Federal liability for unreasonable damages

33 U.S.C. § 1479

• Title: 33 — Navigation and Navigable Waters
• Chapter: 28 — POLLUTION CASUALTIES ON THE HIGH SEAS: UNITED STATES INTERVENTION

Text

(a) Payment of compensation
The United States shall be obliged to pay compensation to the extent of the damage caused by measures which exceed those reasonably necessary to achieve the end mentioned in section 1472 of this title.
(b) Jurisdiction
Actions against the United States seeking compensation for any excessive measures may be brought in the United States Court of Federal Claims, in any district court of the United States, and in those courts enumerated in section 460 of title 28. For purposes of this chapter, American Samoa shall be included within the judicial district of the District Court of the United States for the District of Hawaii, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands shall be included within the judicial districts of both the District Court of the United States for the District of Hawaii and the District Court of Guam.
(c) Burden of proof
With respect to intervention for a substance identified pursuant to section 1473(a) of this title, the United States has the burden of establishing that, under the circumstances present at the time of the intervention, the substance could reasonably pose a grave and imminent danger analogous to that posed by a substance enumerated in the protocol.

History

(Pub. L. 93–248, §10, Feb. 5, 1974, 88 Stat. 10; Pub. L. 95–302, §1(4), June 26, 1978, 92 Stat. 345; Pub. L. 97–164, title I, §161(6), Apr. 2, 1982, 96 Stat. 49; Pub. L. 102–572, title IX, §902(b)(1), Oct. 29, 1992, 106 Stat. 4516.)

Editorial Notes

Editorial Notes

Amendments
1992—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102–572 substituted "United States Court of Federal Claims" for "United States Claims Court".
1982—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 97–164 substituted "Claims Court" for "Court of Claims".
1978—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 95–302 added subsec. (c).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 1992 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 102–572 effective Oct. 29, 1992, see section 911 of Pub. L. 102–572, set out as a note under section 171 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

Effective Date of 1982 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 97–164 effective Oct. 1, 1982, see section 402 of Pub. L. 97–164, set out as a note under section 171 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

Effective Date of 1978 Amendment
For effective date of amendment by Pub. L. 95–302, see section 2 of Pub. L. 95–302, set out as a note under section 1487 of this title.

Executive Documents

Termination of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
For termination of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, see note set out preceding section 1681 of Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions.