Title 33Navigation and Navigable WatersRelease 119-73

§2603 Waste handling practices

Title 33 › Chapter CHAPTER 39— - SHORE PROTECTION FROM MUNICIPAL OR COMMERCIAL WASTE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - SHORE PROTECTION › § 2603

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Owners and operators must take reasonable steps so city or business trash does not fall into waters along the coast. People who load trash, the ship operators, and the places that receive trash must secure loads, unload carefully, and clean up any trash that gets into coastal water. The Administrator, working with the Transportation Secretary, must make rules that require the right equipment and facilities, a written operations and maintenance plan with prevention, reporting, and cleanup steps plus recordkeeping, and—if needed—require tracking systems to be installed within 18 months after the decision.

Full Legal Text

Title 33, §2603

Navigation and Navigable Waters — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)The owner or operator of the waste source shall take all reasonable steps to assure that all municipal or commercial waste is loaded onto a vessel in a manner that assures that waste deposited in coastal waters is minimized.
(2)The owner or operator of a vessel shall assure that all municipal or commercial waste loaded onto the vessel is secured by netting or other means to assure that waste will not be deposited into coastal waters during transport.
(3)The owner or operator of the receiving facility shall take all reasonable steps to assure that any municipal or commercial waste is offloaded from a vessel in a manner that assures that waste deposited into coastal waters is minimized.
(4)The owner or operator of any waste source or receiving facility shall provide adequate control measures to clean up any municipal or commercial waste which is deposited into coastal waters.
(b)The Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, shall prescribe regulations—
(1)requiring that waste sources, receiving facilities, and vessels provide the means and facilities to assure that the waste will not be deposited into coastal waters during loading, offloading, and transport;
(2)requiring, as appropriate, the submission and adoption by each responsible party of an operation and maintenance manual identifying procedures to be used to prevent, report, and clean up any deposit of municipal or commercial waste into coastal waters, including record keeping requirements; and
(3)if the Administrator determines that tracking systems are required to assure adequate enforcement of laws preventing the deposit of municipal or commercial waste into coastal waters, requiring installation of the appropriate systems within 18 months after the Administrator makes that determination.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Pub. L. 100–688, title IV, § 4204(c), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4160, provided that: “section 4103 of this Act [33 U.S.C. 2603] takes effect 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Nov. 18, 1988].”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

33 U.S.C. § 2603

Title 33Navigation and Navigable Waters

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73