the Government of the United States regards the 

 natural resources of the subsoil and seabed of 

 the continental shelf beneath the high seas but 

 contiguous to the coasts of the United States 

 as appertaining to the United States, subject 

 to its jurisdiction and control. 1/ 



On the same date, President Truman issued a related Executive Order 

 (No. 9633) reserving, setting aside and placing the natural resources of 

 the Continental Shelf under the control and jurisdiction of the Secretary 

 of the Interior, "... for administrative purposes, pending the enactment 

 of legislation in regard thereto." 



Legislation was finally enacted in 1953. On May 22, 1953, the Sub- 

 merged Lands Act (67 Stat. 29, 43 U.S.C., sec. 1301 et seq .) was enacted 

 following the submerged lands decisions ( United States v. California , 332 

 U.S. 19 (1947), United States v. Louisiana , 339 U.S. 669 (1950), and United 

 States V. Texas , 339 U.S. 707 (1950)), in which the Supreme Court rejected 

 the States' claims to the submerged lands of the territorial seas and recog- 

 nized the paramount rights of the United States thereto. Briefly, the effect 

 of the Submerged Lands Act was to change the law established in the sub- 

 merged lands cases with respect to the submerged lands adjacent to the coast 

 and seaward of the inland waters of the coastal States. The Act granted or 

 confirmed title to a portion of these lands to the States. The lands granted 

 were those beneath the marginal sea for a distance of three miles seaward of 

 the coastline. The grant extended to three leagues on the Gulf of Mexico 

 for Texas and Louisiana. 



The authority of the United States to claim jurisdiction beyond the 

 Submerged Lands Act grant was established by the enactment of the Outer 

 Continental Shelf Lands Act of August 7, 1953. ^Z The provisions of this 

 Act are of primary interest to the Interagency Committee on Oceanography 

 Research. 



The principal purpose of this legislation was to provide statutory 

 authority for opening the vast oil and gas resources of the Outer Continental 

 Shelf to exploration and development. Other resources were recognized and, 

 in some cases, were specifically referred to by provisions in the Act. Clearly, 

 however, the full need for scientific research and economic development of 

 the Shelf was not recognized and treated in the Act. It is becoming in- 

 creasingly apparent that adequate regulation and control of newly discovered 

 resources and uses of the Outer Continental Shelf lands will require further 

 legislation. 



Section 4 extends the Constitution and laws and civil and political 

 jurisdiction of the United States to the Outer Continental Shelf lands. The 

 civil and criminal law of adjacent States is adopted as Federal law insofar 



IT Proclamation No. 2667, 59 Stat. 884. 



2/ 67 Stat. 462 (1953) 43 U.S.C, sec. 1331 et seq . 



