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Today, Congresswoman Celeste Maloy (UT-02) alongside Congressman Mark Amodei (NV-02) introduced legislation to reform the Antiquities Act of 1906. The Ending Presidential Overreach on Public Lands Act would strip presidential authority to unilaterally designate national monuments and give that authority to Congress by striking Section 2 from the Antiquities Act.

“Congress, not the executive branch, has jurisdiction to make decisions on public land,” said Rep. Maloy. “Congress trusted Presidents with a narrow authority to declare national monuments in the Antiquities Act. Unfortunately, Presidents have continued to abuse that narrow authority to designate millions of acres of land in Utah and across the West without proper Congressional oversight. My bill aims to rebalance the powers between Congress and the executive branch and restore transparency and accountability to these designations.”

"My home state of Nevada, along with other Western states, has long been burned by executive actions on public lands and monument designations that bypass input from Congress and local governments. I am a firm believer that the best lands policy is generated by the local communities who actually live off of these lands, not Washington bureaucrats. This legislation overturns years of a one-sided approach on major land management decisions and ensures Western communities are given a seat at the table for any future monument designations," said Rep. Amodei.

Background:

The Constitution gives Congress the power to manage public lands. But, in 1906, the Antiquities Act was signed into law giving presidents narrow authority to protect historical artifacts and resources. The law was born out of concern that America’s rapid expansion into the West would dispose of sites and resources of historic or scientific significance. However, over the years, the Act's sweeping language has been weaponized to unilaterally designate vast swaths of public land as national monuments without sufficient public input or Congressional oversight. Since its enactment, the Antiquities Act has been used over a hundred times to create national monuments, locking up millions of acres of land. President Biden has actively done this through his so-called “America the Beautiful” initiative”, preventing entire communities from using the resources in their own backyards for recreational or economic use.

In 1976, Congress passed the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 which clarifies that Congress reserves the power to “modify or revoke” designations and ensures that the president doesn’t have the unilateral authority to designate monuments without Congressional action. It also directs the BLM retain most public lands.

The Ending Presidential Overreach on Public Lands Act gives Congress the sole power to modify or revoke national monument designations and prevents the President from making unilateral decisions regarding national monuments.

One Pager here.

Full text of the legislation here.