VES-3-06/07/12-CO:R:IT:C 112436 GEV
Ferguson Finlay
Vice President
The Frenzinger-Finlay Group
5520 Starboard Court
Fairfax, Virginia 22032
RE: Coastwise Trade; Waste Disposal; 46 U.S.C. App. 883
Dear Mr. Finlay:
This is in response to your letter dated August 28, 1992,
requesting a ruling regarding the applicability of 46 U.S.C. App.
883 to your proposed waste disposal operation. Our ruling on
this matter is set forth below.
FACTS:
A Canadian shipbuilder has been given the opportunity to
participate in an international (United States, Canada and
Mexico) program to build ships for the conveyance of waste to an
ocean disposal site beyond the United States 200 mile Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ). The concept of disposal is called "Deep
Ocean Isolation" (DOI) which would be carried out in the abyssal
plains of the world's oceans without contamination to the water
column. Because much of the waste emanates in the United States,
it is conceivable that a Canadian-built vessel engaged in this
international endeavor could be employed in transporting waste
from a United States port to the DOI site.
ISSUE:
Whether the transportation of waste by a Canadian-built
vessel from a United States port to a point beyond the 200 mile
United States EEZ for disposal constitutes a violation of 46
U.S.C. App. 883.
n - 2 -
LAW AND ANALYSIS:
Title 46, United States Code Appendix, section 883 (46
U.S.C. App. 883), the coastwise merchandise statute often called
the "Jones Act", provides, in part, that no merchandise shall be
transported between points in the United States embraced within
the coastwise laws, either directly or via a foreign port, or for
any part of the transportation, in any vessel other than a vessel
built in and documented under the laws of the United States and
owned by persons who are citizens of the United States (i.e., a
coastwise-qualified vessel). This statute has been found to
apply even to the transportation of merchandise from point to
point within a harbor.
The coastwise laws generally apply to points in the
territorial sea, defined as the belt, three nautical miles wide,
seaward of the territorial sea baseline, and to points located in
internal waters, landward of the territorial sea baseline, in
cases where the baseline and the coastline differ. (It should be
noted that although Presidential Proclamation 5928 of December
27, 1988, extended the U.S. territorial sea to 12 miles, this
extension is only for international purposes. Thus, Customs
enforcement activities are not altered as a result of the
proclamation.)
The term "merchandise" is defined in 46 U.S.C. App. 883 as
including valueless material. Consequently, waste is merchandise
for purposes of the statute. In addition, the statute further
provides that the prohibitions set forth therein are applicable
to the transportation of valueless material "...from a point or
place in the United States or a point or place on the high seas
within the Exclusive Economic Zone as defined in the Presidential
Proclamation of March 10, 1983, to another point or place in the
United States or a point or place on the high seas within that
Exclusive Economic Zone."
The EEZ is defined in Presidential Proclamation 5030 of
March 10, 1983 (48 FR 10605), as extending outward for 200
nautical miles from the baseline from which the territorial sea
is measured.
Accordingly, the transportation of waste by a Canadian-
built vessel from a United States port to a point beyond the 200
mile United States EEZ for disposal does not constitute a
violation of 46 U.S.C. App. 883.
n - 3 -
HOLDING:
The transportation of waste by a Canadian-built vessel from
a United States port to a point beyond the 200 mile United States
EEZ for disposal does not constitute a violation of 46 U.S.C.
App. 883.
Sincerely,
B. James Fritz
Chief
Carrier Rulings Branch