[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 752 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
2d Session
H. R. 752
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 22, 2008
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To direct Federal agencies to transfer excess Federal electronic
equipment, including computers, computer components, printers, and fax
machines, to educational recipients.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Electronic Equipment
Donation Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO TRANSFER USEFUL FEDERAL ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT TO
EDUCATIONAL RECIPIENTS.
(a) Transfer of Equipment to Educational Entities.--
(1) In general.--Each Federal agency shall identify useful
Federal electronic equipment that the agency has determined is
excess to its needs and--
(A) report such equipment to the Administrator of
General Services for processing for transfer to an
educational recipient in accordance with section 549 of
title 40, United States Code;
(B) transfer such equipment directly to an
educational recipient, through an arrangement made by
the Administrator of General Services under subsection
(b); or
(C) report such equipment to the Administrator of
General Services as excess property if transfer under
subparagraph (A) or (B) is not practicable.
(2) Management of nontransferable equipment.--For equipment
reported under paragraph (1)(C), the Administrator of General
Services shall manage the equipment in accordance with
subchapters II and III of title 40, United States Code.
(3) Exception.--Equipment transferred pursuant to section
11(i) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980
(15 U.S.C. 3710(i) is neither transferred pursuant to this Act
nor subject to this Act's requirements.
(b) Advance Reporting of Equipment to GSA.--Each Federal agency
shall report to the Administrator of General Services the availability
of useful Federal electronic equipment as far as possible in advance of
the date the equipment is expected to become excess to its needs, so
that the Administrator may attempt to arrange for the direct transfer
from the donating agency to educational recipients.
(c) Use of Nonprofit Refurbishers.--In transferring any equipment
pursuant to this Act, at the request of the educational recipient and
if appropriate, if the equipment is not classroom-usable, the
transferring agency shall convey the equipment initially to a nonprofit
refurbisher for upgrade before transfer to the educational recipient.
(d) Removal of Data Before Transfer.--In transferring any equipment
pursuant to this Act, the transferring agency shall remove data from
the equipment prior to transfer to the educational recipient according
to accepted sanitization procedures. To the maximum extent practicable,
the transferring agency shall remove data using a means that does not
remove, disable, destroy, or otherwise render unusable the equipment or
components.
(e) Preference.--In transferring any equipment pursuant to this
Act, the transferring agency shall give the highest preference to
educational recipients located in an enterprise community or
empowerment zone designated under section 1391 or 1400 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, a qualifying small town, or a qualifying county.
(f) Low Cost.--Any transfer made pursuant to this Act shall be made
at the lowest cost to the educational recipient permitted by law.
(g) Title.--Title of ownership of equipment transferred pursuant to
this Act shall transfer to the educational recipient receiving the
equipment.
(h) Notice of Availability of Equipment.--The Administrator of
General Services shall provide notice of the anticipated availability
of useful Federal electronic equipment to educational recipients by all
practicable means, including newspapers, community announcements, and
the Internet.
(i) Facilitation by Regional Federal Executive Boards.--The
regional Federal Executive Boards (as that term is used in part 960 of
title 5, Code of Federal Regulations) shall help facilitate the
transfer of useful Federal electronic equipment from the agencies they
represent to educational recipients under this Act.
SEC. 3. RULEMAKING.
The Administrator of General Services shall prescribe rules and
procedures to carry out this Act.
SEC. 4. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.
This Act supersedes Executive Order No. 12999 of April 17, 1996.
SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
This Act may not be construed to create any right or benefit,
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by a party against the
United States or its agencies, officers, or employees.
SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) The term ``Federal agency'' means an Executive
department or an Executive agency (as such terms are defined in
chapter 1 of title 5, United States Code).
(2) The term ``educational recipient'' means a school or a
community-based educational organization.
(3) The term ``school'' includes a pre-kindergarten program
(as that term is used in the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965), an elementary school, a secondary school, and a
local educational agency (as those terms are defined in section
9101 of that Act.)
(4) The term ``community based educational organization''
means a nonprofit entity that qualifies as a nonprofit
educational institution or organization for purposes of section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and--
(A) is engaged in collaborative projects, the
primary focus of which is education, with schools,
qualifying small towns, qualifying counties, or
libraries; or
(B) provides use of computers and Internet access
to members of the community at no charge.
(5) The term ``qualifying small town'' means a political
subdivision with a population of not more than 24,999
individuals where 20 percent or more of the residents earn less
than the poverty threshold (as defined by the Bureau of the
Census).
(6) The term ``qualifying county'' means a county where 20
percent or more of the residents earn less than the poverty
threshold (as defined by the Bureau of the Census).
(7) The term ``useful Federal electronic equipment''--
(A) means--
(i) computers and related peripheral tools
(such as computer printers, modems, routers,
and servers), including telecommunications and
research equipment;
(ii) fax machines; and
(iii) any other electronic equipment
determined by a Federal agency to be
potentially useful to an educational recipient;
and
(B) includes computer software, where the transfer
of a license is permitted.
(8) The term ``classroom-usable'', with respect to useful
Federal electronic equipment, means such equipment that does
not require an upgrade of hardware or software in order to be
used by an educational recipient without being first
transferred under section 2(c) to a nonprofit refurbisher for
such an upgrade.
(9) The term ``nonprofit refurbisher'' means an
organization that--
(A) is exempt from income taxes under section
501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and
(B) upgrades useful Federal electronic equipment
that is not yet classroom-usable at no cost or low cost
to the ultimate educational recipient.
SEC. 7. PREFERENCE IN DONATION OF PERSONAL PROPERTY THROUGH STATE
AGENCIES.
Section 549(e)(3)(B) of title 40, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``The state plan'' and inserting the
following:
``(i) In general.--The state plan''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new clause:
``(ii) Preference.--The state plan of
operation shall require the state agency to
give the highest preference for electronic
equipment to eligible institutions (as
described in subsection (c)(3)) that are
located in an enterprise community or
empowerment zone designated under section 1391
or 1400 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, a
political subdivision with a population of not
more than 24,999 individuals where 20 percent
or more of the residents earn less than the
poverty threshold (as defined by the Bureau of
the Census), or a county where 20 percent or
more of the residents earn less than poverty
threshold (as defined by the Bureau of the
Census).''.
SEC. 8. REPORT TO CONGRESS.
(a) Report Required.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of General Services shall
submit to Congress a report.
(b) Contents of Report.--The report shall contain the following:
(1) An inventory of items that Federal agencies identified
as useful Federal electronic equipment that the agency has
determined is excess to its needs in the first 365 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) The number of such items that were--
(A) transferred to educational recipients pursuant
to this Act;
(B) transferred to other Federal agencies and
organizations pursuant to section 521 of title 40,
United States Code;
(C) transferred to State agencies pursuant to
section 549 of title 40, United State Code; or
(D) disposed of through other means.
(3) Recommendations for further legislation or
administrative action that the Administrator considers
appropriate to establish an effective system for transferring
excess useful Federal electronic equipment to educational
recipients.
Passed the House of Representatives May 21, 2008.
Attest:
LORRAINE C. MILLER,
Clerk.