
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: 47USC352]

 
          TITLE 47--TELEGRAPHS, TELEPHONES, AND RADIOTELEGRAPHS
 
                 CHAPTER 5--WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATION
 
          SUBCHAPTER III--SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO RADIO
 
       Part II--Radio Equipment and Radio Operators On Board Ship
 
Sec. 352. Exemptions


(a) Vessels excepted

    The provisions of this part shall not apply to--
        (1) A ship of war;
        (2) A ship of the United States belonging to and operated by the 
    Government, except a ship of the Maritime Administration of the 
    Department of Transportation, the Inland and Coastwise Waterways 
    Service, or the Panama Canal Company;
        (3) A foreign ship belonging to a country which is a party to 
    any Safety Convention in force between the United States and that 
    country which ship carries a valid certificate exempting said ship 
    from the radio provisions of that Convention, or which ship conforms 
    to the radio requirements of such Convention or Regulations and has 
    on board a valid certificate to that effect, or which ship is not 
    subject to the radio provisions of any such Convention;
        (4) Yachts of less than six hundred gross tons not subject to 
    the radio provisions of the Safety Convention;
        (5) Vessels in tow;
        (6) A ship navigating solely on any bays, sounds, rivers, or 
    protected waters within the jurisdiction of the United States, or to 
    a ship leaving or attempting to leave any harbor or port of the 
    United States for a voyage solely on any bays, sounds, rivers, or 
    protected waters within the jurisdiction of the United States;
        (7) A ship navigating solely on the Great Lakes of North America 
    and the River Saint Lawrence as far east as a straight line drawn 
    from Cap des Rosiers to West Point, Anticosti Island, and on the 
    north side of Anticosti Island, the sixty-third meridian, or to a 
    ship leaving or attempting to leave any harbor or port of the United 
    States for a voyage solely on such waters and within such area;
        (8) A ship which is navigated during the course of a voyage both 
    on the Great Lakes of North America and in the open sea, during the 
    period while such ship is being navigated within the Great Lakes of 
    North America and their connecting and tributary waters as far east 
    as the lower exit of the Saint Lambert lock at Montreal in the 
    Province of Quebec, Canada.

(b) Radio station unreasonable or unnecessary

    Except for nuclear ships, the Commission may, if it considers that 
the route or the conditions of the voyage or other circumstances are 
such as to render a radio station unreasonable or unnecessary for the 
purposes of this part, exempt from the provisions of this part any ship 
or class of ships which falls within any of the following descriptions:
        (1) Passenger ships which in the course of their voyage do not 
    go more than twenty nautical miles from the nearest land or, 
    alternatively, do not go more than two hundred nautical miles 
    between two consecutive ports;
        (2) Cargo ships which in the course of their voyage do not go 
    more than one hundred and fifty nautical miles from the nearest 
    land;
        (3) Passenger vessels of less than one hundred gross tons not 
    subject to the radio provisions of the Safety Convention;
        (4) Sailing ships.

(c) Unforeseeable equipment failures

    If, because of unforeseeable failure of equipment, a ship is unable 
to comply with the equipment requirements of this part without undue 
delay of the ship, the mileage limitations set forth in paragraphs (1) 
and (2) of subsection (b) of this section shall not apply: Provided, 
That exemption of the ship is found to be reasonable or necessary in 
accordance with subsection (b) of this section to permit the ship to 
proceed to a port where the equipment deficiency may be remedied.

(d) Radio direction finding apparatus unreasonable or unnecessary

    Except for nuclear ships, and except for ships of five thousand 
gross tons and upward which are subject to the Safety Convention, the 
Commission may exempt from the requirements, for radio direction finding 
apparatus, of this part and of the Safety Convention, any ship which 
falls within the descriptions set forth in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and 
(4) of subsection (b) of this section, if it considers that the route or 
conditions of the voyage or other circumstances are such as to render 
such apparatus unreasonable or unnecessary.

(June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title III, Sec. 352, as added May 20, 1937, ch. 
229, Sec. 10(b), 50 Stat. 192; amended Sept. 26, 1950, ch. 1049, 
Sec. 2(a)(2), 64 Stat. 1038; Aug. 13, 1954, ch. 729, Sec. 1(b), (c), 68 
Stat. 705; Pub. L. 89-121, Sec. 3, Aug. 13, 1965, 79 Stat. 512; Pub. L. 
97-31, Sec. 12(151), Aug. 6, 1981, 95 Stat. 167.)

                       References in Text

    Panama Canal Company, referred to in subsec. (a)(2), deemed to refer 
to Panama Canal Commission, see section 3602(b)(5) of Title 22, Foreign 
Relations and Intercourse.


                               Amendments

    1981--Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 97-31 substituted ``Maritime 
Administration of the Department of Transportation'' for ``United States 
Maritime Commission''. For prior transfers of functions, see Transfer of 
Functions note set out below.
    1965--Pub. L. 89-121, Sec. 3(a), added pars. (6) to (8) and struck 
out former par. (6) which made the provisions of this part inapplicable 
to a vessel navigating solely on the Great Lakes, or on any bays, 
sounds, rivers, or protected waters within the jurisdiction of the 
United States, or to a vessel leaving or attempting to leave any harbor 
or port of the United States for a voyage solely on the Great Lakes, or 
on any bays, sounds, rivers, or protected waters within the jurisdiction 
of the United States.
    Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 89-121, Sec. 3(b), excepted nuclear ships and 
substituted ``or, alternatively, do not go more than two hundred 
nautical miles'' for ``or more than two hundred nautical miles''.
    Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 89-121, Sec. 3(c), added subsec. (d).
    1954--Subsec. (a)(3). Act Aug. 13, 1954, Sec. 1(b), substituted 
``any Safety Convention in force between the United States and that 
country'' for ``the Safety Convention and'' and inserted at end ``or 
which ship is not subject to the radio provisions of any such 
Convention''.
    Subsec. (c). Act Aug. 13, 1954, Sec. 1(c), added subsec. (c).
    1950--Subsec. (a)(2). Act Sept. 26, 1950, substituted ``Panama Canal 
Company'' for ``Panama Railroad Company''.


                             Effective Date

    Section effective May 20, 1937, unless deferred by the Commission, 
see section 16 of act May 20, 1937, set out as a note under section 351 
of this title.

                          Transfer of Functions

    For transfer of functions of United States Maritime Commission, see 
Reorg. Plan No. 21 of 1950 and Reorg. Plan No. 7 of 1961, set out in the 
Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 351 this title; title 46 
section 14305.
