American Voices in Federal Lands

Full Title:
American Voices in Federal Lands Act

Summary#

This bill changes how public comments are handled for some federal land rules. It amends parts of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. The bill updates section 103(d) to refer to "citizens of the United States, in accordance with section 310(d)." It replaces section 310 to restate who can write rules for public lands and national forests, require rulemaking to follow chapter 5 of title 5, U.S. Code (with a specific exception for section 553(a)(2)), and say that land without new regulations should be run under existing rules when practical. A new subsection (d) says that for public lands managed by the Bureau (the Bureau of Land Management), the Secretary may consider only public comments from United States citizens and must set up a process commonly called "Completely Automated Public Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA)" to deter attempts at public involvement by artificial intelligence.

What it means for you#

  • For rulemaking that affects Bureau-managed public lands, the agency would be allowed to consider only comments from U.S. citizens.
  • Agencies would be required to implement a CAPTCHA-style process for public involvement on those lands to try to block input generated by artificial intelligence.
  • The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture keep authority to make rules for public lands and National Forest System lands, respectively.
  • The text uses the word "may" when describing taking into consideration only U.S. citizen comments, and sets the technical requirement to use chapter 5 of title 5, U.S. Code (with a stated exception for section 553(a)(2)).

Expenses#

No publicly available information on costs or budget effects is included in the bill text or provided metadata.

Proponents' View#

No publicly available information on proponents' arguments or statements is included in the bill text or provided metadata.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information on opponents' arguments or statements is included in the bill text or provided metadata.