Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to "Buffalo Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment".
Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to "Buffalo Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment".
Plain Language Summary
# Summary of HJRES 130 **What It Does:** This bill cancels a 2024 rule by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that stopped federal coal leasing in Wyoming's Buffalo Field Office area. By passing this resolution, Congress reversed the BLM's decision and requires the agency to go back to its 2015 plan, which allows coal to be available for future leasing on federal lands in that region. **Background and Impact:** The BLM had issued the 2024 rule in response to a court ruling requiring the agency to evaluate climate impacts before allowing coal leasing. After conducting that environmental review, the BLM decided to prohibit new coal leasing.
This bill reverses that decision, primarily affecting Wyoming's coal industry and federal land management policies. It demonstrates Congress using its oversight power to reject a regulatory decision made by an executive agency. **Current Status:** The bill has been signed into law, meaning it is now official policy.
CRS Official Summary
This joint resolution nullifies the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on November 20, 2024, which amended the 2015 resource management plan (RMP) for the Buffalo Field Office in Wyoming to make no federal coal available for future leasing. Thus, the joint resolution requires the BLM to follow the 2015 RMP as it was before it was amended in 2024 and make coal available for leasing.By way of background, the BLM developed the amendment to the plan in response to Western Organization of Resource Councils v. Bureau of Land Management. In that case, the court held that the BLM must evaluate the climate impacts of federal coal leasing in the Buffalo Field Office and include alternatives to limit or stop coal leasing in the evaluation in order to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act. After conducting the evaluation, the BLM amended the RMP and made BLM-managed coal resources in the Buffalo Field Office planning area unavailable for future leasing.
Latest Action
Became Public Law No: 119-51.