A bill to deduct from gross tonnage in determining net tonnage those spaces on board vessels used for waste materials.
Public Law 93-524 · S. 1353 · 93rd Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Gerald Ford (R) on Dec 18, 1974 · Transportation and Public Works
Sponsor: Sen. Warren Magnuson (D-WA)
Cosponsors (1): Sen. Norris Cotton
Passage votes
- HouseMethod not stated
- SenateMethod not stated
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Deducts from the gross tonnage of every vessel of the United States that space occupied by machinery used exclusively to seperate clarity, purity, or process, a ship's own slop oil mixture, tank-cleaning residue, bulge residue, or other waste materials, including sewage, garbage, galley wastes or trash and space occupied by tanks or collection area used for the collection or carriage of such waste materials, but not to exceed a maximum space deduction established by regulation. Provides that the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall issue regulations to define the slop oil mixtures, cleaning residue, and waste materials, establish the miximum deductions which may be made, and define the manner in which the spaces shall be used and marked.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee · House · referred to, reported by
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 11 actions.
- Dec 18, 1974Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public law 93-524.
- Dec 11, 1974PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- Dec 5, 1974Resolving differencesResolving differences · Senate agreed to House amendment.
- Dec 3, 1974FloorFloor · Measure passed House, amended.
- Sep 30, 1974CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
- Mar 14, 1974CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
- Mar 13, 1974FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate, amended.
- Mar 12, 1974CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
- Mar 22, 1973CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.