§ 701. Cooperation with other agencies, States, territories, and political subdivisions

• (a) The Coast Guard may, when so requested by proper authority, utilize its personnel and facilities (including members of the Auxiliary and facilities governed under chapter 39) to assist any Federal agency, State, Territory, possession, or political subdivision thereof, or the District of Columbia, to perform any activity for which such personnel and facilities are especially qualified. The Commandant may prescribe conditions, including reimbursement, under which personnel and facilities may be provided under this subsection.
• (b) The Coast Guard, with the consent of the head of the agency concerned, may avail itself of such officers and employees, advice, information, and facilities of any Federal agency, State, Territory, possession, or political subdivision thereof, or the District of Columbia as may be helpful in the performance of its duties. In connection with the utilization of personal services of employees of state or local governments, the Coast Guard may make payments for necessary traveling and per diem expenses as prescribed for Federal employees by the standardized Government travel regulations.

§ 702. State Department

The Coast Guard, through the Secretary, may exchange information, through the Secretary of State, with foreign governments and suggest to the Secretary of State international collaboration and conferences on all matters dealing with the safety of life and property at sea, other than radio communication.

§ 703. Treasury Department

Commissioned, warrant, and petty officers of the Coast Guard are deemed to be officers of the customs and when so acting shall, insofar as performance of the duties relating to customs laws are concerned, be subject to regulations issued by the Secretary of the Treasury governing officers of the customs.

§ 704. Department of the Army and Department of the Air Force

• (a) The Secretary of the Army or the Secretary of the Air Force at the request of the Secretary may, with or without reimbursement for the cost thereof, as agreed, receive members of the Coast Guard for instruction in any school, including any aviation school, maintained by the Army or the Air Force, and such members shall be subject to the regulations governing such schools.
• (b) Officers and enlisted members of the Coast Guard shall be permitted to purchase quartermaster supplies from the Army at the same price as is charged the officers and enlisted members of the Army.
• (c) Articles of ordnance property may be sold by the Secretary of the Army to officers of the Coast Guard for their use in the public service in the same manner as these articles are sold to officers of the Army.

§ 705. Navy Department

• (a) The Secretary of the Navy, at the request of the Secretary may, with or without reimbursement for the cost thereof, as agreed:
  • (1) build any vessel for the Coast Guard at such Navy yards as the Secretary of the Navy may designate;
  • (2) receive members of the Coast Guard for instruction in any school, including any aviation school maintained by the Navy, and such members shall be subject to the regulations governing such schools;
  • (3) permit personnel of the Coast Guard and their dependents to occupy any public quarters maintained by the Navy and available for the purpose; and
  • (4) detail personnel from the Chaplain Corps to provide services, pursuant to section 1789 of title 10 , to the Coast Guard.
• (b) Officers and enlisted members of the Coast Guard shall be permitted to purchase quartermaster supplies from the Navy and the Marine Corps at the same price as is charged the officers and enlisted members of the Navy and Marine Corps.
• (c) When the Coast Guard is operating in the Department of Homeland Security, the Secretary shall provide for such peacetime training and planning of reserve strength and facilities as is necessary to insure an organized, manned, and equipped Coast Guard when it is required for wartime operation in the Navy. To this end, the Secretary of the Navy for the Navy, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, for the Coast Guard, may from time to time exchange such information, make available to each other such personnel, vessels, facilities, and equipment, and agree to undertake such assignments and functions for each other as they may agree are necessary and advisable.
• (d)
  • (1) As part of the services provided by the Secretary of the Navy pursuant to subsection (a)(4), the Secretary may provide support services to chaplain-led programs to assist members of the Coast Guard on active duty and their dependents, and members of the reserve component in an active status and their dependents, in building and maintaining a strong family structure.
  • (2) In this subsection, the term “support services” include transportation, food, lodging, child care, supplies, fees, and training materials for members of the Coast Guard on active duty and their dependents, and members of the reserve component in an active status and their dependents, while participating in programs referred to in paragraph (1), including participation at retreats and conferences.
  • (3) In this subsection, the term “dependents” has the same meaning as defined in section 1072(2) of title 10 .

§ 706. United States Postal Service

Coast Guard facilities and personnel may be utilized for the transportation and delivery of mail matter during emergency conditions or at isolated locations under such arrangements as may be satisfactory to the Secretary and the United States Postal Service.

§ 707. Department of Commerce

In order to promote the safety of life and property on and over the high seas and waters over which the United States has jurisdiction, and to facilitate the preparation and dissemination by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the weather reports, forecasts, and warnings essential to the safe and efficient conduct of domestic and international commerce on and over such seas and waters, the Commandant may cooperate with the Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by procuring, maintaining, and making available, facilities and assistance for observing, investigating, and communicating weather phenomena and for disseminating weather data, forecasts and warnings, the mutually satisfactory terms of such cooperation in weather service to be agreed upon and arranged between the Commandant and the Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

§ 708. Department of Health and Human Services

• (a) The Commandant may assist the Secretary of Health and Human Services in providing medical emergency helicopter transportation services to civilians. The Commandant may prescribe conditions, including reimbursement, under which resources may be provided under this section. The following specific limitations apply to assistance provided under this section:
  • (1) Assistance may be provided only in areas where Coast Guard units able to provide the assistance are regularly assigned. Coast Guard units may not be transferred from one area to another to provide the assistance.
  • (2) Assistance may be provided only to the extent it does not interfere with the performance of the Coast Guard mission.
  • (3) Providing assistance may not cause an increase in amounts required for the operation of the Coast Guard.
• (b) An individual (or the estate of that individual) who is authorized by the Coast Guard to provide a service under a program established under subsection (a) and who is acting within the scope of that individual’s duties is not liable for injury to, or loss of, property or personal injury or death that may be caused incident to providing the service.

§ 709. Maritime instruction

The Coast Guard may, when so requested by proper authority, detail members for duty in connection with maritime instruction and training by the several States, Territories, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and when requested by the Maritime Administrator, detail persons in the Coast Guard for duty in connection with maritime instruction and training by the United States. The service rendered by any person so detailed shall be considered Coast Guard duty.

§ 710. Assistance to foreign governments and maritime authorities

• (a) The President may upon application from the foreign governments concerned, and whenever in his discretion the public interests render such a course advisable, detail members of the Coast Guard to assist foreign governments in matters concerning which the Coast Guard may be of assistance.
• (b) The Commandant, in coordination with the Secretary of State, may provide, in conjunction with regular Coast Guard operations, technical assistance (including law enforcement and maritime safety and security training) to foreign navies, coast guards, and other maritime authorities.
• (c) After consultation with the Secretary of State, the Commandant may make grants to, or enter into cooperative agreements, contracts, or other agreements with, international maritime organizations for the purpose of acquiring information or data about merchant vessel inspections, security, safety, environmental protection, classification, and port state or flag state law enforcement or oversight.
• (d)
  • (1) The Commandant may use funds for—
    • (A) the activities of traveling contact teams, including any transportation expense, translation services expense, or administrative expense that is related to such activities;
    • (B) the activities of maritime authority liaison teams of foreign governments making reciprocal visits to Coast Guard units, including any transportation expense, translation services expense, or administrative expense that is related to such activities;
    • (C) seminars and conferences involving members of maritime authorities of foreign governments;
    • (D) distribution of publications pertinent to engagement with maritime authorities of foreign governments; and
    • (E) personnel expenses for Coast Guard civilian and military personnel to the extent that those expenses relate to participation in an activity described in subparagraph (C) or (D).
  • (2) An activity may not be conducted under this subsection with a foreign country unless the Secretary of State approves the conduct of such activity in that foreign country.
  • (3) The amount of funds used under this subsection may not exceed $100,000 in any fiscal year.

§ 711. Coast Guard officers as attachés to missions

Commissioned officers may, with the consent of the Secretary of State, be regularly and officially attached to the diplomatic missions of the United States in those nations with which the United States is extensively engaged in maritime commerce. Expenses for the maintenance of such Coast Guard attachés abroad, including office rental and pay of employees and allowances for living quarters, including heat, fuel, and light, may be defrayed by the Coast Guard.

§ 712. Contracts with Government-owned establishments for work and material

• (a) All orders or contracts for work or material, under authorization of law, placed with Government-owned establishments by the Coast Guard, shall be considered as obligations in the same manner as provided for similar orders or contracts placed with private contractors, and appropriations for such work or material shall remain available for payment therefor as in the case of orders or contracts placed with private contractors.
• (b) Under this section, the Coast Guard industrial activities may accept orders from and enter into reimbursable agreements with establishments, agencies, and departments of the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security.

§ 713. Nonappropriated fund instrumentalities: contracts with other agencies and instrumentalities to provide or obtain goods and services

The Coast Guard Exchange System, or a morale, welfare, and recreation system of the Coast Guard, may enter into a contract or other agreement with any element or instrumentality of the Coast Guard or with another Federal department, agency, or instrumentality to provide or obtain goods and services beneficial to the efficient management and operation of the Coast Guard Exchange System or that morale, welfare, and recreation system.

§ 714. Arctic maritime domain awareness

• (a) The Commandant shall improve maritime domain awareness in the Arctic—
  • (1) by promoting interagency cooperation and coordination;
  • (2) by employing joint, interagency, and international capabilities; and
  • (3) by facilitating the sharing of information, intelligence, and data related to the Arctic maritime domain between the Coast Guard and departments and agencies listed in subsection (b).
• (b) The Commandant shall seek to coordinate the collection, sharing, and use of information, intelligence, and data related to the Arctic maritime domain between the Coast Guard and the following:
  • (1) The Department of Homeland Security.
  • (2) The Department of Defense.
  • (3) The Department of Transportation.
  • (4) The Department of State.
  • (5) The Department of the Interior.
  • (6) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
  • (7) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
  • (8) The Environmental Protection Agency.
  • (9) The National Science Foundation.
  • (10) The Arctic Research Commission.
  • (11) Any Federal agency or commission or State the Commandant determines is appropriate.
• (c) The Commandant and the head of a department or agency listed in subsection (b) may by agreement, on a reimbursable basis or otherwise, share personnel, services, equipment, and facilities to carry out the requirements of this section.
• (d) Not later than January 1, 2016 and every 5 years thereafter, the Commandant shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a 5-year strategic plan to guide interagency and international intergovernmental cooperation and coordination for the purpose of improving maritime domain awareness in the Arctic.
• (e) In this section the term “Arctic” has the meaning given that term in section 112 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 ( 15 U.S.C. 4111 ).

§ 715. 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.

§ 716. Arctic maritime transportation

• (a) The purpose of this section is to ensure safe and secure maritime shipping in the Arctic including the availability of aids to navigation, vessel escorts, spill response capability, and maritime search and rescue in the Arctic.
• (b) To carry out the purpose of this section, the Secretary is encouraged to enter into negotiations through the International Maritime Organization to conclude and execute agreements to promote coordinated action among the United States, Russia, Canada, Iceland, Norway, and Denmark and other seafaring and Arctic nations to ensure, in the Arctic—
  • (1) placement and maintenance of aids to navigation;
  • (2) appropriate marine safety, tug, and salvage capabilities;
  • (3) oil spill prevention and response capability;
  • (4) maritime domain awareness, including long-range vessel tracking; and
  • (5) search and rescue.
• (c) The Committee on the Maritime Transportation System established under section 55501 of title 46 , United States Code, shall coordinate the establishment of domestic transportation policies in the Arctic necessary to carry out the purpose of this section.
• (d) The Secretary may, subject to the availability of appropriations, enter into cooperative agreements, contracts, or other agreements with, or make grants to, individuals and governments to carry out the purpose of this section or any agreements established under subsection (b).
• (e) The Secretary shall promote safe maritime navigation by means of icebreaking where necessary, feasible, and effective to carry out the purposes of this section.
• (f) In this section, the term “Arctic” has the meaning given such term in section 112 of the Arctic Research and Policy Act of 1984 ( 15 U.S.C. 4111 ).

§ 717. Agreements

• (a) In carrying out section 504(a)(4), the Commandant may—
  • (1) enter into cooperative agreements, contracts, and other agreements with—
    • (A) Federal entities;
    • (B) other public or private entities in the United States, including academic entities; and
    • (C) foreign governments with the concurrence of the Secretary of State; and
  • (2) impose on and collect from an entity subject to an agreement or contract under paragraph (1) a fee to assist with expenses incurred in carrying out such section.
• (b) Fees collected under this section shall be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury as offsetting receipts. The fees may be used, to the extent provided in advance in an appropriation law, only to carry out activities under section 504(a)(4).

§ 718. Training; emergency response providers

• (a) The Commandant may, on a reimbursable or a non-reimbursable basis, make a training available to emergency response providers whenever the Commandant determines that—
  • (1) a member of the Coast Guard, who is scheduled to participate in such training, is unable or unavailable to participate in such training;
  • (2) no other member of the Coast Guard, who is assigned to the unit to which the member of the Coast Guard who is unable or unavailable to participate in such training is assigned, is able or available to participate in such training; and
  • (3) such training, if made available to such emergency response providers, would further the goal of interoperability among Federal agencies, non-Federal governmental agencies, or both.
• (b) In this section, the term “emergency response providers” has the meaning given that term in section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 ( 6 U.S.C. 101 ).
• (c) Any reimbursements for a training that the Coast Guard receives under this section shall be credited to the appropriation used to pay the costs for such training.
• (d)
  • (1) Any individual to whom, as an emergency response provider, training is made available under this section, who is not otherwise a Federal employee, shall not, because of that training, be considered a Federal employee for any purpose (including the purposes of chapter 81 of title 5 (relating to compensation for injury) and sections 2671 through 2680 of title 28 (relating to tort claims)).
  • (2) The United States shall not be liable for actions taken by an individual in the course of training made available under this section.