Set Aside Program For Sales Of Federal Timber PDF Download

Hearing on the "small business set-aside program for Federal timber sales. Essentially, the so-called timber set-aside program is authorized by section 15 of the Small Business Act. It is designed to insure that when the Federal Government disposes of surplus property, 'a fair proportion of the total sales * * * be made to small business concerns.' This program is administered jointly by the Small Business Administration, the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, and the Department of Defense, with the three latter agencies actually managing and selling the Federal timber. In recent years, various criticisms have been leveled against the operation of the program. As I understand it, the principal charge that has been made is that the size standard defining 'small business' for purposes of the program--500 employees--may be inappropriate. Other charges have been made including: One, that the operation of the program tends to maintain a static allocation of timber between large and small firms; Two, that set-aside timber sales have been of higher quality and have returned less revenue to the Treasury than open sales; and Three, that the program has had an adverse effect on communities dependent upon lumber mills owned by large firms. However, it appears that these latter allegations have been made primarily to demonstrate the inappropriateness of the present size standard"--Page 1.