Fast-Tracking Federal Natural Resource Approvals: Seabed Exploration and Mining

Since taking office on January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump has issued a slew of executive orders and other directives aimed at expediting certain land use authorizations and approvals on federally managed land, primarily for minerals, timber, and other natural resources, including: "Updating Permitting Technology for the 21st Century" (April 15, 2025); "Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production" (March 20, 2025); and "Unleashing American Energy" (January 20, 2025). Under these executive actions, federal agencies have, in short order, used President Trump's directive to establish emergency permitting regulations and approve multiple projects (primarily mining).

The current Administration has also turned its attention to offshore permitting. While offshore wind developments remain mired in federal courts, President Trump issued the "Unleashing America's Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources" executive order ("Offshore EO") on April 24 to mirror the fast-track permitting and approval for other natural resources projects.

What Trump's Offshore Executive Order Aims To Do

The Offshore EO seeks to develop critical mineral deposits on and underlying the seabed adjacent to the continental United States, as well as develop and further partnerships with strategic allies to develop deep sea mineral resources in international waters and foreign waters. Like President Trump's other executive orders, the Offshore EO prioritizes designated strategic minerals, including rare earths, cobalt, copper, nickel, titanium, and manganese, which are critical to the high-tech economy and national security applications.

Key to the Offshore EO is President Trump's direction to jurisdictional agencies (e.g., National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Energy, Department of Interior, and, for strategic international partnerships, the Department of State) to expedite existing permitting processes for seabed exploration and development under the (rarely utilized) Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act ("DSHRA").

• DSHRA was originally enacted in 1980 to allow U.S. nationals to explore and recover deep seabed minerals in areas outside of the United States' jurisdiction (i.e.¸ underneath the "high seas") and was originally intended as a stop-gap until an international program was in place. That international program—the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ("UNCLOS") and the attendant International Seabed Authority ("ISA")—come into being between 1982 and 1996. However, the United States is not a party to either UNCLOS or the ISA and has maintained the permitting regime originally establish by DSHRA (which presently has two active exploration licenses issued and two additional license applications pending).

Additionally, the Offshore EO aims to expedite closer seabed mineral development by expediting offshore mineral leasing activity under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management ("BOEM") pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ("OCSLA"). This direction would establish a new permitting regime, concurrent with existing regimes, to permit offshore oil and gas developments and offshore wind developments.

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The current administration is prioritizing natural resources development on federally managed lands and in federally managed waters. Accordingly, permitting regimes, land use authorizations, leasing structures, and environmental review are likely to be subject to seismic shifts. DWT's experienced Land Use & Development and Environmental teams already have significant experience with federal land and development law and remain committed to helping our clients obtain all necessary entitlements and permits as these regimes shift in real time.

If you have any questions regarding your natural resources project—on federal land or otherwise—please do not hesitate to contact Dan Quinley.