33 U.S.C. § 12 — Port Arthur Ship Canal

submitted 120 years ago by ch. 3436 to r/title-33-NAVIGATION-AND-NAVIGABLE-WATERS · 333 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

Once a company gives the U.S. free title to the Port Arthur Ship Canal in Texas, plus its turning basin and a lumber-dock slip, the canal becomes public U.S. water under federal navigation law. The company must also give the U.S. a 150-foot-wide strip along the canal, but keeps using that strip until Congress funds widening it. Dock and wharf charges must be fair, and no higher than at other Gulf ports.

This section explains how the Port Arthur Ship Canal became a public U.S. waterway. First, a company had to give the United States, free of cost, clear title to three things: the Port Arthur Ship Canal itself, the waterway between Taylors Bayou and Sabine Pass in Texas; the turning basin, as it existed on June 19, 1906; and the artificial slip where the Port Arthur Canal and Dock Company's lumber dock sits. Once that happened, the canal and its related waters became free public waters of the United States. That means the laws Congress passed for maintaining, protecting, and regulating navigable waters apply to them. There is a condition attached. The company giving up the canal also had to give the United States, free of cost, a strip of land 150 feet wide along the canal's west side. If the Southern Pacific Railroad's right-of-way blocked that, the company could instead give a strip on the east side, sized so the total still adds up to 150 feet. Even after handing over that strip, the company (or whoever later takes its place) kept the right to control, occupy, and use the strip just as before, and the right to transfer, lease, sell, or otherwise dispose of it. That right lasts until Congress authorizes and pays for enlarging and widening the canal, and it stays subject to the grant already made to the United States. Finally, whoever charges for using the docks and wharves must charge amounts that are fair and reasonable, and no higher than what is charged for similar services at other U.S. ports on the Gulf of Mexico.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

After there shall be conveyed to the United States, free of cost, a valid title to the line of water communication between Taylors Bayou and Sabine Pass, in the State of Texas, known as the Port Arthur Ship Canal, together with a valid title to the turning basin as existing June 19, 1906, and to the artificial slip on which the lumber dock of the Port Arthur Canal and Dock Company is built, the said waterways shall thereupon become free public waters of the United States, and be subject to the laws enacted by Congress for the maintenance, preservation, protection, and regulation of navigable waters: Provided, That the company or corporation conveying title to said canal as aforesaid shall also convey to the United States, free of cost, the fee to a strip of land one hundred and fifty feet wide along the westerly margin of the canal, except that where the right of way of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company prevents the transfer of such strip of land along the westerly margin of said canal there shall be conveyed such strip on the easterly margin thereof as may be necessary to make up such one hundred and fifty feet of width, with the reservation that until Congress shall have authorized and provided for the enlargement and widening of said canal the said company or corporation, its successors or assigns, shall have the right to control, occupy, and use the said strip of land and every part thereof in the same manner and to the same extent as before the execution and delivery of the conveyance, and also the right to transfer, lease, sell, quitclaim, or otherwise dispose of said property and every part thereof, subject to the grant made to the United States. The charges for the use of said docks and wharves shall be just and reasonable and shall not be greater than charges for similar services at other ports of the United States on the Gulf of Mexico.

Source credit: (June 19, 1906, ch. 3436, § 1, 34 Stat. 302.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1906Enacted · Act of June 19, 1906, ch. 3436 · 34 Stat. 302

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by ch. 3436 on 1906-06-19.

all 0 arguments · sorted by: best

no arguments yet — make the first case