Appendix B 



The Exclusive Economic Zone and 



U.S. Insular Territories 



17.5. Territorial Law 



In addition to the waters off the 50 States, the Exclu- 

 sive Economic Zone (EEZ) includes the waters contig- 

 uous to the insular territories and possessions of the 

 United States.' This inclusion is significant in that the 

 islands include only 1.5 percent of the population and 

 0.13 percent of the land area of the United States^, but 

 30 percent of the area of the EEZ.^ This appendix dis- 

 cusses the legal relationship between the United States 

 and these islands, with attention to the power of the U.S. 

 to proclaim and manage the EEZ around them. 



The general principle of Federal authority has been 

 that, "In the Territories of the United States, Congress 

 has the entire dominion and sovereignty, national and 

 local. Federal and State, and has full legislative power 

 over all subjects upon which the legislature of a State 

 might legislate within the State . . ."* This claim of 

 complete power has been modified for some islands by 

 statutes and compacts granting varying degrees of au- 

 tonomy to the local population. The discussion below 

 classifies the islands into three categories distinguished 

 by the degree of Federal control and local self-govern- 

 ment. The first group (A) includes eight small islands, 

 originally uninhabited, which are under the direct man- 

 agement jurisdiction of Federal agencies. The second 

 group (B) includes American Samoa, Guam, and the 

 Virgin Islands. These islands are largely self-governing 

 but subject to supervision by the Department of the In- 

 terior. The third group (C) includes Puerto Rico and 

 the Northern Marianas whose commonwealth status 

 gives them the full measure of internal self-rule where 

 Federal supervisory power is greatly reduced. 



Group A 



Palmyra Atoll. — Claimed by both Hawaii and the 

 United States early in the 19th century, Palmyra was 

 annexed to the U.S. with Hawaii in 1898. The Hawaii 

 Statehood Bill excluded Palmyra (as well as Midway, 

 Johnston Island, and Kingman Reef) from the territory 



of the new State. ^ The island is privately owned and 

 uninhabited. By executive order it is under the Depart- 

 ment of the Interior's jurisdiction.^ 



Johnston Island. — Claimed by the United States and 

 Hawaii in 1858, Johnston Island was annexed to the 

 U.S. in 1898. In the late 1950s and early 1960s the is- 

 land was the launch site for atmospheric nuclear tests. 

 A caretaker force maintains the site and operations cen- 

 ter for the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA), which is 

 responsible for the island. About 500 U.S. Army per- 

 sonnel are on Johnston, preparing a disposal system for 

 obsolete chemical weapons stored there. Entry is con- 

 trolled by DNA.' 



Kingman Reef. — This island was annexed by the 

 United States in 1922. Most of it is awash during high 

 water. The island is under the U.S. Navy's jurisdiction,' 

 but no personnel or facilities are maintained on it. 



Midway Islands. — Annexed in 1867, Midway has 

 been managed by the U.S. Navy since 1903." The Mid- 

 way Naval Station was closed in 1981, leaving a naval 

 air facility as the only active military installation. 



Wake Island. — Wake has been claimed by the 

 United States since 1899. Initially assigned to the U.S. 

 Navy, Wake was transferred to the Department of the 

 Interior (DOI) in 1962'" and is now administered by 

 the Air Force under special agreement with DOI." 



Howland, Baker, and Jarvis Islands. — Originally 

 claimed under the Guano Act of 1856,'^ these islands 

 were formally annexed by the United States in 1934. 

 They were assigned to DOI 2 years later.'' Briefly col- 

 onized during the 1930s by settlers from Hawaii, the 

 islands have been uninhabited since World War II. 



Comment. — ^Johnston, Midway, and Wake Islands 

 and Kingman Reef have been declared Naval defense 

 areas and Naval airspace reservations.'* They are sub- 

 ject to special access restrictions, some of which are sus- 

 pended but which may be reinstated without notice. 



'Proclamation No. 5030, 3C.F.R. 22 (1984), reprinled in 16 U.S. C. A. 1453 

 (1985). / 



'U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1986, 

 6 (1985). 



'C. Ehier and D. Basta, "Strategic Assessment of Multiple Resource-Use 

 Conflicts in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone," OCEANS '84 Conference 

 Proceeding, 2 (NOAA Reprint, 1984). 



'Simms V. Simms, 175 U.S. 162, 168 (1899). 



'Public Law 86-3 §2. 73 Stat. 4 (1959). 

 'Executive Order No. 10967, 26 Fed. Reg. 9667 (1961). 

 '32 C.F.R. 761.4(c)(1985). 

 'Executive Order No. 6935, Dec. 29, 1934. 



'Executive Order No. 11048, 27 Fed. Reg. 8851 (1962), superseding Ex- 

 ecutive Order No. 199-4, Jan. 20, 1903. 



'"Executive Order No. 11048. 27 Fed. Reg. 8851 (1962). 



"37 Fed. Reg. 12255 (1972). 



"48 U.S.C. 1411 to 1419 (1982). 



"Executive Onder No. 7368, 1 Fed. Reg. 405 (1936). 



'•32 C.F.R. 761 (1985). 



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