(a) General. Section 355 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, as amended (40 U.S.C. 255), formerly required the written opinion of the Attorney General in favor of the validity of the title to lands as a prerequisite to the expenditure of public funds thereon.
(b) Delegation. Pursuant to the provisions of Pub. L. 91-393, approved September 1, 1970, authority to approve title to lands being acquired for the use of the Department of the Army, or of any other department or agency for which the Department of the Army is authorized to acquire land, has been delegated to the Department of the Army, subject to the supervision and review of the Attorney General. Generally, military authorization and/or appropriation legislation expressly authorizes construction on the land prior to approval of title.
(c) Redelegation. The authority delegated to the Department of the Army pursuant to Pub. L. 91-393 has been redelegated to Division and District Engineers with real estate responsibility.
(d) Issuance of title opinions. Division and District Engineers are authorized to designate staff attorneys to give written approval of the sufficiency of title to land for the purposes for which the property is being acquired. Such attorneys shall issue preliminary and/or final opinions of title.
(1) Attorneys designated for such purposes will have as a minimum five years legal experience, from the date of admission to a State bar, including three years experience in the law of real property. Real estate attorneys on the staffs of Division and District Engineers, who possess these qualifications, will be designated by the Division and District Engineers, in writing, to pass on the sufficiency of title to lands pursuant to the said delegation. The names of such attorneys shall be furnished to HQDA (DAEN-REA-P) WASH DC 20314 as soon as possible.
(2) A final opinion of title shall be issued in all acquisitions, except for easement acquisitions not in excess of $1,000 which are governed by Sec. 644.69(b).
(3) Division and District Engineers are authorized to waive the issuance of written preliminary opinions of title where the closing of the case is based upon a certificate of title or title insurance issued by an acceptable and approved title company, in either fee or easement acquisitions.
(4) A preliminary and a final opinion of title shall be issued in all fee and easement acquisitions involving abstracts of title, except for easement acquisitions not in excess of $1,000 which are governed by Sec. 644.69(b).
(5) Any final title opinion issued pursuant to the delegated authority shall substantially follow the format of the Attorney's Final Title Opinion (Figure 5-3 of ER 405-1-12).
(e) Opinion of Attorney General. Whenever the District or Division Engineer determines that a title defect is of such character that a possibility exists that it may be waived, the case shall be submitted to HQDA (DAEN-REA-P) WASH DC 20314 for review and transmittal to the Attorney General for a title opinion. The letter of submittal shall contain or be accompanied by the information and data required by Sec. 644.72(b).
(f) Rejection opinion. If it is obvious that no possibility of waiver of a title defect exists, a title opinion shall be issued according to the procedure set forth in Sec. 644.67(d). Copies of such opinion shall be submitted with the condemnation assembly.