Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), to conduct: (1) an inventory of existing data on offshore mineral resources, other than oil and natural gas, and an analysis of existing samples of such offshore minerals, to identify and quantify known resources; (2) an assessment of all available domestic technological capabilities required for the location and the efficient and environmentally sound recovery of such minerals from the shallow and deep seabed of the United States; (3) an economic feasibility study on the recovery of such minerals; and (4) an assessment of the environmental and safety risks associated with shallow and deep sea mineral production, other than oil and natural gas.
Defines "shallow and deep seabed of the United States" as areas of the seabed contiguous to and within 200 miles of the territorial sea of the United States and the resources of which are subject to its jurisdiction or control. Includes in that definition such areas that are contiguous to and within 200 miles of the territorial sea around any inhabited and uninhabited territory or possession of the United States, including American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Midway Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Marshall Islands, Midway Islands, Wake Island, Johnston Atoll, Baker, Howland, and Jarvis Islands, Kingman Reef, Navassa Island, Serranilla Bank, Bajo Nuevo Bank, and Palmyra Atoll.
Authorizes FY2012-FY2013 appropriations.