Harb. & Nav. Code, § 780 · Chapter 6. Vessel Sanitation

Harb. & Nav. Code, § 780

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

(a) A person shall not disconnect, bypass, or operate a marine sanitation device so as to discharge sewage into the waters of this state, unless the particular discharge is expressly authorized or permitted pursuant to state or federal law or regulations. A violation of this subdivision is a misdemeanor.

(b) The following prohibitions apply in no-discharge areas:

(1) A person shall not disconnect, bypass, or operate a marine sanitation device so as to potentially discharge sewage.

(2) A person shall not occupy or operate a vessel in which a marine sanitation device is installed unless the marine sanitation device is properly secured.

The first violation of this subdivision is an infraction punishable by a fine of up to five hundred dollars ($500). A second or subsequent violation of this subdivision by any one person is a misdemeanor.

(c) A person found guilty of a misdemeanor violation of subdivision (a) or (b) shall be subject to a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed six months, or both that fine and imprisonment.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Amended by Stats. 2009, Ch. 610, Sec. 37. (SB 717) Effective January 1, 2010.

Source of truth

Edition: As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
Official file: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=HNC&sectionNum=780.
Text hash: sha256 93c090bb8ecb70673fd254e8965aed0b0c9c0eea924fe16d5652bacd40a0aced
Composed by: compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.