1998 Year of the Ocean Ocean Energy and Minerals 



for access to OCS sand for beach nourishment and coastal restoration. The MMS sand and gravel 

 program is active in a number of coastal areas: 



A negotiated agreement was completed with the City of Jacksonville/Duval County, 

 Florida, to use sand from a borrow site 7 miles offshore to renourish several local 

 beaches. A stipulation was attached to that agreement requiring that a benthic 

 repopulation study be conducted for the actual borrow area. 



The Governor of Louisiana has requested initiation of the negotiated agreement process 

 for use of OCS sand from the Ship Shoal area for barrier island restoration. 



The Navy and the MMS entered into a memoranda of agreement to use OCS sand from 

 Sandbridge Shoal, offshore Virginia, to renourish a portion of the federal beach at the 

 Fleet Combat Training Center at Dam Neck near Virginia Beach. 



Plans were being made for a negotiated agreement to use OCS sand to renourish Surfside 

 and Garden City beaches in South Carolina. 



The National Park Service initiated the plaiming process to renourish a portion of 

 Assateague Island in Maryland using sand from an OCS borrow site. 



With the passage of Pub. L. 103-426, the MMS anticipates an increase in requests for negotiated 

 agreements. A wide range of qualified projects could emerge, including those congressionally 

 authorized, federally sponsored, or state/locally sponsored. In addifion, requests for OCS sand, 

 gravel, and shell resources via competitive bidding could emerge as OCS mining activities 

 become more commonplace. 



Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act fPSHMRA) . 30 U.S.C. § 1441 et seq 



With regard to minerals on the deep seabed, seabed nodules contain nickel, copper, cobalt and 

 manganese - minerals important to many industrial uses. No commercial deep seabed mining is 

 currently conducted, nor is such activity anticipated in the near future. However, four licenses 

 have been issued under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA), 30 U.S.C. § 

 1441 et seq., for exploration of seabed areas in the Clarion-Clipperton zone of the south Pacific 

 ocean. 



The DSHMRA establishes an interim domestic legal regime for deep seabed mining pending 

 adoption of an acceptable international regime. The Administration submitted the Convention 

 and Agreement to the Senate for consent to accession and ratification in October, 1994 and it is 

 pending in the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Since that fime, the Convenfion has 

 come into effect and over 123 nations are Parties. The Agreement addresses previously expressed 

 concerns regarding the seabed mining portions of the Convention. The DSHMRA establishes a 

 licensing regime that ensures protection of the marine environment, safety of life and property at 



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