449 



as provided in this Act." But it made it clear that the Act shall not 

 affect "the character as high seas of the waters above the outer Con- 

 tinental Shelf and the right to navigation and fishing therein." 



This represented a radical and significant departure from the juris- 

 dictions asserted under the Truman Proclamation and the Submerged 

 Lands Act. in which reference was made only to the "natural re- 

 sources" of the seabed and subsoil. In the final version of the Outer 

 Continental Shelf Lands Act this phrase was omitted. But despite 

 this omission, the character of the rights claimed remained limited 

 to "jurisdiction, control, and po\\ er of disposition". 



The Act did not define the extent of the outer continental shelf, 

 seaward of the territorial limits. However, in the publication "De- 

 scription of Outer Continental Shelf," which was part of the legisla- 

 tive history of the statute, the Senate Committee on Interior and In- 

 sular Affairs defined the shelf as — 



* * * the extension of the land mass of the continents out under the waters 

 of the ocean to the point where the continental slope leading to the true ocean 

 bottom begins. This point is generally regarded as a depth of approximately 100 

 fathoms, or 600 feet, more or less. In countries using the metric system, the 

 outer limit of the shelf is generally regarded as a depth of 200 meters, which 

 is approximately the same as the 100-fathom mark adopted by England and 

 America. 



In describing the area comprised within these limits, the Committee 

 concluded that "the outer shelf can be estimated to contain 261,000 

 square miles." 1() Computations bv the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey 

 of inland water areas of the United States, the territorial waters, 

 and the continental shelf are shown below in Tables III and IV. 



These descriptions, being only part of the Senate Report accom- 

 panying the bill, cannot be considered as having the full stature of 

 the law. They only indicate that the Congress was aware of the geo- 

 logical concept of the continental shelf. Despite this awareness, how- 



TABLE III. — INLAND WATER AREAS OF THE UNITED STATES, BY REGIONS' 



[In square miles] 



Locality 



Area 



Costal States: 



New England.. 



Middle Atlantic 



Chesapeake 



South Atlantic and Gulf. 

 Pacific. 



Total, coastal 



Inland States: 2 



East North Central 



West North Central 



3,149 



6,719 



1,688 



18, 296 



19,680 



49, 532 



57,653 

 9,789 



Locality 



Area 



Inland States 2— Continued 



EastSouth Central 1,116 



WestSouth Central 1,637 



Mountain 6, 936 



Total, inland 77,127' 



Total, United States 126, 659 



Great Lakes 60,306 



Other 66,353 



1 Source: National Council on Marine Resources and Engineering Development. "Marine Science Affairs— A Year of 

 Transition " The first report of the President to the Congress on marine resources and engineering development. (Wash- 

 ington, U.S. Government Printing Office, February 1967), p. 141. 



- In general, includes lakes, reservoirs, and ponds having 40 acres or more of area and streams and estuaries, canals, 

 etc., V% of a statute-mile or more in width. Does not include water surface of the oceans, bays, Gulf of Mexico, Long Island 

 Sound, Puget Sound, and the Straits of Juan de Fuca and Georgia. 



9 U.S. Congress. Senate. "Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act." Report of the Committee 

 on Interior and Insular Affairs. Senate Report No. 411. June 15, 1953. 83d Congress, 1st 

 session. (Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1953), page 4. 



10 Ibid., page 5. 



