Therefore, I ask that the Department of Interior, in conjunction with NOAA and/or the EPA conduct an environmental impact study on how an at scale deep-sea mineral extraction operation will affect the ocean ecosystem around American Samoa.
Press the Department of the Interior, with NOAA and/or EPA, to conduct an environmental impact study before any at-scale deep-sea mineral extraction operation proceeds near American Samoa.
Occurrences
Evidence
unverified · Source version 47939 · locator unknown
Rep. Amata's office states that she urged Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to have Interior, with NOAA and/or EPA, conduct an environmental impact study on at-scale deep-sea mineral extraction effects near American Samoa. Her letter also asked for assurance that any sale would not proceed without strong environmental protections and oversight.
unverified · Source version 88172 · locator unknown
BOEM says the American Samoa mineral lease sale is at the Proposed Leasing Notice stage, with a proposed November 19, 2026 sale. BOEM describes a completed environmental assessment for leasing and preliminary activities, and says future mining would require separate environmental review.
unverified · Source version 47939 · locator unknown
Rep. Amata's official release says she urged Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to conduct an environmental impact study on how at-scale deep-sea mineral extraction would affect the ocean ecosystem around American Samoa, and the letter text asks DOI to work with NOAA and/or EPA and not allow at-scale extraction without strong environmental protections and oversight.
unverified · Source version 88172 · locator unknown
BOEM's current American Samoa lease-sale page says the process is at the Proposed Leasing Notice stage, with a proposed November 19, 2026 sale if it moves forward. BOEM states its completed NEPA environmental assessment analyzes leasing and preliminary activities, while future mining would require separate environmental review.
verified · Source version 47939 · locator 2174
I ask that the Department of Interior, in conjunction with NOAA and/or the EPA conduct an environmental impact study
verified · Source version 88172 · locator 6784
Any future mining would require submission and BOEM approval of a Delineation, Testing, and/or Mining Plan subject to separate environmental review.
verified · Source version 96515 · locator 3294
No mining operations would be authorized under these leases; any future mining would require separate environmental review and approval.
Assessments
The commitment concerns pressing the agencies for a study. Verified passage 53272 documents Radewagen personally requesting that Interior, with NOAA and/or EPA, conduct it, fulfilling that oversight action during her current service. This does not establish that the requested study was completed.
The verified commitment was an oversight/pressure commitment: Radewagen said she was asking Interior, with NOAA and/or EPA, to conduct an environmental impact study. Verified passage 53272 directly proves she made that request, satisfying the candidate-side promise to press the agencies. Verified passage 53273 supports that future mining remained subject to later environmental review, consistent with the request occurring before at-scale extraction. The delivery is attributable to Radewagen’s own action, not unrelated officials.
The verified commitment was an oversight action: Radewagen said she was asking Interior, with NOAA and/or EPA, to conduct an environmental impact study. Verified evidence 53272 directly documents that she made that request, satisfying the promise to press the agencies. Verified evidence 53273 shows any future mining remains subject to separate environmental review, supporting that the request occurred before at-scale mining proceeded. This is candidate-attributable because the delivery is her own documented request, not an unrelated official's later action.
The promise was framed as an oversight commitment to press Interior, with NOAA and/or EPA involvement, for environmental review before at-scale deep-sea mineral extraction near American Samoa. The evidence shows Radewagen directly urged Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to conduct such an environmental impact study and asked that at-scale extraction not proceed without environmental protections and oversight. Although BOEM had not completed a separate future-mining review, the candidate-side promise to press the agency was fulfilled during her current federal delegate term.
The promise was to press Interior, with NOAA and/or EPA involvement, for an environmental impact study before at-scale deep-sea mineral extraction near American Samoa. Radewagen did that directly in her August 21, 2026 letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, asking DOI with NOAA and/or EPA to conduct the study and seeking assurances that a sale would not proceed without strong protections. BOEM had not completed the specific at-scale extraction review yet, but the pledged candidate-side oversight action was fulfilled during her current federal delegate term.