§70116 — Title 46 Shipping | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary may act to stop or respond to terrorism, cyber attacks, transnational organized crime, and threats from foreign states against people, ships, or public and commercial structures that are under U.S. authority and are in or next to U.S. waters. The authority also covers U.S. vessels and people on them. To do this, the Secretary can order inspections, set up patrols and security or safety zones, make contingency plans, recruit and train Regular Coast Guard and Reserve members, and send trained (and armed if needed) Coast Guard personnel onto vessels and structures. For some legal purposes this authority is treated as part of chapter 700 when using sections 70031, 70032, 70033, 70035, and 70036. When acting to prevent or respond to those threats, the Secretary may use this authority without following chapters 5 and 6 of title 5 or Executive Orders 12866 and 13563.

Title 46, §70116

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(a)The Secretary may take actions described in subsection (b) to prevent or respond to an act of terrorism, cyber incidents, transnational organized crime, and foreign state threats against—

(1)an individual, vessel, or public or commercial structure, that is—

(A)subject to the jurisdiction of the United States; and

(B)located within or adjacent to the marine environment; or

(2)a vessel of the United States or an individual on board that vessel.

(b)Under subsection (a), the Secretary may—

(1)carry out or require measures, including inspections, port and harbor patrols, the establishment of security and safety zones, and the development of contingency plans and procedures, to prevent or respond to acts of terrorism, cyber incidents, transnational organized crime, and foreign state threats;

(2)recruit members of the Regular Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Reserve and train members of the Regular Coast Guard and the Coast Guard Reserve in the techniques of preventing and responding to acts of terrorism, cyber incidents, transnational organized crime, and foreign state threats; and

(3)dispatch properly trained and qualified, armed (as needed), Coast Guard personnel on vessels and public or commercial structures on or adjacent to waters subject to United States jurisdiction to deter or respond to acts of terrorism, cyber incidents, transnational organized crime, foreign state threats, or transportation security incidents, as defined in section 70101 of title 46, United States Code.

(c)This section shall be treated as part of chapter 700 for purposes of section 70031, 70032, 70033, 70035, and 70036. When preventing or responding to acts of terrorism, cyber incidents, transnational organized crime, or foreign state threats, the Secretary may carry out this section without regard to chapters 5 and 6 of title 5 or Executive Order Nos. 12866 and 13563.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Executive Order Nos. 12866 and 13563, referred to in subsec. (c), are set out as notes under section 601 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. Codification Section, as added and amended by Pub. L. 115–282, is based on subsecs. (a) and (b) of Pub. L. 92–340, § 7, as added Pub. L. 99–399, title IX, § 906, Aug. 27, 1986, 100 Stat. 890; amended Pub. L. 107–295, title I, § 107(a), Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2088, which was formerly classified to section 1226(a), (b) of Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters, before being transferred to this chapter and renumbered as this section. Subsections (a) and (b) of section 7 of Pub. L. 92–340 were also renumbered as section 70102a of this title by Pub. L. 115–282, title IV, § 408(a), Dec. 4, 2018, 132 Stat. 4268.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 70116, added Pub. L. 107–295, title I, § 102(a), Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2083, related to secure systems of transportation, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 115–254, div. J, § 1809(b), Oct. 5, 2018, 132 Stat. 3538.

Amendments

2025—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 119–60, § 7701(b)(1), substituted “terrorism, cyber” for “terrorism cyber”. Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 119–60, § 7701(b)(2), inserted a comma after “acts of terrorism”. 2021—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 116–283, § 8341(1), inserted “, cyber incidents, transnational organized crime, and foreign state threats” after “an act of terrorism” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (b)(1), (2). Pub. L. 116–283, § 8341(2)(A), inserted “cyber incidents, transnational organized crime, and foreign state threats” after “terrorism”. Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 116–283, § 8341(2)(B), substituted “, armed (as needed),” for “armed” and “terrorism, cyber incidents, transnational organized crime, foreign state threats, or transportation security incidents,” for “terrorism or transportation security incidents,”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 116–283, § 8341(3), substituted “70033,” for “70034,” and inserted at end “When preventing or responding to acts of terrorism, cyber incidents, transnational organized crime, or foreign state threats, the Secretary may carry out this section without regard to chapters 5 and 6 of title 5 or Executive Order Nos. 12866 and 13563.” 2018—Pub. L. 115–282, § 402(b)(1), transferred section catchline and subsecs. (a) and (b) of section 7 of Pub. L. 92–340 to this chapter and redesignated them as this section. See Codification note above. Catchline text was editorially conformed to the style used in this title. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 115–282, § 402(b)(2), added subsec. (c).

§70116 Port, harbor, and coastal facility security