§282 — Title 10 Armed Forces | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary of Defense can help the Department of Justice if the Attorney General asks during an emergency involving a weapon of mass destruction. Both the Secretary and the Attorney General must agree an emergency exists. The Secretary must also decide that giving help will not hurt U.S. military readiness. Help can include using people and equipment to monitor, contain, disable, or dispose of the weapon (including gear from section 372). The Defense Department must be paid back as required by section 377. "Emergency situation involving a weapon of mass destruction" means a serious WMD threat to U.S. interests where civilian experts are not available, DoD’s special skills are needed, and enforcing the laws in 18 U.S.C. 175, 229, or 2332a would be seriously harmed without DoD help. The Secretary and Attorney General must write rules about what help is allowed and what actions DoD personnel may take. Normally those rules do not let DoD make arrests, do searches or seizures, or collect law‑enforcement intelligence, unless it is needed immediately to save lives and civilian police cannot act, or the action is allowed under other law. The Deputy Secretary or Deputy Attorney General may act in place of their boss unless told otherwise, and delegations are limited to certain high-level officials. Nothing here limits executive powers that existed before September 23, 1996.

Title 10, §282

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of Defense, upon the request of the Attorney General, may provide assistance in support of Department of Justice activities relating to the enforcement of section 175, 229, or 2332a of title 18 during an emergency situation involving a weapon of mass destruction. Department of Defense resources, including personnel of the Department of Defense, may be used to provide such assistance if—

(1)the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General jointly determine that an emergency situation exists; and

(2)the Secretary of Defense determines that the provision of such assistance will not adversely affect the military preparedness of the United States.

(b)In this section, the term “emergency situation involving a weapon of mass destruction” means a circumstance involving a weapon of mass destruction—

(1)that poses a serious threat to the interests of the United States; and

(2)in which—

(A)civilian expertise and capabilities are not readily available to provide the required assistance to counter the threat immediately posed by the weapon involved;

(B)special capabilities and expertise of the Department of Defense are necessary and critical to counter the threat posed by the weapon involved; and

(C)enforcement of section 175, 229, or 2332a of title 18 would be seriously impaired if the Department of Defense assistance were not provided.

(c)The assistance referred to in subsection (a) includes the operation of equipment (including equipment made available under section 372 11 See References in Text note below. of this title) to monitor, contain, disable, or dispose of the weapon involved or elements of the weapon.

(d)(1)The Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General shall jointly prescribe regulations concerning the types of assistance that may be provided under this section. Such regulations shall also describe the actions that Department of Defense personnel may take in circumstances incident to the provision of assistance under this section.

(2)(A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the regulations may not authorize the following actions:

(i)Arrest.

(ii)Any direct participation in conducting a search for or seizure of evidence related to a violation of section 175, 229, or 2332a of title 18.

(iii)Any direct participation in the collection of intelligence for law enforcement purposes.

(B)The regulations may authorize an action described in subparagraph (A) to be taken under the following conditions:

(i)The action is considered necessary for the immediate protection of human life, and civilian law enforcement officials are not capable of taking the action.

(ii)The action is otherwise authorized under subsection (c) or under otherwise applicable law.

(e)The Secretary of Defense shall require reimbursement as a condition for providing assistance under this section to the extent required under section 377 1 of this title.

(f)(1)Except to the extent otherwise provided by the Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Secretary of Defense may exercise the authority of the Secretary of Defense under this section. The Secretary of Defense may delegate the Secretary’s authority under this section only to an Under Secretary of Defense or an Assistant Secretary of Defense and only if the Under Secretary or Assistant Secretary to whom delegated has been designated by the Secretary to act for, and to exercise the general powers of, the Secretary.

(2)Except to the extent otherwise provided by the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General may exercise the authority of the Attorney General under this section. The Attorney General may delegate that authority only to the Associate Attorney General or an Assistant Attorney General and only if the Associate Attorney General or Assistant Attorney General to whom delegated has been designated by the Attorney General to act for, and to exercise the general powers of, the Attorney General.

(g)Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict any executive branch authority regarding use of members of the armed forces or equipment of the Department of Defense that was in effect before September 23, 1996.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 372 of this title, referred to in subsec. (c), was renumbered section 272 of this title by Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title XII, § 1241(a)(2), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2497. section 377 of this title, referred to in subsec. (e), was renumbered section 277 of this title by Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title XII, § 1241(a)(2), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2497.

Amendments

2016—Pub. L. 114–328 renumbered section 382 of this title as this section. 2011—Pub. L. 111–383, § 1075(b)(10)(B), struck out “chemical or biological” before “weapons” in section catchline. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 112–81 struck out “biological or chemical” before “weapon of mass destruction” in introductory provisions. Pub. L. 111–383, § 1075(b)(10)(A), substituted “section 175, 229, or 2332a” for “section 175 or 2332c”. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 112–81 struck out “biological or chemical” before “weapon of mass destruction” in two places in introductory provisions. Subsecs. (b)(2)(C), (d)(2)(A)(ii). Pub. L. 111–383, § 1075(b)(10)(A), substituted “section 175, 229, or 2332a” for “section 175 or 2332c”. 1997—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 105–85 substituted “September 23, 1996” for “the date of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Military Assistance to Civil Authorities To Respond to Act or Threat of Terrorism Pub. L. 106–65, div. A, title X, § 1023, Oct. 5, 1999, 113 Stat. 747, authorized the Secretary of Defense, upon the request of the Attorney General, to provide assistance to civil authorities in responding to an act of terrorism or threat of an act of terrorism within the United States, if the Secretary determined that certain conditions were met, subject to reimbursement and limitations on funding and personnel, and provided that this authority applied between Oct. 1, 1999, and Sept. 30, 2004.

§282 Emergency situations involving weapons of mass destruction