World maritime boundaries at 1:10 million scale.

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An exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is a sea zone prescribed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea over which a sovereign state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind. This maritime boundary is designed to be used with other marine boundaries in order to help determine areas of trade, commerce and transportation. The 200 NM zone is measured, country-by-country, from another maritime boundary, the baseline (usually but not in all cases the mean low-water mark, used is not the same thing as the coast line. For each country, obtain the official list of the baseline points from the United Nations under Maritime Space.The exclusive economic zone stretches much further into sea than the territorial waters, which end at 12 NM (22 km) from the coastal baseline (if following the rules set out in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea). Thus, the EEZ includes the contiguous zone. States also have rights to the seabed of what is called the continental shelf up to 350 NM (648 km) from the coastal baseline, beyond the EEZ, but such areas are not part of their EEZ. The legal definition of the continental shelf does not directly correspond to the geological meaning of the term, as it also includes the continental rise and slope, and the entire seabed within the EEZ. The chart below diagrams the overlapping jurisdictions which are part of the EEZ. When the (EEZ) boundary is between countries which are separated by less than 200NM is settled by international tribunals at any arbitrary line. Many countries are still in the process of extending their EEZs beyond 200NM using criteria defined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Dataset Summary The data for this layer were obtained from https://www.marineregions.org/published here. Link to source metadata.Preferred Citation: Flanders Marine Institute (2023). Maritime Boundaries Geodatabase: Maritime Boundaries and Exclusive Economic Zones (200NM), version 12. Available online at https://www.marineregions.org/. https://doi.org/10.14284/632This layer is a feature service, which means it can be used for visualization and analysis throughout the ArcGIS Platform. This layer is not editable.

The US territorial sea is a maritime zone, over which the United States exercises sovereignty. Each coastal State claims a territorial sea that extends seaward up to 12 nautical miles from its coastal baseline. As defined by maritime law, the coastal State exercises sovereignty over its territorial sea, the air space above it, and the seabed and subsoil beneath it. The U.S. territorial sea extends 12 nautical miles from the coastal baseline. The zone is usually used in concert with several other Limits and Boundary Lines for Maritime purposes.Maritime limits for the United States are measured from the US baseline, which is recognized as the low-water line along the coast as marked on NOAA's nautical charts. The baseline and related maritime limits are reviewed and approved by the interagency US Baseline Committee. The Office of Coast Survey depicts on its nautical charts the territorial sea (12nm), contiguous zone (24nm), and exclusive economic zone (200nm, plus maritime boundaries with adjacent/opposite countries. US maritime limits are ambulatory and subject to revision based on accretion or erosion of the charted low water line. Dataset SummaryThis map service contains data from NOAA and BOEM sources that address USA Regional coastal areas and are designed to be used together within an ArcGIS.com web map. These include: World Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) from NOAA Office of Coast SurveyContiguous Zone (CZ) from NOAA Office of Coast SurveyTerritorial Sea (TS) Boundary from NOAA Office of Coast SurveyRevenue Sharing Boundary [Section 8(g) of OCSLA Zone Boundary] from Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)Submerged Land Act Boundaries (SLA) aka State Seaward Boundary (SSB)State Administrative Boundary from Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)Continental Shelf Boundary (CSB) from Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)Regional Maritime Planning Area Boundaries from NOAA Office of Coast SurveyInternational Provisional Maritime Boundary from NOAA (International Boundary Commission)The data for this layer were obtained from MarineCadastre.gov and is updated regularly.More information about U.S. Maritime Limits and BoundariesLink to source metadataWhat can you do with this layer?The features in this layer are used for areas and limits of coastal planning areas, or offshore planning areas, applied within ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Online. A depiction of the territorial sea boundaries helps disputing parties reach an agreement as in the case of one state's boundary overlapping with another state's territorial sea, in which case the border is taken as the median point between the states' baselines, unless the states in question agree otherwise. A state can also choose to claim a smaller territorial sea.Conflicts still occur whenever a coastal nation claims an entire gulf as its territorial waters while other nations only recognize the more restrictive definitions of the UN convention. Two recent conflicts occurred in the Gulf of Sidra where Libya has claimed the entire gulf as its territorial waters and the US has twice enforced freedom of navigation rights, in the 1981 and 1989 Gulf of Sidra incidents.This layer is a feature service, which means it can be used for visualization and analysis throughout the ArcGIS Platform. This layer is not editable.

NOAA is responsible for depicting on its nautical charts the limits of the 12 nautical mile Territorial Sea, 24 nautical mile Contiguous Zone, and 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The outer limit of each of these zones is measured from the U.S. normal baseline, which coincides with the low water line depicted on NOAA charts and includes closing lines across the entrances of legal bays and rivers, consistent with international law. The U.S. baseline and associated maritime limits are reviewed and approved through the interagency U.S. Baseline Committee, which is chaired by the U.S. Department of State. The Committee serves the function of gaining interagency consensus on the proper location of the baseline using the provisions of the 1958 Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, to ensure that the seaward extent of U.S. maritime zones do not exceed the breadth that is permitted by international law. In 2002 and in response to mounting requests for digital maritime zones, NOAA launched a project to re-evaluate the U.S. baseline in partnership with other federal agencies via the U.S. Baseline Committee. The focus of the baseline evaluation was NOAA's largest scale, most recent edition nautical charts as well as supplemental source materials for verification of certain charted features. This dataset is a result of the 2002-present initiative and reflects a multi-year iterative project whereby the baseline and associated maritime limits were re-evaluated on a state or regional basis. In addition to the U.S. maritime limits, the U.S. maritime boundaries with opposite or adjacent countries as well as the US/Canada International Boundary (on land and through the Great Lakes) are also included in this dataset.

(Version 4.0, 7/26/2013) Maritime limits for the United States are measured from the U.S. baseline, which is recognized as the low-water line along the coast as marked on the official U.S. nautical charts in accordance with the articles of the Law of the Sea. The baseline and related maritime limits are reviewed and approved by the interagency U.S. Baseline Committee. The primary purpose of this dataset is to update the official depiction of these maritime limits and boundaries on NOAA's nautical charts. The Office of Coast Survey depicts on its nautical charts the territorial sea (12 nautical miles), contiguous zone (24nm), and exclusive economic zone (200nm, plus maritime boundaries with adjacent/opposite countries). U.S. maritime limits are ambulatory and are subject to revision based on accretion or erosion of the charted low water line. For more information about U.S. Maritime Limits/Boundaries, and to download data, see: https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/data/us-maritime-limits-and-boundaries.html For the full FGDC metadata record, see: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/39963

The maritime borders dataset contains the seaward boundaries of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the territorial sea and the baselines. They are condensed coordinates of the maritime border maps 2920 (North Sea) and 2921 (Baltic Sea). They are coordinates compressed (interpolated) to geodetic lines. The distance of the nodes on the geodetic connecting lines of the defined boundary points is less than or equal to 100 m. The maritime borders of Germany were proclaimed in the today no more usual coordinate system "European date 1950 (ED50)". This definition is based in particular on the announcement of the Federal Government's proclamation of 19 October 1994 on the extension of the German territorial sea (BGBl. I p. 3428) and the Federal Republic of Germany's proclamation of 25 November 1994 on the establishment of an exclusive economic zone (BGBl. II p. 3769), which are decisive with regard to the demarcation of the German territorial sea and the German exclusive economic zone. In order to be able to better use these boundaries in today's GIS systems and to avoid conversion errors, the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency has derived the present usage coordinates in WGS 84. In this respect, they are not official maritime borders of Germany.

The maritime borders dataset contains the seaward boundaries of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the territorial sea and the baselines. They are condensed coordinates of the maritime border maps 2920 (North Sea) and 2921 (Baltic Sea). They are coordinates compressed (interpolated) to geodetic lines. The distance of the nodes on the geodetic connecting lines of the defined boundary points is less than or equal to 100 m. The maritime borders of Germany were proclaimed in the today no more usual coordinate system "European date 1950 (ED50)". This definition is based in particular on the announcement of the Federal Government's proclamation of 19 October 1994 on the extension of the German territorial sea (BGBl. I p. 3428) and the Federal Republic of Germany's proclamation of 25 November 1994 on the establishment of an exclusive economic zone (BGBl. II p. 3769), which are decisive with regard to the demarcation of the German territorial sea and the German exclusive economic zone. In order to be able to better use these boundaries in today's GIS systems and to avoid conversion errors, the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency has derived the present usage coordinates in WGS 84. In this respect, they are not official maritime borders of Germany.

The surface of the Earth is broken up into large plates. There are seven major plates: North America, South America, Eurasia, Africa, India, the Pacific, and Antarctica. There are also numerous microplates. The number and shapes of the plates change over geologic time. Plates are divided by boundaries that are seismically active. The different plate boundaries can be described by the type of motion that is occurring between the plates at specific locations. Ocean basins contain spreading ridges where the youngest portions of the seafloor are found. At the spreading ridges magma is released as it pushes up from the mantle and new oceanic crust is formed. At subduction zone boundaries plates are moving toward each other, with one plate subducting or moving beneath the other. When this occurs the crust is pushed into the mantle where it is recycled into magma.Data accessed from here: https://www-udc.ig.utexas.edu/external/plates/data.htm

This is a global dataset containing maritime boundaries derived fromt the VLIZ Maritime Boundaries Geodatabase. The concept of maritime boundaries is a relative new concept. Coastal states now want to delimit an area in the ocean where they have exclusive rights over the mineral and biological resources. The basis for the calculation of maritime boundaries is the declaration of a baseline. The conditions under which a state may establish such baseline are described in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). A baseline of a country can be the low water line, a straight baseline (a line that encloses bays, estuaries, inland waters,...) or a combination of the two. The zone extending 12 Nautical Miles from the baseline is the Territorial Sea and the zone extending 24 Nautical Miles is the Contiguous Zone of a country. The legal Exclusive Economic Zone is the zone extending 200 Nautical Miles from the baseline. When the space between two countries is less than 400 Nautical Miles, the boundary should be the Median Line or should be described in a multilateral treaty. Multilateral treaties and documents describing the baselines of countries can be found on the website of the United Nations (http://www.un.org/Depts/los/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/regionslist.htm). Those documents were a major source for the development of the database.

The maritime borders dataset contains the seaward boundaries of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the territorial sea and the baselines. They are condensed coordinates of the maritime border maps 2920 (North Sea) and 2921 (Baltic Sea). They are coordinates compressed (interpolated) to geodetic lines. The distance of the nodes on the geodetic connecting lines of the defined boundary points is less than or equal to 100 m. The maritime borders of Germany were proclaimed in the today no more usual coordinate system "European date 1950 (ED50)". This definition is based in particular on the announcement of the Federal Government's proclamation of 19 October 1994 on the extension of the German territorial sea (BGBl. I p. 3428) and the Federal Republic of Germany's proclamation of 25 November 1994 on the establishment of an exclusive economic zone (BGBl. II p. 3769), which are decisive with regard to the demarcation of the German territorial sea and the German exclusive economic zone. In order to be able to better use these boundaries in today's GIS systems and to avoid conversion errors, the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency has derived the present usage coordinates in WGS 84. In this respect, they are not official maritime borders of Germany.

The National Estuarine Research Reserve System is a network of 29 estuarine areas—places where freshwater from the land mixes with saltwater from the sea—established across the nation for long-term research, education, and coastal stewardship.

This layer is the 24nm contiguous zone.

The maritime limits and boundaries of the U.S., found in the A-16 National Geospatial Data Asset Portfolio, is recognized as the low-water line along the coast measured from the U.S. baseline. This is marked on official U.S. nautical charts in accordance with the articles of the Law of the Sea. The baseline and related maritime limits are reviewed and approved by the inter-agency U.S. Baseline Committee.The primary purpose of this data is to update the official depiction of these maritime limits and boundaries on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's nautical charts. The Office of Coast Survey depicts on its nautical charts the territorial sea (12 nautical miles), contiguous zone (24 nautical miles), and Exclusive Economic Zone (200 nautical miles, plus maritime boundaries with adjacent/opposite countries). U.S. maritime limits are ambulatory and are subject to revision based on accretion or erosion of the charted low-water line. For more information about U.S. maritime limits and boundaries and to download data, see U.S. Maritime Limits & Boundaries. For the full Federal Geographic Data Committee metadata record, see Maritime Limits and Boundaries of United States of America.Thumbnail source image courtesy of: David Restivo

This edition has been superseded by the Australia's Maritime Zones Edition 4 map published in October 2013. Geocat 69822. It no longer correctly reflects Australia's maritime zones and is kept for historical record only.

This map has been derived from Geoscience Australia's Australian Maritime Boundaries (AMB) version 2.0 data which is a digital representation of Australia's territorial sea baseline and the maritime limits and boundaries as established under the Sea and Submerged Lands Act 1973.

The map describes the different maritime zones, explains how Australia defines and updates its maritime boundaries, and lists the different maritime boundary arrangements with Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, France (New Calendonia and Kerguelen) and New Zealand.

The limits of the extended continental shelf beyond the exclusive economic zone, as shown on this map, are as submitted for consideration of the United Nations Commision on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS). In accordance with Australia's request the CLCS has indicated that it will not consider the extended continental shelf appurtenant to the Australian Antarctic Territory for the time being.

This map shows the extent of Australia's maritime boundaries, stretching from Heard and McDonald Islands in the west to Norfolk Island in the east, and from the Torres Strait and Arafura Sea in the north to the Australian Antarctic Territory in the south.

This map can be purchased in either flat or folded format. Also available as GIS data or PDF.

Product Specifications:

Coverage: Australia Currency: 2006 (printed map) Coordinates: Geographical Projection: Bonne with 134E longitude and 30S at projection centre Medium: Paper, flat and folded copies (printed map) available through Geoscience Australia's Sales Centre

You can also purchase hard copies of Geoscience Australia data and other products at http://www.ga.gov.au/products-services/how-to-order-products/sales-centre.html

This map supersedes the Australia's Maritime Zones/Boundaries Map Edition 4, published in November 2013. Catalogue Number/GeoCat 69822.

This map has been derived from Geoscience Australia's Australian Maritime Boundaries (AMB) 2014 data which is a digital representation of Australia's territorial sea baseline and the maritime limits and boundaries as established under the Sea and Submerged Lands Act 1973.

On the 9 April 2008 the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf confirmed Australia's continental shelf limits. This edition shows those limits together with those areas yet to be resolved and the area off the Australian Antarctic Territory that Australia requested the commission not consider for the time being.

The map describes the different maritime zones, explains how Australia defines and updates its maritime boundaries, and lists the different maritime boundary arrangements with Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, France (New Calendonia and Kerguelen) and New Zealand. It shows the extent of Australia's maritime boundaries, stretching from Heard and McDonald Islands in the west to Norfolk Island in the east, and from the Torres Strait and Arafura Sea in the north to the Australian Antarctic Territory in the south.

This map can be downloaded from the Web in PDF format.

Coverage: Australia Currency: 2014 (web map) Coordinates: Geographical Projection: Bonne with 134E longitude and 30S at projection centre Medium: Web delivery

You can also purchase hard copies of Geoscience Australia data and other products at http://www.ga.gov.au/products-services/how-to-order-products/sales-centre.html

The purpose of this project is to map the surficial geology of the sea floor of Historic Area Remediation Site (HARS) and changes in surficial characteristics over time. This GIS project presents multibeam and other data in a digital format for analysis and display by scientists, policy makers, managers and the general public.

This project presents maps of the sea floor in GIS format of the Historic Area Remedition Site (HARS), located offshore of New York and New Jersey. The data were collected with a multibeam sea floor mapping system on surveys conducted November 23 - December 3, 1996, October 26 - November 11, 1998, and April 6 - 30, 2000. The maps show sea floor topography, shaded relief, and backscatter intensity (a measure of sea floor texture and roughness) at a spatial resolution of 3 m/pixel, and locations of dredged material placed on the sea floor. The sea floor of the HARS, approximately 9 square nautical miles in area, is being remediated by placing at least a one-meter of clean dredged material on top of the existing surface sediments that exhibit varying degrees degradation resulting from previous disposal of dredged and other material. Comparison of the topography and backscatter intensity from the three surveys show changes in topography and surficial sediment properties resulting from placement of dredged material in 1996 and 1997 prior to designation of the HARS, as well as placement of material for remediation of the HARS. This study is carried out cooperatively by the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Last Revised: February 2016

Map Information

This nowCOAST™ time-enabled map service provides maps depicting the latest global forecast guidance of water currents, water temperature, and salinity at forecast projections: 0, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, and 96-hours from the NWS/NCEP Global Real-Time Ocean Forecast System (GRTOFS). The surface water currents velocity maps display the direction using white or black streaklets. The magnitude of the current is indicated by the length and width of the streaklet. The maps of the GRTOFS surface forecast guidance are updated on the nowCOAST™ map service once per day. For more detailed information about layer update frequency and timing, please reference the
nowCOAST™ Dataset Update Schedule.

Background Information

GRTOFS is based on the Hybrid Coordinates Ocean Model (HYCOM), an eddy resolving, hybrid coordinate numerical ocean prediction model. GRTOFS has global coverge and a horizontal resolution of 1/12 degree and 32 hybrid vertical layers. It has one forecast cycle per day (i.e. 0000 UTC) which generates forecast guidance out to 144 hours (6 days). However, nowCOAST™ only provides guidance out to 96 hours (4 days). The forecast cycle uses 3-hourly momentum and radiation fluxes along with precipitation predictions from the NCEP Global Forecast System (GFS). Each forecast cycle is preceded with a 48-hr long nowcast cycle. The nowcast cycle uses daily initial 3-D fields from the NAVOCEANO operational HYCOM-based forecast system which assimilates situ profiles of temperature and salinity from a variety of sources and remotely sensed SST, SSH and sea-ice concentrations. GRTOFS was developed by NCEP/EMC/Marine Modeling and Analysis Branch. GRTOFS is run once per day (0000 UTC forecast cycle) on the NOAA Weather and Climate Operational Supercomputer System (WCOSS) operated by NWS/NCEP Central Operations.

The maps are generated using a visualization technique developed by the Data Visualization Research Lab at The University of New Hampshire's Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (http://www.ccom.unh.edu/vislab/). The method combines two techniques. First, equally spaced streamlines are computed in the flow field using Jobard and Lefer's (1977) algorithm. Second, a series of "streaklets" are rendered head to tail along each streamline to show the direction of flow. Each of these varies along its length in size, color and transparency using a method developed by Fowler and Ware (1989), and later refined by Mr. Pete Mitchell and Dr. Colin Ware (Mitchell, 2007).

Time Information

This map service is time-enabled, meaning that each individual layer contains time-varying data and can be utilized by clients capable of making map requests that include a time component.

In addition to ArcGIS Server REST access, time-enabled OGC WMS 1.3.0 access is also provided by this service.

This particular service can be queried with or without the use of a time component. If the time parameter is specified in a request, the data or imagery most relevant to the provided time value, if any, will be returned. If the time parameter is not specified in a request, the latest data or imagery valid for the present system time will be returned to the client. If the time parameter is not specified and no data or imagery is available for the present time, no data will be returned.

This service is configured with time coverage support, meaning that the service will always return the most relevant available data, if any, to the specified time value. For example, if the service contains data valid today at 12:00 and 12:10 UTC, but a map request specifies a time value of today at 12:07 UTC, the data valid at 12:10 UTC will be returned to the user. This behavior allows more flexibility for users, especially when displaying multiple time-enabled layers together despite slight differences in temporal resolution or update frequency.

When interacting with this time-enabled service, only a single instantaneous time value should be specified in each request. If instead a time range is specified in a request (i.e. separate start time and end time values are given), the data returned may be different than what was intended.

Care must be taken to ensure the time value specified in each request falls within the current time coverage of the service. Because this service is frequently updated as new data becomes available, the user must periodically determine the service's time extent. However, due to software limitations, the time extent of the service and map layers as advertised by ArcGIS Server does not always provide the most up-to-date start and end times of available data. Instead, users have three options for determining the latest time extent of the service:

  Issue a returnUpdates=true request (ArcGIS REST protocol only)
  for an individual layer or for the service itself, which will return
  the current start and end times of available data, in epoch time format
  (milliseconds since 00:00 January 1, 1970). To see an example, click on
  the "Return Updates" link at the bottom of the REST Service page under
  "Supported Operations". Refer to the
  ArcGIS REST API Map Service Documentation
  for more information.


  Issue an Identify (ArcGIS REST) or GetFeatureInfo (WMS) request against
  the proper layer corresponding with the target dataset. For raster
  data, this would be the "Image Footprints with Time Attributes" layer
  in the same group as the target "Image" layer being displayed. For
  vector (point, line, or polygon) data, the target layer can be queried
  directly. In either case, the attributes returned for the matching
  raster(s) or vector feature(s) will include the following:


      validtime: Valid timestamp.


      starttime: Display start time.


      endtime: Display end time.


      reftime: Reference time (sometimes referred to as
      issuance time, cycle time, or initialization time).


      projmins: Number of minutes from reference time to valid
      time.


      desigreftime: Designated reference time; used as a
      common reference time for all items when individual reference
      times do not match.


      desigprojmins: Number of minutes from designated
      reference time to valid time.




  Query the nowCOAST™ LayerInfo web service, which has been created to
  provide additional information about each data layer in a service,
  including a list of all available "time stops" (i.e. "valid times"),
  individual timestamps, or the valid time of a layer's latest available
  data (i.e. "Product Time"). For more information about the LayerInfo
  web service, including examples of various types of requests, refer to
  the 
  nowCOAST™ LayerInfo Help Documentation

References

Fowler, D. and C. Ware, 1989: Strokes for Representing Vector Field Maps. Proceedings: Graphics Interface '98 249-253. Jobard, B and W. Lefer,1977: Creating evenly spaced streamlines of arbitrary density. Proceedings: Eurographics workshop on Visualization in Scientific Computing. 43-55. Mitchell, P.W., 2007: The Perceptual optimization of 2D Flow Visualizations Using Human in the Loop Local Hill Climbing. University of New Hampshire Masters Thesis. Department of Computer Science. NWS, 2013: About Global RTOFS, NCEP/EMC/MMAB, College Park, MD (Available at http://polar.ncep.noaa.gov/global/about/). Chassignet, E.P., H.E. Hurlburt, E.J. Metzger, O.M. Smedstad, J. Cummings, G.R. Halliwell, R. Bleck, R. Baraille, A.J. Wallcraft, C. Lozano, H.L. Tolman, A. Srinivasan, S. Hankin, P. Cornillon, R. Weisberg, A. Barth, R. He, F. Werner, and J. Wilkin, 2009: U.S. GODAE: Global Ocean Prediction with the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM). Oceanography, 22(2), 64-75. Mehra, A, I. Rivin, H. Tolman, T. Spindler, and B. Balasubramaniyan, 2011: A Real-Time Operational Global Ocean Forecast System, Poster, GODAE OceanView –GSOP-CLIVAR Workshop in Observing System Evaluation and Intercomparisons, Santa Cruz, CA.

This database represents the municipal boundaries in the Maritime Rance in accordance with the interdepartmental decree Ille-et-Vilaine/Cotes d’Armor of 17 June 2003 concerning the delimitation of the territory of the municipalities on the public maritime domain and its annexed maps.

This data set contains the Submerged Lands Act (SLA)boundary line (also known as the State Seaward Boundary (SSB) and Fed State Boundary) for the BOEM Pacific Region in ESRI ArcGIS shape file format. The SLA defines the seaward limit of a state owned submerged lands and the landward boundary of federally managed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) lands. In the BOEM Pacific Region the SLA is projected 3 nautical miles offshore from the coastal baseline. Further information on the SLA and development of this line from baseline points can be found in OCS Report BOEM 99-0006: Boundary Development on the Outer Continental Shelf. The SLA boundary was developed using nautical charts, topographic maps, and hydrographic surveys to identify coastal baseline points. For California, there was a wide range of map scales used (1:200 – 1:100,000). The Minerals Management Service (MMS - the predecessor bureau to BOEM) used mapping software that was developed in-house to mathematically project the SLA boundary 3 nautical miles seaward from the baseline. For purposes of the SLA, all coordinates are assumed as absolute values with a precision of three decimals of a meter. For purposes other than the SLA, the actual positional precision for a scale of 1:40,000 is approximately 23 meters. In 1992, MMS adopted NADCON v.2.00 or better as the bureau standard horizontal datum transformation software, and reiterated that, for its purposes, “the World Geodetic System of 1984 (WGS 84) is considered equivalent to NAD 83 offshore of Alaska and the conterminous United States.” 57 Fed. Reg. 5168 (February 12, 1992). On December 24, 2014, the SLA boundary offshore of California was fixed (permanently immobilized) by a decree issued by the U.S. Supreme Court. United States v. California, 135 S. Ct. 563 (2014). For a detailed discussion on the fixing of the SLA boundary for California, please see http://www.boem.gov/Oil-and-Gas-Energy-Program/Mapping-and-Data/Multi-Purpose-Marine-Cadastre-Map-Viewer/Court-Decisions.aspx Because GIS projection and topology functions can change or generalize coordinates, these GIS shape files are NOT an OFFICIAL record for the exact Submerged Lands Act Boundary.The official record is reflected through the coordinates listed in the decree, and the boundary shown on the BOEM Supplemental Official Block Diagrams, which are available at http://www.boem.gov/Oil-and-Gas-Energy-Program/Mapping-and-Data/Pacific.aspx