10 U.S.C. § 8678a — Limitation on decommissioning or inactivating a battle force ship before the end of expected service life

(a) Limitation — The Secretary of the Navy cannot decommission or inactivate a battle force ship before the ship's expected service life ends. (b) Waiver — The Secretary may waive that rule for a battle force ship if: (1) the Secretary sends Congress's defense committees the certification described in (c) no later than three days after the President submits that year's budget under section 1105(a) of title 31; and (2) 30 days have passed since that year's National Defense Authorization Act was enacted. (c) Certification Described — The certification must state that: (1)(A) keeping the ship in reduced operating status isn't feasible; (B) keeping it at reduced capability isn't feasible; (C) keeping it as a Navy Reserve unit isn't feasible; (D) transferring it to the Coast Guard isn't feasible; and (E) keeping the ship isn't required to support the latest national defense strategy under section 113(g). (2) The certification must also explain: (A) the options considered and the reasoning behind the (A)-(D) determinations; and (B) the reasoning behind the (E) determination. (d) Form — The certification must be unclassified, though it may include a classified annex. (e) Definitions — "Battle force ship" means a commissioned United States Ship warship able to help in combat, or a United States Naval Ship that directly supports Navy warfighting or support missions. "Expected service life" means how many years a naval vessel is expected to stay in service.