The need to study the effects on the Commonwealth of Virginia of possible exploration and development of the Outer Continental Shell (OCS) was acknowledged by the 1975 General Assembly in the passage of SJ.R. No. 137. This resolution, introduced by Senator Joseph V. GartIan, Jr. established the Virginia Coastal Study Commission which was directed to study the offshore, interface and onshore effects of possible future exploration and development of the Outer Continental Shelf, adjacent to the coast of Virginia. This legislation was to become effective only if the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the federal government in the case of U. S. v. Maine. The case involved the question of whether the federal or State government would have sovereign rights over the seabed underlying the Atlantic Ocean more than three geographical miles seaward from the mean low watermark and from the outer limits of inland waters on the coast extending to the seaward edge of the Outer Continental Shelf for the purpose of exploration and exploitation of natural resources. In the Submerged Lands Act of 1953, Congress had already transferred to the States rights to the seabed within the three mile limit or marginal sea. When the case was decided in favor of the federal government in March, 1975, the Virginia Coastal Study Commission began its endeavors.