Title 33 › Chapter CHAPTER 27— - OCEAN DUMPING › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - REGULATION › § 1414b
It makes dumping sewage sludge or industrial waste into ocean waters mostly illegal after set dates and explains what rules, fees, penalties, and reporting must happen while people stop using the ocean. On and after the 270th day after November 18, 1988, no one may dump or carry sewage sludge or industrial waste to dump in the ocean unless they have both a permit under section 1412 and either a compliance agreement or an enforcement agreement with the EPA. After December 31, 1991, dumping or carrying these wastes to dump in the ocean is unlawful for everyone. The EPA may only give new permits to people who were allowed to dump or transport such wastes on September 1, 1988. People who dump or transport these wastes owe fees by weight. The fee rates are $100 per dry ton from the 270th day after November 18, 1988 until December 31, 1989, $150 per dry ton for 1990, and $200 per dry ton for 1991. Each payer must put 85% of fees into a trust account, pay $15 per dry ton to the EPA for agency work, give half of the remaining balance to a State Clean Oceans Fund, and send the rest to the State’s water pollution control revolving fund. Fees are paid quarterly. The EPA can waive all fees except the $15 per ton for anyone who has a qualifying compliance agreement, but can reimpose them if the person fails to follow that agreement. Before getting a permit, a person and the State must make either a compliance agreement or an enforcement agreement with the EPA. Both agreements must include a plan and a schedule that the EPA thinks will end ocean dumping by designing, building, and running an alternative system. The schedule must set deadlines for design, permits, site and equipment, construction, testing, and full operation. States that join must create a Clean Oceans Fund to receive fees and penalties and must return to each payer its payments plus interest each year, for use on approved work or to match federal grants. The EPA must allow public comment on these agreements. If someone with an agreement dumps in violation of the ban, civil penalties apply: $600 per dry ton for violations in 1992, and for years after 1992 the penalty is the prior year’s penalty plus 10% of that amount, plus another 1% for each full calendar year since December 31, 1991. Penalties are paid quarterly and are split into a trust account (90% less 5% for each full year since December 31, 1991), $15 per dry ton to the EPA, and amounts to State funds depending on the year. If a State has not set up the required fund, the EPA holds the money in escrow until the fund exists or for up to one year, then pays it into the fund or returns it to the Treasury. Anyone who dumps or transports in violation can be ordered by the EPA to stop until they get an agreement and a permit. The EPA can ask the Justice Department to sue to stop violations and get penalties. Governors in States with agreements must report each year on how people are complying, on permit work for alternative systems, and on Clean Oceans Fund money; failure to report can mean withheld federal funds. The EPA must report each year to Congress on progress. The EPA and the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere must run a monitoring program at named dump sites and nearby areas, including sampling fish and using satellites. Definitions (one line each): alternative system — a way to manage sewage sludge or industrial waste that does not need a permit under this Act; Clean Oceans Fund — a State interest-bearing account for fees and penalties; excluded material — certain dredged materials and specified tuna cannery waste; industrial waste — waste from manufacturing or processing plants (not excluded material); interim measure — a short-term method used before an alternative system that does not need a permit; sewage sludge — waste from a wastewater treatment plant (not excluded material).
Full Legal Text
Navigation and Navigable Waters — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
33 U.S.C. § 1414b
Title 33 — Navigation and Navigable Waters
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73