Congressional consent

Congressional consent is a term related to interstate compacts. The United States Constitution asserts that states may not enter into compacts with other states except in cases of emergency, such as a foreign invasion. However, the Constitution does not explicitly forbid the practice of forming such agreements or compacts. Instead, unless the agreement changes the balance of power between states and the federal government, or interferes with the powers of the federal government, congressional consent is not needed. This was clarified by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Virginia v. Tennessee (1893). In those cases where congressional consent is needed, receiving the consent of Congress means that the compact is simply accepted as federal law.

Compact Clause

Congressional consent has its roots in the U.S. Constitution. The so-called "Compact Clause," Article I, section 10, provides the original language:

“

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

”

As mentioned above, although this language appears to prohibit any interstate compact without congressional consent, it has only applied in practice to compacts that would affect the distribution of powers outlined in the rest of the Constitution.

Process

Consent is given in the same manner as passing a bill through Congress. The House or Senate may introduce the compact as a bill, which would then need to be passed in both legislatures before requiring the president's signature. After consent is given, Congress maintains the right to make changes to the compact. Revoking consent must follow a different set of procedures, however. Two Supreme Court cases ruled that Congress could not withdraw consent from a compact unless the compact language specifically allowed such action. Because Congress can add language in the form of amendments, the legislature can effectively give itself the power to revoke consent. Although the Supreme Court has not ruled if such a maneuver is legal, it has said that revoking consent after previously giving it "would be damaging to the very concept of interstate compacts."

Types of consent

The clause above is the only language in the Constitution that specifically refers to interstate compacts. That said, there are three main ways Congress gives consent to an interstate compact:

1. Explicit consent: A compact or agreement is drafted and adopted by a given number of states, and then submitted to Congress for approval. This type of consent is usually seen in cases of boundary disputes between states. Some compacts seek explicit consent even if not required for that type of compact in order to avoid issues with federal approval later.
2. Implicit consent: This type of consent is given when Congress takes action that generally agrees with the terms of a compact. For instance, legislators could pass a law with the same or similar content to a recent compact, or craft legislation that pursues the same end results of the compact. For instance, if a compact among three states seeks to create a commission to oversee cleanup of a common body of water, Congress could pass a law urging those states to coordinate that cleanup.
3. Preemptive consent: This form of consent is similar to implicit consent, but Congress is the group that begins the process. Congress could adopt legislation that urges states to enter into a compact to work towards a particular goal. Consent is given before a compact is officially drafted, meaning that Congress loses its ability to review the compact's objectives once adopted by the states.

Compacts with congressional consent

The following list contains compacts tracked by Ballotpedia that were found to have congressional consent. Please see the individual compacts for more information.

1. Agreement on Detainers
2. Animas-La Plata Project Compact
3. Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin Compact
4. Arkansas River Basin Compact of 1970
5. Arkansas River Compact of 1949
6. Arkansas River Compact of 1965
7. Atlantic Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Compact
8. Atlantic State Marine Fisheries Compact
9. Bear River Compact
10. Belle Fourche River Compact
11. Bi-State Development Compact
12. Big Blue River Compact
13. Breaks Interstate Park Compact
14. Buffalo and Fort Erie Bridge Compact
15. California-Nevada Compact for Jurisdiction on Interstate Waters
16. Canadian River Compact
17. Central Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact
18. Central Midwest Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact
19. Colorado River Compact
20. Columbia River Compact
21. Columbia River Gorge Compact
22. Connecticut River Atlantic Salmon Compact
23. Connecticut River Valley Flood Control Compact
24. Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad Compact
25. Delaware River Basin Compact
26. Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Compact
27. Delaware River Port Authority Compact
28. Delaware River and Bay Authority Compact
29. Delaware Valley Urban Area Compact
30. Driver License Compact
31. Emergency Management Assistance Compact
32. Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact
33. Great Lakes Basin Compact
34. Gulf States Marine Fisheries Compact
35. Historic Chattahoochee Compact
36. Interstate Compact for Juveniles
37. Interstate Compact for Mutual Military Aid in an Emergency
38. Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance
39. Interstate Compact to Conserve Oil and Gas
40. Interstate Corrections Compact
41. Interstate Rail Passenger Network Compact
42. Klamath River Compact
43. La Plata River Compact
44. Maine-New Hampshire Interstate School Compact
45. Mid-Atlantic Forest Fire Protection Compact
46. Midwest Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact
47. Mississippi-Louisiana-Alabama Rapid Rail Transit Compact
48. Missouri-Nebraska Boundary Compact
49. New England Higher Education Compact
50. New England Interstate Corrections Compact
51. New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Compact
52. New Hampshire-Vermont Interstate Public Water Supply Compact
53. New Hampshire-Vermont Interstate School Compact
54. New Hampshire-Vermont Interstate Sewage and Waste Disposal Facilities Compact
55. New Jersey-Pennsylvania Turnpike Bridge Compact
56. New York-New Jersey Port Authority Compact of 1921
57. Northwest Compact on Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management
58. Northwest Wildland Fire Protection Agreement
59. Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority Compact
60. Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Compact
61. Pacific Marine Fisheries Compact
62. Palisades Interstate Park Compact
63. Pecos River Compact
64. Portsmouth-Kittery Bridge Compact
65. Potomac Highlands Airport Authority Compact
66. Potomac River Compact of 1958
67. Potomac Valley Compact
68. Pymatuning Lake Compact
69. Quad Cities Interstate Metropolitan Authority Compact
70. Railroad Passenger Transportation Compact
71. Red River Compact
72. Republican River Compact
73. Rio Grande Interstate Compact
74. Rocky Mountain Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact
75. Sabine River Compact
76. Snake River Compact
77. South Central Forest Fire Protection Compact
78. South Platte River Compact
79. Southeast Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact
80. Southern States Energy Compact
81. Southwestern Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact
82. Surplus Lines Insurance Multi-State Compliance Compact
83. Susquehanna River Basin Compact
84. Taxation of Motor Fuels Consumed by Interstate Buses
85. Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Compact
86. Tennessee Interstate Furlough Compact
87. Tennessee River Basin Water Pollution Control Compact
88. Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact
89. Thames River Valley Flood Control Compact
90. Tri-State Sanitation Compact
91. Upper Colorado River Basin Compact
92. Upper Niobrara River Compact
93. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Compact
94. Western Corrections Compact
95. Western Regional Higher Education Compact
96. Wheeling Creek Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Compact

See also

• Interstate compact
• Interstate Compacts project

External links

• The Council of State Governments - National Center for Interstate Compacts
• Council of State Governments - Knowledge Center