298 • Marine Minerals: Exploring Our New Ocean Frontier 



American Samoa's water quJility standards provide 

 for protection of bays and open coastal waters to the 100 

 fathom depth contour. A permit is required for any 

 activity affecting water quality in these areas. '^ 



The U.S. Virgin Islands coastal zone management 

 program extends "to the outer limit of the Territorial 

 Sea" (3 nautical miles). Its environmental policies call 

 for accommodating "offshore sand and gravel mining 

 needs in areas and in ways that will not adversely affect 

 marine resources and navigation. ""A permit to remove 

 material is required and may not be granted unless such 

 material is not otherwise available at reasonable cost. 

 Removal may not significantly alter the physical char- 

 acteristics of the area on an immediate or long-term ba- 

 sis. The Virgin Islands government collects a permit fee 

 and a royalty on material sold. 



The U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa do not 

 assert their jurisdiction beyond the 3 nautical miles of 

 Territorial Sea granted to them.*" The other three self- 

 governing territories have taken steps to assure them- 

 selves greater control of their marine resources. 



By a law adopted in 1980, Guam defines its territory 

 as running 200 geographical mUes seaward from the low 

 water mark. Within this territory, Guam claims "ex- 

 clusive rights to determine the conditions and terms of 

 all scientific research, management, exploration and ex- 

 ploitation of all ocean resources and all sources of energy 

 and prevention of pollution within the economic zone, 

 including pollution from outside the zone which poses 

 a threat within the zone."^' In a letter accompanying 

 the bill, the governor stated that, "[a]s a matter of pol- 

 icy, the territory of Guam is claiming exclusive rights 

 to control the utilization of all ocean resources in a 200- 

 mile zone surrounding the island. "^^ Possible conflicts 

 with Federal law were recognized, but the law was ap- 

 proved "as a declaration of Territorial policies and 

 goals." Section 1001(b) of the proposed Guam Com- 

 monwealth Act includes a simOar claim to an EEZ.^^ 



Puerto Rico claims "[o]wnership of the commercial 

 minerals found in the soil and subsoil of Puerto Rico, 

 its adjacent islands and in surrounding waters and sub- 

 merged lands next to their coasts up to where the depth 

 of the waters allows their exploitation and utilization, 

 in an extension of not less than 3 marine leagues . . ."^* 

 This continentcd shelf claim extends beyond Puerto 

 Rico's Territorial Sea. It combines the principles of ad- 

 jacency and exploitability codified in the 1958 Conven- 

 tion on the Continental Shelf. ^^ A statement of motives 



'"Am. Samoa Admin. Code §§24,0201 to 24.0208 (1984). 



"V.I. Code Ann. tit. 12, §906{b)(7) (1982). 



""See note 24, above. 



"Guam Code Ann. §402 (1980). 



"'/d. , Compiler's Comment. 



"^See note 29. above. 



"P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 28, §111 (1985). 



"15 U.S.T. 471, T.I.A.S. No. 5578, 499 U.N.T.S. 311. 



accompanying the 1979 amendments to Puerto Rico's 

 mining law explains the Roman and Spanish law ante- 

 cedents for government trusteeship of minerals. It also 

 points out that Section 8 of the Organic Act of 1917 

 placed submerged lands under the control of the gov- 

 ernment of Puerto Rico and gave the island's legisla- 

 ture the authority to make needed laws in this field "as 

 it deems convenient." The legislature concluded that 

 "after 1917, the Federal Government has no title or 

 jurisdiction over the submerged lands of Puerto Rico. 

 The title is vested fully in Puerto Rico. It is up to the 

 Legislature to determine the extent of said jurisdic- 

 tion. "^^ 



The most comprehensive territorial management pro- 

 gram is that of the Northern Mariana Islands. The 

 Commonwealth's Marine Sovereignty Act of 1980 es- 

 tablishes archipelagic baselines, claims a 12-mile Ter- 

 ritorial Sea, and declares a 200-mile EEZ.^' The Sub- 

 merged Lands Act applies from the line of ordinary high 

 tide to the outer limit line of the EEZ. It requires licenses 

 and leases for the exploration, development, and extrac- 

 tion of petroleum and all other minerals in submerged 

 lands. ^^ The latter statute has been implemented by 

 detailed rules and regulations. 



These claims are based on the statutory law of the 

 Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands which confirmed 

 the earlier Japanese law "that all marine areas below 

 the ordinary high watermark belong to the govern- 

 ment."^' A subsequent order of the Department of the 

 Interior transferred public lands, among them sub- 

 merged lands, to the constituent districts of the Trust 

 Territory, including the Northern Mariana Islands.'" 

 In addition. Section 801 of the Covenant provides for 

 transfer of the Trust Territory's real property interests 

 to the Northern Marianas no later than the termina- 

 tion of the trusteeship. 



There is some question as to whether the conditional 

 inclusion of the Northern Marianas in the U.S. EEZ 

 Proclamation ("to the extent consistent with the Cove- 

 nant and the United Nations Trusteeship Agreement") 

 implies recognition of local claims. There is also a ques- 

 tion as to whether U.S. territorial law would permit this 

 local claim to survive the transition to U.S. sovereignty. 

 The Supreme Court has held that ownership of sub- 

 merged lands is vested in the Federal Government as 

 "a function of national external sovereignty," essen- 

 tial to national defense and foreign affairs." When the 

 trusteeship over the Northern Marianas ended, the 

 United States extended its sovereignty over the islands 



"1979 P.R. Laws 279, 281. 



"Commonwealth of the Marianas Code, tit. 2, §1101-1143 (1984). 



"Commonwealth of the Marianas Code, tit. 2, §1211-1231 (1984). 



"Trust Territory Code, tit. 67, §2 (1970). 



'"Department of the Interior Order 2969 (Dec. 28, 1974). 



^'United States v. California, 332 U.S. 19, 34 (1947). 



