[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 83 (Tuesday, April 30, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25349-25351]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-10080]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Maritime Administration


Policy Clarification Concerning Designation of Adjacent Coastal 
States for Deepwater Port License Applications

AGENCY: Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation.

ACTION: Notice of policy clarification.

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SUMMARY: The Maritime Administration (``MarAd'') is providing this 
notice to clarify its policy on the unit of distance measurement to 
apply when designating Adjacent Coastal States (``ACS'') under the 
agency's Deepwater Ports licensing program.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Yvette Fields, Director of the 
Office of Deepwater Ports and Offshore Activity, Maritime 
Administration, Room W21-309, 1200 New Jersey Ave. SE., Washington, DC 
20590; [email protected]; phone (202) 366-0926.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: MarAd has reviewed policies and practices 
with regard to the designation of ACS in the deepwater port application 
licensing process. In past applications and public notices, MarAd found 
inconsistency in the use of units of distance to describe the distance 
between proposed deepwater ports and ACS.
    Under 33 U.S.C. 1508(a)(1), when issuing a Notice of Application, 
MarAd, as delegated by the Secretary of Transportation, shall designate 
as an ACS ``any coastal State which (A) would be directly connected by 
pipeline to a deepwater port as proposed in an application, or (B) 
would be located within 15 miles of any such proposed deepwater port.'' 
In general, in its publications, MarAd adopted the units of measurement 
provided by the deepwater port license applicants in their descriptions 
of proposed deepwater ports. At different times, MarAd used statute 
miles (approximately 0.87 nautical miles) or nautical miles 
(approximately 1.15 statute miles) to describe the location of 
deepwater ports in its publications.
    Due to the configuration and physical location of proposed 
deepwater port projects in prior applications, the use of either 
statute or nautical miles did not impact the designation of ACS, since 
those projects were either connected to the ACS directly by pipeline, 
or were within both 15 statute and 15 nautical miles from those states. 
As a result, MarAd was not required to clarify which unit of 
measurement is the appropriate distance standard to apply when 
designating an ACS in Notices of Application. However, for proposed 
port locations where the chosen distance standard is significant to the 
designation of ACS (applications where the port location falls beyond 
15 statute miles but within 15 nautical miles of a potential ACS), 
clarification of the distance standard is necessary. For the sake of 
clarity in such instances, MarAd is issuing this Final Notice of Policy 
Clarification that nautical miles shall be applied when designating ACS 
under 33 U.S.C. 1508(a)(1).
    The Deepwater Port Act (``DWPA'' or the ``Act'') (33 U.S.C. 1501 et 
seq.) authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to issue licenses for 
the construction and operation of deepwater ports.\1\ A deepwater port 
is defined in Section 1502 of the Act as ``any fixed or floating 
manmade structure other than a vessel, or any group of such structures, 
that are located beyond State seaward boundaries and that are used or 
intended for use as a port or terminal for the transportation, storage, 
or further handling of oil or natural gas for transportation to any 
State * * *.'' \2\ Deepwater ports include ``all components and 
equipment, including pipelines[hellip]to the extent they are located 
seaward of the high water mark.'' \3\ The DWPA provides for a mandatory 
designation of State(s) as ``Adjacent Coastal State(s)'' (``ACS'') if 
certain criteria are met. Those criteria are: (1) If the ACS would be 
``directly connected by pipeline to a deepwater port,'' or (2) ``would 
be located within 15 miles of

[[Page 25350]]

any such proposed deepwater port.'' \4\ The DWPA does not specify 
whether the 15 mile geographical limit for the automatic designation of 
an ACS should be measured in statute miles \5\ or nautical miles.\6\
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    \1\ The Secretary of Transportation delegated to the Maritime 
Administrator the authority to ``issue, transfer, amend, or 
reinstate a license for the construction and operation of a 
deepwater port.'' 49 CFR 1.93(h)(1).
    \2\ 33 U.S.C. 1502(9)(A).
    \3\ Id. Sec. 1502(9)(B).
    \4\ Id. Sec. 1502(1)(A-B). The Act also provides for a 
permissive designation of an ACS if, upon petition and provision of 
evidence, the Maritime Administrator determines that ``there is a 
risk of damage to the coastal environment of such State equal to or 
greater than the risk posed to a State directly connected by 
pipeline to the proposed deepwater port.'' 33 U.S.C. 1508(a)(2).
    \5\ One statute mile equals 5,280 feet.
    \6\ One nautical mile equals 6,076 feet.
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    Congress did not specify how the 15 mile distance should be 
measured. Nevertheless, an examination of the entire statute and 
legislative history leads to the conclusion that Congress intended that 
for these purposes, where units of distance measurement are not 
specified as statute miles or nautical miles, those units of 
measurement should be read in terms of generally accepted nautical 
standards (i.e., nautical miles).
    In enacting the DWPA, Congress declared its purpose to be, among 
other things, to: ``(1) authorize and regulate the location, ownership, 
construction, and operation of deepwater ports in waters beyond the 
territorial limits of the United States; [and] (2) provide for the 
protection of the marine and coastal environment to prevent or minimize 
any adverse impact which might occur as a consequence of the 
development of such ports.'' \7\ The Act defines the term ``coastal 
environment'' in relevant part as: ``the navigable waters (including 
the lands therein and thereunder) and the adjacent shorelines 
(including waters therein and thereunder).\8\ The term ``marine 
environment'' is defined as including: ``the coastal environment, 
waters of the contiguous zone, and waters of the high seas''.\9\
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    \7\ 33 U.S.C. 1501(a)(1-2).
    \8\ Id. Sec. 1502(5).
    \9\ Id. Sec. 1502(12).
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    The DWPA does not provide further definition of the terms 
``territorial limits'', ``navigable waters (including the lands therein 
and thereunder)'', or ``contiguous zone.'' However, these 
jurisdictional boundaries have well accepted meanings both in 
international law and United States law, and help clarify how the 15 
mile jurisdictional area for automatic designation of an ACS should be 
measured. Article 1 of the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the 
Contiguous Zone establishes that a Coastal State's sovereignty extends 
``beyond its land territory and internal waters, to a belt of sea 
adjacent to its coast, described as a territorial sea.'' \10\ Article 
24 of the treaty also establishes that a Coastal State may exercise 
certain authorities in a ``zone of the high seas contiguous to its 
territorial sea * * *.'' \11\ For purposes of the Treaty, both the 
Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone are measured from the 
``baseline,'' normally the mean low water line along the coast of the 
United States. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 
(``UNCLOS'') further clarifies the breadth of a Coastal State's 
jurisdiction in its Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone by establishing 
a seaward limit of ``12 nautical miles'' and ``24 nautical miles'' 
respectively.\12\ Although the United States has not ratified UNCLOS, 
it has adopted the jurisdictional areas referenced in UNCLOS. In 
establishing its territorial limits, the U.S. has uniformly applied the 
international standard and used nautical miles as the unit of 
measurement.\13\
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    \10\ 15 U.S.T. 1606 (U.S. Treaty). This treaty was ratified by 
the United States on March 24, 1961, and entered into force on 
September 10, 1964.
    \11\ Id.
    \12\ United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Art. 2-3, 
Art. 33, Dec. 10, 1982, 1833 U.N.T.S. 397.
    \13\ See, e.g., Proclamation No. 5928, 54 FR 777 (Dec. 27, 1988) 
(``The territorial sea of the United States henceforth extends to 12 
nautical miles from the baselines of the United States determined in 
accordance with international law.'')
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    The Submerged Lands Act (``SLA'') was enacted in 1953.\14\ Its 
purpose was to ``confirm and establish the titles of the States to 
lands beneath navigable waters within State boundaries and to the 
natural resources within such lands and waters, to provide for the use 
and control of said lands and resources, and to confirm the 
jurisdiction and control of the United States over the natural 
resources of the seabed of the Continental Shelf seaward of State 
boundaries.'' \15\ The SLA defines the term ``boundaries'' in relevant 
part to include: ``the seaward boundaries of a State* * *but in no 
event shall the term `boundaries' be interpreted as extending from the 
coast line more than three geographical miles into the Atlantic Ocean 
or the Pacific Ocean, or more than three marine leagues into the Gulf 
of Mexico.'' \16\ The SLA also provides that ``[t]he seaward boundary 
of each original coastal State is hereby approved and confirmed as a 
line three geographical miles distant from its coast line * * *.'' \17\ 
In the case of United States v. California,\18\ the Supreme Court 
considered the extent of submerged lands granted to the State of 
California by the SLA. After reviewing the SLA and its legislative 
history, the court concluded that the SLA ``effectively grants each 
State on the Pacific coast all submerged lands shoreward of a line 
three geographical miles from its coast line * * *.'' \19\ The Court 
further explained that ``one English, statute, or land mile equals 
approximately 0.87 geographical, marine, or nautical mile. The 
conventional `3-mile limit' under international law refers to three 
geographical miles, or approximately 3.45 land miles.'' \20\
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    \14\ 67 Stat. 29.
    \15\ Id.
    \16\ 43 U.S.C. 1301(b).
    \17\ Id. Sec.  1312.
    \18\ U.S. v. California, 381 U.S. 139(1965).
    \19\ 381 U.S.C. at 148.
    \20\ Id. at Fn. 8.
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    In defining the term ``coastal environment'', the DWPA explicitly 
refers to ``navigable waters (including the lands therein and 
thereunder).'' \21\ This definition is similar to what is found in the 
SLA's statement of purpose (``lands beneath navigable waters within 
State boundaries'' \22\). As noted above, the SLA confers upon States 
possession of title to, and ownership of the ``lands beneath navigable 
waters within [their] boundaries,'' \23\ and applies geographical 
(nautical) miles for that purpose.
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    \21\ See supra Fn. 16.
    \22\ 67 Stat. 29.
    \23\ Id.
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    The legislative history of the DWPA reveals that Congress viewed 
ACS status as a jurisdictional issue. For example, in the Conference 
Report to the DWPA, the State's role in approving a deepwater port is 
discussed in terms of the three-mile limit which is measured in 
nautical miles. Congress recognized that ``under the Submerged Lands 
Act * * *, the States have either exclusive or concurrent authority 
with the Federal government over most activities within the 3-mile 
limit,'' \24\ which is measured in geographical (nautical) miles. 
Moreover, the Senate Report noted, a coastal State's jurisdiction would 
normally end at the State's three-nautical mile seaward boundary and 
the State would have no authority over offshore activity beyond that 
point.
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    \24\ 1974 U.S.C.C.A.N. 7529, 7538.
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    Consistent with Congress' view of ACS status as a jurisdictional 
issue, the use of nautical miles to determine ACS status allows for an 
extension of the State's jurisdiction to be measured consistently with 
the measures of jurisdiction required by law. Absent this 
interpretation, a State's jurisdiction that is measured in nautical 
miles would then subsequently be extended by Congress under a different 
unit of measurement.

[[Page 25351]]

    In addition to the legislative history, the regulatory history of 
the Deepwater Ports program provides further support for interpreting 
the DWPA to apply nautical miles to ACS designations. The original 
Final Rule in 33 CFR part 148 published on November 10, 1975, defined 
mile for the purposes of the regulations as a nautical mile.\25\ 
Although the definition for ``mile'' was subsequently removed in a May 
20, 2003 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and did not appear in the Final 
Rule published on September 29, 2006, 33 CFR part 2 indicates that 
nautical miles are the appropriate units of measurement to be employed 
for determining United States Coast Guard jurisdictional definitions 
where such jurisdictional definitions are not otherwise provided.\26\
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    \25\ 40 FR 52554 (Nov. 10, 1975).
    \26\ See 33 CFR 2.1(a) (``The purpose of this part is to define 
terms the Coast Guard uses in regulations, policies, and procedures, 
to determine whether it has jurisdiction on certain waters where 
specific jurisdictional definitions are not otherwise provided.'')
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Discussion of Comments

    MarAd published a Notice of Proposed Policy Clarification on 
Tuesday, March 5, 2013 (78 FR 14411). Interested persons were invited 
to submit comments on the proposed policy clarification by April 4, 
2013. MarAd received one comment. The comment and MarAd's response is 
set forth in the following paragraph.
    Clean Ocean Action, a coalition of diverse groups interested in 
improving the water quality of the New Jersey and New York coastal 
marine environment offered their support of the agency's analysis 
stating,

    Clearly, the MARAD analysis of the Congressional Record, 
international law, and related domestic U.S. law properly led to the 
conclusion that ``miles'', for the purposes of Deepwater Ports, 
means nautical miles.

MarAd values Clean Ocean Action's input.
    Accordingly, as a result of its interpretation of the DWPA, its 
legislative history, and implementing regulations, MarAd will apply 
nautical miles when designating ACS in future Notices of Application 
under 33 U.S.C. 1508(a)(1).

    Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1501, et seq.; 49 CFR 1.93(h)(1).

    Dated: April 24, 2013.

    By Order of the Maritime Administrator.
Julie Agarwal,
Secretary, Maritime Administration.
[FR Doc. 2013-10080 Filed 4-29-13; 8:45 am]
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