Enacted
Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to Public Land Order No. 7917 for Withdrawal of Federal Lands; Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties, MN.
This measure overturns a 20-year federal ban on mineral leasing across roughly 225,000 acres of national forest land in northeastern Minnesota. Reversing the ban allows mining companies to once again apply for permits to explore and extract metals, such as copper and nickel, in the watershed near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It also bars federal agencies from issuing a similar leasing ban in the area without specific approval from Congress.
People affected—The bill text does not identify or quantify an affected population.
Fiscal magnitude—The bill text contains no appropriations, revenue provisions, or fee structures.
Reach30provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
What this bill touches.
Federal lands & resources−38Pollution & development−25
Who it helps · who it burdens.
Who it helps
- mineral leasing and exploration companiesBy nullifying the order that withdrew federal lands in Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties from mineral leasing, the bill removes the administrative ban on leasing those lands for mineral development.
Who opposes it
- Bureau of Land ManagementThe bill directly overturns and nullifies Public Land Order No. 7917 issued by the agency, voiding its withdrawal of federal lands and stripping the rule of legal force or effect.
The provisions, in plain language.
Disapproves and nullifies the Department of the Interior's Public Land Order No. 7917, which withdrew federal lands in Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties, Minnesota, from mineral leasing, rendering the order with no legal force or effect.