SAIPAN — The federal government is asking the Marianas to weigh in on whether deep-sea mining should move forward in waters offshore the Commonwealth, opening a 30-day window for public comments and industry interest on a large swath of the Northern Mariana Islands’ Outer Continental Shelf.
In a notice for the November 12, 2025 Federal Register, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced a “Request for Information and Interest” (RFI) on commercial mineral leasing in the CNMI’s offshore waters, under docket number BOEM-2025-0351. The RFI is the first step in a longer process that could lead to a lease sale, but BOEM stresses it is not yet a decision to lease.
The RFI area covers about 35.5 million acres of seabed along the eastern edge of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone west of the Mariana Trench National Monument. It includes more than 6,500 lease blocks in very deep water from roughly 3,700 to 25,100 feet and lies entirely offshore the CNMI, with the closest point about 128 miles from Saipan. The region includes abyssal plains, seamounts, and guyots identified as prospective for ferromanganese crusts and nodules.
BOEM says it wants to hear from Indigenous communities, territorial and local governments, federal agencies, environmental groups, the deep-sea mining industry, and everyday residents. The agency is asking people to flag potential impacts on marine life, cultural resources, Indigenous practices and sacred sites, commercial and subsistence fisheries, other ocean users like shipping and recreation, and the social and economic well-being of island communities.
At the same time, BOEM is asking industry to weigh in on whether mining in such deep water is technically and economically realistic, and to comment on what future lease terms should look like, including rental and royalty rates, how royalties might be phased in over time, lease sizes, and what kind of auction format should be used if a sale is proposed.
The agency says it plans to coordinate closely with the CNMI government and to engage Chamorro and Carolinian communities on economic, environmental, cultural, and public-health concerns tied to any potential mineral development.
Comments can be submitted online at regulations.gov by searching for “BOEM-2025-0351,” or by mail to BOEM’s Pacific Region Office of Strategic Resources in Camarillo, California.
Federal government seeks input on potential seabed mineral leasing offshore CNMI
SAIPAN — The federal government is asking the Marianas to weigh in on whether deep-sea mining should move forward in waters offshore the Commonwealth, opening a 30-day window for public comments and industry interest on a large swath of the Northern Mariana Islands’ Outer Continental Shelf.
In a notice for the November 12, 2025 Federal Register, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced a “Request for Information and Interest” (RFI) on commercial mineral leasing in the CNMI’s offshore waters, under docket number BOEM-2025-0351. The RFI is the first step in a longer process that could lead to a lease sale, but BOEM stresses it is not yet a decision to lease.
The RFI area covers about 35.5 million acres of seabed along the eastern edge of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone west of the Mariana Trench National Monument. It includes more than 6,500 lease blocks in very deep water from roughly 3,700 to 25,100 feet and lies entirely offshore the CNMI, with the closest point about 128 miles from Saipan. The region includes abyssal plains, seamounts, and guyots identified as prospective for ferromanganese crusts and nodules.
BOEM says it wants to hear from Indigenous communities, territorial and local governments, federal agencies, environmental groups, the deep-sea mining industry, and everyday residents. The agency is asking people to flag potential impacts on marine life, cultural resources, Indigenous practices and sacred sites, commercial and subsistence fisheries, other ocean users like shipping and recreation, and the social and economic well-being of island communities.
At the same time, BOEM is asking industry to weigh in on whether mining in such deep water is technically and economically realistic, and to comment on what future lease terms should look like, including rental and royalty rates, how royalties might be phased in over time, lease sizes, and what kind of auction format should be used if a sale is proposed.
The agency says it plans to coordinate closely with the CNMI government and to engage Chamorro and Carolinian communities on economic, environmental, cultural, and public-health concerns tied to any potential mineral development.
Comments can be submitted online at regulations.gov by searching for “BOEM-2025-0351,” or by mail to BOEM’s Pacific Region Office of Strategic Resources in Camarillo, California.