Public Law 88–183

upon the request of the Governor of Guam, the Governor of the Virgin Islands, or the Governor of American Samoa, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to convey to the government of the territory concerned whatever right, title, or interest the United States has in particular tracts of tidelands, submerged lands, or filled lands in or adjacent to the territory, subject to the limitations contained in this section. The

“Tidelands, submerged lands, or filled lands.”

term “tidelands, submerged lands, or filled lands” means for the purposes of this Act. all lands permanently or periodically covered by tidal waters up to but not above the line of mean high tide and seaward to a line three geographical miles distant from the coastlines of the territory, as heretofore or hereafter modified by accretion, erosion, and reliction, including artificially made, filled-in, or reclaimed lands which were formerly permanently or periodically covered by tidal waters.

No conveyance shall be made pursuant to this section unless the land proposed to be conveyed is clearly required for specific economic development purposes or to satisfy a compelling public need.

No conveyance shall be made pursuant to this section until the expiration of sixty calendar days (exclusive of days on which the House of Representatives or the Senate is not in session because of an adjournment of more than three days to a day certain) from the date on which the Secretary of the Interior submits to the Committees on Interior and Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate an explanatory statement indicating the tract proposed to be conveyed and the need therefor, unless prior to the expiration of such sixty calendar days both committees mform the Secretary that they wish to take no action with respect to the proposed conveyance.

Conveyances pursuant to this section shall be subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary of the Interior may deem appropriate, and shall be made without reimbursement or with such reimbursement as he may deem appropriate.

The governments of Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa shall have proprietary rights of ownership and the rights of management, administration, leasing, use, and the development of the lands conveyed pursuant to this section, but. the Secretary of the Interior and such territorial governments shall not have the power or right to convey title to such lands unless the Secretary of the Interior (1) determines that such right to convey is necessary and (2) advises the committee of such determination in the manner described in subsection (c) of this section, and (3) unless the Secretary of the Interior, in proposing to convey such lands to such territorial governments, and such territorial governments in proposing to convey such lands to a third party or third parties pursuant to this section, shall publish notice of such proposed conveyance at. least once a week for three weeks in a daily newspaper or newspapers of general circulation in the territory affected by the proposed conveyance. Such published notice shall include the names of all parties to the proposed contract, of conveyance, the purchase price, and a general summary of the boundaries of the tract or tracts proposed to be included in the conveyance.

There shall be excepted from conveyances made pursuant to this section all deposits of oil, gas, and other minerals, but. the tenu “minerals” shall not include sand, gravel, or coral.

The Secretary of the Interior shall have administrative

Administrative responsibility.

responsibility for all tidelands, submerged lands, or filled lands in or adjacent to Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, except (1) lands conveyed pursuant to section 1 of this Act, (2) lands that are not owned by the United States on the date of enactment of this Act, and (3) lands that are within the administrative responsibility of any other department or agency of the United States on the date of enactment of this Act, for so long as such condition continues. In exercising such authority, the Secretary may grant revocable permits, subject to such ternrs and conditions as he may deem appropriate, for the use, occupancy, and filling of such lands, and for the removal of sand, gravel, and coral therefrom.

Nothing contained in this section shall affect the authority heretofore conferred upon any department, agency, or officer of the United States with respect to the lands referred to in this section.

Nothing in this Act shall affect tire right of the President

Reservation of certain rights.

to establish naval defensive sea areas and naval airspace reservations around and over the islands of Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands which he deems necessary for national defense.

Nothing in this Act shall affect the use, development, improvement, or control by or under the constitutional authority of the United States of the lands conveyed pursuant to section 1 of this Act and the navigable waters overlying suclr lands, for the purposes of navigation or flood control or the production of power, or shall be construed as the release or relinquishment of any rights of the United States arising under the constitutional authority of Congress to regulate or improve navigation, or to provide for flood control, or the production of power.

The United States retains all of its navigational servitude and rights in and powers of regulation and control of the lands conveyed pursuant to section 1 of this Act and the navigable waters overlying such lands, for the constitutional purposes of commerce, navigation, national defense, and international affairs, all of which shall be paramount to, but shall not be deemed to include, proprietary rights of ownership, or the rights of management, administration, leasing, use, and development of the lands and natural resources not hi derogation of United States navigational servitude and rights which are specifically conveyed to the governments of Guam, the Virgin Islands, or American Samoa, as the, case may be, pursuant to section 1 of this Act.

Except as otherwise provided in this section, the governments

Concurrent jurisdiction.

of Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, as the case may be, shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the United States over parties found, acts performed, and offenses committed on property owned, reserved, or controlled by the United States in Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. A judgment of conviction or acquittal on the merits under the laws of Guam, the Virgin Islands, or American Samoa shall be a bar to any prosecution under the criminal laws of the United States for the same act or acts, and a judgment of conviction or acquittal on the merits under the laws of the United States shall be a bar to any prosecution under the laws of Guam, the Virgin Islands, or American Samoa for the same act or acts.

Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the President may from time to time exclude from the con-current jurisdiction of the government of Guam persons found, acts garformed, and offenses committed on the property of the United tates which is under the control of the Secretary of Defense to such extent and in such circumstances as he finds required in the interest of the national defense.