Public Hearing on Deep Seabed Mining Exploration and Recovery Applications

Public Hearing on Deep Seabed Mining Exploration and Recovery Applications

The Action: Following a rewrite of deep seabed mining regulations earlier in the year, NOAA has formally accepted a massive consolidated application from The Metals Company USA, LLC (TMC USA). The application seeks federal exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits to mine the ocean floor for hard minerals. This is heavily focused on regions in Pacific’s international waters between Hawaii and Mexico..

NOAA is holding a virtual public hearing on October 13, 2026, and gathering public environmental input.  The deadline to register for the hearing is past (as of 10/12/26) and we think you  need to be registered to get hearing internet codes, but we think a recording will be available. We are not sure of the time of the hearing, which you can’t watch live, if you are not registered.

Comment Deadline: October 19, 2026. (Virtual Public Hearing scheduled for October 13, 2026) 

Please go to our calendar page on hearing deadline  for details –

https://phas-wsd.org/event/deadline-to-comment-on-deep-seabed-mining-exploration-and-recovery-applications-2/

Federal Register Notice: 91 FR 53608 – Deep Seabed Mining; Notice of Receipt of Consolidated Application  

Unique Comment Submission Link: Regulations.gov Docket NOAA-NOS- 2026-1751 

Pre-Fab Action Letter Links:  go to our calendar page > https://phas-wsd.org/event/deadline-to-comment-on-deep-seabed-mining-exploration-and-recovery-applications-2/

Why It’s Problematic:

Destruction of Unexplored Ecosystems: Granting these commercial permits opens the floor of the Pacific island territorial waters to massive mechanical extraction. This process directly strips away benthic habitats, killing rare, slow-growing deep-sea species before they can even be studied. 

Underwater Toxic Plumes: Mining machines kick up massive, miles-long sediment plumes choked with heavy metals. Traveling on underwater ocean currents, these clouds can choke midwater marine life, disrupt fish migratory patterns, and damage regional fisheries. 

Irreversible Ecological Damage: The deep ocean floor recovers at a near-zero rate. Compacting the sea floor and altering its chemical matrix constitutes a permanent scar on a vital global common space. 

Attached photo is from NOAA of a swimming armored searobin from off the coast of Hawaii.