TITLE 14 - US CODE - CHAPTER 5 - FUNCTIONS AND POWERS

14 USC 81 - Aids to navigation authorized

In order to aid navigation and to prevent disasters, collisions, and wrecks of vessels and aircraft, the Coast Guard may establish, maintain, and operate:

(1) aids to maritime navigation required to serve the needs of the armed forces or of the commerce of the United States;

(2) aids to air navigation required to serve the needs of the armed forces of the United States peculiar to warfare and primarily of military concern as determined by the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of any department within the Department of Defense and as required by any of those officials; and

(3) electronic aids to navigation systems (a) required to serve the needs of the armed forces of the United States peculiar to warfare and primarily of military concern as determined by the Secretary of Defense or any department within the Department of Defense; or (b) required to serve the needs of the maritime commerce of the United States; or (c) required to serve the needs of the air commerce of the United States as requested by the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.

These aids to navigation other than electronic aids to navigation systems shall be established and operated only within the United States, the waters above the Continental Shelf, the territories and possessions of the United States, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the United States at places where naval or military bases of the United States are or may be located. The Coast Guard may establish, maintain, and operate aids to maritime navigation under paragraph (1) of this section by contract with any person, public body, or instrumentality.

14 USC 82 - Cooperation with Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration

The Coast Guard, in establishing, maintaining, or operating any aids to air navigation herein provided, shall solicit the cooperation of the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to the end that the personnel and facilities of the Federal Aviation Administration will be utilized to the fullest possible advantage. Before locating and operating any such aid on military or naval bases or regions, the consent of the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Navy, or the Secretary of the Air Force, as the case may be, shall first be obtained. No such aid shall be located within the territorial jurisdiction of any foreign country without the consent of the government thereof. Nothing in this title shall be deemed to limit the authority granted by subchapter II of chapter 22 of title 10 or part A of subtitle VII of title 49.

14 USC 83 - Unauthorized aids to maritime navigation; penalty

No person, or public body, or instrumentality, excluding the armed services, shall establish, erect, or maintain any aid to maritime navigation in or adjacent to the waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, its territories or possessions, or the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, or on the high seas if that person, or public body, or instrumentality is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, without first obtaining authority to do so from the Coast Guard in accordance with applicable regulations. Whoever violates the provisions of this section or any of the regulations issued by the Secretary in accordance herewith shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than $100 for each offense. Each day during which such violation continues shall be considered as a new offense.

14 USC 84 - Interference with aids to navigation; penalty

It shall be unlawful for any person, or public body, or instrumentality, excluding the armed forces, to remove, change the location of, obstruct, wilfully damage, make fast to, or interfere with any aid to navigation established, installed, operated, or maintained by the Coast Guard pursuant to section 81 of this title, or with any aid to navigation lawfully maintained under authority granted by the Coast Guard pursuant to section 83 of this title, or to anchor any vessel in any of the navigable waters of the United States so as to obstruct or interfere with range lights maintained therein. Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than $500 for each offense. Each day during which such violation shall continue shall be considered as a new offense.

14 USC 85 - Aids to maritime navigation; penalty

The Secretary shall prescribe and enforce necessary and reasonable rules and regulations, for the protection of marine navigation, relative to the establishment, maintenance, and operation of lights and other signals on fixed and floating structures in or over waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and in the high seas for structures owned or operated by persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Any owner or operator of such a structure, excluding an agency of the United States, who violates any of the rules or regulations prescribed hereunder, commits a misdemeanor and shall be punished, upon conviction thereof, by a fine of not exceeding $100 for each day which such violation continues.

14 USC 86 - Marking of obstructions

The Secretary may mark for the protection of navigation any sunken vessel or other obstruction existing on the navigable waters or waters above the continental shelf of the United States in such manner and for so long as, in his judgment, the needs of maritime navigation require. The owner of such an obstruction shall be liable to the United States for the cost of such marking until such time as the obstruction is removed or its abandonment legally established or until such earlier time as the Secretary may determine. All moneys received by the United States from the owners of obstructions, in accordance with this section, shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts. This section shall not be construed so as to relieve the owner of any such obstruction from the duty and responsibility suitably to mark the same and remove it as required by law.

14 USC 87 - Repealed. Pub. L. 94546, 1(6), (7), Oct. 18, 1976, 90 Stat. 2519]

Section, act Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393, 1, 63 Stat. 501, related to color and numbering of buoys along coast, or in bays, harbors, sounds, or channels, as indicating whether such buoys were to be passed on the starboard or port hand and prescribed the coloring for buoys in channel ways.

14 USC 88 - Saving life and property

(a) In order to render aid to distressed persons, vessels, and aircraft on and under the high seas and on and under the waters over which the United States has jurisdiction and in order to render aid to persons and property imperiled by flood, the Coast Guard may:

(1) perform any and all acts necessary to rescue and aid persons and protect and save property;

(2) take charge of and protect all property saved from marine or aircraft disasters, or floods, at which the Coast Guard is present, until such property is claimed by persons legally authorized to receive it or until otherwise disposed of in accordance with law or applicable regulations, and care for bodies of those who may have perished in such catastrophes;

(3) furnish clothing, food, lodging, medicines, and other necessary supplies and services to persons succored by the Coast Guard; and

(4) destroy or tow into port sunken or floating dangers to navigation.

(b)

(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Coast Guard may render aid to persons and protect and save property at any time and at any place at which Coast Guard facilities and personnel are available and can be effectively utilized.

(2) The Commandant shall make full use of all available and qualified resources, including the Coast Guard Auxiliary and individuals licensed by the Secretary pursuant to section 8904 (b) of title 46, United States Code, in rendering aid under this subsection in nonemergency cases.

(c) An individual who knowingly and willfully communicates a false distress message to the Coast Guard or causes the Coast Guard to attempt to save lives and property when no help is needed is

(1) guilty of a class D felony;

(2) subject to a civil penalty of not more than $5,000; and

(3) liable for all costs the Coast Guard incurs as a result of the individuals action.

(d) The Secretary shall establish a helicopter rescue swimming program for the purpose of training selected Coast Guard personnel in rescue swimming skills, which may include rescue diver training.

14 USC 89 - Law enforcement

(a) The Coast Guard may make inquiries, examinations, inspections, searches, seizures, and arrests upon the high seas and waters over which the United States has jurisdiction, for the prevention, detection, and suppression of violations of laws of the United States. For such purposes, commissioned, warrant, and petty officers may at any time go on board of any vessel subject to the jurisdiction, or to the operation of any law, of the United States, address inquiries to those on board, examine the ships documents and papers, and examine, inspect, and search the vessel and use all necessary force to compel compliance. When from such inquiries, examination, inspection, or search it appears that a breach of the laws of the United States rendering a person liable to arrest is being, or has been committed, by any person, such person shall be arrested or, if escaping to shore, shall be immediately pursued and arrested on shore, or other lawful and appropriate action shall be taken; or, if it shall appear that a breach of the laws of the United States has been committed so as to render such vessel, or the merchandise, or any part thereof, on board of, or brought into the United States by, such vessel, liable to forfeiture, or so as to render such vessel liable to a fine or penalty and if necessary to secure such fine or penalty, such vessel or such merchandise, or both, shall be seized.

(b) The officers of the Coast Guard insofar as they are engaged, pursuant to the authority contained in this section, in enforcing any law of the United States shall:

(1) be deemed to be acting as agents of the particular executive department or independent establishment charged with the administration of the particular law; and

(2) be subject to all the rules and regulations promulgated by such department or independent establishment with respect to the enforcement of that law.

(c) The provisions of this section are in addition to any powers conferred by law upon such officers, and not in limitation of any powers conferred by law upon such officers, or any other officers of the United States.

14 USC 90 - Ocean stations

(a) The Coast Guard is authorized to operate and maintain floating ocean stations for the purpose of providing search and rescue, communication, and air navigation facilities, and meteorological services in such ocean areas as are regularly traversed by aircraft of the United States.

(b) The Coast Guard is authorized, subject to approval by the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, to operate, on floating ocean stations authorized herein, such air navigation facilities as the Administrator may find necessary or desirable for the safe and efficient protection and control of air traffic. The Coast Guard, in establishing, maintaining, or operating such air navigation facilities shall request the cooperation of the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to the end that the personnel and facilities of the Federal Aviation Administration will be utilized to the fullest possible advantage.

14 USC 91 - Safety of naval vessels

(a) The Secretary may control the anchorage and movement of any vessel in the navigable waters of the United States to ensure the safety or security of any United States naval vessel in those waters.

(b) If the Secretary does not exercise the authority in subsection (a) of this section and immediate action is required, the senior naval officer present in command may control the anchorage or movement of any vessel in the navigable waters of the United States to ensure the safety and security of any United States naval vessel under the officers command.

(c) If a person violates, or a vessel is operated in violation of, this section or a regulation or order issued under this section, the person or vessel is subject to the enforcement provisions in section 13 of the Ports and Waterways Safety Act (33 U.S.C. 1232).

(d) As used in this section navigable waters of the United States includes all waters of the territorial sea of the United States as described in Presidential Proclamation No. 5928 of December 27, 1988.

14 USC 92 - Secretary; general powers

For the purpose of executing the duties and functions of the Coast Guard the Secretary may within the limits of appropriations made therefor:

(a) establish, change the limits of, consolidate, discontinue, and re-establish Coast Guard districts;

(b) arrange with the Secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force to assign members of the Coast Guard to any school maintained by the Army, Navy, and Air Force, for instruction and training, including aviation schools;

(d) design or cause to be designed, cause to be constructed, accept as gift, or otherwise acquire vessels, and subject to applicable regulations under subtitle I of title 40 and title III of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 251 et seq.) dispose of them;

[(e) Repealed. Oct. 31, 1951, ch. 654, 1(32), 65 Stat. 702]

(f) acquire land or interests in land, including acceptance of gifts thereof, where required for the purpose of carrying out any project or purpose for which an appropriation has been made;

(g) exchange land or interests in land in part or in full payment for such other land or interests in land as may be necessary or desirable, the balance of such part payment to be defrayable in accordance with other provisions of this section;

(h) exercise any of the powers vested by this title in the Commandant in any case in which the Secretary deems it appropriate; and

(i) do any and all things necessary to carry out the purposes of this title.

14 USC 93 - Commandant; general powers

(a) For the purpose of executing the duties and functions of the Coast Guard the Commandant may:

(1) maintain water, land, and air patrols, and ice-breaking facilities;

(2) establish and prescribe the purpose of, change the location of, consolidate, discontinue, re-establish, maintain, operate, and repair Coast Guard shore establishments;

(3) assign vessels, aircraft, vehicles, aids to navigation, equipment, appliances, and supplies to Coast Guard districts and shore establishments, and transfer any of the foregoing from one district or shore establishment to another;

(4) conduct experiments, investigate, or cause to be investigated, plans, devices, and inventions relating to the performance of any Coast Guard function and cooperate and coordinate such activities with other Government agencies and with private agencies;

(5) conduct any investigations or studies that may be of assistance to the Coast Guard in the performance of any of its powers, duties, or functions;

(6) collect, publish, and distribute information concerning Coast Guard operations;

(7) conduct or make available to personnel of the Coast Guard such specialized training and courses of instruction, including correspondence courses, as may be necessary or desirable for the good of the service;

(8) design or cause to be designed, cause to be constructed, accept as gift, or otherwise acquire patrol boats and other small craft, equip, operate, maintain, supply, and repair such patrol boats, other small craft, aircraft, and vehicles, and subject to applicable regulations under subtitle I of title 40 and title III of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 251 et seq.) dispose of them;

(9) acquire, accept as gift, maintain, repair, and discontinue aids to navigation, appliances, equipment, and supplies;

(10) equip, operate, maintain, supply, and repair Coast Guard districts and shore establishments;

(11) establish, equip, operate, and maintain shops, depots, and yards for the manufacture and construction of aids to navigation, equipment, apparatus, vessels, vehicles, and aircraft not normally or economically obtainable from private contractors, and for the maintenance and repair of any property used by the Coast Guard;

(12) accept and utilize, in times of emergency in order to save life or protect property, such voluntary services as may be offered to the Coast Guard;

(13) rent or lease, under such terms and conditions as are deemed advisable, for a period not exceeding five years, such real property under the control of the Coast Guard as may not be required for immediate use by the Coast Guard, the monies received from any such rental or lease, less amount of expenses incurred (exclusive of governmental personal services), to be deposited in the Treasury;

(14) grant, under such terms and conditions as are deemed advisable, permits, licenses, easements, and rights-of-way over, across, in, and upon lands under the control of the Coast Guard when in the public interest and without substantially injuring the interests of the United States in the property thereby affected;

(15) establish, install, abandon, re-establish, reroute, operate, maintain, repair, purchase, or lease such telephone and telegraph lines and cables, together with all facilities, apparatus, equipment, structures, appurtenances, accessories, and supplies used or useful in connection with the installation, operation, maintenance, or repair of such lines and cables, including telephones in residences leased or owned by the Government of the United States when appropriate to assure efficient response to extraordinary operational contingencies of a limited duration, and acquire such real property rights of way, easements, or attachment privileges as may be required for the installation, operation, and maintenance of such lines, cables, and equipment;

(16) establish, install, abandon, reestablish, change the location of, operate, maintain, and repair radio transmitting and receiving stations;

(17) provide medical and dental care for personnel entitled thereto by law or regulation, including care in private facilities;

(18) accept, under terms and conditions the Commandant establishes, the service of an individual ordered to perform community service under the order of a Federal, State, or municipal court;

(19) notwithstanding any other law, enter into cooperative agreements with States, local governments, non-governmental organizations, and individuals, to accept and utilize voluntary services for the maintenance and improvement of natural and historic resources on, or to benefit natural and historic research on, Coast Guard facilities, subject to the requirement that

(A) the cooperative agreements shall each provide for the parties to contribute funds or services on a matching basis to defray the costs of such programs, projects, and activities under the agreement; and

(B) a person providing voluntary services under this subsection shall not be considered a Federal employee except for purposes of chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code, with respect to compensation for work-related injuries, and chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code, with respect to tort claims;

(20) enter into cooperative agreements with other Government agencies and the National Academy of Sciences;

(21) require that any member of the Coast Guard or Coast Guard Reserve (including a cadet or an applicant for appointment or enlistment to any of the foregoing and any member of a uniformed service who is assigned to the Coast Guard) request that all information contained in the National Driver Register pertaining to the individual, as described in section 30304 (a) of title 49, be made available to the Commandant under section 30305 (a) of title 49, may receive that information, and upon receipt, shall make the information available to the individual;

(22) provide for the honorary recognition of individuals and organizations that significantly contribute to Coast Guard programs, missions, or operations, including State and local governments and commercial and nonprofit">nonprofit organizations, and pay for, using any appropriations or funds available to the Coast Guard, plaques, medals, trophies, badges, and similar items to acknowledge such contribution (including reasonable expenses of ceremony and presentation);

(23) rent or lease, under such terms and conditions as are considered by the Secretary to be advisable, commercial vehicles to transport the next of kin of eligible retired Coast Guard military personnel to attend funeral services of the service member at a national cemetery; and

(24) after informing the Secretary, make such recommendations to the Congress relating to the Coast Guard as the Commandant considers appropriate.

(b)

(1) Notwithstanding subsection (a)(14), a lease described in paragraph (2) of this subsection may be for a term of up to 20 years.

(2) A lease referred to in paragraph (1) is a lease

(A) to the United States Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association for the construction of an Alumni Center on the grounds of the United States Coast Guard Academy; or

(B) to an entity with which the Commandant has a cooperative agreement under section 4(e) of the Ports and Waterways Safety Act, and for which a term longer than 5 years is necessary to carry out the agreement.

14 USC 94 - Oceanographic research

The Coast Guard shall conduct such oceanographic research, use such equipment or instruments, and collect and analyze such oceanographic data, in cooperation with other agencies of the Government, or not, as may be in the national interest.

14 USC 95 - Special agents of the Coast Guard Investigative Service law enforcement authority

(a)

(1) A special agent of the Coast Guard Investigative Service designated under subsection (b) has the following authority:

(A) To carry firearms.

(B) To execute and serve any warrant or other process issued under the authority of the United States.

(i) any offense against the United States committed in the agents presence; or

(ii) any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if the agent has probable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing the felony.

(2) The authorities provided in paragraph (1) shall be exercised only in the enforcement of statutes for which the Coast Guard has law enforcement authority, or in exigent circumstances.

(b) The Commandant may designate to have the authority provided under subsection (a) any special agent of the Coast Guard Investigative Service whose duties include conducting, supervising, or coordinating investigation of criminal activity in programs and operations of the United States Coast Guard.

(c) The authority provided under subsection (a) shall be exercised in accordance with guidelines prescribed by the Commandant and approved by the Attorney General and any other applicable guidelines prescribed by the Secretary of Homeland Security or the Attorney General.

14 USC 96 - Prohibition on overhaul, repair, and maintenance of Coast Guard vessels in foreign shipyards

A Coast Guard vessel the home port of which is in a State of the United States may not be overhauled, repaired, or maintained in a shipyard outside the United States, other than in the case of voyage repairs.

14 USC 97 - Procurement of buoy chain

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), the Coast Guard may not procure buoy chain

(1) that is not manufactured in the United States; or

(2) substantially all of the components of which are not produced or manufactured in the United States.

(b) The Coast Guard may procure buoy chain that is not manufactured in the United States if the Secretary determines that

(1) the price of buoy chain manufactured in the United States is unreasonable; or

(2) emergency circumstances exist.

14 USC 98 - National Coast Guard Museum

(a) Establishment.—
The Commandant may establish a National Coast Guard Museum, on lands which will be federally owned and administered by the Coast Guard, and are located in New London, Connecticut, at, or in close proximity to, the Coast Guard Academy.

(b) Limitation on Expenditures.—

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall not expend any appropriated Federal funds for the engineering, design, or construction of any museum established under this section.

(2) The Secretary shall fund the operation and maintenance of the National Coast Guard Museum with nonappropriated and non-Federal funds to the maximum extent practicable. The priority use of Federal operation and maintenance funds should be to preserve and protect historic Coast Guard artifacts.

(c) Funding Plan.—
Before the date on which the Commandant establishes a museum under subsection (a), the Commandant shall provide to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a plan for constructing, operating, and maintaining such a museum, including

(1) estimated planning, engineering, design, construction, operation, and maintenance costs;

(2) the extent to which appropriated, nonappropriated, and non-Federal funds will be used for such purposes, including the extent to which there is any shortfall in funding for engineering, design, or construction; and

(3) a certification by the Inspector General of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating that the estimates provided pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) are reasonable and realistic.

(d) Authority.—
The Commandant may not establish a Coast Guard museum except as set forth in this section.