Docket: BOEM-2025-0351, December 12, 2025
Comment: BOEM-2025-0351-0694, December 22, 2025
Signatories (in alphabetical order): Diva Amon, Steven Auscavitch, Katy Croff Bell, Amy Baco-Taylor, Jeffrey W. Beeson, William W. Chadwick, Erik E. Cordes, Jeffrey C. Drazen, Ann G. Dunlea, Valerie Finlayson, Marina Garwood, Zachary Gordon, Julie A Huber, Kristen Johannes, Brian RC Kennedy, Lisa A. Levin, Sheryl Murdock, Neil Nathan, Beth Orcutt, Randi D. Rotjan, Patrick T. Schwing, Andrew D Thaler, Jacob Tomer, Travis W Washburn. The signatories are faculty and senior staff at major American research universities and institutes, and the views expressed are their own.
Docket: NOAA-NOS-2025-0108, July 7, 2025
Comment: NOAA-NOS-2025-0108-1569, September 5, 2025
Signatories (in alphabetical order): Amy Baco-Taylor, Erik Cordes, Katy Croff Bell, Jeffrey C. Drazen, Val Finlayson, Christopher R. German, Annette Govindarajan, Julie A. Huber, Brian RC Kennedy, Lisa A. Levin, Beth O. Orcutt, Jason B. Sylvan. The signatories are faculty and senior staff at major American research universities and institutes, and the views expressed are their own.
Among tens of thousands of comments, a group of US deep-sea scientists informed about deep seabed mining, including COBRA members and partners, responded to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration request for comments on revisions to regulations for deep seabed mining exploration license and commercial recovery permit applications. Under the Proposed Rule, the exploration license and commercial recovery permit would fall under a single application. This consolidated approach removes a critical separation of two processes, which introduces the problems and issues that limit the ability of the agency to ensure effective protection of the marine environment. See PDF for details.
Docket: BOEM-2025-0035, July 16, 2025
Comment: BOEM-2025-0035-8135, August 13, 2025
Signatories (in alphabetical order): Diva Amon, Steven Auscavitch, Katy Croff Bell, Amy Baco-Taylor, Erik E. Cordes, Jeffrey C. Drazen, Valerie Finlayson, Christopher R German, Annette Govindarajan, Santiago Herrera, Julie A Huber, Brian RC Kennedy, Lisa A. Levin, Beth Orcutt, Randi D. Rotjan, S. Adam Soule, Jason B Sylvan. The signatories are faculty and senior staff at major American research universities and institutes, and the views expressed are their own.
Among tens of thousands of comments, a group of US-based Subject Matter Experts on deep-sea scientific exploration and research, including COBRA members and partners, responded to the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management request for information in reviewing leasing requests for prospecting for “deep-sea mining” in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone / Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) of American Samoa. This letter provides a reference of publicly available information to inform the work, particularly biological and environmental information, as well information on OCS minerals of interest, and environmental sensitivity. Although there has been a strong push in past decades to explore and characterize deep-sea ecosystems, including in American Samoa, we reviewed existing publicly-available information and found that there are almost no environmental baseline data from the specific region being considered for OCS mineral leasing, including bathymetric mapping data, physico-chemical data, biological and ecological data, and mineralogical data. See PDF for details.
