U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE DECISION

On 2026-09-14, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) delivered a floor speech titled "U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE DECISION" in the Senate.

U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE DECISION

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 144 (Monday, September 14, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 144 (Monday, September 14, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S4651-S4652] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE DECISION Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following decision from the Government Accountability Office be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: Decision Matter of: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management--Applicability of the Congressional Review Act to the Bears Ears National Monument Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan. File: B-338306. Date: August 17, 2026. DIgEST The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued the Bears Ears National Monument Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan (Bears Ears RMP). The Bears Ears RMP designates BLM- administered lands within the decision area as available or unavailable for certain uses while ensuring the protection and restoration of Monument objects, as well as the historical, cultural, natural, scientific, and paleontological resources. The Congressional Review Act (CRA) requires that before a rule can take effect, an agency must submit the rule to both the House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as the Comptroller General. CRA adopts the definition of a rule under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) but excludes certain categories of rules from coverage. We conclude that the Bears Ears RMP meets APA's definition of a rule and that no CRA exception applies. Therefore, the Bears Ears RMP is a rule subject to CRA's submission requirements. DEciSION On January 13, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Interior (Interior), Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved the Bears Ears National Monument Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan (Bears Ears RMP). We received a request for a decision about whether the Bears Ears RMP is a rule for purposes of the Congressional Review Act (CRA). As discussed below, we conclude that the Bears Ears RMP is a rule for purposes of CRA. Our practice when issuing decisions is to obtain the legal views of the relevant agency on the subject of the request. Accordingly, we reached out to Interior to obtain the agency's views. We received Interior's response on June 10, 2026. BACKGROUND BLM Public Land Management Under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), BLM is responsible for developing, maintaining, and, when appropriate, revising ``land-use plans which provide by tracts or areas for the use of the public lands.'' BLM land-use plans, referred to as ``resource management plans'' (RMPs), establish goals and objectives to guide future land and resource management actions implemented by BLM. Pursuant to FLPMA, BLM established procedures for the development, revision, and amendment of RMPs. The objective of resource management planning is to maximize resource values for the public through a rational, consistently applied set of regulations and procedures which promote the concept of multiple use management. An RMP generally establishes land-use designations; allowable resource uses, conditions, goals, and objectives; program constraints and general management practices; areas to be covered by more specific plans; and other related information. The Antiquities Act of 1906 The Antiquities Act of 1906 grants the President authority to designate national monuments on federal lands that contain historic landmarks, structures, or other objects of historic or scientific interest. The President may also reserve parcels of land as part of the national monuments, but the statute mandates that such reservations be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the protected objects. Proclamations under the Act are generally self-executing and do not require further action by Congress. The President has designated monuments to be overseen by federal land agencies including, for example, BLM and the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service. While the Antiquities Act empowers the President to create and shape national monuments, Congress retains its own constitutional authority over federal property and has acted on that authority in several ways, for example, converting certain presidentially designated monuments into national parks administered by the National Park Service or abolishing monuments and assigning BLM to manage the public land. Bears Ears RMP The Bears Ears RMP aims to provide a framework to guide the management of the Bears Ears National Monument (Bears Ears Monument or Monument) consistent with the protection of Bears Ears objects and other applicable laws, regulations, and policies. BLM prepared the Bears Ears RMP in response to Proclamation 10285, which restored conditions and boundaries of the Bears Ears Monument to its original configuration established under Proclamation 9558 and retained approximately 11,200 acres added by Proclamation 9681, resulting in a Monument reservation of roughly 1.36 million acres of land administered by the federal government. Among other things, Proclamation 10285 also withdrew all federal lands within the Monument from disposition under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing, subject to valid existing rights. BLM initiated development of the Bears Ears RMP in August of 2022 and completed the process with the issuance of the Bears Ears RMP on January 13, 2025. In developing the Bears Ears RMP, BLM created and analyzed six management alternatives, Alternatives A-E and the Proposed Plan, addressing land and resource use and other measures for the protection of the Bears Ears Monument. BLM adopted the Proposed Plan as the Bears Ears RMP, incorporating modifications and clarifications made following internal reviews, protests submitted during the protest period, and recommendations provided during the Governor's Consistency Review. According to BLM, the Bears Ears RMP represents final decisions that establish a comprehensive framework for the allocation of resources and management of lands within the Bears Ears Monument. The Bears Ears RMP provides for a variety of activities within the Monument while ensuring the protection and restoration of Monument objects and its historical, cultural, natural, scientific, and paleontological resources. For example, the Bears Ears RMP designates 591,185 acres as closed to off-highway vehicle use and 483,917 acres as limited to off-highway vehicle use on BLM-administered lands, and requires permits in certain areas. It allocates an additional 27,208 acres as unavailable to livestock grazing and 11,130 acres as limited to trailing only. The RMP prohibits rock stacking, entering the interior structures of archaeological sites, and certain aerial recreation to protect cultural resources and viewsheds. It also closes campgrounds, developed recreation sites, rock writing sites, and structural cultural sites to recreational shooting. Taken together, these measures establish the Bears Ears RMP as BLM's final decision governing how the Monument will be managed and how public use will be regulated to protect Monument objects and achieve other management goals and objectives. Congressional Review Act CRA, enacted in 1996 to strengthen congressional oversight of agency rulemaking, requires federal agencies to submit a report on each new rule to both houses of Congress and to the Comptroller General for review before a rule can take effect. The report must contain a copy of the rule, ``a concise general statement relating to the rule,'' and the rule's proposed effective date. CRA allows Congress to review and disapprove rules issued by federal agencies for a period of 60 days using special procedures. If a resolution of disapproval is enacted, then the new rule has no force or effect. CRA adopts the definition of a rule under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), which states that a rule is ``the whole or a part of an agency statement of general or particular applicability and future effect designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy or describing the organization, procedure, or practice requirements of an agency.'' However, CRA excludes three categories of rules from coverage: (1) rules of [[Page S4652]] particular applicability; (2) rules relating to agency management or personnel; and (3) rules of agency organization, procedure, or practice that do not substantially affect the rights or obligations of non-agency parties. Interior did not submit a CRA report to Congress or the Comptroller General on the Bears Ears RMP. In its response to us, Interior stated that it notified Congress in accordance with ``section 202(e)(2) of FLPMA, 43 U.S.C. Sec. 1712(e)(2), regarding management decisions in the RMP that exclude a principal or major use (as defined in 43 U.S.C. Sec. 1702(1)) for more than two years on a tract of land of at least 100,000 acres.'' However, Interior did not state a position as to whether the Bears Ears RMP is a rule under CRA. DISCUssION At issue here is whether the Bears Ears RMP meets CRA's definition of a rule, which adopts APA's definition of a rule, with three exceptions. As explained below, we conclude that it does and that no exceptions apply. Consequently, the Bears Ears RMP is subject to review under CRA. The Bears Ears RMP is a Rule under APA Applying APA's definition of a rule, the Bears Ears RMP meets all the required elements. First, the Bears Ears RMP is an agency statement as it was issued by BLM, a federal agency. Even though BLM prepared the Bears Ears RMP in response to Proclamation 10285, the Bears Ears RMP reflects BLM's exercise of its independent authority under FLPMA to develop land-use plans that provide a framework for allocating re