§ 1443. — Destruction or loss of, or injury to, sanctuary resources.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 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.
