10 U.S.C. § 2253 — Motor vehicles

Page 1831 TITLE 10—ARMED FORCES § 2253 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Before making any final rule, statement, or determination regarding the limitation or prohibition of any food or beverage ingredient in military food service, military medical foods, com- missary food, or commissary food service, the Sec- retary of Defense shall publish in the Federal Register a notice of a preliminary rule, statement, or deter- mination (in this section referred to as a ‘proposed ac- tion’) and provide opportunity for public comment. ‘‘(b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The Secretary shall include in any notice published under subsection (a) the following: ‘‘(1) The date of the notice. ‘‘(2) Contact information for the appropriate office at the Department of Defense. ‘‘(3) A summary of the notice. ‘‘(4) A date for comments to be submitted and spe- cific methods for submitting comments. ‘‘(5) A description of the substance of the proposed action. ‘‘(6) Findings and a statement of reasons supporting the proposed action. ‘‘(c) WAIVER AUTHORITY.— ‘‘(1) MILITARY OPERATIONS AND EMERGENCY RE- SPONSE.—The Secretary may waive subsections (a) and (b) if the Secretary determines that such a waiv- er is necessary for military operations or for the re- sponse to a national emergency declared by the Presi- dent under the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), a medical emergency, or a pandemic. ‘‘(2) PROTECTION OF HUMAN HEALTH.—The Secretary may waive subsections (a) and (b) if the Food and Drug Administration, the Surgeon General of the United States, or the Surgeons General of the Depart- ment of Defense makes a recall or prohibition deter- mination due to certain ingredients being harmful for human consumption. ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION REQUIRED.— ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall notify the congressional defense committees [Committees on Armed Services and Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives] not later than 60 days after exercising waiver authority under para- graph (1). ‘‘(B) ELEMENTS.—The notification required under subparagraph (A) shall include, with respect to each waiver, the following elements: ‘‘(i) The date, time, and location of the issuance of the waiver. ‘‘(ii) A detailed justification for the issuance of the waiver. ‘‘(iii) An identification of the rule, statement, or determination for which the Secretary issued the waiver, including the proposed duration of such rule, statement, or determination.’’ § 2251. Household furnishings and other prop- erty: personnel outside the United States or in Alaska or Hawaii (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), the Secretary of the military department concerned may— (1) purchase household furnishings and auto- mobiles from members of the armed forces and civilian employees of the Department of De- fense on duty outside the United States or in Hawaii for resale at cost to incoming per- sonnel; and (2) provide household furnishings, without charge, in other than public quarters occupied by members of the armed forces or civilian employees of the Department of Defense who are on duty outside the United States or in Alaska or Hawaii. (b) REQUIRED DETERMINATION.—The authority provided in subsection (a) may be used only when it is determined, under regulations ap- proved by the Secretary of Defense, that the use of that authority would be advantageous to the United States. (Added Pub. L. 100–370, § 1(e)(1), July 19, 1988, 102 Stat. 845.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Section is based on Pub. L. 98–212, title VII, § 723, Dec. 8, 1983, 97 Stat. 1443. § 2252. Rewards: missing property The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of each military department may pay a reward of not more than $500 in any case for information leading to the discovery of missing property under the jurisdiction of that Secretary or lead- ing to the recovery of such property. (Added Pub. L. 100–370, § 1(e)(1), July 19, 1988, 102 Stat. 845.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Section is based on Pub. L. 99–190, § 101(b) [title VIII, § 8005(b)], Dec. 19, 1985, 99 Stat. 1185, 1202. Editorial Notes PRIOR PROVISIONS Provisions similar to those in this section were con- tained in section 7209 of this title prior to repeal by Pub. L. 100–370, § 1(e)(3)(A). § 2253. Motor vehicles (a) GENERAL AUTHORITIES.—The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of each military de- partment may— (1) provide for insurance of official motor ve- hicles in a foreign country when the laws of such country require such insurance; and (2) purchase right-hand drive passenger se- dans at a cost of not more than $30,000 each. (b) HIRE OF PASSENGER VEHICLES.—Amounts appropriated to the Department of Defense for operation and maintenance of the active forces may be used for the hire of passenger motor ve- hicles. (Added Pub. L. 100–370, § 1(e)(1), July 19, 1988, 102 Stat. 845; amended Pub. L. 105–85, div. A, title VIII, § 805, Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1834; Pub. L. 112–81, div. A, title VIII, § 814(a), Dec. 31, 2011, 125 Stat. 1491.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Subsection (a)(1) of this section and sections 2241(b) and 2242(1), (4) of this title are based on Pub. L. 98–212, title VII, § 705, Dec. 8, 1983, 97 Stat. 1437. Subsection (a)(2) is based on Pub. L. 99–190, § 101(b) [title VIII, § 8005(i)], Dec. 19, 1985, 99 Stat. 1185, 1202. Subsection (b) of this section and sections 2241(a) and 2661(a) of this title are based on Pub. L. 98–212, title VII, § 735, Dec. 8, 1983, 97 Stat. 1444, as amended by Pub. L. 98–525, title XIV, §§ 1403(a)(2), 1404, Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2621. Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2011—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 112–81 substituted ‘‘pas- senger sedans’’ for ‘‘vehicles’’. 1997—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 105–85 substituted ‘‘$30,000’’ for ‘‘$12,000’’. Page 1832 TITLE 10—ARMED FORCES § 2254 § 2254. Treatment of reports of aircraft accident investigations (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Whenever the Secretary of a military department conducts an accident investigation of an accident involving an air- craft under the jurisdiction of the Secretary, the records and report of the investigations shall be treated in accordance with this section. (2) For purposes of this section, an accident in- vestigation is any form of investigation of an aircraft accident other than an investigation (known as a ‘‘safety investigation’’) that is con- ducted solely to determine the cause of the acci- dent and to obtain information that may pre- vent the occurrence of similar accidents. (b) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION INFORMATION.—(1) The Secretary concerned, upon request, shall publicly disclose unclassified tapes, scientific reports, and other factual information pertinent to an aircraft ac- cident investigation, before the release of the final accident investigation report relating to the accident, if the Secretary concerned deter- mines— (A) that such tapes, reports, or other infor- mation would be included within and releas- able with the final accident investigation re- port; and (B) that release of such tapes, reports, or other information— (i) would not undermine the ability of ac- cident or safety investigators to continue to conduct the investigation; and (ii) would not compromise national secu- rity. (2) A disclosure under paragraph (1) may not be made by or through officials with responsi- bility for, or who are conducting, a safety inves- tigation with respect to the accident. (c) OPINIONS REGARDING CAUSATION OF ACCI- DENT.—Following a military aircraft accident— (1) if the evidence surrounding the accident is sufficient for the investigators who conduct the accident investigation to come to an opin- ion (or opinions) as to the cause or causes of the accident, the final report of the accident investigation shall set forth the opinion (or opinions) of the investigators as to the cause or causes of the accident; and (2) if the evidence surrounding the accident is not sufficient for those investigators to come to an opinion as to the cause or causes of the accident, the final report of the acci- dent investigation shall include a description of those factors, if any, that, in the opinion of the investigators, substantially contributed to or caused the accident. (d) USE OF INFORMATION IN CIVIL PRO- CEEDINGS.—For purposes of any civil or criminal proceeding arising from an aircraft accident, any opinion of the accident investigators as to the cause of, or the factors contributing to, the accident set forth in the accident investigation report may not be considered as evidence in such proceeding, nor may such information be considered an admission of liability by the United States or by any person referred to in those conclusions or statements. (e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of each mili- tary department shall prescribe regulations to carry out this section. (Added Pub. L. 102–484, div. A, title X, § 1071(a)(1), Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2507.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Pub. L. 102–484, div. A, title X, § 1071(c), Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2508, provided that: ‘‘Section 2254 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to accidents occurring on or after the date on which regulations are first prescribed under that section.’’ REGULATIONS Pub. L. 105–261, div. A, title X, § 1065(c), Oct. 17, 1998, 112 Stat. 2134, provided that: ‘‘The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations, which shall be applied uni- formly across the Department of Defense, establishing procedures by which the military departments shall provide to the family members of any person involved in a military aviation accident periodic update reports on the conduct and progress of investigations into the accident.’’ Pub. L. 102–484, div. A, title X, § 1071(b), Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2508, provided that: ‘‘Regulations under sec- tion 2254 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall be prescribed not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 23, 1992].’’ § 2254a. Data files of military flight operations quality assurance systems: exemption from disclosure under Freedom of Information Act (a) AUTHORITY TO EXEMPT CERTAIN DATA FILES FROM DISCLOSURE UNDER FOIA.— (1) The Secretary of Defense may exempt in- formation contained in any data file of the military flight operations quality assurance system of a military department from disclo- sure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5, upon a written determination that— (A) the information is sensitive informa- tion concerning military aircraft, units, or aircrew; and (B) the public interest consideration in the disclosure of such information does not out- weigh preventing the disclosure of such in- formation. (2) In this section, the term ‘‘data file’’ means a file of the military flight operations quality assurance (in this section referred to as ‘‘MFOQA’’) system that contains informa- tion acquired or generated by the MFOQA sys- tem, including— (A) any data base containing raw MFOQA data; and (B) any analysis or report generated by the MFOQA system or which is derived from MFOQA data. (3) Information that is exempt under para- graph (1) from disclosure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5 shall be exempt from such disclosure even if such information is con- tained in a data file that is not exempt in its entirety from such disclosure. (4) The provisions of paragraph (1) may not be superseded except by a provision of law which is enacted after the date of the enact- ment of this section and which specifically cites and repeals or modifies those provisions. (b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations for the administra-