(a)(1) All nautical products created or published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall be sold at such prices as the Secretary of Commerce shall establish annually, in accordance with the provisions of this subsection. The Secretary shall publish annually the prices at which nautical products are sold to the public.

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(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, the prices of nautical products may be increased over a period of not less than three years after the date of enactment of this section so as to recover all costs attributable to data base management, compilation, printing, and distribution of such products. The prices of such products may be maintained to recover all such costs thereafter.

(B) The Secretary, after consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, shall adjust the prices of nautical products in such manner as is necessary to avoid any adverse impact on marine safety attributable to the prices specified in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.

(3) This section shall not be construed to require the establishment of any price for a nautical product where, in the judgment of the Secretary, furnishing of that product to a recipient is a reasonable exchange for voluntary contribution of information by the recipient to a program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

(4) Prices established under this section may not include costs attributable to the acquisition or processing of nautical data.

(b) Fees collected from the sale of nautical products under this section and from any licensing of such products which is permitted under any other provision of law shall be deposited in the miscellaneous receipts fund of the United States Treasury.

(c) The Secretary may distribute nautical products—

(1) without charge to each foreign government or international organization with which the Secretary or a Federal department or agency has an agreement for exchange of these products without cost; and

(2) at prices which the Secretary establishes, to the departments and officers of the United States requiring them for official use.

(d) The fees provided for in this section are for the purpose of reimbursing the United States Government for the costs of creating, publishing or distributing nautical products of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The collection of fees authorized by this section shall not alter or expand any duty or liability of the United States under existing law for the performance of functions for which fees are collected, nor shall the collection of fees constitute an express or implied undertaking by the United States to perform any activity in a certain manner.

(e) For purposes of this section, the term “nautical products” includes all nautical charts, tide and tidal current tables, tidal current charts, coast pilots, water level products, and associated data bases which are created or published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.