Federal Legislation and Policies
Legislation
- National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997 (P.L. 104-201): National Oceanographic Partnership Program
- Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-11): Ocean Exploration (pdf)
- National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (P.L. 116-283): Reauthorization of National Oceanographic Partnership Program
- James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (P.L. 117-263): Modifications to the Ocean Exploration Program (Section 10305) (pdf)
Federal Policies and Plans
- Executive Order 13817: A Federal Strategy To Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals (December 20, 2017, pdf)
- Executive Order 13840: Ocean Policy To Advance the Economic, Security, and Environmental Interests of the United States (June 19, 2018, pdf)
- Science and Technology for America’s Oceans: A Decadal Vision (November 2018, pdf)
- Charting a Course for Success: America’s Strategy for STEM Education (December 2018, pdf)
- A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals (June 2019, pdf)
- Executive Order 13875: Evaluating and Improving the Utility of Federal Advisory Committees (June 14, 2019, pdf)
- Memorandum on Ocean Mapping of the United States Exclusive Economic Zone and the Shoreline and Nearshore of Alaska (November 19, 2019, pdf)
- National Strategy for Mapping, Exploring, and Characterizing the United States Exclusive Economic Zone (June 2020, pdf)
- Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for Ocean Mapping, Exploring, and Characterizing the United States Exclusive Economic Zone (January 2021, pdf)
- Executive Order 14285: Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources (April 24, 2025)