Returns to Society from Offshore Hard Mineral Resource Development

A combination of the recently proclaimed extension of the offshore U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone to 200 miles and the growing demand for critical metals has led to increased attention to offshore hard mineral resource development. The U.S. Minerals Management Service began to establish the rules to govern offshore mining under its Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953 and its 1978 amendments. However, others-including environmental groups, some mining groups and many coastal states- joined together to generate an alternative law to govern offshore mining. Both approaches seek to promote the public's interest in offshore hard minerals. This article examines the returns to society as a concept and as applied under each of these competing alternatives. It concludes by noting that socially derived criteria point to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act as the socially preferable approach to offshore mining

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