Stop mineral mining leases off Virginia's coast
Commercial Leasing for Outer Continental Shelf Minerals Offshore the Commonwealth of Virginia-Request for Information and Interest; Extension of Comment Period
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management· Outer Continental Shelf offshore VirginiaFederal Register 2026-15026 ↗
The groups on this fight
4 groups work Virginia
By footprint, from the same match the STAND matchmaker runs; none is linked to this decision in our record yet. Give straight to them; nothing routes through us.
- Friends of Shenandoah Mountain
Works Virginia: they work only in Virginia.
- Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway
Works Virginia: virginia is one of the 2 states they work in.
- Potomac Appalachian Trail Club
Works Virginia: virginia is one of the 4 states they work in.
- Shenandoah National Park Trust
Works Virginia: they work only in Virginia.
Every group above is on STAND for Public Lands, with its court record, its filings and who backs it.
The federal government is gathering industry interest to open Virginia's offshore waters to commercial mineral extraction.
What’s at risk
Marine habitats, fishing grounds, and coastal ecosystems off Virginia could be opened to industrial mineral mining. This RFI is the first formal step toward granting commercial leases on the Outer Continental Shelf.
If this goes through
If leasing moves forward after this process, mining operations could permanently alter seafloor habitats and displace fishing activity in Virginia's offshore federal waters.
Our plain-English read of the official notice ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words below.
3 holes in the agency’s own analysis
What the public could have raised, from the agency’s own document
- I oppose this action as proposed, and I ask the agency to weigh the specific harms below.
- BOEM should not advance commercial mineral leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore Virginia, as this early leasing process could open federal offshore waters to extractive industry before the marine habitat and fishery impacts are fully understood.
- Opening the Virginia OCS region to mineral leasing puts coastal marine ecosystems at risk, and I urge BOEM to use this comment period to weigh conservation and fishing interests equally with industry interest.
- The RFI process for the Virginia Outer Continental Shelf is a critical decision point, and BOEM must not treat industry responses as the primary driver for whether formal leasing moves forward.
- Say something only you can say. The law requires the agency to consider and respond to substantive comments, and specifics are what make a comment substantive.
In the agency’s own words
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announces the 30- day extension of the comment period for the request for information and interest (RFI) for leasing of the Outer Continental Shelf minerals offshore the Commonwealth of Virginia, referred to as the RFI Area.
The reporting behind this
From More Than Just ParksIt’s referred to as Unit 346 in the Twin Mountain II Timber Sale. On the ground, it’s some of the most spectacular old growth we’ve ever witnessed, and it’s marked for clearcutting.
To document and do our part to save America’s greatest old growth forest
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