Glossary

Public Trust Doctrine

Glossary

Note: The meaning and use of the following terms may differ under the various State and Federal laws. Practitioners are advised to always refer to the appropriate State or Federal definitions.

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A
Accretion	The gradual and imperceptible accumulation of alluvion (soil) by natural causes. It is created by operation of natural causes. Accretion is the act, while alluvion is the deposit itself. It differs from avulsion which is a sudden and perceptible loss or addition to land by the action of water.
Apparent shoreline	The outer edge of marine vegetation (marsh, mangrove, cypress) delineated on surveys where the actual shoreline is obscured.
Avulsion	The loss of lands by sudden or violent action of the elements, perceptible while in progress; a sudden and rapid change in the course and channel of a boundary river.
B
Bottom lands	Land below navigable freshwater bodies.
C
Commerce	Intercourse by way of trade and traffic, including the purchase, sale, and exchange of commodities, the instrumentalities and agencies by which it is promoted and the means and appliances by which it is carried on, and the transportation of persons as well as of goods.
Commerce Clause	Article I, Section 8, Clause.3 of the U.S. Constitution, which empowers Congress “to regulate commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.”
Common law	The system of jurisprudence, which originated in England and was later applied in the United States, which is based on judicial precedent rather than legislative enactments. Originally based on the unwritten laws of England, the common law is generally derived from principles rather than rules; it does not consist of absolute, fixed, or inflexible rules, but rather of broad and comprehensive approaches based on justice, reason, and common sense. It is of judicial origin and promulgation. Its principles have determined the social needs of the community and have changed with changes in such needs. These principles are susceptible of adaptation to new conditions, interests, relations, and usages as the progress of society may require.
Concurrent powers	Those powers of the federal government that are exercisable by the states in absence of federal action, or with congressional consent. Such powers are not concurrent in the sense of equal power with the federal government; they are subordinate to the superior authority and superceded whenever the power of Congress is exercised. State regulation of pilotage is an example of a concurrent power.
Conveyance	Transfer of title to land from one person to another by deed. The term may also include assignments, leases, mortgages, or encumbrances of the land. Generally, every instrument in writing by which an estate or interest in the realty is created.
Custom and usage	A usage or practice of the people, which, by common adoption and acquiescence, and by long and unvarying habit, has become compulsory, and has acquired the force of a law with respect to the place.
D
Deed	An instrument in writing and under seal used for transferring land from one owner to another, an essential requirement of which is that the land be fully described in order that it may be properly identified.
Delegation	Transfer of authority by one branch of government in which such authority is vested to some other branch or administrative agency.
Dock	An artificial basin or inclosure, in connection with a harbor, for the reception of vessels; the slip or waterway extending between two piers or projecting wharves, or cut into the land for the reception of ships.
Due process	A course of legal proceedings according to those rules and principles that have been established in our systems of jurisprudence for the enforcement and protection of private rights.
Dry sand beach	Sandy area between the mean high tide line and the vegetation line.
E
Easement	A right of use over the property of another.
Eminent domain	The authority of the state or sovereign to take private property for public use. Eminent domain is an inherent attribute of sovereignty. The individual property owner’s consent to the taking is immaterial. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires that just compensation be made whenever private property is taken for public use.
Enumerated powers	Those federal authorities specified in the U.S. Constitution. Does not apply to powers of external sovereignty which do not depend upon the affirmative grants of the Constitution.
Erosion	The gradual and imperceptible washing away of the land by natural causes.
Equal footing doctrine	Provides that new states are admitted to the Union on an equal footing with the original states with certain sovereign and property rights such as the ownership of lands beneath tidelands and navigable freshwaters.
Equal Protection	The constitutional guarantee embodied in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states that “No state shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Exaction	The wrongful act of an officer or other person in compelling payment of a fee or reward for his services, under color of official authority, where no payment is due.
F
Foreshore	The strip of land between the ordinary high and low water marks that is alternately covered and uncovered by the flow of the tide. Often used synonymously with "wet sand beach."
Freshwaters	Waters that do not ebb and flow with the tide. The determinative factor is that the water body does not ebb and flow with the tide, not whether or not the water contains salt.
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H
Harbor Line	The line beyond which wharves and other structures cannot be extended.
J
Judicial review	Power of courts to review decisions of another department or level of government.
Jus privatum	The proprietary rights in the use and possession of land beneath tidal waters and navigable freshwaters. The jus privatum interest is often held by the state in tandem with the jus publicum interest, but may be conveyed in the form of title ownership or lessor freehold to a private individual or entity.
Jus publicum	The collective rights of the public to fully use and enjoy trust lands and waters for commerce, navigation, fishing, bathing, and other related public purposes. A state cannot convey the jus publicum interest into private ownership, nor can it abdicate its trust responsibilities.
L
License	A license is ordinarily considered to be a mere personal or revocable privilege to perform an act or series of acts on the land of another, but does not operate to confer on, or vest in, the licensee any title, interest, or estate in such property.
Littoral	Associated with or appurtenant to shorelands of tidal waters. As used herein, the term "littoral" is included in the term "riparian." These two terms are often used synonymously.
M
Map	A printed reproduction of a compilation of one or more topgraphic surveys drawn to the scale of the original survey or smaller and on a definite projection. It may include some water area, but basically furnishes information relative to the land area.
Meander lines	Lines run a short distance back from navigable water within a section in order to determine the quantity of land in the fractional section. The meander line is generally not a boundary line.
Mean high tide	The mean average of all the high tides (high high tides and low high tides) occurring over a certain period of time, usually 18.6 years (one lunar epoch).
Mean low tide	The mean average of all the low tides (high low tides and low low tides) occurring over a certain period of time, usually 18.6 years (one lunar epoch).
N
Navigation	Traversing the sea or other navigable waters in ships or vessels.
Necessity	To fulfill requirements for easement of right of way of necessity, the necessity must be actual, real, and reasonable, as distinguished from inconvenience, but it need not be absolute and irresistible necessity.
O
Ordinary high water mark	The line to which high water normally reaches under natural conditions, but not including floods, storms, or severe meteorological conditions.
Ordinary low water mark	The line to which low water normally reaches under natural conditions, but not including droughts or severe meteorological conditions.
P
Photogrammetric Survey	A survey of a portion of land surface utilizing aerial photographs and reduced to map form by stereoscopic or other instrumental equipment.
Pier	A structure extending from solid land out into the water to afford convenient passage for persons and property to and from vessels alongside the pier; a projecting wharf.
Preemption	Doctrine adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court, holding that certain matters are of such a national, as opposed to local, character that federal laws preempt or take precedence over state laws. As such, a state may not pass a law inconsistent with the federal law.
Prescriptive easement	A right to use another’s property that is acquired by a use, open and notorious, adverse and continuous, for a statutory period. It resembles title by adverse possession but differs to the extent that the adverse user acquires only an easement and not title.
Prima facie Public Trust lands	Lands that appear to be subject to the Public Trust Doctrine in that they lay beneath tidal or navigable-in-fact waters below the ordinary high water mark.
Private acts	Legislation for the special benefit of an individual or a locality.
Privilege	A particular or peculiar benefit or advantage enjoyed by a person, company, or class, beyond the common advantages of other citizens.
Public easement	An easement enjoyed by the public in general. A “public easement” carries with it the right to construct and maintain the passageway.
Public trust servitude	The bundle of rights held by the public to use and enjoy privately held trust lands for certain public purposes. The burden on the subordinate jus privatum owner by the dominant jus publicum interest of the public.
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R
Reliction	The gradual and imperceptible withdrawal of water from land that it covers “by the lowering of its surface level from any cause. If the retreat of the waters is permanent—i.e., not merely seasonal—the owner of the contiguous property acquires ownership of the dry lands thus created.
Right of access	A fundamental riparian right; the right that a riparian owner has of reaching navigable water, in the absence of otherwise controlling law limiting such right.
Riparian	Associated with or appurtenant to shorelands of non-tidal waters. As used herein, the term "riparian" includes the term "littoral." These two terms are often used synonymously.
Riparian rights	The rights of an owner of land contiguous to a navigable body of water, including principally the right of access to the water, the right to accretion and reliction, and the right to other improvements.
Right of way	Term used to describe a right belonging to a party to pass over land of another.
S
Shorelands	General term including tidelands and navigable freshwater shores below the ordinary high water mark.
Sovereign immunity	A judicial doctrine which precludes bringing suit against the government without its consent.
Submerged land	Land lying below tidal waters, seaward of the ordinary low water mark, including bays, inlets, and other arms of the sea, out to the seaward boundary of the State.
Supremacy Clause	The clause of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, which declares that all laws made in pursuance of the Constitution and all treaties made under the authority of the United States shall be the “supreme law of the land” and shall enjoy legal superiority over any conflicting provision of a state constitution or law.
Survey	The result of field measurements; as distinguished from a map or chart that results from a compilation.
Swamp Lands Act	The act of Sept. 28, 1850, by which Congress granted to the public-land states then in the Union all the swamp and overflowed lands within the state that the federal government owned for the purpose of aiding in reclamation.
T
Taking	There is a “taking” of property when government action directly interferes with or substantially disturbs the owner’s use and enjoyment of property.
Tideland	Land over which the tide ebbs and flows.
Tidewaters	Waters that markedly and regularly ebb and flow in response to the gravitational forces of the moon and sun.
U
Upland	Land lying above the "ordinary high water mark."
W
Wet sand beach	Area between the ordinary high tide and the ordinary low tide lines.
Wharf	An artificial landing place for the purpose of loading or unloading goods. It may be built out from the upland and form an extension thereof, or it may be made on land at the water’s edge.

Additional definitions can be found on the NOAA Coastal Shoreline Website Shoreline Terms Index.

Coastal Services Center

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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