Above: NOAA’s remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer traverses over an extensive field of ferromanganese nodules that formed the bulk of the hard seafloor substrate for much of Dive 17 of the 2021 North Atlantic Stepping Stones expedition. (Image credit: NOAA)
A presidential Executive Order signed on April 25, 2025 creates a framework for American companies to expedite the identification and retrieval of offshore critical minerals and resources through seabed mapping and mineral exploration to establish reliable access to critical minerals like manganese, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements. Critical minerals are used in everything from defense systems and batteries to smartphones and medical devices. Access to these minerals has been deemed to be a key factor in the health and resilience of U.S. supply chains.
The Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act was enacted on June 28, 1980 to facilitate the exploration and commercial recovery of hard mineral resources from the deep seabed in areas beyond national jurisdiction. It was intended to be an interim measure until an international legal framework, like the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), was established.Under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act, NOAA reviews applications and issues exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits to U.S. entities for deep-sea mining in international waters.
In support of the Executive Order, NOAA is committed to an expeditious review of applications for exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits. The agency will provide the necessary resources for license and permit reviews to ensure that those reviews go forward without undue delays.
“NOAA is the tip of the spear as we partner with federal agencies and private industry to support the discovery and collection of critical minerals on the sea floor,” said Erik Noble, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere.
NOAA and other federal agency partners will develop this sector and work to better understand the deep sea through advancements in mapping, characterization, environmental data collection and resource assessments. In addition, NOAA will carry out environmental compliance measures consistent with applicable law.
NOAA is working to update and streamline the application process by enhancing coordination across agencies, working with regional fishery management councils, and engaging private partners to ensure an efficient and transparent approach to granting licenses and permits. The licensing and permitting process will include an opportunity for public comment.
The April 25 Executive Order also directs the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, in coordination with the Secretaries of Energy and Defense, to indicate which critical minerals are essential for applications including, but not limited to, defense, infrastructure, manufacturing and energy.
The Secretaries of Defense and Energy will then develop a report on the feasibility and potential benefits of using the National Defense Stockpile for storing seabed minerals, and they will review and revise programs to support domestic processing capabilities and offtake agreements for those materials.
The Secretary of Energy will also establish a Critical Materials Review Board to help oversee and improve the coordination of programs that provide grants, loans and other financial mechanisms that will help develop processing capabilities for domestic seabed and terrestrial materials, as well as offtake agreements or other supply chain expansion efforts.
The Order directs the Strategic and Critical Materials Board of Directors to consider seabed mineral resource development in any strategy to ensure a secure supply of materials designated as critical to national security under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stockpiling Act.
The U.S. will support investments in deep sea science, mapping and characterization efforts by helping streamline the permitting process through NOAA while maintaining environmental and transparency standards.
In cooperation with commercial and other non-governmental organizations, the U.S. federal government will develop a plan to map priority areas of the seabed to accelerate data collection and characterization. Areas within the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf will be prioritized.
The Order also directs the Secretary of Commerce to expedite the process for reviewing and issuing seabed mineral exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits in areas beyond national jurisdiction under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA). The expedited processing of licenses, permits, and leases under DSHMRA and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) is expected to ensure efficiency, predictability, and competitiveness for American companies.
Overall, the Order is expected to help reinvigorate the development of processing technologies and capabilities for seabed mineral resources, particularly polymetallic nodules, which is critical for realizing the full benefits of extracting these resources.
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