LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Supreme Court has settled a long-running dispute over California's offshore boundary.
A spokeswoman for the California Lands Commission said the court's decree Monday will help settle federal and state disputes and prevent future litigation over oil, gas and other mineral leases.
The decree addresses a fight launched in 1945 when the federal government sued the state for leasing land for oil drilling off Long Beach.
President Truman said submerged lands belonged to the U.S. government and the Supreme Court agreed.
Congress eventually passed a law giving states ownership of lands up to 3 miles off the coast, but a fixed boundary was never set.
The boundary spelled out in more than 100 pages of map coordinates will determine whether state or federal agencies regulate the undersea lands.
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