33 U.S.C. § 1411
Section 1411 · Prohibited acts
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 15 court decisions — leading case Middlesex County Sewerage Authority v. National Sea Clammers Assn. (1981)
Most recently applied in Town of Southold v. Wheeler (September 2022)
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.
(a) Except as may be authorized by a permit issued pursuant to section 1412 or section 1413 of this title, and subject to regulations issued pursuant to section 1418 of this title,
(1) no person shall transport from the United States, and
(2) in the case of a vessel or aircraft registered in the United States or flying the United States flag or in the case of a United States department, agency, or instrumentality, no person shall transport from any location
any material for the purpose of dumping it into ocean waters.
(b) Except as may be authorized by a permit issued pursuant to section 1412 of this title, and subject to regulations issued pursuant to section 1418 of this title, no person shall dump any material transported from a 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.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1974—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 93–254 incorporated existing provisions in introductory text, substituting reference to permits issued under section 1412 or section 1413 of this title for prior reference to such issuance under this subchapter; incorporated existing provisions in item designated (1); added item (2); and substituted prohibition against transportation of any material for ocean dumping for former prohibition against such dumping of any radiological, chemical, or biological warfare agent or any high-level radioactive waste, or any other material.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 93–254 substituted reference to permits issued under section 1412 of this title for former reference to such issuance under this subchapter, made any ocean dumping subject to regulations issued under section 1418 of this title, and substituted prohibition against dumping of any material for former prohibition against dumping of any radiological, chemical, or biological warfare agent or any high-level radioactive waste, or any other material.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 93–254 struck out subsec. (c) which prohibited any officer, employee, agent, department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States from transporting 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, any other material for purpose of dumping in ocean waters. See subsec. (b) of this section.
Effective Date of 1974 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 93–254 effective Mar. 22, 1974, see section 2 of Pub. L. 93–254, set out in part as a note under section 1401 of this title.
Effective Date
Section 110(a) of title I of Pub. L. 92–532 provided that: “This title [this subchapter] shall take effect six months after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 23, 1972].”
Savings Provision
Section 110(b) of title I of Pub. L. 92–532 provided that: “No legal action begun, or right of action accrued, prior to the effective date of this title [this subchapter] shall be affected by any provision of this title [this subchapter].”
Territorial Sea of United States
For extension of territorial sea of United States, see Proc. No. 5928, set out as a note under section 1331 of Title 43, Public Lands.