2017 US Code
Title 16 - Conservation
Chapter 31 - Marine Mammal Protection
Subchapter III - Marine Mammal Commission
Sec. 1401 - Establishment

There is hereby established the Marine Mammal Commission (hereafter referred to in this subchapter as the "Commission").

(1) Effective September 1, 1982, the Commission shall be composed of three members who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The President shall make his selection from a list of individuals knowledgeable in the fields of marine ecology and resource management, and who are not in a position to profit from the taking of marine mammals. Such list shall be submitted to him by the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality and unanimously agreed to by that Chairman, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the Director of the National Science Foundation and the Chairman of the National Academy of Sciences. No member of the Commission may, during his period of service on the Commission, hold any other position as an officer or employee of the United States except as a retired officer or retired civilian employee of the United States.

(2) The term of office for each member shall be three years; except that of the members initially appointed to the Commission, the term of one member shall be for one year, the term of one member shall be for two years, and the term of one member shall be for three years. No member is eligible for reappointment; except that any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed (A) shall be appointed for the remainder of such term, and (B) is eligible for reappointment for one full term. A member may serve after the expiration of his term until his successor has taken office.

The President shall designate a Chairman of the Commission (hereafter referred to in this subchapter as the "Chairman") from among its members.

Members of the Commission shall each be compensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent of the rate for GS–18 of the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5, for each day such member is engaged in the actual performance of duties vested in the Commission. Each member shall be reimbursed for travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section 5703 of title 5 for persons in Government service employed intermittently.

The Commission shall have an Executive Director, who shall be appointed (without regard to the provisions of title 5 governing appointments in the competitive service) by the Chairman with the approval of the Commission and shall be paid at a rate not in excess of the rate for GS–18 of the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5. The Executive Director shall have such duties as the Chairman may assign.

(Pub. L. 92–522, title II, §201, Oct. 21, 1972, 86 Stat. 1043; Pub. L. 97–389, title II, §202, Dec. 29, 1982, 96 Stat. 1951; Pub. L. 98–364, title I, §103(a), July 17, 1984, 98 Stat. 441.)

1984—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 98–364 substituted "The President shall make his selection from a list of individuals knowledgeable in the fields of marine ecology and resource management, and who are not in a position to profit from the taking of marine mammals. Such list shall be submitted to him by the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality and unanimously agreed to by that Chairman, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the Director of the National Science Foundation and the Chairman of the National Academy of Sciences" for "The President shall make his selection from a list, submitted to him by the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the Director of the National Science Foundation, and the Chairman of the National Academy of Sciences, of individuals knowledgeable in the fields of marine ecology and resource management, and who are not in a position to profit from the taking of marine mammals".

1982—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 97–389 inserted requirement that, effective Sept. 1, 1982, the three members of the Commission be appointed by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Section effective upon the expiration of the sixty-day period following Oct. 21, 1972, see section 4 of Pub. L. 92–522, set out as a note under section 1361 of this title.

References in laws to the rates of pay for GS–16, 17, or 18, or to maximum rates of pay under the General Schedule, to be considered references to rates payable under specified sections of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, see section 529 [title I, §101(c)(1)] of Pub. L. 101–509, set out in a note under section 5376 of Title 5.