
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 46USC2302]

 
                           TITLE 46--SHIPPING
 
                     Subtitle II--Vessels and Seamen
 
                       Part A--General Provisions
 
               CHAPTER 23--OPERATION OF VESSELS GENERALLY
 
Sec. 2302. Penalties for negligent operations and interfering 
        with safe operation
        
    (a) A person operating a vessel in a negligent manner or interfering 
with the safe operation of a vessel, so as to endanger the life, limb, 
or property of a person is liable to the United States Government for a 
civil penalty of not more than $1,000.
    (b) A person operating a vessel in a grossly negligent manner that 
endangers the life, limb, or property of a person commits a class A 
misdemeanor.
    (c) An individual who is under the influence of alcohol, or a 
dangerous drug in violation of a law of the United States when operating 
a vessel, as determined under standards prescribed by the Secretary by 
regulation--
        (1) is liable to the United States Government for a civil 
    penalty of not more than $5,000; or
        (2) commits a class A misdemeanor.

    (d) For a penalty imposed under this section, the vessel also is 
liable in rem unless the vessel is--
        (1) owned by a State or a political subdivision of a State;
        (2) operated principally for governmental purposes; and
        (3) identified clearly as a vessel of that State or subdivision.

    (e)(1) A vessel may not transport Government-impelled cargoes if--
        (A) the vessel has been detained and determined to be 
    substandard by the Secretary for violation of an international 
    safety convention to which the United States is a party, and the 
    Secretary has published notice of that detention and determination 
    in an electronic form, including the name of the owner of the 
    vessel; or
        (B) the operator of the vessel has on more than one occasion had 
    a vessel detained and determined to be substandard by the Secretary 
    for violation of an international safety convention to which the 
    United States is a party, and the Secretary has published notice of 
    that detention and determination in an electronic form, including 
    the name of the owner of the vessel.

    (2) The prohibition in paragraph (1) expires for a vessel on the 
earlier of--
        (A) 1 year after the date of the publication in electronic form 
    on which the prohibition is based; or
        (B) any date on which the owner or operator of the vessel 
    prevails in an appeal of the violation of the relevant international 
    convention on which the detention is based.

    (3) As used in this subsection, the term ``Government-impelled 
cargo'' means cargo for which a Federal agency contracts directly for 
shipping by water or for which (or the freight of which) a Federal 
agency provides financing, including financing by grant, loan, or loan 
guarantee, resulting in shipment of the cargo by water.

(Pub. L. 98-89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 508; Pub. L. 98-557, Sec. 7(a), 
Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 2862; Pub. L. 101-380, title IV, 
Secs. 4105(b)(2), 4302(a), Aug. 18, 1990, 104 Stat. 513, 537; Pub. L. 
102-587, title V, Sec. 5102, Nov. 4, 1992, 106 Stat. 5071; Pub. L. 105-
383, title III, Secs. 302(a), 304(c), title IV, Sec. 408(a), Nov. 13, 
1998, 112 Stat. 3417, 3419, 3430.)

                      Historical and Revision Notes
------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Revised section                Source section (U.S. Code)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2302(a)...........................  46:1461(d)
                                    46:1484(b)
2302(b)...........................  46:1461(d)
                                    46:1483
2302(c)...........................  46:1484(b)
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Section 2302 states that the negligent operation of a vessel is 
prohibited. These acts are subject to civil and criminal penalties and 
the involved vessel is subject to an in rem action. The negligent 
operation provisions have their genesis in the Act of April 25, 1940, 54 
Stat. 167, when Congress prescribed that no person shall operate any 
motorboat or any vessel in a reckless or negligent manner. This 
provision was directed at all vessels and not those solely engaged in 
recreational boating. When the Federal Boat Safety Act of 1971, P.L. 92-
75, 85 Stat. 217 (46 U.S.C. 1461) was enacted it adopted the reckless or 
negligent operation provisions of the 1940 Act. It adopted for the first 
time a provision for assessing civil penalties in addition to criminal 
penalties. It dropped the word ``reckless'' because of redundancy. It 
also combined the two classes of vessels; ``any motorboat or any 
vessel'' into one class by using the word ``vessel'' and defined vessel 
as including every description of watercraft.


                               Amendments

    1998--Pub. L. 105-383, Sec. 302(a)(1), substituted ``Penalties for 
negligent operations and interfering with safe operation'' for 
``Penalties for negligent operations'' in section catchline.
    Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 105-383, Sec. 302(a)(2), substituted ``or 
interfering with the safe operation of a vessel, so as to endanger'' for 
``that endangers''.
    Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 105-383, Sec. 304(c), substituted ``$5,000; 
or'' for ``$1,000 for a first violation and not more than $5,000 for a 
subsequent violation; or''.
    Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 105-383, Sec. 408(a), added subsec. (e).
    1992--Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 102-587 substituted ``$1,000 for a 
first violation and not more than $5,000 for a subsequent violation'' 
for ``$1,000''.
    1990--Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 101-380, Sec. 4302(a)(1), substituted 
``commits a class A misdemeanor'' for ``shall be fined not more than 
$5,000, imprisoned for not more than one year, or both''.
    Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 101-380, Secs. 4105(b)(2), 4302(a)(2)(A), 
substituted ``under the influence of alcohol, or a dangerous drug in 
violation of a law of the United States'' for ``intoxicated'' and struck 
out ``, shall be'' after ``by the Secretary by regulation''.
    Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 101-380, Sec. 4302(a)(2)(B), substituted 
``is liable'' for ``liable''.
    Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 101-380, Sec. 4302(a)(2)(C), amended par. 
(2) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (2) read as follows: ``fined not 
more than $5,000, imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.''
    1984--Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 98-557 added subsec. (c) and 
redesignated former subsec. (c) as (d).


                    Effective Date of 1998 Amendment

    Pub. L. 105-383, title IV, Sec. 408(b), Nov. 13, 1998, 112 Stat. 
3431, provided that: ``The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending 
this section] takes effect January 1, 1999.''


                    Effective Date of 1990 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 101-380 applicable to incidents occurring after 
Aug. 18, 1990, see section 1020 of Pub. L. 101-380, set out as an 
Effective Date note under section 2701 of Title 33, Navigation and 
Navigable Waters.
