§ 2710.0-6 - Policy.

§ 2710.0-6 Policy.

(a) Sales under this part shall be made only in implementation of an approved land use plan or analysis in accordance with part 1600 of this title.

(b) Public lands determined to be suitable for sale shall be offered only on the initiative of the Bureau of Land Management. Indications of interest to have specific tracts of public lands offered for sale shall be accomplished through public input to the land use planning process. (See §§ 1601.1-1 and 1601.8 of this title). Nominations or requests to have specific tracts of public lands offered for sale may also be made by direct request to the authorized officer.

(c)

(1) The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (43 U.S.C. 1713(f)) provides that sales of public lands under this section shall be conducted under competitive bidding procedures established by the Secretary. However, where the Secretary determines it necessary and proper in order to assure equitable distribution among purchasers of lands, or to recognize equitable considerations or public policies, including, but not limited to, a preference to users, lands may be sold by modified competitive bidding or without competitive bidding. In recognizing public policies, the Secretary shall give consideration to the following potential purchasers:

(i) The State in which the lands are located;

(ii) The local government entities in such State which are in vicinity of the lands;

(iii) Adjoining landowners;

(iv) Individuals; and

(v) Any other person.

(2) When a parcel of land meets the sale criteria of section 203 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (43 U.S.C. 1713), several factors shall be considered in determining the method of sale. These factors include, but are not limited to: Competitive interest; needs of State and local governments; adjoining landowners; historical uses; and equitable distribution of land ownership.

(3) Three methods of sale are provided for in § 2711.3 of this title: competitive; modified competitive; and direct (non-competitive). The policy for selecting the method of sale is:

(i) Competitive sale as provided in § 2711.3-1 of this title is the general procedure for sales of public lands and may be used where there would be a number of interested parties bidding for the lands and

(A) wherever in the judgment of the authorized officer the lands are accessible and usable regardless of adjoining land ownership and

(B) wherever the lands are within a developing or urbanizing area and land values are increasing due to their location and interest on the competitive market.

(ii) Modified competitive sales as provided in § 2711.3-2 of this title may be used to permit the existing grazing user or adjoining landowner to meet the high bid at the public sale. This procedure will allow for limited competitive sales to protect on-going uses, to assure compatibility of the possible uses with adjacent lands, and avoid dislocation of existing users. Lands offered under this procedure would normally be public lands not located near urban expansion areas, or with rapidly increasing land values, and existing use of adjacent lands would be jeopardized by sale under competitive bidding procedures.

(iii) Direct sale as provided in § 2711.3-3 of this title may be used when the lands offered for sale are completely surrounded by lands in one ownership with no public access, or where the lands are needed by State or local governments or non-profit corporations, or where necessary to protect existing equities in the lands or resolve inadvertent unauthorized use or occupancy of said lands.

(4) When lands have been offered for sale by one method of sale and the lands remain unsold, then the lands may be reoffered by another method of sale.

(5) In no case shall lands be sold for less than fair market value.

(d) Sales of public lands determined to be chiefly valuable for agriculture shall be no larger than necessary to support a family-sized farm.

(e) The sale of family-sized farm units, at any given sale, shall be limited to one unit per bidder and one unit per family. The limit of one unit per family is not to be be construed as limiting children eighteen years or older from bidding in their own right.

(f) Sales under this part shall not be made at less than fair market value. Such value is to be determined by an appraisal performed by a Federal or independent appraiser, as determined by the authorized officer, using the principles contained in the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions. The value of authorized improvements owned by anyone other than the United States upon lands being sold shall not be included in the determination of fair market value. Technical review and approval for conformance with appraisal standards shall be conducted by the authorized officer.

(g) Constraint and discretion shall be used with regard to the terms, covenants, conditions and reservations authorized by section 208 of the Act that are to be in sales patents and other conveyance documents, except where inclusion of such provisions is required by law or for protection of valid existing rights.

[45 FR 39418, June 10, 1980, as amended at 49 FR 29014, July 17, 1984; 49 FR 29795, July 24, 1984]