United States v. Le Beouf Bros. Towing Co.

GEE, Circuit Judge.

These two cases, which were consolidated on appeal, require us to determine the scope of the statutory immunity entailed when a corporation’s agent reports an oil spill to the Coast Guard in the manner required by section 11(b)(4) of the Water Quality Improvement Act of 1970 (WQIA), 33 U.S.C. § 1161(b)(4) (1970), and section 311(b)(5) of its successor statute, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972 (FWPCA), 33 U.S.C. § 1321(b)(5) (Supp. 1974).1 The lower courts in both cases ruled that the statutes confer immunity from any statutorily-imposed penalties…