[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 50, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 50CFR12.33]

[Page 36-37]
 
                    TITLE 50--WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES
 
 CHAPTER I--UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE 
                                INTERIOR
 
PART 12--SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE PROCEDURES--Table of Contents
 
         Subpart D--Disposal of Forfeited or Abandoned Property
 
Sec. 12.33  Disposal.

    (a) The Director shall dispose of any wildlife or plant forfeited or 
abandoned under the authority of this part, subject to the restrictions 
provided in this subpart, by one of the following means, unless the item 
is the subject of a petition for remission of forfeiture under 
Sec. 12.24 of this part, or disposed of by court order:
    (1) Return to the wild;
    (2) Use by the Service or transfer to another government agency for 
official use;
    (3) Donation or loan;
    (4) Sale; or
    (5) Destruction.

In the exercise of the disposal authority, the Director ordinarily must 
dispose of any wildlife or plant in the order in which the disposal 
methods appear in this paragraph (a) of this section.
    (b) The Director shall dispose of any other property forfeited or 
abandoned under the authority of this part (including vehicles, vessels, 
aircraft, cargo, guns, nets, traps, and other equipment), except 
wildlife or plants, in accordance with current Federal Property 
Management Regulations (41 CFR chapter 101) and Interior Property 
Management Regulations (41 CFR chapter 114), unless the item is the 
subject of a petition for remission of forfeiture under Sec. 12.24 of 
this part, or disposed of by court order.
    (c) The Director shall dispose of property according to the 
following schedule, unless the property is the subject of a petition for 
remission of forfeiture under Sec. 12.24 of this part:

[[Page 37]]

    (1) Any live wildlife or plant and any wildlife or plant that the 
Director determines is liable to perish, deteriorate, decay, waste, or 
greatly decrease in value by keeping, or that the expense of keeping is 
disproportionate to its value may be disposed of immediately after 
forfeiture or abandonment; and
    (2) All other property may be disposed of no sooner than 60 days 
after forfeiture or abandonment.
    (d) If the property is the subject of a petition for remission of 
forfeiture under Sec. 12.24 of this part, the Director may not dispose 
of the property until the Solicitor or Attorney General makes a final 
decision not to grant relief.