KPRGThe federal government has extended the time period for comments on a proposal to allow seabed mining near the Marianas Trench.
The public comment period was supposed to close on Dec. 12, Washington time.
Officials from Guam and the CNMI asked that it be extended for 120 days, but the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management changed it to Jan. 12, 2026.
In addition to extending the comment period, the bureau made a technical correction to the proposal.
Originally, the notice described the area under consideration as west of the Mariana Trench National Monument. The area is actually east of the monument.
As of Sunday, 858 comments had been received on the proposal.
If you want to comment
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management asks that comments be as specific and detailed as possible. The agency wants to hear about:
- Geological conditions, archaeological resources, or potential hazards on the seabed in and around the area.
- Multiple uses in and around the area, including shipping, navigation, and recreation.
- Socioeconomic, biological, and environmental information in and around the area; potential impacts of leasing and mining activities to these resources; and methods to eliminate, mitigate, and monitor for impacts.
- Information regarding commercial, Indigenous, and recreational fisheries, including but not limited to, the use of the areas, the fishing gear types used, seasonal use, and recommendations for reducing use conflicts.
- Relative environmental sensitivity and marine productivity in and around the area.
- Information on the preliminary activities necessary to develop comprehensive delineation, testing, or mining plans, particularly the types of any necessary surveys and associated equipment.
- Information on the types of activities associated with delineation, testing, or mining of minerals.
- Information concerning the relationship between OCS mineral leasing and the CNMI Coastal Zone Management Program.
- Information related to Indigenous people in the region and interactions with potential mining activities, such as potential impacts to Chamorro and Carolinian culture, the Indigenous ways of life; practices; lands; resources; ancestral lands; sacred sites, including sites that are submerged; and access to traditional areas of cultural or religious importance on federally-managed lands and waters.
- Socioeconomic information for communities potentially affected by mineral leasing in and around the area, including community profiles, vulnerability, and resiliency data. The bureau is also looking for comments on how best to meaningfully engage with these communities.
- Information from the deep-sea mining industry on the considerations for mineral development in deep waters, such as water depth, seafloor conditions, deep-sea operations, mineral extraction feasibility, and costs.
- Information on what a reasonable and fair rental rate would be for a minerals lease, royalty rates and schedules, bid deposits, minimum bid levels and appropriate lease area size.
