46 USC 501 (b) Waiver of Navigation and Vessel Inspection Laws

Page 15

TITLE 46—SHIPPING

(Pub. L. 109–304, § 4, Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1488.)
HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES
Revised
Section

Source (U.S. Code)

116 .............

Source (Statutes at Large)

46:2101(46).

[CHAPTER 3—TRANSFERRED]
Editorial Notes
CODIFICATION
Pub. L. 116–283, div. G, title LVXXXVI [LXXXVI],
§ 8605(a)(2), (3), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4765, renumbered
this chapter as chapter 461 and transferred it to part D
of subtitle IV of this title and renumbered sections 301
to 308 as sections 46101 to 46108 of this title, respectively.

[§§ 301 to 308. Renumbered §§ 46101 to 46108]
CHAPTER 5—OTHER GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec.

501.
502.
503.
504.
505.

Waiver of navigation and vessel-inspection
laws.
Cargo exempt from forfeiture.
Notice of seizure.
Remission of fees and penalties.
Penalty for violating regulation or order.

§ 501. Waiver of navigation and vessel-inspection
laws
(a) ON REQUEST OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—On request of the Secretary
of Defense, the head of an agency responsible
for the administration of the navigation or
vessel-inspection laws shall waive compliance
with those laws to the extent the Secretary
considers necessary in the interest of national
defense to address an immediate adverse effect
on military operations.
(2) SUBMITTAL OF EXPLANATION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 24 hours after making
a request under paragraph (1), the Secretary of
Defense shall submit to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure and the
Committee on Armed Services of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the
Committee on Armed Services of the Senate a
written explanation of the circumstances requiring such a waiver in the interest of national defense, including a confirmation that
there are insufficient qualified vessels to meet
the needs of national defense without such a
waiver.
(b) BY HEAD OF AGENCY.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon a determination by
the President that a waiver of the navigation
or vessel-inspection laws is necessary in the
interest of national defense, the head of an
agency responsible for the administration of
such laws,1 may waive compliance with such
laws—
(A) following a determination in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (3)
by the Maritime Administrator, acting in
the Administrator’s capacity as Director,
National Shipping Authority, of the non1 So

in original. The comma probably should not appear.

§ 501

availability of qualified United States flag
capacity to meet national defense requirements;
(B) not earlier than 48 hours after a waiver
request is published under paragraph (6)(A);
and
(C) on a vessel specific basis to the extent,
in the manner, and on the terms the head of
such agency, in consultation with the Administrator, acting in such capacity, prescribes.
(2) DURATION OF WAIVER.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subparagraphs
(B) and (C), a waiver issued under this subsection shall be for a period of not more than
10 days.
(B) WAIVER EXTENSION.—Upon the termination of the period of a waiver issued under
this subsection, the head of an agency may
extend the waiver for an additional period of
not more than 10 days, if the Maritime Administrator makes the determination referred to in paragraph (1)(A).
(C) AGGREGATE DURATION.—The aggregate
duration of the period of all waivers and extensions of waivers under this subsection
with respect to any one set of events shall
not exceed 45 days.
(3) DETERMINATIONS.—The Maritime Administrator shall—
(A) for each determination referred to in
paragraph (1)(A)—
(i) identify any actions that could be
taken to enable qualified United States
flag capacity to meet national defense requirements prior to the issuance of a waiver; and
(ii) not assess the non-availability of
qualified United States flag capacity to
meet national defense requirements retrospectively after the date on which a waiver
is requested;
(B) provide notice of each such determination to the Secretary of Transportation and
the head of the agency referred to in paragraph (1) for which the determination is
made; and
(C) publish each such determination on the
Internet Web site of the Department of
Transportation not later than 48 hours after
notice of the determination is provided to
the Secretary of Transportation.
(4) NOTICE TO CONGRESS.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The head of an agency referred to in paragraph (1) shall notify the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Armed
Services of the House of Representatives and
the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation and the Committee on
Armed Services of the Senate—
(i) of any request for a waiver of the
navigation or vessel-inspection laws under
this section not later than 48 hours after
receiving such a request; and
(ii) of the issuance of any such waiver
not later than 48 hours after such issuance.
(B) CONTENTS.—Such head of an agency
shall include in each notification under subparagraph (A)(ii) an explanation of—

§ 501

TITLE 46—SHIPPING
(i) the reasons the waiver is necessary;
and
(ii) the reasons actions referred to in
paragraph (3)(A) are not feasible.

(C) NOTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR EXTENSIONS.—For purposes of this paragraph, an
extension requested or issued under paragraph (2)(B) shall be treated in the same
manner as a waiver requested or issued
under this subsection.
(5) PROSPECTIVE APPLICATION.—No waiver
shall be issued for a vessel if, at the time of
the waiver request under this section, such
vessel is laden with merchandise that, pursuant to the requested waiver, could be unladen
at points or places to which the coastwise laws
apply.
(6) PUBLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—
(A) PUBLICATION OF WAIVER REQUESTS.—
Upon receiving a request for a waiver under
this subsection, the head of an agency referred to in paragraph (1) shall publish such
request on the website of such agency.
(B) PUBLICATION OF WAIVER DENIAL.—Not
later than 48 hours after denying a waiver
requested under this subsection, the head of
an agency referred to in paragraph (1) shall
publish on the website of such agency an explanation for denying such waiver, including
applicable findings to support the denial.
(c) REPORT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 10 days after
the date of the conclusion of the voyage of a
vessel that, during such voyage, operated
under a waiver issued under this section, the
owner or operator of the vessel and the individual requesting such waiver (if not the
owner or operator of the vessel) shall submit
to the Maritime Administrator a report that
includes—
(A) the name and flag of the vessel;
(B) the name of the owner and operator of
the vessel;
(C) the dates of the voyage;
(D) any relevant ports of call;
(E) a description of the cargo carried;
(F) an explanation as to why the waiver
was in the interest of national defense; and
(G) any other information the Maritime
Administrator determines necessary.
(2) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 48 hours
after receiving a report under paragraph (1),
the Maritime Administrator shall publish such
report on an appropriate website of the Department of Transportation.
(d) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority granted by this section shall terminate at
such time as the Congress by concurrent resolution or the President may designate.
(Pub. L. 109–304, § 4, Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1490;
Pub. L. 110–417, div. C, title XXXV, § 3510, Oct. 14,
2008, 122 Stat. 4769; Pub. L. 112–213, title III, § 301,
Dec. 20, 2012, 126 Stat. 1562; Pub. L. 112–239, div.
C, title XXXV, § 3517(a)(2), Jan. 2, 2013, 126 Stat.
2229; Pub. L. 116–283, div. C, title XXXV,
§ 3502(a)(1), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4397; Pub. L.
117–263, div. C, title XXXV, § 3541, Dec. 23, 2022,
136 Stat. 3093.)

Page 16
HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES

Revised
Section
501 .............

Source (U.S. Code)
46 App.:3 note prec.

Source (Statutes at Large)
Dec. 27, 1950, ch. 1155, §§ 1, 2,
64 Stat. 1120.

In subsection (b), the words ‘‘When the head of an
agency . . . considers it necessary’’ are substituted for
‘‘either upon his own initiative or upon the written recommendation of the head of any other Government
agency, when he deems that such action is necessary’’
to eliminate unnecessary words.
Editorial Notes
AMENDMENTS
2022—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 117–263, § 3541(1)(A), added
par. (1) and struck out former par. (1). Prior to amendment, text read as follows: ‘‘When the head of an agency responsible for the administration of the navigation
or vessel-inspection laws considers it necessary in the
interest of national defense, the individual, following a
determination by the Maritime Administrator, acting
in the Administrator’s capacity as Director, National
Shipping Authority, of the non-availability of qualified
United States flag capacity to meet national defense
requirements, may waive compliance with those laws
to the extent, in the manner, and on the terms the individual, in consultation with the Administrator, acting
in that capacity, prescribes.’’
Subsec. (b)(2)(B). Pub. L. 117–263, § 3541(1)(B), substituted ‘‘determination referred to in paragraph
(1)(A)’’ for ‘‘determinations referred to in paragraph
(1)’’.
Subsec. (b)(3)(A). Pub. L. 117–263, § 3541(1)(C), added
subpar. (A) and struck out former subpar. (A). Prior to
amendment, subpar. (A) read as follows: ‘‘for each determination referred to in paragraph (1), identify any
actions that could be taken to enable qualified United
States flag capacity to meet national defense requirements;’’.
Subsec. (b)(5), (6). Pub. L. 117–263, § 3541(1)(D), added
pars. (5) and (6).
Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 117–263, § 3541(2), inserted ‘‘and
the individual requesting such waiver (if not the owner
or operator of the vessel)’’ before ‘‘shall submit’’ in introductory provisions, added subpars. (B), (E), and (F),
and redesignated former subpars. (B), (C), and (D) as
(C), (D), and (G), respectively.
2021—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 116–283, § 3502(a)(1)(A), added
subsec. (a) and struck out former subsec. (a). Prior to
amendment, text read as follows: ‘‘On request of the
Secretary of Defense, the head of an agency responsible
for the administration of the navigation or vessel-inspection laws shall waive compliance with those laws
to the extent the Secretary considers necessary in the
interest of national defense.’’
Subsec. (b)(2), (3). Pub. L. 116–283, § 3502(a)(1)(B)(i),
(ii), added par. (2) and redesignated former par. (2) as
(3). Former par. (3) redesignated (4).
Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 116–283, § 3502(a)(1)(B)(i), redesignated par. (3) as (4).
Subsec.
(b)(4)(B)(ii).
Pub.
L.
116–283,
§ 3502(a)(1)(B)(ii)(I), substituted ‘‘paragraph (3)(A)’’ for
‘‘paragraph (2)(A)’’.
Subsec. (b)(4)(C). Pub. L. 116–283, § 3502(a)(1)(B)(ii)(II),
added subpar. (C).
Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 116–283, § 3502(a)(1)(C), (D),
added subsec. (c) and redesignated former subsec. (c) as
(d).
2013—Subsec. (b)(3)(A). Pub. L. 112–239 substituted
‘‘the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation and the Committee on
Armed Services of the Senate’’ for ‘‘the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation of the Senate’’ in introductory provisions.

Page 17

§ 505

TITLE 46—SHIPPING

2012—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 112–213 designated existing
provisions as par. (1), inserted par. (1) heading, and
added pars. (2) and (3).
2008—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 110–417 reenacted heading
without change and amended text generally. Prior to
amendment, text read as follows: ‘‘When the head of an
agency responsible for the administration of the navigation or vessel-inspection laws considers it necessary
in the interest of national defense, the individual may
waive compliance with those laws to the extent, in the
manner, and on the terms the individual prescribes.’’
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2021 AMENDMENT
Pub. L. 116–283, div. C, title XXXV, § 3502(a)(2), Jan. 1,
2021, 134 Stat. 4398, provided that: ‘‘The amendments
made by paragraph (1) [amending this section] shall
apply with respect to waivers issued after the date of
the enactment of this Act [Jan. 1, 2021].’’

§ 502. Cargo exempt from forfeiture
Cargo on a vessel is exempt from forfeiture
under this title if—
(1) the cargo is owned in good faith by a person not the owner, master, or crewmember of
the vessel; and
(2) the customs duties on the cargo have
been paid or secured for payment as provided
by law.

46 in 1983. That provision was based on section 26 of the
Act of June 26, 1884, ch. 121, 23 Stat. 59, which prior to
the subtitle II codification appeared at 46 U.S.C. 8 (1982
ed.). In the enactment of 46 U.S.C. 2108, the scope of the
1884 provision was narrowed, presumably inadvertently.
This section restores the remissions authority to its
prior scope. Note that 19 C.F.R. § 4.24 (2003) still refers
to ‘‘the authority to make refunds in accordance with
section 26 of the Act of June 26, 1884 (46 U.S.C. 8)’’ as
if that provision had not been replaced by 46 U.S.C. 2108
in 1983.

§ 505. Penalty for violating regulation or order
A person convicted of knowingly and willfully
violating a regulation or order of the Federal
Maritime Commission or the Secretary of
Transportation under subtitle IV or V of this
title, for which no penalty is expressly provided,
shall be fined not more than $500. Each day of a
continuing violation is a separate offense.
(Pub. L. 109–304, § 4, Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1491.)
HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES
Revised
Section
505 .............

(Pub. L. 109–304, § 4, Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1490.)

Source (U.S. Code)
46 App.:1228 (last
par.).

Source (Statutes at Large)
June 29, 1936, ch. 858, title
VIII, § 806(d); as added
Aug. 4, 1939, ch. 417, § 13, 53
Stat. 1187; Pub. L. 97–31,
§ 12(125), Aug. 6, 1981, 95
Stat. 164.

HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES
Revised
Section
502 .............

Subtitle II—Vessels and Seamen
Source (U.S. Code)

Source (Statutes at Large)

PART A—GENERAL PROVISIONS
46 App.:326.

R.S. § 4378.

21.
23.

§ 503. Notice of seizure
When a forfeiture of a vessel or cargo accrues,
the official of the United States Government required to give notice of the seizure of the vessel
or cargo shall include in the notice, if they are
known to that official, the name and the place
of residence of the owner or consignee at the
time of the seizure.
(Pub. L. 109–304, § 4, Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1490.)
HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES
Revised
Section
503 .............

Source (U.S. Code)
46 App.:327.

Chapter

Source (Statutes at Large)
R.S. § 4379.

§ 504. Remission of fees and penalties
Any part of a fee, tax, or penalty paid or a forfeiture incurred under a law or regulation relating to vessels or seamen may be remitted if—
(1) application for the remission is made
within one year after the date of the payment
or forfeiture; and
(2) it is found that the fee, tax, penalty, or
forfeiture was improperly or excessively imposed.

[39.
41.
43.
45.
47.
49.

51.

Load Lines ............................................

61.
63.

Reporting Marine Casualties ...........
Investigating Marine Casualties .....

46:2108.

This section replaces 46 U.S.C. 2108, which was enacted as part of the codification of subtitle II of title

3701
4101
4301
4501
4701
4901
5101
6101
6301

PART E—MERCHANT SEAMEN LICENSES, CERTIFICATES,
AND DOCUMENTS

73.
75.

504 .............

3101
3201
3301
3501

PART D—MARINE CASUALTIES

HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES
Source (Statutes at Large)

General ..................................................
Management of Vessels ......................
Inspection Generally ..........................
Carriage of Passengers ......................
Carriage of Liquid Bulk Dangerous
Cargoes ...............................................
Repealed.] ..............................................
Uninspected Vessels Generally .......
Recreational Vessels ..........................
Uninspected Commercial Fishing
Industry Vessels ...............................
Abandonment of Barges ....................
Oceangoing Non-Passenger Commercial Vessels .................................
PART C—LOAD LINES OF VESSELS

71.

Source (U.S. Code)

2101
2301

PART B—INSPECTION AND REGULATION OF VESSELS

31.
32.
33.
35.
37.

(Pub. L. 109–304, § 4, Oct. 6, 2006, 120 Stat. 1491.)

Revised
Section

Sec.

General ..................................................
Operation of Vessels Generally .......

77.

Licenses and Certificates of Registry .....................................................
Merchant Mariners’ Documents ......
General Procedures for Licensing,
Certification, and Documentation
Suspension and Revocation .............

81.

General ..................................................

7101
7301
7501
7701

PART F—MANNING OF VESSELS

8101