644.424—Development of public port or industrial facilities.
(a) Authority.
Section 108 of Pub. L. 86-645 approved 14 July 1960 (33 U.S.C. 578) authorizes the Secretary of the Army, after certain determinations are made, to convey land which is a part of a water resource development project to a state, political subdivision thereof, port district, port authority, or other body created by the State or through a compact between two or more States for the purpose of developing or encouraging the development of public port or industrial facilities.
(b) Limitation.
Only lands within a navigation project will be made available for conveyance for these purposes.
(c) Delegations, rules, and regulations.
Pursuant to rules and regulations published in the Federal Register 11 March 1961 ( 26 FR 2117 -2118; 33 CFR 211.141 through 211.147),
(1)
The Chief of Engineers or the Director of Civil Works has been delegated authority to determine:
(i)
That the development of public port or industrial facilities on land within a project will be in the public interest;
(iii)
That the disposition of the land for these purposes under this Act will serve the objectives of the project;
(iv)
If two or more agencies file applications for the same land, which agency's intended use of the land will best promote the purpose for which the project was authorized; and
(i)
Give notice of any proposed conveyance under the Act and afford an opportunity to interested eligible agencies in the general vicinity of the land to apply for its purchase; and
(3) Notice.
The District Engineer shall give notice of the availability of any land for conveyance under this Act and afford an opportunity to eligible agencies in the general vicinity of the land to apply for its purchase (i) by publication at least twice at not less than 15-day intervals in two newspapers having general circulation within the state in which the available land is located and, if any agency of an adjoining state or states may have an interest in the development of such land for public port or industrial facilities, by publication at least twice at not less than 15-day intervals in two newspapers having general circulation within such state or states, and (ii) by letters to all agencies who may be interested in the development of public port or industrial facilities on the available land.
(4) Filing of application.
Any agency interested in the development of public ports or industrial facilities upon the available land shall file a written application with the District Engineer within the time designated in the public notice. The application shall state fully the purposes for which the land is desired and the scope of proposed development.
(6) Conveyance.
Any conveyance of land under this Act for public port or industrial facilities will be by quitclaim deed in the form of Figure 11-5 in ER 405-1-12 executed by the Secretary of the Army.
(d) Procedure.
(1)
Proposals to convey land included in navigation projects for development of public port or industrial facilities will be forwarded by the District Engineer, through the Division Engineer, to HQDA (DAEN-REM), with recommendations, and with the information required by § 644.329, and such additional information as will enable the Chief of Engineers to make the determinations required under paragraph (c)(1) of this section.
(2)
Upon receipt of notification from the Chief of Engineers that the property is available for sale for development of public port or industrial facilities, the District Engineer shall give notice of such availability in accordance with paragraph (c)(3) of this section. The public notice will follow substantially the guide format in Figure 11-4 of ER 405-1-12.
(3)
If two or more applications are received from eligible agencies, all applications, with recommendations, will be forwarded, through the Division Engineer, to DAEN-REM for the determination referred to in paragraph (c)(1)(iv) of this section.
(4)
Upon determination of the actual property to be included in a conveyance, the fair market value thereof will be established by an appraisal.
(5)
Upon the acceptance of an application, negotiations will be conducted at the price established by the appraisal. However, the applicant will be advised that the price is subject to approval by the Secretary of the Army. This is necessary since the Secretary of the Army has not delegated his authority to determine the fair market value for conveyances under this Act. If public port facilities that can be used in connection with proposed industrial facilities have not been constructed in the vicinity, no disposal under this authority will be authorized which does not provide for construction of public port facilities.
(6)
Upon completion of negotiations a quitclaim deed following the sample format in Figure 11-5 of ER 405-1-12 will be prepared and forwarded, through the Division Engineer, to HQDA (DAEN-REM) for execution by the Secretary of the Army, in accordance with the general procedure for submission of deeds for execution as outlined in § 644.441.