44 U.S.C. § 318 — Transfer of surplus property; acceptance of voluntary services

This section lets the Government Publishing Office give away surplus property and use volunteers.

(a) What the Director can do. The Director of the Government Publishing Office may: (1) transfer or donate surplus government publications, and condemned GPO machinery, material, equipment, and supplies, to other federal entities, to tax-exempt nonprofit organizations described in section 501(c)(3) or (4) of the Internal Revenue Code, or to state or local governments; and (2) accept voluntary, uncompensated services, even though section 1342 of title 31 normally restricts agencies from accepting unpaid volunteer work.

(b) Status of volunteers. People who provide these voluntary, uncompensated services are not treated as federal employees. There are two exceptions: chapter 81 of title 5, which covers compensation for work injuries, and chapter 171 of title 28, which covers tort claims. For those two purposes only, volunteers are treated as if they were federal employees.