HJRES-140 — 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 Public Land Order No. 7917 for Withdrawal of Federal Lands; Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties, MN.

This bill became law on 2026-04-27 as Public Law No. 119-85.

The summary below describes the bill at the version we last reviewed; the enacted text may differ.

YourVoice.Now Summary

EnvironmentCorporate Benefits

225,504 acres near the Boundary Waters are open to mining leases again — the 2023 ban is gone.

Environment

Ban on new mining leases near the Boundary Waters — 225,504 acres

A 2023 order closed this land to new mining and geothermal leases for 20 years. It covered about 225,504 acres, and it has now ended 17 years early.

Interior Department's power to restore the ban — new law now needed

The law Congress used bars an agency from bringing back a rule that Congress throws out. To protect this land the same way again, the department would need Congress to pass a new law.

Corporate Benefits

Mining companies' access to federal land — leasing allowed again in Minnesota

A lease lets a company explore for and take minerals from federal land. New leases here were blocked from 2023 until now, and companies can apply for them again.

More about this bill

About 225,504 acres of national forest in northeastern Minnesota are open to new mining and geothermal leases again. In 2023 the Interior Department had closed that land to new leases for 20 years, through 2043. Congress canceled that closure on April 27, 2026. The land sits near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, in the watershed that drains into it. For most people, daily life does not change. Nothing here changes park fees, permits, or public access to the forest. Companies can now apply to lease the land for mining. The law Congress used here also blocks a repeat. The Interior Department cannot close this land the same way again without a new act of Congress.

Congressional Summary

This joint resolution opens approximately 225,504 acres of National Forest System lands in Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties in Minnesota to mineral and geothermal leasing. Specifically, the joint resolution nullifies Public Land Order 7917, which withdrew such land from mineral and geothermal leasing for 20 years beginning in 2023. The Bureau of Land Management issued the order to protect and preserve the Rainy River Watershed, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Mining Protection Area, and the 1854 Ceded Territory of the Lake Superior Chippewa from potential adverse effects of mineral and geothermal exploration and development. The joint resolution removes such protections and allows such land to be leased for the exploration and development of minerals and geothermal energy.

Legislative Subjects

Administrative law and regulatory proceduresAlternative and renewable resourcesDepartment of the InteriorLakes and riversLand use and conservationMarine pollutionMiningMinnesota

Details

Congress: 119th
Chamber: House
Status: summarized
Action: Public Law
Action Date: 2026-04-27
Date Added: 2026-07-14
Source: Congress.gov →

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