[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 15, Volume 3]
[Revised as of January 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 15CFR922.111]

[Page 137-138]
 
                  TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND FOREIGN TRADE
 
CHAPTER IX--NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT 
                               OF COMMERCE
 
PART 922_NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY PROGRAM REGULATIONS--Table of Contents
 
            Subpart K_Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary
 
Sec. 922.111  Prohibited or otherwise regulated activities.

    (a) Except as necessary for national defense or to respond to an 
emergency threatening life, property or the environment, or except as 
permitted in accordance with Sec. Sec. 922.48 and 922.112 or certified 
in accordance with Sec. 922.47, the following activities are prohibited 
and thus are unlawful for any person to conduct or to cause to be 
conducted:
    (1)(i) Depositing or discharging, from any location within the 
boundary of the Sanctuary, material or other matter of any kind except:
    (A) Fish, fish parts, chumming materials (bait) produced and 
discarded during routine fishing activities conducted in the Sanctuary; 
and
    (B) Water (including cooling water) and other biodegradable 
effluents incidental to use of a vessel in the Sanctuary and generated 
by: Marine sanitation devices approved by the United States Coast Guard; 
routine vessel maintenance, e.g., deck wash down; engine exhaust; or 
meals on board vessels.
    (ii) Depositing or discharging, from any location beyond the 
boundaries of the Sanctuary, material or other matter of any kind, 
except for the exclusions listed in paragraph (a)(1)(i) of this section, 
which enter the Sanctuary and injure a Sanctuary resource.
    (2) Removing, taking, or injuring or attempting to remove, take, or 
injure benthic invertebrates or algae located on Cordell Bank or within 
the 50 fathom isobath surrounding the Bank. There is a rebuttable 
presumption that any such resource found in the possession of a person 
within the Sanctuary was taken or removed by that person. This 
prohibition does not apply to accidental removal, injury, or takings 
during normal fishing operations.
    (3) Exploring for, or developing or producing, oil, gas, or minerals 
in any area of the Sanctuary.

[[Page 138]]

    (b) All activities being carried out by the Department of Defense 
(DOD) within the Sanctuary on the effective date of designation that are 
necessary for national defense are exempt from the prohibitions 
contained in the regulations in this subpart. Additional DOD activities 
initiated after the effective date of designation that are necessary for 
national defense will be exempted by the Director after consultation 
between the Department of Commerce and DOD. DOD activities not necessary 
for national defense, such as routine exercises and vessel operations, 
are subject to all prohibitions contained in the regulations in this 
subpart.
    (c) Where necessary to prevent immediate, serious, and irreversible 
damage to a Sanctuary resource, any activity may be regulated within the 
limits of the Act on an emergency basis for no more than 120 days.