Title 33, Navigation and Navigable WatersRelease 119-110
§426e–2 Clarification of Munition Disposal Authorities
Title 33 › CHAPTER 9 — PROTECTION OF NAVIGABLE WATERS AND OF HARBOR AND RIVER IMPROVEMENTS GENERALLY › SUBCHAPTER I — IN GENERAL › § 426e–2
Summary
The Secretary can use federal money to clean up beaches where a civil works project put sand and left Defense Department munitions that are dangerous. Those cleanup costs must be repaid from money available to the Defense Department agency that caused the release.
Full Legal Text
Title 33, §426e–2
Navigation and Navigable Waters, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)In general
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)Response action funding
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
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110