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Publication #FE769

The Florida Agricultural Handbook of Solid and Hazardous Waste Regulation: Ocean Dumping Act (ODA)1

Michael T. Olexa and Ian Goldfarb2

What is the Ocean Dumping Act (ODA)?

The Ocean Dumping Act (ODA) regulates

  • the dumping of materials into U.S. territorial ocean waters;

  • the transportation of materials for the purpose of dumping.

The purpose of the statute is to strictly limit ocean disposal of any material that would negatively affect

  • human health;

  • the marine environment;

  • ecological systems;

  • potential economic endeavors.

Who enforces ODA?

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in concert with the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Coast Guard, is entrusted with the responsibility for setting specific guidelines for dumping and enforcing those guidelines.

What does ODA regulate?

Anyone may dump certain types of wastes into the ocean with a permit from EPA. However, if the material is "dredged material", which is material excavated from U.S. navigable waters, you must obtain a permit from the Secretary of the Army (via USACE) to place the material in the ocean (http://www.epa.gov/region04/water/oceans/Dredged_Material_Permit_Process.html).

What activities does ODA prohibit?

As of December 31, 1991, ODA totally prohibits the dumping of sewage sludge or industrial waste into ocean waters for these types of wastes:

  • sewage sludge – solid, semisolid, or liquid waste from a municipal wastewater treatment plant

  • industrial wastes – solid, semisolid, or liquid wastes generated by a manufacturing or processing plant

The ODA also prohibits the dumping of radiological, chemical, and biological warfare agents, and high-level radioactive waste into the ocean.

What are the exceptions to ODA?

There are a few exceptions to the requirement that you must have a permit to dump waste in the ocean. Fish waste may be dumped into the ocean without a permit if the waste is not dumped

  • into harbors;

  • into enclosed coastal waters;

  • where EPA has determined that dumping would endanger human health or harm the environment.

Also, a permit is not required for activities regulated under the Clean Water Act (FE770).

What are the penalties under ODA?

Penalties for violations, including dumping without a permit, and dumping materials inconsistent with the specific limitations on your permit, are punishable by up to a $65,000 fine for each first violation, and $157,500 for each subsequent violation.

Penalties for someone who knowingly violates ODA include

  • imprisonment for up to five years;

  • forfeiting any property derived directly or indirectly from the violation;

  • forfeiting property intended to be used in the commission of the violation.

Additionally, a related law, the Shore Protection Act, has made it a crime to transport any commercial waste within coastal waters by a vessel without a permit and number or other marking.

Footnotes

1.

This is EDIS document FE769, a publication of the Food and Resource Economics Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Published November 2008. Please visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

Disclaimer: This handbook is distributed with the understanding that the authors are not engaged in rendering legal or other professional advice and that the information contained herein should not be regarded or relied upon as a substitute for professional advice. This handbook is not all-inclusive in providing information to achieve compliance with laws and regulations governing the practice of agriculture. For these reasons, using these materials constitutes an agreement to hold harmless the authors, the Center for Agricultural and Natural Resource Law, the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, and the University of Florida for any liability claims, damages, or expenses that may be incurred by any person or party as a result of reference to or reliance upon the information contained in this handbook.

2.

Michael T. Olexa, professor, Food and Resource Economics Department; director, Center for Agricultural and Natural Resource Law, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL; and member, Florida Bar and Agricultural Law Committee of the Florida Bar; and Ian Goldfarb, graduate student, Levin College of Law and Hough Graduate School of Business, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.