Why It Matters
Federal officials have issued a final leasing notice for seabed mining offshore American Samoa, advancing plans to offer two leases. However, a new Congressional Research Service (CRS) report says the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has not yet issued any leases for critical mineral activities as of the report’s publication.
Congress may consider questions about BOEM’s environmental safeguards, the role of states and territories in leasing, and where marine minerals should be processed.
The Big Picture
The Department of the Interior has authority to lease federal waters on the outer continental shelf for non-energy marine minerals, including critical minerals. Deposits may contain those minerals, but not all deposits may be economically viable to mine. The presence of a mineral deposit therefore does not establish that it can be mined economically.
President Donald Trump’s April 24, 2025, executive order directed the interior secretary to establish an expedited process for seabed mineral permits and leases, consistent with applicable law. BOEM published a proposed rule on Feb. 24 to make administrative revisions to its mineral-leasing regulations.
Interior is merging BOEM and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement into a new Marine Minerals Administration. Some stakeholders have supported the executive actions, while others have challenged BOEM’s actions, citing environmental concerns.
The American Samoa process followed an April 2025 request from Impossible Metals to begin leasing for exploration and potential development. The company had sought a sale in 2024, when BOEM opted not to begin leasing steps. An environmental assessment for the proposed leases produced an October finding of no significant impact.
BOEM has also begun leasing processes offshore Virginia and Alaska. An unsolicited lease sale request for offshore Virginia focused on heavy mineral sands and phosphorites, while BOEM anticipates that Alaska’s OCS contains heavy mineral sands and ferromanganese crusts.
The CRS repoprt questions whether existing scientific knowledge and mitigation measures are sufficient to reduce potential environmental impacts. It also raises concerns on whether states and territories should share lease revenue and where minerals would be processed if U.S. onshore facilities are absent.
The Bottom Line
The American Samoa lease sale is scheduled for Nov. 19. BOEM has proposed a separate sale offshore the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands for Dec. 16.
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