33 U.S.C. § 27 — Chicago River at Chicago, Illinois

submitted 103 years ago by ch. 33 to r/title-33-NAVIGATION-AND-NAVIGABLE-WATERS · 374 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

This section declares part of the Chicago River nonnavigable. It gives Illinois back control the United States once held over that river. It also exempts one river arm from certain harbor laws and sets rules for abandoning old channels.

This section is one undivided provision covering several rules about the Chicago River, explained here in the order the text presents them. First rule: The West Fork of the South Branch of the Chicago River, in Cook County, Illinois — starting from the west line of the sanitary district's collateral channel, in the northwest quarter of section 36, township 39 north, range 13 east — is declared nonnavigable under the Constitution and laws of the United States. Congress reserves the right to change or repeal this. Second rule: Two old federal harbor-improvement laws — one from September 19, 1890, and one from March 3, 1899 (both about building, repairing, and preserving public works on rivers and harbors, and codified in part at 33 U.S.C. 401) — along with any laws amending either of them, do not apply to the west arm of the South Fork of the South Branch of the Chicago River. That exempted stretch runs between the east line of Ashland Avenue and the north line of Thirty-ninth Street in Chicago, whether the river stays as it is or is extended later. Third rule: The United States gives up and abandons all rights, authority, or control it had, or assumed it had, over that part of the Chicago River. Any rights, authority, or control the State of Illinois used to have over that same part are fully restored to Illinois. Fourth rule: Once the city of Chicago, or another government agency or a corporation the Secretary of the Army has duly authorized, builds a new channel for the South Branch of the Chicago River (between West Polk Street and West Nineteenth Street) after June 7, 1924, then whatever part of the old channel that new channel replaces — under the Secretary of the Army's permit — is discontinued and abandoned.

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

All of that portion of the West Fork of the South Branch of the Chicago River in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, extending west from the west line of the collateral channel of the sanitary district of Chicago, in the northwest quarter of section 36, township 39 north, range 13 east, of the third principal meridian, is declared to be a nonnavigable stream within the meaning of the Constitution and laws of the United States. The right of Congress to alter, amend, or repeal this provision is expressly reserved.

The Act of September 19, 1890, making appropriations for the construction, repair, and preservation of certain public works on rivers and harbors, and for other purposes (Twenty-sixth Statutes, chapter 907, section 7, page 454), and the Act of March 3, 1899, making appropriations for the construction, repair, and preservation of certain public works on rivers and harbors, and for other purposes (Thirtieth Statutes, chapter 425, section 9, page 1151) [33 U.S.C. 401], and all Acts amendatory of either thereof shall not apply to that portion of the west arm of the South Fork of the South Branch of the Chicago River, lying between the east line of Ashland Avenue and the north line of Thirty-ninth Street, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, as the same now exists or may hereafter be extended. All rights, authority, or control over that part of the Chicago River possessed or assumed by the United States are relinquished and abandoned, and all rights, authority, or control over the same that were possessed by the State of Illinois are fully restored to said State.

As soon as the city of Chicago, or any other governmental agency or any corporation thereunto duly authorized by the Secretary of the Army, shall have constructed, after June 7, 1924, a new channel for the South Branch of the Chicago River between West Polk Street and West Nineteenth Street in said city of Chicago, then, and in that event, so much of the channel of the South Branch of the Chicago River as shall be superseded and replaced by said new channel in accordance with the permit of the Secretary of the Army shall be discontinued and abandoned.

Source credit: (Jan. 24, 1923, ch. 33, §§ 1, 2, 42 Stat. 1171; Feb. 27, 1923, ch. 142, 42 Stat. 1323; June 7, 1924, ch. 337, 43 Stat. 646; July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title II, § 205(a), 61 Stat. 501.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1923Enacted · Act of Jan. 24, 1923, ch. 33 · 42 Stat. 1171
1923Amended · Act of Feb. 27, 1923, ch. 142 · 42 Stat. 1323
1924Amended · Act of June 7, 1924, ch. 337 · 43 Stat. 646
1947Amended · Act of July 26, 1947, ch. 343 · 61 Stat. 501

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by ch. 33 on 1923-01-24.

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