Collapse to view only § 1512. Powers and duties of Department
- § 1501. Establishment of Department; Secretary; seal
- §§ 1502, 1503. Omitted
- § 1503a. Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs
- § 1503b. Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere; duties; appointment; compensation
- § 1504. Repealed.
- § 1505. Additional Assistant Secretary; duties, rank of Assistant Secretaries
- § 1506. Additional Assistant Secretary; appointment; applicability of section 1505
- § 1507. Additional Assistant Secretary; appointment; compensation; duties
- § 1507a. Repealed.
- § 1507b. Assistant Secretary of Commerce; appointment; compensation; duties
- § 1507c. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere; duties; appointment; compensation
- § 1508. General Counsel
- § 1509. Designation of officer to sign routine papers
- § 1510. Clerical assistants
- § 1511. Bureaus in Department
- § 1511a. Repealed.
- § 1511b. United States fishery trade officers
- § 1511c. Estuarine Programs Office
- § 1511d. Chesapeake Bay Office
- § 1511e. Repealed.
- § 1512. Powers and duties of Department
- § 1513. Duties and powers vested in Department
- § 1513a. Cost estimates for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration programs included in Department budget justification
- § 1513b. Cost estimates for National Institute of Standards and Technology construction projects included in Department budget justification
- § 1514. Basic authority for performance of certain functions and activities of Department
- § 1515. Records, etc., of bureaus transferred to Department of Commerce
- § 1516. Statistical information
- § 1516a. Statistics relating to social, health, and economic conditions of Americans of Spanish origin or descent
- § 1517. Transfer of statistical or scientific work
- § 1518. Custody of buildings; officers transferred
- § 1519. Annual and special reports
- § 1519a. Repealed.
- § 1520. Repealed.
- § 1521. Working capital fund; establishment; amount; uses; reimbursement
- § 1521a. Department of Commerce Nonrecurring Expenses Fund
- § 1522. Acceptance of gifts and bequests for purposes of the Department; separate fund; disbursements
- § 1523. Tax status of gifts and bequests of property
- § 1524. Investment and reinvestments of moneys; credit and disbursement of interest
- § 1525. Special studies; special compilations, lists, bulletins, or reports; clearinghouse for technical information; transcripts or copies; cost payments for special work; joint projects: cost apportionment, waiver
- § 1526. Receipts for work or services; deposit in special accounts; availability for payment of costs, repayment or advances to appropriations or funds, refunds, credits to working capital funds; appropriation limitation of annual expenditures from accounts
- § 1527. Fees or charges for services or publications under existing law unaffected
- § 1527a. Economics and Statistics Administration Revolving Fund
- § 1528. Transferred
- § 1529. Relinquishment of legislative jurisdiction over certain lands
- § 1530. Awarding of contracts for performance of commercial activity by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- § 1531. Buying Power Maintenance accounts for International Trade Administration, Export Administration, and United States Travel and Tourism Administration
- § 1532. Telecommunications; electromagnetic radiation; research, analysis, dissemination of information; other functions of Secretary
- § 1533. Repealed.
- § 1534. Assessment of fees for access to environmental data
- § 1535. Repealed.
- § 1536. Prohibition against fraudulent use of “Made in America” labels
- § 1537. Needs assessment for data management, archival, and distribution
- § 1538. Notice of reprogramming
- § 1539. Financial assistance
- § 1540. Cooperative agreements
- § 1541. Administrative Law Judges
- § 1542. Establishment of the Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship Program
- § 1543. Task force on job repatriation and manufacturing growth
- § 1544. Promotion of tourist travel
- § 1545. Cooperation with travel agencies; publication of information
- § 1546. United States Travel and Tourism Advisory Board
- § 1547. Rules and regulations; employees
- § 1548. Authorization of appropriations
There shall be at the seat of government an executive department to be known as the Department of Commerce, and a Secretary of Commerce, who shall be the head thereof, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and whose term and tenure of office shall be like that of the heads of the other executive departments; and the provisions of title 4 of the Revised Statutes, including all amendments thereto, shall be applicable to said department. The said Secretary shall cause a seal of office to be made for the said department of such device as the President shall approve, and judicial notice shall be taken of the said seal.
There shall be in the Department of Commerce an Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs who shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Under Secretary shall perform such duties as the Secretary of Commerce shall prescribe.
There shall be in the Department of Commerce an Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere who shall serve as the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration established by Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970 [5 U.S.C. App.] and perform such duties as the Secretary of Commerce shall prescribe. The Under Secretary shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and shall be compensated at the rate now or hereafter provided for Level III of the Executive Schedule Pay Rates (5 U.S.C. 5314).
There shall be in the Department of Commerce one additional Assistant Secretary of Commerce, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Secretary of Commerce may assign to his Assistant Secretaries such duties, including the direction of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, as he shall prescribe, or may be required by law. The Assistant Secretaries of Commerce shall be without numerical distinction of rank.
There shall be on and after July 2, 1954 in the Department of Commerce, in addition to the Assistant Secretaries now provided for by law, one additional Assistant Secretary of Commerce, who shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and who shall be subject in all respects to the provisions of section 1505 of this title, relating to Assistant Secretaries of Commerce.
There shall be in the Department of Commerce, in addition to the Assistant Secretaries now provided by law, one additional Assistant Secretary of Commerce who shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall receive compensation at the rate prescribed by law for Assistant Secretaries of Commerce, and shall perform such duties as the Secretary of Commerce shall prescribe.
There shall be in the Department of Commerce, in addition to the Assistant Secretaries provided by law as of November 12, 1977, one additional Assistant Secretary of Commerce who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Such Assistant Secretary shall perform such duties as the Secretary of Commerce shall prescribe.
There shall be in the Department of Commerce, in addition to the Assistant Secretaries of Commerce provided by law before November 14, 1986, one additional Assistant Secretary of Commerce who shall have the title Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and shall serve as the Deputy Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration established by Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970 [5 U.S.C. App.] and perform such duties and functions as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere shall prescribe. The Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and shall be compensated at the rate now or hereafter provided for Level IV of the Executive Schedule Pay Rates (5 U.S.C. 5315).
There shall be in the Department of Commerce a General Counsel, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
The Secretary may designate an officer of the Department to sign minor routine official papers and documents during the temporary absence of the Secretary, the Under Secretary, and the Assistant Secretaries of the Department.
There shall also be such clerical assistants as may from time to time be authorized by the Congress.
It shall be the province and duty of said Department to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce, the mining, manufacturing, and fishery industries of the United States; and to this end it shall be vested with jurisdiction and control of the departments, bureaus, offices, and branches of the public service hereinafter specified, and with such other powers and duties as may be prescribed by law.
All duties performed and all power and authority possessed or exercised by the head of any executive department in and over any bureau, office, officer, board, branch, or division of the public service transferred to the Department of Commerce, or any business arising therefrom or pertaining thereto, or in relation to the duties performed by and authority conferred by law upon such bureau, officer, office, board, branch, or division of the public service, whether of an appellate or revisory character or otherwise, shall be vested in and exercised by the Secretary of Commerce.
Beginning in fiscal year 2007 and for each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary of Commerce shall include in the budget justification materials that the Secretary submits to Congress in support of the Department of Commerce budget (as submitted with the budget of the President under section 1105(a) of title 31) an estimate for each National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration procurement, acquisition and construction program having a total multiyear program cost of more than $5,000,000 and an estimate of the budgetary requirements for each such program for each of the five subsequent fiscal years.
Beginning in fiscal year 2007 and for each fiscal year thereafter, the Secretary of Commerce shall include in the budget justification materials that the Secretary submits to Congress in support of the Department of Commerce budget (as submitted with the budget of the President under section 1105(a) of title 31) an estimate for each National Institute of Standards and Technology construction project having a total multiyear program cost of more than $5,000,000 and simultaneously the budget justification materials shall include an estimate of the budgetary requirements for each such project for each of the five subsequent fiscal years.
The official records and papers on file in and pertaining exclusively to the business of any bureau, office, department, or branch of the public service transferred to the Department of Commerce, together with the furniture in use in such bureau, office, department, or branch of the public service, are transferred to the Department of Commerce.
The Secretary of Commerce shall have control of the work of gathering and distributing statistical information naturally relating to the subjects confided to his department; and he shall have the power and authority to rearrange the statistical work of the bureaus and offices confided to the Department of Commerce, and to consolidate any of the statistical bureaus and offices above described. He shall also have authority to call upon other departments of the Government for statistical data and results obtained by them; and he may collate, arrange, and publish such statistical information so obtained in such manner as to him may seem wise.
The Department of Commerce, the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Agriculture shall each collect, and publish regularly, statistics which indicate the social, health, and economic condition of Americans of Spanish origin or descent.
The President is authorized, by order in writing, to transfer at any time the whole or any part of any office, bureau, division, or other branch of the public service engaged in statistical or scientific work, from the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, the United States Postal Service, or the Department of the Interior, to the Department of Commerce; and in every such case the duties and authority performed by and conferred by law upon such office, bureau, division, or other branch of the public service, or the part thereof so transferred, shall be thereby transferred with such office, bureau, division, or other branch of the public service, or the part thereof which is so transferred. All power and authority conferred by law, both supervisory and appellate, upon the department from which such transfer is made, or the Secretary thereof, in relation to the said office, bureau, division, or other branch of the public service, or the part thereof so transferred, shall immediately, when such transfer is so ordered by the President, be fully conferred upon and vested in the Department of Commerce, or the Secretary thereof, as the case may be, as to the whole or part of such office, bureau, division, or other branch of the public service so transferred.
The Secretary of Commerce shall have charge, in the buildings or premises occupied by or appropriated to the Department of Commerce, of the library, furniture, fixtures, records, and other property pertaining to it or acquired for use in its business; and he shall be allowed to expend for periodicals and the purposes of the library, and for the rental of appropriate quarters for the accommodation of the Department of Commerce within the District of Columbia, and for all other incidental expenses, such sums as Congress may provide from time to time. Where any office, bureau, or branch of the public service transferred to the Department of Commerce is occupying rented buildings or premises, it may still continue to do so until other suitable quarters are provided for its use. All officers, clerks, and employees employed on February 14, 1903, in or by any of the bureaus, offices, departments, or branches of the public service transferred to the Department of Commerce are each and all transferred to said department, except where otherwise provided by law. All laws prescribing the work and defining the duties of the several bureaus, offices, departments, or branches of the public service transferred to and made a part of the Department of Commerce shall, so far as the same are not in conflict with the provisions of this Act, remain in full force and effect until otherwise provided by law.
The Secretary of Commerce shall annually, at the close of each fiscal year, make a report in writing to Congress, giving an account of all moneys received and disbursed by him and his Department, and describing the work done by the Department in fostering, promoting, and developing the foreign and domestic commerce, the mining, manufacturing, and fishery industries; of the United States, and making such recommendations as he shall deem necessary for the effective performance of the duties and purposes of the Department. He shall also from time to time make such special investigations and reports as he may be required to do by the President, or by either House of Congress, or which he himself may deem necessary and urgent.
There is established a working capital fund of $100,000, without fiscal year limitation, for the payment of salaries and other expenses necessary to the maintenance and operation of (1) central duplicating, photographic, drafting, and photostating services and (2) such other services as the Secretary, with the approval of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, determines may be performed more advantageously as central services; said fund to be reimbursed from applicable funds of bureaus, offices, and agencies for which services are performed on the basis of rates which shall include estimated or actual charges for personal services, materials, equipment (including maintenance, repairs, and depreciation) and other expenses: Provided, That such central services shall, to the fullest extent practicable, be used to make unnecessary the maintenance of separate like services in the bureaus, offices, and agencies of the Department: Provided further, That a separate schedule of expenditures and reimbursements, and a statement of the current assets and liabilities of the working capital fund as of the close of the last completed fiscal year, shall be included in the annual Budget.
The Secretary of Commerce is hereby authorized to accept, hold, administer, and utilize gifts and bequests of property, both real and personal, for the purpose of aiding or facilitating the work of the Department of Commerce. Gifts and bequests of money and the proceeds from sales of other property received as gifts or bequests shall be deposited in the Treasury in a separate fund and shall be disbursed upon order of the Secretary of Commerce. Property accepted pursuant to this provision, and the proceeds thereof, shall be used as nearly as possible in accordance with the terms of the gift or bequest.
For the purpose of Federal income, estate, and gift taxes, property accepted under section 1522 of this title shall be considered as a gift or bequest to or for the use of the United States.
Upon the request of the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of the Treasury may invest and reinvest in securities of the United States or in securities guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United States any moneys contained in the fund authorized herein. Income accruing from such securities, and from any other property accepted pursuant to section 1522 of this title, shall be deposited to the credit of the fund authorized herein, and shall be disbursed upon order of the Secretary of Commerce.
The Secretary of Commerce is authorized, upon the request of any person, firm, organization, or others, public or private, to make special studies on matters within the authority of the Department of Commerce; to prepare from its records special compilations, lists, bulletins, or reports; to perform the functions authorized by section 1152 of this title; and to furnish transcripts or copies of its studies, compilations, and other records; upon the payment of the actual or estimated cost of such special work.
In the case of nonprofit organizations, research organizations, or public organizations or agencies, the Secretary may engage in joint projects, or perform services, on matters of mutual interest, the cost of which shall be apportioned equitably, as determined by the Secretary, who may, however, waive payment of any portion of such costs by others, when authorized to do so under regulations approved by the Office of Management and Budget.
All payments for work or services performed or to be performed under this Act shall be deposited in a separate account or accounts which may be used to pay directly the costs of such work or services, to repay or make advances to appropriations or funds which do or will initially bear all or part of such costs, or to refund excess sums when necessary: Provided, That said receipts may be credited to a working capital fund otherwise established by law, and used under the law governing said funds, if the fund is available for use by the agency of the Department of Commerce which is responsible for performing the work or services for which payment is received. Acts appropriating funds to the Department of Commerce may include provisions limiting annual expenditure from said account or accounts.
There is hereby established the Economics and Statistics Administration Revolving Fund which shall be available without fiscal year limitation. For initial capitalization, there is appropriated $1,677,000 to the Fund: Provided, That the Secretary of Commerce is authorized to disseminate economic and statistical data products as authorized by sections 1525 to 1527 of this title and, notwithstanding section 4912 of this title, charge fees necessary to recover the full costs incurred in their production. Notwithstanding section 3302 of title 31, receipts received from these data dissemination activities shall be credited to this account as offsetting collections, to be available for carrying out these purposes without further appropriation.
In order to maintain overseas program activity for the Department of Commerce provided for each fiscal year at the appropriated program levels, the Secretary may establish Buying Power Maintenance accounts for the International Trade Administration, the Export Administration, and the United States Travel and Tourism Administration. There are authorized to be appropriated for such accounts such sums as may be necessary to offset adverse fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, or unbudgeted overseas wage and price changes. To eliminate substantial gains to the approved levels of overseas operations, the Secretary shall transfer to a Buying Power Maintenance account such amounts determined to be excessive to the needs of the approved level of overseas operations because of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates or changes in unbudgeted overseas wages and prices, including unobligated balances associated with the overseas program. To offset adverse fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates or unbudgeted overseas wage and price changes, the Secretary may transfer from a Buying Power Maintenance account such amounts determined to be necessary to maintain the approved level of overseas operations under an appropriation account. Funds transferred by the Secretary to or from a Buying Power Maintenance account to another account shall be merged with and be available for the same purpose, and for the same time period, as the funds in the account into which transferred. Any restriction contained in an appropriation Act or other provision of law limiting the amounts available for the Department of Commerce that may be obligated or expended shall be deemed to be adjusted to the extent necessary to offset the net effect of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates or unbudgeted overseas wage and price changes in order to maintain approved levels.
If it has been finally determined by a court or a Federal agency that any person intentionally affixed a label bearing a “Made in America” inscription, or an inscription with the same meaning, to any product sold in or shipped to the United States that is not made in the United States, that person shall be ineligible to receive any contract or subcontract from the Department of Commerce, pursuant to the debarment, suspension, and ineligibility procedures in subpart 9.4 of chapter 1 of title 48, Code of Federal Regulations.
Notwithstanding section 559 of title 5, with respect to any marine resource conservation law or regulation administered by the Secretary of Commerce acting through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, all adjudicatory functions which are required by chapter 5 of title 5 to be performed by an Administrative Law Judge may be performed by another Federal agency on a reimbursable basis. Should another Federal agency require the detail of an Administrative Law Judge to perform any of these functions, it may request such temporary or occasional assistance from the Office of Personnel Management pursuant to section 3344 of title 5.
The Secretary of Commerce shall maintain a task force on job repatriation and manufacturing growth and shall produce an annual report on related incentive strategies, implementation plans and program results.
The Secretary of Commerce shall encourage, promote, and develop travel within the United States, including any Commonwealth, territory, and possession thereof, through activities which are in the public interest and which do not compete with activities of any State, city, or private agency.
In carrying out the purposes of sections 1544 to 1548 of this title, the Secretary is authorized to cooperate with public and private tourist, travel, and other agencies in the display of exhibits, and in the collection, publication, and dissemination of information with respect to places of interest, routes, transportation facilities, accommodations, and such other matters as he deems advisable and advantageous for the purpose of encouraging, promoting, or developing such travel. Nothing in said sections shall prohibit the preparation of graphic materials in foreign languages, designed to call attention to the attractions and places of interest in the United States and to encourage the use of American registered ships and planes. The existing facilities of the United States Government in foreign countries are authorized to assist in the distribution of this material. The Secretary may enter into contracts with private publishers for such printing and binding as he may deem advisable in carrying out the purposes of said sections. The Secretary is also authorized to make charges for any publications made available to the public pursuant to said sections; and any proceeds from the sale of publications produced by the expenditure of contributed funds shall continue to be available for printing and binding as aforesaid.
For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of sections 1544 to 1548 of this title, there are authorized to be appropriated not to exceed $2,500,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1976; $625,000 for the transition period of July 1, 1976, through September 30, 1976; $2,500,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1977, and $2,500,000 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1978.