Trump Administration Advances Offshore Critical Minerals Development Off Virginia

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is moving forward with the next step in evaluating offshore critical mineral development off the coast of Virginia, issuing a Request for Information and Interest (RFI) aimed at gauging industry appetite and gathering public input on potential leasing areas.

The notice, scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on June 23, opens a 30-day public comment period and marks an early stage in BOEM’s planning process. The agency emphasized that the RFI does not represent a decision to hold a lease sale.

The initiative is part of the Trump administration’s broader push to expand domestic production of critical minerals used in manufacturing, defense systems, and emerging technologies while reducing dependence on foreign supply chains.

“Virginia’s offshore mineral resources present a pathway to lessen foreign dependence and reinforce America’s strategic position by establishing secure domestic supply chains,” said BOEM Acting Director Matt Giacona. “This request is designed to identify locations where responsible marine minerals development can advance innovation, support production growth, and sustain future progress.”

BOEM said the RFI seeks comments from industry, state and local governments, Tribal nations, and other stakeholders on potential leasing areas, mineral resources of interest, environmental considerations, and interactions with existing ocean uses such as fishing, shipping, and offshore energy development.

The agency stressed that the effort currently focuses on exploration and data gathering rather than large-scale industrial development.

“These early-stage activities are temporary, do not involve permanent structures, and are similar in scope to surveys conducted for beach nourishment projects that have long occurred offshore,” BOEM said. “This effort is about gathering data to better understand our domestic mineral resources and inform future decisions.”

The move follows BOEM’s December 2025 announcement that it was considering offshore mineral leasing off Virginia after receiving an unsolicited lease sale request from Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration. The company has expressed interest in developing heavy mineral sands and phosphorite deposits believed to exist on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf offshore Virginia.

That announcement marked only the third offshore minerals leasing action of its kind in more than three decades and came after President Donald Trump’s Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources executive order directed federal agencies to accelerate domestic development of strategic mineral resources.

BOEM oversees approximately 3.2 billion acres of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf and has increasingly focused on offshore critical minerals as policymakers seek alternative sources of materials such as manganese, nickel, copper, rare earth elements, and other resources considered essential to advanced manufacturing and national security.

The Virginia initiative is separate from BOEM’s parallel efforts in the Pacific, where the agency has been evaluating seabed mineral opportunities offshore American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Any future lease sale off Virginia would require additional regulatory steps, including the identification of potential lease areas, publication of proposed and final leasing notices, environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, and compliance with other federal environmental and cultural resource protection laws.

Public comments on the RFI will be accepted through July 23 via Regulations.gov under docket number BOEM-2026-0100.

The initiative is also likely to draw scrutiny from environmental organizations and ocean users concerned about potential impacts on marine ecosystems and competing offshore activities. BOEM said any future mineral extraction would be subject to its existing environmental review framework and regulatory oversight.

For now, the agency said the focus remains on understanding what resources may exist offshore Virginia and whether there is sufficient interest to justify moving the leasing process forward.

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