                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

JURISDICTION AND OWNERSHIP OF COMMONWEALTH OVER OFFSHORE WATERS AND SUBMERGED
LANDS (§ 1-302)

A. The jurisdiction of the Commonwealth shall extend to and over, and be
exercisable with respect to:

   1. Waters offshore from the coasts of the Commonwealth for a distance of three
   geographical miles as determined by appropriate metes and bounds surveys
   approved by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and the Virginia Marine
   Resources Commission in consultation with the Bureau of Ocean Energy
   Management pursuant to a decree of the United States Supreme Court in U.S. v.
   Maine, 423 U.S. 1 (1975), and the Submerged Lands Act, 42 U.S.C. &#xA7; 1301
   et seq.

   2. All submerged lands, including the subsurface thereof, lying under the
   waters listed in subdivision 1.

B. The ownership of the waters and submerged lands enumerated or described in
subsection A shall be in the Commonwealth unless it shall be, with respect to
any given parcel or area, in any other person or entity by virtue of a valid and
effective instrument of conveyance or by operation of law.

C. Nothing contained herein shall be construed to limit or restrict in any way:

   1. The jurisdiction of the Commonwealth over any person or with respect to any
   subject within or without the Commonwealth which jurisdiction is exercisable
   by reason of citizenship, residence, or for any other reason recognized by
   law.

   2. The jurisdiction or ownership of or over any other waters or submerged
   lands, within or forming part of the boundaries of the Commonwealth. Nor shall
   anything in this section be construed to impair the exercise of legislative
   jurisdiction by the United States over any area to which such jurisdiction has
   been validly ceded by the Commonwealth and that remains in the ownership of
   the United States.

D. Nothing in this section shall alter the geographic area to which any act of
the General Assembly applies if the act specifies the area precisely in miles or
by some other numerical designation of distance or position. However, nothing in
the act or in this section shall be construed as a waiver or relinquishment of
jurisdiction or ownership by the Commonwealth over or in any area to which such
jurisdiction or ownership extends by virtue of this section or any other
provision or rule of law.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 7-1.1; 1960, c. 518; 1966, c. 102, § 7.1-2; 1972, c.
689; 2005, c. 839; 2016, c. 371.