Title 15Commerce and TradeRelease 119-73

§1514 Basic authority for performance of certain functions and activities of Department

Title 15 › Chapter CHAPTER 40— - DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE › § 1514

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Allows the Department of Commerce to pay for and provide certain services and facilities for its employees and for other federal workers (and military personnel when their services are not available and they ask) in Alaska and other places outside the continental United States. The Secretary of Commerce decides when these things are needed. The department can provide free emergency medical care and supplies; buy, ship, store, and resell food and other basics at fair prices (the money from sales goes back into the same fund used to buy them); run dining/messing facilities where family options are not available; pay employees back when they give emergency help to people in remote areas; supply movie equipment and film for crew recreation and training; and build, fix, equip, and maintain living and work quarters at remote locations not on foreign soil.

Full Legal Text

Title 15, §1514

Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Appropriations are authorized for the following activities of the Department of Commerce:
(a)furnishing to employees of the Department of Commerce and other Federal agencies (including Army, Navy, and Air Force personnel where Army, Navy, or Air Force facilities or supplies are not available and upon request of the service concerned), and their dependents, in Alaska and other points outside the continental United States, free emergency medical services by contract or otherwise and free emergency medical supplies, where in the judgment of the Secretary furnishing of such supplies and services is necessary;
(b)when deemed necessary by the Secretary of Commerce, purchasing, transporting, storing, and distributing food and other subsistence supplies for resale to employees of the Department of Commerce and other Federal agencies (including Army, Navy, and Air Force personnel where Army, Navy, or Air Force facilities or supplies are not available and upon request of the service concerned), and their dependents, in Alaska and other points outside the continental United States at a reasonable value as determined by the Secretary of Commerce, the proceeds from such resales to be credited to the appropriation from which the expenditure was made;
(c)when deemed necessary by the Secretary of Commerce, the establishment, maintenance, and operation of messing facilities, by contract or otherwise, in Alaska and other points outside the continental United States where suitable family facilities are not available, such service to be furnished to employees of the Department of Commerce and other Federal agencies (including Army, Navy, and Air Force personnel where Army, Navy, or Air Force facilities are not available and upon request of the service concerned), and their dependents, in accordance with regulations established by the Secretary of Commerce, and at a reasonable value determined in accordance therewith, the proceeds from the furnishing of such services to be credited to the appropriation from which the expenditures are made;
(d)reimbursement, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, of officers and employees in or under the Department of Commerce, for food, clothing, medicines, and other supplies furnished by them in emergencies for the temporary relief of distressed persons in remote localities;
(e)providing motion-picture equipment and film for recreation of crews of vessels of the National Ocean Survey, for recreation of employees in remote localities where such facilities are not available, and for training purposes;
(f)erecting, altering, repairing, equipping, furnishing, and maintaining, by contract or otherwise, such living and working quarters and facilities as may be necessary to carry out its authorized work at remote localities not on foreign soil where such living and working accommodations are not otherwise available.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 596a of Title 5 prior to the general revision and enactment of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, by Pub. L. 89–554, § 1, Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 378.

Amendments

1975—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 93–608 struck out proviso requiring an annual report to Congress of the total expenditures made for such supplies and total proceeds from resales. 1954—Subsec. (c). Act Aug. 30, 1954, struck out proviso requiring the Secretary of Commerce to submit annually to Congress a report showing the expenditures for the establishment, maintenance, and operation of messing facilities in Alaska and other points outside the continental United States.

Executive Documents

Change of Name

Coast and Geodetic Survey consolidated with National Weather Bureau in 1965 to form Environmental Science Services Administration by Reorg. Plan No. 2 of 1965, eff. July 13, 1965, 30 F.R. 8819, 79 Stat. 1318. Environmental Science Services Administration abolished in 1970 and its personnel, property, records, etc., transferred to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by Reorg. Plan No. 4 of 1970, eff. Oct. 3, 1970, 35 F.R. 15627, 84 Stat. 2090, set out as a note under section 1511 of this title. By order of Acting Associate Administrator of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 35 F.R. 19249, Dec. 19, 1970, Coast and Geodetic Survey redesignated National Ocean Survey. See notes under section 311 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

15 U.S.C. § 1514

Title 15Commerce and Trade

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73