Legal corpus: the complete U.S. Code (59,740 sections, all 53 titles)

Ingested titles 12–51 and 54 from OLRC USLM XML @119-100 (the whole Code
now, uniform edition; Title 53 is reserved/empty). LegalText 11,221 ->
59,740; repo total 105,704 records. Deterministic (byte-identical rerun,
verified on Title 42's 8,356 sections); make check green. make
legal-us-code default now covers every title.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

legal/us/code/title-46/chapter-37/section-3709.md

@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+---
+type: "LegalText"
+title: "46 U.S.C. § 3709"
+description: "Exemptions"
+jurisdiction: "us"
+corpus: "united_states_code"
+kind: "code_section"
+title_number: 46
+title_name: "SHIPPING"
+chapter_number: "37"
+chapter_name: "CARRIAGE OF LIQUID BULK DANGEROUS CARGOES"
+section: "3709"
+citation: "46 U.S.C. § 3709"
+status: "current"
+release_point: "119-100"
+release_date: "2026-06-26"
+source: "official"
+source_url: "https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc46@119-100.zip"
+source_identifier: "/us/usc/t46/s3709"
+source_file: "data/legal/raw/us/code/title-46/usc46.xml"
+source_hash: "e1ef3b1a5f7b8d3adb1edb41ba06fc905692f51191b6e62ce5fddacd2cb94ba7"
+raw_snapshot_hash: "eb1331aa3c08ed87231a3606d86b30d1b5942cdf8542f6a3df8ac1d66e86057f"
+text_hash: "084183519cb6316dd57eab4b914f449154b84cee223512821595bfdd5cb76fcc"
+retrieved_at: "2026-07-04"
+confidence: "official"
+tags: ["legal", "us-code"]
+---
+
+# 46 U.S.C. § 3709 - Exemptions
+
+## Text
+
+The Secretary may exempt a vessel from the minimum requirements established by sections 3704–3706 of this title for segregated ballast, crude oil washing, and dedicated clean ballast if the Secretary decides that shore-based reception facilities are a preferred method of handling ballast and that adequate facilities are readily available.
+
+(Pub. L. 98–89, Aug. 26, 1983, 97 Stat. 524.)
+
+## Notes
+
+Historical and Revision Notes Revised sectionSource section (U.S. Code) 370946:391a(7)(N) Section 3709 provides the Secretary with the authority to exempt certain minimum tanker requirements of sections 3704, 3705, and 3706 when shorebased reception facilities are a better way of handling ballast and when the facilities are adequate and readily available.