important that the United States have adequate 

 control over the evolving situation until a new 

 framework is negotiated. 



Accordingly, the panel recommends that the 

 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act should be 

 amended to require permission from the Secretary 

 of the Interior to engage in mineral resource 

 exploration or exploitation in any subsea area 

 beyond the 200-meter isobath upon such terms 

 and conditions as the Secretary deems appropriate. 

 The amendment should make clear that this 

 requirement is not intended to constitute a U.S. 

 claim to exercise sovereignty or sovereign rights 

 over any subsea area beyond the 200-meter iso- 

 bath or to reUnquish any claim the United States 

 may have under the Convention on the Continen- 

 tal Shelf. 



In deciding whether to grant permission, the 

 Secretary of the Interior should be guided by the 

 Secretary of State's judgment as to the foreign 

 policy implications of the particular situation in 

 question. 



VI. A RECOMMENDED INTERNATIONAL 

 LEGAL-POLITICAL FRAMEWORK 



A. Preliminary Remarks 



The panel recognizes that changes in the exist- 

 ing international legal-political framework must be 

 negotiated and agreed to by the nations of the 

 world and this fact makes it hazardous to venture 

 specific recommendations. Nevertheless, we ven- 

 ture such recommendations, not because we are 

 certain that every one of them will survive the 

 process of international negotiation, but only by 

 being concrete is it possible to examine critically 

 the full implications of the kind of framework the 

 present situation requires. 



Accordingly, we should also like to stress that 

 our major recommendations are interrelated. Re- 

 jection of any of these major recommendations 

 would necessitate a reexamination of all. 



B. Redefinition of the Continental Shelf 



The redefinition of the continental shelf, for 

 purposes of the Convention on the Continental 

 Shelf, is an essential first step to bring about a new 

 international legal-poUtical framework consistent 

 with United States objectives in the oceans. The 



principles proposed by the United States to the 

 United Nations Ad Hoc Committee recognize this 

 fact. The panel recommends that the United 

 States, after June 10, 1969, take the additional 

 step of requesting the revision of the Convention 

 for the purpose of redefining the continental shelf. 

 It is difficult, however, to decide how the 

 continental shelf should be redefined. If it is 

 redefined to extend its seaward boundary materi- 

 ally so as to give each coastal State exclusive access 

 to substantial mineral resources of various kinds, 

 relative to its foreseeable needs in the coming 

 decades, the coastal States may not be too 

 concerned about the nature of the legal-political 

 framework for the exploration and exploitation of 

 the mineral resources beyond the continental 

 shelves as thus redefined. The Interim Report 

 of the National Petroleum Council attests to this 

 possibility. On the other hand, it may also be true 

 that if the coastal States find completely accept- 

 able the legal-political framework for the explora- 

 tion and exploitation of the mineral resources 

 beyond the continental shelves, however rede- 

 fined, they viill not be too concerned about the 

 redefinition of the continental shelf. 



On balance, the panel concludes that the 

 question of the redefinition of the continental 

 shelf should not be considered apart from that of 

 the framework for the exploration and exploita- 

 tion of the mineral resources in the submarine 

 areas beyond the continental shelf, however rede- 

 fined. As a practical matter, the two questions will 

 be intertwined in international negotiations. Fur- 

 thermore, with advancing technology and increas- 

 ing human needs, it would be unwise to continue 

 to leave exploration and exploitation of any of the 

 seas' mineral resources in a state of legal uncer- 

 tainty. 



It has been suggested that the continental 

 shelf s outer limits be fixed at 550 meters, 600 

 meters, 1,000 meters, 2,000 meters and 2,500 

 meters, at 30, 50, 100, 1 10 and 200 nautical miles 

 from shore, or at various combinations of depth 

 and distance from shore. For reasons indicated, it 

 is the panel's conclusion that the totality of 

 American interests would best be served, for the 

 immediate future, by a relatively narrow legal 

 continental shelf. 



Accordingly, the panel recommends that the 

 seaward limit of each coastal State's "continental 



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