§322.3. Activities requiring permits. — Inbound Citations

(2) Floating structures for small recreational boats or other recreational purposes in lakes controlled by the Corps of Engineers under a resource manager are normally subject to permit authorities cited in § 322.3, of this section, when those waters are regarded as navigable waters of the United States. However, such structures will not be authorized under this regulation but will be regulated under applicable regulations of the Chief of Engineers published in 36 CFR 327.19 if the land surrounding those lakes is under complete Federal ownership. District engineers will delineate those portions of the navigable waters of the United States where this provision is applicable and post notices of this designation in the vicinity of the lake resource manager's office.

(a) The navigable waters of the United States over which Corps of Engineers regulatory jurisdiction extends include all ocean and coastal waters within a zone three geographic (nautical) miles seaward from the baseline (The Territorial Seas). Wider zones are recognized for special regulatory powers exercised over the outer continental shelf. (See 33 CFR 322.3(b)).

(1) Generally, where the shore directly contacts the open sea, the line on the shore reached by the ordinary low tides comprises the baseline from which the distance of three geographic miles is measured. The baseline has significance for both domestic and international law and is subject to precise definitions. Special problems arise when offshore rocks, islands, or other bodies exist, and the baseline may have to be drawn seaward of such bodies.

(2) Regulatory jurisdiction in coastal areas extends to the line on the shore reached by the plane of the mean (average) high water. Where precise determination of the actual location of the line becomes necessary, it must be established by survey with reference to the available tidal datum, preferably averaged over a period of 18.6 years. Less precise methods, such as observation of the “apparent shoreline” which is determined by reference to physical markings, lines of vegetation, or changes in type of vegetation, may be used only where an estimate is needed of the line reached by the mean high water.