Conservation groups and the oil and gas industry are publicly sparring over a slate of public lands bills set for debate at a House hearing on Wednesday.
A coalition of nearly 70 conservation groups is pushing the House Natural Resources Committee to reject legislation before the Subcommittee on Federal Lands that would limit the president’s ability to designate national monuments.
The groups are delivering a letter to Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, the committee’s top Democrat, expressing “strong opposition” to H.R. 5499, which would amend the Antiquities Act of 1906 to require congressional approval of presidential monument designations.
“H.R. 5499 represents a direct assault on the Antiquities Act,” the groups write of the bill, sponsored by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa).
