84                                   Laws of Maryland                          [Ch, 30

15.16.    Jurisdiction of Signatories Reserved.—(A) Nothing in this
compact shall be construed to restrict, relinquish or be in derogation
of, any power or authority constitutionally possessed by any signa-
tory within its jurisdiction, and every such power and authority
shall continue to exist and be exercised except as specifically limited
by this compact and except to the extent that the exercise of a power
by a signatory conflicts with an exercise by the Commission of a
power vested in it. Nothing contained in this compact, however, shall
be construed as granting to the Commission the power to regulate
the taking of fish and wildlife.

(B) 1. NOTHING IN THIS COMPACT SHALL BE CON-
STRUED TO PREVENT ANY SIGNATORY STATE FROM HAV-
ING AND ENFORCING ANY LAWS OR REGULATIONS PRO-
VIDING FOR STANDARDS RELATING TO WATER RE-
SOURCES, WATER POLLUTION, WASTE DISPOSAL, SEDI-
MENT CONTROL, OR OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS,
WHICH ARE HIGHER THAN THOSE ADOPTED AND IN
FORCE PURSUANT TO THE COMPACT.

2. THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 5.06 OF THE COMPACT
RELATING TO CIVIL LIABILITY FOR POLLUTION DAMAGE
AND PROVIDING REMEDIES THEREFOR ARE IN ADDITION
TO, AND NOT IN SUBSTITUTION FOR, ANY PROVISIONS
FOR LIABILITY WHICH MAY BE CONTAINED IN OTHER
LAWS OF A SIGNATORY STATE.

15.17.    Complementary Legislation by Signatories.—Each of the
signatories agrees that it will enact such additional legislation as
may be required to enable its officers and governmental agencies to
accomplish effectively the purposes of this compact.

15.18.    Amendments and Supplements.—Amendments and supple-
ments to this compact may be adopted by legislative action of any
of the signatories concurred in by all of the others.

15.19.    Construction.—The enactment of this compact by the Con-
gress of the United States shall not be construed as indicating an
intent on the part of the Congress to occupy the field in which any
part of this compact operates to the exclusion of individual state
laws on the same subject matter. It is the intent of the Congress
and of the legislatures of the other signatories that no provision of
this compact shall be construed as invalidating any provision of law
of any signatory unless such provision is inconsistent with any of
the purposes of this compact or of any provision thereof; and that
nothing in this compact shall be construed to modify or qualify the
authority of any signatory to enact or enforce legislation or regula-
tions relating to any subject matter of this compact which are within
its jurisdiction and not inconsistent with any purpose or provision
of this compact.

15.20.    Severability.—If any word, phrase, clause, sentence or pro-
vision of this compact or the application thereof to any person or cir-
cumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the compact and the
application of the word, phrase, clause, sentence or provision to other
persons not similarly situated or to other circumstances shall not be
affected thereby.

15.21.    Effective Date; Execution.—This compact shall become
binding and effective thirty (30) days after its enactment by the