Oil Pollution Act of 1924 is a

United States federal statute An Act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. Acts may apply only to individual entities (called private laws), or to the general public ( public laws). For a bill to become an act, the text must pass through both house ...

establishing regulations for coastal navigable waters with regards to intentional

fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels m ...

discharges from seagoing vessels. The

Act of Congress An Act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. Acts may apply only to individual entities (called Public and private bills, private laws), or to the general public (Public and private bills, public laws). For a Bill (law) ...

grants the

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

authority to evaluate the oil

volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The de ...

discharge from a vessel while assessing if coastal

navigable A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Such a navigable water is called a ''waterway'', and is preferably with few obstructions against dir ...

waters have a potential

toxicity Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...

posing a deleterious condition for human health and

seafood Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...

contamination. The 1924 United States statute provides judicial penalties encompassing civil and criminal punishment for violations of the prescribed regulations as stated in the Act. The

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...

was passed by the 68th United States Congressional session and confirmed as a federal law by the 29th President of the United States Warren G. Harding on June 7, 1924.

Provisions of the Act

The 1924 environmental law provided seven codified sections defining territorial jurisdiction for the United States inland navigable waters. ::''33 U.S.C. § 431'' ~ Title of Act ::''33 U.S.C. § 432'' ~ Meaning of terms ::''33 U.S.C. § 433'' ~ Unlawful discharge of oil in navigable waters ::''33 U.S.C. § 434'' ~ Punishment for violation of oil discharge and liability of vessel ::''33 U.S.C. § 435'' ~ Revocation of officers licenses for violations ::''33 U.S.C. § 436'' ~ Administration by harbor and river officers for arrest of offenders and enforcement ::''33 U.S.C. § 437'' ~ Act is an addition and not a repeal of existing navigable water laws

Amendment and Repeal of 1924 Act

The Clean Water Restoration Act of 1966 amended the 1924 public law requiring vessel ownerships to recover oil discharges in relationship to the adjoining shorelines and navigable waters of the United States. The 1966 amendment designated the authority of the Act to the

U.S. Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

with a provision allowing enforcement activities by the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

. The federal statute was passed by the United States 89th Congressional session and enacted into law by the 36th President of the United States Lyndon Johnson on November 3, 1966. The Oil Pollution Act of 1924 was repealed by the United States 91st Congressional session enactment of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1970. The United States statute was confirmed as a

federal law Federal law is the body of law created by the federal government of a country. A federal government is formed when a group of political units, such as states or provinces join in a federation, delegating their individual sovereignty and many po ...

by the 37th President of the United States Richard Nixon on April 3, 1970.

References

External links

* * {{Portal bar, 1920s, Ecology, Transport, Water 1924 in American law 1924 in the environment 68th United States Congress Ocean pollution United States federal environmental legislation 1924 in the United States Water pollution in the United States

Provisions of the Act

Amendment and Repeal of 1924 Act

See also

References

External links