§1451 Extra Compensation

Summary

Before a special license to unload a ship or vehicle at night, on a Sunday, or on a holiday is given, the ship’s master, owner, agent, or the person in charge must put up enough money or give a bond set by the Secretary to pay the customs officers and their expenses, as required under section 267. Instead of doing that for each occasion, an owner or agent can give a single bond, fixed by the Secretary of the Treasury, that covers special unloading licenses for up to one year. If someone (like the owner, consignee, or carrier) asks for customs officers to work overtime at night, on a Sunday, or on a holiday, the customs officer in charge must assign enough officers if they are available and if the work is lawful, but only after the requester deposits money or gives a bond set by that customs officer. Those officers get the same pay rates and terms as officers assigned for night, Sunday, or holiday loading or unloading. The Treasury may still assign officers to regular night or Sunday shifts when it is in the public interest. Owners, operators, or agents of highway vehicles, bridges, tunnels, or ferries between the United States and Canada or Mexico do not have to pay or give bonds for these customs services. At those border crossings, the Secretary of the Treasury will staff customs as needed during the 24 hours of each day, including Sundays and holidays, to help inspections and crossings. Officers on those shifts are paid under existing law as interpreted by the Supreme Court in United States v. Howard C. Myers (320 U.S. 561), and the United States pays all those costs without charging owners, operators, or agents. A “ferry” here means a passenger boat service that arrives on a regular schedule at least once each hour during the period when customs service is provided without reimbursement.