U.S. CODE

U.S. Code

§ 4687. Sale of excess, obsolete, or unserviceable ammunition and ammunition components

(a) Authority To Sell Outside DoD.— The Secretary of the Army may sell to an eligible purchaser described in subsection (c) ammunition or ammunition components that are excess, obsolete, or unserviceable and have not been demilitarized if—

(1) the purchaser enters into an agreement, in advance, with the Secretary—

(A) to demilitarize the ammunition or components; and

(B) to reclaim, recycle, or reuse the component parts or materials; or

(2) the Secretary, or an official of the Department of the Army designated by the Secretary, approves the use of the ammunition or components proposed by the purchaser as being consistent with the public interest.

(b) Method of Sale.— The Secretary shall use competitive procedures to sell ammunition and ammunition components under this section, except that the Secretary may use procedures other than competitive procedures in any case in which the Secretary determines that there is only one potential buyer of the items being offered for sale.

(c) Eligible Purchasers.— To be eligible to purchase excess, obsolete, or unserviceable ammunition or ammunition components under this section, the purchaser shall be a licensed manufacturer (as defined in section 921 (a)(10) of title 18) that, as determined by the Secretary, has a capability to modify, reclaim, transport, and either store or sell the ammunition or ammunition components sought to be purchased.

(d) Hold Harmless Agreement.— The Secretary shall require a purchaser of ammunition or ammunition components under this section to agree to hold harmless and indemnify the United States from any claim for damages for death, injury, or other loss resulting from a use of the ammunition or ammunition components, except in a case of willful misconduct or gross negligence of a representative of the United States.

(e) Verification of Demilitarization.— The Secretary shall establish procedures for ensuring that a purchaser of ammunition or ammunition components under this section demilitarizes the ammunition or ammunition components in accordance with any agreement to do so under subsection (a)(1). The procedures shall include onsite verification of demilitarization activities.

(f) Consideration.— The Secretary may accept ammunition, ammunition components, or ammunition demilitarization services as consideration for ammunition or ammunition components sold under this section. The fair market value of any such consideration shall be equal to or exceed the fair market value or, if higher, the sale price of the ammunition or ammunition components sold.

(g) Relationship to Arms Export Control Act.— Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the applicability of section 38 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2778) to sales of ammunition or ammunition components on the United States Munitions List.

(h) Definitions.— In this section:

(1) The term “excess, obsolete, or unserviceable”, with respect to ammunition or ammunition components, means that the ammunition or ammunition components are no longer necessary for war reserves or for support of training of the Army or production of ammunition or ammunition components.

(2) The term “demilitarize”, with respect to ammunition or ammunition components—

(A) means to destroy the military offensive or defensive advantages inherent in the ammunition or ammunition components; and

(B) includes any mutilation, scrapping, melting, burning, or alteration that prevents the use of the ammunition or ammunition components for the military purposes for which the ammunition or ammunition components was designed or for a lethal purpose.

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