Law of the Sea Inaction Costs US, Senators Told

Calls for the US to ratify the 1994 Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC) have been growing as signatories continue to divvy up the undersea world's resources without a place at the table for Washington.

A group of former military officers and diplomats have called for the U.S. to ratifythe Law of the Sea  according reporting by The Wall Street Journal.

Russia and China have been staking claims for trillions of dollars of strategic minerals, according to the report.   As it has not ratified the treaty, the US can't participate in the mining of international seafloor resources.

Mining Boosters Call for Executive Action

The Responsible Use of Seafloor Resources Act of 2024,  sponsored by Rep. Carol Miller (R.-WV.) and Rep. John Joyce (R-PA) calls for

•  Department of Defense to provide resources for the build out of domestic nodule processing capacity to produce high purity critical minerals. 
• The Office of Science Technology and Policy to report the potential diplomatic, economic and industry benefits nodules may provide to the U.S. in addition to the lifecycle environmental and social impacts associated with nodule-sourcing versus benchmark land-based critical minerals. 
• The Department of Commerce to assess the applicability of domestic seabed mineral legislation in the context of importing seabed minerals or derived products from abroad.  

ISA Meeting this Month

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) established under LOSC, facilitates international cooperation in the management of mineral development in the Area.

The ISA Council's 29th Session is being held in Jamaica March 18-29,  The US will be in attendance, but as noted, will have no say.

"The lack of scientific knowledge and understanding of the deep sea is also starkly evident in the current state of the draft Mining Code/Consolidated text, presented by the ISA Council President in February 2024 for  negotiation at the Council," says the World Wildlife  Federation in a Brief to Governemnts

For the United States, the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act, administered by NOAA, governs the deep seabed mining activities of U.S. entities.