U.S. State Summaries
Each ocean coast state1 has a unique landscape and seascape, as well as its own way of managing ocean and coastal resources. Some states have one or two state-level agencies with clear authorities and jurisdictions that oversee all aspects of ocean and coastal management while other states have numerous state and local-level agencies with unclear authorities and jurisdictions.
What You'll Find
Access the state summaries through the interactive map or though the navigation menu.
In each section, after Conservation Leasing and Ownership, you will find appropriate state agency contact information along with discussion of agency responsibilities and programs.
The state summaries in this toolkit provide the management framework for each ocean coast state in a consistent and comparable manner. To accomplish this, we have compiled brief overviews covering the following topics:
- The Ocean and Coast
- Conservation Leasing and Ownership
- Submerged Lands
- Coastal Zone
- Shoreline Development
- Beaches
- Fish and Wildlife
- Aquaculture
- Water Quality
Amidst the state-to-state variation, some federal laws and programs provide context, authority, and consistency. The U.S. Federal Submerged Lands Act (download .pdf, 176k), and subsequent court rulings interpreting it, formally transfers ownership and authority of submerged lands to the states as well as defines the seaward boundaries of state jurisdiction. Generally this is 3 nautical miles from ordinary low water, plus “inland coastal waters”—except in Texas, Louisiana, and the west coast of Florida, where state jurisdiction extends 9 nautical miles into the Gulf of Mexico.
The U.S. Federal Clean Water Act (download .pdf, 537k) provides a framework for regulation of water quality in surface and tidal waters, including wetlands, to which states must conform. The BEACH Act (download .pdf, 116k) provides funding for monitoring of water quality at bathing beaches. Finally, all coastal states have federally approved coastal plans under the Coastal Zone Management Act (download .pdf, 196k). The lead coastal zone management agency is often a good place to find experts in state management of coastal resources.
Sources of information for the state summaries include descriptions and evaluations of state coastal management programs available from the NOAA website, and the increasingly rich information available on state agency websites. We also frequently consulted the Submerged Lands Survey: Update 2000 (download .pdf, 491k), presented at the 19th Annual International Submerged Lands Management Conference, and the Surfrider Foundation’s State of the Beach (2007). While we cannot guarantee the accuracy of everything in our state overviews, every effort has been made to characterize state management regimes simply and fairly. Please contact us if you discover errors or significant omissions.
1 While Great Lakes states are coastal states under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), the focus of the Global Marine Team and this toolkit is on marine—or saltwater—conservation. U.S. territories, also included under the CZMA, have been omitted only for lack of time. We hope to include them in the future.