The Federal Surplus Personal Property Donation Program enables certain non federal organizations to obtain property that the federal government no longer needs. Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended, provides for the transfer of surplus personal property to State Agencies for Surplus Property.

GSA Personal Property Donation Program

Personal property that the federal government no longer needs includes all types and categories of property except land or other real property, certain naval vessels, and records of the federal government. It embraces such items as hand and machine tools, office machines and supplies, furniture, appliances, medical supplies, hardware, clothing, motor vehicles, boats, airplanes, construction equipment, textiles, communications, and electronic equipment. For assistance, contact GSA's Personal Property Management Office.

Distribution of Surplus Personal Property

In accordance with the law, State Agencies for Surplus Property (SASP) have been established by each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and American Samoa to distribute personal property designated as surplus by the federal government. The SASPs advise applicants of eligibility requirements and procedures to be followed in acquiring federal surplus personal property and of the conditions and restrictions placed on the property. Most SASPs operate on a self-sustaining basis and may assess recipients a service charge to cover handling, transportation, and administrative expenses.  See FSS P 4025.5, Donation of Surplus Personal Property, for complete information on this GSA Order.

Conditions and Restrictions on Property

Clear title to donated property is not granted until a specified period of time has elapsed and the donee has fulfilled all federal and state restrictions imposed on the property. State restrictions may vary as each state agency is permitted to impose its own terms and conditions. Federal restrictions require that all property be placed into use by the donee within one year of acquisition and be used for at least one year thereafter. Additional restrictions are imposed by the General Services Administration (GSA) on certain types of property such as aircraft, vessels, and gifts received from foreign dignitaries. Violations of any of the conditions or restrictions may require return of the property to the State Agencies for Surplus Property or reimbursement of the fair market value if the property is unable to be recovered.

The major categories of eligible recipients are:

• Public agencies
• Nonprofit educational and public health activities, including programs for the homeless
• Nonprofit and public programs for the elderly
• Public airports
• Educational activities of special interest to the Armed Services

Public Agencies

Public agencies generally include states, their departments, divisions, and other instrumentalities; political subdivisions of states, including cities, counties, and other local government units and economic development districts; instrumentalities created by compact or other agreement between state or political subdivisions; and Indian tribes, bands, groups, pueblos, or communities located on state reservations.

Nonprofit Educational and Public Health Activities, Including Programs for the Homeless and Impoverished

Surplus personal property may be donated to nonprofit educational and public health activities exempt from taxation under Sec. 501 of the Internal Revenue Code. The property must be used to aid education or public health, either directly or through research.

Nonprofit educational and public health activities may include medical institutions, hospitals, clinics, health centers, and drug abuse treatment centers; schools, colleges and universities; schools for persons with mental or physical disabilities; child care centers; educational radio and television stations licensed by the Federal Communication Commission; museums attended by the public; and libraries serving free all residents of a community, district, state or region.

Nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations, which provide food, shelter, or support services to homeless or impoverished people, may also be eligible to receive surplus property through donation. Such organizations may include soup kitchens and day centers; food banks which provide food directly to shelters and soup kitchens where homeless and/or impoverished individuals are assisted and/or provided sleeping or living accommodations; and overnight, daytime, and around-the-clock shelters where homeless individuals receive assistance, regardless of the cause or duration of the homelessness (includes shelters for battered spouses, abused children, and orphans; and half-way houses for temporary residence of homeless parolees, recovered mental patients, and recovered substance abusers.)

Nonprofit and Public Programs for the Elderly

State or local government agencies, and nonprofit organizations or institutions, which receive funds appropriated for programs for older individuals under the Older Americans Act of 1965, as amended, under Title IV or Title XX of the Social Security Act, or under Titles VIII and X of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 and the Community Services Block Grant Act, may be eligible to receive donations of surplus personal property for programs for the elderly.

Programs for the elderly may include programs that provide adult day care or other services essential for the general welfare of older people such as social services, transportation services, nutrition services, legal services, and multi-purpose senior centers.

Public agencies, nonprofit educational or public health institutions (including providers of assistance to the homeless), and programs for the elderly may obtain information about eligibility and program requirements by contacting the State Agencies for Surplus Property for the state in which they reside.

Public Airports

Any state, political subdivision, municipality, or tax-supported institution may receive donations of surplus property which, in the determination of the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), is essential, suitable, or desirable for the development, improvement, operation, or maintenance of a public airport. Such property is subject to terms and conditions prescribed by FAA. Public airports should contact the appropriate FAA regional office, regarding their participation in the FAA-administered program.

In addition, public airports may be eligible, as public agencies, to receive property donations through the State Agency for Surplus Property. For information on establishing eligibility as a public agency, public airports should contact the State Agency for Surplus Property servicing their state.

Educational Activities of Special Interest to the Armed Services

Certain schools and the following national organizations have been designated as eligible recipients of Department of Defense (DOD) surplus property:

American National Red Cross; Armed Services YMCA of the USA; Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America; Boys and Girls Clubs of America; Boy Scouts of America; Camp Fire, Inc.; Center for Excellence in Education; Girl Scouts of the USA; Little League Baseball, Inc.; Marine Cadets of America; National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education; National Civilian Community Corps; National Ski Patrol System, Inc.; Naval Sea Cadet Corps; Operation Raleigh; United Service Organizations, Inc.; U.S. Olympic Committee; Young Marines of the Marine Corps; and League/Marine Corps League.

These activities generally referred to as Service Educational Activities (SEA), have a formal donation agreement with DOD that outlines the general terms and conditions for obtaining DOD surplus property and specifies the kind of property that may be donated to the SEA.

General information concerning the designation of schools or organizations as a SEA can be obtained from the State Agency for Surplus Property servicing their state.

Individual units of the national organizations such as Boy Scout or Girl Scout Troops, Red Cross Chapters, etc., should contact their regional or national headquarters for guidance regarding the donation and use of DOD surplus property. Schools with military training programs (e.g., military junior colleges, military institutes, high schools which host a Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps unit or a National Defense Cadet Corps unit, naval honor schools and state maritime academies should contact their sponsoring military service.

Other Donee Activities

The Donation Program also encompasses provisions for donating special types and categories of surplus property. Examples of these programs include:

• Donations of forfeited distilled spirits, wine, and beer to charitable institutions for medicinal purposes.
• Donations of blood plasma and other property to the American National Red Cross for charitable purposes. Donations are limited to property identified as having been processed, produced or donated by the Red Cross to the federal government. This program is separate and distinct from the program under which the Red Cross may receive DOD surplus property as an SEA.
• Donations of surplus equipment and supplies to state and local governments for use in Presidentially declared emergencies or major disasters.
• Donations of property with no market value to public bodies (any public agency, Indian tribe, or agency of the federal government) in lieu of abandoning or destroying it.