V-101 

 BASIC STATE-LEVEL LEGAL PRINCIPLES 



The above questions indicate the variety of legal and policy problems. 

 However, some basic legal principles and trends can be outlined, 

 even though their application has varied historically from State 

 to State. A fundamental doctrine dating from its English common 

 law origin is that of the public trust and right -- that these 

 coastal and submerged lands are held by the State in trust to be 

 used by all the people for certain purposes, such as navigation, 

 commerce, hunting and fishing, and (more recently) for parLs and 

 recreation. Public ownership usually includes four types of lands: 



(1) submerged lands (beds of navigable waters owned by 

 the State up to the 3-mile territorial limit) and 



(2) tidelands (generally defined as the coastal area 

 between mean high and low tides). 



The extent of the public's right to use and have access is less 

 clear in the case of 



(3) marshlands or swamplands (subject to extremely high 

 tides) and 



(4) abutting lands which are affected by water uses. 



Subject to the paramount Federal interest in protecting navigation, 

 the States generally control the uses of water within their territorial 

 limits. Under their police power they may regulate pollution, 

 sewage disposal, control harbor lines, grant fishing and hunting 

 licenses, and issue boating permits. The land-use prerogatives of 



