The Trump administration has announced policy updates to accelerate offshore critical mineral exploration and development, with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement streamlining processes to reduce delays, enhance coordination, and provide industry certainty—part of broader efforts to reduce US reliance on China-dominated supply chains. These changes, following an April executive order to boost deep-sea mining for minerals like nickel and copper, include extending early-stage exploration permits from three to five years and applying expedited environmental reviews where possible.