I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7636 
To support international governance of seafloor resource exploration and 
responsible polymetallic nodule collection by allied partners, strengthen 
domestic processing and refining capabilities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 12, 2024 
Mrs. MILLER of West Virginia (for herself and Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and 
Means, and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined 
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To support international governance of seafloor resource ex-
ploration and responsible polymetallic nodule collection 
by allied partners, strengthen domestic processing and 
refining capabilities, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Responsible Use of 
Seafloor Resources Act of 2024’’. 
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SEC. 2. SEAFLOOR RESOURCE EXPLORATION AND EXPLOI-
TATION. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) The United States is falling behind in com-
petitiveness within supply chains for critical defense 
and clean energy technologies and therefore must 
develop an alternative supply of critical minerals to 
lessen dependance on foreign adversaries. 
(2) Establishing a secure and resilient critical 
mineral supply chain is a matter of national secu-
rity. 
(3) China controls roughly 60 percent of the 
global critical mineral production and over 85 per-
cent of the world’s refining capacity. 
(4) This has been achieved by early and aggres-
sive investment in mining and processing operations 
across South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. 
(5) Recognizing the potential of marine re-
sources to further its position, China is increasing 
its investment in deep-sea mining, holding the most 
exploration contracts of any country. 
(6) Investing in alternatives serving to diversify 
supply such as the collection of seafloor nodules is 
integral to ensuring the United States does not con-
tinue its over-dependence on China and other adver-
sarial nations. 
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(7) As mining has been largely outsourced to 
other parts of the world, China has become the top 
producer of 30 of the 50 U.S. critical minerals. With 
this shift, the governance of environmental and so-
cial impacts of mining and processing operations is 
largely out of the control of the United States. 
(8) Prioritizing supply with existing or potential 
for 
transparent, 
accountable, 
and 
responsible 
sourcing is integral to ensuring the United States 
does not continue to export adverse environmental 
and social (ESG) impacts of mining and processing 
abroad in countries that are apathetic or less 
equipped to abide by internationally accepted stand-
ards. 
(9) Investing in the development of mineral re-
sources and processing infrastructure quantitatively 
proven to reduce ESG impacts, such as seafloor nod-
ules, is integral to ensuring the raw materials that 
underpin our domestic industrial base and transition 
to clean energy do not have adverse planetary im-
pacts. 
(10) Developing U.S. partnerships to secure 
seafloor resources and domestic capabilities to proc-
ess these materials is in the nation’s economic, envi-
ronmental and security interests. 
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(b) IN GENERAL.—The President shall direct the 
Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, 
the Secretary of Defense, and the Director of the Office 
of Science and Technology Policy— 
(1) together with Federal interagency efforts, to 
provide financial, diplomatic, or other forms of sup-
port for seafloor nodule collection, processing, and 
refining where upstream sourcing is compliant with 
regulations; and 
(2) to coordinate and expedite across Federal 
agencies the development of infrastructure to proc-
ess and refine seafloor nodules within the United 
States. 
(c) REPORTS.— 
(1) OFFICE
OF
SCIENCE
AND
TECHNOLOGY 
POLICY.—The Director of the Office of Science and 
Technology Policy shall annually submit to the 
President and Congress a report including the fol-
lowing: 
(A) A quantitative and qualitative analysis 
of the benefits to the United States to import-
ing seafloor nodules and processing and refining 
such seafloor nodules domestically, including 
benefits related to— 
(i) foreign relations; 
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(ii) research and technology develop-
ment; 
(iii) environmental and social impact 
monitoring; 
(iv) utilization of existing industrial 
base, including offshore infrastructure and 
processing consumables; 
(v) job creation; and 
(vi) market impact to various indus-
tries, including battery and electric vehicle 
production. 
(B) A quantitative analysis comparing the 
lifecycle environmental and social effects of 
sourcing a benchmark amount of critical min-
erals from seafloor nodules to the environ-
mental and social effects of sourcing such 
amount of critical minerals from land-based 
projects, based on the most recent data avail-
able from both public and private sources, in-
cluding consideration of— 
(i) benefit sharing and capacity build-
ing; 
(ii) human health and labor condi-
tions; 
(iii) revenue streams; and 
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(iv) local ecosystem impacts and the 
ability to utilize impact mitigation hierar-
chies, including avoidance, minimization, 
rehabilitation, and offsets. 
(C) An analysis of the applicability of 
seafloor nodule collection and data acquisition 
technologies used in the deep-sea environment 
for the purpose of initiatives carried out by the 
United States, including the mapping of tech-
nologies used and data acquired in the deep-sea 
environment in international waters and map-
ping, exploring, and characterizing minerals in 
the exclusive economic zone of the United 
States. 
(2) DEPARTMENT
OF
COMMERCE.—The Sec-
retary of Commerce shall submit to the President 
and Congress a report that includes a description of 
Federal legislation and documents that are relevant 
to the importation and processing of seafloor nodules 
and seafloor nodule-derived products sourced from 
outside the exclusive economic zone of the United 
States by individuals who are not United States citi-
zens, including— 
(A) the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Re-
sources Act (30 U.S.C. 1401 note et seq.); and 
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