10 U.S.C. § 282 — Emergency situations involving weapons of mass destruction

(a) In General. If the Attorney General asks, the Secretary of Defense may provide assistance to Department of Justice efforts to enforce certain federal crimes (sections 175, 229, or 2332a of title 18, which deal with biological weapons, chemical weapons, and weapons of mass destruction) during an "emergency situation involving a weapon of mass destruction." This assistance can include Department of Defense personnel and other resources, but only if two things are both true: the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General jointly decide an emergency situation exists, and the Secretary of Defense decides that giving this help won't hurt the country's military readiness. (b) Emergency Situations Covered. An "emergency situation involving a weapon of mass destruction" means a situation involving such a weapon that seriously threatens U.S. interests, where civilian agencies don't have the expertise or tools to respond right away, the Defense Department's special capabilities are necessary to counter the threat, and enforcing the listed crimes would be seriously hurt without Defense Department help. (c) Forms of Assistance. The help can include operating equipment to monitor, contain, disable, or dispose of the weapon or its parts. (d) Regulations. (1) The Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General must jointly write regulations spelling out what kinds of assistance are allowed and what actions Defense Department personnel may take while providing it. (2)(A) Except as allowed under (B), these regulations cannot let military personnel make arrests, directly search for or seize evidence of the listed crimes, or directly collect intelligence for law enforcement purposes. (B) The regulations can allow one of those otherwise-forbidden actions only if it's necessary to immediately protect human life and civilian law enforcement can't do it themselves, and the action is otherwise allowed under subsection (c) or other applicable law. (e) Reimbursements. The Secretary of Defense must require the Justice Department to pay back the costs of this assistance, to the extent a separate reimbursement law (section 377 of this title) requires it. (f) Delegations of Authority. (1) The Deputy Secretary of Defense can generally exercise the Secretary of Defense's authority under this section, unless the Secretary says otherwise. The Secretary can also delegate this authority to an Under Secretary or Assistant Secretary of Defense, but only to one who has already been designated to act with the Secretary's general powers. (2) Similarly, the Deputy Attorney General can generally exercise the Attorney General's authority here, and the Attorney General can delegate it only to the Associate Attorney General or an Assistant Attorney General who has been designated to act with the Attorney General's general powers. (g) Relationship to Other Authority. Nothing in this section limits any other executive branch authority to use military members or Defense Department equipment that already existed before September 23, 1996.