United States Code
Global Positioning System (10 USC 2281)
Title 10 of the U.S. Code, Section 2281, assigns the Secretary of Defense statutory authority to sustain and operate GPS for military and civil purposes. It directs the Secretary to provide civil GPS service on a continuous, worldwide basis, free of direct user fees. The statute calls for the development of measures for preventing hostile use of GPS in a particular area without hindering peaceful civil use of the system elsewhere.
The statute directs the Secretary of Defense to coordinate with the Secretary of Transportation on GPS requirements and GPS augmentation systems, and to coordinate with the Secretary of Commerce and others to facilitate civil and commercial GPS uses.
The statute requires the Federal Radionavigation Plan and the biennial GPS report to Congress.
10 USC 2281 was created by Sec. 1074 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998 (P.L. 105-85). The statute also incorporates the following public laws:
- Section 911 of the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007 (P.L. 109-364), which authorizes multi-agency funding of the PNT organizations created by national policy
- Section 218 of the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (P.L. 105-261), which requires a development plan for GPS modernization
- Section 279 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 (P.L. 104-106), which requires a development plan for navigation warfare
- Section 260 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (P.L. 109-163), which requires all aircraft, ships, armored vehicles, and indirect-fire weapon systems bought by the Defense Department after September 2007 to be GPS-equipped
Promotion of United States Global Positioning System Standards (42 USC 14712)
Title 42 of the U.S. Code, Section 14712, incorporates Section 104 of the Commercial Space Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-303), which encourages the continuous, worldwide operation of GPS free of direct user fees, international promotion of GPS as an international standard, and protection of the radio spectrum used by GPS.
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