Justice Department Modernizes Process that Federal Agencies Use to Acquire Real Property

The Justice Department today announced the completion of a major effort to modernize the process that federal agencies use to acquire real property. Over the past two years, the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) has collaborated with attorneys throughout the federal government to identify outdated provisions in delegations of authority previously issued by the Justice Department between 1970 and 1991.

As a result of that effort, on Dec. 10, 2024 - pursuant to 40 U.S.C. § 3111(b) - Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of ENRD issued 10 revised delegations of title review authority to land-acquiring federal agencies. These revised delegations should reduce the unnecessary duplication of effort by agency and Justice Department staff, promoting government efficiency and saving taxpayer funds.

Before the United States may acquire real property, 40 U.S.C. § 3111 requires that the Attorney General must first determine that the purchase will include sufficient title for the United States to use the property as intended. In 1970, because most land-acquiring agencies already employed legal staff qualified to review title evidence and make that determination, Congress authorized the Justice Department to delegate title review responsibility, allowing agency counsel to approve sufficiency of title on behalf of the Attorney General subject to Justice Department supervision and regulation. The Attorney General, through the Assistant Attorney General, subsequently delegated title review authority to 10 different land-acquiring agencies.

Many provisions of the original delegations are outdated, including references to since-replaced regulations and a now-unnecessary restriction on agency approval of title in certain acquisitions valued at more than $100,000. Additionally, since 1970, Congress has dissolved one affected agency, the Atomic Energy Commission, and administratively transferred another, the United States Coast Guard. The revised delegations address these issues, incorporating the Regulations of the Attorney General Governing the Review and Approval of Title for Federal Land Acquisitions (2016), eliminating the $100,000 limitation on certain acquisitions and identifying the modern version of each relevant agency.

"The revised delegations will enhance the productive working relationship that the Justice Department has always maintained with its agency partners, ensuring that each land acquisition complies with federal law while also promoting government efficiency and the conservation of taxpayer resources," said Assistant Attorney General Kim. "This was a years-long project that will have a tangible effect on thousands of real property acquisitions by the federal government every year. I want to thank not only the Justice Department attorneys involved in this project, but also those throughout the entire federal government who contributed their ideas, experience, and expertise."

The following agencies received revised delegations of authority: the Department of Agriculture, Department of the Army, Department of Energy, Department of Homeland Security, Department of the Interior, Department of the Navy, Department of Transportation, Department of Veterans Affairs, the General Services Administration and the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission.

ENRD's Land Acquisition Section - including Section Chief Andrew M. Goldfrank, Division Counsel for Title Matters Georgia Garthwaite and Trial Attorney Ben McMurtray - led the effort.