NOAA Publishes Notice of Intent in the Federal Register to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for TMC USA’s USA-B Exploration License Application

The notice concerns an exploration license application filed by The Metals Company USA LLC under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act. TMC the metals company announced the publication on August 17, 2026, identifying NOAA as the agency initiating preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement.

The process directly affects TMC and its USA-B application; no other company is identified in the supplied material. An Environmental Impact Statement provides a formal framework for assessing the application’s environmental implications, but the announcement does not establish that the license has been granted or that commercial production is authorized.

The next items to track are the scope and schedule of NOAA’s review, any public participation or agency findings, and subsequent action on the exploration application. The supplied material contains no analyst consensus, insider-activity data, valuation figures, or price-target information to sharpen the equity setup beyond the permitting development.