119-hr663

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 663 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 663

To oppose the permitting of deep seabed mining and exploration for deep 
 seabed mining, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 23, 2025

 Mr. Case (for himself, Ms. Bonamici, Ms. Norton, and Ms. Tlaib) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To oppose the permitting of deep seabed mining and exploration for deep 
 seabed mining, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. OPPOSITION TO PERMITTING OF DEEP SEABED MINING AND 
 EXPLORATION FOR DEEP SEABED MINING.

    (a) 

=== Findings ===
-Congress finds the following:

    (1) As determined by the United Nations, most recently in 
 its Sustainable Development Goals report, our world's oceans 
 are at great risk from a number of factors, including 
 atmospheric change, resource extraction and pollution.

    (2) The United Nation's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable 
 Development, launched by the 2015 UN Summit in New York 
 established Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDS 14), to 
 conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine 
 resources. Target 2 of SDS 14 commits States to sustainably 
 manage marine ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts 
 and strengthen their resilience.

    (3) The international marine scientific and policy 
 consensus is that deep seabed mining presents a major risk to 
 the marine environment, including: the direct loss of unique 
 and ecologically important species; large sediment plumes that 
 will negatively affect ecosystems well beyond the actual mining 
 sites; noise pollution that will cause physiological and 
 behavioral stress to marine species; likely contamination of 
 commercially important species of food fish; and likely 
 negative impacts on carbon sequestration dynamics and deep-
 ocean carbon storage.

    (4) The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, 
 15th Conference of Parties, Decision 15/24 encourages member 
 States to ensure that, before deep seabed mineral exploitation 
 is permitted, the related impacts on the marine environment and 
 biodiversity are sufficiently researched and the risks to the 
 marine ecosystem are sufficiently understood, and sufficient 
 regulation and conditions be imposed to ensure that 
 exploitation does not cause harmful effects to the marine 
 environment and biodiversity.

    (5) The 2022 United Nations Environment Programme Financial 
 Initiative report on deep seabed mining states that the 
 financing of such activities is not consistent with Sustainable 
 Blue Economy Finance Principles.

    (6) There is currently insufficient scientific information 
 on the deep sea and related marine ecosystems to fully and 
 accurately assess the full risks and impacts of deep seabed 
 mining activities.

    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--

    (1) no deep seabed mining should occur in the international 
 seabed area unless and until adoption by the International 
 Seabed Authority of a full and binding regulatory framework in 
 accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the 
 Sea, in particular Article 145 of the Convention;

    (2) there is currently insufficient scientific 
 understanding of, and an absence of consensus on, the extent of 
 the risks and impacts of deep seabed mining on ocean and 
 related ecosystems;

    (3) a regulatory framework should only be adopted by the 
 International Seabed Authority on the basis of a comprehensive 
 scientific understanding of, and consensus on, the potential 
 risks and impacts of deep seabed mining on ocean ecosystems and 
 communities and activities reliant on ocean ecosystems, 
 including fisheries, indigenous peoples and coastal 
 communities;

    (4) such a comprehensive scientific understanding and 
 consensus should only be developed on the basis of sufficient 
 scientific baseline information on the full impacts of deep 
 seabed mining on marine and related ecosystems; and

    (5) no deep seabed mining should be permitted in the 
 international seabed area unless it is conducted in a manner 
 and under a clear and enforceable regulatory framework that 
 effectively protects the marine environment from harmful 
 effects, does not pose a risk to communities reliant on ocean 
 ecosystems and prevents damage to the flora and fauna of the 
 marine environment consistent with the obligations in Article 
 145 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and 
 relevant global commitments for the conservation and 
 sustainable use of the marine environment.
            (c) In General.--The President shall, until such time as the 
President submits to the appropriate congressional committees a 
certification described in subsection
            (d) and a report described in 
subsection

    (e) , direct the United States representative to each 
relevant international organization to which the United States is a 
member or observer to take such actions as may be necessary to use the 
voice, vote, and influence of the United States in such organization 
to--

    (1) call for a moratorium on the permitting of deep seabed 
 mining and exploration for deep seabed mining; and

    (2) oppose investments in or other financing or support of 
 deep seabed mining and exploration for deep seabed mining.
            (d) Certification.--A certification described in this subsection is 
a certification that--

    (1) deep seabed mining regulations have been promulgated by 
 the International Seabed Authority; and

    (2) such regulations--
        (A) are informed by the scientific consensus on 
 impacts to ocean ecosystems; and
        (B) will ensure the effective protection of the 
 marine environment from the harmful effects of deep 
 seabed mining.

    (e) Report.--A report described in this subsection is a report that 
includes the following:

    (1) The details of the deep seabed mining regulations 
 promulgated by the International Seabed Authority as described 
 in subsection
            (d) .

    (2) The scientific consensus on the risks and impacts of 
 such regulations on ocean ecosystems and communities reliant on 
 ocean ecosystems.

    (3) The methods by which such regulations ensure the 
 effective protection of the marine environment from harmful 
 effects of deep seabed mining pursuant to subsection

    (b)

    (4) .
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