46 U.S.C. § 12506
Delegation of authority
The Secretary of Transportation may delegate to an agency, a State, or a qualified person the authority to—
(1)
establish and maintain the vessel identification system; and
(2)
charge fees under section 12505 of this title to a person making information available to or requesting information from the vessel identification system.
(Added Pub. L. 100–710, title I, § 101(a) , Nov. 23, 1988 , 102 Stat. 4737 .)