II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 55 

To extend the seaward boundaries of certain States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 7, 2015 

Mr. VITTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To extend the seaward boundaries of certain States, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Offshore Fairness 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) COAST LINE.—The term ‘‘coast line’’ means 

9 the line of ordinary low water along the portion of 

10 the coast which is in direct contact with the open 

11 sea and the line marking the seaward limit of inland 


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1 waters, as in existence on the day that is 1 day be2 fore the date of enactment of this Act. 

3 (2) EXISTING INTEREST.—The term ‘‘existing 

4 interest’’ means any lease, easement, right of use, or 

5 right-of-way on, or for any natural resources or min6 erals, underlying, expanded submerged land that is 

7 in existence on the date of conveyance of the ex8 panded submerged land. 

9 (3) EXPANDED SEAWARD BOUNDARY.—The 

10 term ‘‘expanded seaward boundary’’ means the 

11 boundary of a State that is 3 marine leagues sea12 ward of the coast line of the State. 

13 (4) EXPANDED SUBMERGED LAND.—The term 

14 ‘‘expanded submerged land’’ means the area of the 

15 outer Continental Shelf that is located between the 

16 point that is 3 miles seaward of the coast line of a 

17 State and the point that is 3 marine leagues sea18 ward of the coast line of the State. 

19 (5) INTEREST OWNER.—The term ‘‘interest 

20 owner’’ means any person holding an existing inter21 est or a portion of an existing interest. 

22 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

23 the Secretary of the Interior. 

24 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 

25 the States of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, 


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1 Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and 

2 Virginia. 

3 SEC. 3. SEAWARD BOUNDARIES OF CERTAIN STATES. 

4 (a) SEAWARD BOUNDARIES.—Section 4 of the Sub5 merged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1312) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘The’’ at the beginning and in7 serting the following: 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except for the States described 

9 in subsection (b), the’’; and 

10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(b) SEAWARD BOUNDARIES OF CERTAIN COASTAL

12 STATES.—Subject to subsection (a), the seaward bound13 ary of each of the following States shall be a line 3 marine 

14 leagues distant from the coast line of the State as of the 

15 date that is 1 day before the date of enactment of the 

16 Offshore Fairness Act: 

17 ‘‘(1) Alabama. 

18 ‘‘(2) Florida. 

19 ‘‘(3) Georgia. 

20 ‘‘(4) Louisiana. 

21 ‘‘(5) Mississippi. 

22 ‘‘(6) North Carolina. 

23 ‘‘(7) South Carolina. 

24 ‘‘(8) Virginia.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 2 of the 

2 Submerged Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1301) is amended— 

3 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by inserting ‘‘, or 3 

4 marine leagues distant from the coast line of a State 

5 described in section 4(b),’’ after ‘‘the coast line of 

6 each such State’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (b)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘from the coast line’’; 

9 (B) by inserting ‘‘from the coast line of a 

10 State, or more than 3 marine leagues from the 

11 coast line of a State described in section 4(b),’’ 

12 after ‘‘three geographical miles’’; and 

13 (C) by inserting ‘‘from the coast line of a 

14 State, or more than 3 marine leagues from the 

15 coast line of a State described in section 4(b),’’ 

16 after ‘‘three marine leagues’’. 

17 SEC. 4. CONVEYANCE. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (b) and (c) 

19 and section 5, the Secretary shall, by not later than 120 

20 days after the date of enactment of this Act— 

21 (1) notify each State of the right to request a 

22 conveyance of the applicable interest of the United 

23 States in and to the expanded submerged land; and 


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1 (2) at the request of a State, convey to the ap2 plicable State the interest of the United States in 

3 and to the expanded submerged land. 

4 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—On conveyance under sub5 section (a), the Secretary shall transfer to the Governor 

6 of the State the authority to exercise the powers and du7 ties of the Secretary under the terms of any existing inter8 est, subject to the condition that the State— 

9 (1) shall not impose any burdens or require10 ments on an interest owner that would be stricter 

11 than any burdens or requirements imposed under 

12 Federal law; and 

13 (2) shall not impose any administrative or judi14 cial penalty or sanction on an interest owner that is 

15 more severe than any administrative or judicial pen16 alty or sanction under current Federal law. 

17 (c) LIABILITY.—As a condition of accepting the con18 veyance, the State shall agree to indemnify the United 

19 States from any liability to any interest owner for the tak20 ing of a property interest or breach of contract arising 

21 from— 

22 (1) the conveyance of the expanded submerged 

23 land to the State; or 


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1 (2) the administration by the State of any exist2 ing interest on or underlying the expanded sub3 merged land. 

4 SEC. 5. EFFECT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (b) 

6 through (e), this Act and the amendments made by this 

7 Act shall not affect any valid existing right in and to the 

8 expanded submerged land. 

9 (b) SUBMERGED LAND.—Submerged land within the 

10 seaward boundaries of a State (as extended by the amend11 ments made by this Act) shall be— 

12 (1) subject to Federal oil and gas mineral 

13 rights to the extent provided by law; 

14 (2) considered to be part of the Federal outer 

15 Continental Shelf for purposes of the Outer Conti16 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.); 

17 and 

18 (3) subject to— 

19 (A) leasing under the authority of that 

20 Act; 

21 (B) the distribution of revenues under sec22 tion 8(g)(2) of that Act (43 U.S.C. 

23 1337(g)(2)); and 

24 (C) any other laws applicable to the leasing 

25 of the oil and gas resources of the Federal 


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1 outer Continental Shelf, including the Gulf of 

2 Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 

3 1331 note; Public Law 109–432). 

4 (c) EXISTING LEASES.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

6 this Act shall not affect any Federal oil and gas 

7 lease in effect on the date of conveyance under sec8 tion 4. 

9 (2) DIVIDED LEASES.—If the conveyance under 

10 section 4 results in a division of a Federal oil and 

11 gas lease that is in existence on the date of convey12 ance, the conveyance of the portion of the expanded 

13 submerged land that is covered by the lease shall not 

14 take effect until the date that is 1 day after the date 

15 that the lease expires or terminates. 

16 (d) FUTURE INTERESTS.—This section shall not 

17 apply to any interest in the expanded submerged land that 

18 is granted by the State after the date on which the land 

19 is conveyed to the State under section 4. 

20 (e) TAXATION.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 

22 State may exercise all of the sovereign powers of 

23 taxation of the State within the entire extent of the 

24 seaward boundaries of the State (as extended by the 

25 amendments made by this Act). 


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1 (2) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this subsection 

2 affects the authority of a State to tax any Federal 

3 oil and gas lease in effect on the date of enactment 

4 of this Act. 

5 SEC. 6. JURISDICTION OF GULF COASTAL STATES WITH RE6 SPECT TO GULF OF MEXICO RED SNAPPER. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE.—The term 

9 ‘‘exclusive economic zone’’ has the meaning given 

10 the term in section 3 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fish11 ery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 

12 1802). 

13 (2) GULF COASTAL STATE.—The term ‘‘Gulf 

14 coastal State’’ means the following States bordering 

15 the Gulf of Mexico: 

16 (A) Alabama. 

17 (B) Florida. 

18 (C) Louisiana. 

19 (D) Mississippi. 

20 (E) Texas. 

21 (b) JURISDICTION.—For purposes of management of 

22 Gulf of Mexico red snapper, on approval by each of the 

23 Gulf coastal States of a fishery management plan applica24 ble to the Gulf coastal States that provides for the sustain25 ability of Gulf of Mexico red snapper, the Gulf coastal 


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1 States shall have exclusive fishery management authority 

2 to manage and conserve the Gulf of Mexico red snapper 

3 in adjacent coastal waters of the applicable Gulf coastal 

4 State and extending through the exclusive economic zone. 

5 (c) NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMIN6 ISTRATION.—The Administrator of the National Oceanic 

7 and Atmospheric Administration shall provide financial 

8 assistance to the Gulf coastal States for the conduct of 

9 any necessary stock assessments and data collection relat10 ing to Gulf of Mexico red snapper under subsection (b). 

Æ 


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