Opinion ID: 112480
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: The Lateral Seaward Boundary

Text: Each side has noted an exception to the Special Master's recommendation concerning the lateral seaward boundary between the States. What the Master has done here begins with his resolution of the issue concerning the river's mouth, a recommendation we have approved in Part V hereof. He accepted, as do we, that Tybee Island is to be regarded as the headland for the south side of the mouth of the Savannah River, and that the long-existing shoal forms the north side of the mouth. A seemingly complicating factor is that the Georgia coast and the South Carolina coast, where they meet at the river, do not run at exactly the same angle from due north. While each extends southwest-northeast, Georgia's coast is roughly 20 degrees from north-south and South Carolina's roughly 47 degrees. Thus, lines drawn perpendicularly from each coast overlap off the coast, and overlap more as the distance from the shoreline increases. This wedge-shaped overlap is the primary focus of the two States' respective exceptions. The Master's recommended line continues down the river's mouth until it intersects a line, from Tybee Island's most northern point to Hilton Head Island's most southern point, where it then proceeds out to sea perpendicularly to that line. South Carolina claims that the described overlap is the only area reasonably in dispute, but that the Master's line runs at an angle about six degrees north of the most favorable line Georgia could expect to receive, i. e., a line perpendicular to Georgia's coast. Thus, says South Carolina, the Master's line is wholly outside the area of overlap. South Carolina urges that the area of overlap be split more or less equally. S. C. Exceptions 22. Georgia's exception relates only to the starting point of the proposed lateral seaward boundary. Reply Brief for Georgia 17. It submits that the geographic middle of the mouth of the Savannah River should be used as the starting point of the maritime boundary, ibid., but that if this argument fails, the boundary as recommended by the Master should be upheld. The Master observed that neither Georgia's Charter of 1732 nor the 1787 Treaty of Beaufort made any reference to the lateral seaward boundary between the States. 2 Rep. 1. He noted that in 1969 the States reached a tentative agreement upon a boundary projecting due east from the mouth of the river, but that this agreement was not ratified by Congress and never was effective. Id., at 2. The two States have entered into a stipulation, approved by the Solicitor General of the United States, whereby they agree that no interest of the United States is affected by this Court's ultimate determination as to the location of the lateral seaward boundary between the States. The Master accordingly concluded that the Federal Government was not a necessary party. Id., at 3. He then proceeded to apply principles of international law, citing Wisconsin v. Michigan, 295 U. S. 455 (1935), and Texas v. Louisiana, 426 U. S. 465 (1976). The Master reviewed the States' respective contentions. He noted that Georgia cited the 1958 Geneva Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, April 29, 1958 [1964] 15 U. S. T. 1607, T. I. A. S. No. 5639, and particularly the first paragraph of Article 12 thereof, id., at 1610, which recites that neither of two adjacent States is entitled to extend its territorial sea beyond the median line every point of which is equidistant from the nearest points on the baselines. The Baseline Committee, operating in the 1970s', drew its line between Hilton Head Island and Tybee Island. The Master noted that he had determined the mouth of the river to be only approximately a mile north of the southern end of the baseline at Tybee Island. Nevertheless, in drawing the lateral seaward boundary the Master felt controlled by international law. [T]herefore, it does not follow that the starting point of the lateral seaward boundary must merely be an extension of the land boundary between the states, although such a factor must be considered as highly persuasive. 2 Rep. 5. Georgia's claimed starting point for the lateral seaward boundary was at a point halfway between Hilton Head Island and Tybee Island, and thus about two miles north of where the land boundary met the baseline. The Special Master noted that South Carolina contended that the boundary line must start at the point where the inland boundary, if extended, intersected the baseline. This would result in the boundary's being delimited seaward in a southeasterly direction running substantially parallel to the channel providing the entrance to the river. The Master then turned to the equidistant principle referred to in Texas v. Louisiana, supra . He observed, however, that while the equidistant principle may be a slightly preferred method of delimitation, it does not reach the stature of a rule of law. 2 Rep. 16. Instead, it is the principles of equity which should guide the conclusion in each particular case. Ibid. The Special Master recommended that the lateral seaward boundary between the two States be along a line drawn at right angles to the baseline beginning at a point marked X on App. A to 2 Rep. until that line reached the outer limit of the territorial sea as that outer limit existed on December 27, 1988. [6] He felt that this was a proper utilization of equitable principles. 2 Rep. 18. He further recommended that Georgia and South Carolina be required to suitably mark the lateral seaward boundary in the water area at the joint expense of the two states. Ibid. We adopt the recommendation of the Special Master as to the lateral seaward boundary between South Carolina and Georgia. We conclude that it gives equitable balance and recoguition to the so-called equidistant principle and to the inland boundary between the two States, and does so with the least possible offense to any claimed parallel between offshore territory and the coast itself. The States' respective exceptions as to the lateral seaward boundary are overruled.