TITLE 48 - US CODE - CHAPTER 15 - CONVEYANCE OF SUBMERGED LANDS TO TERRITORIES

1701 to 1703. Repealed. Pub. L. 93435, 5, Oct. 5, 1974, 88 Stat. 1212

Section 1701, Pub. L. 88–183, § 1, Nov. 20, 1963, 77 Stat. 338, related to authority of Secretary of the Interior to transfer tidelands, submerged lands, and filled lands to governments of Guam, Virgin Islands, and American Samoa with certain restrictions and conditions. See section 1705 of this title. Section 1702, Pub. L. 88–183, § 2, Nov. 20, 1963, 77 Stat. 339, related to administrative responsibility of Secretary of the Interior for tidelands, submerged lands, and filled lands in adjacent to Guam, Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. See sections 1705 to 1708 of this title. Section 1703, Pub. L. 88–183, § 3, Nov. 20, 1963, 77 Stat. 339, related to certain rights reserved for the United States for purposes of defense, navigation, flood control, commerce and international affairs. See section 1706 of this title.

48 USC 1704 - Concurrent jurisdiction; exceptions for national defense purposes

(a) Except as otherwise provided by law, the governments of the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, shall have concurrent civil and criminal jurisdiction with the United States with regard to property owned, reserved, or controlled by the United States in the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa respectively. A judgment of conviction or acquittal on the merits under the laws of Guam, the Virgin Islands, or American Samoa shall be a bar to any prosecution under the criminal laws of the United States for the same act or acts, and a judgment of conviction or acquittal on the merits under the laws of the United States shall be a bar to any prosecution under the laws of Guam, the Virgin Islands, or American Samoa for the same act or acts.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the President may from time to time exclude from the concurrent jurisdiction of the government of Guam persons found, acts performed, and offenses committed on the property of the United States which is under the control of the Secretary of Defense to such extent and in such circumstances as he finds required in the interest of the national defense.

48 USC 1705 - Tidelands, submerged lands, or filled lands

(a) Conveyance to Guam, Virgin Islands, and American Samoa
Subject to valid existing rights, all right, title, and interest of the United States in 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 coastlines of the territories of Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, as heretofore or hereafter modified by accretion, erosion, and reliction, and in artificially made, filled in, or reclaimed lands which were formerly permanently or periodically covered by tidal waters, are hereby conveyed to the governments of Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, as the case may be, to be administered in trust for the benefit of the people thereof.

(b) Retention of certain lands and mineral rights by United States
There are excepted from the transfer made by subsection (a) hereof

(i) all deposits of oil, gas, and other minerals, but the term minerals shall not include coral, sand, and gravel;

(ii) all submerged lands adjacent to property owned by the United States above the line of mean high tide;

(iii) all submerged lands adjacent to property above the line of mean high tide acquired by the United States by eminent domain proceedings, purchase, exchange, or gift, after October 5, 1974, as required for completion of the Department of the Navy Land Acquisition Project relative to the construction of the Ammunition Pier authorized by the Military Construction Authorization Act, 1971 (84 Stat. 1204), as amended by section 201 of the Military Construction Act, 1973 (86 Stat. 1135);

(iv) all submerged lands filled in, built up, or otherwise reclaimed by the United States, before October 5, 1974, for its own use;

(v) all tracts or parcels of submerged land containing on any part thereof any structures or improvements constructed by the United States;

(vi) all submerged lands that have heretofore been determined by the President or the Congress to be of such scientific, scenic, or historic character as to warrant preservation and administration under the provisions of sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 of title 16;

(vii) all submerged lands designated by the President within one hundred and twenty days after October 5, 1974;

(viii) all submerged lands that are within the administrative responsibility of any agency or department of the United States other than the Department of the Interior;

(ix) all submerged lands lawfully acquired by persons other than the United States through purchase, gift, exchange, or otherwise;

(x) all submerged lands within the Virgin Islands National Park established by sections 398 to 398b of title 16, including the lands described in sections 398c and 398d of title 16; and

(xi) all submerged lands within the Buck Island Reef National Monument as described in Presidential Proclamation 3448 dated December 28, 1961.

Upon request of the Governor of Guam, the Virgin Islands, or American Samoa, the Secretary of the Interior may, with or without reimbursement, and subject to the procedure specified in subsection (c) of this section convey all right, title, and interest of the United States in any of the lands described in clauses (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), or (viii) of this subsection to the government of Guam, the Virgin Islands, or American Samoa, as the case may be, with the concurrence of the agency having custody thereof.

(c) Submittal to Congressional committees of proposals for conveyance of retained lands or rights
No conveyance shall be made by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of this section until the expiration of sixty calendar days (excluding days on which the House of Representatives or the Senate is not in session because of an adjournment of more than three days to a day certain) from the date on which the Secretary of the Interior submits to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate an explanatory statement indicating the tract proposed to be conveyed and the need therefor, unless prior to the expiration of such sixty calendar days both committees inform the Secretary that they wish to take no action with respect to the proposed conveyance.

(d) Oil, gas, and other mineral deposits in submerged lands conveyed to Guam, Virgin Islands, and American Samoa; conveyance by United States; existing leases, permits, etc.

(1) The Secretary of the Interior shall, not later than sixty days after March 12, 1980, convey to the governments of Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, as the case may be, all right, title, and interest of the United States in deposits of oil, gas, and other minerals in the submerged lands conveyed to the government of such territory by subsection (a) of this section.

(2) The conveyance of mineral deposits under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be subject to any existing lease, permit, or other interest granted by the United States prior to the date of such conveyance. All rentals, royalties, or fees which accrue after such date of conveyance in connection with any such lease, permit, or other interest shall be payable to the government of the territory to which such mineral deposits are conveyed.

48 USC 1706 - Reserved rights

(a) Establishment of naval defense sea areas and airspace reservations
Nothing in this Act shall affect the right of the President to establish naval defensive sea areas and naval airspace reservations around and over the islands of Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands when deemed necessary for national defense.

(b) Navigation; flood control; power production
Nothing in this Act shall affect the use, development, improvement, or control by or under the constitutional authority of the United States of the lands transferred by section 1705 of this title, and the navigable waters overlying such lands, for the purposes of navigation or flood control or the production of power, or be construed as the release or relinquishment of any rights of the United States arising under the constitutional authority of Congress to regulate or improve navigation, or to provide for flood control or the production of power.

(c) Navigational servitude and powers of regulation for purposes of commerce, navigation, national defense, and international affairs
The United States retains all of its navigational servitude and rights in and powers of regulation and control of the lands conveyed by section 1705 of this title, and the navigable waters overlying such lands, for the constitutional purposes of commerce, navigation, national defense, and international affairs, all of which shall be paramount to, but shall not be deemed to include, proprietary rights of ownership, or the rights of management, administration, leasing, use, and development of the lands and natural resources which are specifically conveyed to the government of Guam, the Virgin Islands, or American Samoa, as the case may be, by section 1705 of this title.

(d) Status of lands beyond the three-mile limit
Nothing in this Act shall affect the status of lands beyond the three-mile limit described in section 1705 of this title.

48 USC 1707 - Payment of rents, royalties, and fees to local government

On and after October 5, 1974, all rents, royalties, or fees from leases, permits, or use rights, issued prior to October 5, 1974, by the United States with respect to the land conveyed by this Act, or by the amendment made by this Act, and rights of action for damages for trespass occupancies of such lands shall accrue and belong to the appropriate local government under whose jurisdiction the land is located.

48 USC 1708 - Discrimination prohibited in rights of access to, and benefits from, conveyed lands

No person shall be denied access to, or any of the benefits accruing from, the lands conveyed by this Act, or by the amendment made by this Act, on the basis of race, religion, creed, color, sex, national origin, or ancestry: Provided, however, That this section shall not be construed in derogation of any of the provisions of the April 17, 1900 cession of Tutuila and Aunuu or the July 16, 1904 cession of the Manus Islands, as ratified by the Act of February 20, 1929 (45 Stat. 1253) and the Act of May 22, 1929 (46 Stat. 4).