International Seabed Authority could override U.S. objections to environmentally harmful mining and drilling

What might such decisions entail? Thanks to the regulatory powers granted by the Law of the Sea Treaty, the ISA could decide, for example, to issue permits for deep-sea oil or gas exploration and exploitation just beyond our 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone – without regard for the views of members of this Committee, the Congress more generally or the American people who may consider such activities to be environmentally unsound.

Not only could those concerns be shunted aside as the United States would be, at best, outvoted. An international tribunal created to adjudicate and enforce ISA decisions could levy penalties for any efforts to impede such activities once authorized by the International Seabed Authority – even if we had reason to be fearful that such activities posed an environmental hazard to our coastal areas. Worse yet, the ISA and its tribunal are authorized to ask member states to enforce its judgments, possibly leading to conflict.

Environmental implications could be exacerbated by the ISA’s authority to apportion drilling and mining rights to other nations who may be less scrupulous than American companies in complying with environmental standards and practices this country holds dear. Such apportioning could occur even in situations where this country’s companies provide the research, seed investment and fees – the first a UN agency has ever been allowed to levy – associated with securing the required ISA permits.