Washington, D.C. – Alaska Congressman Don Young Monday joined a group of lawmakers at the White House for the signing of four Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions, including legislation he co-sponsored to overturn the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Planning 2.0 rule.
“Today is an important step to reversing a series of end-of-term rules and regulations by the Obama Administration – many of which were politically charged, overly prescriptive, and added unnecessary burdens and red tape for Alaskans,” said Congressman Don Young shared after the bill signing. “Importantly, today’s actions overturn the BLM’s Planning 2.0 rule, a massive power grab from federal bureaucrats away from the American people.
“This rule upended years of successful planning at the state and local levels in favor of outsider interests. What used to be an inclusive process with our local communities and the State of Alaska – allowing for local input, consultation and decision making – has been entirely dismantled under the previous administration. Look no further than the 40 Mile Mining District – small mom and pop operations with a very limited foot prints. They were enemy number one for the last administration,” Young said. “The BLM and others must understand – you will consult, you must work with rural people, you will not unilaterally exert your authority over the Alaskan people. I’ve said it before; you can’t run this country from Washington, D.C. We must understand DC is not the answer to everything. By overturning Planning 2.0, it is my hope that we restore confidence in our system and send a clear message to the BLM – you’re not going to walk over Alaska anymore.”
In his first visit to the White House since the swearing-in of President Trump, Congressman Young said he was encouraged by the visit and shared a message with both the President and Vice President – work collectively with Congress.
“I’ve been here a long time,” said Congressman Young. “I’ve worked with nine different Administrations – I’ve seen the mistakes, I’ve seen the successes. I shared a little piece of advice; don’t get stuck in the inner-circle conversations without going outside the circle. When it comes to Alaska – jobs, the economy, streamlining resource development and rolling back overreach – let’s work together.”
Today, the President signed three addition CRA resolutions into law:
- H.J. Res 37, the Federal Contracts Blacklisting Rule
- H.J. Res. 58, the Teacher Preparation Rule
- H.J. Res. 57, the Education Accountability Rule
Background:
On December 12, 2016 the Obama Administration published a new rule commonly referred to as BLM’s Planning 2.0 Rule.
Many, including Alaska stakeholders, believe this rule introduced significant uncertainty to the BLM’s management planning process by creating ambiguous standards and expanding agency discretion. This new rule further complicated effective resource planning while reducing opportunities for meaningful state and local governmental input, and allowed radical special-interest groups from outside to have effectively the same influence as state and local officials in the planning process. Planning 2.0 takes planning decisions away from local communities and centralizes those decisions with bureaucrats in Washington D.C.
H.J. Res 44, a joint resolution introduced by Rep. Liz Cheney (WY-At Large), utilizes the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to disapprove and nullify BLM’s Planning 2.0 Rule. The House passed H.J. Res. 44 by a bipartisan vote of 234-186 on February 7, 2017 and the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 51-48 on March 7, 2017. Senator Lisa Murkowski is the sponsor of companion legislation in the Senate.[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]
