Title 15
SECTION 971.101
971.101 Definitions.
§ 971.101 Definitions.For purposes of this part, the term
(a) Act means the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (Pub. L. 96-283; 94 Stat. 553; 30 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.);
(b) Administrator means the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or the Administrator's designee;
(c) Affected State means any State with a coastal zone management program approved under Section 306 of the Coastal Zone Management Act, as amended, where coastal zone land and water uses are affected by the issuance of a commercial recovery permit under the provisions of the Act or this part;
(d) Applicant means an applicant for a commercial recovery permit pursuant to the Act and this part; as used in subparts H, I and J of this part, “applicant” also means an applicant for an exploration license pursuant to the Act and part 970 of the title. “Applicant” also means a proposed permit transferee;
(e) Commercial recovery means -
(1) Any activity engaged in at sea to recover any hard mineral resource at a substantial rate for the primary purpose of marketing or commercially using such resource to earn a net profit, whether or not such net profit is actually earned;
(2) If such recovered hard mineral resource will be processed at sea, such processing; and
(3) If the waste of such activity to recover any hard mineral resource, or of such processing at sea, will be disposed of at sea, such disposal;
(f) Continental Shelf means -
(1) The seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas adjacent to the coast, but outside the area of the territorial sea, to a depth of 200 meters or, beyond that limit to where the depth of the superjacent waters admits of the exploitation of the natural resources of such submarine area; and
(2) The seabed and subsoil of similar submarine areas adjacent to the coast of islands;
(g) Controlling interest, for purposes of paragraph (v)(3) of this section, means a direct or indirect legal or beneficial interest in or influence over another person arising through ownership of capital stock, interlocking directorates or officers, contractual relations, or other similar means, which substantially affect the independent business behavior of such person;
(h) Deep seabed means the seabed, and the subsoil thereof to a depth of ten meters, lying seaward of and outside -
(1) The Continental Shelf of any nation; and
(2) Any area of national resource jurisdiction of any foreign nation, if such area extends beyond the Continental Shelf of such nation and such jurisdiction is recognized by the United States;
(i) Environment or environmental as used in the definitions of “irreparable harm” and “significant adverse environmental effect” means or pertains to the deep seabed and ocean waters lying at and within the permit area, and in surrounding areas including transportation corridors to the extent that they might be affected by the commercial recovery activities, and the living and non-living resources of those areas;
(j) Exploration means -
(1) Any at-sea observation and evaluation activity which has, as its objective, the establishment and documentation of -
(i) The nature, shape, concentration, location, and tenor of a hard mineral resource; and
(ii) The environmental, technical, and other appropriate factors which must be taken into account to achieve commercial recovery; and
(2) The taking from the deep seabed of such quantities of any hard mineral resource as are necessary for the design, fabrication and testing of equipment which is intended to be used in the commercial recovery and processing of such resource;
(k) Hard mineral resource means any deposit or accretion on, or just below, the surface of the deep seabed of nodules which include one or more minerals, at least one of which is manganese, nickel, cobalt, or copper;
(l) Irreparable harm means significant undesirable effects to the environment occurring after the date of the permit issuance which will not be reversed after cessation or modification of the activities authorized under the permit;
(m) Licensee means the holder of a license issued under NOAA regulations to engage in exploration;
(n) NOAA means the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
(o) Permittee means the holder of a permit issued or transferred under this part to engage in commercial recovery;
(p) Person means any United States citizen, any individual, and any corporation, partnership, joint venture, association, or other entity organized or existing under the laws of any nation;
(q) Reciprocating state means any foreign nation designated as such by the Administrator under section 118 of the Act;
(r) Recovery plan or commercial recovery plan means the plan submitted by an applicant for a commercial recovery permit pursuant to § 971.203;
(s) Significant adverse environmental effect means: (1) Important adverse changes in ecosystem diversity, productivity, or stability of the biological communities within the environment; (2) threat to human health through direct exposure to pollutants or through consumption of exposed aquatic organisms; or (3) important loss of aesthetic, recreational, scientific or economic values;
(t) State agency means the agency responsible for implementing the responsibilities of section 306(c)(5) under the Coastal Zone Management Act, as amended, and 15 CFR part 930;
(u) United States means the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and any other Commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States; and
(v) United States citizen means -
(1) Any individual who is a citizen of the United States;
(2) Any corporation, partnership, joint venture, association, or other entity organized or existing under the laws of any of the United States; and
(3) Any corporation, partnership, joint venture, association, or other entity (whether organized or existing under the laws of any of the United States or a foreign nation) if the controlling interest in such entity is held by an individual or entity described in paragraph (v)(1) or (v)(2).