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 "North Dakota Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan".

This joint resolution disapproves, under the Congressional Review Act, a Bureau of Land Management rule relating to the "North Dakota Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan," issued January 14, 2025. Because Congress passed the resolution and the President signed it, the rule now has no force or effect. The 2025 plan had updated the Field Office's 1988 resource management plan, including by restricting oil and gas development in low-potential areas and limiting new coal leasing to land within four miles of existing mines. Nullifying the rule removes those restrictions; the resolution itself does not create a replacement plan or set new management terms for the affected lands.

The Bureau of Land Management and Interior Department officials who manage federal land in North Dakota, along with oil, gas, and coal companies seeking leases or development approvals on BLM land in the state, are directly affected. Environmental and conservation groups tracking land-use protections in the region are also affected.

With the rule voided, the development restrictions the 2025 plan had imposed on oil, gas, and coal activity no longer apply, potentially reopening more BLM land in North Dakota to leasing and extraction. The Congressional Review Act also bars the Bureau of Land Management from issuing a substantially similar rule in the future without new statutory authority.

The resolution itself is self-executing: once enacted, the BLM rule is void with no agency rulemaking needed to implement the disapproval. Under the Congressional Review Act, BLM cannot reissue a substantially similar rule unless a later law specifically authorizes it. Land management in the North Dakota Field Office reverts to whatever plan or rules preceded the nullified 2025 Resource Management Plan, most likely the 1988 plan referenced in the CRS summary, until BLM undertakes a new planning process.