This article and images submitted by George H. Leonard, Ph. D., Independent Consultant

You have likely heard that the Trump Administration is seeking to permit drilling for oil off the California coast, which would put our ocean and coastal economies at considerable risk. What you likely have heard less about is that the Administration is also aggressively moving to permit deep seabed mining (DSM) for minerals located on the ocean bottom in both the high seas and in our federal ocean waters. At present, no commercial deep-sea mining exists anywhere in the world, but the President’s Executive Order from April 2025 could start a literal and figurative ‘race to the bottom’ as the US and other countries jockey for mineral rights around the world.

The E.O. charges the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to accelerate DSM in our ocean backyard and like for proposed oil drilling, the process is moving very quickly. On January 27, 2026, BOEM issued a request for information from industry and the public about interest in mining in federal waters off Alaska. Just last week, it proposed a change in federal rules that would simplify the application process and limit public input. While there is no imminent commercial interest in mining off the California coast, “prospective mineral areas” are known to exist here that could draw commercial interest if the federal government moves to solicit permits off our western shore.

Like offshore oil drilling, deep sea mining is expected to result in a host of negative impacts on the ocean, our coastal economy, and local communities. Trawling for polymetallic nodules or grinding ferromanganese crusts off the rocky bottom will destroy geological structures that have taken millions of years to form. Any associated marine life will be destroyed during this activity. Further, massive sediment plumes will degrade the overlying water column as toxic wastewater from shipboard processing is pumped back into the ocean.

Mining of seabed minerals would be a new industrial use of the ocean that was not anticipated by the City and County of Santa Cruz in the mid 1980’s when they first developed onshore ordinances to address the threat of offshore oil drilling. Now is not the time to be complacent; it is the time to include DSM in a revision of these local ordinances to ensure central coast voters can continue to have a say in what – if any - extractive commercial industries happen offshore. While local communities have limited direct control over activities in federal waters, they can exert considerable control over local land use that can make it more difficult to access onshore infrastructure needed by these new industries. Like offshore oil drilling, deep sea mining operations would need onshore infrastructure if raw materials were brought to shore for processing and refining in the United States. Access to ports, facilities to “de-water” materials for transport, and holding areas for mined materials would create noise, energy and water demands, potentially radioactive dust, and runoff that could impact local ecological and human communities. The underlying legal issues around local control, zoning laws, and the power of the voting public to decide on the use of the coast are as relevant today as they were 40 years ago; incorporating DSM into revised local ordinances is thus both legally justified and good public policy.

The federal government’s push to dismantle protections for the nation’s lands and waters continues at unprecedented speed. But the leadership shown by the City and County of Santa Cruz to date in the face of these renewed federal threats is commendable. Strengthening our local ordinances to address deep-sea mining is an important part of the broader political strategy that is needed to protect the remarkable California coast for generations of Santa Cruz residents to come.

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