Property Transfers

USDA manages approximately 193 million acres of land, making it the second largest landholding Department in the Federal Government. USDA processes thousands of land transactions a year, including direct transfers of land and many conservation easements. USDA acquires and disposes of land from both private individuals as well as other government agencies, including Department of Defense's Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) and Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) programs.

Responsibilities include:

• Ensure that USDA avoids unreasonable environmental liability for the Department when acquiring or disposing of real property.
• Ensure that acquisition or disposal of real property is consistent with the USDA environmental policy.
• Identify known or potential environmental compliance or contamination issues prior to acquisition or disposal.
• Ensure that costs for cleanup of environmental contamination and any other environmental compliance costs are considered in the acquisition decision process.