Nature of Interstate Compacts
Historically, beginning with the Articles of Confederation, states used compacts to settle boundary disputes. In 1918, Oregon and Washington enacted the first compact to jointly manage and regulate an interstate resource (fishing on the Columbia River), and in 1921, New York and New Jersey enacted the first compact that created an interstate commission (now known as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey). Today, there are more than 250 interstate compacts that directly regulate or recommend policy for a range of matters as diverse as water allocation and use, land use, natural resource management, environmental protection, transportation systems, regional economic development, professional licensing, crime control, and child welfare. The U.S. Supreme Court has long encouraged states to resolve their disputes through compacts rather than litigation. E.g., Colorado v. Kansas, 320 U.S. 383, 392 (1943); Vermont v. New York, 417 U.S. 270, 277–78 (1974). A seminal law review article observed, “The combined legislative powers of Congress and of the states permit a wide range of permutations and combinations of power necessary for governmental action.” Frankfurter & Landis, supra, at 688. Like the 1955 ICJ, the ICJ is part of a long history and recently accelerating use of interstate compacts that address multilateral state issues beyond state boundaries.