Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 - Enforcement

Enforcement

The violation of a permit or permit requirement carries a civil penalty of not more than $50,000 per violation that is assessed by the EPA. The organization is also authorized to assess criminal penalties that carry fines up to $250,000, 5 years in prison, or both for violations of the act. Additionally, fines are assessed for ocean dumping of medical wastes that carry the same penalties previously listed. Like many other federal environmental laws, the Ocean Dumping Act allows individuals to bring a citizen suit in U.S. district court against any person, including the United States, for violation of a permit or other prohibition, limitation, or criterion issued under title I of the Act.

Under certain circumstances, each of the states is permitted to regulate ocean dumping in waters within their own jurisdiction. The Ocean Dumping Act requires that the EPA Administrator applies the standards and criteria binding upon the United States that are stated in the 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matters. During this convention, more than 85 countries agreed in the prohibition of dumping in the ocean the next elements: mercury, cadmium and other substances such as DDT and PCBs, solid wastes and persistent plastics, oil, high-level radioactive wastes, and chemical and biological warfare agents; and requires special permits for other heavy metals, cyanides and fluorides, and medium- and low-level radioactive wastes.