
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC1443]

 
                         TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
 
                     CHAPTER 32--MARINE SANCTUARIES
 
Sec. 1443. Destruction or loss of, or injury to, sanctuary 
        resources
        

(a) Liability

                   (1) Liability to United States

        Any person who destroys, causes the loss of, or injures any 
    sanctuary resource is liable to the United States for an amount 
    equal to the sum of--
            (A) the amount of response costs and damages resulting from 
        the destruction, loss, or injury; and
            (B) interest on that amount calculated in the manner 
        described under section 2705 of title 33.

                        (2) Liability in rem

        Any vessel used to destroy, cause the loss of, or injure any 
    sanctuary resource shall be liable in rem to the United States for 
    response costs and damages resulting from such destruction, loss, or 
    injury. The amount of that liability shall constitute a maritime 
    lien on the vessel and may be recovered in an action in rem in any 
    district court of the United States that has jurisdiction over the 
    vessel.

                            (3) Defenses

        A person is not liable under this subsection if that person 
    establishes that--
            (A) the destruction or loss of, or injury to, the sanctuary 
        resource was caused solely by an act of God, an act of war, or 
        an act or omission of a third party, and the person acted with 
        due care;
            (B) the destruction, loss, or injury was caused by an 
        activity authorized by Federal or State law; or
            (C) the destruction, loss, or injury was negligible.

                       (4) Limits to liability

        Nothing in sections 181 to 188 \1\ of title 46, Appendix, or 
    section 192 of title 46, Appendix, shall limit the liability of any 
    person under this chapter.
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    \1\ See References in Text note below.
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(b) Response actions and damage assessment

                        (1) Response actions

        The Secretary may undertake or authorize all necessary actions 
    to prevent or minimize the destruction or loss of, or injury to, 
    sanctuary resources, or to minimize the imminent risk of such 
    destruction, loss, or injury.

                        (2) Damage assessment

        The Secretary shall assess damages to sanctuary resources in 
    accordance with section 1432(6) of this title.

(c) Civil actions for response costs and damages

    (1) The Attorney General, upon request of the Secretary, may 
commence a civil action against any person or vessel who may be liable 
under subsection (a) of this section for response costs and damages. The 
Secretary, acting as trustee for sanctuary resources for the United 
States, shall submit a request for such an action to the Attorney 
General whenever a person may be liable for such costs or damages.
    (2) An action under this subsection may be brought in the United 
States district court for any district in which--
        (A) the defendant is located, resides, or is doing business, in 
    the case of an action against a person;
        (B) the vessel is located, in the case of an action against a 
    vessel; or
        (C) the destruction of, loss of, or injury to a sanctuary 
    resource occurred.

(d) Use of recovered amounts

    Response costs and damages recovered by the Secretary under this 
section shall be retained by the Secretary in the manner provided for in 
section 9607(f)(1) of title 42, and used as follows:

                         (1) Response costs

        Amounts recovered by the United States for costs of response 
    actions and damage assessments under this section shall be used, as 
    the Secretary considers appropriate--
            (A) to reimburse the Secretary or any other Federal or State 
        agency that conducted those activities; and
            (B) after reimbursement of such costs, to restore, replace, 
        or acquire the equivalent of any sanctuary resource.

                          (2) Other amounts

        All other amounts recovered shall be used, in order of 
    priority--
            (A) to restore, replace, or acquire the equivalent of the 
        sanctuary resources that were the subject of the action, 
        including for costs of monitoring and the costs of curation and 
        conservation of archeological, historical, and cultural 
        sanctuary resources;
            (B) to restore degraded sanctuary resources of the national 
        marine sanctuary that was the subject of the action, giving 
        priority to sanctuary resources and habitats that are comparable 
        to the sanctuary resources that were the subject of the action; 
        and
            (C) to restore degraded sanctuary resources of other 
        national marine sanctuaries.

                   (3) Federal-State coordination

        Amounts recovered under this section with respect to sanctuary 
    resources lying within the jurisdiction of a State shall be used 
    under paragraphs (2)(A) and (B) in accordance with the court decree 
    or settlement agreement and an agreement entered into by the 
    Secretary and the Governor of that State.

(e) Statute of limitations

    An action for response costs or damages under subsection (c) of this 
section shall be barred unless the complaint is filed within 3 years 
after the date on which the Secretary completes a damage assessment and 
restoration plan for the sanctuary resources to which the action 
relates.

(Pub. L. 92-532, title III, Sec. 312, as added Pub. L. 100-627, title 
II, Sec. 204(a), Nov. 7, 1988, 102 Stat. 3215; amended Pub. L. 102-587, 
title II, Secs. 2107(d), 2110, Nov. 4, 1992, 106 Stat. 5044, 5045; Pub. 
L. 104-283, Sec. 9(e), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3367; Pub. L. 106-513, 
Secs. 13, 19(c), Nov. 13, 2000, 114 Stat. 2389, 2393.)

                       References in Text

    Sections 181 to 188 of title 46, Appendix, referred to in subsec. 
(a)(4), was in the original a reference to sections 4281 to 4289 of the 
Revised Statutes of the United States. Section 4288 of the Revised 
Statutes was classified to section 175 of former Title 46, Shipping, and 
was repealed by act Oct. 9, 1940, ch. 777, Sec. 7, 54 Stat. 1028.


                               Amendments

    2000--Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 106-513, Sec. 19(c), amended par. (1) 
heading.
    Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 106-513, Sec. 13(a), designated existing 
provisions as par. (1), struck out ``in the United States district court 
for the appropriate district'' after ``civil action'', and added par. 
(2).
    Subsec. (d)(1), (2). Pub. L. 106-513, Sec. 13(b), added pars. (1) 
and (2) and struck out former pars. (1) and (2) which read as follows:
    ``(1) Response costs and damage assessments.--Twenty percent of 
amounts recovered under this section, up to a maximum balance of 
$750,000, shall be used to finance response actions and damage 
assessments by the Secretary.
    ``(2) Restoration, replacement, management, and improvement.--
Amounts remaining after the operation of paragraph (1) shall be used, in 
order of priority--
        ``(A) to restore, replace, or acquire the equivalent of the 
    sanctuary resources which were the subject of the action;
        ``(B) to manage and improve the national marine sanctuary within 
    which are located the sanctuary resources which were the subject of 
    the action; and
        ``(C) to manage and improve any other national marine 
    sanctuary.''
    Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 106-513, Sec. 13(c), added subsec. (e).
    1996--Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 104-283 made technical amendment to 
directory language of Pub. L. 102-587, Sec. 2110(d). See 1992 Amendment 
note below.
    1992--Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 102-587, Sec. 2110(a), amended par. 
(1) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (1) read as follows: ``In 
general.--Subject to paragraph (3), any person who destroys, causes the 
loss of, or injures any sanctuary resource is liable to the United 
States for response costs and damages resulting from such destruction, 
loss, or injury.''
    Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 102-587, Sec. 2110(b), inserted at end ``The 
amount of that liability shall constitute a maritime lien on the vessel 
and may be recovered in an action in rem in any district court of the 
United States that has jurisdiction over the vessel.''
    Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 102-587, Sec. 2110(c), added par. (4).
    Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 102-587, Sec. 2110(d), as amended by Pub. L. 
104-283, inserted ``or authorize'' after ``undertake''.
    Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 102-587, Sec. 2107(d)(1), struck out ``and 
civil penalties under section 1437 of this title'' after ``Secretary 
under this section''.
    Subsec. (d)(3), (4). Pub. L. 102-587, Secs. 2107(d)(2), 2110(e), 
redesignated par. (4) as (3), inserted ``the court decree or settlement 
agreement and'' after ``in accordance with'', and struck out former par. 
(3) which read as follows: ``Amounts recovered under section 1437 of 
this title in the form of civil penalties shall be used by the Secretary 
in accordance with section 1437(e) of this title and paragraphs (2)(B) 
and (C) of this subsection.''


                             Effective Date

    Section 204(c) of Pub. L. 100-627 provided that: ``Amounts in the 
form of damages received by the United States after November 30, 1986, 
for destruction or loss of, or injury to, a sanctuary resource (as that 
term is defined in section 302(8) of the Act [16 U.S.C. 1432(8)] (as 
amended by this Act)) shall be subject to section 312 of the Act [16 
U.S.C. 1443] (as amended by this Act).''

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 1432, 1437 of this title.
