Submerged Lands

Subcommittee No. 1 of the Committee on the Judiciary met, pursuant to call, at 10:30 a. m., in room 346, Old House Office Building, Hon. Louis E. Graham, chairman of subcommittee No. 1, presiding. Present: Representatives Louis E. Graham (presiding), Ruth Thompson, Patrick J. Hillings, Emanuel Celler, and Francis E. Walter.

Also present: Chauncey W. Reed (chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary), Kenneth B. Keating, William M. McCulloch, Edgar A. Jonas, Shepard J. Crumpacker, Jr., Dean P. Taylor, Usher L. Burdick, George Meader, Laurence Curtis, DeWitt S. Hyde, Joseph R. Bryson, Thomas J. Lane, J. Frank Wilson, Edwin E. Willis, James B. Frazier, Jr., Peter W. Rodino, Jr., Woodrow W. Jones, E. L. Forrester, and Byron G. Rogers.

Mr. GRAHAM. The committee will come to order.

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Chairman, it gives me great pleasure to present the Attorney General of the United States, Mr. Herbert Brownell,

Jr.

Mr. GRAHAM. Thank you, Mr. Reed.

Mr. Brownell, before you begin, may the Chair make a preliminary announcement for your benefit as well as others who are present here today.

Our plan of procedure will be as follows: The photographers will take the photographs now and then kindly leave. We will go through with the hearing and hear your testimony, take a recess, and then revert back into the full committee. We will be delighted to have you remain with the full committee, if you desire to do so, and have you make any statement that you wish. Our course will be determined by your pleasure and your time.

Attorney General BROWNELL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. GRAHAM. The Chair would like to make one further statement before we begin, for the information of the new members of the committee, as well as Mr. Brownell.

The hearings on submerged lands starting this morning will be the 16th hearing on this question. The 15th was initiated yesterday on the Senate side, so that there have been 14 hearings on this same question in previous Congresses. In the course of all these hearings, over 6,000 printed pages have been taken in the form of testimony and

documents. In view of that, we feel it wise that we incorporate those hearings at this time into the record by reference in an honest. effort to cut down expense, save duplication, and put the matter in a way so that it can be expedited quickly.

I might give you a breakdown of the bills referred to this subcommittee on the question.

There have been 37 bills referred to Subcommittee No. 1 on this question; 26 House resolutions and 11 House joint resolutions.

There are 16 which deal with the area within the 3-mile limit or historic State boundaries.

There are 14 which deal with the entire area of the Continental Shelf.

One bill, H. R. 381, is limited to the historic boundaries of Texas. Two bills, a House joint resolution and H. R. 1931, merely provide for the setting aside of Executive Order 10426 of January 16, 1953. House Joint Resolution 15 provides for interim operation for a 5year period.

House Joint Resolution 89 provides substantially that the income from the submerged lands shall be used by the Federal Government as grants-in-aid to education.

House Joint Resolution 126 provides for interim operation with the proceeds therefrom devoted to national defense and security, and aids to education.

This is the present status of the matter. (The bills are as follows)

[H. R. 90, 83d Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To confirm and establish the titles of the State to lands beneath navigable waters within State boundaries and natural resources within such lands and waters and to provide for the use and control of said lands and resources

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the United States of America recognizing

(a) that the several States, and the others as hereinafter mentioned, since July 4, 1776, or since their formation and admission to the Union, have exercised full powers of ownership of all lands beneath navigable waters within their respective boundaries and all natural resources, including fish and other marine life within such lands and waters, and full control of said natural resources, with the full acquiescence and approval of the United States and in accordance with many pronouncements of the Supreme Court and decisions of the executive departments of the Federal Government that such lands and resources were vested in the respective States as an incident to State sovereignty and that the exercise of such powers of ownership and control has not in the past impaired or interfered with and will not impair or interfere with the exercise by the Federal Government of its constitutional powers in relation to said lands and navigable waters and to the control and regulation of commerce, navigation, national defense, and international relations; and

(b) that the several States, their subdivisions, and persons lawfully acting pursuant to State authority have expended enormous sums of money on improving and reclaiming said lands and in developing the natural resources in said lands and waters in full reliance upon the validity of their titles; and

(c) that a recent decision of the Supreme Court held that the Federal Government has certain paramount powers with respect to a portion of said lands without reaffirming or settling the ultimate question of ownership of such lands and resources, but said decision recognizes that the question of the ownership and control of said lands and natural resources, is within the "congressional area of national power" and that Congress will

not execute its powers "in such way as to bring about injustices to States, their subdivisions, or persons acting pursuant to their permission"; it is hereby determined and declared to be in the public interest that title to and ownership of the lands beneath navigable waters within the boundaries of the respective States, and the natural resources within such lands and waters, and the right and power to control, develop, and use the said natural resources in accordance with applicable State law be, and they are hereby, recognized, confirmed, established, and vested in the respective States or the persons lawfully entitled thereto under the law as established by the decisions of the respective courts of such States, and the respective grantees, lessees, or successors in interest thereof; and the United States hereby releases and relinquishes unto said States and persons aforesaid all right, title, and interest of the United States, if any it has, in and to all said lands, improvements, and natural resources, and releases and relinquishes all claims of the United States if any it has, arising out of any operations of said States or persons pursuant to State authority upon or within said lands and navigable waters: Provided, however, That nothing in this Act shall affect the use, development, improvement, and control by or under the authority of the United States of said lands and waters for the purposes of navigation or flood control or the production or distribution of power, or be construed as the release or relinquishments of any rights of the United States arising under the authority of Congress to regulate or improve navigation or to provide for flood control or the production or distribution of power.

SEC. 2. As used in this Act

(a) the term "lands beneath navigable waters" includes (1) all lands within the boundaries of each of the respective States which were covered by waters navigable under the laws of the United States, at the time such State became a member of the Union, and all lands permanently or periodically covered by tidal waters up to but not above the line of mean high tide and seaward to a line three geographical miles distant from the coast line of each such State and to the boundary line of each such State where in any case such boundary, as it existed at the time such State became a member of the Union, or as heretofore or hereafter approved by Congress, extends seaward (or into the Great Lakes or Gulf of Mexico) beyond three geographical miles, and (2) all lands formerly beneath navigable waters, as herein defined, which have been filled or reclaimed; the term "boundaries" includes the seaward boundaries of a State or its boundaries in the Gulf of Mexico or any of the Great Lakes as they existed at the time such State became a member of the Union, or as heretofore or hereafter approved by the Congress, or as extended or confirmed pursuant to section 3 hereof;

(b) the term "coast line" means the line of ordinary low water along that portion of the coast which is in direct contact with the open sea and the line marking the seaward limit of all estuaries, ports, harbors, bays, straits, and sounds, and all other bodies of water which are landward of the open sea;

(c) the terms "grantees" and "lessees" include (without limiting the generality thereof) all political subdivisions, municipalities, and persons holding grants or leases from a State to lands beneath navigable waters if such grants or leases were issued in accordance with the constitution, statutes. and decisions of the courts of the State in which such lands are situated; and the term "person" shall include corporations, partnerships, and associations;

(d) the term "natural resources" shall not include water power or the use of water for the production of power;

(e) the term "lands beneath navigable waters" shall not include the beds of streams in lands now or heretofore constituting a part of the public lands of the United States if such streams were not meandered in connection with the public survey of such lands under the laws of the United States. SEC. 3. Any State which has not already done so may extend its seaward boundaries (or its boundaries in the Great Lakes) to a line three geographical miles distant from its coast line. Any claim heretofore or hereafter asserted either by constitutional provision, statute, or otherwise, indicating the intent of a State to extend its boundaries to a line three geographical miles distant from its coast line is hereby approved and confirmed, without prejudice to its claim, if any it has, that its boundaries extend beyond that line.

SEC. 4. There is excepted from the operation of the first section of this Act(a) all lands and resources therein or improvements thereon which have been lawfully acquired by the United States from any State or from any person in whom title had vested under the decisions of the courts of such State, or their respective grantees, or successors in interest, by cession, grant, quitclaim, or condemnation, or from any other owner or owners thereof by conveyance or by condemnation, provided such owner or owners had lawfully acquired the title to such lands and resources in accordance with the statutes or decisions of the courts of the State in which the lands are located; and

(b) such lands beneath navigable waters within the boundaries of the respective States and such interests therein as the United States is lawfully entitled to under the law as established by the decisions of the courts of the State in which the land is situated, or which are held by the United States in trust for the benefit of any tribe, band, or group of Indians or for individual Indians.

SEC. 5. (a) The United States retains all its powers of regulation and control of said lands and navigable waters for the purposes of commerce, navigation, national defense, and international affairs except those rights to the ownership, use, development, and control of the lands and natural resources, which are specifically recognized, confirmed, established, and vested in the respective States and others by the first section of this Act.

(b) In time of war or when necessary for national defense, and the Congress or the President shall so prescribe, the United States shall have the right of first refusal to purchase at the prevailing market price, all or any portion of the said natural resources, or to acquire and use any portion of said lands by proceeding in accordance with due process of law and paying just compensation therefor.

SEC. 6. Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to affect the determination by legislation or judicial decree of any issues between the United States and the respective States relating to the ownership or control of that portion of the subsoil and sea bed of the Continental Shelf lying seaward and outside of the area of lands beneath navigable waters, described in section 2 hereof.

SEC. 7. Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to amend, modify, or repeal the Acts of July 26, 1866 (14 Stat. 251), July 3, 1870 (16 Stat. 217), March 3, 1877 (19 Stat. 377), and June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388), and Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto.

[H. R. 114, 83d Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL 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 provide for the use, control, exploration, development, and conservation of certain resources of the continental shelf lying outside of State boundaries

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Submerged Lands Act".

TITLE I

DEFINITION

SEC. 2. When used in this Act

(a) The term "lands beneath navigable waters" includes (1) all lands within the boundaries of each of the respective States which were covered by waters navigable under the laws of the United States at the time such State became a member of the Union, and all lands permanently or periodically covered by tidal waters up to but not above the line of mean high tide and seaward to a line three geographical miles distant from the coast line of each such State and to the boundary line of each such State where in any case such boundary as it existed at the time such State became a member of the Union, or as heretofore or hereafter approved by Congress, extends seaward (or into the Great Lakes or Gulf of Mexico) beyond three geographical miles, and (2) all filled in, made, or reclaimed lands which formerly were lands beneath navigable waters, as herein defined; the term "boundaries" includes the seaward boundaries of a State or its boundaries in the Gulf of Mexico or any of the Great Lakes as they existed at the time such State became a member of the Union, or as

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Submerged Lands: Hearings Before Subcommittee No. 1, Committee on the ...