ELR Citation: ELR 20047
No(s). 03-16556 (9th Cir. Feb 24, 2005)

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that the United States holds ownership rights to the submerged lands off the shores of the commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Because the covenant establishing the commonwealth's political union with the United States places sovereignty and foreign affairs obligations in the United States, the paramountcy doctrine applies. And because the United States did not expressly cede its paramount rights to the submerged lands at issue here, summary judgment in favor of the United States was proper. Furthermore, the commonwealth's Submerged Lands Act and Marine Sovereignty Act of 1980, which assert the commonwealth's ownership of the submerged lands in dispute, are preempted since they are directly contrary to federal law.