US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 10USC7622]

 
                         TITLE 10--ARMED FORCES
 
                    Subtitle C--Navy and Marine Corps
 
                     PART IV--GENERAL ADMINISTRATION
 
                           CHAPTER 653--CLAIMS
 
Sec. 7622. Admiralty claims against the United States

    (a) The Secretary of the Navy may settle, or compromise, and pay in 
an amount not more than $15,000,000 an admiralty claim against the 
United States for--
        (1) damage caused by a vessel in the naval service or by other 
    property under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Navy;
        (2) compensation for towage and salvage service, including 
    contract salvage, rendered to a vessel in the naval service or to 
    other property under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Navy; 
    or
        (3) damage caused by a maritime tort committed by any agent or 
    employee of the Department of the Navy or by property under the 
    jurisdiction of the Department of the Navy.

    (b) If a claim under this section is settled or compromised for more 
than $15,000,000, the Secretary shall certify it to Congress.
    (c) In any case where the amount to be paid is not more than 
$1,000,000, the Secretary may delegate his authority under this section 
to any person designated by him.
    (d) Upon acceptance of payment by the claimant, the settlement or 
compromise of a claim under this section is final and conclusive 
notwithstanding any other provision of law.

(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 472; Pub. L. 89-67, July 7, 1965, 79 
Stat. 212; Pub. L. 92-417, Sec. 1(5), Aug. 29, 1972, 86 Stat. 654; Pub. 
L. 101-189, div. A, title XVI, Sec. 1633, Nov. 29, 1989, 103 Stat. 1608; 
Pub. L. 107-107, div. A, title X, Sec. 1014(a), Dec. 28, 2001, 115 Stat. 
1212.)

                                          Historical and Revision Notes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Revised section                      Source (U.S. Code)               Source (Statutes at Large)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7622..................................  46 U.S.C. 797.                       July 3, 1944, ch. 399, Sec.  7, 58
                                                                              Stat. 726.
                                        46 U.S.C. 799.                       July 3, 1944, ch. 399, Sec.  9;
                                                                              added Aug. 2, 1946, ch. 739, 60
                                                                              Stat. 803.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In subsection (a) the words ``consider, ascertain, adjust, 
determine'' are omitted as covered by the word ``settle'', as defined in 
Sec. 7621(b) of this title. The words ``vessel in the naval service'' 
are substituted for the words ``vessels of the Navy or in the naval 
service'', in view of the definition in Sec. 7621(a) of this title. The 
words ``pay in an amount not more than $1,000,000, a claim'' are 
substituted for the words ``pay the amount of any claim, so determined, 
compromised, or settled'' and for the words ``the payment of any claim 
on which a net amount exceeding $1,000,000 is determined to be due from 
the United States, or which is compromised or settled at a net amount 
exceeding $1,000,000 payable by the United States, shall not be 
authorized by this section''.
    In subsection (c) the words ``In any case where the amount to be 
paid is not more than'' are substituted for the words ``When the net 
amount paid in settlement does not exceed'' for clarity, since the 
delegation necessarily precedes payment. The words ``the Secretary may 
delegate his authority'' are substituted for the words ``the authority 
of the Secretary of the Navy * * * may be exercised by'' for clarity.
    In subsection (d) the words ``but not until then'', ``for all 
purposes'', and ``to the contrary'' are omitted as surplusage.
    The first proviso in 46 U.S.C. 797, stating that this section is 
supplementary to, and not in lieu of, other laws authorizing the 
settlement of claims, is omitted as unnecessary, since the other 
applicable claims laws are restated in this title. The second proviso, 
forbidding consideration of claims for more than $3,000 if they accrued 
before Sept. 8, 1939, is omitted as obsolete. It was designed to avoid 
reviving stale claims upon enactment of the source law on July 3, 1944. 
However, as a matter of practice, no claims are settled under this 
authority which are more than two years old, in line with the two-year 
statute of limitations contained in the Suits in Admiralty Act and the 
Public Vessels Act. This limitation has been officially publicized in 
the Federal Register for May 22, 1947, p. 3296, and in 32 C.F.R. 752. 
The third proviso in 46 U.S.C. 797 is omitted as unnecessary, since the 
appropriation named therein no longer exists, and the payments are now 
made from appropriations for the Department of Defense.


                               Amendments

    2001--Subsecs. (a), (b). Pub. L. 107-107, Sec. 1014(a)(1), 
substituted ``$15,000,000'' for ``$1,000,000''.
    Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 107-107, Sec. 1014(a)(2), substituted 
``$1,000,000'' for ``$100,000''.
    1989--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 101-189 substituted ``$100,000'' for 
``$10,000''.
    1972--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 92-417 substituted ``an admiralty claim 
against the United States'' for ``a claim against the United States'' in 
text preceding par. (1), in par. (1) inserted ``or by other property 
under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Navy'', in par. (2) 
inserted ``or to other property under the jurisdiction of the Department 
of the Navy'', and added par. (3).
    1965--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 89-67 substituted ``$10,000'' for 
``$1,000''.


                    Effective Date of 2001 Amendment

    Pub. L. 107-107, div. A, title X, Sec. 1014(c), Dec. 28, 2001, 115 
Stat. 1212, provided that: ``The amendments made by this section 
[amending this section and section 7623 of this title] shall apply with 
respect to any claim accruing on or after February 1, 2001.''