33 U.S.C. § 1225
Section 1225 · Waterfront safety
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 10 court decisions — leading case United States v. Massachusetts (2007)
Most recently applied in Portland Pipe Line Corp. v. City of So. Portland (January 2020)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The Secretary may take such action as is necessary to—
(1) prevent damage to, or the destruction of, any bridge or other structure on or in the navigable waters of the United States, or any land structure or shore area immediately adjacent to such waters; and
(2) protect the navigable waters and the resources therein from harm resulting from vessel or structure damage, destruction, or loss. Such action may include, but need not be limited to—
(A) establishing procedures, measures, and standards for the handling, loading, unloading, storage, stowage, and movement on the structure (including the emergency removal, control, and disposition) of explosives or other dangerous articles and substances, including oil or hazardous material as those terms are defined in section 2101 of title 46;
(B) prescribing minimum safety equipment requirements for the structure to assure adequate protection from fire, explosion, natural disaster, and other serious accidents or casualties;
(C) establishing water or waterfront safety zones, or other measures for limited, controlled, or conditional access and activity when necessary for the protection of any vessel, structure, waters, or shore area; and
(D) establishing procedures for examination to assure compliance with the requirements prescribed under this section.
Nothing contained in this section, with respect to structures, prohibits a State or political subdivision thereof from prescribing higher safety equipment requirements or safety standards than those which may be prescribed by regulations hereunder.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
In subsec. (a)(2)(A), “section 2101 of title 46” substituted for “section 4417a of the Revised Statutes [46 U.S.C. 391a]” on authority of Pub. L. 98–89, §2(b), Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 598, section 1 of which enacted Title 46, Shipping.
Amendments
1978—Pub. L. 95–474 substituted provisions relating to waterfront safety for provision requiring the Secretary to report to Congress within one year his recommendations for legislation to achieve coordination between functions authorized under Pub. L. 92–340 and the functions of any other agencies and to eliminate duplication of these functions.