1625-0045 Stat/Authority

§ 1905

TITLE 33—NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
EFFECTIVE DATE

Subsec. (a) of this section effective Oct. 21, 1980, see
section 14(b) of Pub. L. 96–478, set out as a note under
section 1901 of this title.

§ 1905. Pollution reception facilities
(a) Adequacy; criteria
(1) The Secretary, after consultation with the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency, shall establish regulations setting criteria for determining the adequacy of a port’s or
terminal’s reception facilities for mixtures containing oil or noxious liquid substances and
shall establish procedures whereby a person in
charge of a port or terminal may request the
Secretary to certify that the port’s or terminal’s facilities for receiving the residues and
mixtures containing oil or noxious liquid substance from seagoing ships are adequate.
(2) The Secretary, after consulting with appropriate Federal agencies, shall establish regulations setting criteria for determining the adequacy of reception facilities for garbage at a
port or terminal, and stating such additional
measures and requirements as are appropriate
to ensure such adequacy. Persons in charge of
ports and terminals shall provide reception facilities, or ensure that such facilities are available, for receiving garbage in accordance with
those regulations.
(3) The Secretary and the Administrator, after
consulting with appropriate Federal agencies,
shall jointly prescribe regulations setting criteria for determining the adequacy of reception
facilities for receiving ozone depleting substances, equipment containing such substances,
and exhaust gas cleaning residues at a port or
terminal, and stating any additional measures
and requirements as are appropriate to ensure
such adequacy. Persons in charge of ports and
terminals shall provide reception facilities, or
ensure that reception facilities are available, in
accordance with those regulations. The Secretary and the Administrator may jointly prescribe regulations to certify, and may issue certificates to the effect, that a port’s or terminal’s
facilities for receiving ozone depleting substances, equipment containing such substances,
and exhaust gas cleaning residues from ships are
adequate.
(b) Traffic considerations
In determining the adequacy of reception facilities required by the MARPOL Protocol or
the Antarctic Protocol at a port or terminal,
and in establishing regulations under subsection
(a) of this section, the Secretary or the Administrator may consider, among other things, the
number and types of ships or seagoing ships
using the port or terminal, including their principal trades.
(c) Certificate; issuance; validity; inspection; review of suspension or revocation by Secretary
(1) If reception facilities of a port or terminal
meet the requirements of Annex I and Annex II
to the Convention and the regulations prescribed under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary

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shall, after consultation with the Administrator
of the Environmental Protection Agency, issue
a certificate to that effect to the applicant.
(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), if reception
facilities of a port or terminal meet the requirements of Annex V to the Convention and the
regulations prescribed under subsection (a)(2),
the Secretary may, after consultation with appropriate Federal agencies, issue a certificate to
that effect to the person in charge of the port or
terminal.
(B) The Secretary may not issue a certificate
attesting to the adequacy of reception facilities
under this paragraph unless, prior to the
issuance of the certificate, the Secretary conducts an inspection of the reception facilities of
the port or terminal that is the subject of the
certificate.
(C) The Secretary may, with respect to certificates issued under this paragraph prior to October 19, 1996, prescribe by regulation differing periods of validity for such certificates.
(3) A certificate issued under this subsection—
(A) is valid for the 5-year period beginning
on the date of issuance of the certificate, except that if—
(i) the charge for operation of the port or
terminal is transferred to a person or entity
other than the person or entity that is the
operator on the date of issuance of the certificate—
(I) the certificate shall expire on the
date that is 30 days after the date of the
transfer; and
(II) the new operator shall be required to
submit an application for a certificate before a certificate may be issued for the
port or terminal; or
(ii) the certificate is suspended or revoked
by the Secretary, the certificate shall cease
to be valid; and
(B) shall be available for inspection upon the
request of the master, other person in charge,
or agent of a ship using or intending to use the
port or terminal.
(4) The suspension or revocation of a certificate issued under this subsection may be appealed to the Secretary and acted on by the Secretary in the manner prescribed by regulation.
(d) Publication of list of certificated ports or terminals
(1) The Secretary shall maintain a list of ports
or terminals with respect to which a certificate
issued under this section—
(A) is in effect; or
(B) has been revoked or suspended.
(2) The Secretary shall make the list referred
to in paragraph (1) available to the general public.
(e) Entry; denial
(1) Except in the case of force majeure, the
Secretary shall deny entry to a seagoing ship required by the Convention or the Antarctic Protocol to retain onboard while at sea, residues
and mixtures containing oil or noxious liquid
substances, if—
(A) the port or terminal is one required by
Annexes I and II of the Convention or Article

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TITLE 33—NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS

§ 1906

Editorial Notes

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 104–324, § 801(a)(4), added subsec.
(d) and struck out former subsec. (d) which read as follows: ‘‘The Secretary shall periodically cause to be published in the Federal Register a list of the ports or terminals holding a valid certificate issued under this section.’’
Subsec. (e)(1). Pub. L. 104–227, § 201(d)(2), (3), inserted
‘‘or the Antarctic Protocol’’ after ‘‘the Convention’’ in
introductory provisions and inserted ‘‘or Article 9 of
Annex IV to the Antarctic Protocol’’ after ‘‘the Convention’’ in subpar. (A).
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 104–324, § 801(b), designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2)(A).
Pub. L. 104–227, § 201(d)(4), inserted ‘‘or the Antarctic
Protocol’’ after ‘‘the MARPOL Protocol’’.
1989—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 101–225 substituted
‘‘Annex I and Annex II’’ for ‘‘Annex V’’.
1987—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100–220, § 2103(a), designated
existing provisions as par. (1), substituted ‘‘a port’s or
terminal’s reception facilities for mixtures containing
oil or noxious liquid substances’’ for ‘‘reception facilities of a port or terminal’’, and added par. (2).
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 100–220, § 2103(b), inserted ‘‘and in
establishing regulations under subsection (a) of this
section,’’ and ‘‘ships or’’.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 100–220, § 2103(c), amended subsec.
(c) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (c) read as
follows: ‘‘If, upon inspection, reception facilities of a
port or terminal are adequate to meet the requirements
of the MARPOL Protocol and the regulations established hereunder, the Secretary shall, after consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, issue a certificate to that effect to the
applicant. A certificate issued under this subsection—
‘‘(1) is valid until suspended or revoked by the Secretary for cause or because of changed conditions;
and
‘‘(2) shall be available for inspection upon the request of the master, other person in charge, or agent
of a seagoing ship using or intending to use the port
or terminal.
The suspension or revocation of a certificate issued
under this subsection may be appealed to the Secretary
and acted on by him in the manner prescribed by regulation.’’
Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 100–220, § 2103(d), designated existing provisions as par. (1), redesignated former pars. (1)
and (2) as subpars. (A) and (B), respectively, in subpar.
(A), substituted ‘‘Annexes I and II of the Convention’’
for ‘‘the MARPOL Protocol’’, and added par. (2).

AMENDMENTS

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

9 of Annex IV to the Antarctic Protocol or regulations hereunder to have adequate reception
facilities; and
(B) the port or terminal does not hold a
valid certificate issued by the Secretary under
this section.
(2) The Secretary may deny the entry of a ship
to a port or terminal required by the MARPOL
Protocol, this chapter, or regulations prescribed
under this section relating to the provision of
adequate reception facilities for garbage, ozone
depleting substances, equipment containing
those substances, or exhaust gas cleaning residues, if the port or terminal is not in compliance with the MARPOL Protocol, this chapter,
or those regulations.
(f) Surveys
(1) The Secretary and the Administrator are
authorized to conduct surveys of existing reception facilities in the United States to determine
measures needed to comply with the MARPOL
Protocol or the Antarctic Protocol.
(2) Not later than 18 months after October 19,
1996, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations
that require the operator of each port or terminal that is subject to any requirement of the
MARPOL Protocol relating to reception facilities to post a placard in a location that can easily be seen by port and terminal users. The
placard shall state, at a minimum, that a user of
a reception facility of the port or terminal
should report to the Secretary any inadequacy
of the reception facility.
(Pub. L. 96–478, § 6, Oct. 21, 1980, 94 Stat. 2299;
Pub. L. 100–220, title II, § 2103, Dec. 29, 1987, 101
Stat. 1461; Pub. L. 101–225, title II, § 201(1), Dec.
12, 1989, 103 Stat. 1910; Pub. L. 104–227, title II,
§ 201(d), Oct. 2, 1996, 110 Stat. 3042; Pub. L.
104–324, title VIII, § 801, Oct. 19, 1996, 110 Stat.
3943; Pub. L. 110–280, § 7, July 21, 2008, 122 Stat.
2614.)

2008—Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 110–280, § 7(1), added par.
(3).
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 110–280, § 7(2), inserted ‘‘or the Administrator’’ after ‘‘Secretary’’.
Subsec. (e)(2). Pub. L. 110–280, § 7(3), added par. (2) and
struck out former par. (2). Prior to amendment, text
read as follows: ‘‘The Secretary may deny the entry of
a ship to a port or terminal required by regulations
issued under this section to provide adequate reception
facilities for garbage if the port or terminal is not in
compliance with those regulations.’’
Subsec. (f)(1). Pub. L. 110–280, § 7(4), substituted ‘‘Secretary and the Administrator are’’ for ‘‘Secretary is’’.
Subsec. (f)(2). Pub. L. 110–280, § 7(5), struck out subpar.
(A) designation before ‘‘Not later’’.
1996—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 104–227, § 201(d)(1), inserted
‘‘or the Antarctic Protocol’’ after ‘‘the MARPOL Protocol’’.
Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 104–324, § 801(a)(1), (2), designated existing provisions as subpar. (A), substituted
‘‘Subject to subparagraph (B), if’’ for ‘‘If’’, and added
subpars. (B) and (C).
Subsec. (c)(3)(A). Pub. L. 104–324, § 801(a)(3), added subpar. (A) and struck out former subpar. (A) which read
as follows: ‘‘is valid until suspended or revoked by the
Secretary for cause or because of changed conditions;
and’’.

EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1987 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 100–220 effective Dec. 31, 1988,
the date on which Annex V to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships,
1973, entered into force for the United States, see section 2002(a) of Pub. L. 100–220, set out as a note under
section 1901 of this title.
EFFECTIVE DATE
Subsecs. (a), (c), and (f) of this section effective Oct.
21, 1980, see section 14(b) of Pub. L. 96–478, set out as a
note under section 1901 of this title.

§ 1906. Incidents involving ships
(a) Requirement to report incident
The master, person in charge, owner,
charterer, manager, or operator of a ship involved in an incident shall report the incident in
the manner prescribed by Article 8 of the Convention in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary for that purpose.
(b) Requirement to report discharge, probable
discharge, or presence of oil
The master or person in charge of—