A bill to amend the Intervention on the High Seas Act to implement the Protocol Relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Marine Pollution by Substances Other Than Oil, 1973.
Public Law 95-302 · S. 2380 · 95th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Jimmy Carter (D) on Jun 26, 1978 · Environmental Protection
Sponsor: Sen. Warren Magnuson (D-WA)
Cosponsors (1): Sen. Spark Matsunaga
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.
Amends the Intervention on the High Seas Act to enable the United States to take necessary action on the high seas, in accordance with the provisions of the International Convention Relating to Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Oil Pollution Casualties, 1969, and protocol, to prevent, mitigate, or eliminate the pollution of the Sea by convention oil or of the sea or atmosphere by a substance other then convention oil, by a foreign flag or United States vessel.
Permits the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary of Commerce, to determine additional substances, other than those enumerated in the protocol, which are liable to create a hazard to human health, to harm living resources, to damage amenities, or to interfere with other legitimate uses of the sea.
Requires the United States, in adherence to the protocol, when taking intervention action for an unlisted substance, to establish that at the time of intervention the substance could reasonable pose a grave and imminent danger analogous to that posed by a substance listed in the protocol.
Authorizes the Secretary to propose, and the President to accept, amendments to the list of substances other than convention oil in accordance with article III of the protocol.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee · House · discharged from
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. 12 actions.
- Jun 26, 1978Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public law 95-302.
- Jun 15, 1978PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- Jun 14, 1978PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Jun 13, 1978Resolving differencesResolving differences · Senate agreed to House amendment.
- Jun 5, 1978FloorFloor · Measure passed House, amended, in lieu of H. R. 188.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
- May 11, 1978FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate, amended.
- May 8, 1978CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
- Dec 15, 1977CommitteeCommittee · 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.