Trump Administration Sets Date for First Seabed Mining Lease Auction
On Monday, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) - recently reconfigured as the Marine Minerals Administration (MMA) - announced that it will hold a mining lease sale for seabed acreage next to Rose Atoll, a protected marine sanctuary east of American Samoa. The area may hold a substantial quantity of polymetallic nodules, as well as the species and ecosystems that have evolved around them, and will be auctioned off on November 19.
"Critical minerals are no longer just commodities; they are a vital strategic asset in global competition, essential for reaching our energy efficiency goals, strengthening our national defense, and securing domestic supply chains," said acting MMA Director Mike Olsen, pledging that environmental and cultural factors would be taken into account during planning and development.
NOAA research vessel Okeanos Explorer surveyed the lease area earlier this summer, providing data that will help bidders in initial resource characterization.
Courtesy MMA
To begin leasing on a near-term timetable, MMA is leveraging a provision of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to hold a U.S.-only lease sale outside of the supervision of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), avoiding a thorny debate over whether ISA should license mining activity.
The concept of commercial deep sea mining has opponents in environmental circles and in the oceanographic research community. Researchers' concerns include the possibility that the seabed habitats targeted for mining will not readily recover after extraction. Polymetallic nodules support ecosystems that are not well-studied, and if removed, the habitat is altered semi-permanently; the nodules take about two to three million years to regrow.
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The other possible risk, conservation advocates say, is that mining sediment containing heavy metals could be spilled into the water column. Once released it could spread and affect areas further from the site, blanketing the seabed or harming midwater species. Environmental NGO Oceana notes that the lease areas where the activity would occur are located next to Rose Atoll Marine National Monument, home to sea turtles, humpback whales and other species.
The environmental law NGO Earthjustice immediately filed suit to block MMA's auction, arguing that OCSLA does not authorize mineral leasing in a U.S. unincorporated territory like American Samoa. The suit also claims that the administration has not complied with its treaty obligations.
