Title 33, Navigation and Navigable WatersRelease 119-102
§411 Penalty for Wrongful Deposit of Refuse; Use of or Injury to Harbor Improvements, and Obstruction of Navigable Waters Generally
Title 33 › CHAPTER 9 — PROTECTION OF NAVIGABLE WATERS AND OF HARBOR AND RIVER IMPROVEMENTS GENERALLY › SUBCHAPTER I — IN GENERAL › § 411
Summary
People or firms who break or help break sections 407, 408, 409, 414, or 415 commit a misdemeanor. Conviction brings fines up to $25,000 per day; a person can be jailed 30 days to 1 year. Half the fine goes to the informer.
Full Legal Text
Title 33, §411
Navigation and Navigable Waters, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Every person and every corporation that shall violate, or that shall knowingly aid, abet, authorize, or instigate a violation of the provisions of section 407, 408, 409, 414, and 415 of this title shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of up to $25,000 per day, or by imprisonment (in the case of a natural person) for not less than thirty days nor more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court, one-half of said fine to be paid to the person or persons giving information which shall lead to conviction.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Codification Section is from part of section 16 of act Mar. 3, 1899, popularly known as the “Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899”. The balance of such section, relating to liability of masters, pilots, and so forth and of vessels engaged in violations, is classified to section 412 of this title.
Amendments
1996—Pub. L. 104–303 substituted “407, 408, 409, 414, and 415” for “407, 408, and 409” and “of up to $25,000 per day” for “not exceeding twenty-five hundred dollars nor less than five hundred dollars”.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
33 U.S.C. § 411
Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102