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. 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 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to transfer the ownership of any meteorological satellite (METSAT) or associated ground system to any private entity.” 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 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.” 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. Conduct a study to define the current, projected, and potential needs of the government for land remote sensing data. Determine and describe the equipment, software, and data inventory that could be transferred to the private sector. 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. 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 April 1, 1983 . 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]. 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.”