September 10, 2026.  

Dear Governor Pula:   

I write as a resident of American Samoa, to respectfully submit formal comments for your 60-day review of BOEM's Proposed Leasing Notice (PLN) for PACM-1.

At the outset, I want to state my position clearly: I maintain a firm NO position on deep- sea mining in the waters surrounding American Samoa. As someone who was raised, educated, and has lived most of my life here, I believe our homeland and our environment define who we are as a people. My position is also aligned with the extensive record of opposition from our community, village leaders, fishermen, scientists, and organizations such as Fa'asao Amerika Samoa, Finafinau, and Puipui Measina, who have cited irreversible harm to deep-sea ecosystems, risks to our vital tuna fisheries and cannery economy, threats to Manu’a, Muliava and seamounts, and impacts to cultural heritage. Those concerns are well-documented and I will not belabor them here.

I submit this letter because I understand the jurisdictional and procedural realities we face — that absent action by the President or the federal courts to halt this process, we must do what we can to shape its terms and protect our interests. Under the Territorial Submerged Lands Act (48 U.S.C. § 1705), American Samoa's title to submerged lands extends to three geographical miles. Beyond that, under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), the federal government exercises exclusive jurisdiction to the 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The proposed lease areas, located approximately 70 nautical miles northeast of Muliava, lie entirely within federal jurisdiction.

I also understand that during this phase, public comment on the PLN is channeled through the Governor's review under 30 CFR 581.16. Because the federal process is likely to move forward regardless of local opposition, it is incumbent upon us to participate fully in the one avenue available to shape its terms and to ensure the strongest possible protections and benefits for American Samoa are on the record.

In that spirit, while maintaining my opposition, I respectfully request that you include the following as part of your formal comments:

I. Fiscal and Area Summary
BOEM proposes two lease areas totaling approximately 31.5 million acres, with a $3 million minimum bonus bid per area, a 20-year primary term, and a production royalty of 2% for years 1-5, increasing to 5% thereafter, for polymetallic nodules containing nickel, cobalt, and manganese. While the PLN references Community Investment and Local Content stipulations, they are currently framed as “encouragement” rather than binding requirements.
II. Mandatory Protections, Not Discretionary Encouragement
    a) Exclusion Zones: Request a binding requirement for a 100-nautical-mile no-mining buffer around Rose Atoll Marine National Monument and National Wildlife Refuge (currently ~57 miles from the proposed lease area), and categorical exclusion of all seamounts.
    b) Fisheries Protection: Request a binding requirement for a mandatory Fisheries Communication Plan with real-time VMS (Vessel Monitoring System) data sharing, and a prohibition on discharge of sediment plumes within tuna migratory corridors in the American Samoa EEZ.
    c) Full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS): The current Environmental Assessment covers only leasing and preliminary surveys. Request a binding requirement that no Delineation, Testing, or Mining Plan be approved without a full Programmatic and site- specific EIS, supported by multi-year independent baseline studies conducted jointly with the ASG Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources and American Samoa Community College, including independent scientific observers.
    d) Cultural Co-Management: Request a binding requirement for formal traditional consultation with village councils, religious organizations, local environmental non-profit organizations, youth organizations, and students representing our high schools and American Samoa Community College, and the establishment of a Samoan Cultural Monitor program consistent with models used for Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native communities. To ensure candid and unfiltered community input, this specific traditional consultation should be community-led and conducted independently of government officials.

III. Royalty Fairness and the Absence of Territorial Revenue Sharing

    This process highlights a fundamental inequity. Under current law, the federal government is not legally obligated to provide royalties to American Samoa. OCSLA directs that all bonuses, rents, and royalties be deposited in the U.S. Treasury. Congress has created only two exceptions: Section 8(g) providing 27% to adjacent states within three nautical miles of their boundary, and GOMESA (Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006) providing 37.5% of qualified revenues to Gulf producing states. Territories are excluded from both.

Consequently, under current law American Samoa would bear 100% of the environmental risk and 0% of guaranteed revenue.

The rate itself is also inconsistent with other federal programs. OCS oil and gas currently carries an 18.75% royalty; onshore oil and gas was increased to a 16.67% minimum in 2022; federal coal is 12.5% surface and 8% underground. PACM-1 proposes 2% then 5% for critical minerals containing cobalt and nickel. At 5%, $1 billion in annual production would yield $50 million federally and $0 to American Samoa, while an equivalent OCS oil and gas lease would yield $187.5 million federally plus approximately $140 million to Gulf states under GOMESA. Because no revenue-sharing law exists for territories, I request you pursue fairness through:

1. Administrative Measures: Request BOEM require as a lease condition an American Samoa Mineral Trust Fund funded by the equivalent of 50% of all bonus bids, rentals, and royalties, plus an annual $2 million minimum community investment payment pre- production, and a requirement that 5% of exploration expenditures be spent in American Samoa.
2. Legislative Support: Request that the Secretary of the Interior support an amendment to OCSLA to include territories in revenue sharing, as DOI has previously recommended, and that our Delegate to Congress be urged to pursue such an amendment legislatively.
3. Fair Market Value: Request a minimum 12.5% royalty with an escalator to 18.75% when metal prices exceed feasibility thresholds. My participation in this comment process should not be construed as support for DSM. It is an exercise of responsibility. If this sale proceeds despite our opposition, we must ensure our ocean, our fisheries, our culture, and our children's future are protected, and that any benefits flow directly to the people of American Samoa.

Respectfully,
SANDRA KING YOUNG