Title 14 — Coast GuardRelease 119-73
§544 Aids to maritime navigation; penalty
Title 14 › Subtitle SUBTITLE I— - ESTABLISHMENT, POWERS, DUTIES, AND ADMINISTRATION › Chapter CHAPTER 5— - FUNCTIONS AND POWERS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER III— - AIDS TO NAVIGATION › § 544
Summary
Secretary must set and enforce rules about lights and signals on fixed or floating structures in U.S. waters and high seas when owned or run by people under U.S. jurisdiction. Owners not U.S. agencies who break the rules commit a misdemeanor and can be fined $1,500 per day.
Full Legal Text
Title 14, §544
Coast Guard — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
The Secretary shall prescribe and enforce necessary and reasonable rules and regulations, for the protection of maritime navigation, relative to the establishment, maintenance, and operation of lights and other signals on fixed and floating structures in or over waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and in the high seas for structures owned or operated by persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Any owner or operator of such a structure, excluding an agency of the United States, who violates any of the rules or regulations prescribed hereunder, commits a misdemeanor and shall be punished, upon conviction thereof, by a fine of not exceeding $1,500 for each day which such violation continues.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 33, U.S.C., 1946 ed., § 760 (May 14, 1908, ch. 168, § 5, 35 Stat. 162). Changes were made in phraseology. 81st Congress,
House Report No. 557
.
Editorial Notes
Prior Provisions
A prior section 544 was renumbered section 2906 of this title.
Amendments
2018—Pub. L. 115–282 renumbered section 85 of this title as this section. 2014—Pub. L. 113–281 substituted “$1,500” for “$100”. 1974—Pub. L. 93–283 struck out “on fixed structures” after “maritime navigation” in section catchline and in text substituted “fixed and floating structures in or over waters subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and in the high seas for structures owned or operated by persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States” for “fixed structures in or over navigable waters of the United States”. 1956—Act June 4, 1956, amended section generally, vesting in Secretary rule-making authority, for the protection of maritime navigation, relative to the establishment, maintenance, and operation of lights and other signals on fixed structures in or over navigable waters of the United States, and excluding agencies of United States from its provisions.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
14 U.S.C. § 544
Title 14 — Coast Guard
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73