public health institution (including a provider of assistance to homeless or impoverished families or individuals).

(4) A State or local government agency, or a nonprofit organization or institution, that receives funds appropriated for a program for older individuals.

Estimated fair market value means the selling agency's best estimate of what the property would be sold for if offered for public sale.

Excess personal property means any personal property under the control of any Federal agency that is no longer required for that agency's needs, as determined by the agency head or designee.

Exchange means to replace personal property by trade or trade-in with the supplier of the replacement property.

Exchange/sale means to exchange or sell non-excess, non-surplus personal property and apply the exchange allowance or proceeds of sale in whole or in part payment for the acquisition of similar property.

Executive agency means any executive department or independent establishment in the executive branch of the Government, including any wholly owned government corporation.

Extremely hazardous personal property means property hazardous to the extent that it generally requires special handling such as licensing and training of handlers, protective clothing, and special containers and storage. Because of its extreme flammability, toxicity, corrosivity or other perilous qualities, it could constitute an immediate danger or threat to life and property, and which usually have specialized uses under controlled conditions. It is also material which has been determined by the holding agency to endanger public health and safety or the environment if released to the public.

Fair market value means the best estimate of the gross sales proceeds if the property were to be sold in a public sale.

Federal agency means any executive agency or any establishment in the legislative or judicial branch of the government (except the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Architect of the Capitol and any activities under the Architect's direction).

Firearm means any weapon, silencer, or destructive device designed to, or readily convertible to, expel a projectile by the action of an explosive, as defined in 26 U.S.C. 5845 and/or 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(3). Excludes antique firearms as defined in 26 U.S.C. 5845(g).

Flight Safety Critical Aircraft Part (FSCAP) (see § 102-33.20 of this subchapter).

Foreign excess personal property is any U.S. owned excess personal property located outside the U.S., the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Palau, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Forfeited property means personal property that the Government has acquired ownership of through a summary process or court order pursuant to any law of the U.S.

Grant means a type of assistance award and a legal instrument which permits a Federal agency to transfer money, property, services or other things of value to a grantee when no substantial involvement is anticipated between the agency and the recipient during the performance of the contemplated activity.

Hazardous personal property means property that is deemed a hazardous material, chemical substance or mixture, or hazardous waste under the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act (HMTA) (49 U.S.C. 5101), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) (42 U.S.C. 6901-6981), or the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (15 U.S.C. 2601-2609).

Holding agency refers to the agency having accountability for, and generally possession of, the property involved.

Intangible personal property means personal property in which the existence and value of the property is generally represented by a descriptive document rather than the property itself. Examples include patents, patent rights, processes, techniques, inventions, copyrights, negotiable instruments, money orders, bonds, and shares of stock.

Inventory includes a formal listing of all accountable property items assigned to an agency, along with a formal process to verify the condition, location, and quantity of such items. This term may also be used as a verb to indicate the actions leading to the development of a listing. In this sense, an inventory must be conducted using a physical count, electronic means, and/or statistical methods.

Life-limited part (see § 102-33.20 of this subchapter).

Line item means a single line entry, on a reporting form or transfer order, for items of property of the same type having the same description, condition code, and unit cost.

Munitions List Item (MLI) means property and related technical data designated as defense articles and defense services pursuant to the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2778 and 2794(7)).

National property management officer means an official, designated in accordance with § 102-36.10(b) of this subchapter, who is responsible for ensuring effective acquisition, use, and disposal of excess property within your agency.

Negotiated sale means a sale where the selling price is arrived at between the seller and the buyer, subject to obtaining such competition as is feasible under the circumstances.

Nonappropriated fund activity means an activity or entity that is not funded by money appropriated from the general fund of the U.S. Treasury, such as post exchanges, ship stores, military officers' clubs, veterans' canteens, and similar activities. Such property is not Federal property.

Offer to sell means a notice listing the terms and conditions for bidding on an upcoming sale of personal property. Prospective purchasers are advised of the requirements for a responsive bid and the contractual obligations once a bid is accepted.

Period of restriction means the period of time for keeping donated property in use for the purpose for which it was donated.

Perishable means an item subject to rapid deterioration, spoilage or death, when removed from special storage conditions or care, such as fresh food, animals, and plants.

Personal property means any property, except real property. The term excludes records of the Federal Government, and naval vessels of the following categories: battleships, cruisers, aircraft carriers, destroyers, and submarines.

Project grantee means a recipient of a grant made for a specific purpose and with a specific termination date.

Property management means the system of acquiring, maintaining, using, and disposing of the personal property of an organization or entity.

Public agency means any state, political subdivision thereof, including any unit of local government or economic development district; any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof, including instrumentalities created by compact or other agreement between States or political subdivisions; multijurisdictional substate districts established by or pursuant to State law; or any Indian Tribe, band, group, pueblo, or community located on a State reservation.

Public body means any department, agency, special purpose district, or other instrumentality of a State or local government; any Indian Tribe; or any agency of the Federal Government.

Reagent means any hazardous material used to detect or measure another substance or to convert one substance into another by means of the reactions it causes.

Replacement means the process of acquiring personal property to be used in place of personal property that is still needed but:

(1) No longer adequately performs the tasks for which it is used; or

(2) Does not meet the agency's need as well as the personal property to be acquired.

Salvage means property that has value greater than its basic material content but for which repair or rehabilitation is clearly impractical and/or uneconomical.

Scrap means property that has no value except for its basic material content.

Screening means the process of physically inspecting property or reviewing lists or reports of property to determine whether property is usable or needed for donation purposes.

Screening period means the period in which excess and surplus personal property are made available for excess transfer or surplus donation to eligible recipients.

Sealed bid sale means a competitive sale where bid prices are kept confidential until the bid opening. Bids are submitted as specified by the selling agency. All bids are held for public disclosure at a designated time and place.

Seized property means personal property that has been confiscated by a Federal agency, and whose care and handling will be the responsibility of the agency until final ownership is determined by the judicial process.

Service educational activity (SEA) means any educational activity designated by the Secretary of Defense as being of special interest to the armed forces, e.g., maritime academies or military, naval, Air Force, or U.S. Coast Guard preparatory schools.

Shelf-life item is any item that deteriorates over time or has unstable characteristics such that a storage period must be assigned to assure the item is issued within that period to provide satisfactory performance.

Similar means the acquired item(s) and replaced item(s):

(1) Are identical; or

(2) Fall within a single Federal Supply Classification (FSC) Group of property (includes all forms of property within a single FSC Group); or

(3) Are parts or containers for similar end items; or

(4) Are designed or constructed for the same general purpose (including all forms of property regardless of the FSC Group to which they are assigned).

Spot bid sale means a competitive sale where immediately following the offering of the property, bids are examined, and awards are made or bids rejected on the spot. Bids are submitted as specified by the selling agency and must not be disclosed prior to announcement of award.

State means one of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

State Agency for Surplus Property (SASP) means the agency designated under State law to receive Federal surplus personal property for distribution to eligible donees within the State as provided for in 40 U.S.C. 549.

State or local government means a State, territory, possession, political subdivision thereof, or tax-supported agency therein.

Surplus personal property (surplus) means excess personal property not required for the needs of any Federal agency, as determined by GSA.

Surplus release date means the date on which Federal utilization screening of excess personal property has been completed, and the property is available for donation as surplus.

Transfer with reimbursement means a transfer of excess personal property between Federal agencies where the recipient is required to pay, i.e., reimburse the holding agency, for the property.

Transferee means a public airport receiving surplus property from a holding agency through the FAA, or SASP.

Unclaimed property means personal property unknowingly abandoned and found on premises owned or leased by the Government, i.e., lost and found property.

United States (U.S.) means all the 50 States and the District of Columbia.

Utilization means the identification, reporting, and transfer of excess personal property among Federal agencies.

Vessels means ships, boats and craft designed for navigation in and on the water, propelled by oars or paddles, sail, or power.

Voluntarily abandoned property means personal property abandoned to any Federal agency in a way that immediately vests title to the property in the Government. There must be written or circumstantial evidence that the property was intentionally and voluntarily abandoned. This evidence should be clear that the property was simply not lost by the owner.