§53107 National Security Requirements

Summary

The Secretary must set up an Emergency Preparedness Program that the Secretary of Defense approves. Under that program, every contractor with an operating agreement must sign an Emergency Preparedness Agreement soon after the operating agreement starts. The agreement makes the contractor give up commercial shipping resources and related services when the Secretary of Defense asks during a war, a national emergency, or when needed for national security or contingency operations (see 10 U.S.C. 101). The Secretary and the Secretary of Defense will set the basic terms, and they may permit extra or changed terms for a contractor if the Secretary of Defense agrees. For any operating agreement that starts or is renewed after the date of enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, vessels carrying Department of Defense cargo in Coast Guard–designated high piracy areas must have at least appropriate non‑lethal defenses. The Secretary of Defense and the Coast Guard Secretary will jointly decide what those defenses are. A contractor cannot be forced to stay in an Emergency Preparedness Agreement after its operating agreement ends, except as allowed by section 53105(d); a contractor may volunteer to stay. Covered resources include vessels or vessel space, intermodal systems and equipment, terminals, and related services, and the Secretary of Defense should try to limit harm to commercial service. The agreements must require the Secretary of Defense to pay fair and reasonable compensation. Payment must be at least the contractor’s normal market charges, cover the whole time a resource is used, and be separate from amounts under section 53106. While a U.S. vessel is activated, a contractor may use a foreign‑flag vessel as a temporary replacement and that replacement can carry preference cargoes under sections 55302(a), 55304, 55305, 55314 and 10 U.S.C. 2631 to the same extent. When activation ends, resources must be returned in the same good condition except for normal wear, or the Secretary of Defense must pay for repair or replacement. Unless the agreement or another law says otherwise, the Government is not liable for lost commercial business or other indirect damages from activation.