An attempt by Senator Mike Lee and Representative Celeste Maloy—both Republicans from Utah—to give Congress complete decision-making power over Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has failed.
Lee and Maloy attempted to use a little-known tool called the Congressional Review Act (CRA) that would have given Congress the ability to make rules and control the operations of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The CRA allows congressional representatives to unilaterally change management plans for areas under federal control, like a national monument. The CRA was originally implemented in 1996, and states that all federal agencies must report all the rules they issue to Congress, and that Congress has the authority to undo those rules if a simple majority in both houses agrees to do so.
Lee, Maloy, and other proponents of the CRA claim that land management plans, such as those issued by the Bureau of Land Management, are “rules” and can therefore be amended directly by Congress. This gives them essentially unchecked authority to change land management decisions at their whim.
The Failure
Lee and Maloy’s attempt to use the CRA hinged on a vote taking place in Congress. The deadline for that vote was last Thursday, and per Annie Knox from Utah News Dispatch, Congress chose to take no action on the CRA.
That doesn’t mean an attempt to change land management in Grand Staircase is completely off the table; however, it would likely require legislation or sweeping changes to BLM policies to do so.
Why It Matters
Conservation groups feared the use of the CRA to overturn Grand Staircase management decisions would open the door for further unilateral changes on federal lands, cutting the public out of input on how the lands are managed. The CRA was used, in part, to allow for mining in the Boundary Waters in Minnesota.
Yeah, Mike and his buddies will start painting the bottom of our rivers blue. That seems to be what his party is interested in. Aside from mining and timber.