state jurisdiction. Unilateral actions of this type can only hinder the process of achieving an accommodation of the interests of all nations at the Law of the Sea Conference.

In accordance with the positions stated above, the United States Government reserves its rights and the rights of its nationals in the area of the Gulf of Sirte affected by the action of the Government of Libya.

Dept. of State File No. P74 0020-2088. The 1958 Convention on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone (entered into force for the United States Sept. 10, 1964) is at 15 UST 1606; TIAS 5639.

83

General

Coastal State Economic Jurisdiction

Coastal Seabed Economic Area

On March 14, 1974, John Norton Moore, Chairman of the National Security Council Interagency Task Force on the Law of the Sea and Deputy Special Representative of the President for the Law of the Sea Conference, reviewed the United States position in the Law of the Sea negotiations before the House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and International Law. With respect to coastal seabed resource jurisdiction, Mr. Moore said, in revelant part:

... the Continental Shelf Convention allows coastal states exclusive rights to explore and exploit these natural resources out to the 200 meter isobath, and beyond, to where the depth of the superjacent waters admits of exploitation.

Since World War II there have been a number of technological improvements which have allowed offshore production to take place in increasingly deeper water. It is now clear that seabed resource jurisdiction could extend well beyond the 200 meter depth though there is still uncertainty as to the outer limit of such jurisdiction. To meet these present realities and to encourage a more definite legal regime, the United States has stated that we are prepared to accept coastal state resource jurisdiction in a broad coastal seabed economic area. It is also our position that in this area the coastal state would have exclusive rights over offshore installations affecting its economic interests. While we have not indicated a position on the limits of such an area, the area must be subject to appropriate international standards for:

1) protection of other uses of the area, particularly protection of navigation and other high seas freedoms;

2) preservation of the marine environment;

3) protection of the integrity of agreements and investments made in the area;

4) provision for compulsory dispute settlement; and

5) provision for revenue sharing for international community purposes.

One potential danger in these negotiations, both with respect to living and non-living resources, is that some coastal states may attempt to acquire exclusive rights to offshore areas instead of claiming just the functional rights necessary for efficient development of the resources of these areas. One key to a successful Conference will be to separate jurisdiction over resources from jurisdiction over navigational freedoms and other non-resource uses and to carefully safeguard the non-resource uses. History has demonstrated that nations making claims to jurisdiction over high seas areas for one purpose have a tendency to expand those claims to jurisdiction for other purposes. For example, the figure of 12 miles was first used almost entirely in connection with claims for an exclusive fishing zone. Today, approximately half of the world's coastal nations claim a 12-mile territorial sea. Even the extreme 200-mile territorial sea claims seem to have their genesis largely in resource concerns. It is important, then, that the Conference ensure that coastal state rights adjacent to a 12-mile territorial sea are limited to those needed for resource development and that the residuum of high seas freedoms remains in the international community.

Hearings before the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and International Law of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, 93d Cong., 2d Sess., Mar. 14, 1974; Dept. of State Bulletin, Vol. LXX, No. 1816, Apr. 15, 1974, pp. 397-402. See also the 1973 Digest, Ch. 7, § 3, pp. 245–251.

The Economic Zone

On August 8, 1974, the United States submitted to the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea at Caracas a set of 29 draft articles for a chapter in a comprehensive law of the sea treaty dealing with the economic zone and the continental shelf. The draft articles include separate sections on the economic zone, fisheries, and the continental shelf. The first ten draft articles, dealing with the economic zone, are as follows:

PART I. THE ECONOMIC ZONE

A. Coastal State Jurisdiction

Article 1. General

1. The coastal state exercises in and throughout an area beyond and adjacent to its territorial sea, known as the economic zone, the jurisdiction and the sovereign and exclusive rights set forth in this chapter for the purpose of exploring and exploiting the natural resources, whether renewable or non-renewable, of the seabed and subsoil and the superjacent waters.

2. The coastal state exercises in the economic zone the other rights and duties specified in this Convention, including those with regard to the protection and preservation of the marine environment and the conduct of scientific research.

3. The exercise of these rights shall be in conformity with and subject to the provisions of this Convention, and shall be without prejudice to the provisions of part III of this chapter.

Article 2. Limits

The outer limit of the economic zone shall not exceed 200 nautical miles from the applicable baselines for measuring the territorial

sea.

Article 3. Artificial Islands and Installations

1. The coastal state shall have the exclusive right to authorize and regulate, in the economic zone, the construction, operation and use of artificial islands and installations for the purpose of exploration or exploitation of natural resources, or for other economic purposes, and of any installation which may interfere with the exercise of the rights of the coastal State in the economic zone.

2. The coastal state may, where necessary, establish reasonable safety zones around such offshore installations in which it may take appropriate measures to ensure the safety both of the installations and of navigation.

3. The provisions of article 28 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to such artificial islands and installations.

Article 4. Drilling

The coastal state shall have the exclusive right to authorize and regulate drilling for all purposes in the economic zone.

Article 5. Right to Protect the Marine Environment

In exercising its rights with respect to installations and seabed activities in the economic zone, the coastal state may establish standards and requirements for the protection of the marine environment additional to or more stringent than those required by applicable international standards.

Article 6. Coastal State Measures

With respect to activities subject to its sovereign or exclusive rights, the coastal state may take such measures in the economic zone as may be necessary to ensure compliance with its laws and regulations in conformity with the provisions of this Convention.

B. International Standards and Duties

Article 7. Navigation, Overflight, and Other Rights

Nothing in this chapter shall affect the rights of freedom of navigation and overflight, and other rights recognized by the gen

eral principles of international law, except as otherwise specifically provided in this Convention. The provisions of this article do not apply to activities for which the authorization of the coastal state is required pursuant to this Convention.

Article 8. Unjustifiable Interference

1. The coastal state shall exercise its rights and perform its duties in the economic zone without unjustifiable interference with navigation or other uses of the sea, and ensure compliance with applicable international standards established by the appropriate international organizations for this purpose.

2. In exercising their rights, states shall not unjustifiably interfere with the exercise of the rights or the performance of the duties of the coastal state in the economic zone.

Article 9. Duty to Protect the Marine Environment

In exercising its rights with respect to installations and seabed activities, the coastal state shall take all appropriate measures in the economic zone for the protection of the marine environment from pollution, and ensure compliance with international minimum standards for this purpose established in accordance with the provisions of chapter. (pollution).

Article 10. Dispute Settlement

Any dispute with respect to the interpretation or application of this chapter shall if requested by any party to the dispute, be resolved by the compulsory dispute settlement procedures contained in chapter

U.N. Doc. A/CONF.62/C.2/L.47, Aug. 8, 1974, pp. 1-3. The United States, in a footnote to the document, stated that the articles on the economic zone, including fisheries and the continental shelf, were "presented as a basis for negotiation subject to agreement on other basic questions of the law of the sea... ." These articles replace in their entirety draft articles on fisheries introduced by the United States on Aug. 4, 1972 (A/AC.138/SC.II/SR.40) (GAOR: Twenty-Seventh Sess., Supp. No. 21, A/8721), and on the coastal seabed economic area introduced on July 16, 1973 (GAOR: Twenty-Eighth Sess., Supp. No. 21, A/9021, Vol. III, pp. 75-77). See also the 1973 Digest, Ch. 7, § 3, pp. 245–251. For the U.S. 1974 draft articles on the continental shelf, see infra, pp. 298-300; for the 1974 draft articles on fisheries, see this Chapter, § 4, infra, pp. 306–310. For Art. 28, cited in Art. 3(3) in the text above, see the draft articles on the continental shelf, below, at p. 299.

Continental Shelf

The United States draft articles on the economic zone and the continental shelf, introduced on August 8, 1974, at the United Nations

Conference on the Law of the Sea at Caracas, include draft articles 22-29 dealing with the continental shelf, as follows:

PART III. THE CONTINENTAL SHELF

Article 22. General

1. The coastal state exercises sovereign rights over the continental shelf for the purpose of exploring and exploiting its natural re

sources.

2. The continental shelf is the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas adjacent to and beyond the territorial sea to the limit of the economic zone or, beyond that limit, throughout the submerged natural prolongation of the land territory of the coastal state to the outer limit of its continental margin, as precisely defined and delimited in accordance with article 23.

3. The provisions of this article are without prejudice to the question of delimitation between adjacent and opposite states.

Article 23. Limits

(Provisions are needed for locating and defining the precise limit of the continental margin, and to provide a precise and permanent boundary between coastal state jurisdiction and the international seabed area.)

Article 24. Natural Resources

The natural resources referred to in article 22 consist of the mineral and other non-living resources of the seabed and subsoil together with living organisms belonging to sedentary species, that is to say, organisms which, at the harvestable stage, either are immobile on or under the seabed or are unable to move except in constant physical contact with the seabed or the subsoil.

Article 25. Superjacent Waters

The rights of the coastal state over the continental shelf do not affect the legal status of the superjacent waters, or that of the air space above those waters.

Article 26. Application of Economic Zone Provisions

The provisions of part 1 of this chapter shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to the seabed and subsoil of the continental shelf.

Article 27. Duties with Respect to Non-Renewable Resources

In the exercise of its rights with respect to the non-renewable resources of the continental shelf, the coastal state:

(a) shall comply with legal arrangements which it has entered into with other contracting states, their instrumentalities, or their nationals in respect to the exploration or exploitation of such resources and shall not take property of such states, instrumentalities or nationals except for a public purpose on a non-discriminatory basis and with adequate provisions at the time for prompt payment of just compensation in an effectively realizable form, and