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Title 33, Navigation and Navigable WatersRelease 119-110

§894c Change of Station

Title 33 › CHAPTER 17 — NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION › SUBCHAPTER VI — SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND ASSAULT PREVENTION › § 894c

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Require quick moves or work-location changes to protect NOAA officers or employees who were sexually assaulted. The Secretary of Commerce, through the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, must decide and act on an officer’s request for a change of station or unit transfer, and must try to accommodate an employee’s request to change work location. Decisions on these requests must be made within 72 hours. If a request is denied, the victim can ask the Secretary to review it, and the Secretary must confirm or reverse the denial within 72 hours of that review request. Also require a policy to protect victims by offering moves for alleged perpetrators when appropriate. That policy must limit the perpetrator’s access to the victim and give fair procedures for both people. The Secretary must write rules to carry out these requirements and, when possible, align them with similar Defense Department rules.

Full Legal Text

Title 33, §894c

Navigation and Navigable Waters, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Change of station, unit transfer, or change of work location of victims
(1)Timely consideration and action upon request
The Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, shall—
(A)in the case of a member of the commissioned officer corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who was a victim of a sexual assault, in order to reduce the possibility of retaliation or further sexual assault, provide for timely determination and action on an application submitted by the victim for consideration of a change of station or unit transfer of the victim; and
(B)in the case of an employee of the Administration who was a victim of a sexual assault, to the degree practicable and in order to reduce the possibility of retaliation against the employee for reporting the sexual assault, accommodate a request for a change of work location of the victim.
(2)Procedures
(A)Period for approval and disapproval
The Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary, shall ensure that an application or request submitted under paragraph (1) for a change of station, unit transfer, or change of work location is approved or denied within 72 hours of the submission of the application or request.
(B)Review
If an application or request submitted under paragraph (1) by a victim of a sexual assault for a change of station, unit transfer, or change of work location of the victim is denied—
(i)the victim may request the Secretary to review the denial; and
(ii)the Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary, shall, not later than 72 hours after receiving such request, affirm or overturn the denial.
(b)Change of station, unit transfer, and change of work location of alleged perpetrators
(1)In general
The Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary, shall develop a policy for the protection of victims of sexual assault described in subsection (a)(1) by providing the alleged perpetrator of the sexual assault with a change of station, unit transfer, or change of work location, as the case may be, if the alleged perpetrator is a member of the commissioned officer corps of the Administration or an employee of the Administration.
(2)Policy requirements
The policy required by paragraph (1) shall include the following:
(A)A means to control access to the victim.
(B)Due process for the victim and the alleged perpetrator.
(c)Regulations
(1)In general
The Secretary shall promulgate regulations to carry out this section.
(2)Consistency
When practicable, the Secretary shall make regulations promulgated under this section consistent with similar regulations promulgated by the Secretary of Defense.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

33 U.S.C. § 894c

Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110