EARA
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Expedited Appeals Review Act lets a party appealing a Department of the Interior decision to the Interior Board of Land Appeals elect expedited review by submitting written notice. After that notice, the Board must issue a final decision within six months, but the deadline may not be earlier than 18 months after the appeal was originally filed. If the Board misses the deadline, the underlying Interior decision is deemed final agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act, and judicial review is de novo rather than ordinary deferential review. The rule applies to pending appeals and future appeals, and it overrides conflicting timing provisions in the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act and Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act.
Who Benefits and How
Interior decision appellants, oil producers, gas producers, mining companies, grazing permittees, public-land project developers, and lawyers representing Interior appellants benefit because they can force a faster Board decision or move into court with de novo review if the Board misses the deadline. Federal district-court litigants also gain a clearer path to challenge Interior decisions after administrative delay.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Interior Board of Land Appeals, Department of the Interior adjudicators, Interior solicitor staff, federal land managers, environmental intervenors, and federal district courts bear timing and litigation burdens because the Board must meet strict deadlines, Interior loses ordinary judicial deference when deadlines are missed, and courts may receive more de novo challenges to land, mineral, grazing, and royalty decisions.
Key Provisions
- Authorizes appellants of covered Interior decisions to opt into expedited Board of Land Appeals review.
- Requires the Board to issue a final decision within six months after the opt-in notice, subject to an 18-month minimum from the original appeal.
- Converts missed Board deadlines into final agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act.
- Requires de novo judicial review when the Board misses the expedited deadline.
- Applies the expedited path to pending and future appeals.
- Overrides conflicting timing rules in federal oil-and-gas royalty and surface-mining statutes.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates an optional expedited Interior Board of Land Appeals path requiring a final decision within six months after an opt-in notice, subject to an 18-month floor from the original appeal filing, and converts missed deadlines into final agency action subject to de novo judicial review.
Key Policy Areas
Public Lands, Administrative Law, Energy, Mining
Primary Purpose
Creates an optional expedited Interior Board of Land Appeals path requiring a final decision within six months after an opt-in notice, subject to an 18-month floor from the original appeal filing, and converts missed deadlines into final agency action subject to de novo judicial review.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Interior decision appellants
- Oil producers
- Gas producers
- Mining companies
- Grazing permittees
- Public-land project developers
- Lawyers representing Interior appellants
- Federal district-court litigants
Identified Costs
- Interior Board of Land Appeals
- Department of the Interior adjudicators
- Interior solicitor staff
- Federal land managers
- Environmental intervenors
- Federal district courts
Legislative Progress
Passed HouseCommittee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, …
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy …
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to …
Passed House (inferred from eh version)
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without …
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, …
Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules …
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate …
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H1973-1974)
Mr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Department of the Interior adjudicators, Federal district courts, Interior Board of Land Appeals
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "apa"
- → Administrative Procedure Act
- "ibla"
- → Interior Board of Land Appeals
- "smcra"
- → Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology