Comments closed July 23
Stop seafloor mining off Virginia's coast
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management · Outer Continental Shelf offshore Commonwealth of Virginia, VA
- What
- The federal government is taking the first step toward leasing the ocean floor off Virginia for hard mineral mining.
- Where
- Outer Continental Shelf offshore Commonwealth of Virginia, VA
- How much
- Marine ecosystems, fisheries, and coastal communities off Virginia's coast could be harmed by commercial hard mineral extraction on the seafloor.
- Decided
- Comments closed July 23, 2026. No decision document is on file yet.Date from Federal Register ↗, read June 24, 2026.
Where these four lines come from
- WhatOur plain-English read of the Federal Register 2026-12600 ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words under Case.
- WhereThe places and states the notice names, as PLAN read them.
- How muchThe first sentence of our What’s at risk read of the notice; the whole read is under Case.
- DecidedJuly 23, 2026, from Federal Register, the document’s comment close date (federalregister.gov) ↗. Read June 24, 2026. The decision document is the one on file in PLAN’s record.
- Read from PLAN’s record November 9, 2026.
What the proposal said, and what the decision did
No figure from the proposal has been checked against the decision on this fight yet. What the record does hold is the issues ledger below.
No decision document is on PLAN’s record for this fight yet. When the agency’s decision lands, what it answered goes here.
Affects public lands
The federal government is taking the first step toward leasing the ocean floor off Virginia for hard mineral mining.
What’s at risk
If this goes through
Our plain-English read of the official notice ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words below.
In the agency’s own words
On November 13, 2025, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) received an unsolicited request to lease hard minerals (herein "minerals") in an area on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore the Commonwealth of Virginia. After reviewing the request, BOEM decided to initiate the first step that could potentially lead to a lease sale by publishing this request for information and interest (RFI). This RFI is not a final decision to lease the minerals and does not prejudge any future Secretarial decisions concerning leasing offshore the Commonwealth of Virginia. This RFI requests information and comments on,…
The groups on this fight
7 groups are in on this fight
In on this fight means a link on this decision itself: the group's own regulations.gov comment on it, or a case filed over it naming the group. Give straight to them; nothing routes through us.
- Center for Biological Diversity
In on this fight · linked
Filed its own comment on this decision on August 22, 2026.
Their comment on regulations.gov ↗ - Environment America
In on this fight · linked
Filed its own comment on this decision on August 24, 2026.
Their comment on regulations.gov ↗ - Natural Resources Defense Council
In on this fight · linked
Filed its own comment on this decision on July 7, 2026.
Their comment on regulations.gov ↗ - Oceana
In on this fight · linked
Filed its own comment on this decision on August 22, 2026.
Their comment on regulations.gov ↗ - Southern Environmental Law Center
In on this fight · linked
Filed its own comment on this decision on August 25, 2026.
Their comment on regulations.gov ↗ - Surfrider Foundation
In on this fight · linked
Filed its own comment on this decision on July 28, 2026.
Their comment on regulations.gov ↗ - The Nature Conservancy
In on this fight · linked
Filed its own comment on this decision on July 24, 2026.
Their comment on regulations.gov ↗
Every group above is on STAND for Public Lands, with its court record, its filings and who backs it.
Who signs it
The notice names no signer PLAN could read. PLAN names a decision-maker only when the document names one.
The ground
The window has closed, so there’s no watch to set on it here.
In court on this ground
This fight isn’t bound to a land unit in PLAN’s record yet, so there are no court cases to show for its ground.
Who holds the vote
PLAN’s record doesn’t tie a member of Congress to this fight yet. The scorecard grades the votes and bills that decide public lands; nothing joins a vote or a bill to this decision, so there’s no member to name here without guessing.
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