Reopens Land for Resource Development
Official: 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".
This resolution nullifies a recent decision by the Bureau of Land Management that approved a resource management plan for the Buffalo Field Office in Wyoming.
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.
1. This resolution stops the Bureau of Land Management's new resource management plan for the Buffalo Field Office in Wyoming. 2. By disapproving the rule, Congress allows more resource extraction activities in the area. 3. The resolution means that the protections and guidelines set by the Bureau of Land Management will no longer be in effect. 4. Local businesses and developers may benefit from increased opportunities for land use and resource extraction. 5. This action reflects a shift in federal policy towards land management and resource availability.