On October 20, the Marine Minerals Administration (MMA), the Department of the Interior (Interior) agency that now administers offshore mineral leasing, published its first-ever offshore mineral lease sale off American Samoa. The sale, scheduled for November 19, 2026, would offer two leases covering more than 31 million acres of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). A Samoan council of chiefs, a Samoan American community group, and the Conservation Council for Hawai’i immediately sued in the District of Hawai’i to stop the sale.

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