Background

Deep sea mining can have numerous negative effects on the environment. For example seafloor destruction, the creation of sediment plumes, habitat destruction, and danger to marine biodiversity. Deep sea mining is extremely expensive and it is not widely accessible. Mining projects often require large areas of land, leading to the forced relocation of local or Indigenous populations. Land mining is not perfect either, it could have serious negative effects on the environment for example, greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and water and soil contamination. Deep sea mining has been estimated to have multi-trillion dollars of minerals in the water; however, with land mining, there are many more materials like gold that are around $1200 per ounce.

Current Regulations

There have been many tries to limit both, but none have been successful.Efforts to finalize a comprehensive "Deep Sea Mining Code" governing commercial exploitation have been going on since 2014. The US established regulations for deep sea mining under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resource Act but its key components about environmental protection are nonspecific and are more in depth about licensing and vessel requirements. The General Mining Law of 1872 allows individuals and companies to establish mining claims. The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 regulates mining operations and was created to address the environmental impact of mining but has not been proven to be very effective because it still allows for significant harm.

There are a few laws put in place to regulate land mining and its effects. Federal laws require environmental assessments, permits, and site reclamation however, the level of enforcement varies throughout several agencies. Additionally, some outdated laws still allow companies to extract minerals from public lands without fully covering cleanup costs. These regulations have slightly helped environmental protection but many issues such as water contamination and air pollution still remain challenges.

We have found that there are a few regulations put in place to regulate deep sea mining.The International Seabed Authority has rules for exploration but not yet for commercial mining, and environmental protections are considered weak and are not very well enforced. There is weak environmental protection because environmental impact assessments are required but are commonly done by the mining companies themselves. We also do not have an in-depth understanding of deep sea ecosystems so the real risks are unknown.

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