[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 32, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 32CFR34.21]

[Page 195-197]
 
                       TITLE 32--NATIONAL DEFENSE
 
              CHAPTER I--OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
 
PART 34--ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS FOR GRANTS AND AGREEMENTS WITH 
FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS--Table of Contents
 
                   Subpart B--Post-award Requirements
 
Sec. 34.21  Real property and equipment.

    (a) Prior approval for acquisition with Federal funds. Recipients 
may purchase real property or equipment in whole or in part with Federal 
funds under an award only with the prior approval of the grants officer.
    (b) Title. Title to such real property or equipment shall vest in 
the recipient upon acquisition. Unless a statute specifically authorizes 
a DoD Component to vest title in the recipient without further 
obligation to the Government, and the DoD Component elects to do so, the 
title shall be a conditional title. Title shall vest in the recipient 
subject to the conditions that the recipient:
    (1) Use the real property or equipment for the authorized purposes 
of the project until funding for the project ceases, or until the 
property is no longer needed for the purposes of the project.
    (2) Not encumber the property without approval of the grants 
officer.
    (3) Use and dispose of the property in accordance with paragraphs 
(d) and (e) of this section.
    (c) Federal interest in real property or equipment offered as cost-
share. A recipient may offer the full value of real property or 
equipment that is purchased with recipient's funds or that is donated by 
a third party to meet a portion of any required cost sharing or 
matching, subject to the prior approval requirement in Sec. 34.13(a)(7). 
If a recipient does so, the Government has a financial interest in the 
property, a share of the property value attributable to the Federal 
participation in the project. The property therefore shall be considered 
as if it had been acquired in part with Federal funds, and shall be 
subject to the provisions of paragraphs (b)(1), (b)(2) and (b)(3) of 
this section, and to the provisions of Sec. 34.23.
    (d) Use. If real property or equipment is acquired in whole or in 
part with Federal funds under an award, and the award provides that 
title vests conditionally in the recipient, the real property or 
equipment is subject to the following:

[[Page 196]]

    (1) During the time that the real property or equipment is used on 
the project or program for which it was acquired, the recipient shall 
make it available for use on other projects or programs, if such other 
use will not interfere with the work on the project or program for which 
the real property or equipment was originally acquired. Use of the real 
property or equipment on other projects will be in the following order 
of priority:
    (i) Activities sponsored by DoD Components' grants, cooperative 
agreements, or other assistance awards;
    (ii) Activities sponsored by other Federal agencies' grants, 
cooperative agreements, or other assistance awards;
    (iii) Activities under Federal procurement contracts, or activities 
not sponsored by any Federal agency. If so used, use charges shall be 
assessed to those activities. For real property or equipment, the use 
charges shall be at rates equivalent to those for which comparable real 
property or equipment may be leased. The use charges shall be treated as 
program income.
    (2) After Federal funding for the project ceases, or when the real 
property or equipment is no longer needed for the purposes of the 
project, the recipient may use the real property or equipment for other 
projects, insofar as:
    (i) There are Federally sponsored projects for which the real 
property or equipment may be used. If the only use for the real property 
or equipment is for projects that have no Federal sponsorship, the 
recipient shall proceed with disposition of the real property or 
equipment, in accordance with paragraph (e) of this section.
    (ii) The recipient obtains written approval from the grants officer 
to do so. The grants officer shall ensure that there is a formal change 
of accountability for the real property or equipment to a currently 
funded, Federal award.
    (iii) The recipient's use of the real property or equipment for 
other projects is in the same order of priority as described in 
paragraph (d)(1) of this section.
    (e) Disposition. (1) When an item of real property or equipment is 
no longer needed for Federally sponsored projects, the recipient shall 
proceed as follows:
    (i) If the property that is no longer needed is equipment (rather 
than real property), the recipient may wish to replace it with an item 
that is needed currently for the project. In that case, the recipient 
may use the original equipment as trade-in or sell it and use the 
proceeds to offset the costs of the replacement equipment, subject to 
the approval of the responsible agency (i.e., the DoD Component or the 
Federal agency to which the DoD Component delegated responsibility for 
administering the equipment).
    (ii) The recipient may elect to retain title, without further 
obligation to the Federal Government, by compensating the Federal 
Government for that percentage of the current fair market value of the 
real property or equipment that is attributable to the Federal 
participation in the project.
    (iii) If the recipient does not elect to retain title to real 
property or equipment (see paragraph (e)(1)(ii) of this section), or 
request approval to use equipment as trade-in or offset for replacement 
equipment (see paragraph (e)(1)(i) of this section), the recipient shall 
request disposition instructions from the responsible agency.
    (2) If a recipient requests disposition instructions, in accordance 
with paragraph (e)(1)(iii) of this section, the responsible grants 
officer shall:
    (i) For equipment (but not real property), consult with the Federal 
program manager and judge whether the age and nature of the equipment 
warrant a screening procedure, to determine whether the equipment is 
useful to a DoD Component or other Federal agency. If a screening 
procedure is warranted, the responsible agency shall determine whether 
the equipment can be used to meet a DoD Component's requirement. If no 
DoD requirement is found, the responsible agency shall report the 
availability of the equipment to the General Services Administration, to 
determine whether a requirement for the equipment exists in other 
Federal agencies.
    (ii) For either real property or equipment, issue instructions to 
the recipient for disposition of the property no

[[Page 197]]

later than 120 calendar days after the recipient's request. The grants 
officer's options for disposition are to direct the recipient to:
    (A) Transfer title to the real property or equipment to the Federal 
Government or to an eligible third party provided that, in such cases, 
the recipient shall be entitled to compensation for its attributable 
percentage of the current fair market value of the real property or 
equipment, plus any reasonable shipping or interim storage costs 
incurred. If title is transferred to the Federal Government, it shall be 
subject thereafter to provisions for Federally owned property in 
Sec. 34.22.
    (B) Sell the real property or equipment and pay the Federal 
Government for that percentage of the current fair market value of the 
property that is attributable to the Federal participation in the 
project (after deducting actual and reasonable selling and fix-up 
expenses, if any, from the sale proceeds). When the recipient is 
authorized or required to sell the real property or equipment, proper 
sales procedures shall be established that provide for competition to 
the extent practicable and result in the highest possible return.
    (3) If the responsible agency fails to issue disposition 
instructions within 120 calendar days of the recipient's request, as 
described in paragraph (e)(2)(ii) of this section, the recipient shall 
dispose of the real property or equipment through the option described 
in paragraph (e)(2)(ii)(B) of this section.