46 U.S.C. § 51103 — General authority of Secretary of Transportation
submitted 20 years ago by Pub. L. 109-304 to r/title-46-SHIPPING · 673 words · no verdicts yet
The Secretary may provide merchant-marine education and training and may make excess Government marine equipment available to approved schools. The section also authorizes agency assistance, Academy hiring, and conditional transfers of certain property for historical purposes.
(a) The Secretary may educate and train United States citizens for safe, efficient merchant-marine operation, including naval or military-auxiliary service during war or national emergency. (b)(1) The Secretary may give, lend, sell, lease, or charter excess or surplus Government vessels, fuel, shipboard equipment, and other marine equipment to the institutions in paragraph (2), on suitable terms, for instruction. Navy Secretary consent is required for specified National Defense Reserve Fleet vessels that are Ready Reserve Force vessels or valuable enough to preserve. (2) The institutions are the United States Merchant Marine Academy*, a State maritime academy*, and an approved nonprofit or governmental training institution offering courses meeting Federal maritime-training rules. (c)(1) The Secretary may obtain necessary information, facilities, and equipment directly from agencies on a reimbursable basis. (2) An agency* head may, on request, detail personnel to the Secretary on that basis. (d) The Secretary may hire Academy professors, lecturers, or instructors without competitive-service appointment rules and may pay them without regard to title 5 chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53. (e)(1) The Secretary may transfer Government rights in Maritime Administration property other than real estate or vessels if it is not needed and the recipient is a nonprofit, State*, or State subdivision that: (i) accepts responsibility for post-transfer hazardous-material claims; (ii) submits an approved intended-use description; (iii) proves sufficient resources to use and maintain it; (iv) when it no longer needs it, returns it at its expense in received condition except ordinary wear, or, with approval, keeps, sells, or disposes of it lawfully; and (v) accepts additional appropriate terms. (2) The transfer must provide that all transferred rights revert to the Government if the Secretary finds the property was used differently from the approved use.
The Secretary of Transportation may provide for the education and training of citizens of the United States for the safe and efficient operation of the merchant marine of the United States at all times, including operation as a naval and military auxiliary in time of war or national emergency.
The Secretary may cooperate with and assist the institutions named in paragraph (2) by making vessels, fuel, shipboard equipment, and other marine equipment, owned by the United States Government and determined by the entity having custody and control of such property to be excess or surplus, available to those institutions for instructional purposes, by gift, loan, sale, lease, or charter on terms and conditions the Secretary considers appropriate. The consent of the Secretary of the Navy shall be obtained with respect to any property from National Defense Reserve Fleet vessels, if such vessels are either Ready Reserve Force vessels or other National Defense Reserve Fleet vessels determined to be of sufficient value to the Navy to warrant their further preservation and retention.
The institutions referred to in paragraph (1) are—
the United States Merchant Marine Academy*;
a State maritime academy*; and
a nonprofit training institution or a training institution that is an instrumentality of a State*, the District of Columbia, a territory or possession of the United States, or a unit of local government thereof jointly approved by the Secretary of Transportation and the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating as offering training courses that meet Federal regulations for maritime training.
The Secretary of Transportation may secure directly from an agency*, on a reimbursable basis, information, facilities, and equipment necessary to carry out this part.
At the request of the Secretary, the head of an agency (including a military department) may detail, on a reimbursable basis, personnel from the agency to the Secretary to assist in carrying out this part.
To carry out this part, the Secretary may—
employ an individual as a professor, lecturer, or instructor at the Academy, without regard to the provisions of title 5 governing appointments in the competitive service; and
pay the individual without regard to chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5.
The Secretary may convey the right, title, and interest of the United States Government in any property administered by the Maritime Administration, except real estate or vessels, if—
the Secretary determines that such property is not needed by the Maritime Administration; and
the recipient—
is a nonprofit organization, a State, or a political subdivision of a State;
agrees to hold the Government harmless for any claims arising from exposure to hazardous materials, including asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls, or lead paint, after conveyance of the property;
provides a description and explanation of the intended use of the property to the Secretary for approval;
has provided to the Secretary proof, as determined by the Secretary, of resources sufficient to accomplish the intended use provided under clause (iii) and to maintain the property;
agrees that when the recipient no longer requires the property, the recipient shall—
return the property to the Secretary, at the recipient’s expense and in the same condition as received except for ordinary wear and tear; or
subject to the approval of the Secretary, retain, sell, or otherwise dispose of the property in a manner consistent with applicable law; and
agrees to any additional terms the Secretary considers appropriate.
The Secretary shall include in any conveyance under this subsection terms under which all right, title, and interest conveyed by the Secretary shall revert to the Government if the Secretary determines the property has been used other than as approved by the Secretary under paragraph (1)(B)(iii).
Source credit: (Pub. L. 109–304, § 8(b), Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1569; Pub. L. 112–213, title IV, § 404, Dec. 20, 2012, 126 Stat. 1570; Pub. L. 113–281, title III, § 302, Dec. 18, 2014, 128 Stat. 3042.)
- 2006Enacted · Pub. L. 109-304 · 120 Stat. 1569
- 2012Amended · Pub. L. 112-213 · 126 Stat. 1570
- 2014Amended · Pub. L. 113-281 · 128 Stat. 3042
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 109-304 on 2006-10-06.
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