Federal and state coastal boundaries and jurisdictions in the New York Marine District complements map series #1 : federal and state coastal boundaries and jurisdictions : OCS Task 7.5

[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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FEDERAL AND STATE

COASTAL BOUNDARIES AND JURISDICTIONS

IN THE NEW YORK MARINE DISTRICT

COWLEMENTS MAP SERIES #1

FEDERAL AND STATE COASTAL BOUNDARIES AND JURISDICTIONS

OCS Task 7.5

0 The preparation of this report was financially aided through a
i
Federal Grant from the Office of Coastal Zone I.Aanagement, National Oceanic
end Atmospheric Administration, under the Coastal Zone. Management Act of 1972
as Amended, Grant #04-5-158-50002
iThis Report was Prepared for the Division of State Planning, New York State
Department of State

August 1977

By: Ronald E. Hartmann Revised and Edited By:
Assistant Land Surveyor I Richard C. Byan
Region 1, Stony Brook Regional Supervisor
New York State Department of Bureau of Real Property Services
Environmental Conservation Region 1, Stony Brook
New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation
HT
393
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H373 PrOPCZty Of C-C Libzrary
1977

Boundaries and Jurisdictions of
Underwater Lands in New York State

This report and its accompanying maps are part of a series of reports
identifying boundaries and jurisdictions of underwater lands in New York
State. The first report describes federal and state coastal boundaries and
jurisdictions; the second describes state, county and town boundaries, Under-
water lands and jurisdictions; and the third describes private ownership of
underwater lands in New York State.

The purpose of the reports and maps is to provide essential information
needed to deal with the on-shore impacts of Outer Continental Shelf oil and
gas exploration and development and to determine boundaries among and between
government jurisdic@ions.

Each report cites relevant federal and state laws, judicial decisions
and intergovernmental agreements that have established present boundaries,
jurisdictions and ownership of underwater lands. The reports also identify
conflicting jurisdictions and problem with boundaries. Specific documen-
tation regarding each boundary and jurisdiction has been assembled in
separate appendices.

The reports and maps were prepared as part of the first year work pro-
gram of the Outer Continental Shelf Study Program in the New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation. Their preparation was financially
aided through a federal grant from the Office of Coastal Zone Management
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, under the Coastal Zone
Management Act of 1972.

These materials are expected to be utilized also in State shellfish
transplant programs, in conjunction with possible underwater sand and
gravel mining permits, and for assessment of liability in the event of
major oil spills.

IMAP SERIES #1

General Background

Map Series #1 shows the New York State Marine Region and immediate

environs including appropriate state boundaries, county and city jurisdic-

tional boundaries as well as the Three and Twelve Mile Limits. The relation-

ship of the major shipping lanes to the various boundaries as well as their

general proximity to the New York region is quite evident in this series.

The 200-meter isobath indicates the internationally accepted edge of

the Continental Shelf and in reality shows the beginning of the Continental

Slope down to the deep ocean and its abyssal plain.

The New Jersey/New York, Connecticut/New York, and Rhode Island/New

York State boundary lines have all been fixed by respective state laws and

ratified by the U.S. Congress.
The Three-Mile Limit and the Twelve-Mile Limit are lines showing the

limits of various State/Federal jurisdictions. These lines are projected from

a national baseline, which is the Mean Low Water Line. This map shows the

baselines and delimitation lines utilized by the Ad Hoe Committee on U.S.

Coastline Delimitation, May 1, 1971, in provisionally delimiting the territorial

sea, contiguous zone, and certain internal waters of the United States. The

committee is cha-4red by the U.S. State Department. The lines prepared by the

interdepartmental committee represent its interpretation of relevant legal prin-

ciples as applied to geographic information shown on U.S. Coast and Geodetic

Survey (now National Ocean Survey) charts numbers 1214,1215 and 1211, dated

6/2/691 7/26/69 and 7/2/69, which have been used as a base._

Documentation

The State boundaries bQtvieen New York and New Jersey, Connecticut and

Rhode Island are all described and formalized in state law with ratifications

from the United States Congress.

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The boundary with New Jersey has developed through a series of laws

in the 1800's culminating in the description in 1892 Laws of New York, Ch.

678. The following is the chronology of the laws: 1834 Laws of New York,

ch. 8; 1880 Laws of New York, ch. 34.0; 1884 Laws of New York, ch. 351; 1886

Laws of New York, ch. 610; 1887 Laws of New York, ch. 69; 1888 Laws of

New York, ch. 150; 1889 Laws of New York, ch. 212.

Th e various segments of the boundary are shown on the following maps:

- Map of the boundary line between the States of New York and New Jersey

in the lands underwater in Kill Van Kull and New York Bay, dated

December 23, 1889, and showing the names of the respective boundary

commissioners, three from each state.

- Map of the boundary line between the States of New York and New Jersey

in the lands undex-viater in the Hudson River, signed by the respective

commissioners and dated December 23, 1889.

- I&p of the boundary line between the States of New York and New Jers,@y in

the lands underwater in Raritan Bay signed and dated October 12, 1887.

- Map of the boundary line between the States of New York and New Jersey

in lands underwater in Raritan'Bay, to accompany the report of Edward A.

Bond, State Engineer and Surveyor of New York, dated 1900.

The New York/Connecticut boundary was established in the Long Island
Sound by 1912 Laws of New York, ch. 352 and amend@d by 1913 Laws of New York,

ch. 18. The boundary was formally ratified by the Congressional Act of

January 10, 1925 (43 Stat. 731).

The New York/Rhode Island boundary in Block Island Sound was established

by 1943 Laws of New York, ch. 739, and 1943 Laws of New York, ch. 355. This

boundary was first mapped by the comnissioners for the States of New York

and Rhode Island and Providence Plantations on March 26, 1942. It was ratified

by the United States Congress July 1, 1944. (58 Stat. 399). Although the

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boundary as established in 1943 andratified by Congress in 1944 extended

beyond the permissible three mile limit defined in U.S.vs. Maine 420 N.S.

515 (1975), the boundary is valid from its starting point to the outer

limit of the territorial sea.

The southern boundary of New York State is the Three-Mile Limit drawn

from the Mean Low Water Line of the shore. This is the limit of State

authority into the Atlantic Ocean. The three geographical mile limit is

documented by international convention (U.N. Law of the Sea Conference, 1958),

the Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. H 1301 et seg.), and New York State Law

�7-a (McKinney's 1952).

The Contiguous and Exclusive Fishing Zone extends 12 nautical miles

from the national baseline and is in fact a 9-mile extension from the three

mile territorial sea. The Contig uous Zone was created by the 1958 U.N.

Treaty. The Exclusive Fishing Zone was established by a U.S. Congressional

Act in 1966.

The Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 provides for a

Fishery Conservation Zone which will extend 200 nautical miles from the national

baseline. This in essence will supersede the Exclusive Fishing Zone Twelve-

Mile Limit; the Contiguous Zone will remain at 12 miles for the purpose of

customs, immigration, fiscal, and sanitary regulations. The new 200-Mile

Zone will take effect March 1, 1977.

The presentation of the 200-meter isobath as the edge of the Continental

Shelf is in conformity with the International Law of the Sea Conference,

1958, as is the 12 mile Contiguous Zone. The value of 200 meters (about

600 feet or 100 fathoms) is the average depth of all the continental shelves

at the point where there is a sharp break in the underwater land mass and

the land plunges to the deep sea bed.

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The Outer Continental Shelf in d legal sense could be considered that

portion of the Continental Shelf which is between the territorial sea and

the 200-meter limit, but the 1958 Treaty states that it may extend "beyond

that limit, to where the depth of the superadjacent waters admits to the

exploitation of the natural resources of the said areas.11 It should be kept

in mind that almost everywhere the Continental-Shelf as legally defined

extends beyond the limits of the territorial sea and in fact the 200-meter

line may be anywhere from 0 to 800 miles from shore. The high seas are all

waters beyond the outer limit of the territorial seas. This is a definition

of a long recognized concept which is supplied by treaty arising from the

1958 Geneva Conference.

When considering the ownership of lands underwater in the territorial

sea, the states have the ownership of the bottom. Initially the U.S. Supreme

Court held that paramount rights over the ocean waters and their seabed were

vested in the federal government, an incident to which was full dominion

over the resources of the soil under that water area, including oil. (U.S. vs.

California,, 332 U.S. 19, 38, 39). But the Congress passed the Submerged

Lands Act of 1953, which transferred to the States the rights to the seabed

underlying the territorial sea. (43 U.S.C. 91301 et seq., U.S. vs. Maine,

420 U.S. 515 (1975)).

The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953 (43 U.S.C. �1331 et seq.)

gave the United States Government the right to sell the rights to extract

natural resources from the bed and subsoil of the Outer Continental Shelf.

The surface for allintents andpurposes is still international waters and under

the direct control of no one.

The sea bed and subsoil, on the other hand, are under Federal jurisdiction,

and include all artificial islands and fixed structures which may be erected

thereon. Also contained in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953

is the paragraph which states "to thL- extent that they are applicable and

not inconsistent with this act or with other Federal laws and regulations

of the Secretary now in effect or hereafter adopted, the civil and criminal

laws of each adjacent state as of the effective date of this Act are hereby

declared to be the law of the United States for that portion of the subsoil

and sea bed of the Outer Continental Shelf, and artificial islands and fixed

structures erected thereon, which would be within the area of the state if

its boundaries were extended seaward to the outer margin of the Outer Con-

tinental Shelf, and the President shall determine and publish in the Federal

All of such applicable laws shall be administered and enforced by the appro-

priate officers and courts of the United States. State taxation laws shall

not apply to the Outer Continental Shelf."

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