[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 677 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 677

  To establish a process to expedite the review of appeals of certain 
              decisions by the Department of the Interior.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 23, 2025

 Ms. Hageman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish a process to expedite the review of appeals of certain 
              decisions by the Department of the Interior.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Expedited Appeals Review Act'' or 
the ``EARA''.

SEC. 2. EXPEDITED REVIEWS.

    (a) Request for Expedited Review.--A party that files an appeal of 
a Department of the Interior decision described under section 4.1(b)(2) 
of title 43, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor 
regulations), with the Board of Land Appeals may submit to the Board of 
Land Appeals written notice of such party's intent to seek expedited 
review of the appeal. If a party submits such written notice, the Board 
of Land Appeals shall issue a final decision on the appeal by not later 
than the date that is 6 months after the date on which such written 
notice is received, except such deadline may not be earlier than the 
date that is 18 months after the date on which the appeal was initially 
filed with the Board of Land Appeals.
    (b) No Final Decision.--If the Board of Land Appeals does not issue 
a final decision on an appeal by the deadline described in subsection 
(a)--
            (1) the Department of the Interior decision is deemed to be 
        a final agency action for purposes of section 704 of title 5, 
        United States Code; and
            (2) judicial review of such decision shall be de novo.
    (c) Applicability.--This section shall apply to any appeal 
described in subsection (a) that--
            (1) is pending before the Board of Land Appeals as of the 
        date of enactment of this Act; or
            (2) is filed with the Board of Land Appeals after the date 
        of enactment of this Act.
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