Public Law 92–532

No person shall transport from the United States any radiological, chemical, or biological warfare agent or any high-level radioactive waste, or except as may be authorized in a permit issued under this title, and subject to regulations issued under section 108 hereof by the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating, any other material for the purpose of dumping it into ocean waters.

No person shall dump any radiological, chemical, or biological warfare agent or any high-level’ radioactive waste, or, except as may be authorized in a permit issued under this title, any other material, transported from any location outside the United States, (1)_ into the territorial sea of the United States, or (2) into a zone contiguous to the territorial sea of the United States, extending to a line twelve nautical miles seaward from the base line from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured, to the extent that it may affect the territorial sea or the territory of the United States.

No officer, employee, agent, department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States shall transport, from any location outside the United States any radiological, chemical, or biological warfare agent or any high-level radioactive waste, or. except as may be authorized in a permit issued under tills title, any other material for the purpose of dumping it into ocean waters.

Except in relation to dredged material, as provided for in section 103 of this title, and in relation to radiological, chemical, and biological warfare agents and high-level radioactive waste, as provided for in section 101 of this title, the Administrator may issue permits, after notice and opportunity for public hearings, for the transportation from the United States or, in the case of an agency or instrumentality of the United States, for the transportation from a location outside the United States, of material for the purpose of dumping it into ocean waters, or for the dumping of material into the waters described in section 101 (b), where the Administrator determines that such dumping will not unreasonably degrade or endanger human health, welfare, or amenities, or the marine environment, ecological systems, or economic potentialities. The Administrator shall establish and apply criteria for reviewing and evaluating such permit applications, and, in establishing or revising such criteria, shall consider, but not be limited in his consideration to, the following:

In establishing or revising such criteria, the Administrator shall consult with Federal, State, and local officials, and interested members of the general public, as may appear appropriate to the Administrator. With respect to such criteria as may affect the civil works program of the Department of the Army, the Administrator shall also consult with the Secretary. In reviewing applications for permits, the Administrator shall make such provision for consultation with interested Federal and State agencies as he deems useful or necessary. No permit shall be issued for a dumping of material which will violate applicable water quality standards.

The Administrator may establish and issue various categories of permits, including the general permits described in section 104(c).

The Administrator may, considering the criteria established pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, designate recommended sites or times for dumping and, when he finds it necessary to protect critical areas, shall, after consultation with the Secretary, also designate sites or times within which certain materials may not be dumped.

No permit is required under this title for the transportation for dumping or the dumping of fish wastes, except when deposited in harbors or other protected or enclosed coastal waters, or where the Administrator finds that such deposits could endanger health, the environment, or ecological systems in a specific location. Where the Administrator makes such a finding, such material may be deposited only as authorized by a permit issued by the Administrator under this section.

Subject to the provisions of subsections (b), (c), and (d) of this section, the Secretary may issue permits, after notice

Notice, public hearings.

and opportunity for public hearings, for the transportation of dredged material for the purpose of dumping it into ocean waters, where the Secretary determines that the dumping will not unreasonably degrade or endanger human health, welfare, or amenities, or the marine environment, ecological systems, or economic potentialities.

In making the determination required by subsection (a), the Secretary shall apply those criteria, established pursuant to section 102a, relating to the effects of the dumping. Based upon an evaluation of the potential effect of a permit denial on navigation, economic and industrial development, and foreign and domestic commerce of the United States, the Secretary shall make an independent determination as to the need for the dumping. The Secretary shall also make an independent, determination as to other possible methods of disposal and as to appropriate locations for the dumping. In considering appropriate locations, he shall, to the extent feasible, utilize the recommended sites designated by the Administrator pursuant, to section 102(e).

Prior to issuing any permit under this section, the Secretary shall first notify the Administrator of his intention to do so. In any case in which the Administrator disagrees with the determination of the Secretary as to compliance with the criteria established pursuant to section 102(a) relating to the effects of the dumping or with the restrictions established pursuant to section 102(c) relating- to critical areas, the determination of the Administrator shall prevail. Unless the Administrator grants a waiver pursuant to subsection (d), the Secretary shall not issue a permit which does not comply with such criteria and with such restrictions.

If, in any case, the Secretary finds that, in the disposition of

Waiver.

dredged material, there is no economically feasible method or site available other than a dumping site the utilization of which would result, in non-compliance with the criteria established pursuant to section 102(a) relating to the effects of dumping or with the restrictions established pursuant to section 102(c) relating to critical areas, he shall so certify and request a waiver from the Administrator of the specific requirements involved. Within thirty days of the receipt of the waiver request, unless the Administrator finds that the dumping of the material will result in an unacceptably adverse impact on municipal water supplies, shell-fish beds, wildlife, fisheries (including spawning and breeding areas), or recreational areas, he shall grant the waiver.

In connection with Federal projects involving dredged material, the Secretary may, in lieu of the permit procedure, issue regulations which will require the application to such projects of the same criteria, other factors to be evaluated, the same procedures, and the same requirements which apply to the issuance of permits under subsections (a), (b), (c),and (d) of this section.

Permits issued under this title shall designate and include (1) the type of material authorized to be transported for dumping or to be dumped; (2) the amount of material authorized to be transported for dumping or to be dumped; (3) the location where such transport for dumping will be terminated or where such dumping will occur; (4) the length of time for which the permits are valid and their expiration date; (5) any special provisions deemed necessary by the Administrator or the Secretary, as the case may be, after consultation with the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating, for the monitoring and surveillance of the transportation or dumping; and (6) such other matters as the Administrator or the Secretary, as the case may be, deems appropriate.

The Administrator or the Secretary, as the ease may be may prescribe such processing fees for permits and such reporting requirements for actions taken pursuant to permits issued by him under this title as he deems appropriate.

Consistent with the requirements of sections 102 and 103, but in lieu of a requirement for specific permits in such case, the Administrator or the Secretary, as the case may be may issue general permits for the transportation for dumping, or dumping, or both, of specified materials or classes of materials for which he may issue permits, which he determines will have a minimal adverse environmental impact.

Any permit issued under this title shall be reviewed periodically and, if appropriate, revised. The Administrator or the Secretary, as the case may be, may limit or deny the issuance of permits, or he may alter or revoke partially or entirely the terms of permits issued by him under this title, for the transportation for dumping, or for the dumping, or both, of specified materials or classes of materials, where he finds that such materials cannot be dumped consistently with the criteria and other factors required to be applied in evaluating the permit application. No action shall be taken under this subsection unless the affected person or permittee shall have been given notice and opportunity for a hearing on such action as proposed.

The Administrator or the Secretary, as the case may be, shall require an applicant for a permit under this title to provide such information as he may consider necessary to review and evaluate such application.

Information received by the Administrator or the Secretary, as the case may be, as a part of any application or in connection with any permit granted under this title shall be available to the public as a matter of public record, at every stage of the proceeding. The final determination of the Administrator or the Secretary, as the case may be, shall be likewise available.

A copy of any permit issued under this title shall be placed in a conspicuous place in the vessel which will be used for the transportation or dumping authorized by such permit, and an additional copy shall be furnished by the issuing official to the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, or its designee.

Any person who violates any provision of this title, or of the regulations promulgated under this title, or a permit issued under this title shall be liable to a civil penalty of not more than $50,000 for each violation to be assessed by the Administrator. No penalty shall be assessed until the person charged shall have been given notice and an opportunity for a hearing of such violation. In determining the amount of the penalty, the gravity of the violation, prior violations, and the demonstrated good faith of the person charged in attempting to achieve rapid compliance after notification of a violation shall be considered by said Administrator. For good cause shown, the Administrator may remit or mitigate such penalty. Upon failure of the offending party to pay the penalty, the Administrator may request the Attorney General to commence an action in the appropriate district court of the United States for such relief as may be appropriate.

In addition to any action which may be brought under subsection (a) of this section, a person who knowingly violates this title, regulations promulgated under this title, or a permit issued under this title shall be fined not more than $50,000, or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.

For the purpose of imposing civil penalties and criminal fines raider this section, each day of a continuing violation shall constitute a separate offense as shall the dumping from each of several vessels, or other sources.

The Attorney General or Iris delegate may bring actions for equitable relief to enjoin an imminent or continuing violation of this title, of regulations promulgated under this title, or of permits issued under this title, and the district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction to grant such relief as the equities of the case may require.

A vessel, except a public vessel within the meaning of section

Liability.

13 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (33 U.S.C. 1163), used in a violation, shall be liable in rem for any civil penalty

Ante, p. 816.

assessed or criminal fine imposed and may be proceeded against in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof; but no vessel shall be liable unless it shall appear that one or more of the owners, or bareboat charterers, was at the time of the violation a consenting party or privy to such violation.

If the provisions of any permit Issued under section 102 or 103

Ante, pp. 1054, 1055.

are violated, the Administrator or the Secretary, as the case may be, may revoke the permit or may suspend the permit for a specified period of time. No permit shall be revoked or suspended unless the permittee shall have been given notice and opportunity for a hearing on such violation and proposed suspension or revocation.

No person shall be subject to a civil penalty or to a criminal fine or imprisonment for dumping materials from a vessel if such materials are dumped in an emergency to safeguard life at sea. Any such emergency dumping shall be reported to the Administrator under such conditions as he may prescribe.

After the effective date of this title, all licenses, permits, and authorizations other than those issued pursuant to this title shall be void and of no legal effect, to the extent that they purport to authorize any activity regulated by this title, and whether issued before or after the effective date of this title.

The provisions of subsection (a) shall not apply to actions taken before the effective date of this title under the authority of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 (30 Stat. 1151), as amended (33 U.S.C. 401 et. seq.).

Prior to issuing any permit under this title, if it appears to the Administrator that the disposition of material, other than dredged material, may adversely affect navigation in the territorial sea of the United States, or in the approaches to any harbor of the United States, or may create an artificial island on the Outer Continental Shelf, the Administrator shall consult with the Secretary and no permit shall be issued if the Secretary determines that, navigation will be unreasonably impaired.

After the effective date of this title, no State shall adopt or enforce any rule or regulation relating to any activity regulated by this title. Any State may, however, propose to the Administrator criteria relating to the dumping of materials into ocean waters within its jurisdiction, or into other ocean waters to the extent that such dumping may affect waters within the jurisdiction of such State, and it the Administrator determines, after notice and opportunity for hearing, that the proposed criteria are not inconsistent with the purposes of this title, may adopt those criteria and may issue regulations to implement such criteria. Such determination shall be made by the Administrator within one hundred and twenty days of receipt of the proposed criteria. For the purposes of this subsection, the term “State” means

“State.”

any State, interstate or regional authority, Federal territory or Commonwealth or the District of Columbia.

Nothing in this title shall be deemed to affect in any manner or to any extent any provision of the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act as amended (16 U.S.C. 661–666c).

50 Stat. 1080.

72 Stat. 563.

The Administrator or the Secretary, as the case may be, may, whenever appropriate, utilize by agreement, the personnel, services and facilities of other Federal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities, or State agencies or instrumentalities, whether on a reimbursable or a nonreimbursable basis, in carrying out his responsibilities under this title.

The Administrator or the Secretary may delegate responsibility and authority for reviewing and evaluating permit applications, including the decision as to whether a permit will be issued, to an officer of his agency, or he may delegate, by agreement, such responsibility and authority to the heads of other Federal departments or agencies, whether on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis.

The Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall conduct surveillance and other appropriate enforcement activity to prevent unlawful transportation of material for dumping, or unlawful dumping. Such enforcement activity shall include, but not be limited to, enforcement of regulations issued by him pursuant to section 108, relating to safe transportation, handling,

Infra.

carriage, storage, and stowage. The Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall supply to the Administrator and to the Attorney General, as appropriate, such information of enforcement activities and such evidentiary material assembled as they may require in carrying out their duties relative to penalty assessments, criminal prosecutions, or other actions involving litigation pursuant to the provisions of this title.

This title shall take effect six months after the date of the enactment of this Act,

No legal action begun, or right of action accrued, prior to the effective date of this title shall be affected by any provision of this title.

The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with other appropriate Federal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities shall, within six months of the enactment of this Act, initiate a comprehensive and continuing program of research with respect to the possible long-range effects of pollution, overfishing, and man-induced changes of ocean ecosystems. In carrying out such research, the Secretary of Commerce shall take into account such factors as existing and proposed international policies affecting oceanic problems, economic considerations involved in both the protection and the use of the oceans, possible alternatives to existing programs, and ways in which the health of the oceans may best be preserved for the benefit of succeeding generations of mankind.

In carrying out his responsibilities under this section, the Secretary of Commerce, under the foreign policy guidance of the President and pursuant to international agreements and treaties made by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, may act alone or in conjunction with any other nation or group of nations, and shall make known the results of his activities by such channels of communication as may appear appropriate.

In January of each year, the Secretary of Commerce shall report

Annual report to Congress.

to the Congress on the results of activities undertaken by him pursuant to this section during the previous fiscal year.

Each department, agency, and independent instrumentality of the Federal Government is authorized and directed to cooperate with the Secretary of Commerce in carrying out the purposes of this section and, to the extent permitted by law, to furnish such information as may be requested.

The Secretary of Commerce, in carrying out his responsibilities

Interagency agreements.

under this section, shall, to the extent feasible utilize the personnel, services, and facilities of other Federal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities (including those of the Coast Guard for monitoring purposes), and is authorized to enter into appropriate interagency agreements to accomplish this action.

The Secretary, after consultation with the Secretaries of State, Defense, the Interior, and Transportation, the Administrator, and the heads of other interested Federal agencies, and with the approval of the President, may designate as marine sanctuaries those areas of the ocean waters, as far seaward as the outer edge of the Continental Shelf, as defined in the Convention of the Continental Shelf (15 U.S.T. 74; TIAS 5578), of other coastal waters where the

15 UST 471.

tide ebbs and flows, or of the Great Lakes and their connecting waters, which he determines necessary for the purpose of preserving or restoring such areas for their conservation, recreational, ecological, or esthetic values. The consultation shall include an opportunity to review and comment on a specific proposed designation.

Prior to designating a marine sanctuary which includes waters lying within the territorial limits of any State or superjacent to the subsoil and seabed within the seaward boundary of a coastal State, as that boundary is defined in section 2 of title I of the Act of May 22, 1953 (67 Stat, 29), the Secretary shall consult with, and give due consideration

43 USC 1301.

to the views of, the responsible officials of the State involved. As to such waters, a designation under this section shall become effec-five sixty days after it is published, unless the Governor of any State involved shall, before the expiration of the sixty-day period, certify to the Secretary that the designation, or a specified portion thereof, is unacceptable to his State, in which case the designated sanctuary shall not include the area certified as unacceptable until such time as the Governor withdraws his certification of unacceptability.

When a marine sanctuary is designated, pursuant to this section, which includes an area of ocean waters outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, the Secretary of State shall take such actions as may be appropriate to enter into negotiations with other Governments for the purpose of arriving at necessary agreements with those Governments, in order to protect such sanctuary and to promote the purposes for which it was established.

The Secretary shall submit an annual report to the Congress, on or before November 1 of each year, setting forth a comprehensive review of his actions during the previous fiscal year undertaken pursuant to the authority of this section, together with appropriate recommendation for legislation considered necessary for the designation and protection of marine sanctuaries.

Before a marine sanctuary is designated under this section, the Secretary shall hold public hearings in the coastal areas which would be most, directly affected by such designation, for the purpose of receiving and giving proper consideration to the views of any interested party. Such hearings shall be held no earlier than thirty days after the publication of a public notice thereof.

After a marine sanctuary has been designated under this section, the Secretary, after consultation with other interested Federal agencies, shall issue necessary and reasonable regulations to control any activities permitted within the designated marine sanctuary, and no permit, license, or other authorization issued pursuant to any other authority shall be valid unless the Secretary shall certify that the permitted activity is consistent with the purposes of this title and can be carried out within the regulations promulgated under this section.

The regulations issued pursuant to subsection (f) shall be applied in accordance with recognized principles of international law, including treaties, conventions, and other agreements to which the United States is signatory. Unless the application of the regulations is in accordance with such principles or is otherwise authorized by an agreement between the United States and the foreign State of which the affected person is a citizen or, in the case of the crew of a foreign vessel, between the United States and flag State of the vessel, no regulation applicable to ocean waters outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States shall be applied to a person not a citizen of the United States.

Any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States who violates any regulation issued pursuant to this title shall be liable to a civil penalty of not more than $50,000 for each such violation, to be assessed by the Secretary. Each day of a continuing violation shall constitute a separate violation.

No penalty shall be assessed under this section until the person charged has been given notice and an opportunity to be heard. Upon failure of the offending party to pay an assessed penalty, the Attorney General, at the request of the Secretary, shall commence action in the appropriate district court of the United States to collect the penalty and to seek such other relief as may be appropriate.

A vessel used in the violation of a regulation issued pursuant to

Liability.

this title shall be liable in rem for any civil penalty assessed for such violation and may be proceeded against in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof.

The district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction

Jurisdiction.

to restrain a violation of the regulations issued pursuant to this title, and to grant such other relief as may be appropriate. Actions shall be brought by the Attorney General in the name of the United States, either on his own initiative or at the request of the Secretary.