SUBCHAPTER III—AUKUS SUBMARINE TRANSFER AUTHORIZATION ACT
§10431. Authorization of sales of Virginia Class submarines to Australia
(a) In general
Effective beginning on the date that is one year after December 22, 2023, the President is authorized to transfer up to two Virginia Class submarines from the inventory of the Department of the Navy to the Government of Australia on a sale basis, and transfer not more than one additional Virginia Class submarine to the Government of Australia on a sale basis pursuant to section 21 of the Arms Export Control Act (
(b) Provisions of law superseded
The transfer of a vessel authorized under subsection (a) shall not be subject to the requirements of—
(1) section 36 of the Arms Export Control Act (
(2)
(c) Costs of transfers
Any expense incurred by the United States in connection with a transfer of a vessel authorized under subsection (a) shall be charged to the Government of Australia notwithstanding
(d) Certifications and other requirements
(1) In general
Not later than 270 days prior to the transfer of a vessel authorized under subsection (a), the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and leadership a certification that—
(A) the transfer of such vessels—
(i) will not degrade the United States undersea capabilities;
(ii) is consistent with United States foreign policy and national security interests; and
(iii) is in furtherance of the AUKUS partnership;
(B) the United States is making sufficient submarine production and maintenance investments to meet the combination of United States military requirements and the requirements under subparagraph (A);
(C) the Government of Australia has provided the appropriate funds and support for the additional capacity required to meet the requirements identified in this section; and
(D) the Government Australia has the capability to host and fully operate the vessels authorized to be transferred.
(2) Waiver of chief of naval operations certification
The requirement for the Chief of Naval Operations to make a certification under
(3) Required mutual defense agreement
(A) In general
The President may not provide for the transfer of a vessel authorized under subsection (a) unless the United States and Australia have entered into a mutual defense agreement that meets the requirements of subparagraph (B) and such agreement is in effect.
(B) Requirements
A mutual defense agreement meets the requirements described in this subparagraph if the agreement—
(i) provides a clear legal framework for the sole purpose of Australia's acquisition of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines; and
(ii) meets the highest nonproliferation standards for the exchange of nuclear materials, technology, equipment, and information between the United States and Australia.
(4) Subsequent sales
A transfer of vessel that is a Virginia class submarine on a sale basis other than a transfer described in subsection (a) may occur only if such transfer is explicitly authorized pursuant to a law enacted after December 22, 2023.
(e) Crediting of receipts
(1) In general
Notwithstanding any provision of law pertaining to the crediting of amounts received from a sale under the terms of section 21 of the Arms Export Control Act (
(A) be credited, at the discretion of the President to—
(i) the appropriation, fund, or account used in incurring the original obligation;
(ii) an appropriate appropriation, fund, or account currently available for the purposes for which the expenditures for the original acquisition of submarines transferred under this section were made; or
(iii) any other appropriation, fund, or account available for the improvement of the United States submarine industrial base; and
(B) remain available for obligation until expended for the same purpose as the appropriation to which the receipt is credited.
(2) Notifications and report
(A) Initial notification
Not later than 30 days before the date of the delivery of the first vessel authorized to be transferred under subsection (a), the President shall notify the appropriate congressional committees and leadership of the following:
(i) The Government of Australia has achieved Submarine Rotational Forces-West full operational capability to support 4 rotationally deployed Virginia class submarines and one Astute class submarine, including having demonstrated the domestic capacity to fully perform all the associated activities necessary for the safe hosting and operation of nuclear-powered submarines.
(ii) The Government of Australia has achieved sovereign-ready initial operational capability to support a Royal Australian Navy Virginia class submarine, including having demonstrated the domestic capacity to fully perform all the associated—
(I) activities necessary for the safe hosting and operation of nuclear-powered submarines;
(II) crewing;
(III) operations;
(IV) regulatory and emergency procedures, including those specific to nuclear power plants; and
(V) detailed planning for enduring Virginia class submarine ownership, including each significant event leading up to and including nuclear defueling.
(B) Notification
Not later than 30 days after the date of a transfer of any vessel authorized under subsection (a), and upon any transfer or depositing of funds received pursuant to such a transfer, the President shall notify the appropriate congressional committees and leadership of—
(i) the amount of funds received pursuant to the transfer; and
(ii) the specific account or fund into which the funds described in clause (i) are deposited.
(C) Report
Not later than 30 days after the receipt of funds as described in subparagraph (B), the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and leadership a report on the matters described in clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A).
(f) Applicability of existing law to transfer of special nuclear material and utilization facilities for military applications
(1) In general
With respect to any special nuclear material for use in utilization facilities or any portion of a vessel transferred under the authority of subsection (a) constituting utilization facilities for military applications under
(2) Use of funds
The President may use proceeds from a transfer described in subparagraph (1) for the acquisition of submarine naval nuclear propulsion plants and the nuclear fuel to replace the propulsion plants and fuel transferred to the Government of Australia.
(g) Omitted
(h) Transfer or export of defense services
(1) In general
The President may transfer or authorize the export of defense services (as such term is defined in section 47 of the Arms Export Control Act (
(2) Authority to export to Australian and United Kingdom private and public-sector personnel
The transfer or export of defense services under this subsection may be directly exported to private and public-sector personnel of Australia or to private and public-sector personnel of the United Kingdom to support the development of the Australian submarine industrial base necessary for submarine security activities between members of the AUKUS partnership, including in the case in which such private and public-sector personnel are not officers, employees, or agents of the Government of Australia or the Government of the United Kingdom.
(3) Application of requirements for retransfer and reexport
Any person who receives any defense service transferred or exported under paragraph (1) may retransfer or reexport such service to other persons only in accordance with the requirements of the Arms Export Control Act (
(4) Security controls
(A) In general
Any defense service transferred or exported under paragraph (1) shall be subject to appropriate security controls to ensure that any sensitive information conveyed by such transfer or export is protected from disclosure to persons unauthorized by the United States to receive such information.
(B) Certification
Not later than 30 days before the first transfer or export of a defense service under paragraph (1), and annually thereafter, the President shall certify to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives that the controls described in subparagraph (A) will protect the information described in such subparagraph for the defense services so transferred or exported.
(i) Report
(1) In general
Not later than 180 days after December 22, 2023, and annually thereafter for 15 years, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and leadership a report describing—
(A) the status of the transfer of vessels authorized under subsection (a);
(B) the implementation of submarine security cooperation under the AUKUS partnership and challenges towards its implementation;
(C) expansion of the public and private Virginia class submarine production and repair facilities, to include proposed work conducted in Australia and the United Kingdom to meet the additional work required by commitments under the AUKUS partnership;
(D) an annual procurement schedule for the total quantity of submarines the Department of Defense plans to procure over the 15 years following December 22, 2023; and
(E) a list of transfers or exports of defense services authorized under subsection (h) and the private-sector personnel of Australia or the private-sector personnel of the United Kingdom to whom the defense services were exported.
(2) Form
The report required by this subsection shall be submitted in classified form.
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Editorial Notes
References in Text
The Arms Export Control Act, referred to in subsec. (h)(3), is
Codification
Section is comprised of section 1352 of
§10432. Acceptance of contributions in support of Australia, United Kingdom, and United States submarine security activities
(a) Acceptance authority
The President may accept from the Government of Australia contributions of money made by the Government of Australia for use by the Department of Defense in support of non-nuclear related aspects of submarine security activities between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (in this section referred to as the "AUKUS partnership").
(b) Establishment of Submarine Security Activities Account
(1) In general
There is established in the Treasury of the United States a special account to be known as the 'Submarine Security Activities Account'.
(2) Credit to account
Contributions of money accepted by the President under subsection (a) shall be credited to the Submarine Security Activities Account.
(3) Availability
Amounts credited to the Submarine Security Activities Account shall remain available until expended.
(c) Use of funds
(1) In general
Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b), the President may use funds in the Submarine Security Activities Account—
(A) for any purpose authorized by law that the President determines would support the AUKUS submarine security activities;
(B) to carry out a military construction project that is consistent with the purposes for which the contributions were made and is authorized by law;
(C) to develop and increase the submarine industrial base workforce by investing in recruiting, training, and retaining key specialized labor at public and private shipyards; or
(D) to upgrade facilities, equipment, and infrastructure needed to repair and maintain submarines at public and private shipyards.
(2) No further specific authorization in law required
Funds in the Submarine Security Activities Account may be used as described in this subsection without further specific authorization in law.
(d) Plan for use of funds
Not later than 30 days prior to any use of any funds in the Submarine Security Activities Account, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and leadership a plan detailing—
(1) the amount of funds in the Submarine Security Activities Account; and
(2) how such funds will be used, including specific amounts and purposes.
(e) Transfers of funds
(1) To Department of Defense
(A) In general
In carrying out subsection (c), the President may transfer funds available in the Submarine Security Activities Account to appropriations available to the Department of Defense.
(B) Authority in addition to other transfer authority
The authority provided in this paragraph is in addition to any other transfer authority otherwise provided by law and is subject to the same terms and conditions as the authority provided in section 8005 of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023 (
(C) Availability
Funds transferred under the authority provided in this paragraph shall be merged with and available for the same purposes, and for the same time period, as the appropriation to which transferred.
(D) Limitation on certain transactions
Contributions referred to in subsection (a) may not be obligated for a transaction authorized in subsection (c)(1)(B) until the President submits to the appropriate congressional committees and leadership notice of the transaction, including a detailed cost estimate, and a period of 21 days has elapsed after the date on which the notification is received by the appropriate congressional committees and leadership or, if earlier, a period of 14 days has elapsed after the date on which a copy of the notification is provided in an electronic medium.
(2) To Department of Energy
In carrying out subsection (c), and in accordance with the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, (
(3) Transfers back to Submarine Security Activities Account
Upon a determination by the President that all or part of the funds transferred from the Submarine Security Activities Account under this subsection are not necessary for the purposes for which such funds were transferred, all or such part of such funds shall be transferred back to the Submarine Security Activities Account.
(f) Investment of money
(1) In general
The President may invest money in the Submarine Security Activities Account in securities of the United States or in securities guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United States.
(2) Interest
Any interest or other income that accrues from investment in securities referred to in paragraph (1) shall be deposited to the credit of the Submarine Security Activities Account.
(g) Relationship to other laws
The authority to accept or transfer funds under this section is in addition to any other statutory authority to accept or transfer funds.
(h) Notification and report
(1) Notification
Not later than 60 days prior to the transfer of any funds from the Submarine Security Activities Account, the President shall notify the appropriate congressional committees and leadership of—
(A) the intended use of such funds by appropriation, program, project, and activity, as defined in the Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying the Department of Defense Appropriations Act 1 2023 (
(B) the extent to which such funds complement, supplement, or supplant other on-going or planned efforts funded by an appropriations Act with an identification of the associated funding and explanation of the combined efforts including the intended outcomes.
(2) Annual report
Not later than November 30 of each year until one year after the date on which all funds transferred under this section have been fully expended, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and leadership a report that includes a detailed accounting of—
(A) the amount of funds transferred under this subsection during the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year in which the report is submitted; and
(B) the purposes for which such funds were used.
(i) Report
(1) In general
Not later than 30 days after the date on which contributions of money accepted by the President under subsection (a) are credited to the Submarine Security Activities Account under subsection (b), the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and leadership a report on—
(A) the amount of money so transferred;
(B) a description of the intended use of the funds; and
(C) any other matters related to the administration of the Submarine Security Activities Account as determined necessary by the Secretary.
(2) Form
The report required by this subsection shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified annex.
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Editorial Notes
References in Text
Section 8005 of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023, referred to in subsec. (e)(1)(B), is section 8005 of
The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, referred to in subsec. (e)(2), is act Aug. 1, 1946, ch. 724, as added by act Aug. 30, 1954, ch. 1073, §1,
1 So in original. Probably should be "Act,".
§10433. Appropriate congressional committees and leadership defined
In this chapter, the term "appropriate congressional committees and leadership" means—
(1) the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives; and
(2) the majority leader of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate.
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