This bill became law on 2025-12-11 as Public Law No. 119-51.
The summary below describes the bill at the version we last reviewed; the enacted text may differ.
Congress has formally disapproved a Bureau of Land Management rule governing the Buffalo Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment, which was issued in November 2024 and subsequently determined by the Government Accountability Office to qualify as a rule subject to the Congressional Review Act. Because this is a joint resolution that passed both chambers and became enrolled law, it carries the force of statute — the rule is nullified and has no legal effect.
Environmental Concerns
- BLM Buffalo Field Office resource management plan amendment — Nullified under the Congressional Review Act
- Coal-leasing availability on Wyoming federal lands — Restored after the conservation amendment was rescinded
- BLM authority to reissue a similar amendment — Substantially similar rules barred under CRA
Corporate Benefits
- Coal-industry access to Powder River Basin federal lands — Restored after CRA disapproval
Congressional 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.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Became Public Law No: 119-51.
- Action Date
- 2025-12-11
- Date Added
- 2026-04-10
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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