§488. Disposal of property

(a) Advice of Attorney General with respect to antitrust laws

Except as provided by subsection (c) of this section, no executive agency shall dispose of any plant, plants, or other property to any private interest until such agency has received the advice of the Attorney General on the question whether such disposal would tend to create or maintain a situation inconsistent with the antitrust laws. Whenever any such disposal is contemplated by any executive agency, such agency shall transmit promptly to the Attorney General notice of such proposed disposal and the probable terms or conditions thereof. If such notice is given by any executive agency other than the General Services Administration, a copy of such notice shall be transmitted simultaneously to the Administrator. Within a reasonable time, in no event to exceed sixty days, after receipt of such notification, the Attorney General shall advise the Administrator and any other interested executive agency whether, so far as he can determine, the proposed disposition would tend to create or maintain a situation inconsistent with the antitrust laws.

(b) Request by Attorney General for information

Upon request made by the Attorney General, the Administrator or any other executive agency shall furnish or cause to be furnished to the Attorney General such information as the Administrator or such other executive agency may possess which the Attorney General determines to be appropriate or necessary to enable him to give the advice required by this section, or to determine whether any other disposition or proposed disposition of surplus property violates or would violate any of the antitrust laws.

(c) Applicability of provisions

This section shall not apply to the disposal of-

(1) real property, if the estimated fair market value is less than $3,000,000; or

(2) personal property (other than a patent, process, technique, or invention), if the estimated fair market value is less than $3,000,000.

(d) Provisions held not to impair, amend, etc., antitrust laws

Nothing contained in this Act shall impair, amend, or modify any of the antitrust laws or limit or prevent the application of any such law to any person who acquires in any manner any property under the provisions of this Act.

As used in this section, the term "antitrust laws" includes the Act of July 2, 1890 (ch. 647, 26 Stat. 209), as amended; the Act of October 15, 1914 (ch. 323, 38 Stat. 730), as amended; the Federal Trade Commission Act (38 Stat. 717), as amended [15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.]; and sections 73 and 74 of the Act of August 27, 1894 (28 Stat. 570), as amended.

(June 30, 1949, ch. 288, title II, §207, 63 Stat. 391 ; Pub. L. 85–680, Aug. 19, 1958, 72 Stat. 631 ; Pub. L. 100–612, §7, Nov. 5, 1988, 102 Stat. 3182 .)

References in Text

This Act, referred to in subsec. (d), is act June 30, 1949, ch. 288, 63 Stat. 377 , as amended, known as the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 471 of this title and Tables.

Act of July 2, 1890, as amended, referred to in subsec. (d), is act July 2, 1890, ch. 647, 26 Stat. 209 , as amended, known as the Sherman Act, which is classified to sections 1 to 7 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 1 of Title 15 and Tables.

Act of October 15, 1914, as amended, referred to in subsec. (d), is act Oct. 15, 1914, ch. 323, 38 Stat. 730 , as amended, known as the Clayton Act, which is classified generally to sections 12, 13, 14 to 19, 20, 21, 22 to 27 of Title 15 and sections 52 and 53 of Title 29, Labor. For further details and complete classification of this Act to the Code, see note set out under section 12 of Title 15 and Tables.

The Federal Trade Commission Act, referred to in subsec. (d), is act Sept. 26, 1914, ch. 311, 38 Stat. 717 , as amended, which is classified generally to subchapter I (§41 et seq.) of chapter 2 of Title 15. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 58 of Title 15 and Tables.

Sections 73 and 74 of the Act of August 27, 1894, referred to in subsec. (d), are classified to sections 8 and 9 of Title 15.

Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 237 of Title 41, Public Contracts.

Amendments

1988-Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 100–612 amended subsec. (c) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (c) read as follows: "This section shall not apply to the disposal of-

"(1) real property if the aggregate amount of the original acquisition cost of such property to the Government and all capital expenditures made by the Government with respect thereto is less than $1,000,000; or

"(2) personal property (other than a patent, process, technique, or invention) with an acquisition cost of less than $3,000,000."

1958-Pub. L. 85–680 subdivided section into subsections (a) to (d), retaining former last sentence defining "antitrust laws" as a separate paragraph at end, and amended provisions to increase exemptions of proposed disposals of surplus property from referral to the Attorney General for his advice as to whether or not such disposals would be inconsistent with the antitrust laws, to modify and improve procedure for such referrals to the Attorney General by the disposal agencies and to provide for notification of the General Services Administration by other agencies making disposals.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in section 781 of this title; title 42 sections 2201, 5919.