### Question
What does coastal zone mean?


### Answer
**Coastal zone** has the following meaning in *43 U.S.C. § 1331*:

> the coastal waters (including the lands therein and thereunder) and the adjacent shorelands (including the waters therein and thereunder), strongly influenced by each other and in proximity to the shorelines of the several coastal States, and includes islands, transition and intertidal areas, salt marshes, wetlands, and beaches, which zone extends seaward to the outer limit of the United States territorial sea and extends inland from the shorelines to the extent necessary to control shorelands, the uses of which have a direct and significant impact on the coastal waters, and the inward boundaries of which may be identified by the several coastal States, pursuant to the authority of section 1454(b)(1) [1](#1331_1_target) of title 16

#### Citation:
  - *43 U.S.C. § 1331*
  - Heading: **CHAPTER 29-SUBMERGED LANDS > SUBCHAPTER III-OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF LANDS**

