Appendix 



May 22, 1953 

 [H. R. 419S] 



Submerged 

 Lands Act. 



Public Law 31 



AN ACT To confirm and establish the titles of the States to lands beneath 

 navigable waters within State boundaries and to the natural resources 

 within such lands and waters, to provide for the use and control of said 

 lands and resources, and to confirm the jurisdiction and control of the 

 United States over the natural resources of the seabed of the Continen- 

 tal Shelf seaward of State boundaries 



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 

 United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may 

 be cited as the "Submerged Lands Act". 



TITLE I 



"Lands beneath 



navigable 



waters." 



'Boundaries." 



'Coast line.' 



'Grantees' and 

 'lessees." 



DEFINITION 



Sec. 2. When used in this Act — 



(a) Tlie term "lands beneath navigable waters" means — 



(1) all lands within the boundaries of each of the respective 

 States which are covered by nontidal waters that were navi- 

 gable under the laws of the United States at the time such 

 State became a member of the Union, or acquired sovereignty 

 over such lands and waters thereafter, up to the ordinary high 

 water mark as heretofore or hereafter modified by accretion, 

 erosion, and reliction ; 



(2) all lands permanently or periodically covered by tidal 

 waters up to but not above the line of mean high tide and 

 seaward to a line three geographical miles distant from the 

 coast line of each such State and to the boundary line of each 

 such State where in any case such boundary as it existed at 

 the time such State became a member of the Union, or as here- 

 tofore approved by Congress, extends seaward (or into the 

 Gulf of Mexico ) beyond three geographical miles, and 



(3) all filled in, made, or reclaimed lands which formerly 

 were lands beneath navigable waters, as hereinabove defined ; 



(b) The term "boundaries" includes the seaward boundaries 

 of a State or its boundaries in the Gulf of Mexico or any of the 

 Great Lakes as they existed at the time such State became a 

 member of the Union, or as heretofore approved by the Congress, 

 or as extended or confirmed pursuant to section 4 hereof but in no 

 event shall the term "boundaries" or the term "lands beneath 

 navigable waters" be interpreted as extending from the coast 

 line more than three geographical miles into the Atlantic Ocean 

 or the Pacific Ocean, or more than three marine leagues into the 

 Gulf of Mexico ; 



(c) The term "coast line" means the line of ordinary low water 

 along that portion of the coast which is in direct contact with 

 the open sea and the line marking the seaward limit of inland 

 waters ; 



(d) The terms "grantees" and "lessees" include (without limit- 

 ing the generality thereof) all political subdivisions, municipal- 

 ities, public and private corporations, and other persons holding 

 grants or leases from a State, or from its predecessor sovereign if 

 legally validated, to lands beneath navigable waters if such grants 

 or leases were issued in accordance with the constitution, statutes, 

 and decisions of the courts of the State in which such lands are 



(94) 



