Title 33 — Navigation and Navigable WatersRelease 119-73not60
§1479 Federal Liability for Unreasonable Damages
Title 33 › Chapter 28— POLLUTION CASUALTIES ON THE HIGH SEAS: UNITED STATES INTERVENTION › § 1479
Summary
The United States must pay for damage when its actions go beyond what was reasonably needed to reach the goal in section 1472. Claims can be filed in federal courts. Certain Pacific territories are assigned to districts. If the United States intervenes under section 1473(a), it must prove the substance could reasonably pose a grave and imminent danger like those in the protocol.
Full Legal Text
Title 33, §1479
Navigation and Navigable Waters — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)The United States shall be obliged to pay compensation to the extent of the damage caused by measures which exceed those reasonably necessary to achieve the end mentioned in section 1472 of this title.
(b)Actions against the United States seeking compensation for any excessive measures may be brought in the United States Court of Federal Claims, in any district court of the United States, and in those courts enumerated in section 460 of title 28. For purposes of this chapter, American Samoa shall be included within the judicial district of the District Court of the United States for the District of Hawaii, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands shall be included within the judicial districts of both the District Court of the United States for the District of Hawaii and the District Court of Guam.
(c)With respect to intervention for a substance identified pursuant to section 1473(a) of this title, the United States has the burden of establishing that, under the circumstances present at the time of the intervention, the substance could reasonably pose a grave and imminent danger analogous to that posed by a substance enumerated in the protocol.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1992—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102–572 substituted “United States Court of Federal Claims” for “United States Claims Court”. 1982—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 97–164 substituted “Claims Court” for “Court of Claims”. 1978—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 95–302 added subsec. (c).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1992 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 102–572 effective Oct. 29, 1992, see section 911 of Pub. L. 102–572, set out as a note under section 171 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Effective Date
of 1982 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 97–164 effective Oct. 1, 1982, see section 402 of Pub. L. 97–164, set out as a note under section 171 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.
Effective Date
of 1978 AmendmentFor
Effective Date
of amendment by Pub. L. 95–302, see section 2 of Pub. L. 95–302, set out as a note under section 1487 of this title.
Executive Documents
Termination of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands For termination of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, see note set out preceding section 1681 of Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
33 U.S.C. § 1479
Title 33 — Navigation and Navigable Waters
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60