NOAA speeds up process to grant deep-sea mining permits

David Jordan, CQ-Roll Call on Jan 27, 2026

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WASHINGTON — The Trump administration, with the support of many congressional Republicans, is looking to boost deep-sea mining as a way to counter Chinese dominance of critical minerals supply chains.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a final rule on Jan. 21 that would speed up the process companies must go through to receive exploration licenses and commercial recovery permit applications under a 1980 law.

The move has drawn skepticism over concerns about largely unproven technology and its potential impact on the environment, including from the Republican delegates who represent three U.S. territories in the Pacific Ocean.

The NOAA rule would let applicants seek both the license and permits at the same time. NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs said in a statement that the move would enable “U.S. companies to access these resources more quickly, strengthening our nation’s economic resilience and advancing the discovery and use of critical seafloor minerals.”

President Donald Trump called for the rule in an executive order signed in April. The U.S. subsidiary of a Canadian company, The Metals Co., filed a consolidated application on Jan. 22 to mine a deposit — known as a nodule in the industry — containing nickel, cobalt, copper and other materials in the Pacific Ocean. The NOAA is to hold a public hearing on the application beginning Tuesday.

Deep-sea mining was attempted in the 1970s in an area off the coast of South Carolina as an attempt to see if the process could work in the deeper waters of the Pacific Ocean. The 1980 law passed, initially as an interim measure, amid international negotiations over what became the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

But the U.S. never ratified the convention, which paved the way to establish the International Seabed Authority, a body tasked with authorizing the development of international seabed mining and protecting the seabed ecology. The International Seabed Authority has considered standards for deep-sea mining but has yet to finalize any.

After early efforts, deep-sea mining was for decades considered an undertaking too difficult to be profitable, but the surge in critical mineral demand and developments in technology have spurred a reconsideration.

The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a hearing on deep-sea mining on Jan. 22. Chairman Pete Stauber, R-Minn., said deep-sea mining could play a significant role in ensuring the U.S. is not dependent on foreign adversaries, particularly China.

“America cannot risk falling behind in the production and processing of minerals, whether they are from traditional operations on land or harvested from the seabed,” said Stauber. “Failing to build our processing capacity continues to enable China to expand their control over our supply chains and hamstring our national security.”

The Metals Co. CEO Gerard Barron told the panel that the 1980 law “remains workable, with no insurmountable barriers to commercial development,” but that changes would benefit the industry.

This included codifying the Trump administration’s changes to the permitting process, establishing time limits for reviews, consolidating the National Environmental Policy Act review process under NOAA, and clarifying that minerals recovered by U.S. companies are considered domestic for tariff purposes.

Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, supported a bill from Rep. Mike Ezell, R-Miss., that would codify Trump’s executive order.

Opponents voiced concerns that despite a need for the minerals, deep-sea mining remains too risky.

Subcommittee ranking member Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., was skeptical that the industry was economically viable, while full committee ranking member Jared Huffman, D-Calif., said companies are working with the U.S. not for the benefit of Americans but because treaty obligations are preventing other countries from moving forward.

Andrew Thaler, the CEO of environmental consulting firm Blackbeard Biologic and an ecologist who has examined deep-sea mining, said he had concerns, including the risk of harm to the ocean floor environment and mid-water and surface plumes that could spread chemicals for hundreds of miles beyond the mining site.

Concern in U.S. territories

House delegates from Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands also raised concerns, noting local opposition among their constituents to any deep-sea mining.

“We don’t get the luxury of being wrong. And any decision impacting our ocean is permanent, there’s no fixing it and there’s no moving it somewhere else,” said Delegate Kimberlyn King-Hinds, R-N. Marianas.

Delegate James C. Moylan, R-Guam, questioned what benefit islands like Guam would receive because they are unlikely to become critical mineral refinement centers.

Delegate Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, R-A.S., said her constituents have “yet to be convinced the benefits will outweigh the costs of this occurring so close to our beloved waters.”