(a) Tracts of public lands shall only be offered for sale in implementation of land use planning prepared and/or approved in accordance with subpart 1601 of this title.

(b) Public input proposing tracts of public lands for disposal through sale as part of the land use planning process may be made in accordance with §§ 1601.3, 1601.6-3 or § 1601.8 of this title.

(c) Nominations or requests for sales of public lands may be made to the District office of the Bureau of Land Management for the District in which the public lands are located and shall specifically identify the tract being nominated or requested and the reason for proposing sale of the specific tract.

(a) A notice of realty action offering for sale a tract or tracts of public lands identified for disposal by sale shall be issued, published and sent to parties of interest by the authorized officer not less than 60 days prior to the sale. The notice shall include the terms, convenants, conditions and reservations which are to be included in the conveyance document and the method of sale. The notice shall also provide 45 days after the date of issuance for the right of comment by the public and interested parties.

(b) Not less than 60 days prior to sale, notice shall be sent to the Member of the U.S. House of Representatives in whose district the public lands proposed for sale are located and the U.S. Senators for the State in which the public lands proposed for sale are located, the Senate and House of Representatives, as required by paragraph (f) of this section, to Governor of the State within which the public lands are located, to the head of the governing body of any political subdivision having zoning or other land use regulatory responsibility in the geographic area within which the public lands are located and to the head of any political subdivision having administrative or public services responsibility in the geographic area within which the lands are located. The notice shall be sent to other known interested parties of record including, but not limited to, adjoining landowners and current land users.

(c) The notice shall be published once in the Federal Register and once a week for 3 weeks thereafter in a newspaper of general circulation in the general vicinity of the public lands being proposed to be offered for sale.

(d) The publication of the notice of realty action in the Federal Register segregates the public lands covered by the notice of realty action to the extent that they will not be subject to appropriation under the public land laws, including the mining laws. Any subsequent application will not be accepted, will not be considered as filed, and will be returned to the applicant if the notice segregates from the use applied for in the application. The segregative effect of the notice of realty action terminates: (i) Upon issuance of a patent or other document of conveyance to such lands; (ii) upon publication in the Federal Register of a termination of the segregation; or (iii) at the end of the specified segregation period, whichever occurs first. The segregation period may not exceed two years unless, on a case-by-case basis, the BLM State Director determines that the extension is necessary and documents, in writing, why the extension is needed. Such an extension will not be renewable and cannot be extended beyond the additional two years. If an extension is deemed necessary, the BLM will publish a notice following the same procedure as that stated in paragraph (c) of this section.

(e) The notice published under § 1610.5 of this title may, if so designated in the notice and is the functional equivalent of a notice of realty action required by this section, serve as the notice of realty action required by paragraph (a) of this section and may segregate the public lands covered by the sale proposal to the same extent that they would have been segregated under a notice of realty action issued under paragraph (a) of this section.

(f) For tracts of public lands in excess of 2,500 acres, the notice shall be submitted to the Senate and the House of Representatives not less than the 90 days prescribed by section 203 of the Act (43 U.S.C. 1713(c)) prior to the date of sale. The sale may not be held prior to the completion of the congressional notice period unless such period is waived by Congress.

When lands are identified for disposal and such disposal will preclude livestock grazing, the sale shall not be made until the permittees and lessees are given 2 years prior notification, except in cases of emergency, that their grazing permit or grazing lease and grazing preference may be cancelled in accordance with § 4110.4-2(b) of this title. A sale may be made of such identified lands if the sale is conditioned upon continued grazing by the current permittee/lessee until such time as the current grazing permit or lease would have expired or terminated. A permittee or lessee may unconditionally waive the 2-year prior notification. The publication of a notice of realty action as provided in § 2711.1-2(c) of this title shall constitute notice to the grazing permittee or lessee if such notice has not been previously given.

Tracts sold under this part may only be conveyed to:

(a) A citizen of the United States 18 years of age or over;

(b) A corporation subject to the laws of any State or of the United States;

(c) A State, State instrumentality or political subdivision authorized to hold property; and

(d) An entity legally capable of conveying and holding lands or interests therein under the laws of the State within which the lands to be conveyed are located. Where applicable, the entity shall also meet the requirements of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section.

When public lands are offered through competitive bidding:

(a) The date, time, place, and manner for submitting bids shall be specified in the notice required by § 2711.1-2 of this title.

(b) Bids may be made by a principal or a duly qualified agent.

(c) Sealed bids shall be considered only if received at the place of sale prior to the hour fixed in the notice and are made for at least the fair market value. Each bid shall be accompanied by certified check, postal money order, bank draft or cashier's check made payable to the Bureau of Land Management for the amount required in the notice of realty action which shall be not less than 10 percent or more than 30 percent of the amount of the bid, and shall be enclosed in a sealed envelope which shall be marked as prescribed in the notice. If 2 or more envelopes containing valid bids of the same amount are received, the determination of which is to be considered the highest bid shall be by supplemental biddings. The designated high bidders shall be allowed to submit oral or sealed bids as designated by the authorized officer.

(d) The highest qualifying sealed bid received shall be publicly declared by the authorized officer. If the notice published pursuant to § 2711.1-2 of this title provides for oral bids, such bids, in increments specified by the authorized officer, shall then be invited. After oral bids, if any, are received, the highest qualifying bid, designated by type, whether sealed or oral, shall be declared by the authorized officer. The person declared to have entered the highest qualifying oral bid shall submit payment by cash, personal check, bank draft, money order, or any combination for not less than one-fifth of the amount of the bid immediately following the close of the sale. The successful bidder, whether such bid is a sealed or oral bid, shall submit the remainder of the full bid price prior to the expiration of 180 days from the date of the sale. Failure to submit the full bid price prior to, but not including the 180th day following the day of the sale, shall result in cancellation of the sale of the specific parcel and the deposit shall be forfeited and disposed of as other receipts of sale. In the event the authorized officer rejects the highest qualified bid or releases the bidder from it, the authorized officer shall determine whether the public lands shall be withdrawn from the market or be reoffered.

(e) If the public lands are not sold pursuant to the notice issued under § 2711.1-2 of this subpart, they may remain available for sale on a continuing basis until sold as specified in the notice.

(f) The acceptance or rejection of any offer to purchase shall be in writing no later than 30 days after receipt of such offer unless the offerer waives his right to a decision within such 30-day period. In case of a tract of land in excess of 2,500 acres, such acceptance or rejection shall not be given until the expiration of 30 days after the end of the notice to the Congress provided for in § 2711.1-2(d) of this subpart. Prior to the expiration of such periods the authorized officer may refuse to accept any offer or may withdraw any tract from sale if he determines that:

(1) Consummation of the sale would be inconsistent with the provisions of any existing law; or

(2) Collusive or other activities have hindered or restrained free and open bidding; or

(3) Consummation of the sale would encourage or promote speculation in public lands.

(g) Until the acceptance of the offer and payment of the purchase price, the bidder has no contractual or other rights against the United States, and no action taken shall create any contractual or other obligations of the United States.

(a) Public lands may be offered for sale utilizing modified competitive bidding procedures when the authorized officer determines it is necessary in order to assure equitable distribution of land among purchasers or to recognize equitable considerations or public policies.

(1) Modified competitive bidding includes, but is not limited to:

(i) Offering to designated bidders the right to meet the highest bid. Refusal or failure to meet the highest bid shall constitute a waiver of such bidding provisions; or

(ii) A limitation of persons permitted to bid on a specific tract of land offered for sale; or

(iii) Offering to designated bidders the right of first refusal to purchase the lands at fair market value. Failure to accept an offer to purchase the offered lands within the time specified by the authorized officer shall constitute a waiver of his preference consideration.

(2) Factors that shall be considered in determining when modified competitive bidding procedures shall be used, include but are not limited to: Needs of State and/or local government, adjoining landowners, historical users, and other needs for the tract. A description of the method of modified competitive bidding to be used and a statement indicating the purpose or objective of the bidding procedure selected shall be specified in the notice of realty action required in § 2711.1-2 of this subpart.

(b) Where 2 or more designated bidders exercise preference consideration awarded by the authorized officer in accordance with paragraph (a)(1) of this section, such bidders shall be offered the opportunity to agree upon a division of the lands among themselves. In the absence of a written agreement, the preference right bidders shall be allowed to continue bidding to determine the high bidder.

(c) Where designated bidders fail to exercise the preference consideration offered by the authorized officer in the allowed time, the sale shall proceed using the procedures specified in § 2711.3-1 of this subpart; and

(d) Once the method of modified competitive or noncompetitive sale is determined and such determination has been issued, published and sent in accordance with procedures of this part, payment shall be by the same instruments as authorized in § 2711.3-1(c) of this subpart.

(e) Acceptance or rejection of any offer to purchase shall be in accordance with the procedures set forth in § 2711.3-1 (f) and (g) of this subpart.

(a) Direct sales (without competition) may be utilized, when in the opinion of the authorized officer, a competitive sale is not appropriate and the public interest would best be served by a direct sale. Examples include, but are not limited to:

(1) A tract identified for transfer to State or local government or nonprofit organization; or

(2) A tract identified for sale that is an integral part of a project or public importance and speculative bidding would jeopardize a timely completion and economic viability of the project; or

(3) There is a need to recognize an authorized use such as an existing business which could suffer a substantial economic loss if the tract were purchased by other than the authorized user; or

(4) The adjoining ownership pattern and access indicate a direct sale is appropriate; or

(5) A need to resolve inadvertent unauthorized use or occupancy of the lands.

(b) Once the authorized officer has determined that the lands will be offered by direct sale and such determination has been issued, published and sent in accordance with procedures of this part, payment shall be made by the same instruments as authorized in § 2711.3-1(c) of this subpart.

(c) Failure to accept an offer to purchase the offered lands within the time specified by the authorized officer shall constitute a waiver of this preference consideration.

(d) Acceptance or rejection of an offer to purchase the lands shall be in accordance with the procedures set forth in § 2711.3-1 (f) and (g) of this subpart.

No public lands in a grazing lease or permit may be conveyed until the provisions of part 4100 of this title concerning compensation for any authorized grazing improvements have been met.

Where public lands to be sold under this part contain authorized private improvements, other than those identified in § 2711.4-1 of this subpart or those subject to a patent reservation, the owner of such improvements shall be given an opportunity to remove them if such owner has not been declared the purchaser of the lands sold, or the prospective purchaser may compensate the owner of such authorized private improvements and submit proof of compensation to the authorized officer.

Patents and other conveyance documents issued under this part shall contain a reservation to the United States of all minerals. Such minerals shall be subject to the right to explore, prospect for, mine, and remove under applicable law and such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe. However, upon the filing of an application as provided in part 2720 of this title, the Secretary may convey the mineral interest if all requirements of the law are met. Where such application has been filed and meets the requirements for conveyance, the authorized officer may withhold issuance of a patent or other document of conveyance on lands sold under this part until processing of the mineral conveyance application is completed, at which time a single patent or document of conveyance for the entire estate or interest of the United States may be issued.

Patents or other conveyance documents issued under this part may contain such terms, covenants, conditions, and reservations as the authorized officer determines are necessary in the public interest to insure proper land use and protection of the public interest as authorized by section 208 of the Act.

The authorized officer shall immediately notify the Governor and the heads of local government of the issuance of conveyance documents for public lands within their respective jurisdiction.