Deep Seabed Mining: Revisions to Regulations for Exploration License and Commercial Recovery Permit Applications

What it does

The Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA or the Act) charges NOAA with the responsibility for issuing licenses for exploration and permits for commercial recovery of hard mineral resources, as defined in the Act, from the deep seabed in areas beyond national jurisdiction and promulgating regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of the Act. Some provisions of the regulations require updating to reflect significant technological and information changes since promulgation of the initial regulations in the 1980s. NOAA has included a consolidated license and permit application process in a section of the regulations reserved for this purpose and has made other clarifying and conforming changes.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What changed in the regulation

2 parts of Title 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

15 CFR 970, 15 CFR 971

Wording on eCFR: the day before it took effect and from the day it took effect (first part listed).

Compared with

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has published 186 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 184 in all of 2025.

Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.

Before this

1 earlier Federal Register document under regulation identifier 0648-BN96 since Jan. 1, 2025.

• July 7, 2025 Proposed rule; request for comments. Deep Seabed Mining: Revisions to Regulations for Exploration License and Commercial Recovery Permit Applications

What happens next and when

Effective Date: This rule is effective January 21, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket NOAA-NOS-2025-0108 on Regulations.gov
• Title 15 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register