SAIPAN — With the federal government advancing toward possible critical mineral leasing in the waters around the Marianas, Representative Marissa R. Flores has introduced House Joint Resolution 24-17 urging Congress to guarantee that the CNMI, not just the federal government, shares in the ownership, management and long-term benefits of its offshore resources.
The resolution calls on Congress to establish a comprehensive legal framework before any federal mineral leasing occurs. It seeks greater Commonwealth ownership and management of offshore mineral resources, requires Commonwealth participation before federal leasing decisions are made, strengthens environmental protections and creates a CNMI Mineral Resources and Indigenous Legacy Trust Fund to preserve mineral revenues for future generations rather than spend them in a single budget cycle.
Modeled after the Alaska Permanent Fund, the proposed trust would invest mineral revenues for the long-term benefit of the Commonwealth, supporting education, infrastructure, environmental restoration, economic security and Indigenous community programs through independent fiduciary oversight.
The resolution recognizes that Chamorro and Carolinian communities have borne significant economic consequences from decades of federal decisions affecting the Commonwealth while having limited political representation in those decisions. It argues that if offshore resources are ever developed, the people of the Northern Mariana Islands should share fairly in the lasting benefits.
“Natural resources can only be extracted once,” said Flores. “This resolution is not about authorizing mining. It is about making sure that if development ever occurs, the Commonwealth has a voice, our environment is protected, and the benefits are preserved for future generations instead of leaving our islands forever.”
The resolution lands as federal leasing machinery moves. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed its Area Identification in March, carrying forward more than 69 million acres in two areas east and west of the islands for environmental review, nearly double the area first floated in November 2025 and an expanse of ocean roughly the size of Nevada. BOEM has said the step is not a commitment to lease and that any initial lease would authorize only early-stage data collection, not extraction.
Opposition in the region has been substantial. Governor David M. Apatang and Guam Governor Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero asked Congress in an April letter to halt federal mineral leasing in the Marianas region, and Guam enacted a law in June banning mineral extraction from its territorial seabed.
Once signed by both local houses, HJR 24-17 will be transmitted to the President, congressional leadership, the Governor and the CNMI Delegate to Congress, urging federal legislation to establish the Commonwealth’s rights before offshore mineral development moves forward.
