BOEM has released Our Ocean, Our Future, a new video exploring the potential role of offshore critical minerals in America's island territories in strengthening modern supply chains, and BOEM’s careful, community‑informed process for studying these resources and evaluating any future leasing and development; watch it here: https://www.boem.gov/video/marine-minerals/boem-our-ocean-our-future.
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
- American Samoa Area ID Block and Aliquot List
- American Samoa Area ID GIS Data
- American Samoa OCS Mineral Leasing Process Update (June 2026)
What to expect here: This page will post plain-language updates at each step, including key dates and links to source documents.
Where are we in the process?
Request for Information and Interest
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 |
|---|---|
| Nov. 10, 2025 | BOEM announced the completion of Area Identification for potential critical minerals leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf near American Samoa. The Area ID defines specific areas that will undergo further environmental analysis to assess their suitability for possible leasing. |
| Aug. 15, 2025 | Public comment period closes. Comments can be viewed on the Regulations.gov docket. Information gathered during the public comment period will be used in preparation of the Area Identification. |
| July 15, 2025 | In response to a request from the Governor of American Samoa, BOEM extends the comment period to 11:59 p.m. ET on Aug. 15. |
| June 16, 2025 | The Request for Information and Interest referenced below is published in the Federal Register. This publication initiates a 30-day public comment period. |
| June 12, 2025 | The Department of the Interior announced that it will publish a Request for Information and Interest (RFI) for commercial leasing for Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) seabed critical minerals in the submerged federal lands near American Samoa. The RFI will publish in the Federal Register Monday, June 16, 2025. |
| March 20, 2025 | President Donald Trump issues Executive Order 14241, "Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production." The order directs the Secretary of the Interior to: prioritize including sites ... on which mineral production projects could be fully permitted and operational as soon as possible and have the greatest potential effect on robustness of the domestic mineral supply chain. |
| 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. |
| Jan 20, 2025 | President Donald Trump issues Executive Order 14156, "Declaring a National Energy Emergency." The order states: The energy and critical minerals ("energy") identification, leasing, development, production, transportation, refining, and generation capacity of the United States are all far too inadequate to meet our Nation's needs. We need a reliable, diversified, and affordable supply of energy to drive our Nation's manufacturing, transportation, agriculture, and defense industries, and to sustain the basics of modern life and military preparedness. |
Resource and 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 American Samoa include:
- Mapping the Seafloor for Critical Mineral Resources | NOAA: In January 2026, the National Ocean Service’s Office of Coast Survey announced a new three-month hydrographic survey project to map and characterize over 30,000 square nautical miles of federal waters off American Samoa. The baseline data obtained from this project will inform other federal agencies as to the location of critical mineral deposits and relative prospectivity of the project area. NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey is leading the project contract, and NOAA Ocean Exploration, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the U.S. Geological Survey are providing additional scientific expertise and guidance.
- Press Release: NOAA releases first images of nodules from waters near American Samoa
- 2026 American Samoa Mapping: NV5 Contract Work: Box Core Photos
- NOAA Office of Coast Survey: West Coast and Pacific Islands Projects
- NOAA Ocean Exploration: Advancing Understanding of Marine Critical Minerals
- American Samoa Mapping Project | U.S. Geological Survey: USGS scientists are leading a sampling effort to the Samoan Basin, offshore of American Samoa. This work is part of an interagency supported three-month hydrograph survey project led by NOAA and in partnership with BOEM.
- NT-21-01: Facilitating Interagency Partnerships in Support of Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and Characterization. In September 2024, BOEM partnered with NOAA, USGS, and the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute on an expedition to explore abyssal habitats in the eastern portion of the American Samoa EEZ
- PC-22-07b: Maritime Heritage of the U.S. Pacific Islands, led by East Carolina University
Related Press Releases
- BOEM Advances Offshore Minerals Planning Efforts in American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (11/10/2025)
- BOEM Extends Public Comment Period on Request for Information and Interest on Potential Minerals Lease Sale Offshore American Samoa (07/16/2025)
- Interior Initiates First Step for Potential Mineral Lease Sale Offshore American Samoa (06/12/2025)
- Interior Launches Process for Potential Offshore Mineral Lease Sale Near American Samoa | U.S. Department of the Interior (05/20/2025)
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.
