The bill would implement a new annex to the Antarctic Treaty that was agreed in 2005, which requires anyone undertaking activities in Antarctica to ensure measures are in place to prevent any environmental damage and to have contingency plans should any damage occur.
Under procedures laid out in Annex II of the treaty, the petitioning party submits geologic data and makes its case for expansion before a LOST body called the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, which then makes its determination as to the claim.