What's New?
BOEM announced the completion of Area Identification, or Area ID, for potential critical minerals leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore the CNMI.
BOEM completed area identification, which determines the specific areas on the Outer Continental Shelf that will undergo environmental review of proposed commercial leases for critical minerals in the form of an environmental assessment pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act.
The environmental assessment will analyze the action of leasing and authorization of preliminary activities. Preliminary activities are defined as actions that have no significant adverse impact on natural resources and only allow a leaseholder to characterize the environment. This environmental review will include necessary consultations under environmental and other statutes including Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
- Area ID Decision Memo, Associated Maps & Supporting Information
- CNMI Area ID Block and Aliquot List
- CNMI Area ID GIS Data
What to expect here: This page will post plain-language updates at each step, including key dates and links to source documents.
BOEM's Regulatory Pathway for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Minerals Leasing For the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Request for Information and Interest (RFI)
Published in the Federal Register.
Identification of Areas
Based on interest received during the RFI, BOEM announces areas to be considered for potential leasing
Environmental Analysis
BOEM’s scientists and other environmental specialists analyze the potential environmental impacts of a minerals lease sale encompassing the identified areas.
Proposed Leasing Notice
Published in the Federal Register.
Leasing Notice
Published in the Federal Register.
Competitive Lease Sale
BOEM evaluates bids and may award leases
2025 - 2026 Chronology
| Date | Update |
|---|---|
| Mar. 18, 2026 | BOEM announced the completion of Area Identification, or Area ID, for potential critical minerals leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore the CNMI. The Area ID defines specific areas that will undergo further environmental analysis to assess their suitability for possible leasing. The Area ID decision was informed by industry nominations, public comments, and feedback from local government and stakeholders. The Area ID is not a decision to lease, but a planning step that ensures future decisions are grounded in environmental analysis, public input, and intergovernmental coordination. |
| Nov. 12, 2025 | The Request for Information reference below published in the Federal Register on Nov. 12, 2025, which initiated a 30-day public comment period. On Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, BOEM extended the comment period until 11:59 p.m. ET on Jan. 12, 2026 in response to a request from the Governors of the CNMI and Guam. Comments can be viewed on the Regulations.gov docked at: https://www.regulations.gov/docket/BOEM-2025-0351/comments. See Nov. 10 entry for RFI details. |
| Nov. 10, 2025 | On Nov. 10, 2025, BOEM announced its intent to publish a Request for Information and Interest, or RFI, for commercial leasing for Outer Continental Shelf seabed critical minerals offshore the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The RFI published in the Federal Register on Nov. 12, 2025, which initiated a 30-day public comment period. On Friday, Dec. 12, BOEM extended the comment period until 11:59 p.m. ET on Jan. 12, 2026 in response to a request from the Governors of the CNMI and Guam. The area identified in the RFI, referred to as the RFI Area, is located east of the Mariana Trench National Monument, along the eastern edge of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, or EEZ. The RFI Area encompasses approximately 35,483,044 acres (143,595 km²) with water depths ranging from 3,700 to 25,100 feet (1,130 to 7,650 meters). It includes abyssal plains, seamounts, and guyots.
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| Feb 3, 2025 | The Secretary of the Interior publishes Secretarial Order 3417, “Addressing the National Energy Emergency.” Among other stipulations, the order states: All Bureaus and Offices of the Department of the Interior … will identify the emergency authorities available to them, as well as all other legal authorities, to facilitate the identification, permitting, leasing, development, production, transportation, refining, distribution, exporting, and generation of domestic energy resources and critical minerals including, but not limited to, on Federal lands and the Outer Continental Shelf. |
Environmental Studies
BOEM funds numerous environmental studies that collect information about the marine environment to support future decisions concerning potential OCS minerals leasing and development. For more information, please visit https://www.boem.gov/environment/environmental-studies-pacific.
Some examples of current BOEM-funded studies related to seabed minerals in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands include:
NA171: In 2025, BOEM partnered with NOAA, USGS, and the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute on an expedition to explore abyssal habitats in the eastern portion of the Guam and CNMI EEZ.
Related Announcements
- BOEM Advances Next Steps for Potential Outer Continental Shelf Mineral Leasing Offshore the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (March 18, 2026)
- BOEM Advances Offshore Minerals Planning Efforts in American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (November 10, 2025)
Resources
- Discovering Offshore Critical Mineral Resources in the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf (BOEM’s Pacific critical minerals webpage)
- BOEM Critical Minerals (BOEM’s national critical minerals webpage)
- BOEM Resource Evaluation of Critical and Hard Offshore Mineral Programmatic Reference (RECHOMPR) (October 2023)
Click on the thumbnail below to view prospectus seabed mineral regions in the Pacific through the USGS viewer.
