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United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Increasing Public Access to Recreation Act This bill increases the amount made available from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for recreational public access projects on federal land.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Modernizing Access to our Public Waters Act or the MAPWaters Act of 2025 or the MAPWaters Act of 2025 This bill directs the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to standardize and publish data relating to the public's access to federal waterways for recreational use. Specifically, the Forest Service and Interior must jointly develop and adopt interagency standards for data collection and dissemination of geospatial data relating to public outdoor recreational access of federal waterways and federal fishing restrictions. The standards must ensure compatibility and interoperability among applicable federal databases with respect to collection and dissemination of such data. Within five years, the Forest Service and Interior must also digitize and make publicly available online certain geographic information system data about (1) federal waterway restrictions, (2) federal waterway access and navigation information, and (3) federal fishing restrictions. They must also update the data about waterway restrictions, waterway access, and navigation information at least twice per year. Data about fishing restrictions must be updated in real time as changes go into effect. Finally, the Forest Service and Interior must develop a process to allow members of the public to submit questions or comments regarding the data regarding waterway restrictions, waterway access, and navigation information.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Responsible Path to Full Obamacare Repeal Act This bill repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective at the beginning of FY2026. Provisions of law amended by those acts are restored.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Armed Forces Endangered Species Exemption Act This bill establishes exemptions from the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) for defense-related operations. First, the bill prohibits the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) from designating military installations or state-owned National Guard installations as critical habitat under the ESA. It also prohibits FWS and NMFS from designating other lands, waters, or geographical areas as critical habitats if the Department of Defense (DOD) determines that the areas are necessary for military training, weapons testing, or other reasons. While DOD must submit such determinations in writing to the FWS, DOD is not required to consult with the FWS under the ESA about such determinations. Next, the bill exempts military personnel engaged in national defense-related operations (actions or duties that DOD deems necessary to support its mission) from ESA prohibitions on (1) taking (e.g., harming or killing) of endangered species or threatened species; (2) importing or exporting such species; and (3) damaging, destroying, removing, cutting, or digging up such species. Further, the bill exempts any injury to or mortality of a threatened or endangered species that results from, but is not the purpose of, a national defense-related operation. The term military personnel means a member of the Armed Forces as well as a civilian employee or contractor of (1) DOD; or (2) any other federal agency, or any provisional authority, to the extent such employment relates to supporting the mission of DOD overseas.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
This bill sets out requirements for wildfire suppression and management activities carried out by the Forest Service. These requirements apply to Forest Service land that (1) has a severe, extreme, or exceptional drought intensity rating; (2) has a National Wildland Fire Preparedness level of 5 (i.e., the highest level of wildland fire activity); or (3) is located in a fireshed ranked in the top 10% of wildfire exposure. Within 24 hours of detecting a wildfire on such Forest Service land, the service must use all available resources to extinguish the wildfire. Additionally, the service may not inhibit the firefighting activities of state and local agencies that are authorized to respond to wildfires on the Forest Service land. Further, the service may only initiate a backfire or burnout as part of a fire suppression strategy if it is ordered by the responsible incident commander or is necessary to protect the health and safety of firefighting personnel. The service must use all available resources to control any initiated fire until it is extinguished. The bill also limits the service's use of prescribed fires (i.e., the controlled application of fire by a team of experts under specified weather conditions to restore health to ecosystems that depend on fire). When using prescribed fires as a fire resource management tool, the service must comply with applicable laws and regulations and immediately suppress any prescribed fire that exceeds its prescription.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Lake Winnibigoshish Land Exchange Act of 2025 This bill directs the Forest Service to exchange specified land along the shoreline of Lake Winnibigoshish (commonly known as Lake Winnie) in the Chippewa National Forest in Minnesota for specified land owned by Big Winnie Land and Timber, LLC (BWLT), if BWLT offers to make the exchange. The land acquired by the Forest Service must be added to and managed as part of Chippewa National Forest. The bill outlines requirements and conditions for the exchange. For example, the Forest Service must reserve an easement for road access to certain land in the forest. The bill also conditions the exchange on the satisfactory completion of a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment by BWLT before the nonfederal land is accepted in the exchange. In addition, the exchange must be for equal value or the values must be equalized by a cash payment, subject to an exception. Finally, the bill directs BWLT to pay all closing costs associated with the exchange.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Protecting American Energy Production Act This bill prohibits the President from declaring a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing unless Congress authorizes the moratorium. The bill also expresses the sense of Congress that states should maintain primacy (authority) for the regulation of hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas production on state and private lands. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a process to extract underground resources such as oil or gas from a geologic formation by injecting water, a propping agent (e.g., sand), and chemical additives into a well under enough pressure to fracture the formation.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
People-Centered Assistance Reform Effort Act or the People CARE Act This bill establishes the People-Centered Assistance Reform Effort Commission within the legislative branch to review federal means-tested programs for potential reform. Under the bill, means-tested programs are those designed to provide assistance to low-income individuals, including, for example, Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The commission is generally directed to review all federal means-tested programs with the exception of certain specified programs, including Social Security, Medicare, and certain veterans’ benefits programs. The commission is directed to identify and evaluate potential changes to federal means-tested programs, such as consolidation with other programs, delegation of certain functions to states, and the establishment of gradual benefit reductions tied to increases in beneficiaries’ income. The commission is also directed to consider changes that would allow caseworkers to identify all of the appropriate programs for individuals and families. The commission must establish a website through which members of the public may submit suggested reforms for consideration. The commission is to be comprised of eight members, with an equal number of members appointed by the majority and minority parties. At the conclusion of its term, the commission must report to Congress with its findings and proposed legislation implementing any recommended changes. Congress must consider the legislation under expedited procedures.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act This bill reduces payments that communities within the Arkansas River Valley must pay to the Bureau of Reclamation for the construction of the Arkansas Valley Conduit, a pipeline in Colorado for delivering water from the Pueblo Reservoir to such communities. Specifically, it removes interest payments and extends the repayment period to 100 years.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Proven Forest Management Act of 2025 This bill sets forth provisions to expedite the approval and implementation of forest management activities and establishes related requirements. First, the bill categorically excludes a forest management activity conducted on National Forest System land for reducing forest fuels from certain environmental review requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 if the activity (1) does not exceed 10,000 acres (including not more than 3,000 acres of mechanical thinning), (2) is developed in a collaborative manner, and (3) is consistent with the forest plan developed for the relevant National Forest System land. Next, the bill directs the Forest Service to conduct forest management activities in a manner that attains multiple ecosystem benefits unless the costs associated with attaining such benefits are excessive. Additionally, the Forest Service must (1) establish any post-program ground condition criteria for a ground disturbance caused by a forest management activity required by the applicable forest plan, and (2) provide for monitoring to ascertain the attainment of relevant post-program conditions. The bill also allows the Forest Service or the Department of the Interior, as appropriate, to enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with certain entities to provide for fuel reduction, erosion control, reforestation, and similar activities on federal and nonfederal lands within land adjustment programs. Finally, the bill directs the Forest Service, when conducting a forest management activity on National Forest System land, to coordinate with impacted parties to increase efficiency and maximize the compatibility of management practices across such land.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Action Versus No Action Act This bill limits the scope of an environmental assessment (EA) or environmental impact statement (EIS) conducted under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for forest management activity on certain public lands to only the following two alternatives: (1) the effects of the forest management activity, and (2) no action. The bill applies to any EA or EIS prepared by the Forest Service or the Department of the Interior for a forest management activity on public land that is suitable for timber production and that occurs on land designated as an insect and disease treatment area under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003, is developed through a collaborative process, is proposed by a resource advisory committee, or is covered by a community wildfire protection plan. In the case of the alternative of no action, the Forest Service or Interior must consider whether to evaluate the effect of no action on forest health, potential losses of life and property, habitat diversity, wildfire potential, insect and disease potential, and timber production; and the implications of a resulting decline in forest health, loss of habitat diversity, wildfire, or insect or disease infestation on potential losses of life and property, domestic water supply in the project area, wildlife habitat loss, and other economic and social factors.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Supporting the Health of Aquatic systems through Research Knowledge and Enhanced Dialogue Act of 2025 or the SHARKED Act of 2025 This bill requires the Department of Commerce to establish a task force to address and report to Congress about critical needs with respect to shark depredation. (Shark depredation is the partial or complete removal of a hooked fish by a shark directly from a fishing line before the line is retrieved.) The duties of the task force are, among other responsibilities, to (1) develop ways to improve coordination and communication across the fisheries management and shark research communities; (2) identify research priorities and funding opportunities; (3) develop recommended management strategies to address shark depredation; and (4) coordinate the development and distribution of educational materials. The bill specifies that the task force must include representatives of each Regional Fishery Management Council, each Marine Fisheries Commission, the fish and wildlife agencies of coastal states, and the National Marine Fisheries Service. The task force must also include researchers and others with relevant expertise. The task force must report its findings to Congress within two years after the bill's enactment and every two years thereafter until the task force is terminated. The task force sunsets within seven years after the date of its establishment.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Responsible Legislating Act This bill establishes or modifies various federal programs and requirements, including those related to retirement accounts, penalties for certain sex offenses, foreign investment and ownership, and appropriations. The bill makes changes to retirement account contributions and distributions, including increasing the maximum amount that may be contributed to a Roth Individual Retirement Account (IRA) to include certain contributions to a Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE IRA) or Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plan, subject to limitations. The bill establishes an enhanced penalty—an additional prison term of up to five years—for certain interstate human trafficking offenses or coercion of sexual activity that occurs in a school zone or related area. The Department of Commerce must report on efforts to increase foreign direct investment in semiconductor-related manufacturing and production. The Federal Maritime Commission must evaluate the effect of foreign ownership of marine terminals at the 15 largest U.S. container ports on U.S. economic security. The bill provides additional appropriations for the Departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture, State, Defense, Homeland Security, and Energy. The bill extends mandatory livestock market reporting requirements through FY2025. The bill revises the required frequency of meetings held by a credit union's board of directors by decreasing the frequency for existing credit unions with satisfactory soundness ratings. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) enhanced-use leasing authority is reauthorized through 2033. The bill requires hearings on the bill's implementation within one year of the date of enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Alaska Native Village Municipal Lands Restoration Act of 2025 This bill removes the requirement that Alaska Native village corporations must convey lands to Alaska to be held in trust for future municipal governments. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) requires all Alaska Native village corporations that receive land under the ANCSA to convey certain lands to the existing municipality in the village or, if no municipality exists, to Alaska in trust for any municipality that may be established in the future. This bill removes the requirement for conveyance. Additionally, the bill allows village corporations to regain title to the lands held in trust by dissolving the trust through formal resolution by the village corporation and the residents of the Native village.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Endangered Species Transparency and Reasonableness Act of 2025 This bill modifies requirements concerning determinations on whether a species is a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), caps attorney's fees to prevailing parties in ESA citizen suits, and makes related requirements. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) must publish online, subject to privacy or administrative limitations, the best scientific and commercial data available that are the basis for each determination. The bill states that the term best scientific and commercial data available includes all data submitted by a state, tribal, or county government. Thus, such data is automatically deemed to be the best scientific and commercial data available. Before making a determination on whether a species is an endangered or threatened species, the FWS and NMFS must provide affected states with all of the data that is the basis of the determination. The Department of the Interior must also publish and maintain an online searchable database that discloses federal expenditures related to litigation under the ESA.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial and Sacred Site Act This bill directs the Department of the Interior to complete all actions necessary to place approximately 40 acres of land in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota, into restricted fee status for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Restricted fee status refers to land that is owned by a tribe or tribal member but is subject to restrictions by the United States against alienation (i.e., sale or transfer) or encumbrance (e.g., liens, leases, or rights-of-way) by operation of law. The bill requires the land to be held and maintained as a memorial and sacred site, as outlined by the document titled Covenant Between the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and dated October 21, 2022. Further, it prohibits commercial development and gaming activity on the land.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Protecting American Energy Production Act This bill prohibits the President from declaring a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing unless Congress authorizes the moratorium. The bill also expresses the sense of Congress that states should maintain primacy (authority) for the regulation of hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas production on state and private lands. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a process to extract underground resources such as oil or gas from a geologic formation by injecting water, a propping agent (e.g., sand), and chemical additives into a well under enough pressure to fracture the formation.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Hershel "Woody" Williams National Medal of Honor Monument Location Act This bill requires the authorized monument honoring Medal of Honor recipients to be located within the Reserve (the great cross-axis of the National Mall, which generally extends from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial and from the White House to the Jefferson Memorial).
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Unrecognized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Compensation Act This bill allows five Alaska Native communities in Southeast Alaska to form urban corporations and receive land entitlements. Specifically, the bill allows the Alaska Native residents of each of the Alaska Native villages of Haines, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Tenakee, and Wrangell, Alaska, to organize as Alaska Native urban corporations and to receive certain settlement land. The bill directs the Department of the Interior to convey specified land to each urban corporation. Further, Interior must convey the subsurface estate for that land to the regional corporation for Southeast Alaska. The land conveyed to each urban corporation must include any U.S. interest in all roads, trails, log transfer facilities, leases, and appurtenances on or related to the land conveyed to the urban corporation. The bill also allows each urban corporation to establish a settlement trust to (1) promote the health, education, and welfare of the trust beneficiaries; and (2) preserve the Alaska Native heritage and culture of their communities.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
American Sovereignty and Species Protection Act of 2025 This bill limits the protection of endangered or threatened species to species that are native to the United States. In addition, the bill prohibits certain funding for endangered or threatened species from being used to acquire lands, waters, or other interests in foreign countries.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Yosemite National Park Equal Access and Fairness Act This bill modifies the Raker Act, which allowed San Francisco to dam the Hetch Hetchy Valley within Yosemite National Park, to (1) increase the annual rent San Francisco pays to the National Park Service (NPS), and (2) direct the NPS to expand public access to the reservoir and lake created by the dam. Specifically, the bill increases rent paid by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission for the use of the park from $30,000 to $2 million per year. That amount must be adjusted annually to reflect increases in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. The commission may not recoup such sums from wholesale water or power customers. The bill allows collected rent to be used by the Department of the Interior for wildfire mitigation activities in the park and other national parks in California. The bill also requires the NPS to administer the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and Lake Eleanor Basin areas for public recreation, benefit, and use in a manner that will preserve scenic, historic, scientific, or otherwise important features.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Manatee Protection Act of 2025 This bill requires the Department of the Interior to include the West Indian manatee ( Trichechus manatus ) in the endangered species list and give the species protections provided to endangered species.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Western Water Accelerated Revenue Repayment Act This bill permanently authorizes a provision under the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act that (1) allows certain water users (e.g., agriculture and municipal water users) in western states to prepay what they owe under contracts with the Bureau of Reclamation for delivering water through a lump sum payment or over a period of three years; and (2) requires a specified portion of the receipts generated from such prepayments be directed to the Reclamation Water Storage Account for the construction of water storage. Such prepayments do not alter certain requirements for the disposition of amounts that are directed by project-specific statutes in effect prior to the passage of the WIIN Act to accounts other than the General Reclamation Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Less Imprecision in Species Treatment Act of 2025 or the LIST Act of 2025 This bill modifies the process for removing a species from the endangered or threatened species lists and makes related requirements. A species must be removed from the endangered or threatened species lists if the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service produces or receives substantial scientific or commercial information demonstrating that the species is recovered or that recovery goals set for the species have been met. The publication and notice of a proposed regulation to remove a species from the lists must consist solely of a notice of the removal. The bill establishes a process for removing species from the lists if they were erroneously or wrongfully listed. The bill prohibits a person from submitting a petition to list a species as a threatened or endangered species for 10 years if the person knowingly submitted a petition with information that was inaccurate beyond scientifically reasonable margins of error, fraudulent, or misrepresentative.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Congressional Border Security Assessment Act This bill grants Members of Congress and their accompanying staff lawful access to Indian reservations for the purpose of assessing national security, public safety, and the security of the border. Specifically, the bill applies to an Indian reservation that includes 50 or more contiguous miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Alaska Native Settlement Trust Eligibility Act This bill excludes certain settlement trust payments to an Alaska Native or descendant of an Alaska Native who is aged, blind, or disabled for purposes of determining the individual's eligibility for certain need-based federal programs (e.g., the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Inflation Reduction Act of 2025 This bill repeals the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and rescinds any unobligated funds made available by the act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
This bill requires naturally propagated animals (i.e., wild animals) and artificially propagated animals to be treated the same under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). Specifically, distinctions between naturally propagated animals and artificially propagated animals may not be made when the federal government makes determinations under the ESA, such as determinations to designate endangered species, threatened species, or critical habitats. In addition, the bill requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to authorize the use of artificial propagation of animals of a species when mitigation is required under the ESA. This bill applies to all endangered or threatened species regardless of when they were listed as endangered or threatened.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Targeted Operations to Remove Catastrophic Hazards Act or the TORCH Act This bill establishes requirements concerning forest management on federal land, including provisions to expedite the approval of forest management activities. Specifically, it expands exclusions from environmental review requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 for certain forest management activities, including by directing the Forest Service to develop a categorical exclusion for forest management activities that mitigate the risks associated with high-priority hazard trees. A categorical exclusion is a class of actions that a federal agency has determined do not significantly affect the quality of the human environment and, thus, do not require an environmental assessment nor an environmental impact statement. The bill also exempts the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management from the requirement to reinitiate consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 on an approved, amended, or revised land management plan when (1) a new species is listed or critical habitat is designated, or (2) new information reveals that the land management plan may affect a listed species or critical habitat in a manner or to an extent not previously considered. It also creates and modifies requirements related to vegetation management practices and forest management activities, such as activities to reduce wildfire risks. For example, the bill modifies the treatment of certain revenue under good neighbor agreements, which allow federal agencies to partner with state and local governments to carry out certain restoration services.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Accurately Counting Risk Elimination Solutions Act or the ACRES Act This bill establishes requirements regarding reports about hazardous fuels reduction activities and standardized procedures for tracking data for hazardous fuels reduction. Hazardous fuels reduction activities means any vegetation management activities that reduce the risk of wildfire but excludes the award of contracts to conduct hazardous fuels reduction activities. First, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior must include in the materials submitted in support of the President's budget each fiscal year a report on the number of acres of federal land on which such activities were carried out during the preceding year. Next, USDA and Interior must implement standardized procedures for tracking data related to such activities. The standardized procedures must include regular, standardized data reviews of the accuracy and timely input of data used to track hazardous fuels reduction activities; verification methods that validate whether such data accurately correlates to such activities; an analysis of the short- and long-term effectiveness of such activities on reducing the risk of wildfire; and for hazardous fuels reduction activities that occur partially within the wildland-urban interface, methods to distinguish which acres are located within and which located outside the wildland-urban interface. Finally, the Government Accountability Office must (1) conduct a study on this bill's implementation, and (2) submit a report to Congress with the results of the study.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Trust the Science Act This bill directs the Department of the Interior to remove protections for the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). Specifically, the bill requires Interior to reissue the final rule titled Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removing the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) From the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and published on November 3, 2020. The rule removed the gray wolf in the lower 48 United States, except for the Mexican wolf ( C. l. baileyi ) subspecies, from the endangered and threatened species list. However, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California vacated the rule on February 10, 2022. As a result, the gray wolf reattained the protection status it had prior to the rule's promulgation. The bill also prohibits the reissuance of the rule from being subject to judicial review.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Land And Social Security Optimization Act or the LASSO Act This bill requires 10% of revenue generated by public lands, including submerged lands on the Outer Continental Shelf, under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior and the Forest Service to be deposited into the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, which is used to pay Social Security benefits to retirees and their families and to survivors of deceased workers.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Law Enforcement Officer Recreation Pass Act This bill directs the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to make the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass available, without charge and for the lifetime of the passholder, to law enforcement officers.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Protecting Arizona from Federal Land Grabs Act This bill prohibits any further extension or establishment of national monuments in Arizona except by express authorization of Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 2025
Community Reclamation Partnerships Act of 2025 This bill revises the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program, which restores land and water adversely impacted by surface coal mines that were abandoned before August 3, 1977. Until September 30, 2032, the bill allows a state with an approved reclamation program to enter into a memorandum of understanding with relevant federal or state agencies for remediating mine drainage on abandoned mine land and water impacted by abandoned mines. In addition, the bill authorizes a partnership between a state and a community reclaimer for remediating abandoned mine land if certain conditions are met. A community reclaimer is a person who (1) voluntarily assists a state in a reclamation project, (2) did not participate in the creation of site conditions at the proposed site or activities that caused any land or waters at the site to become eligible for reclamation or drainage abatement expenditures, and (3) is not subject to outstanding violations of surface coal mining permits.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2025
This bill prohibits the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from implementing, administering, or enforcing its 2024 Approved Resource Management Plan Amendment for its Buffalo Field Office in Wyoming. The field office manages 780,291 acres of public lands and 4,731,140 acres of mineral estates within Campbell, Johnson, and Sheridan Counties in north-central Wyoming. In 2015, the BLM published a management plan for the field office that allowed leases of certain public lands or mineral estates within the office's planning area for the development of coal. In 2018, the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana in Western Organization of Resource Councils v. Bureau of Land Management ordered the BLM to complete a new environmental impact statement (EIS) for the management plan under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, which requires an agency to include all reasonable alternatives to its action and the environmental impacts resulting from the action. Specifically, the court ordered the BLM to issue an EIS that considers an alternative of not leasing coal under the management plan as well as an alternative that limits the amount of coal potentially available for leasing. In response to the court order, the BLM published an amendment to the plan on November 27, 2024. The amended plan made no acres within the office's planning area available for future coal leasing in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, it allowed existing coal leases to be developed.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2025
Eastern Band of Cherokee Historic Lands Reacquisition Act This bill takes specified lands and easements in Monroe County, Tennessee, into trust for the use and benefit of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. These lands include the Sequoyah Museum, the Chota Memorial, the Tanasi Memorial, and land to provide support for these properties and cultural programs. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) maintains its right to carry out river control and development on these lands, including temporarily and intermittently flooding certain lands. The bill specifies the structures that may be constructed with the TVA's written consent on certain lands subject to flooding. Additionally, the TVA must be compensated for lost hydropower capacity from future development of these lands. Further, the bill specifies that the United States is not liable for loss or damage resulting from certain activities, such as the permanent flooding of adjacent lands. In addition, the bill outlines the TVA's continuing responsibilities, including those related to environmental remediation. Finally, the bill prohibits gaming on these lands.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2025
This bill prohibits the Bureau of Land Management from implementing, administering, or enforcing the Rock Springs Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan, which was published on December 20, 2024. The plan includes guidance for managing public lands administered by the office and located in Lincoln, Sweetwater, Uinta, Sublette, and Fremont Counties in southwestern Wyoming.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2025
National Museum of Play Recognition Act This bill designates the Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum in Rochester, New York, as the National Museum of Play.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 2025
Colorado River Basin System Conservation Extension Act of 2025 This bill extends through FY2026 the Bureau of Reclamation's pilot projects to increase water levels in the Upper Colorado River Basin and Lake Mead due to drought conditions.