Page:New York v. New Jersey (2023).pdf/1

(Slip Opinion)

Because the Compact is silent as to unilateral withdrawal, the Court looks to background principles of law that would have informed the parties’ understanding when they entered the Compact. As relevant here, interstate compacts “are construed as contracts under the principles of contract law.” Ibid. Under the default contract-law rule at the time of the Compact’s formation, a contract that contemplates “continuing performance for an indefinite time is to be interpreted as