Marine Minerals Administration Advances Northern Mariana Islands Seabed Mining Lease

The Trump administration is moving closer to a potential offshore critical minerals lease sale near the Northern Mariana Islands, advancing another piece of its broader effort to develop seabed mineral resources in U.S. waters.

The Marine Minerals Administration (MMA) on Monday published a Proposed Leasing Notice covering federal waters off the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or CNMI, laying out proposed terms and conditions for a possible commercial mineral lease sale.

The notice identifies offshore blocks under consideration and includes proposed lease stipulations and information for potential bidders. The agency also completed an Environmental Assessment examining the potential impacts of issuing commercial leases in the area.

"Critical minerals are essential to America's national security, economic strength and resource sovereignty," said MMA Acting Director Matt Giacona. "The United States cannot afford to depend on foreign nations for the resources that power our economy and support our defense industrial base."

Giacona said the agency is seeking to develop the mineral potential of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf while subjecting projects to environmental review.

The CNMI, a U.S. commonwealth in the western Pacific east of the Philippines, consists of 14 islands, including Saipan, Tinian and Rota.

The latest step follows the federal government's decision earlier this year to advance a significantly expanded area east and west of the Northern Mariana Islands for environmental review.

More than 65,000 public submissions were received during an earlier request for information as the government considered which areas should move forward. The process has drawn both interest over the potential mineral resources and opposition from environmental groups concerned about the effects of deep-sea mining.

The Pacific seabed is believed to contain deposits of minerals including manganese, nickel, cobalt and copper, which are used in defense systems, batteries, electronics and other advanced technologies. The Trump administration has made development of domestic critical mineral supplies a national security priority as it seeks to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign supply chains, particularly those dominated by China.

The CNMI proposal is also part of a wider push by the newly established MMA to develop an offshore minerals leasing program.

Last month, the agency released a proposed leasing notice for federal waters off American Samoa that could lead to the first federal deep-sea mineral lease sale in U.S. waters. The American Samoa proposal includes provisions encouraging successful bidders to employ local workers, contract with local businesses and use the Port of Pago Pago to support operations.

The MMA was created in July through the reunification of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, reversing the separation of offshore leasing and safety oversight put in place following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.

The administration's offshore minerals push also extends beyond U.S. waters. NOAA has been advancing applications under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act for exploration of polymetallic nodules in international waters, including the mineral-rich Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Pacific.

Environmental organizations have strongly opposed the expansion of seabed mining, arguing that commercial-scale operations could cause long-lasting or irreversible damage to poorly understood deep-ocean ecosystems.

For now, the CNMI process remains several steps removed from actual mining.

The MMA stressed that publication of the Proposed Leasing Notice does not mean a lease sale will ultimately be held and does not authorize exploration or mineral collection. Any subsequent development proposal would face additional regulatory and environmental reviews.

A Notice of Availability for the proposed leasing notice is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on August 18.

If the MMA decides to proceed with a lease sale, it would first have to publish a Final Leasing Notice in the Federal Register at least 30 days before the sale.

The latest action nevertheless pushes the Northern Mariana Islands further along the federal leasing process, as the Pacific increasingly becomes a focus of Washington's effort to establish a domestic seabed minerals industry.