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".
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This law disapproves a Bureau of Land Management rule that had made federal coal in the Buffalo Field Office area of Wyoming unavailable for future leasing, using the Congressional Review Act to void the 2024 plan amendment.
As a result, the BLM must revert to the prior 2015 resource management plan, which allowed federal coal leasing in the area, reversing the agency's climate-driven restriction.
What this law does
What it does
This joint resolution, now law, disapproves under the Congressional Review Act a Bureau of Land Management rule issued November 20, 2024, that amended the 2015 resource management plan for the Buffalo Field Office in Wyoming. That 2024 amendment had made BLM-managed coal resources in the planning area unavailable for future leasing, following a court ruling requiring the agency to evaluate the climate impacts of federal coal leasing there. By disapproving the rule, Congress declares it has no force or effect, which requires the BLM to administer the Buffalo Field Office under the resource management plan as it existed before the 2024 amendment, restoring the availability of federal coal for future leasing in that planning area.
Key provisions
- 1Disapproves the BLM's November 2024 rule amending the Buffalo Field Office resource management plan to bar future coal leasing
- 2Declares the disapproved rule has no force or effect, requiring the BLM to revert to the pre-amendment 2015 resource management plan
Who is affected
The Bureau of Land Management, which must revert its planning document; coal companies seeking to lease federal coal in the Buffalo Field Office area of Wyoming; and communities and workers connected to coal mining in that region who are affected by whether new leasing is available.
Why it matters
The reversal reopens the possibility of new federal coal leasing in a major Wyoming coal-producing area that had been closed to leasing on climate grounds, affecting industry investment decisions, regional jobs tied to coal mining, and the environmental review process the BLM had developed in response to litigation.
What changed
Changes to existing law
Repeals Buffalo Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment (BLM rule, Nov. 20, 2024)
Voids the 2024 rule that made federal coal in the planning area unavailable for future leasing, reverting to the prior 2015 plan.
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- The disapproval and nullification of the BLM rule
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Became Public Law No: 119-51.
Official CRS summary
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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.
Legislative subjects
Administrative law and regulatory procedures; Coal; Congressional oversight; Department of the Interior; Mining; Public Lands and Natural Resources; Wyoming