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Title 33 — Navigation and Navigable Waters

Chapter 9 — Protection of Navigable Waters and of Harbor and River Improvements Generally

§ 441. Deposit of refuse prohibited; penalty

Statutory text

The placing, discharging, or depositing, by any process or in any manner, of refuse, dirt, ashes, cinders, mud, sand, dredgings, sludge, acid, or any other matter of any kind, other than that flowing from streets, sewers, and passing therefrom in a liquid state, in the waters of any harbor subject to this subchapter, within the limits which shall be prescribed by the supervisor of the harbor, is strictly forbidden, and every such act is made a misdemeanor, and every person engaged in or who shall aid, abet, authorize, or instigate a violation of this section, shall, upon conviction, be punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, such fine to be not less than $250 nor more than $2,500, and the imprisonment to be not less than thirty days nor more than one year, either or both united, as the judge before whom conviction is obtained shall decide, one-half of said fine to be paid to the person or persons giving information which shall lead to conviction of this misdemeanor.

Legislative history

Reconstructed from this section’s Code source credit and amendment notes, resolved against the local Statutes at Large. Editorial notes are evidence, not the law that made the change.

  1. Pub. L. 50–496 § 1 · 25 Stat. 209

    Enacted · 33 U.S.C. § 441

    June 29, 1888, ch. 496, § 1, 25 Stat. 209

    Source evidence

    Code source credit
    June 29, 1888, ch. 496, § 1, 25 Stat. 209

  2. Pub. L. 85–802 § 1(1) · 72 Stat. 970

    Substituted · 33 U.S.C. § 441

    Pub. L. 85–802 substituted “waters of any harbor subject to this subchapter,” for “tidal waters of the harbor of New York, or its adjacent or tributary waters, or in those of long Island Sound,”

    Source evidence

    Code amendment note
    Pub. L. 85–802 substituted “waters of any harbor subject to this subchapter,” for “tidal waters of the harbor of New York, or its adjacent or tributary waters, or in those of long Island Sound,”.

    Enacted provision · exact public law section
    (1) The first section (33 U. S. C. 441) is amended by striking out “tidal waters of the harbor of New York, or its adjacent or tributary waters, or in those of Long Island Sound,”, and inserting in lieu thereof “waters of any harbor subject to this Act,”.

    Effective date note
    Pub. L. 85–802, § 2, Aug. 28, 1958, 72 Stat. 971, provided that: “This Act [amending this section and sections 442, 446, 447, 449, 451, and 451a of this title and enacting section 451b of this title] shall take effect on the sixtieth day after the date of its enactment [Aug. 28, 1958].”

1 of 2 references resolved to an enrolled provision · 1 partial

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

Section 1 of act , superseded act Aug. 5, 1886, ch. 929, § 3, 24 Stat. 329, which provided that: “It shall not be lawful to cast, throw, empty, or unlade, or cause, suffer, or procure to be cast, thrown, emptied, or unladen, either from or out of any ship, vessel, lighter, barge, boat, or other craft, or from the shore, pier, wharf, or mills of any kind whatever, any ballast, stone, slate, gravel, earth, slack, rubbish, wreck, filth, slabs, edgings, sawdust, slag or cinders or other refuse or mill-waste of any kind, into New York Harbor: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to the casting out, unlading, or throwing out of any ship or vessel, lighter, barge, boat, or other craft, any stones, rocks, bricks, lime, or other materials used, or to be used, in or toward the building, repairing, or keeping in repair any quay, pier, wharf, weir, bridge, building, or other work lawfully erected or to be erected on the banks or sides of said harbor, or to the casting out, unloading or depositing of any material excavated for the improvement of navigable waters, into such places and in such manner as may be deemed by the United States officer supervising the improvement of said harbor most judicious and practicable and for the best interests of such improvement.”

Amendments

1958—Pub. L. 85–802 substituted “waters of any harbor subject to this subchapter,” for “tidal waters of the harbor of New York, or its adjacent or tributary waters, or in those of long Island Sound,”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 1958 Amendment

Pub. L. 85–802, § 2, , 72 Stat. 971, provided that: “This Act [amending this section and sections 442, 446, 447, 449, 451, and 451a of this title and enacting section 451b of this title] shall take effect on the sixtieth day after the date of its enactment [].”

Credits

1888–1958 · 2 acts
  1. 1888June 29, 1888, ch. 496, § 1, 25 Stat. 209
  2. 1958Pub. L. 85–802, § 1(1), , 72 Stat. 970.
Show as published

(June 29, 1888, ch. 496, § 1, 25 Stat. 209; Pub. L. 85–802, § 1(1), , 72 Stat. 970.)

Parsed from the official OLRC USLM XML in data/usc_all/usc33.xml · release point 119-108 · OLRC build 2026-04-17

USLM identifier /us/usc/t33/s441