Senate to consider resolution rolling back Obama-era land rule

The Senate is set to roll back another Obama-era environment rule this week.

Senators on Monday will begin the process of repealing a Bureau of Land Management rule to reorganize the government’s land planning and management guidelines. 

The House passed a Congressional Review Act resolution against the rule on a 234-186 vote in early February. Under the CRA, resolutions undoing regulations require only a majority vote in the Senate, meaning Republicans are likely to have enough votes to pass the measure. 

{mosads}Opponents of the BLM rule — called “Planning 2.0” — say the regulation centralizes public land oversight power with the federal government, marginalizing state and local officials. 

“This rule takes authority away from those who know best what we need to do to manage and sustain our resources, and it puts it in the hands of the federal government and bureaucrats here in Washington, D.C.,” Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the resolution’s sponsor in the House, said during floor debate. 

Conservation groups support the rule, which they say updates outdated federal strategies and preserves public land holdings.

If approved by the Senate this week and signed by the president, it will be the third energy- or environment-related CRA resolution the GOP has used to undo Obama administration rules.

Republicans have so far used the CRA to scrap a water quality regulation on the coal industry and another designed to force mining and drilling firms to disclose more financial information. 

Members are also lining up a resolution blocking a rule cracking down on methane leaks from natural gas drilling sites. The House approved that resolution last month, but the Senate has yet to move on it.