Title 30, Mineral Lands and MiningRelease 119-102

§1403 Definitions

Title 30 › CHAPTER 26 — DEEP SEABED HARD MINERAL RESOURCES › § 1403

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Defines key words used in this chapter. Commercial recovery means taking hard mineral resources from the sea at a commercial scale to sell or use for profit; it also covers processing those minerals at sea and disposing of the resulting waste at sea. Continental Shelf means the seabed and its subsoil next to a coast, outside the territorial sea, down to 200 meters or farther where the water still allows resource use, and it includes similar areas off islands. Controlling interest means enough ownership or influence (by stock, shared directors or officers, contracts, or similar means) to affect a business’s independent decisions. Deep seabed means the seabed and its subsoil to a depth of ten meters that lies seaward of any nation’s Continental Shelf and outside any foreign national resource zone the United States recognizes. Exploration means sea work to find and study hard minerals and to take samples needed to design and test recovery equipment. Hard mineral resource means deep-sea nodules that contain one or more minerals, at least one of which is manganese, nickel, cobalt, or copper. International agreement means a comprehensive deal made at the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea about exploring and commercially recovering these minerals and creating rules for that. Licensee and permittee are the holders of exploration licenses and commercial recovery permits under subchapter I. Person means any U.S. citizen, any individual, or any business or organization formed under any nation’s laws. Reciprocating state means a foreign country named by the Administrator under section 1428. Administrator means the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. United States means the States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and any other U.S. territory or possession. United States citizen means a natural person who is a U.S. citizen; or an entity formed under U.S. state law; or an entity (U.S. or foreign) whose controlling interest is held by a person or entity in the first two groups.

Full Legal Text

Title 30, §1403

Mineral Lands and Mining, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

For purposes of this chapter, the term—

(1)“commercial recovery” means—

(A)any activity engaged in at sea to recover any hard mineral resource at a substantial rate for the primary purpose of marketing or commercially using such resource to earn a net profit, whether or not such net profit is actually earned;

(B)if such recovered hard mineral resource will be processed at sea, such processing; and

(C)if the waste of such activity to recover any hard mineral resource, or of such processing at sea, will be disposed of at sea, such disposal;

(2)“Continental Shelf” means—

(A)the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas adjacent to the coast, but outside the area of the territorial sea, to a depth of 200 meters or, beyond that limit, to where the depth of the superjacent waters admits of the exploitation of the natural resources of such submarine area; and

(B)the seabed and subsoil of similar submarine areas adjacent to the coast of islands;

(3)“controlling interest”, for purposes of paragraph 14(C) of this section, means a direct or indirect legal or beneficial interest in or influence over another person arising through ownership of capital stock, interlocking directorates or officers, contractual relations, or other similar means, which substantially affect the independent business behavior of such person;

(4)“deep seabed” means the seabed, and the subsoil thereof to a depth of ten meters, lying seaward of and outside—

(A)the Continental Shelf of any nation; and

(B)any area of national resource jurisdiction of any foreign nation, if such area extends beyond the Continental Shelf of such nation and such jurisdiction is recognized by the United States;

(5)“exploration” means—

(A)any at-sea observation and evaluation activity which has, as its objective, the establishment and documentation of—

(i)the nature, shape, concentration, location, and tenor of a hard mineral resource; and

(ii)the environmental, technical, and other appropriate factors which must be taken into account to achieve commercial recovery; and

(B)the taking from the deep seabed of such quantities of any hard mineral resource as are necessary for the design, fabrication, and testing of equipment which is intended to be used in the commercial recovery and processing of such resource;

(6)“hard mineral resource” means any deposit or accretion on, or just below, the surface of the deep seabed of nodules which include one or more minerals, at least one of which contains manganese, nickel, cobalt, or copper;

(7)“international agreement” means a comprehensive agreement concluded through negotiations at the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, relating to (among other matters) the exploration for and commercial recovery of hard mineral resources and the establishment of an international regime for the regulation thereof;

(8)“licensee” means the holder of a license issued under subchapter I of this chapter to engage in exploration;

(9)“permittee” means the holder of a permit issued under subchapter I of this chapter to engage in commercial recovery;

(10)“person” means any United States citizen, any individual, and any corporation, partnership, joint venture, association, or other entity organized or existing under the laws of any nation;

(11)“reciprocating state” means any foreign nation designated as such by the Administrator under section 1428 of this title;

(12)“Administrator” means the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;

(13)“United States” means the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and any other Commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States; and

(14)“United States citizen” means—

(A)any individual who is a citizen of the United States;

(B)any corporation, partnership, joint venture, association, or other entity organized or existing under the laws of any of the United States; and

(C)any corporation, partnership, joint venture, association, or other entity (whether organized or existing under the laws of any of the United States or a foreign nation) if the controlling interest in such entity is held by an individual or entity described in subparagraph (A) or (B).

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

30 U.S.C. § 1403

Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102