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Title 33 — Navigation and Navigable WatersRelease 119-73not60

§444 Dumping at Other Place Than Designated Dumping Grounds; Penalty; Person Liable; Excuses for Deviation

Title 33 › Chapter 9— PROTECTION OF NAVIGABLE WATERS AND OF HARBOR AND RIVER IMPROVEMENTS GENERALLY › Subchapter III— NEW YORK HARBOR, HARBOR OF HAMPTON ROADS, AND HARBOR OF BALTIMORE › § 444

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Dumping waste anywhere other than the place listed in the permit is a crime. Owners and captains (or people acting as captains) of scows or boats that dump in the wrong spot can be punished under section 441. Owners and captains of tugboats or towboats that tow those scows are punished the same way. Crew members on scows and towboats are assumed to know the permitted dumping place. Owners and captains are still responsible for illegal dumping caused by a crew member’s mistake or carelessness. Problems like broken machinery, preventable accidents, bad weather, or poor handling do not excuse them from the penalties in section 441.

Full Legal Text

Title 33, §444

Navigation and Navigable Waters — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Any deviation from such dumping or discharging place specified in such permit shall be a misdemeanor, and the owner and master, or person acting in the capacity of master, of any scows or boats dumping or discharging such forbidden matter in any place other than that specified in such permit shall be liable to punishment therefor as provided in section 441 of this title; and the owner and master, or person acting in the capacity of master, of any tug or towboat towing such scows or boats shall be liable to equal punishment with the owner and master, or person acting in the capacity of master, of the scows or boats; and, further, every scowman or other employee on board of both scows and towboats shall be deemed to have knowledge of the place of dumping specified in such permit, and the owners and masters, or persons acting in the capacity of masters, shall be liable to punishment, as aforesaid, for any unlawful dumping, within the meaning of this Act and this subchapter, which may be caused by the negligence or ignorance of such scowman or other employee; and, further, neither defect in machinery nor avoidable accidents to scows or towboats, nor unfavorable weather, nor improper handling or moving of scows or boats of any kind whatsoever shall operate to release the owners and master and employees of scows and towboats from the penalties mentioned in section 441 of this title.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This Act, referred to in text, is act Aug. 18, 1894, ch. 299, 28 Stat. 356, which enacted section 1, 31, and 452 of this title and amended sections 443 to 448 and 499 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. Codification Section was enacted as part of section 3 of act
June 29, 1888. Said section 3 of act
June 29, 1888, enacted sections 443 to 448 of this title. See Codification note set out under section 443 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

33 U.S.C. § 444

Title 33 — Navigation and Navigable Waters

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60