First impression - Draft exploitation regulations

It has been quite a while since I wrote anything related to deep seabed mining. I hope I was not missed. Many more important things are floating around anyway. Nevertheless, I had a good reason to take time as my life slowed down to glacier melting pace (thank god it is getting faster) as nothing was happening. Moreover, I chose a very annoying topic for this and the next couple of Blog posts.

I want to and am writing about the exploitation phase of deep seabed mining. If you can recall from the Blog post The current situation of deep seabed mining, exploitation is one of the three deep seabed mining phases which is still on the way. It is the final stage of deep seabed mining, which is commercial mining, in this stage the resources from the ocean floor are excavated on a commercial scale. Thus, the profit, the danger, the environmental concerns are all at their peaks.

Before commercial mining will take place (exploitation) lots are yet to be done. Including the preparation of the necessary legal framework. That was my focus for the past week or two. The exploitation regulations might or might not be adopted sooner or later, so exploitation could start.

I am not going to lie to you, it is not the most interesting or engaging piece of legislation ever, and the 117 pages of it are not making it any better. Also, it is only the tip of the iceberg as in addition, the ISA produced the new exploitation guidelines for consultation (click here). Give them some suggestions if you have any! I still have not checked them yet, but I imagine that it will increase the current 117 pages reading at least twice (I really hope it will not exceed the three-time limit). Nevertheless, it is my concern for the future, now the draft exploitation regulations are those 117 pages of pure joy.

I am and I will be a bit sceptical about the work of ISA as I know quite a bit about their previous work with prospecting and exploration as well as a general way of conduct which can be perceived while scrolling and reading their published information on their website. It was always lacking starting from their website functionality to their openness to the public, to their regulations. Nevertheless, I was very much positively surprised by the draft exploitation regulations. In my opinion, the draft is masterfully written with care and concern for deep seabed resources and the most importantly for the Area itself.

I intend to analyse the draft regulations in more detail later, but some general remarks needed until the next Blog post.

First, if the draft regulations are adopted as it is, the ISA and its work will become more transparent. They intend to make a lot of important information public (like exploitation contracts). It will lead to an opportunity to scrutinize the ISA's work and to do that not based on assumptions but on relevant documents. Not sure what it will look in practice but there are some good signs (for example regulations 17(3) and 92).

Second, it seems that this time the ISA kept many more opportunities and tools to survey and control the contractors and have a bigger influence on them even when the contract is signed (for example regulation 57).

Third, a lot of emphasis is given to environmental matters (for example regulations 11 and 26).

All in all, after reading it I have an impression that the creator (ISA) tried to put all possible safeguards and assurances in place to be as safe as possible before something that is completely new and potentially dangerous will start. To illustrate the situation, you can imagine that you have a glorious and newly renovated flat that you intend to rent out. People, who decided to rent your flat look young, inexperienced, it is the first time that they will live alone and there will be no parents to clean, take care of them and feed them. You have your concerns that they might ruin your amazing flat, but you talk with them, talk with their parents, check their financial capabilities, and eventually sign a contract, take two months deposit, and let them live. Obviously, you will check the condition of the apartment regularly and so on. However, you cannot control and carry out surveillance on them 24/7. So, at the end of the day, you take all precautions that you can think of and pray to God. In my opinion, that is what is happening now, and the ISA is doing the best of what is possible.


The next post will be about the procedure to get permission for exploitation.

PS. Click here to find draft exploitation regulations.