Title 33 — Navigation and Navigable WatersRelease 119-73

§426e–2 Clarification of munition disposal authorities

Title 33 › Chapter CHAPTER 9— - PROTECTION OF NAVIGABLE WATERS AND OF HARBOR AND RIVER IMPROVEMENTS GENERALLY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - IN GENERAL › § 426e–2

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary can have the federal government pay for and do any cleanup or safety work needed on a beach where the Secretary’s civil works project put sand down and, because of that project, military munitions from Department of Defense activities ended up on the beach and pose a danger to people or the environment. The costs must be repaid from money given to the DoD agency that caused the original release.

Full Legal Text

Title 33, §426e–2

Navigation and Navigable Waters — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary may, at full Federal expense, implement any response action the Secretary determines to be necessary at a site where—

(1)the Secretary has carried out a project under civil works authority of the Secretary that includes placing sand on a beach; and

(2)as a result of the project described in paragraph (1), military munitions that were originally released as a result of Department of Defense activities are deposited on the beach, posing a threat to human health or the environment.

(b)A response action described in subsection (a) shall be reimbursed from amounts made available to the agency within the Department of Defense responsible for the original release of the munitions.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2016—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 114–322, § 1154(1), inserted “, at full Federal expense,” after “The Secretary may” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 114–322, § 1154(2), substituted “reimbursed” for “funded”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

“Secretary” Defined Secretary means the Secretary of the Army, see section 2 of Pub. L. 113–121, set out as a note under section 2201 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

33 U.S.C. § 426e–2

Title 33 — Navigation and Navigable Waters

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73