
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 43USC1349]

 
                         TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS
 
                       CHAPTER 29--SUBMERGED LANDS
 
              SUBCHAPTER III--OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LANDS
 
Sec. 1349. Citizens suits, jurisdiction and judicial review


(a) Persons who may bring actions; persons against whom action may be 
        brought; time of action; intervention by Attorney General; costs 
        and fees; security

    (1) Except as provided in this section, any person having a valid 
legal interest which is or may be adversely affected may commence a 
civil action on his own behalf to compel compliance with this subchapter 
against any person, including the United States, and any other 
government instrumentality or agency (to the extent permitted by the 
eleventh amendment to the Constitution) for any alleged violation of any 
provision of this subchapter or any regulation promulgated under this 
subchapter, or of the terms of any permit or lease issued by the 
Secretary under this subchapter.
    (2) Except as provided in paragraph (3) of this subsection, no 
action may be commenced under subsection (a)(1) of this section--
        (A) prior to sixty days after the plaintiff has given notice of 
    the alleged violation, in writing under oath, to the Secretary and 
    any other appropriate Federal official, to the State in which the 
    violation allegedly occurred or is occurring, and to any alleged 
    violator; or
        (B) if the Attorney General has commenced and is diligently 
    prosecuting a civil action in a court of the United States or a 
    State with respect to such matter, but in any such action in a court 
    of the United States any person having a legal interest which is or 
    may be adversely affected may intervene as a matter of right.

    (3) An action may be brought under this subsection immediately after 
notification of the alleged violation in any case in which the alleged 
violation constitutes an imminent threat to the public health or safety 
or would immediately affect a legal interest of the plaintiff.
    (4) In any action commenced pursuant to this section, the Attorney 
General, upon the request of the Secretary or any other appropriate 
Federal official, may intervene as a matter of right.
    (5) A court, in issuing any final order in any action brought 
pursuant to subsection (a)(1) or subsection (c) of this section, may 
award costs of litigation, including reasonable attorney and expert 
witness fees, to any party, whenever such court determines such award is 
appropriate. The court may, if a temporary restraining order or 
preliminary injunction is sought, require the filing of a bond or 
equivalent security in a sufficient amount to compensate for any loss or 
damage suffered, in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil 
Procedure.
    (6) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, all suits 
challenging actions or decisions allegedly in violation of, or seeking 
enforcement of, the provisions of this subchapter, or any regulation 
promulgated under this subchapter, or the terms of any permit or lease 
issued by the Secretary under this subchapter, shall be undertaken in 
accordance with the procedures described in this subsection. Nothing in 
this section shall restrict any right which any person or class of 
persons may have under any other Act or common law to seek appropriate 
relief.

(b) Jurisdiction and venue of actions

    (1) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the 
district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction of cases 
and controversies arising out of, or in connection with (A) any 
operation conducted on the outer Continental Shelf which involves 
exploration, development, or production of the minerals, of the subsoil 
and seabed of the outer Continental Shelf, or which involves rights to 
such minerals, or (B) the cancellation, suspension, or termination of a 
lease or permit under this subchapter. Proceedings with respect to any 
such case or controversy may be instituted in the judicial district in 
which any defendant resides or may be found, or in the judicial district 
of the State nearest the place the cause of action arose.
    (2) Any resident of the United States who is injured in any manner 
through the failure of any operator to comply with any rule, regulation, 
order, or permit issued pursuant to this subchapter may bring an action 
for damages (including reasonable attorney and expert witness fees) only 
in the judicial district having jurisdiction under paragraph (1) of this 
subsection.

(c) Review of Secretary's approval of leasing program; review of 
        approval, modification or disapproval of exploration or 
        production plan; persons who may seek review; scope of review; 
        certiorari to Supreme Court

    (1) Any action of the Secretary to approve a leasing program 
pursuant to section 1344 of this title shall be subject to judicial 
review only in the United States Court of Appeal \1\ for the District of 
Columbia.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ So in original. Probably should be ``Appeals''.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    (2) Any action of the Secretary to approve, require modification of, 
or disapprove any exploration plan or any development and production 
plan under this subchapter shall be subject to judicial review only in a 
United States court of appeals for a circuit in which an affected State 
is located.
    (3) The judicial review specified in paragraphs (1) and (2) of this 
subsection shall be available only to a person who (A) participated in 
the administrative proceedings related to the actions specified in such 
paragraphs, (B) is adversely affected or aggrieved by such action, (C) 
files a petition for review of the Secretary's action within sixty days 
after the date of such action, and (D) promptly transmits copies of the 
petition to the Secretary and to the Attorney General.
    (4) Any action of the Secretary specified in paragraph (1) or (2) 
shall only be subject to review pursuant to the provisions of this 
subsection, and shall be specifically excluded from citizen suits which 
are permitted pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.
    (5) The Secretary shall file in the appropriate court the record of 
any public hearings required by this subchapter and any additional 
information upon which the Secretary based his decision, as required by 
section 2112 of title 28. Specific objections to the action of the 
Secretary shall be considered by the court only if the issues upon which 
such objections are based have been submitted to the Secretary during 
the administrative proceedings related to the actions involved.
    (6) The court of appeals conducting a proceeding pursuant to this 
subsection shall consider the matter under review solely on the record 
made before the Secretary. The findings of the Secretary, if supported 
by substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole, shall be 
conclusive. The court may affirm, vacate, or modify any order or 
decision or may remand the proceedings to the Secretary for such further 
action as it may direct.
    (7) Upon the filing of the record with the court, pursuant to 
paragraph (5), the jurisdiction of the court shall be exclusive and its 
judgment shall be final, except that such judgment shall be subject to 
review by the Supreme Court of the United States upon writ of 
certiorari.

(Aug. 7, 1953, ch. 345, Sec. 23, as added Pub. L. 95-372, title II, 
Sec. 208, Sept. 18, 1978, 92 Stat. 657; amended Pub. L. 98-620, title 
IV, Sec. 402(44), Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat. 3360.)

                       References in Text

    The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, referred to in subsec. (a)(5), 
are set out in the Appendix to Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial 
Procedure.


                               Amendments

    1984--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 98-620 struck out subsec. (d) which 
provided that except as to causes of action considered by the court to 
be of greater importance, any action under this section would take 
precedence on the docket over all other causes of action and would be 
set for hearing at the earliest practical date and expedited in every 
way.


                    Effective Date of 1984 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 98-620 not applicable to cases pending on Nov. 
8, 1984, see section 403 of Pub. L. 98-620, set out as a note under 
section 1657 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 1345 of this title.
