For other versions of the Rivers and Harbors Act, see Rivers and Harbors Act.
The Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899 is the oldest federal environmental law in the United States.[1] The Act makes it a misdemeanor to discharge refuse matter of any kind into the navigable waters, or tributaries thereof, of the United States without a permit; this specific provision is known as the Refuse Act. The Act also makes it a misdemeanor to excavate, fill, or alter the course, condition, or capacity of any port, harbor, channel, or other areas within the reach of the Act without a permit. The Act also made it illegal to dam navigable streams without a license (or permit) from Congress. This provision was included for the purposes of hydroelectric generation, at a time when the electric utility industry was expanding rapidly.[2]
Although many activities covered by the Act are regulated under the Clean Water Act, the 1899 Act retains independent vitality. The Act is administered by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. However, authority to administer Section 9 of the Act, applying to bridges and causeways in, over or on navigable waters of the U.S. (superseded by the General Bridge Act of 1946, as amended), was removed from the Corps of Engineers and redelegated to the U.S. Coast Guard under the provisions of the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The Corps owns and operates many bridges and may not regulate themselves due to conflict of interest.[3]
The Jacksonville District of the Army Corps of Engineers has jurisdiction over the waters of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.[4]
^United States. Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899. March 3, 1899, Ch. 425, Sec. 9, 30 Stat. 1151. 33 U.S.C. § 401 et seq.
^McFarland, Charles K. (November 1966). "The Federal Government and Water Power, 1901-1913: A Legislative Study in the Nascence of Regulation". Land Economics. 42 (4): 441–452. doi:10.2307/3145402. JSTOR 3145402.
^United States. Department of Transportation Act. Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 89–670 Approved October 15, 1966.
^"Jacksonville District Navigable Waters Lists" (PDF). Jacksonville District. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-01-26.
and 24 Related for: Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 information
The RiversandHarbors Appropriation Actof1899 is the oldest federal environmental law in the United States. The Act makes it a misdemeanor to discharge...
RiversandHarborsAct may refer to one of many pieces of legislation and appropriations passed by the United States Congress since the first such legislation...
1151. 33 U.S.C. § 401. March 3, 1899 Franz, Andrew (Summer 2010). "Crimes Against Water: The RiversandHarborsActof1899". Tulane Environmental Law Journal...
Act is a United States federal statute governing use of waterways. The Act, a section of the RiversandHarborsActof1899, prohibited "dumping of refuse"...
pollution during this era was the RiversandHarborsActof1899. In the 1899 law, Congress prohibited the dumping of "refuse"—debris that interfered with...
– Appropriations for RiversandHarbors". The Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from March, 1897, to March, 1899... (PDF). Vol. 30. Washington...
environmental statute was the RiversandHarborsActof1899, which has been largely superseded by the Clean Water Act (CWA). However, most current major...
time of statehood. Section 10 of the RiversandHarborsActof1899 (33 U.S.C. 403), approved 3 March 1899, prohibits the unauthorized obstruction of a navigable...
Grande near Eagle Pass by OLS without permission violated the RiversandHarborsActof1899. In a statement announcing the lawsuit, Associate Attorney General...
Secretary of State John Hay's Open Door Note, dated September 6, 1899, and circulated to the major European powers. In order to prevent the "carving of China...
United States" by public bodies and repealed provisions of the RiversandHarborsActof1899. This allowed the State of Nebraska to pass legislation creating...
fundraise and speak to supporters and the media from his home in Delaware during the COVID-19 pandemic given the imposition of stay-at-home orders and his belief...
formation of a 26 ft (7.9 m) channel 600 ft (180 m) wide from Philadelphia to deep water in Delaware Bay. The RiversandHarborsActof1899 provided for...
this, and in September 1899 the United States announced it had secured agreement from the interested powers for maintenance of an Open Door policy in...
1824 act to improve the Mississippi and Ohio rivers is often called the first riversandharbors legislation, the act passed in 1826 was the first to combine...