§ 42-1-1 - Extension of boundaries into sea.
SECTION 42-1-1
§ 42-1-1 Extension of boundaries into sea.– (a) The general assembly finds that the people of the state of Rhode Islandhave a fundamental interest in the establishment of the full jurisdiction ofthis state over that area which congress has determined to be subject to thisstate's jurisdiction in the Submerged Lands Act of 1953, 43 U.S.C. § 1301et seq., and to extend jurisdiction as fully as is permitted under the GenevaConvention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone of 1958 andapplicable precedents of the United States Supreme Court.
(b) The boundary between this state and the state of New Yorkis established by agreement between the two states and ratified by the congressin chapter 362 of Public Law 399, approved July 1, 1944.
(c) The territorial waters of this state and the submergedlands thereunder enuring to this state extend seaward three (3) geographicalmiles (5,556 meters) from the shoreline at the mean low water mark or from anybase line farther out permitted by law, without prejudice to existing statejurisdiction up to the mean high water mark.
(d) The waters of Narragansett Bay are bounded on the southby a base line or closing line extending from the mean low water mark at thesouthernmost point at Point Judith to the mean low water mark at thesouthernmost point on the southernmost island in the West Island group, southof Sakonnet Point. This closing line is equivalent to the shoreline.
(e) Whenever the United States or a court of competentjurisdiction shall extend the breadth of the territorial seas of this state toany greater distance, the above territorial boundaries shall be deemed toextend to such distance.
(f) The boundary of counties bordering on the sea extends tothe uttermost limit of the state.