(Title 50 Appendix)
§ 2071. Priority in contracts and orders
(a) Allocation of materials, services, and facilities
The President is hereby authorized (1) to require that performance under contracts or orders (other than contracts of employment) which he deems necessary or appropriate to promote the national defense shall take priority over performance under any other contract or order, and, for the purpose of assuring such priority, to require acceptance and performance of such contracts or orders in preference to other contracts or orders by any person he finds to be capable of their performance, and (2) to allocate materials, services, and facilities in such manner, upon such conditions, and to such extent as he shall deem necessary or appropriate to promote the national defense.
(b) Critical and strategic materials
The powers granted in this section shall not be used to control the general distribution of any material in the civilian market unless the President finds (1) that such material is a scarce and critical material essential to the national defense, and (2) that the requirements of the national defense for such material cannot otherwise be met without creating a significant dislocation of the normal distribution of such material in the civilian market to such a degree as to create appreciable hardship.
(c) Domestic energy; materials, equipment, and services
(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act [sections 2061 to 2170, 2171, and 2172 of this Appendix], the President may, by rule or order, require the allocation of, or the priority performance under contracts or orders (other than contracts of employment) relating to, materials, equipment, and services in order to maximize domestic energy supplies if he makes the findings required by paragraph (3) of this subsection.
(2) The authority granted by this subsection may not be used to require priority performance of contracts or orders, or to control the distribution of any supplies of materials, services, and facilities in the marketplace, unless the President finds that—
(A) such materials, services, and facilities are scarce, critical, and essential—
(i) to maintain or expand exploration, production, refining, transportation;
(ii) to conserve energy supplies; or
(iii) to construct or maintain energy facilities; and
(B) maintenance or expansion of exploration, production, refining, transportation, or conservation of energy supplies or the construction and maintenance of energy facilities cannot reasonably be accomplished without exercising the authority specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection.
(3) During any period when the authority conferred by this subsection is being exercised, the President shall take such action as may be appropriate to assure that such authority is being exercised in a manner which assures the coordinated administration of such authority with any priorities or allocations established under subsection (a) of this section and in effect during the same period.
(d) Rules; consultation among agency heads
The head of each Federal agency to which the President delegates authority under this section shall—
(1) issue, and annually review and update whenever appropriate, final rules, in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, that establish standards and procedures by which the priorities and allocations authority under this section is used to promote the national defense, under both emergency and nonemergency conditions; and
(2) as appropriate and to the extent practicable, consult with the heads of other Federal agencies to develop a consistent and unified Federal priorities and allocations system.
(Sept. 8, 1950, ch. 932, title I, § 101, 64 Stat. 799; July 31, 1951, ch. 275, title I, § 101(a), 65 Stat. 131; June 30, 1952, ch. 530, title I, §§ 101, 102, 66 Stat. 296, 297; June 30, 1953, ch. 171, § 3, 67 Stat. 129; Pub. L. 94–163, title I, § 104(a), Dec. 22, 1975, 89 Stat. 878; Pub. L. 102–99, § 6, Aug. 17, 1991, 105 Stat. 490; Pub. L. 111–67, § 4, Sept. 30, 2009, 123 Stat. 2009; Pub. L. 113–172, § 3, Sept. 26, 2014, 128 Stat. 1897.)
heading: Amendments
text: 2014—Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 113–172 substituted “issue, and annually review and update whenever appropriate, final rules” for “not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of the Defense Production Act Reauthorization of 2009, issue final rules”.
2009—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 111–67 added subsec. (d).
1991—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 102–99, § 6(1), substituted “materials, services, and facilities” for “materials and facilities”.
Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 102–99, § 6(2), substituted “materials, equipment, and services” for “supplies of materials and equipment”.
Subsec. (c)(2) to (4). Pub. L. 102–99, § 6(3), (4), added par. (2), redesignated par. (4) as (3), and struck out former pars. (2) and (3) which read as follows:
“(2) The President shall report to the Congress within sixty days after the date of enactment of this subsection on the manner in which the authority contained in paragraph (1) will be administered. This report shall include the manner in which allocations will be made, the procedure for requests and appeals, the criteria for determining priorities as between competing requests, and the office or agency which will administer such authorities.
“(3) The authority granted in this subsection may not be used to require priority performance of contracts or orders, or to control the distribution of any supplies of materials and equipment in the marketplace, unless the President finds that—
“(A) such supplies are scarce, critical, and essential to maintain or further (i) exploration, production, refining, transportation, or (ii) the conservation of energy supplies, or (iii) for the construction and maintenance of energy facilities; and
“(B) maintenance or furtherance of exploration, production, refining, transportation, or conservation of energy supplies or the construction and maintenance of energy facilities cannot reasonably be accomplished without exercising the authority specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection.”
1975—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 94–163 added subsec. (c).
1953—Subsec. (a). Act June 30, 1953, struck out provisions which related to slaughtering of livestock and allocation of meat and meat products.
Subsec. (b). Act June 30, 1953, retained priorities and allocation authority for defense production but generally to discontinue such authority with respect to the civilian market except in the special cases where, because of shortages and demands of the defense effort, there otherwise would be a significant dislocation in the civilian market resulting in appreciable hardship.
1952—Act June 30, 1952, redesignated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted provisions relating to meat and meat products, and added subsec. (b).
1951—Act July 31, 1951, inserted provision relating to slaughtering of livestock.
heading: Effective Date of 1991 Amendment
text: Pub. L. 102–99, § 7, Aug. 17, 1991, 105 Stat. 490, provided that: “This Act [amending this section and sections 2158, 2161, and 2166 of this Appendix, repealing section 2158a of this Appendix, and enacting provisions set out as a note under section 2061 of this Appendix] shall take effect on October 20, 1990.”
heading: Termination Date
text: Termination of section, see section 2166(a) of this Appendix.
heading: Delegation of Functions
text: Functions of President under act Sept. 8, 1950 [section 2061 et seq. this Appendix], relating to production, conservation, use, control, distribution, and allocation of energy, delegated to Secretary of Energy, see section 4 of Ex. Ord. No. 11790, June 25, 1974, 39 F.R. 23185, set out as a note under section 761 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade.
For delegation of certain authority of President under this section, see sections 201 to 203 of Ex. Ord. No. 13603, Mar. 16, 2012, 77 F.R. 16652, 16653, set out as a note under section 2153 of this Appendix.
heading: Report on Industry Preparedness
text: Pub. L. 110–53, title X, § 1002(b), Aug. 3, 2007, 121 Stat. 375, provided that: “Not later than 6 months after the last day of fiscal year 2007 and each subsequent fiscal year, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in cooperation with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Energy, shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives a report that details the actions taken by the Federal Government to ensure, in accordance with subsections (a) and (c) of section 101 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. App. 2071), the preparedness of industry to reduce interruption of critical infrastructure and key resource operations during an act of terrorism, natural catastrophe, or other similar national emergency.”
heading: Presidential Authority To Issue Orders Relating to Domestic Energy Supplies
text: Pub. L. 94–163, title I, § 104(b), Dec. 22, 1975, 89 Stat. 879, as amended by Pub. L. 99–58, title I, § 101(b), July 2, 1985, 99 Stat. 102; Pub. L. 101–46, § 1(2), June 30, 1989, 103 Stat. 132; Pub. L. 101–262, § 2(a), Mar. 31, 1990, 104 Stat. 124; Pub. L. 101–360, § 2(a), Aug. 10, 1990, 104 Stat. 421; Pub. L. 101–383, § 2(1), Sept. 15, 1990, 104 Stat. 727; Pub. L. 105–388, § 6, Nov. 13, 1998, 112 Stat. 3479; Pub. L. 106–469, title I, § 103(2), Nov. 9, 2000, 114 Stat. 2029, provided that: “The expiration of the Defense Production Act of 1950 [section 2061 et seq. of this Appendix] or any amendment of such Act after the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 22, 1975] shall not affect the authority of the President under section 101(c) of such Act [subsec. (c) of this section], as amended by subsection (a) of this section and in effect on the date of enactment of this Act, unless Congress by law expressly provides to the contrary.”
heading: Executive Order No. 10161
text: Ex. Ord. No. 10161, Sept. 9, 1950, 15 F.R. 6105, as amended by Ex. Ord. No. 10200, Jan. 3, 1951, 16 F.R. 61; Ex. Ord. No. 10233, Apr. 23, 1951, 16 F.R. 3503; Ex. Ord. No. 10281, Aug. 28, 1951, 16 F.R. 8789; Ex. Ord. No. 10301, Nov. 5, 1951, 16 F.R. 11257; Ex. Ord. No. 10324, Feb. 6, 1952, 17 F.R. 1171; Ex. Ord. No. 10359, June 9, 1952, 17 F.R. 5269; Ex. Ord. No. 10373, July 15, 1952, 17 F.R. 6425; Ex. Ord. No. 10377, July 28, 1952, 17 F.R. 6891; Ex. Ord. No. 10390, Sept. 2, 1952, 17 F.R. 7995; and Ex. Ord. No. 10433, Feb. 4, 1953, 18 F.R. 761, which related to delegation of President’s functions, was revoked by Ex. Ord. No. 10480, Aug. 18, 1953, 18 F.R. 4939, formerly set out under section 2153 of this Appendix.
heading: Abolition of Wage Stabilization Board and Creation of New Board
text: Wage Stabilization Board created by Ex. Ord. No. 10161, eff. Sept. 9, 1950, 15 F.R. 6105, as amended, abolished by section 2103(b)(6) of this Appendix. A new Wage Stabilization Board was created by section 2103(b)(1), which terminated according to section 2166 of this Appendix Apr. 30, 1953.
heading: Powers of Secretary of Commerce Under Ex. Ord. No. 10161
text: The Secretary of Commerce by F.R. Doc. 50–8068, filed Sept. 13, 1950, 15 F.R. 6182, established the National Production Authority in the Department of Commerce to perform the functions and exercise the powers vested in the Secretary of Commerce by Ex. Ord. No. 10161, and established the Advisory Committee on Priorities Administration which was to serve in an advisory capacity with respect to policy matters. The National Production Authority was abolished and its functions merged into the Business and Defense Services Administration by Secretary of Commerce order, dated Oct. 1, 1953, which in turn was abolished by Department Organization Order 40–1A of Sept. 15, 1970 and its functions transferred to the Bureau of Domestic Commerce. All functions of the Bureau of Domestic Commerce were transferred by the Secretary of Commerce to the Domestic and International Business Administration, within the Department of Commerce, eff. Nov. 17, 1972.