18 U.S.C. § 175a — Requests for military assistance to en-

Page 47 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 175b 1 See References in Text note below. tains, or possesses any biological agent, toxin, or delivery system for use as a weapon, or know- ingly assists a foreign state or any organization to do so, or attempts, threatens, or conspires to do the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for life or any term of years, or both. There is extraterritorial Federal jurisdiction over an offense under this section committed by or against a national of the United States. (b) ADDITIONAL OFFENSE.—Whoever knowingly possesses any biological agent, toxin, or delivery system of a type or in a quantity that, under the circumstances, is not reasonably justified by a prophylactic, protective, bona fide research, or other peaceful purpose, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both. In this subsection, the terms ‘‘biological agent’’ and ‘‘toxin’’ do not encompass any bio- logical agent or toxin that is in its naturally oc- curring environment, if the biological agent or toxin has not been cultivated, collected, or oth- erwise extracted from its natural source. (c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘for use as a weapon’’ includes the de- velopment, production, transfer, acquisition, re- tention, or possession of any biological agent, toxin, or delivery system for other than prophy- lactic, protective, bona fide research, or other peaceful purposes. (Added Pub. L. 101–298, § 3(a), May 22, 1990, 104 Stat. 201; amended Pub. L. 104–132, title V, § 511(b)(1), Apr. 24, 1996, 110 Stat. 1284; Pub. L. 107–56, title VIII, § 817(1), Oct. 26, 2001, 115 Stat. 385; Pub. L. 107–188, title II, § 231(c)(1), June 12, 2002, 116 Stat. 661.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2002—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 107–188 substituted ‘‘protec- tive, bona fide research, or other peaceful purposes’’ for ‘‘protective bona fide research, or other peaceful pur- poses’’. 2001—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 107–56, § 817(1)(C), added sub- sec. (b). Former subsec. (b) redesignated (c). Pub. L. 107–56, § 817(1)(A), substituted ‘‘includes’’ for ‘‘does not include’’ and inserted ‘‘other than’’ after ‘‘de- livery system for’’ and ‘‘bona fide research’’ after ‘‘pro- tective’’. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 107–56, § 817(1)(B), redesignated subsec. (b) as (c). 1996—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–132 inserted ‘‘or at- tempts, threatens, or conspires to do the same,’’ before ‘‘shall be fined under this title’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries SHORT TITLE Pub. L. 101–298, § 1, May 22, 1990, 104 Stat. 201, provided that: ‘‘This Act [enacting this chapter and amending section 2516 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989’.’’ PURPOSE AND INTENT Pub. L. 101–298, § 2, May 22, 1990, 104 Stat. 201, provided that: ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act [see Short Title note above] is to— ‘‘(1) implement the Biological Weapons Convention, an international agreement unanimously ratified by the United States Senate in 1974 and signed by more than 100 other nations, including the Soviet Union; and ‘‘(2) protect the United States against the threat of biological terrorism. ‘‘(b) INTENT OF ACT.—Nothing in this Act is intended to restrain or restrict peaceful scientific research or development.’’ § 175a. Requests for military assistance to en- force prohibition in certain emergencies The Attorney General may request the Sec- retary of Defense to provide assistance under section 382 of title 10 1 in support of Department of Justice activities relating to the enforcement of section 175 of this title in an emergency situa- tion involving a biological weapon of mass de- struction. The authority to make such a request may be exercised by another official of the De- partment of Justice in accordance with section 382(f)(2) of title 10.1 (Added Pub. L. 104–201, div. A, title XIV, § 1416(c)(1)(A), Sept. 23, 1996, 110 Stat. 2723.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Section 382 of title 10, referred to in text, was renum- bered section 282 of title 10, Armed Forces, by Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title XII, § 1241(a)(2), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2497. § 175b. Possession by restricted persons (a) OFFENSE.— (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for a re- stricted person to— (A) ship, transport, or possess in or affect- ing interstate or foreign commerce any bio- logical agent or toxin described in paragraph (2); or (B) receive any biological agent or toxin described in paragraph (2) that has been shipped or transported in interstate or for- eign commerce. (2) AGENTS AND TOXINS COVERED.—A biologi- cal agent or toxin described in this paragraph is a biological agent or toxin that— (A) is listed as a non-overlap or overlap se- lect biological agent or toxin under part 73 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations, pur- suant to section 351A of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 262a); and (B) is not excluded or exempted under part 73 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations. (3) PENALTY.—Whoever knowingly violates this section shall be fined as provided in this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both, but the prohibition contained in this sec- tion shall not apply with respect to any duly authorized United States governmental activ- ity. (b) TRANSFER TO UNREGISTERED PERSON.— (1) SELECT AGENTS.—Whoever transfers a se- lect agent to a person who the transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe is not registered as required by regulations under subsection (b) or (c) of section 351A of the Public Health Service Act shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both. (2) CERTAIN OTHER BIOLOGICAL AGENTS AND TOXINS.—Whoever transfers a biological agent