§ 51103. General authority of Secretary of Transportation

(a)Education and Training.— 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.

(b)Property for Instructional Purposes.—

(1)In general.— 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.

(2)Institutions.— The institutions referred to in paragraph (1) are—

(A) the United States Merchant Marine Academy;

(B) a State maritime academy; and

(C) 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.

(c)Assistance From Other Agencies.—

(1)In general.— The Secretary of Transportation may secure directly from an agency, on a reimbursable basis, information, facilities, and equipment necessary to carry out this part.

(2)Detailing personnel.— 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.

(d)Academy Personnel.— To carry out this part, the Secretary may—

(1) 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

(2) pay the individual without regard to chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5.

(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.)

Historical And Revision

Historical and Revision Notes
Revised Section	Source (U.S. Code)	Source (Statutes at Large)
51103(a)	46 App.:1295 (last sentence cl. (1)).	June 29, 1936, ch. 858, title XIII, § 1301 (last sentence cl. (1)), as added Pub. L. 96–453, § 2, Oct. 15, 1980, 94 Stat. 1997; Pub. L. 97–31, § 12(142)(A), Aug. 6, 1981, 95 Stat. 166.
51103(b)	46 App.:1295g(b).	June 29, 1936, ch. 858, title XIII, § 1308(b)–(d), as added Pub. L. 96–453, § 2, Oct. 15, 1980, 94 Stat. 2007.
51103(c)	46 App.:1295g(c).
51103(d)	46 App.:1295g(d).

In subsection (c), the word “department” is omitted as unnecessary because of the definition of “agency” in chapter 1 of the revised title.

Amendments

Amendments

2012—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 112–213, § 404(1), struck out “Surplus” before “Property” in heading.

Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 112–213, § 404(2), amended par. (1) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “The Secretary may cooperate with and assist the institutions named in paragraph (2) by making vessels, shipboard equipment, and other marine equipment, owned by the United States Government and determined to be excess or surplus, available to those institutions for instructional purposes, by gift, loan, sale, lease, or charter on terms the Secretary considers appropriate.”

Subsec. (b)(2)(C). Pub. L. 112–213, § 404(3), inserted “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” after “a nonprofit training institution”.