Conservatives believe in efficient government and property rights—yet today, landowners, energy producers, and even public‐land conservation efforts face bureaucratic gridlock in DOI appeals. Congresswoman Hageman (R-WY) has introduced a bill to help cut through some of that red tape at the Department of Interior (DOI), where too many entities have seen their projects delayed for years before the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA). The administration is already working to streamline permitting processes at Interior, and this bill would help them continue to do so on public lands.
Under current law, when a developer or permittee wishes to challenge an agency ruling, they may appeal that decision to the IBLA, the in-house administrative court at DOI. That court rules in favor of its home agency over 90% of the time, but it often takes years to do so, leaving appellants in an opaque and costly procedural limbo. Rep. Hageman’s Expedited Appeals Review Act would help streamline this process, creating an opportunity for appellants to demand resolution within 6 months if their case has not been reviewed after 18 months. Congress should embrace this common-sense opportunity for reform.
This bill would save the government and private stakeholders time and money, and restore reason to a broken appeals process. At present, the IBLA backlog includes over 650 cases, resulting in delays averaging more than a decade that block timely resolutions for land use and renewable energy development. Ostensibly designed to protect the environment, this process has even stymied the efforts of a conservation group in Montana that is working to improve biodiversity and rangeland health. Despite the BLM’s 2022 ruling to allow American Prairie expanded bison grazing privileges on their allotments, legal challenges have tied up the decision before the IBLA, where no decision has been made in the last three years. This type of inaction delays private-sector projects with public benefits, and it frustrates the due process to which everyone is entitled.
Under the EARA, expensive periods of uncertainty would be dramatically reduced for both private and public-lands stakeholders, giving them clearer timelines to proceed or litigate decisions. By shifting power from administrative judges to independent federal courts, it would also help reinforce the checks and balances our government is supposed to value. Whether it’s a bison restoration project, a rancher’s grazing permit, or a developer’s solar farm, claimants deserve timely adjudication and transparency, and even agencies of jurisdiction deserve faster rulings to reduce their administrative costs. It doesn’t make sense for these remote bureaucracies to be keeping projects in purgatory, and faster permit certainty would mean quicker investment in energy, grazing, conservation, tourism, and other revenue streams to bolster rural economies.
The Senate should take up and pass Rep. Hageman’s bill, which promotes the conservative values of limited government, respect for private and public property, and the separation of powers. Enacting EARA sends a message that conservatism means reforming bureaucracy—bringing speed, fairness, and accountability to every American, no matter their business on public lands.