An Act To Make It Explicit That Maine Holds Title to Its Intertidal Lands
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §1862, sub-§14 is enacted to read:
14. Intertidal land. Except for discrete filled parcels of intertidal land alienated to adjacent upland owners to facilitate marine commerce, the State retains and holds title to all unfilled intertidal land in the State.
SUMMARY
This bill states that the State owns title to intertidal land not already filled to facilitate marine commerce. The State's ownership is based on federal laws and United States Supreme Court cases that establish and substantiate each state's sovereignty over its intertidal and submerged land, as well as state law, which were not adhered to when the Supreme Judicial Court decided a pre-statehood colonial ordinance applicable to Massachusetts governs the State's ownership interest in intertidal land.