33 U.S.C. § 410 — Exception as to floating loose timber, sack

Page 53 TITLE 33—NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS § 410 Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries ‘‘SECRETARY’’ DEFINED Secretary means the Secretary of the Army, see sec- tion 2 of Pub. L. 113–121, set out as a note under section 2201 of this title. § 409. Obstruction of navigable waters by vessels; floating timber; marking and removal of sunken vessels It shall not be lawful to tie up or anchor ves- sels or other craft in navigable channels in such a manner as to prevent or obstruct the passage of other vessels or craft; or to sink, or permit or cause to be sunk, vessels or other craft in navi- gable channels; or to float loose timber and logs, or to float what is known as ‘‘sack rafts of tim- ber and logs’’ in streams or channels actually navigated by steamboats in such manner as to obstruct, impede, or endanger navigation. And whenever a vessel, raft or other craft is wrecked and sunk in a navigable channel, it shall be the duty of the owner, lessee, or operator of such sunken craft to immediately mark it with a buoy or beacon during the day and, unless other- wise granted a waiver by the Commandant of the Coast Guard, a light at night, and to main- tain such marks until the sunken craft is re- moved or abandoned, and the neglect or failure of the said owner, lessee, or operator so to do shall be unlawful; and it shall be the duty of the owner, lessee, or operator of such sunken craft to commence the immediate removal of the same, and prosecute such removal diligently, and failure to do so shall be considered as an abandonment of such craft, and subject the same to removal by the United States as pro- vided for in sections 411 to 416, 418, and 502 of this title. The Commandant of the Coast Guard may waive the requirement to mark a wrecked vessel, raft, or other craft with a light at night if the Commandant determines that placing a light would be impractical and granting such a waiver would not create an undue hazard to navigation. (Mar. 3, 1899, ch. 425, § 15, 30 Stat. 1152; Pub. L. 99–662, title IX, § 939(a), Nov. 17, 1986, 100 Stat. 4199; Pub. L. 108–293, title III, § 301, Aug. 9, 2004, 118 Stat. 1041.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Section is from act Mar. 3, 1899, popularly known as the ‘‘Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899’’. AMENDMENTS 2004—Pub. L. 108–293 substituted ‘‘day and, unless otherwise granted a waiver by the Commandant of the Coast Guard, a light’’ for ‘‘day and a lighted lantern’’ in second sentence and inserted at end ‘‘The Com- mandant of the Coast Guard may waive the require- ment to mark a wrecked vessel, raft, or other craft with a light at night if the Commandant determines that placing a light would be impractical and granting such a waiver would not create an undue hazard to navigation.’’ 1986—Pub. L. 99–662 substituted ‘‘or to sink’’ for ‘‘or to voluntarily or carelessly sink’’, struck out ‘‘acciden- tally or otherwise,’’ after ‘‘navigable channel,’’, and in- serted ‘‘, lessee, or operator’’ after ‘‘owner’’ in three places. § 410. Exception as to floating loose timber, sack rafts, etc.; violation of regulations; penalty The prohibition contained in section 409 of this title against floating loose timber and logs, or sack rafts, so called, of timber and logs in streams or channels actually navigated by steamboats, shall not apply to any navigable river or waterway of the United States or any part thereof whereon the floating of loose tim- ber and logs and sack rafts of timber and logs is the principal method of navigation. But such method of navigation on such river or waterway or part thereof shall be subject to the rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Army as provided in this section. The Secretary of the Army shall have power, and he is authorized and directed to prescribe rules and regulations, which he may at any time modify, to govern and regulate the floating of loose timber and logs, and sack rafts, (so called) of timber and logs and other methods of naviga- tion on the streams and waterways, or any thereof, of the character, as to navigation, here- tofore in this section described. The said rules and regulations shall be so framed as to equi- tably adjust conflicting interests between the different methods or forms of navigation; and the said rules and regulations shall be published at least once in such newspaper or newspapers of general circulation as in the opinion of the Sec- retary of the Army shall be best adapted to give notice of said rules and regulations to persons affected thereby and locally interested therein. And all modifications of said rules and regula- tions shall be similarly published. And such rules and regulations when so prescribed and published as to any such stream or waterway shall have the force of law, and any violation thereof shall be a misdemeanor, and every per- son convicted of such violation shall be punished by a fine of not exceeding $2,500 nor less than $500, or by imprisonment (in case of a natural person) for not less than thirty days nor more than one year, or by both such fine and impris- onment, in the discretion of the court: Provided, That the proper action to enforce the provisions of this section may be commenced before any magistrate judge, judge, or court of the United States, and such magistrate judge, judge, or court shall proceed in respect thereto as author- ized by law in the case of crimes or mis- demeanors committed against the United States. The right to alter, amend, or repeal this sec- tion at any time is reserved. (May 9, 1900, ch. 387, §§ 1–3, 31 Stat. 172; July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title II, § 205(a), 61 Stat. 501; Pub. L. 90–578, title IV, § 402(b)(2), Oct. 17, 1968, 82 Stat. 1118; Pub. L. 101–650, title III, § 321, Dec. 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5117.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CHANGE OF NAME Department of War designated Department of the Army and title of Secretary of War changed to Sec- retary of the Army by section 205(a) of act July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title II, 61 Stat. 501. Section 205(a) of act July 26, 1947, was repealed by section 53 of act Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 641. Section 1 of act Aug. 10, 1956, en- acted ‘‘Title 10, Armed Forces’’ which in sections 3010 Page 54 TITLE 33—NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS § 411 to 3013 continued Department of the Army under ad- ministrative supervision of Secretary of the Army. ‘‘Magistrate judge’’ substituted in text for ‘‘mag- istrate’’ pursuant to section 321 of Pub. L. 101–650, set out as a note under section 631 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure. Previously, ‘‘magistrate’’ was substituted for ‘‘commissioner’’ pursuant to Pub. L. 90–578. See chapter 43 (§ 631 et seq.) of Title 28. TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS Functions, powers, and duties of Secretary of the Army and other offices and officers of Department of the Army under section 401 of this title to extent that they relate generally to location and clearances of bridges and causeways in navigable waters of United States transferred to and vested in Secretary of Trans- portation by Pub. L. 89–670, § 6(g)(6)(A), Oct. 15, 1966, 80 Stat. 941, which created Department of Transportation. Pub. L. 97–449 amended section 401 of this title to re- flect transfer made by section 6(g)(6)(A) of Pub. L. 89–670, and repealed section 6(g)(6)(A). § 411. Penalty for wrongful deposit of refuse; use of or injury to harbor improvements, and ob- struction of navigable waters generally Every person and every corporation that shall violate, or that shall knowingly aid, abet, au- thorize, or instigate a violation of the provisions of sections 407, 408, 409, 414, and 415 of this title shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on convic- tion thereof shall be punished by a fine of up to $25,000 per day, or by imprisonment (in the case of a natural person) for not less than thirty days nor more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court, one-half of said fine to be paid to the person or persons giving information which shall lead to conviction. (Mar. 3, 1899, ch. 425, § 16, 30 Stat. 1153; Pub. L. 104–303, title II, § 218(a), Oct. 12, 1996, 110 Stat. 3696.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Section is from part of section 16 of act Mar. 3, 1899, popularly known as the ‘‘Rivers and Harbors Appro- priation Act of 1899’’. The balance of such section, re- lating to liability of masters, pilots, and so forth and of vessels engaged in violations, is classified to section 412 of this title. AMENDMENTS 1996—Pub. L. 104–303 substituted ‘‘407, 408, 409, 414, and 415’’ for ‘‘407, 408, and 409’’ and ‘‘of up to $25,000 per day’’ for ‘‘not exceeding twenty-five hundred dollars nor less than five hundred dollars’’. § 412. Liability of masters, pilots, etc., and of ves- sels engaged in violations Any and every master, pilot, and engineer, or person or persons acting in such capacity, re- spectively, on board of any boat or vessel who shall knowingly engage in towing any scow, boat, or vessel loaded with any material speci- fied in section 407 of this title to any point or place of deposit or discharge in any harbor or navigable water, elsewhere than within the lim- its defined and permitted by the Secretary of the Army, or who shall willfully injure or de- stroy any work of the United States con- templated in section 408 of this title, or who shall willfully obstruct the channel of any wa- terway in the manner contemplated in section 409 of this title, shall be deemed guilty of a vio- lation of this Act, and shall upon conviction be punished as provided in section 411 of this title, and shall also have his license revoked or sus- pended for a term to be fixed by the judge before whom tried and convicted. And any boat, vessel, scow, raft, or other craft used or employed in violating any of the provisions of sections 407, 408, 409, 414, and 415 of this title shall be liable for the pecuniary penalties specified in section 411 of this title, and in addition thereto for the amount of the damages done by said boat, ves- sel, scow, raft, or other craft, which latter sum shall be placed to the credit of the appropriation for the improvement of the harbor or waterway in which the damage occurred, and said boat, vessel, scow, raft, or other craft may be pro- ceeded against summarily by way of libel in any district court of the United States having juris- diction thereof. (Mar. 3, 1899, ch. 425, § 16, 30 Stat. 1153; July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title II, § 205(a), 61 Stat. 501; Pub. L. 104–303, title II, § 218(a)(1), Oct. 12, 1996, 110 Stat. 3696.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT This Act, referred to in text, is act Mar. 3, 1899, ch. 425, 30 Stat. 1148, popularly known as the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899, which enacted sec- tions 401, 403, 404, 406, 407, 408, 409, 411 to 416, 418, 502, 549, and 687 of this title, and amended section 686 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. CODIFICATION Section is from part of section 16 of act Mar. 3, 1899, popularly known as the ‘‘Rivers and Harbors Appro- priation Act of 1899’’. The balance of such section, re- lating to penalties for the wrongful deposit of refuse, is classified to section 411 of this title. AMENDMENTS 1996—Pub. L. 104–303 substituted ‘‘407, 408, 409, 414, and 415 of this title’’ for ‘‘407, 408, and 409 of this title’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CHANGE OF NAME Department of War designated Department of the Army and title of Secretary of War changed to Sec- retary of the Army by section 205(a) of act July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title II, 61 Stat. 501. Section 205(a) of act July 26, 1947, was repealed by section 53 of act Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 641. Section 1 of act Aug. 10, 1956, en- acted ‘‘Title 10, Armed Forces’’ which in sections 3010 to 3013 continued Department of the Army under ad- ministrative supervision of Secretary of the Army. TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS Functions, powers, and duties of Secretary of the Army and other offices and officers of Department of the Army under section 401 of this title to extent that they relate generally to location and clearances of bridges and causeways in navigable waters of United States transferred to and vested in Secretary of Trans- portation by Pub. L. 89–670, § 6(g)(6)(A), Oct. 15, 1966, 80 Stat. 941, which created Department of Transportation. Pub. L. 97–449 amended section 401 of this title to re- flect transfer made by section 6(g)(6)(A) of Pub. L. 89–670, and repealed section 6(g)(6)(A).