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Title 46 — Shipping

Chapter 701 — Port Security

§ 70122. Waterway Watch Program

Statutory text

(a)

Program Established.—

There is hereby established, within the Coast Guard, the America’s Waterway Watch Program.

(b)

Purpose.—

The Secretary shall administer the Program in a manner that promotes voluntary reporting of activities that may indicate that a person or persons may be preparing to engage or engaging in a violation of law relating to a threat or an act of terrorism (as that term is defined in section 3077 of title 18) against a vessel, facility, port, or waterway.

(c)

Information; Training.—

(1)

Information.—

The Secretary may establish, as an element of the Program, a network of individuals and community-based organizations that encourage the public and industry to recognize activities referred to in subsection (b), promote voluntary reporting of such activity, and enhance the situational awareness within the Nation’s ports and waterways. Such network shall, to the extent practicable, be conducted in cooperation with Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies.

(2)

Training.—

The Secretary may provide training in—

(A)

observing and reporting on covered activities; and

(B)

sharing such reports and coordinating the response by Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies.

(d)

Voluntary Participation.—

Participation in the Program—

(1)

shall be wholly voluntary;

(2)

shall not be a prerequisite to eligibility for, or receipt of, any other service or assistance from, or to participation in, any other program of any kind; and

(3)

shall not require disclosure of information regarding the individual reporting covered activities or, for proprietary purposes, the location of such individual.

(e)

Coordination.—

The Secretary shall coordinate the Program with other like watch programs. The Secretary shall submit, concurrent with the President’s budget submission for each fiscal year, a report on coordination of the Program and like watch programs within the Department of Homeland Security to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives.

(f)

Authorization of Appropriations.—

There are authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this section $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2016. Such funds shall remain available until expended.

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

  1. Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010

    Pub. L. 111–281 title VIII § 801(a) · 124 Stat. 2905

    Enacted · 46 U.S.C. § 70122

    Added Pub. L. 111–281, title VIII, § 801(a), Oct. 15, 2010, 124 Stat. 2988

    Source evidence

    Code source credit
    Added Pub. L. 111–281, title VIII, § 801(a), Oct. 15, 2010, 124 Stat. 2988

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    (a) In General.— Chapter 701 of title 46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: “§ 70122. Waterway watch program “(a) Program Established.— There is hereby established, within the Coast Guard, the America’s Waterway Watch Program. “(b) Purpose.— The Secretary shall administer the Program in a manner that promotes voluntary reporting of activities that may indicate that a person or persons may be preparing to engage or engaging in a violation of law relating to a threat or an act of terrorism (as that term is defined in section 3077 of title 18) against a vessel, facility, port, or waterway. “(c) Information; Training.— “(1) Information.— The Secretary may establish, as an element of the Program, a network of individuals and community-based organizations that encourage the public and industry to recognize activities referred to in subsection (b), promote voluntary reporting of such activity, and enhance the situational awareness within the Nation’s ports and waterways. Such network shall, to the extent practicable, be conducted in cooperation with Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies. “(2) Training.— The Secretary may provide training in— “(A) observing and reporting on covered activities; and “(B) sharing such reports and coordinating the response by Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies. “(d) Voluntary Participation.— Participation in the Program— “(1) shall be wholly voluntary; “(2) shall not be a prerequisite to eligibility for, or receipt of, any other service or assistance from, or to participation in, any other program of any kind; and “(3) shall not require disclosure of information regarding the individual reporting covered activities or, for proprietary purposes, the location of such individual. “(e) Coordination.— The Secretary shall coordinate the Program with other like watch programs. Reports. The Secretary shall submit, concurrent with the President’s budget submission for each fiscal year, a report on coordination of the Program and like watch programs within the Department of Homeland Security to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives. “(f) Authorization of Appropriations.— There are authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this section $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2016. Such funds shall remain available until expended.” .

  2. Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2015

    Pub. L. 114–120 title III § 306(a)(11) · 130 Stat. 27

    Substituted · 46 U.S.C. § 70122

    Pub. L. 114–120 substituted “Watch Program” for “watch program” in section catchline

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Pub. L. 114–120 substituted “Watch Program” for “watch program” in section catchline.

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    (11) in section 70122, in the section heading, by striking “watch program” and inserting “Watch Program”; and

2 of 2 references resolved to an enrolled provision

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2016—Pub. L. 114–120 substituted “Watch Program” for “watch program” in section catchline.

Credits

2010–2016 · 2 acts
  1. 2010Added Pub. L. 111–281, title VIII, § 801(a), , 124 Stat. 2988
  2. 2016amended Pub. L. 114–120, title III, § 306(a)(11), , 130 Stat. 55.
Show as published

(Added Pub. L. 111–281, title VIII, § 801(a), , 124 Stat. 2988; amended Pub. L. 114–120, title III, § 306(a)(11), , 130 Stat. 55.)

Parsed from the official OLRC USLM XML in data/usc_all/usc46.xml · release point 119-108 · OLRC build 2026-03-26

USLM identifier /us/usc/t46/s70122