1. Marine Boundaries - Best Practices Building better boundaries through coordination and best practices

2. Presentation Outline The current state of marine boundaries Examples — marine boundary challenges Solutions and resources: –FGDC Marine Boundary Working Group –Marine Boundary Best Practices Handbook

3. The Current State of Marine Boundaries No comprehensive national framework/standards for marine boundaries Multi-levels of offshore rights — international, national, state, regional, tribal, private… Legal descriptions have not kept up with current mapping technology Ever-increasing demand for ocean resources Marine environment — mapping challenge

5. Depiction of U.S. Marine Boundaries Tidal Datums—MHHW, MHW, MLW, MLLW are examples of tidal datums. Private/state land varies by state. Baseline—the Xs represent the salient points of the baselines (MLLW in the US). Bay closing lines—used to separate inland water bodies from the open sea. State Seaward—generally extends 3 nautical miles from the baseline (exceptions: west FL, TX, PR extend to 9 nautical miles). Often called Submerged Lands Act boundary or federal/state boundary. Revenue Sharing—boundary extends 3 nautical miles beyond the state seaward boundary—27% to state. Territorial Sea—extends 12 nautical miles from the baseline. Often referred to as the marginal sea. Contiguous Zone—extends 24 nautical miles from the baseline. Executive Order 9/99. OCS Lease Blocks—subdivision of the OCS within U.S. jurisdiction for mineral leasing. EEZ—out to 200 nautical miles from the baseline or as determined by treaty. Continental Shelf—no U.S. claim to date (UNCLOS Article 76). Marine Protected Areas—reserved by federal, state, territorial, tribal, or local laws or regulations.

6. All of these activities require accurate, useable, and accessible digital marine boundaries. Why Do You Need Marine Boundaries? Natural resource management Navigation Offshore oil/mineral extraction Cable routing Law enforcement, customs, immigration actions Air space designation Radio spectrum leasing

7. Mapping Issues…

8. Marine Boundary Mapping Issues Legal language not easily mappable — ambiguous language (head of tide, high wash of waves, 3 mi. from coast) Conflicting sources Ambulatory boundaries Cartographic source General ambiguities — units, datums Land vs. Water issues

9. Legal Language Example 1000 m isobath coordinate list -and- reference to isobath Physical feature described two ways

10. Conflicting Source Example Different coordinates in two designations have led to a sliver Cordell Bank NMS Gulf of the Farallones NMS

11. Reference to Ambulatory Features Monterey Bay NMS is defined within the CFR as the Mean High Water Line, excluding certain bodies of coastal waters International Collision at Sea Regulation (Colreg.) lines—maintained by U.S. Coast Guard

12. Cartographic Issues. Scale Projection Datum Date Coordinate accuracy

13. Jurisdictional Issues…

14. State Waters generally applies - some exceptions Private ownership generally extends to the MHW line (except for TX MHHW or DE MA, ME, NM, PA, VA which are MLLW) Seaward of this line are the public trust lands - managed by state or federal government (sometimes tribal) Coastal state has control of the sea bottom and marine resources out to the state's seaward boundary (except were reserved by federal government) Adjudicated bilateral boundaries do not exist (exceptions TX/LA, SC/GA, ME/NH)

15. Federal Jurisdiction generally applies - some exceptions Federal government has sovereign rights over all living and nonliving resources from the State Seaward Boundary out to the extent of the exclusive economic zone state's seaward boundary (exceptions wFL, PR, TX) Within the State Seaward Boundary, federal government retains control over commerce, navigation, defense, fisheries, and international matters.

16. Atlantic Ocean Marine Boundaries Gulf of Mexico Florida Exclusive Economic Zone 24 M Contiguous Zone 12 M Territorial Sea 6 M OCSLA 8(g) 3 M State-Seaward Boundary Baseline points (MLLW) NOAA Medium Resolution Shoreline National Marine Sanctuary Exclusive Economic Zone 24 M Contiguous Zone 12 M Territorial Sea 6 M OCSLA 8(g) 3 M State-Seaward Boundary Baseline points (MLLW) NOAA Medium Resolution Shoreline National Marine Sanctuary

17. Why Should You Care? If you don’t accurately know where your area of concern is, you can’t _________________ it use manage assess measure monitor enforce extract lease You can’t expect other to follow the rules if you can’t reasonably describe your boundaries. (fill in the blank)

18. Solutions and Resources

19. FGDC Marine Boundary Working Group · Provides a venue for communicating and coordinating on marine boundary activities National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Minerals Management Service U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Park Service Census Bureau National Imagery and Mapping Agency U.S. Navy U.S. Coast Guard Environmental Protection Agency Federal Communications Commission State of Florida Department of State Bureau of Land Management U.S. Geological Survey

20. Marine Boundary Best Practices Handbook Vision: guidance document for developing marine managed area boundaries. Includes the legal and spatial components of the boundary.

21. Top 10 Ways To Create a Good Marine Boundary are…

22. #10 If possible, used fixed features when describing or developing a digital marine boundary. X

23. #9  Fuzzy terms like:  Shoreline  High wash of the waves  General contour of the coast  Approximate low water  Conflicting references (e.g., 1000m isobath and coordinate listing)  Include spatial information – projections, datums Avoid ambiguous, conflicting language when describing a boundary. X

24. #8 When developing a digital marine boundary, use the official source for boundary information. Baseline points - envelope of arcs? Shoreline points and buffer?

25. #7 Develop feature level metadata for boundaries. Indian reservations mean lower low water line “ … except where adjacent to Indian reservations, State and County owned lands; in such case, the coastal boundary is the mean lower low water line.”

26. #6 When developing a boundary from a hard copy document, use the largest scale source material. Chart 11438 Scale = 1:30,000 Chart 11434 Scale = 1:180,000

27. #5 Develop a standard operating procedure for boundary development for your organization. 1.…… 2.…… 3.…… 4.…… …… Last step: Back-up data

28. #4 Produce a clear legal description that can be easily, accurately, and unambiguously translated into a digital boundary. “A line drawn from the southernmost extremity of Savannah Beach on Tybee Island 255° true across Tybee Inlet to the shore of Little Tybee Island south of the entrance to Buck Hammock Creek” (U.S. Department of Transportation, 1995) Excerpt from COLREGS description:

29. #3 Prior to publication, have your boundary reviewed by mapping, legal, and enforcement staff.

30. #2 Develop metadata using approved national standards to help strengthen the validity of the data. FGDC-compliant metadata!

31. #1 Widely publish and share your marine boundary data -data clearinghouse -World Wide Web -other local sources

32. Marine Boundary Working Group http://www.csc.noaa.gov/mbwg Available Resources:  Overview of U.S. marine cadastral boundaries  Data Portal – Geospatial data and source information  Marine Boundary Best Practices Manual – Guidance document for developing marine managed area boundaries. Includes the legal and spatial components of the boundary.

33. Marine Boundary Working Group Poster

34. For Additional Information David Stein NOAA Coastal Services Center Dave.Stein@noaa.gov