33 U.S.C. § 5 : US Code - Section 5: Abolition of tolls on Government canals, canalized rivers, etc.; expense of operation, repairs to and reconstruction of canals, etc.; Panama Canal excepted; levies by non-Federal interest

Search 33 U.S.C. § 5 : US Code - Section 5: Abolition of tolls on Government canals, canalized rivers, etc.; expense of operation, repairs to and reconstruction of canals, etc.; Panama Canal excepted; levies by non-Federal interest

(a) No tolls or operating charges whatever shall be levied upon
or collected from any vessel, dredge, or other water craft for
passing through any lock, canal, canalized river, or other work for
the use and benefit of navigation, now belonging to the United
States or that may be hereafter acquired or constructed; and for
the purpose of preserving and continuing the use and navigation of
said canals and other public works without interruption, the
Secretary of the Army, upon the recommendation of the Chief of
Engineers, United States Army, is authorized to draw his warrant or
requisition, from time to time, upon the Secretary of the Treasury
to pay the actual expenses of operating, maintaining, and keeping
said works in repair, which warrants or requisitions shall be paid
by the Secretary of the Treasury out of any money in the Treasury
not otherwise appropriated: Provided, That whenever, in the
judgment of the Secretary of the Army, the condition of any of the
aforesaid works is such that its entire reconstruction is
absolutely essential to its efficient and economical maintenance
and operation as herein provided for, the reconstruction thereof
may include such modifications in plan and location as may be
necessary to provide adequate facilities for existing navigation:
Provided further, That the modifications are necessary to make the
reconstructed work conform to similar works previously authorized
by Congress and forming a part of the same improvement, and that
such modifications shall be considered and approved by the Board of
Engineers for Rivers and Harbors and be recommended by the Chief of
Engineers before the work of reconstruction is commenced: And
provided further, That nothing contained in this section shall be
held to apply to the Panama Canal.
(b) No taxes, tolls, operating charges, fees, or any other
impositions whatever shall be levied upon or collected from any
vessel or other water craft, or from its passengers or crew, by any
non-Federal interest, if the vessel or water craft is operating on
any navigable waters subject to the authority of the United States,
or under the right to freedom of navigation on those waters, except
for -
(1) fees charged under section 2236 of this title;
(2) reasonable fees charged on a fair and equitable basis that -

(A) are used solely to pay the cost of a service to the
vessel or water craft;
(B) enhance the safety and efficiency of interstate and
foreign commerce; and
(C) do not impose more than a small burden on interstate or
foreign commerce; or
(3) property taxes on vessels or watercraft, other than vessels
or watercraft that are primarily engaged in foreign commerce if
those taxes are permissible under the United States Constitution.