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FGDC Marine Boundary Working Group
CharterWorking Definition: A marine boundary delineates a marine area within which sovereignty, political jurisdiction, or legal authority may be excercised. Marine boundaries can be described or depicted in various ways, including textual descriptions, geographic coordinates, digital cartographic data, or any other representation describing or depicting discrete marine areas. I. Purpose of the Working GroupThe Marine Boundary Working Group (MBWG) will foster integrated approaches to the legal and geospatial descriptions of marine boundaries and mapping of marine boundary features within the territorial waters of the United States. The goals of the working group are to make maximum use of public resources to avoid duplicating efforts to provide a venue for communicating on and coordinating marine boundary activities; and to use standardized methodologies to produce more complete and usable marine boundary data, metadata, and maps. [Back to top]II. Authority Under the Office of Management and Budget Draft Circular A-16, revised 2001, the Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service has offshore cadastral responsibility. The Offshore Cadastre is the land management system used on the outer continental shelf. It extends from the baseline to the extent of United States jurisdiction. The baseline is the line from which maritime zones are measured, and is a combination of the low-water line and closing lines across the mouths of inland water bodies. Additionally, NOAA and the Minerals Management Service have dual responsibility for the baseline and marine boundaries. A marine boundary delineates a marine area within which sovereignty, political jurisdiction, or legal authority may be excercised. Marine boundaries can be described or depicted in various ways, including textual descriptions, geographic coordinates, digital cartographic data, or any other representation describing or depicting discrete marine areas. Other pertinent enabling authority resides in the language of the Marine Protected Areas (MPA) executive order 13158. A key component of the executive order is to strengthen the management, protection, and conservation of existing marine protected areas and to establish new or extended MPAs. A critical step in establishing MPAs will be to develop legal and geospatial descriptions of their marine boundaries. [Back to top]III. Scope The scope of the working group extends to all technical and legal facets of marine boundaries. The working group will build upon the work of other FGDC subcommittees and working groups to identify standards and protocols for the documentation, mapping, and use of marine boundaries. In addition, the working group will develop guidelines for legal descriptions for marine boundaries, and examine the legal and technical implications for plotting marine boundaries on charts and their use in other formats. The geographic scope of the working group is offshore waters over which the United States has sovereignty and jurisdiction.
[Back to top] The lead agencies responsible for the coordination, management, and dissemination of marine boundary data are the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS). These two agencies shall share chairmanship responsibilities. The working group has been established to assist in coordinating federal and nonfederal interests in marine boundary data. The responsibilities of the working group include, but are not limited to the following:
V. Membership The working group shall consist of representatives designated by federal and independent agencies (such as the Federal Communications Commission) that are involved with development, dissemination, and use of marine boundaries as part of their mission. Each member agency of the working group shall designate its representative, an alternate, and changes thereto, by memorandum to the working group secretary. Other federal organizations may be added with the concurrence of the working group. Federal organizations can request membership by writing to the working group chair. The working group may also invite nonfederal participation, on an ad hoc basis, to provide information and briefings as determined by the needs of the working group. [Back to top]VI. Procedures Working group meetings shall be held at the call of the chairperson(s), and shall be held at least semiannually. Normally, notification of meetings will be distributed to members of the working group and to the FGDC executive secretary 30 days in advance of the meeting. All decisions of the working group shall be on the basis of consensus agreement. The working group chairperson(s) shall consult with the chairperson of the Coordination Group to determine the need for further coordination prior to implementing working group decisions that impact the FGDC or its other subcommittees or working groups. The working group may establish additional rules and procedures for conducting business. [Back to top]VII. Subgroups The working group may create work groups or task groups, or further subdivisions, at the discretion of the chairperson(s), as appropriate to carry out its activities and meet its responsibilities. The establishment of subgroups of more than 12 months duration that are in addition to any specified in this exhibit and the abolishment of any such subgroup requires the approval of the FGDC. Participation in these groups may be drawn from its member organizations, other federal agencies, state agencies, and academia, as appropriate. [Back to top] VIII. Coordinating Mechanisms The working group will employ those tools that are best suited to meeting its responsibilities, such as United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, national user forums, annual requirements solicitations, user surveys and analyses, spatial data user workshops, research initiatives, and cooperative ventures. The working group will coordinate its activities with other FGDC subcommittees and working groups by participating on the FGDC Coordination Group. [Back to top] IX. Reports The working group shall report to the FGDC annually, by December 31, describing the accomplishments regarding collection, processing, and availability of marine boundary data. This annual status report shall be submitted to the executive secretary, and shall contain the following information:
The working group shall submit an operating plan for the upcoming year for FGDC review and concurrence. Special reports and technical papers may be requested by the FGDC during the reporting period describing special projects, coordination with other working groups and subcommittees, and information on the use and availability of marine boundary data. The working group chairperson(s) shall provide a draft report of working group meetings, including working group recommendations and action items, to all members for review prior to approval. The working group chairperson(s) shall provide the final report of working group meetings to all working group members, the FGDC chairperson, the executive secretary, and the chairperson of the FGDC coordination group, subcommittees, and working groups. [Back to top]X. Termination The working group shall remain in existence until terminated by the FGDC. At this time, a new exhibit shall be developed by the working group describing how the coordination for maritime boundary data will be undertaken.
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