§372. Use of military equipment and facilities

(a) In General.—The Secretary of Defense may, in accordance with other applicable law, make available any equipment (including associated supplies or spare parts), base facility, or research facility of the Department of Defense to any Federal, State, or local civilian law enforcement official for law enforcement purposes.

(b) Emergencies Involving Chemical and Biological Agents.—(1) In addition to equipment and facilities described in subsection (a), the Secretary may provide an item referred to in paragraph (2) to a Federal, State, or local law enforcement or emergency response agency to prepare for or respond to an emergency involving chemical or biological agents if the Secretary determines that the item is not reasonably available from another source. The requirement for a determination that an item is not reasonably available from another source does not apply to assistance provided under section 382 of this title pursuant to a request of the Attorney General for the assistance.

(2) An item referred to in paragraph (1) is any material or expertise of the Department of Defense appropriate for use in preparing for or responding to an emergency involving chemical or biological agents, including the following:

(A) Training facilities.

(B) Sensors.

(C) Protective clothing.

(D) Antidotes.

(Added Pub. L. 97–86, title IX, §905(a)(1), Dec. 1, 1981, 95 Stat. 1115; amended Pub. L. 100–456, div. A, title XI, §1104(a), Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 2043; Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title III, §378, Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 284; Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title XIV, §1416(b), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2723.)

Amendments

1996—Pub. L. 104–106 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted heading, and added subsec. (b).

Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 104–201 inserted at end “The requirement for a determination that an item is not reasonably available from another source does not apply to assistance provided under section 382 of this title pursuant to a request of the Attorney General for the assistance.”

1988—Pub. L. 100–456 amended section generally, inserting “(including associated supplies or spare parts)” and substituting “Department of Defense” for “Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps”.

Support for Non-Federal Development and Testing of Material for Chemical Agent Defense

Pub. L. 110–181, div. A, title X, §1034, Jan. 28, 2008, 122 Stat. 308, provided that:

“(a) Authority to Provide Toxic Chemicals or Precursors.—

“(1) In general.—The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the heads of other elements of the Federal Government, may make available, to a State, a unit of local government, or a private entity incorporated in the United States, small quantities of a toxic chemical or precursor for the development or testing, in the United States, of material that is designed to be used for protective purposes.

“(2) Terms and conditions.—Any use of the authority under paragraph (1) shall be subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary considers appropriate.

“(b) Payment of Costs and Disposition of Funds.—

“(1) In general.—The Secretary shall ensure, through the advance payment required by paragraph (2) and through any other payments that may be required, that a recipient of toxic chemicals or precursors under subsection (a) pays for all actual costs, including direct and indirect costs, associated with providing the toxic chemicals or precursors.

“(2) Advance payment.—In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary shall require each recipient to make an advance payment in an amount that the Secretary determines will equal all such actual costs.

“(3) Credits.—A payment received under this subsection shall be credited to the account that was used to cover the costs for which the payment was provided. Amounts so credited shall be merged with amounts in that account, and shall be available for the same purposes, and subject to the same conditions and limitations, as other amounts in that account.

“(c) Chemical Weapons Convention.—The Secretary shall ensure that toxic chemicals and precursors are made available under this section for uses and in quantities that comply with the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction, signed at Paris on January 13, 1993, and entered into force with respect to the United States on April 29, 1997.

“(d) Report.—

“(1) Not later than March 15, 2008, and each year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the use of the authority under subsection (a) during the previous calendar year. The report shall include a description of each use of the authority and specify what material was made available and to whom it was made available.

“(2) Each report under paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.

“(e) Definitions.—In this section, the terms ‘precursor’, ‘protective purposes’, and ‘toxic chemical’ have the meanings given those terms in the convention referred to in subsection (c), in paragraph 2, paragraph 9(b), and paragraph 1, respectively, of article II of that convention.”

Transfer of Excess Personal Property

Pub. L. 101–189, div. A, title XII, §1208, Nov. 29, 1989, 103 Stat. 1566, as amended by Pub. L. 102–484, div. A, title X, §1044, Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2493, which authorized the Secretary of Defense to transfer excess personal property of the Department of Defense to Federal and State agencies, provided conditions for transfer, and terminated the Secretary's authority on Sept. 30, 1997, was repealed and restated in section 2576a of this title by Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title X, §1033(a)(1), (b)(1), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2639, 2640.