US Code

Public Law 119-73 (01/23/2026)

15 U.S.C. § 1517

Transfer of statistical or scientific work

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.

Feb. 14, 1903, ch. 552, § 1232 Stat. 830July 26, 1947, ch. 34361 Stat. 499Aug. 10, 1949, ch. 412, § 463 Stat. 579Pub. L. 91–375o84 Stat. 773(, ; , title II, § 201(a), ; , ; , §§ 4(a), 6(), , , 783.)

Editorial Notes

Codification

section 602 of Title 5Pub. L. 89–554, § 180 Stat. 378Section was formerly classified to prior to the general revision and enactment of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, by , , .

Pub. L. 93–498, § 2388 Stat. 1549section 1511 of this titleSection is based on section 12 of act , as originally enacted. Section 12 of the act was amended generally by , , , and forms the basis of .

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Pub. L. 91–375o84 Stat. 773section 101 of Title 39section 201 of Title 39“United States Postal Service” substituted for “Post Office Department” in text pursuant to , §§ 4(a), 6(), , , 783, which are set out as notes preceding , Postal Service, and under , respectively, which abolished Post Office Department, transferred its functions to United States Postal Service, and provided that references in other laws to Post Office Department shall be considered a reference to United States Postal Service.

Department of Defense substituted for Departments of the Army and Navy by act , as amended .

Act Mar. 4, 1913, ch. 14137 Stat. 736, , provided that the Department of Commerce and Labor and Secretary of Commerce and Labor were to be thereafter called the Department of Commerce and Secretary of Commerce and that the act creating the Department of Commerce and Labor (act ) was amended accordingly.

Meteorological Satellite (METSAT) and Associated Ground Systems; Expenditure of Funds To Develop Proposals To Transfer Ownership to Private Entities Prohibited

Pub. L. 98–166, title I, § 10197 Stat. 1076

“No funds made available by this Act, or any other Act, may be used—
“(1)
by the Source Evaluation Board for Civil Space Remote Sensing as established by the Secretary of Commerce to develop or issue a request for proposal to transfer the ownership or lease the use of any meteorological satellite (METSAT) or associated ground system to any private entity; or
“(2)
by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to transfer the ownership of any meteorological satellite (METSAT) or associated ground system to any private entity.”
, , , provided that:

Civil Land Remote Sensing Satellite System; Termination

Pub. L. 98–52, title II, § 20297 Stat. 285Pub. L. 103–437, § 5(b)(1)108 Stat. 4582

Pub. L. 97–324“Notwithstanding title II of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act, 1983 [, set out as a note below], the Secretary of Commerce shall not transfer the ownership or management of any civil land, meteorological, or ocean remote sensing space satellite system and associated ground system equipment unless, in addition to any other requirement of law—
“(1)
the Secretary of Commerce or his designee has presented, in writing, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate, and to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, a comprehensive statement of recommended policies, procedures, conditions, and limitations to which any transfer should be subject; and
“(2)
the Congress thereafter enacts a law which contains such policies, procedures, conditions, or limitations (or a combination thereof) as it deems appropriate for any such transfer.”
, , , as amended by , , , provided that:

Pub. L. 97–324, title II, § 20196 Stat. 1601Pub. L. 98–365, title VI, § 60898 Stat. 466Pub. L. 103–437, § 5(b)(2)108 Stat. 4582

“(a)
The Secretary of Commerce is authorized to plan and provide for the management and operation of civil remote-sensing space systems, which may include the Landsat 4 and 5 satellites and associated ground system equipment transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; to provide for user fees; and to plan for the transfer of the operation of civil remote-sensing space systems to the private sector when in the national interest.
“(b)
(1)
As part of his planning for the transfer of the ownership and operation of civil operational land remote sensing satellite systems to the private sector the Secretary shall—
“(A)
Conduct a study to define the current, projected, and potential needs of the government for land remote sensing data.
“(B)
Determine and describe the equipment, software, and data inventory that could be transferred to the private sector.
“(C)
Compare various feasible financial and organizational approaches for such a transfer. Criteria for the comparison should include considerations such as: maintenance of data continuity; maintenance of United States leadership; national security; international obligations; potential for market growth; marketing ability; sunk and projected cost to the Government; independence of subsidy or financial guarantee from the Government; potential of financial return to the Government; and price of data to users. The following institutional alternatives should be compared: (i) wholly private ownership and operation of the system by an entity competitively selected; (ii) phased-in Government/private ownership and operation; (iii) a legislatively chartered privately owned corporation; and (iv) continued ownership and operation by the Federal Government.
The Secretary shall complete these studies and report on them to the Congress by .
“(2)
In addition to the studies and comparisons called for in section 201(b)(1) the Secretary shall fund at least two parallel studies outside the government independently to assess the alternatives called for in section 201(b)(1)(C). These studies should be submitted to the Congress by .
“(c)
There is authorized to be appropriated $14,955,000 for the fiscal year 1983, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this title [this note].
“(d)
No moneys authorized by this title [this note] shall be used to transfer to the private sector the ownership or management of any civil land remote sensing space satellite system and associated ground system equipment unless (A) a period of thirty days has passed after the receipt by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, of a message from the Secretary of Commerce or his designee containing a full and complete plan for the action proposed to be taken together with the reasons therefor and expected funding impacts, or (B) each such committee before the expiration of such period has transmitted to the Secretary written notice to the effect that such committee has no objection to the proposed action.”
, , , as amended by , , ; , , , provided that:

Executive Documents

Ex. Ord. No. 11564. Transfer of Certain Programs and Activities to Secretary of Commerce

Ex. Ord. No. 11564, , 35 F.R. 15801, provided:

section 12 of the Act of February 14, 190315 U.S.C. 1517section 12(d) of the Act of October 15, 196649 U.S.C. 1651section 1511 of this titleBy virtue of the authority vested in me by , as amended () [this section] and ( note), as President of the United States, and in further implementation of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970 [set out as a note under ] transferring certain functions to the Secretary of Commerce and establishing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Department of Commerce, it is ordered as follows:

Section 1. (a) The following programs and activities are hereby transferred to the Secretary of Commerce:

(1) The National Oceanographic Instrumentation Center of the Department of the Navy, Department of Defense.

(2) The National Oceanographic Data Center of the Department of the Navy, Department of Defense.

(3) The Ocean Station Vessel Meteorological Program of the Department of the Navy, Department of Defense.

(4) The Trust Territories Upper Air Observation Program of the Department of the Navy, Department of Defense.

(5) The Hydroclimatic Network Program of the Corps of Engineers of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense.

(6) The National Data Buoy Development Project of the Coast Guard, Department of Transportation.

(b) All of the power and authority of the transferor Departments conferred by law which is related to or incidental to, in support of, or necessary for, the operation of the programs and activities transferred by subsection (a) above, may be utilized by the Secretary of Commerce for the operation of those programs and activities.

Sec. 2. (a) Such personnel and positions and so much of the property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds employed, used, held, authorized, affected, available, or to be made available in connection with the operation of the programs and activities transferred by section 1 hereof from the Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall determine shall be transferred from those Departments to the Department of Commerce at such time or times as the Director shall direct.

(b) Subject to the direction of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the appropriate officers of the Government shall make necessary administrative arrangements for the assumption by the Secretary of Commerce of the programs and activities so transferred.

Richard Nixon.