A bill to provide that a certain portion of Lake Erie shall be declared non-navigable.
Public Law 96-520 · H.R. 8228 · 96th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Jimmy Carter (D) on Dec 12, 1980 · Public Lands and Natural Resources
Sponsor: Rep. Henry Nowak (D-NY-37)
Cosponsors: None
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.
Declares a specified portion of the Erie Basin in the Buffalo Harbor, New York, to be a nonnavigable water of the United States.
Prohibits any Federal project submitted for authorization for construction of new levees or modification of existing levees for flood control within the Rio Grande from Bernalillo, New Mexico, to Belen, New Mexico, from requiring the raising or modification of existing bridge structures within the project area to pass river flows in excess of that the bridges can now accommodate.
Declares a specified portion of the Trent River, in the State of North Carolina, to be nonnavigable waters of the United States.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
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.
- Dec 12, 1980Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- PresidentPresident · Public Law 96-520.
- Dec 4, 1980PresidentPresident · Measure presented to President.
- PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in Senate.
- Dec 3, 1980PresidentPresident · Measure enrolled in House.
- Nov 21, 1980Resolving differencesResolving differences · House agreed to Senate amendments.
- Sep 30, 1980FloorFloor · Measure passed Senate, amended.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up by unanimous consent in Senate.
- FloorFloor · Measure passed House.
- FloorFloor · Measure called up by unanimous consent in House.
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
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.