App. B—The Exclusive Economic Zone and U.S. Insular Territories • 295 



give the island full control and sovereignty. Under the 

 present system, the island's local power does not include 

 rights in the EEZ. The Popular Democratic Party's pro- 

 posed modifications to the compact include local author- 

 ity over the use of natural resources and the sea.^^ 



The Northern Mariana Islands. — These islands 

 were colonized by Spain in the 1 6th century and trans- 

 ferred to Germany in 1899. Japan seized Germany's Pa- 

 cific possessions in 1914 and was given a mandate over 

 them by the League of Nations in 1920. The Marianas 

 were taken by the United States during World War II. 

 In 1947, the United States was granted a trusteeship 

 over the former Japanese mandated islands. ^^ As per- 

 mitted by the charter of the United Nations, the 

 Trusteeship Agreement recognized both the strategic in- 

 terests of the United States and the political, economic, 

 and social advancement of the inhabitants.^* Status ne- 

 gotiations with the Northern Marianas resulted in the 

 establishment of a commonwealth "in political union 

 with the United States. "^^ The other three island groups 

 of the Trust Territory became free associated states. ^^ 

 When the U.S. EEZ was proclaimed, the Marianas 

 were included in the zone "to the extent consistent with 

 the Covenant and the United Nations Trusteeship 

 Agreement."^' Article 6(2) of the Trusteeship Agree- 

 ment requires the United States to "promote the eco- 

 nomic advancement and self-sufficiency of the inhabi- 

 tants" by regulating the use of natural resources, 

 encouraging the development of fisheries, agriculture, 

 and industries, and protecting the inhabitants against 

 the loss of their lands and resources. The Covenant is 

 silent as to management of ocean resources but provides 

 for a constitution to be adopted by the people of the 

 Northern Mariana Islands and submitted to the United 

 States for approval on the basis of consistency with the 

 Covenant, the U.S. Constitution, and applicable laws 

 and treaties. ^^ The constitution was adopted locally on 



^^Puerto Rico's Political Future, supra n.48, 45. 



^^Trusteeship Agreement for the Former Japanese Mandated Islands, July 

 18, 1947, 61 Stat. 3301, T.I.A.S. No. 1665 [hereinafter "Trusteeship 

 Agreement"]. 



^*U.N. Charter, chapter XII; Trusteeship Agreement, arts. 1, 5, 6. 



"Convenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 

 in Pohtical Union with the United States, Feb. 15, 1975, 90 Stat. 263 [here- 

 inafter "Covenant"], 



^^As such, they are independent countries in which U.S. interest is mostly 

 limited to security matters. The Compacts provide that the states conduct for- 

 eign affairs in their own names, including "the conduct of foreign affairs relat- 

 ing to law of the sea and marine resource matters, including the harvesting, 

 conservation, exploration or exploitation of living and non-living resources from 

 the sea, seabed, or sub-soil to the full extent recognized under international 

 law. ' ' Compact of Free Association: Federated States of Micronesia and Repub- 

 lic of the Marshall Islands and Palau, Jan. 14, 1986, 99 Stat. 1770, art. II, 

 §121 [hereinafter "Compact"]. This provision puts the three states outside the 

 scope of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. Proclamation No. 5564, note 60, 

 below, effectuated the Compact with the Federated States of Micronesia and 

 with the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The Compact with The Republic 

 of Palau is undergoing the local ratification process. 



'^^Proclamation No. 5030, supra note 1. 



"Covenant, art. II. 



March 6, 1977, and proclaimed effective on January 9, 

 1978 by President Carter.^' Unlike the Covenant, the 

 constitution contains two provisions relevant to the EEZ. 

 Article XI (Public Lands) declares submerged lands off 

 the coast to which the Commonwealth may claim title 

 under U.S. law to be public lands to be managed and 

 disposed of as provided by law. Article XIV (Natural 

 Resources) provides, in Section 1, that "[t]he marine 

 resources in waters off the coast of the Commonwealth 

 over which the Commonwealth now or hereafter may 

 have jurisdiction under United States law shall be man- 

 aged, controlled, protected and preserved by the legis- 

 lature for the benefit of the people." 



U.S. interest in the Northern Marianas under the 

 Trusteeship Agreement was administrative, not sover- 

 eign. The change to U.S. sovereignty required United 

 Nations approval to be implemented. On May 28, 1986, 

 the United Nations Trusteeship Council concluded that 

 U.S. obligations had been satisfactorily discharged, that 

 the people of the Northern Marianas had freely exer- 

 cised their right to self-determination, and that it was 

 appropriate for the Trusteeship Agreement to be ter- 

 minated.''" On November 3, 1986, President Reagan 

 issued a proclamation ending the trusteeship, fully estab- 

 lishing the Commonwealth, and granting American 

 citizenship to its residents.^' As a U.S. territory, the 

 Northern Marianas are now subject to U.S. law in the 

 manner and to the extent provided by the Convenant. 



The Exclusive Economic Zone and 

 U.S. Territorial Law 



Under our system, the authority of Congress over the 

 territories is both clear and absolute. This authority 

 originates in the constitutional grant to Congress of the 

 "Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and 

 Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property 

 belonging to the United States." Any restriction on this 

 power would come from the terms under which a terri- 

 tory was initially acquired by the United States or from 

 a subsequent grant of authority from Congress to the 

 territory. As shown above, the present territories have 

 no explicitly reserved or granted power to manage the 

 EEZ. It has also been shown that Congress may treat 

 the territories differently from the States as long as there 

 is a rational basis for its action. 



The territorial clause has two purposes: to bring civil 

 authority to undeveloped frontier areas and to promote 

 their political and economic development. Its goal is the 

 achievement, through statehood or some other arrange- 

 ment, of a clear and stable relationship between the ter- 



"Proclamation No. 4534, 42 Fed. Reg. 56593 (1977). 



"T.C. Res. 2183 (LIII)(I986). 



"Proclamation No. 5564, 51 Fed. Reg. 40399 (1986). 



