NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC PROGRAM LEGISLATION 83 



"Continental Shelf" includes only areas "outside the area of the 

 territorial sea" where the specified depth or exploitabililty criteria 

 exists. The term as defined in the bill does not exclude the area of 

 the territorial sea but, on the contrary, would include the territorial 

 sea at least where the depth or exploitabihty factors are present. 

 The territorial sea, including its seabed and subsoil, is a part of the 

 sovereign territory of the coastal State and rests on different principles 

 of law than those applicable to the Continental Shelf. In the case 

 of the shelf the sovereign rights of the coastal State are confined to 

 the subsoil and seabed, the superjacent waters remaining high seas 

 in which the customary freedom of the seas exists. Finally, not only 

 is the definition of "Continental Shelf" in the bill inconsistent with 

 the definition in the Convention on the Continental Shelf but also 

 with existing U.S. legislation; i.e., the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 

 Act (Pubhcl.aw 212, 83d Cong.; 67 Stat 462). 



However, the Department recognizes the necessity of including in 

 the functions of the proposed Commission responsibility to carry out 

 activities in the area of the submerged lands of the territorial sea 

 similar to those carried out in the area of the Continental Shelf. 

 The Department further recognizes that the functions envisaged for 

 the Commission cannot be carried out completel}^ if limited to the 

 Continental Shelf. The rights of the states under the Submerged 

 Lands Act (Pubhc Law 31, 83d Congress; 67 Stat. 29) must be taken 

 into account, of course. 



If, as the Department beheves, the provisions of the bill should be 

 extended to the territorial sea, it is suggested that this be done by 

 specific mention of the territorial sea and that the definition of the 

 term "Continental Shelf" conform to the definition in article 1 of the 

 Convention on the Continental Shelf. However, in this connection, 

 it is suggested that consideration be given to the question whether 

 the inclusion of the territorial sea in the coverage of the proposed 

 legislation would be consistent with the rights of the States under the 

 Submerged Lands Act (Public Law 31, 83d Congress; 67 Stat. 29), 

 and maybe other laws also. 



2. Section 201(f) and section 301 (c)_: Section 201(f) provides that 

 the Executive Secretary of the CouncU shall receive a rate of com- 

 pensation not to exceed that of level II of the Federal executive salary 

 schedule, while section 301(c) provides that the Executive Director 

 of the Commission shall receive compensation at the rate of level TV 

 of the Federal executive salary schedule. The Department calls this 

 difference to the attention of the Congress, which may wish to con- 

 sider whether an appropriate change should be made in either section 

 201(f) or section 301(c)' or both. 



3. Section 202(a): The Department believes that section 202(a) is 

 unnecessarily restrictive since it appears to confine international co- 

 operation in oceanography to that formalized b}' treaties ratified by 

 the President after advice and consent of the Senate. U.S. agencies 

 and institutions are now cooperating with other countries in many 

 valuable oceanographic studies and are contemplating additional pro- 

 grams in the futm-e. All these programs fall \^dthin the normal activ- 

 ities of the responsible agencies and are carefully re\4ewed for foreign 

 policy impHcations before approval. Ample authority akeady exists 

 for a large measm*e of cooperation in international ventures in oceanog- 

 raphy. Should this prove inadequate, fmlher authority would be 



