Congress moves on mining of deep seabed

Abstract

For U.S. companies hoping to mine manganese nodules lying on the deep seabed of the oceans, the action has shifted from New York City to Washington, D.C. The sixth session of the Third United Nations Law of the Sea Conference (LOS) ended in New York late last month with an informal composite negotiating text that ambassador Elliot L. Richardson labeled fundamentally unacceptable as far as its deep-seabed provisions are concerned. No one in the U.S. companies with deep-sea mining projects will disagree with him. Congress reacted swiftly. Shortly after the LOS conference ended, the House Merchant Marine & Fisheries Committee passed the Deep Seabed Hard Minerals Act (H.R. 3350) introduced by Rep. John B. Breaux (D.-La.) and Rep. John M. Murphy (D.-N.Y.). And, early this month, Sen. Lee Metcalf (D.-Mont.) introduced in the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources a bill (S. 2053) similar to the Breaux-Murphy bill. Although there are slight differences between ...