33 U.S.C. § 1514: Remedies

Summary

Anyone who willfully breaks a rule under this law can be charged with a class A misdemeanor for each day they keep breaking it. The Secretary can order a person to stop the violation or ask the Attorney General to sue. Any order must explain the problem and give a time to fix it, up to 30 days. If asked, the Attorney General can go to federal court to stop the violation, force compliance, or seek a civil penalty up to $25,000 for each day of the violation. The case can be filed where the person lives, works, or does business. The Attorney General can also ask for other court-ordered relief, including injunctions and damages. A vessel used in a violation (except a public noncommercial vessel) can be sued or held responsible unless one or more owners or bareboat charterers agreed to or were involved in the violation.

Title 33, §1514

Navigation and Navigable Waters, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Criminal penalties

Any person who willfully violates any provision of this chapter or any rule, order, or regulation issued pursuant thereto commits a class A misdemeanor for each day of violation.

(b)Orders of compliance; Attorney General’s civil action; jurisdiction and venue

(1)Whenever on the basis of any information available to him the Secretary finds that any person is in violation of any provision of this chapter or any rule, regulation, order, license, or condition thereof, or other requirements under this chapter, he shall issue an order requiring such person to comply with such provision or requirement, or he shall bring a civil action in accordance with paragraph (3) of this subsection.

(2)Any order issued under this subsection shall state with reasonable specificity the nature of the violation and a time for compliance, not to exceed thirty days, which the Secretary determines is reasonable, taking into account the seriousness of the violation and any good faith efforts to comply with applicable requirements.

(3)Upon a request by the Secretary, the Attorney General shall commence a civil action for appropriate relief, including a permanent or temporary injunction or a civil penalty not to exceed $25,000 per day of such violation, for any violation for which the Secretary is authorized to issue a compliance order under paragraph (1) of this subsection. Any action under this subsection may be brought in the district court of the United States for the district in which the defendant is located or resides, or is doing business, and such court shall have jurisdiction to restrain such violation, require compliance, or impose such penalty.

(c)Attorney General’s action for equitable relief; scope of relief

Upon a request by the Secretary, the Attorney General shall bring an action in an appropriate district court of the United States for equitable relief to redress a violation by any person of any provision of this chapter, any regulation under this chapter, or any license condition. The district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction to grant such relief as is necessary or appropriate, including mandatory or prohibitive injunctive relief, interim equitable relief, compensatory damages, and punitive damages.

(d)Vessels; liability in rem; exempt vessels; consent or privy of owners or bareboat charterers

Any vessel, except a public vessel engaged in noncommercial activities, used in a violation of this chapter or of any rule or regulation issued pursuant to this chapter, shall be liable in rem for any civil penalty assessed or criminal fine imposed and may be proceeded against in any district court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof; but no vessel shall be liable unless it shall appear that one or more of the owners, or bareboat charterers, was at the time of the violation, a consenting party or privy to such violation.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1990—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101–380 substituted “commits a class A misdemeanor for each day of violation” for “shall on conviction be fined not more than $25,000 for each day of violation or imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1990 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 101–380 applicable to incidents occurring after Aug. 18, 1990, see section 1020 of Pub. L. 101–380, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 2701 of this title. Deposit of Certain Penalties Into Oil Spill Liability Trust FundPenalties paid pursuant to this chapter and section 1319(c) and 1321 of this title to be deposited in the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund created under section 9509 of Title 26, Internal Revenue Code, see section 4304 of Pub. L. 101–380, set out as a note under section 9509 of Title 26.

§1514 Remedies

Summary

Title 33, §1514

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Effective Date

Citations & Metadata