Montana lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday that would quickly kill a Biden-approved land use plan, claiming the previous administration’s action sought to wrongly stifle the coal industry.
It is the latest Congressional Review Act resolution introduced after the Bureau of Land Management failed to send over certain paperwork to Congress. That gave Republicans an opening to use the law to kill rules outside the normal 60-day congressional window.
“Energy security is national security, and Montana’s mining industry plays a vital role in ensuring America remains energy dominant,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who is leading the effort, said in a statement. “The Miles City [Resource Management Plan Amendment] halts all future coal leasing in the region and will cause hardworking Montanans to lose their jobs.”
The rest of Montana’s delegation — Sen. Tim Sheehy, and Reps. Ryan Zinke and Troy Downing, all Republicans — also signed on. In a press release, the lawmakers argued the 2024 Biden plan makes nearly 2 million acres unavailable for coal leasing within the Miles City Field Office coal planning area and prohibits new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin.
