An Act to implement the Protocol of 1978 Relating to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, and for other purposes.
Passed the Senate on September 23, 1980 (Passed) with amendment
House agreed to Senate amendment on September 30, 1980 (Agreed) with further amendment
Senate agreed to House amendment on October 1, 1980 (Agreed)
Signed into law by President
Jimmy E. Carter on October 21, 1980
The Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS, 33 U.S.C. §§1905-1915) is a
United States law that implements the provisions of
MARPOL 73/78 and the annexes of MARPOL to which the United States is a party. The most recent U.S. action concerning MARPOL occurred in April 2006, when the
U.S. Senate approved Annex VI, which regulates
air pollution (Treaty Doc. 108–7, Exec. Rept. 109-13). Following that approval, in March 2007, the
House of Representatives approved legislation to implement the standards in Annex VI (H.R. 802), through regulations to be promulgated by
Environmental Protection Agency in consultation with the
U.S. Coast Guard.
APPS applies to all U.S.-flagged
ships anywhere in the world, and to all
foreign-flagged vessels operating in
navigable waters of the United States, or while at port under U.S. jurisdiction. The
Coast Guard has primary responsibility to prescribe and enforce regulations necessary to implement APPS in these waters. The regulatory mechanism established in APPS to implement MARPOL is separate and distinct from the
Clean Water Act and other federal
environmental laws.
The H.R. 6665
legislation was passed by the 96th U.S. Congressional session and signed by U.S. President
Jimmy Carter on October 21, 1980.[1]