S2860-119

In Committee

Revitalizing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals Dominance Act

119th Congress Introduced Sep 18, 2025

Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.

Summary

What This Bill Does

This bill pushes the federal government to speed up offshore and seabed critical-mineral development. It directs NOAA and the Interior Department to expedite deep-seabed and outer-continental-shelf licensing and leasing, prepare mapping and mineral-identification plans, work with allied countries, and report on commercial interest and benefit-sharing issues.

Who Benefits and How

U.S. companies involved in seabed mineral exploration, offshore leasing, mineral processing, and related marine technology benefit from faster permitting and a clearer federal push toward commercial recovery. Companies and policymakers focused on reducing reliance on foreign critical-mineral supply chains also benefit from the bill’s national-security framing.

Who Bears the Burden and How

NOAA, BOEM, the Interior Department, and related agencies bear the burden of creating expedited review processes, coordinating interagency and international work, building mapping and planning products, and reporting to Congress. Other ocean users and environmental interests may face increased pressure from a more development-oriented offshore-minerals policy.

Key Provisions

  • Declares congressional findings about the strategic value of offshore and seabed critical minerals
  • Defines key terms used in deep-seabed and offshore-minerals policy
  • Requires expedited licensing, permitting, and leasing processes
  • Requires mapping, mineral-identification, allied-country engagement, and reports on commercial interest and benefit-sharing

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

Accelerates federal licensing, leasing, mapping, and allied-country coordination for offshore and seabed critical-mineral development in order to increase U.S. access to strategic mineral supplies.

Key Policy Areas

Mining, National Security, Energy

Primary Purpose

Accelerates federal licensing, leasing, mapping, and allied-country coordination for offshore and seabed critical-mineral development in order to increase U.S. access to strategic mineral supplies.

Policy Domains

Mining National Security Energy

Sections 2-4 - Offshore critical-mineral acceleration

Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • United States companies engaged in seabed mineral exploration, recovery, and processing
  • Federal policymakers seeking domestic or allied alternatives to foreign critical-mineral supply chains
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • NOAA and Interior Department permitting, leasing, and mapping staff
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Legislative Progress

In Committee
Introduced Committee Passed
Feb 12, 2026

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, …

Sep 18, 2025

Mr. Sheehy (for himself, Mr. Cotton, Mrs. Blackburn, and Mrs. …

Sep 18, 2025

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and …

Sep 18, 2025

Introduced in Senate

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Mining
1 mention across 1 clause
+1 positive

United States companies seeking offshore or seabed mineral exploration, recovery, or processing opportunities

Government
1 mention across 1 clause
-1 negative

NOAA, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and Interior Department staff administering expedited reviews and mapping

3/4
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Mining National Security Energy
Actor Mappings
"the_administrator"
→ Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
"the_secretary_of_state"
→ Secretary of State
"the_secretary_of_commerce"
→ Secretary of Commerce acting through the NOAA Administrator
"the_secretary_of_the_interior"
→ Secretary of the Interior acting through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management where specified

Key Definitions

Terms defined in this bill

2 terms
"mineral" §3_mineral

Includes critical minerals, uranium, copper, potash, gold, and any other element or compound designated by the Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council.

"seabed mining" §3_seabed_mining

Prospecting, exploration, or commercial recovery of minerals from the seabed.

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology