§ 647. — Mississippi River survey.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 33USC647]
TITLE 33--NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS
CHAPTER 13--MISSISSIPPI RIVER COMMISSION
Sec. 647. Mississippi River survey
Detail of assistants; vessels; instruments--It shall be the duty of
the Mississippi River Commission to direct and complete such surveys of
the Mississippi River, between the Head of the Passes near its mouth to
its headwaters as may have been in progress June 28, 1879, and to make
such additional surveys, examinations, and investigations,
topographical, hydrographical, and hydrometrical, of said river and its
tributaries, as may be deemed necessary by said commission to carry out
the objects of sections 641 to 644, 646, and 647 of this title. And to
enable said commission to complete such surveys, examinations, and
investigations, the Secretary of the Army shall, when requested by said
commission, detail from the Engineer Corps of the Army such officers and
men as may be necessary, and shall place in the charge and for the use
of said commission such vessel or vessels and such machinery and
instruments as may be under his control and may be deemed necessary. And
the Secretary of Commerce shall, when requested by said commission in
like manner detail from the National Ocean Survey such officers and men
as may be necessary, and shall place in the charge and for the use of
said commission such vessel or vessels and such machinery and
instruments as may be under his control and may be deemed necessary. And
the said commission may, with the approval of the Secretary of the Army,
employ such additional force and assistants, and provide, by purchase or
otherwise, such vessels or boats and such instruments and means as may
be deemed necessary.
Plans; report--It shall be the duty of said commission to take into
consideration and mature such plan or plans and estimates as will
correct, permanently locate, and deepen the channel and protect the
banks of the Mississippi River; improve and give safety and ease to the
navigation thereof; prevent destructive floods; promote and facilitate
commerce, trade, and the postal service; and when so prepared and
matured, to submit to the Secretary of the Army a full and detailed
report of their proceedings and actions, and of such plans, with
estimates of the cost thereof, for the purposes aforesaid, to be by him
transmitted to Congress: Provided, That the commission shall report in
full upon the practicability, feasibility, and probable cost of the
various plans known as the jetty system, the levee system, and the
outlet system, as well as upon such others as they deem necessary.
Plans for immediate works--The said commission may, prior to the
completion of all the surveys and examinations contemplated by sections
641 to 644, 646, and 647 of this title, prepare and submit to the
Secretary of the Army, plans, specifications, and estimates of costs for
such immediate works as, in the judgment of said commission, may
constitute a part of the general system of works herein contemplated, to
be by him transmitted to Congress.
(June 28, 1879, ch. 43, Secs. 3-5, 21 Stat. 37, 38; Feb. 14, 1903, ch.
552, Sec. 4, 32 Stat. 826; July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title II,
Sec. 205(a), 61 Stat. 501.)
Change of Name
Coast and Geodetic Survey consolidated with National Weather Bureau
in 1965 to form Environmental Science Services Administration by Reorg.
Plan No. 2 of 1965, eff. July 13, 1965, 30 F.R. 8819, 79 Stat. 1318.
Environmental Science Services Administration abolished in 1970 and its
personnel, property, records, etc., transferred to National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration by Reorg. Plan No. 4 of 1970, eff. Oct. 3,
1970, 35 F.R. 15627, 84 Stat. 2090. By order of Acting Associate
Administrator of National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, 35 F.R.
19249, Dec. 19, 1970, Coast and Geodetic Survey redesignated National
Ocean Survey. See notes set out under section 311 of Title 15, Commerce
and Trade.
Department of War designated Department of the Army and title of
Secretary of War changed to Secretary of the Army by section 205(a) of
act July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title II, 61 Stat. 501. Section 205(a) of
act July 26, 1947, was repealed by section 53 of act Aug. 10, 1956, ch.
1041, 70A Stat. 641. Section 1 of act Aug. 10, 1956, enacted ``Title 10,
Armed Forces'' which in sections 3010 to 3013 continued Department of
the Army under administrative supervision of Secretary of the Army.
Transfer of Functions
``Secretary of Commerce'' substituted for ``Secretary of the
Treasury'' in the first par. pursuant to sections 4 and 10 of act Feb.
14, 1903, which are classified to sections 1511, 1513, 1515, and 1516 of
Title 15, Commerce and Trade, and which transferred Coast and Geodetic
Survey, and powers and duties pertaining thereto, from Department of the
Treasury to Department of Commerce.
Functions of all officers of Department of Commerce and functions of
all officers and employees of such Department transferred, with a few
exceptions, to Secretary of Commerce, with power vested in him to
authorize their performance or performance of any of his functions by
any of such officers, agencies, and employees, by Reorg. Plan No. 5 of
1950, Secs. 1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1263, set
out in Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Tributaries
Act Mar. 3, 1881, ch. 136, 21 Stat. 474, provided in part as
follows: ``It shall be the duty of said commission to take into
consideration, and of the Secretary of War [now Secretary of the Army]
to extend operations, under their supervision, to tributaries of the
Mississippi River to the extent, and not further, that may be necessary
in the judgment of said commission to the perfection of the general and
permanent improvement of said Mississippi River.''
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in section 642 of this title.
