94 STAT. 1020
PUBLIC LAW 96-324—AUG. 8, 1980
Public Law 96-324 96th Congress An Act Aug. 8, 1980 [H.R. 1198] High seas and inland waters demarcation lines.
"United States."
Seagoing barge.
To clarify the authority to establish lines of demarcation dividing the high seas and inland waters.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 2 of the Act of February 19, 1895 (28 Stat. 672), as amended (33 U.S.C. 151), is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 2. (a) The Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall establish appropriate identifiable demarcation lines dividing the high seas from harbors, rivers, and other inland waters of the United States, for the purpose of determining the applicability of special navigational rules in lieu of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea. "(b) The Secretary shall also establish appropriate identifiable lines dividing inland waters of the United States from the high seas for the purpose of determining the applicability of each statute that refers to this section or this section, as amended. These lines may not be located more than twelve nautical miles seaward of the base line from which the territorial sea is measured. These lines may differ in position for the purposes of different statutes. "(c) For the purposes of this section, the term 'United States' includes the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and any other Commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States.". SEC. 2. Section 10 of the Act of May 28, 1908 (35 Stat. 428), as amended (46 U.S.C. 395), is further amended by adding a new subsection to read as follows: "(d) A seagoing barge means a barge which in the usual course of its employment proceeds outside the line dividing the inland waters from the high seas, as defined in section 2 of the Act of February 19, 1895 (28 Stat. 672), as amended (33 U.S.C. 151).". Approved August 8, 1980.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: HOUSE REPORT No. 96-427 (Comm. on Merchant Marine and Fisheries). SENATE REPORT No. 96-853 (Comm. on Commerce, Science, and Transportation). CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: Vol. 125 (1979): Sept. 17, considered and passed House. Vol. 126 (1980): July 24, considered and passed Senate. WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS: Vol. 16, No. 32 (1980): Aug. 8, Presidential statement.
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