The Specifics
The law specifies that any wreck that lies embedded a state's submerged lands is property of that state and subject to that state's jurisdiction if the wreck is determined as being abandoned. The National Park Service website states that these include:
“abandoned shipwrecks embedded in a State's submerged lands; abandoned shipwrecks embedded in coralline formations protected by a State on its submerged lands; and abandoned shipwrecks located on a State's submerged lands and included in or determined eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.”
In section 3, the act outlines what is meant by the use of certain words. In the case of the term "embedded," it states that it...
"...means firmly affixed in the submerged lands or in coralline formations such that the use of tools of excavation is required in order to move the bottom sediments to gain access to the shipwreck, its cargo, and any part thereof."
Also, the term "submerged lands" refers to "lands beneath navigable waters," and "state" delineates "a state of the United States of America, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands."
Read more about this topic: Abandoned Shipwrecks Act