Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands v. United States

The question in this case is whether the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (“CNMI”) is to be treated as a State for purposes of the Quiet Title Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2409a. One effect of such treatment would be to exempt CNMI from the Act’s twelve-year statute of limitations. The district court determined that CNMI was not to be treated as a State. The Commonwealth now appeals this decision. We conclude that, although the CNMI is not a “State” under the Quiet Title Act, the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 48 U.S.C. § 1801 and notes following, requires that we treat the CNMI as if it were a State for the purposes of the Quiet Title Act. Accordingly, we reverse.

Factual Background

In 1997 and 1999, the CNMI filed two different, but largely identical, complaints under the Quiet Title Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2409a. The complaints alleged that the Commonwealth “owns the submerged lands underlying the internal waters, ar-chipelagic waters, and territorial waters adjacent to the Northern Mariana Islands.”

In the 1997 action, the Commonwealth filed suit without complying with subsection (m) of the Quiet Title Act, a notice provision that is…