American Seabed Protection Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 664 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 664 To prohibit certain mining activities on the deep seabed and Outer Continental Shelf, 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 Natural Resources _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To prohibit certain mining activities on the deep seabed and Outer Continental Shelf, 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. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``American Seabed Protection Act''. SEC. 2. PROHIBITION OF CERTAIN MINING ACTIVITIES ON DEEP SEABED AND OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF. (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-- (A) the direct loss of unique and ecologically important species; (B) large sediment plumes that will negatively affect ecosystems well beyond the actual mining sites; (C)