Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act

Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act
Long title	An Act to establish an interim procedure for the orderly development of hard mineral resources in the deep seabed, pending adoption of an international regime relating thereto, and for other purposes
Acronyms (colloquial)	DSHMRA
Enacted by	the 96th United States Congress
Citations
Public law	Pub. L. 96–283
Statutes at Large	94 Stat. 553
Codification
U.S.C. sections created	30 U.S.C. §§ 1401–1473
Legislative history
	Introduced in the House of Representatives as H.R. 2759 by John M. Murphy (D–NY-17); Committee consideration by United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs; Merchant Marine and Fisheries; Ways and Means; Interior and Insular Affairs; Passed the House of Representatives on June 9, 1980 ([1]); Passed the Senate on June 23, 1980 with amendment; House of Representatives agreed to Senate amendment on June 25, 1980 ([2]); Signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on June 28, 1980;

The Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA) is the primary federal law regulating deep sea mineral activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) until the United States ratifies an international agreement. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) administers the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act, with the NOAA Administrator issuing exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits.

This Act is broken into three subchapters that cover exploration licenses and recovery permit requirements, plan for after an international framework is adopted, and enforcement provisions. Since its enactment in 1980, four exploration licenses have been issued and only two of these licenses are still active. In 2025, The Metals Company (TMC) submitted an application for exploratory licenses and a commercial recovery permit.

The United States is not a signatory to the current international framework, which was created after the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. Created with the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the International Seabed Authority regulates deep seabed mining, but because the United States has not ratified the treaty, it is not bound by these regulations.

In April 2025, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order directing agencies to advance the United States' position in deep seabed mineral exploration and commercial recovery. In response to this Executive Order, NOAA issued a Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to add a rule for a consolidated exploration license and commercial recovery permit process on July 7, 2025.