DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ASSETS FORFEITURE FUND.

SEC. 6072. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ASSETS FORFEITURE FUND. Section 524(c) of title 28, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: “(c)(1) There is established in the United States Treasury a special fund to be known as the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund (hereafter in this subsection referred to as the ‘Fund’) which shall be available to the Attorney General without fiscal year limitation for the following purposes of the Department of Justice— “(A) the payment, at the discretion of the Attorney General, of any expenses necessary to seize, detain, inventory, safeguard, maintain, advertise, or sell property under seizure, detention, or forfeited pursuant to any law enforced or administered by the Department of Justice, or of any other necessary expenses incident to the seizure, detention, or forfeiture of such property; such payments may include— “(i) payments for contract services, the employment of outside contractors to operate and manage properties or provide other specialized services as necessary to dispose of such properties in an effort to maximize the return from such properties, and payments to reimburse any Federal, State, or local agency for any expenditures made to perform the foregoing functions; and “(ii) payments made pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Attorney General, that are necessary and direct program-related expenses for the purchase or lease of automatic data processing equipment (not less than a majority of which use will be program related), training, printing, 102 STAT. 4321 contracting for services directly related to the identification of forfeitable assets processing of and accounting for forfeitures, and the storage, protection, and destruction of controlled substances; “(B) the payment of awards for information or assistance directly relating to violations of the criminal drug laws of the United States; “(C) the payment of awards for information or assistance leading to a civil or criminal forfeiture under the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 (21 U.S.C. 800 et seq.) or a criminal forfeiture under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute (18 U.S.C. 1961 et seq.), at the discretion of the Attorney General; “(D) the compromise and payment of valid liens and mortgages against property that has been forfeited pursuant to any law enforced or administered by the Department of Justice, subject to the discretion of the Attorney General to determine the validity of any such lien or mortgage and the amount of payment to be made, and the employment of attorneys and other personnel skilled in State real estate law as necessary; “(E) disbursements authorized in connection with remission or mitigation procedures relating to property forfeited under any law enforced or administered by the Department of Justice; “(F) for equipping for drug law enforcement functions any government-owned or leased vessels, vehicles, and aircraft available for official use by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, or the United States Marshals Service; “(G) for purchase of evidence of any violation of the Controlled Substances Act, the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act, chapter 96 of title 18, or sections 1956 and 1957 of title 18; and “(H) after all reimbursements and program-related expenses have been met at the end of fiscal year 1989, the Attorney General may transfer deposits from the Fund to the building and facilities account of the Federal prison system for the construction of correctional institutions. Amounts for paying the expenses authorized by subparagraphs (A)(ii), (B), (C), (F), and (G) shall be specified in appropriations acts. Amounts for other authorized expenditures and payments from the Fund, including equitable sharing payments, are not required to be specified in appropriations acts. The Attorney General may exempt the procurement of contract services under subparagraph (A) under the fund from section 3709 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (41 U.S.C. 5), title III of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 251 and following), and other provisions of law as may be necessary to maintain the security and confidentiality of related criminal investigations. “(2) Any award paid from the Fund for information, as provided in paragraph (1) (B) or (C), shall be paid at the discretion of the Attorney General or his delegate, under existing departmental delegation policies for the payment of awards, except that the authority to pay an award of $250,000 or more shall not be delegated to any person other than the Deputy Attorney General, the Associate Attorney General, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Any award for information pursuant to paragraph (1)(B) shall not 102 STAT. 4322 exceed $250,000. Any award for information pursuant to paragraph (1)(C) shall not exceed the lesser of $250,000 or one-fourth of the amount realized by the United States from the property forfeited. “(3) Any amount under subparagraph (F) of paragraph (1) shall be paid at the discretion of the Attorney General or his delegate, except that the authority to pay $100,000 or more may be delegated only to the respective head of the agency involved. “(4) There shall be deposited in the Fund all amounts from the forfeiture of property under any law enforced or administered by the Department of Justice, except all proceeds of forfeitures available for use by the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to section 11(d) of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1540(d)) or section 6(d) of the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3375(d)) or the Postmaster General of the United States pursuant to section 2003(b)(7) of title 39. “(5) Amounts in the Fund which are not currently needed for the purpose of this section shall be kept on deposit or invested in obligations of, or guaranteed by, the United States and all earnings on such investments shall be deposited in the Fund. “(6) The Attorney General shall transmit to the Congress, not later than 4 months after the end of each fiscal year, two detailed reports as follows: “(A) a report on— “(i) the estimated total value of property forfeited under any law enforced or administered by the Department of Justice with respect to which funds were not deposited in the Fund; and “(ii) the estimated total value of all such property transferred to any State or local law enforcement agency; and “(B) a report on— “(i) the Fund’s beginning balance; “(ii) sources of receipts (seized cash, conveyances, and others); “(iii) liens and mortgages paid and amount of money shared with State and local law enforcement agencies; “(iv) the net amount realized from the year’s operations, amount of seized cash being held as evidence, and the amount of money legally allowed to be carried over to next year; “(v) any defendant’s equity in property valued at $1,000,000 or more; and “(vi) year-end Fund balance. “(7) The Fund shall be subject to annual audit by the Comptroller General. “(8) The provisions of this subsection relating to deposits in the Fund shall apply to all property in the custody of the Department of Justice on or after the effective date of the Comprehensive Forfeiture Act of 1983. “(9) There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as necessary for the purposes described in subparagraphs (A)(ii), (B), (C), (F), and (G) of paragraph (1). At the end of each of fiscal years 1990, 1991, and 1992, unobligated amounts not to exceed $150,000,000 remaining in the Fund shall be deposited in the Special Forfeiture Fund, except that an amount not to exceed $15,000,000 or, if determined necessary by the Attorney General to meet asset specific expenses, an amount equal to one-twelfth of the previous year’s 102 STAT. 4323 expenditures may be carried forward and remain available for appropriation in the next fiscal year. “(10) For the purposes of this subsection, property is forfeited pursuant to a law enforced or administered by the Department of Justice if it is forfeited pursuant to— “(A) any criminal forfeiture proceeding; “(B) any civil judicial forfeiture proceeding; or “(C) any civil administrative forfeiture proceeding conducted by the Department of Justice, except to the extent that the seizure was effected by a Customs officer or that custody was maintained by the United States Customs Service in which case the provisions of section 613A of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1613a) shall apply.”.