Abandoned Shipwrecks Act

Abandoned Shipwreck Act

Long title	An Act to establish the title of States in certain abandoned shipwrecks, and for other purposes.
Acronyms (colloquial)	ASA
Nicknames	Abandoned Shipwreck Act of 1987
Enacted by	the 100th United States Congress
Effective	April 28, 1988
Citations
Public law	100-298
Statutes at Large	102 Stat. 432
Codification
Titles amended	43 U.S.C.: Public Lands
U.S.C. sections created	43 U.S.C. ch. 39 § 2101
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate as S. 858 by Bill Bradley (D-NJ) on March 26, 1987 Committee consideration by Senate Energy and Natural Resources, House Interior and Insular Affairs, House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Passed the Senate on December 19, 1987 (passed voice vote) Passed the House on March 29, 1988 (263-139) with amendment House agreed to House amendment on April 13, 1988 (340-64, in lieu of H.Res. 421) Signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on April 28, 1988

The Abandoned Shipwrecks Act is a piece of United States legislation passed into law in 1988 meant to protect historic shipwrecks in US waters from treasure hunters and unauthorised salvagers by transferring the title to the wreck to the US state whose waters it lies in.