Why Texas gets 9 miles of off-shore territory but Louisiana gets 3 — and how it could change

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Garret Graves intends to sprint toward the finish line for the 118th Congress, which convenes Monday and disbands in a month, by pushing an issue he has been working since he was a Capitol Hill staffer 20 years ago.

“This has been an ongoing effort for me, for many years, to give Louisiana parity,” Graves said.

Graves, a Baton Rouge Republican who steps down when the 119th Congress assumes office on Jan. 3, teamed with Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, on a bill that would give Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama the same offshore sovereignty as Texas and Florida — moving the boundary line from three nautical miles to nine — thereby allowing Louisiana control of more energy exploration and fishing rights.

Graves said last week in announcing the Offshore Parity Act of 2024, “I’m not sure who was negotiating for us generations ago, but that is just ridiculous.”

History, rather than bonehead negotiators, played a greater role in setting state sovereignty over offshore waters.

Back in the 1600s, control of territorial waters off the coast was legally determined by how far a cannon could fire over the sea. The “cannon shot” rule gave nations control of their coastal waters for three nautical miles — roughly three and half miles on land.

As secretary of state in 1793, Thomas Jefferson claimed the United States boundaries extended three nautical miles into the territorial sea.

The independent Republic of Texas joined the United States in 1845 after breaking away in 1836 from Mexico, which itself had declared independence from Spain 15 years earlier. Florida also joined the union in 1845 after Spain relinquished rights to both territories.

Offshore sovereignty under Spain extended three leagues — roughly nine nautical miles off the coast. Those boundaries were set for Texas and Florida in the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo of 1848.

When both states rejoined the union after the Civil War, the same boundaries were kept. Everywhere else stayed at three nautical miles.

Generally, a state has sovereignty over the sea, the air above, and the bed below the sea within those limits.

The sea is vast and nobody really cared for generations, except for occasional squabbles over fishing rights.

That is until the 1940s when technology had progressed to exploit the oil and natural gas discovered in pockets underneath the Gulf of Mexico and off the California coast. With big money involved, territorial waters became a states versus federal rights debate.

Several states claimed jurisdiction over mineral and other resources off their coasts. Multiple U.S. Supreme Court decisions honored the nine-mile jurisdiction for Texas and Florida, three miles for everyone else, based on historical treaties. In 1947, the high court found that states had no title to resources beyond those limits.

Congress enacted the Submerged Lands Act of 1953 that limited states — except Texas and Florida — to three nautical miles off their coasts.

In 1969, the Supreme Court found that Louisiana could not prove its jurisdiction extended three leagues into the Gulf when the state joined the union in 1812.

The Graves-Carter bill addresses the legal imbalance.

“Our bill fixes this disparity by giving all Gulf states the same nine miles of energy, fisheries and other resources to manage,” Graves said. “Energy production in Louisiana waters will result in new revenue to rebuild our coast and protect our people and energy infrastructure. And Louisiana fisheries management will remain the best in the country.”

Carter likened the bipartisan bill to a tool in the debate.

“This is a critical step toward equality, ensuring Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama have the same authority over their waters as Texas and Florida,” he said.

The lame-duck 118th Congress has scheduled 12 days of work on Capitol Hill in December. During that time, Congress must pass legislation addressing this fiscal year’s appropriations or the federal government will shut down.

Congress also must approve defense spending, consider a $98 billion addition to the disaster recovery fund, plus extend the life of flood insurance and the Farm Bill.

Getting the Graves-Carter bill to the president’s desk will be a tall order, particularly given 400 years of history and U.S. dependence on oil and natural gas revenues to the national treasury.

On the other hand, the incoming Trump administration promised unfettered exploitation of offshore energy production. Giving states the ability to lease more sea bottoms will circumvent many federal restrictions to achieve that goal.