Delaware General Assembly


CHAPTER 622

FORMERLY SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

NO. 14

RELATING TO THE BOUNDARIES OF DELAWARE.

WHEREAS, the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the Director of the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, in conjunction with a three-member commission to be appointed by the Governor, are empowered by § 302 (c), Title 29, Delaware Code, as amended by Senate Bill No. 206 of the 126th General Assembly to negotiate and settle boundary disputes with neighboring states; and.

WHEREAS, the presently accepted jurisdictional limits of the State of Delaware may be extended in the near future by the impending decision of .the United States Supreme Court in the case of the United States v. Maine, et al (No. 35 Original) or by a decision of a federal ad hoc Interagency Committee of which the National Ocean Survey is a member; and

WHEREAS, should the jurisdictional limits be extended, the Delaware and New Jersey boundaries lying in territorial waters to seaward beyond the limits of the Delaware Bay will be unclear, and the Delaware-Maryland boundary to seaward will need to set by laws;

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 126th General Assembly that the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, the Director of the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs and the Governor be asked to proceed immediately toward negotiations with the appropriate officials or agencies of the States of Maryland and New Jersey to delineate more thoroughly our common boundaries in order that there be no period of indecision during which disputes might arise regarding the protection or development of resources in these areas.

and to the office of the Legislative Council, whereupon the new delineation of the boundaries will be inserted in the Delaware Code.

Approved May 27, 1971.