Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act Restrictions and ...

Agencies Have
Purchased Few
Parcels with FLTFA
Revenue
Figure 6: A View of the West Mesa BLM Property in Las Cruces, New Mexico, That
Will Be Added to Land Designated for Disposal in the Revised Land Use Plan
Source: GAO.
Since the enactment of FLTFA 7 years ago, BLM reports that the four land
management agencies have spent $13.3 million of the $95.7 million in
FLTFA revenue—$10.1 million to acquire nine parcels of land and $3.2
million in administrative expenses for conducting FLTFA sales. Agencies
spent the $10.9 million between August 2007 and January 2008 on the first
land acquisitions completed under FLTFA using the secretarial discretion
provided in the MOU. As of May 31, 2007, the agencies reported submitting
eight acquisition nominations to state-level interagency teams for
consideration. The New Mexico interagency team reported submitting six
additional nominations as of July 1, 2007. None of these 14 nominations—
valued at $71.9 million—has resulted in a completed acquisition. The statelevel
process has not yet resulted in acquisitions because of the time taken
to complete interagency agreements and limited FLTFA funds available for
acquisition outside of Nevada. Although Nevada has proposed five
acquisitions, none have been completed. As for the remaining $3.2 million
in expenditures, BLM reports spending these funds on administrative
Page 26 GAO-08-196 Federal Land Management