Deep Seabed Mining: Revisions to Regulations for Exploration License and Commercial Recovery Permit Applications

DSHMRA (30 U.S.C. 1401-1473) charges the NOAA Administrator with the responsibility for issuing to U.S. citizens licenses for exploration and permits for commercial recovery of hard mineral resources from the deep seabed in areas beyond national jurisdiction. U.S. citizens must obtain licenses and permits from NOAA before undertaking deep seabed mining exploration or commercial recovery activities.\1\ The Act and the DSHMRA regulations define “hard mineral resources” as any deposit or accretion on, or just below, the surface of the deep seabed of nodules which include one or more minerals, at least one of which contains manganese, nickel, cobalt, or copper. Therefore, for purposes of the Act, the regulations, and this final rule, “hard mineral resources” refers to polymetallic nodules and the regulations and this final rule refer to both “hard mineral resources” and “nodules.” A broader interpretation of the phrase “hard mineral resources” could suggest that DSHMRA covers sulphides and crusts, which it does not.

\1\ Mining activities within the U.S. outer continental shelf are governed by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331-1356c), which is administered by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement within the Department of the Interior. The term “U.S. outer continental shelf” includes the extended continental shelf in areas adjacent to the U.S. States and is limited to the exclusive economic zone in areas adjacent to any territory of the United States.

NOAA, under U.S. law, regulates deep seabed mining in areas beyond national jurisdiction for US citizens and companies. The International Seabed Authority (ISA) regulates deep seabed mining in areas beyond national jurisdiction for countries that are parties to the Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC). The United States is not a party to the LOSC. Under U.S. law, NOAA may issue licenses and permits to U.S. citizens in areas beyond national jurisdiction under DSHMRA, provided all statutory and regulatory requirements are met.

On April 24, 2025, the President signed Executive Order (E.O.) 14285, “Unleashing America's Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources,” (90 FR 17735) establishing policies to advance U.S. leadership in seabed mineral exploration and responsible commercial recovery.

DSHMRA, signed into law in 1980, required the NOAA Administrator, no later than 270 days after June 28, 1980, to issue proposed regulations that were necessary and appropriate to implement the Act. NOAA published its final DSHMRA exploration license regulations (15 CFR part 970) in 1981, and its final commercial recovery permit regulations (15 CFR part 971) in 1989. As required by the Act, the regulations state that priority of right is established through the licensing process. The regulations further provide that a permittee must be the holder of a valid exploration license to apply for and receive a commercial recovery permit (Sec. 971.200). At that time, the sequential nature of the licensing and permitting processes was dictated by the developmental state of deep seabed mining technology and the information required to prepare an application for commercial recovery. But NOAA acknowledged even then, when it reserved Sec. 971.214, that once the industry matured and gained experience from activities undertaken during site-specific exploration, circumstances may evolve that might allow later entrants to capitalize on work completed by previous explorers or significant technological advances and lessen the need for further exploration. See 51 FR 26794, 26796 (July 25, 1986). In such cases, there may be a need for a consolidated license and permit application process in which applicants could meet both exploration license requirements, to establish priority of right, and permit requirements simultaneously. In the 1980s, consolidation of the two procedures may have been premature. NOAA, however, understood the potential and included a reserved section (Sec. 971.214) precisely for such later development. See id.

NOAA is now issuing this final rule revising the regulations under 30 U.S.C. 1413(a)(2)(A) and 30 U.S.C. 1426. Under 30 U.S.C. 1413(a)(2)(A), exploration license and commercial recovery permit applications “shall be made in such form and manner as the Administrator shall prescribe in general and uniform regulations.” The same provision authorizes the Administrator to require by regulation, as being necessary and appropriate for carrying out DSHMRA, “such relevant financial, technical, and environmental information” that applicants must provide. Under 30 U.S.C. 1426, NOAA is authorized to “issue regulations to carry out [the Act] . . . only after public notice and opportunity for comment” in accordance with the procedures outlined in that section.

As the agency anticipated, over the past decades there has been a vast improvement in the technological capability for deep seabed mining, and the industry has obtained a substantial amount of information from deep seabed exploration activities and demonstrated a readiness for commercial recovery.

For example, the development of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), deep-sea sensors, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and other technology has substantially improved the ability to more efficiently map and explore the sea floor.

At the same time, knowledge of the sea floor has also increased. Unlike when the regulations were first promulgated, today NOAA and many other entities operating under regimes

other than DSHMRA have undertaken detailed mapping of areas of the seabed both within countries' national jurisdiction and in areas beyond national jurisdiction. For example, all deep-sea mineral-related data that is collected during NOAA-funded expeditions is made publicly available and accessible according to FAIR data practices. This data can be found at the NOAA National Centers of Environmental Information (NCEI) at https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/bathymetry/?layers=multibeam and https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/seafloor-mapping. In addition, industry has conducted scientific testing on hard mineral resources, developed and tested new deep-sea mining-relevant technology, and gained scientific and technical expertise and experience in deep seabed mining exploration. And many of these organizations contribute their data to the international seabed mapping effort Seabed 2030, and that data can be found at https://www.gebco.net/data-products. This knowledge, experience, and expertise may now be leveraged by U.S. citizens operating under DSHMRA who are interested in pursuing commercial recovery of hard mineral resources of the deep seabed in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

The need for regulatory changes were foreseen by NOAA in the 1980s when it published its proposed and final rules for the DSHMRA commercial recovery permits by reserving a section for a consolidated license and permit application process in which applicants could meet necessary exploration license requirements to establish priority of right and permit requirements simultaneously. See 15 CFR 971.214; 51 FR at 26796. For the reasons set forth above and throughout this preamble, NOAA has concluded that establishing this consolidated application process and specifying the financial, technical, and environmental information that shall be submitted as part of a consolidated application is necessary and appropriate for carrying out the provisions of DSHMRA. See 30 U.S.C. 1413(a)(2)(A). This approach is consistent with DSHMRA, which does not require a sequential process to first hold a license before applying for a permit, and is in keeping with the Act's finding that “the present and future national interest of the United States requires the availability of hard mineral resources which is independent of the export policies of foreign nations,” 30 U.S.C. 1401(a)(3). The consolidated application process is an alternative application method and does not supplant existing regulations allowing for the sequential application of licenses and permits. Therefore, an applicant could still opt to apply for only a license initially.

NOAA has also made technical, clarifying, and conforming changes to other obsolete sections of the license and permit regulations. These changes do not alter the substantive standards to which applications are held.

Finally, this final rule is effective on the date of publication because it relieves a restriction under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The APA generally requires that substantive rules incorporate a minimum 30-day delay of effective date following publication. 5 U.S.C. 553(d). Delayed effective dates give the public reasonable time to prepare to comply with a rule. But the APA provides an exception to the 30-day delayed effective date for rules which grant or recognize an exemption or relieve a restriction. 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1). This final rule relieves a restriction on the regulated community (applicants for exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits under DSHMRA) in the form of sequential license and permit applications--a requirement that is not present in DSHMRA but that was established by NOAA's regulations. NOAA received no public comments, from existing applicants or otherwise, expressing a need for additional time to comply with this rule. Because the final rule relieves a restriction, it is exempt from the 30-day delay in effective date and is effective immediately under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(1).

NOAA has created a new DSHMRA website where NOAA will post application information as it becomes publicly available.