The 1899 Refuse Act
(Page 2 of 4)
1. WHAT IS PROHIBITED AND WHERE—The 1899 Refuse Act is a powerful, but little used, weapon in the Federal arsenal of water pollution control enforcement legislation. Section 13 of the Act (Title 33, United States Code, section 407) prohibits ANYONE, including any individual, corporation, municipality, or group, from throwing, discharging, or depositing any refuse matter of any kind or any type from a vessel or from a shoe-eased building, structure, or facility into either (a) the nation's navigable rivers, lakes, streams, and other navigable bodies of water, or (b) any tributary to such waters, unless he has first obtained a permit to do so. Navigable water includes water sufficient to float a boat or log at high water. This section of the Act applies to inland waters, coastal waters, and waters that flow across the boundaries of the United States and Canada and Mexico.
RELATED CONTENT
The term "refuse" has been broadly defined by the Supreme Court to include solids, chemicals, oils and other liquid pollutants. The only materials excepted from this general prohibition are those flowing from streets, such as from storm sewers, and from municipal sewers, which pass into the waterway in liquid form.
In addition, the section prohibits anyone from placing on the bank of any navigable waterway, or of any tributary to such waterway, any material that could be washed into waterways by ordinary or high water, or by storms or floods, or otherwise and would result in the obstruction of navigation.
2. PERMITS TO DISCHARGE—Section 13 of the Act authorizes the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Corps of Engineers, to permit the deposit of material into navigable waters under conditions prescribed by him. Regulations governing the issuance of permits are published in Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 209.
3. PENALTY FOR VIOLATIONS—Violations of the Refuse Act are subject to criminal prosecution and penalties of a fine of not more than $2,500 nor less than $500 for each day or instance of violation, or imprisonment for not less than 30 days nor more than 1 year, or both a fine and imprisonment (Title 33, United States Code, Section 411). A citizen who informs the appropriate United States attorney about a violation and gives sufficient information to lead to conviction is entitled to one-half of the fine set by the court. (See section 5 of this outline.)
