AGENCY:

Office for Coastal Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.

ACTION:

Notice of receipt of application for deep seabed mining exploration license; request for comments; notice of virtual public hearing.

SUMMARY:

NOAA has received an application for a license to conduct seabed mining exploration activities that is fully compliant with the applicable information requirements of the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA or the Act) and the Act's implementing regulations. As part of the application review process, NOAA will hold one virtual public hearing on Eco Minerals, Inc.'s (Eco) application and will accept written comments on the application submitted electronically via the instructions below.

DATES:

Comments on the application must be received by December 14, 2026. The virtual public hearing is scheduled ( printed page 64881) for November 16, 2026, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time (ET). Instructions for attending the virtual public hearing are provided below.

ADDRESSES:

The Eco application is electronically available at www.regulations.gov/​docket/​NOAA-NOS-2026-2608.

You may send comments, identified by docket number, by either of the following means:

Written Comments

Submit all public written comments on Eco's Application via the Federal regulations.gov e-Portal at www.regulations.gov/​docket/​NOAA-NOS-2026-2608 or go to www.regulations.gov and enter “NOAA-NOS-2026-2608” in the search bar.

Comments must be submitted by the date and electronic method described below to ensure that the comments are received, documented, and considered by NOAA. Comments sent by any other method, to any other address or individual, or received after the end of the comment period, may not be considered. Comments that are not related to the application or that contain profanity, vulgarity, threats, or other inappropriate language will not be considered. To ensure full consideration by NOAA, comments must be submitted in English. Comments that are not submitted in English may not be posted to the public dockets on regulations.gov, or considered by NOAA. All relevant comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted for public viewing on www.regulations.gov without change. All personal identifying information ( e.g., name, address) submitted voluntarily by the sender will be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential business information or otherwise sensitive or protected information. NOAA will accept anonymous comments (enter “N/A” in the required fields if you wish to remain anonymous).

Virtual Public Hearings

You may submit oral comments for Eco's Application during the November 16, 2026 meeting.

NOAA will conduct a virtual public hearing via Adobe Connect. Each person who wants to attend the virtual public hearing must electronically register by November 12, 2026, 5 p.m. ET. Attendance at the virtual public hearing will be limited to 1,000 individuals. Any person who registers and wants to speak at a virtual public hearing should indicate that they want to speak during registration. To register for either hearing, use the following link: noaabroadcast.adobeconnect.com/​ef1lgeja8pd6/​event/​event_​info.html. Each registered participant will receive an Adobe Connect link for the virtual public hearing.

Once the virtual public hearing starts, NOAA will describe the virtual public hearing logistics. NOAA will then start the public comment part of the virtual public hearing and will call on speakers on a first come/first served basis through the raised hand function of Adobe Connect. NOAA will then unmute the person speaking. Each speaker will have three minutes to speak on the Eco application. If a speaker does not respond when they are called on, NOAA will move to the next speaker. At the three-minute mark for each speaker, NOAA will mute that speaker. Speakers cannot allot their time to another speaker. Once all speakers have spoken, or at the scheduled end of the virtual public hearing, whichever is earlier, NOAA will end the virtual public hearing. NOAA retains discretion to extend the virtual public hearing if appropriate and feasible. NOAA will record each hearing and will include transcripts of the hearing on the public dockets for the Eco application on the regulations.gov website at www.regulations.gov/​docket/​NOAA-NOS-2026-2608. The names provided by each speaker will also be published as part of the transcripts.

The virtual public hearing does not replace the process for submission of written comments. NOAA will not respond during the hearing to oral comments or questions. To ensure full consideration by NOAA, oral comments must be in English. Comments that are not in English may not be transcribed or considered by NOAA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Bryan Cole, 301-233-2998, bryan.cole@noaa.gov.