House lawmakers on Wednesday will vote to advance legislation that would limit the power of the president to designate public land as national monuments.
The National Monument Creation and Protection Act “standardizes and limits the president’s power to reshape monuments,” according to the House Natural Resources Committee, which introduced the bill Monday and has scheduled a panel markup for Oct. 11.
Republicans have been eager to reform the monument designation process since the Obama administration, which they believe misused and manipulated the authority as a way to put hundreds of thousands of acres of public land under federal government control and limit its recreational and agricultural use.
The president is authorized to designate certain public lands as national monuments under the 1906 Antiquities Act, which was intended to protect the nation’s archeological artifacts and structures from destruction.
“Today the act is too often used as an excuse for presidents to unilaterally lock up vast tracts of public land without any mechanism for people to provide input or voice concerns,” House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said in a statement. “This is wrong.”
While Republicans complained about Obama’s use of the law, many endorsed the designation and expansion of monuments, and said it provides needed protection to some of the nation’s pristine landscapes, culturally important places and threatened animal and plant habitats.
The Natural Resources Committee bill would subject monument designations made by presidents to increasingly stringent rules based on size.
For example, all new monument designations between 640 acres and 10,000 acres would require a review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Proposed new monument designations between 5,000 and 10,000 would need a more detailed environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.
The legislation also would give the public and local officials more input into the decisions.
Monument designations between 10,000 and 85,000 acres would have to be approved by all county commissions, state legislatures and governors in an area affected by a national monument.
Finally, the legislation would bar presidents from designating marine national monuments.
President Trump ordered the Interior Department to undertake a review of 27 national monuments shortly after his inauguration. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke issued a report to Trump in August, but the White House has not yet acted on the review.
Zinke recommends shrinking or changing the boundaries of six national monuments and proposes management changes to four others that could reopen areas to logging, cattle grazing and commercial fishing.
The Bears Ears National Monument in Utah is perhaps the most contentious one Zinke pegs for a size reduction.
Obama created Bears Ears in December, just before he left office, protecting 1.35 million acres of mesas and canyons in Utah’s poorest county. It is an area that five Native American tribes consider sacred.
Environmental and conservation groups as well as Native Americans have threatened to sue the Trump administration if it scales back the monuments. Supporters of the monuments note the Antiquities Act does not explicitly give authority to presidents to reduce the size of national monuments, although some have done so on a limited scale. The concept has not been tested in court.
Bishop’s new legislation would clarify the authority of the president to reduce the size of national monuments.
It specifies that reductions greater than 85,000 acres must be approved by the affected counties, state legislatures and governors and must have a NEPA analysis.
