33 USC § 2503 - Prohibition

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t33/s2503"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_prima_facie"
title: "33 USC § 2503 - Prohibition"
title_number: 33
title_name: "NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS"
section_number: "2503"
section_name: "Prohibition"
chapter_number: 38
chapter_name: "DUMPING OF MEDICAL WASTE BY PUBLIC VESSELS"
positive_law: false
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-04-17"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Pub. L. 100–688, title III, § 3104, Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4152.)"
---


# § 2503. Prohibition

After 6 months after November 18, 1988, no public vessel shall dispose of potentially infectious medical waste into ocean waters unless—

**(1)**

**(A)** the health or safety of individuals on board the vessel is threatened; or

**(B)** during time of war or a declared national emergency;

**(2)** the waste is disposed of beyond 50 nautical miles from the nearest land; and

**(3)**

**(A)** in the case of a public vessel which is not a submersible, the waste is sterilized, properly packaged, and sufficiently weighted to prevent the waste from coming ashore after disposal; and

**(B)** in the case of a public vessel which is a submersible, the waste is properly packaged and sufficiently weighted to prevent the waste from coming ashore after disposal.

---

**Source Credit**: (Pub. L. 100–688, title III, § 3104, Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4152.)