December 30, 2025 — The Guam Legislature will hold a public hearing next week on a resolution that reaffirms the island’s call for a moratorium on deep-sea mining and objects to federal plans to lease waters near the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands for mineral extraction.
Sen. Therese Terlaje announced the hearing will take place Jan. 7 at 8:30 a.m. in the Guam Congress Building. The hearing will address Resolution 132-38, which has drawn support from 10 senators, including Sabina Flores Perez, Telo Taitague, Chris Barnett, Vice Speaker Tony Ada, William Parkinson, Vincent Borja, Joe San Agustin, Shelly Calvo, and Tina Muña Barnes.
The resolution targets a proposal from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that seeks commercial leasing of roughly 35 million acres along the Mariana Islands chain for offshore deep-sea mining. Guam sits about 128 nautical miles from the proposed mining area.
According to the resolution, legislators find BOEM’s 60-day comment period insufficient for meaningful consideration from Guam residents who would bear environmental, cultural, and social consequences of the proposed mining. BOEM initially set a Dec. 12 deadline for public comments but granted a 30-day extension to Jan. 12 after Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero and CNMI Gov. David Apatang requested 120 days.