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I 111TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 934 To convey certain submerged lands to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in order to give that territory the same benefits in its submerged lands as Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa have in their submerged lands. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 10, 2009 Mr. SABLAN (for himself, Mr. FLAKE, and Ms. BORDALLO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To convey certain submerged lands to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in order to give that territory the same benefits in its submerged lands as Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa have in their submerged lands. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. CONVEYANCE OF CERTAIN SUBMERGED LANDS 3 TO THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN 4 MARIANA ISLANDS. 5 The first section of Public Law 93–435 (48 U.S.C. 6 1705) is amended— 7 VerDate Nov 24 2008 06:42 Feb 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H934.IH H934 jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS 2 •HR 934 IH (1) in the second sentence of subsection (b), by 1 inserting ‘‘the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar- 2 iana Islands,’’ after ‘‘Guam,’’ each place it appears; 3 and 4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(e)(1) Subject to valid existing rights, all right, title, 6 and interest of the United States in lands permanently 7 or periodically covered by tidal waters up to but not above 8 the line of mean high tide and seaward to a line 3 geo- 9 graphical miles distant from the coastline of the territory 10 of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 11 (as modified before, on, or after the date of enactment 12 of this subsection by accretion, erosion, or reliction, or in 13 artificially made, filled in, or reclaimed lands that were 14 formerly permanently or periodically covered by tidal wa- 15 ters) are conveyed to the Government of the Common- 16 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to be adminis- 17 tered in trust for the benefit of the people of the Common- 18 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 19 ‘‘(2) The conveyance shall be subject to subsections 20 (b), (c), and (d) except that each reference to the ‘date 21 of enactment of this Act’ in those clauses shall (for the 22 purposes of this subsection) be considered to be a ref- 23 erence to the date of enactment of this subsection.’’. 24 VerDate Nov 24 2008 06:42 Feb 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H934.IH H934 jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS 3 •HR 934 IH SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF PUBLIC LAW 93–435. 1 Public Law 93–435 (48 U.S.C. 1705 et seq.) is 2 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 3 ‘‘SEC. 7. CONSISTENT APPLICATION. 4 ‘‘This Act is intended to be applied in a consistent 5 manner to Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, 6 and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 7 except to the extent that there is a specific and express 8 exception in this Act regarding its application to one or 9 more of these territories.’’. 10 Æ VerDate Nov 24 2008 06:42 Feb 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H934.IH H934 jbell on PROD1PC69 with BILLS