House committee OKs bill to block BLM public lands rule

The House Natural Resources Committee also approved legislation against lead ammunition bans.

June 21, 2023

he House Natural Resources Committee approved legislation Wednesday to block the Bureau of Land Management from implementing a proposed public lands rule Republican lawmakers say is a veiled attempt to restrict energy development and other uses on federal lands.

The full committee also approved a bill forbidding the Interior and Agriculture departments from banning lead ammunition and fishing tackle.

The day's highlight was H.R. 3397, sponsored by Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah), which would require BLM to withdraw the draft rule, which is still open for public comment through July 5.

The committee voted 20-16 along party lines to approve the bill following nearly two hours of debate — including on three Democratic-led amendments to stall or limit the bill — that focused not only on the merits of the draft rule, but also concerns over language in the Curtis' bill that would prohibit the bureau from developing "any substantially similar rule" in the future.

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"We seem to be glossing over in this debate about this bill something that is actually radical and extreme, and that is the idea of codifying not just a stopping of this rule, but a raising of the drawbridge, a legislative prohibition on ever doing a rulemaking like this again," said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.).

He called it "remarkable" that Republicans are so "threatened" over the rule, which he and others say simply acknowledges that federal rangelands face unprecedented threats from climate warming and the resulting drought conditions and hotter, more destructive wildfires that scorch millions of acres every year.

The proposed rule would elevate conservation as a formal use of federal lands, as authorized in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the 1976 law that established BLM's multiple-use and sustained-yield mandate for both the present and future generations. Unlike what opponents contend, it would not elevate conservation above other land uses, Huffman said.

Going beyond blocking the proposed rule and forbidding BLM from considering similar rulemaking in the future "is a wrong-headed way to tie the hands of this public lands management agency, and one of several reasons why we should oppose this bill," Huffman said.

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By:  Scott Streater
Source: E&E News