# Presentation: 342510

## The Past, Present, and Future of U.S. Marine Boundaries

**The Past, Present, and Future of U.S. Marine Boundaries**
***Leading to the development of a comprehensive marine cadastre***

**Notes:**
This is a brand new working group started in January of 2001.
 Started out of the need to start addressing boundary issues  

## Presentation Outline

**Presentation Outline**

**The current state of marine boundaries **
**Examples****—****marine boundary data problems**
**Solutions and resources:**
**   ****Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Marine Boundary Working Group**
**Building the U.S. Marine Cadastre**

## The Current State of Marine Boundaries

**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**

## Slide 4

## Depiction of U.S. Marine Boundaries

**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.

**Notes:**
Tidal Datums - Mean Higher High Water (MHHW), Mean High Water (MHW), Mean Low  Water (MLW)
Baseline - The Xs represent the salient points of the baseline (MLLW) used in the calculation  of the offshore boundaries. The straight portion, across the bay, is a closing line used to  separate inland water bodies from the open sea and is also used in the calculation of the  offshore boundaries.
Sanctuary (marine protected area)  - often transcend  federal and state jurisdictional boundaries, and may extend to the seafloor and subsoil resources.
State Seaward - Limit is generally situated 3 nautical miles from the baseline, although several U.S. states and commonwealth boundaries extend to 9 nautical miles. 
Revenue Sharing - Zone extends 3 nautical miles beyond the state seaward limit. Limit of the "8(g) Zone". 27 percent of all revenues from offshore lease production within 3 nautical miles beyond the state’s seaward boundary be given to the states
Territorial Sea - Extends 12 nautical miles from the baseline.
Contiguous Zone - In the U.S., this zone begins at the seaward limit of the territorial seal and extends seaward 24 nautical miles from the baseline (Presidential Executive Order on September 2, 1999).
 Lease Blocks - Units that define subdivisions of the outer continental shelf within U.S. jurisdiction for the purpose of mineral leasing. 
 Exclusive Economic Zone - Extends from the seaward limit of the territorial sea to 200 nautical miles beyond the baseline from which the territorial sea is measured, or to a maritime boundary agreed upon by international treaty.
 Continental Shelf - Limit not yet claimed by the U.S. Refer to Article 76 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea for delimitation criteria. 

## Who’s Involved in Marine Boundaries in the U.S.?

**Who’s Involved in Marine Boundaries in the U.S.?**

**International****—**United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), bilateral treaties
**Ad Hoc Committee on the U.S. Baseline****—**oversees the development of the baseline and the derived boundaries  (chaired by Dept. of State)
**NOAA****—**official nautical chart for maritime boundaries;National Marine Sanctuaries
**Mineral Management Service (MMS)****—**Submerged Lands Act; Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) lease blocks
**U.S. Fish and Wildlife, National Park Service, States, Tribes****—**parks and other marine managed areas
**County, local, regional entities**
**Others**

**Notes:**
Legal Interpretations and Practice in the U.S.: In the U.S., an oversight body called the Ad Hoc Committee on the U.S. Baseline oversees the development of the baseline and the derived boundaries.  The committee is chaired by the Department of State and is made up of a number of other federal agencies with offshore mandates.  In the case of the U.S. baseline, there are two federal interpretations.  Regulatory limits, controlled by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, are under the responsibility of the Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS).  The baseline, from which these regulatory limits are measured is negotiated between the federal government and the states.  Generally, these boundaries are ambulatory, that is to say they move with the normal erosion and accretion of the shoreline, but on occasion may be fixed by joint motion before the Supreme Court.  Maritime boundaries described under UNCLOS (and the baseline to develop these boundaries) are generally derived by NOAA.  However, these two baselines can be coincident at the time of development, but UNCLOS limits are ambulatory and shift with changes in the low water line.  In other words, one baseline is used for determining federal/state jurisdictions and revenue sharing while the other is used for determining international jurisdictions, which causes confusion for the coastal community.

## Why Do You Need 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**

**Notes:**
Traditionally, ocean tenure has been held by the country with the largest naval fleet and the desire to control “its” waters.  
Series of claims to divide the ocean, the living marine resources within, and sand and mineral resources in the seafloor
Global Positioning System (GPS), geographic information systems (GIS), and electronic charting display information systems (ECDIS) have enhanced and complicated the development of ocean boundaries to support these claims.  

Increased the pressure for accurate seafloor mapping.
Advances in mining technology- increased the commercial viability of offshore mineral extraction

Offshore sand for beach renourishment projects has become a high demand resource.  

Increase law enforcement and begin comprehensive planning because of depleted marine resources and increased threats by man-made pollutants

## Legal Framework Has Not Kept Up with Technology

***Past***

***Present***

**Legal Framework Has Not ****Kept Up with Technology**

**Notes:**
The methods used to delineate spatial applicability of recent legislation are based on age old technology and have not been updated to match the advances in accuracy and precision of current technology.

.  Traditionally, ocean tenure has been held by the country with the largest naval fleet and the desire to control and/or use “its” coastal waters.  The sense of nationalism to secure or extend domain has stimulated a series of claims, dividing the ocean, the living marine resources within, and sand and mineral resources in the seafloor (U.S. Department of State, 1969).  Technological advances in mapping, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), geographic information systems (GIS), and electronic charting display information systems (ECDIS) have enhanced and complicated the development of ocean boundaries to delimit these claims.  Today, mariners have the capability for precise positioning, causing the days of dead reckoning and paper navigation charts to become ancient history.  Advances in mining technology have increased the commercial viability of offshore mineral extraction, which in turn has increased the pressure for accurate seafloor mapping. 
In the past, the majority of the mining was for oil, gas, and sulfur.  Now offshore sand for beach renourishment projects has become a high demand resource.  Depleted marine resources and increased threats by man-made pollutants are forcing many countries to increase law enforcement and begin comprehensive planning in the offshore environment.  As a result, the need for accurate, useable, and accessible digital marine boundaries, defining territorial claims, is unprecedented for business in today's ocean.   

## Land vs. Water Cadastre

**Land vs. Water Cadastre**

**Similar issues **
**A record of the nature and extent of interests in land**
**Adjudication**
**Survey**
**Bundle of rights**
**Dissimilar issues **
**Mapping the shoreline has****increased significance **
**Many lines are ambulatory **
**Delimited, not demarcated**

***...only mathematical evidence is left behind***

**Notes:**
The term cadastre has not often been used in the context of the marine environment.  There are many similarities, but a few significant differences, between a marine and land cadastre.  Many of the upland cadastral components such as adjudication, survey, and owner rights have a parallel condition in the ocean.  These boundaries share a common element with their land-based counterparts in that in order to map a boundary, one must adequately interpret the language of the law and its spatial context.  Other typical cadastral processes such as demarcation become problematic when applied to marine boundaries.  Marine boundaries are delimited, not demarcated, and generally there is no physical evidence, only mathematical evidence left behind (Carrera, 1999).  Physical evidence of upland boundaries, such as monuments, pins, hedgerows, or fences are not always practicable in the marine environment. 

## Marine Boundary Data Issues

**Marine Boundary Data Issues**

**General ambiguities****—**units, datums, unclear language, mathematical solution not stated
**Legal **language not easily mappable**—**head of tide, high wash of waves, 3 mi. from coast
**Conflicting **sources
**Ambulatory** boundaries
**Cartographic** source

**Notes:**
The term baseline can be a bit misleading because in actual practice it is not a line but a series of points representing the most seaward portions of the coast.  Only the most seaward (salient) points affect the location of the offshore boundary. 
In the paper chart days, a compass was used to swing an arc from each salient point and create an envelope of arcs that could be joined to create the boundary.  Today, computers are able to streamline the process and consider each baseline point and its influence on the solution.  As the boundary increases in distance from the baseline, fewer baseline points are needed for the solution.  Great care must be taken in developing this solution.  A simple buffer on a projected (e.g., Mercator, etc.) map, which is a common operation to most GIS software, is not adequate in this instance and will produce errors.  The correct solution must be three-dimensional projection over the earth’s ellipsoidal surface.  

Each point or line segment of a baseline can add enormous significance to the final projected boundary and the resulting regulated area.  As an example, an island of the smallest significance can lead to a 3-mile boundary covering over 28 square miles, or an EEZ covering over 125,000 square miles of adjacent ocean and seabed.  The slight adjustment of a baseline point can result in a large change in the projected area.  Another complicating factor is that the baseline, as defined by law, is ambulatory, and therefore most of the offshore boundaries derived from the baseline are ambulatory as well.  The exception to this are boundaries fixed by Supreme Court decree for Submerged Lands Act purposes.  

## Cartographic Issues

**Cartographic Issues**

- .

**  ****Scale**
**  ****Projection**
**  ****Datum**
**  ****Date**
**  ****Coordinate accuracy **

**Notes:**
Often map sources are in conflict.  NOAA, with a mission to provide for safe navigation develops charts with an emphasis on issues important to the mariner, mapping the shoreline at its lowest vertical datum and often not mapping up rivers.  USGS is more focused on the land-based resources, where

## General Ambiguities Example Geographic Information System (GIS) buffer algorithm vs. Envelope of arcs 

**General***** *****Ambiguities Example**** *****Geographic Information System****** (GIS) ******buffer algorithm vs. Envelope of arcs***** **

**Shoreline points and buffer**

**Notes:**

CFR boundary coordinates are inconsistent with other boundary data:
“  ... the Sanctuary border follows a line contiguous with the three-mile jurisdictional boundary of Massachusetts...” (CFR)

Sources:
Stellwagen Bank coordinates were generated from coordinates listed within the code of federal regulations

NOAA Fed/State boundary is depicted on NOAA Nautical chart.

NMS Fed/State boundary was obtained from MMS

## Legal Language Example

**Legal Language Example**

**Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) language lists coordinates and reference to isobath**

**1000 m isobath**
**coordinate list**

**Notes:**
The United State Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) definition for Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary (CBNMS) states that the boundary runs “to the 1,000-fathom isobath northwest of the Bank, then south along this isobath the GFNMS [Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary] .”  The boundary coordinates, however, fall over 100 meters short of this referenced isobath line as depicted on the best available nautical chart (18640_1: San Francisco to Point Arena, March 22, 1997). An additional concern is the lack of a specified source for bathymetric data. While the definition could be amended to read “to the 1000-fathom isobath as represented on nautical chart....”, further ambiguities could result from the ambulatory nature of the isobath line, which could be subject to frequent change. 

## Conflicting Source Example

**Conflicting Source Example**

**Different coordinates in two designations have led to a sliver**

**Cordell Bank NMS**

**Gulf of the ****Farallones** **NMS**

**Notes:**
Conflicting boundary descriptions within the CFR have lead to a discrepancy between the shared boundaries of Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones:  The textual description describes the boundary of CBNMS as shared with the GFNMS. However, when both sets of coordinates (from both sanctuaries) are plotted, they do not in fact coincide. Consequently, there are areas between the two sanctuaries that currently could be interpreted to fall outside of the jurisdiction of either sanctuary. 

## Reference to Ambulatory Features

**Reference to Ambulatory Features**

**Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (NMS)  is defined within the *****CFR***** as the *****Mean High Water (MHW) Line,***** excluding certain bodies of coastal waters**

**International Collision at Sea Regulation (Colreg.) lines****—****maintained by U.S. Coast Guard**

**Notes:**
The inner boundary of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary is currently defined within the CFR as the Mean High Water Line excluding certain bodies of coastal waters.  International Collision at Sea Regulation (Colreg.) lines are used to define these exclusions. However, no coordinates are listed within the sanctuary boundary description  which define these lines, and consequently, boundary interpretations are subject to data outside of the realm of the CFR definition, as well as NOAA and the Department of Commerce. Colreg lines are defined and maintained by the United States Coast Guard, and subject to change, both in geographic location as well as name. Consequently, sanctuary boundary definitions which are dependant upon these lines, may in fact be interpreted incorrectly (but legally accurate?) if there are significant changes in the Colreg lines. 

## Other Issues

**Other Issues**

- .

**Fuzzy terms (e.g., shoreline) **
**Missing information (e.g, datum)**
**Coordinate accuracy **
**Overlapping or conflicting mandates**

**Notes:**
Often map sources are in conflict.  NOAA, with a mission to provide for safe navigation develops charts with an emphasis on issues important to the mariner, mapping the shoreline at its lowest vertical datum and often not mapping up rivers.  USGS is more focused on the land-based resources, where

## State Watersgenerally applies—some exceptions

**Private ownership generally extends to the MHW line*****(except for TX - Mean Higher High Water or DE, MA, ME, NM, PA, and VA which use Mean Lower Low Water)***
**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 where reserved by federal government)***
**Adjudicated bilateral boundaries do not exist *****(exceptions: TX/LA, SC/GA, ME/NH)***

**Notes:**
Historical Perspective: U.S. law (and also some international law) can be traced back to 6th century Roman civil law that stated that the sea and the shores of the sea were to be held as common areas.  Following the Magna Carta, much of the Roman law was adopted by English common law, and certain submerged lands were held in “public trust by the king for the benefit of all English subjects."  These basic principles have survived the American Revolution, and with slight modifications have become the basis of U.S. property law in the marine environment.  (Reed, 2000; The Coastal State Organization, 1997).  This body of law and its practice is often referred to as the Public Trust Doctrine, and these lands are often referred to as public trust lands.  These may include: navigable lakes and rivers as well as the coastal belt between mean high and mean low water lines (i.e., the beach).  In the U.S., the issue of states’ rights further complicates the delineation of public trust lands.  As a result, there are many different state interpretations of what constitutes public trust lands. 
State Claims: Generally under U.S. law, upland private ownership extends to the MHW line.  In some states, however, private rights will only extend to MHHW (e.g., Texas) or in some cases down to the MLW (e.g., Delaware) line.  The selection of these seaward boundaries (tidal datums) has a relationship to when the individual states entered the Union.  Seaward of this line are the public trust lands that are managed by the state or federal government.  In most cases, the individual coastal state has control of the sea bottom and marine resources from mean high water out to the state’s seaward boundary at 3 nautical miles from the coast line (43 U.S.C. § 1312, unless reserved by the federal government, § 1313).  As described in the UNCLOS, the federal government has sovereign rights over all living and nonliving resources out to the extent of the continental shelf and EEZ.  Like many laws, there are exceptions to the rules.  In some states and commonwealths (e.g., Texas, Puerto Rico, Gulf coast of Florida) the state has jurisdiction over the natural resources out to 3 marine leagues (9 nautical miles).  Within this area, states have the authority to manage, administer, lease, develop, and use the natural resources of the ocean; and the federal government retains control over commerce, navigation, defence, fisheries, and international matters. The Magnuson Act gives the states primary responsibility over fisheries within the state seaward boundary, with a federal override if conservation needs are not being met.  
bilateral Boundaries: Bilateral boundaries are boundaries between adjacent states extending from the shore to their seaward boundary or boundaries between adjacent.

## 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.  **

**Notes:**
As described in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the federal government has sovereign rights over all living and nonliving resources out to the extent of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone (EEZ).  Like many laws, there are exceptions to the rules.  In some states and commonwealths (e.g., Texas, Puerto Rico, Gulf coast of Florida) the state has jurisdiction over the natural resources out to 3 marine leagues (9 nautical miles).  Within this area, states have the authority to manage, administer, lease, develop, and use the natural resources of the ocean; and the federal government retains control over commerce, navigation, defence, fisheries, and international matters.  There are also other special managed areas such as marine protected areas that can overlap both state and federal waters. The Magnuson Act gives the states primary responsibility over fisheries within the state seaward boundary, with a federal override if conservation needs are not being met.  

## Marine Boundaries

***Atlantic Ocean***

**Marine Boundaries**

**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**

**Notes:**
This is a bird eye view of the marine cadastral boundaries around south Florida.

Marine cadastral boundaries describe the property interests or the geographic extent of the past, current, and future rights and interests in the oceans.  This includes the delineation of private, state, national, and international rights.  These lines form the primary geographic framework for creating many of the other legal spatial data layers

Exclusive Economic Zone- established through presidential proclamation in 1983.  Consists of those areas adjoining the territorial sea out to 200nm or boundary agreed upon by neighboring countries. Sovereign rights over all living and nonliving resources. (NOAA)
12nm Territorial Sea- presidential proclamation in 1988 claiming a 12 mile territorial sea for the US.  As established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, it is measured from the baseline and extends to the airspace above and to the seabed. (NOAA)
6nm OCSLA 8(g)- Section 8(g) of the 1985 amendments to the OCSLA resolved a dispute over how the federal government shares revenues with affected states. The amendments mandated that 27 percent of all revenues from production within 3 miles seaward of the state-seaward boundary be given to the states (MMS)
3nm State-Seaward Boundary- The Submerged Lands Act granted states title to the natural resources located within three miles of their coastline (MMS)
Baseline points (MLLW)- Points identified along the coast from which to measure the width of the Territorial Sea, and other boundaries. (MMS/NOAA)
NOAA Medium Resolution Shoreline-1-70k median shoreline
National Marine Sanctuary- Coordinates defined in the Code of Federal Regulations (NOAA)

## 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*****)**

## Solutionsand Resources

##        FGDC Marine Boundary Working Group (MBWG)

**       ****FGDC Marine Boundary Working Group (MBWG)**
-   Provides a venue for communicating and coordinating on
-     marine boundary activities
-   Fosters integrated approaches to legal and geospatial
-     descriptions of marine boundaries
-   Maximizes use of public resources to avoid duplication of
-     effort
-   Develops marine boundary dissemination mechanisms
-   Develops data content standards and standardized
-    methodologies to produce more complete, accurate, and
-    usable marine boundary data

***www.csc.noaa.gov/mbwg/***

## Participating Agencies

**Participating Agencies**

-  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

## Work Items of the MBWG

**Work Items of the MBWG**

- 1.  MBWG outreach strategy
- 2.  Marine boundary training and education
- 3.  Marine boundary database and Web portal
- Data Content Standard (with Cadastral Subcommittee)
- Managerial support and resources for developing      and maintaining marine boundaries
- Agency-specific boundary review protocols
- Process for making digital boundaries legal and enforceable

**Notes:**
  To come up with these issues, we went around the room and everyone presented at least one issue that was important to them.
 We then voted on the issues
 We picked the top four and broke out into four groups to further define.
 You should have part of the issues summary sheets as a handout.
 Today, we’ll be working to develop strategies to address these issues in the context of the marine boundaries we discuss.

## Work Items—Accomplishments

**Work Items****—****Accomplishments**

-  One-pager
-  MBWG poster
-  Standard presentation
-  Web site
*www.csc.noaa.gov/mbwg/*

**Notes:**
  To come up with these issues, we went around the room and everyone presented at least one issue that was important to them.
 We then voted on the issues
 We picked the top four and broke out into four groups to further define.
 You should have part of the issues summary sheets as a handout.
 Today, we’ll be working to develop strategies to address these issues in the context of the marine boundaries we discuss.

## Marine Boundary Working Group Web Site

**Marine Boundary Working Group Web Site**

**Notes:**
www.csc.noaa.gov/mbwg/

## Marine Boundary Working Group Poster

**Marine Boundary Working Group Poster**

**Notes:**
The poster is available on our web site at www.csc.noaa.gov/mbwg/

## Planned Activities

**Planned Activities**

-  Development of marine boundaries best practices
-    handbook
-  Development of marine boundaries training
-    curriculum
-  Creation of data portal for marine boundaries
-  Development of data standards
-  Coordination with MPA inventory team
-  Creation of process for making digital boundaries
-    legal and enforceable
-  Development of U.S. Marine Cadastre

## Marine Boundary Best Practices Manual

**Vision:** guidance document for developing marine protected area boundaries.  Includes the legal and spatial components of the boundary.

## Developing the Marine Component of the FGDC Cadastral Data Content Standard

**Goals:**
-  Create common definitions for marine cadastral
-    information found in public records
-  Provide suggested attribute values, which will
-    enhance data sharing
-  Resolve discrepancies between ambiguous language
-  Facilitate data sharing at all levels of government
-    and protect and enhance the investments in marine
-    cadastral data

## Building a U.S. Marine Cadastre

**Building a U.S. Marine Cadastre**

- Through all of these activities, the goal of the Marine Boundary Working Group is to facilitate the development of a comprehensive **Marine Cadastre**

## The U.S. Marine Cadastre

**The U.S. Marine Cadastre**

***Working Definitions***
**Marine Cadastre**: The public record of offshore rights, restrictions, and responsibilities.  The marine cadastre includes, but is not limited to: Marine Managed Areas and their boundaries; parcels of ocean uses and their boundaries, including the submerged land management system used by the United States and its coastal states; and the rights, restrictions, responsibilities, and legal authority applied to marine spaces.
**Marine Boundaries:** A marine boundary delineates a marine area within which sovereignty, political jurisdiction, or legal authority may be exercised. Marine boundaries can be described or depicted in various ways including textual descriptions, geographic coordinates, digital cartographic data, or any other representation describing or depicting discrete marine areas.

## U.S. Marine Cadastre – Data Examples

**U.S. Marine Cadastre – Data Examples**

**Notes:**
Our goal in building a comprehensive marine cadastre is to organize documentation, develop data content standards and implementation strategies, and develop a data portal that provides access to all of this information. 

## For Additional Information:

**For Additional Information:**
**FGDC Marine Boundary Working Group *****www.csc.noaa.gov/mbwg/***
**Cindy Fowler****NOAA Coastal Services Center*****Cindy.Fowler@noaa.gov***
** ****Lee Thormahlen**
***    *****Mineral Management Service**
**    *****Leland.Thormahlen@mms.gov***

## Discussion...

**Discussion...**