United States v. Louisiana
Headline: Gulf seabed ruling awards the United States ownership of offshore lands and resources beyond states’ three-mile/three-league limits, bars states from interfering, and confirms states’ rights inside those limits.
Holding:
- Awards U.S. ownership of Gulf seabed and resources beyond states’ three-mile/three-league limits.
- Requires states to account for and pay resource revenues received since June 5, 1950.
- Enjoins states and their lessees from interfering with U.S. rights in those offshore areas.
Summary
Background
The dispute involved the United States and five coastal states — Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida — over who owns the seabed and its minerals in the Gulf of Mexico. The United States moved for judgment and to dismiss Alabama’s cross-bill. The Court announced its conclusions on May 31, 1960, and entered this final decree to state how far each state’s ownership extends into the Gulf.
Reasoning
The core question was how far each state’s ownership runs seaward and where United States ownership begins. The Court declared that the United States owns all lands, minerals, and other natural resources under the Gulf more than three geographic miles seaward from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and more than three leagues seaward from Texas and Florida, out to the edge of the Continental Shelf. Each state keeps ownership of the seabed and resources extending seaward from its coast line for the three-league or three-mile distance, and the United States has no interest in those state areas except as provided by §5 of the Submerged Lands Act. The decree also defines “coast line” for these purposes.
Real world impact
The decree enjoins the named states and those claiming under them from interfering with United States rights in the offshore areas the Court awarded to the federal government. States must identify their coast lines when agreed or determined, report money received from the described offshore lands since June 5, 1950, and, after a court-approved accounting, pay the United States amounts shown. The decree preserves a special interim agreement with Louisiana for funds already impounded and reserves the Court’s jurisdiction for further proceedings and orders as needed.
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