Sponsors (8)
The bill emphasizes domestic control and formal APA procedures for federal land-rulemaking—helping preserve regulatory continuity and focus on U.S. stakeholders—while narrowing who may participate and introducing technical and legal barriers that reduce inclusivity and could degrade rule quality.
Rural and urban residents and landowners: existing land-management rules will remain in effect 'to the maximum extent practicable' until new rules are finalized, providing regulatory continuity and reducing short-term uncertainty.
U.S. residents and landowners: rulemaking will count only input from U.S. citizens, concentrating decision-making on domestic stakeholders and reducing influence from foreign actors.
Federal agencies and state governments: agencies must follow the Administrative Procedure Act during rulemaking, ensuring standardized procedures, transparency, and legal due process for new land rules.
Non‑U.S. residents and noncitizen stakeholders (including nearby foreign communities and immigrant residents): would be barred from having their public comments considered on Bureau lands, removing a means to raise cross-border, local, and human-rights concerns.
Local communities, Tribal members who are noncitizens, and scientific experts: excluding noncitizen input could reduce the quality and completeness of stakeholder information available to decisionmakers, risking poorer land-management outcomes.
Older adults, people with disabilities, and low-income individuals: requiring CAPTCHA systems for public input creates technical accessibility barriers that will reduce participation by people who face digital access or usability challenges.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Restricts BLM public-comment consideration to U.S. citizens and requires CAPTCHA-like verification to deter automated/AI submissions during rulemaking.
Official title: Amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to clarify the nature of public investment for purposes of certain rulemaking, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 10, 2025 by John A. Barrasso · Last progress July 10, 2025
Amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act to narrow who may participate in public involvement for Bureau of Land Management rulemaking by limiting consideration of public comments to “citizens of the United States” and by requiring use of CAPTCHA or similar automated tests to deter AI-generated or automated submissions. It also adds procedural rulemaking language that specifies adherence to the Administrative Procedure Act (with one narrow exception) and directs that existing rules remain in force to the maximum extent practicable while new rules are developed. The change effectively alters the statutory definition of “public involvement,” ties that definition to the new rulemaking provision, and creates explicit, technology-focused safeguards (CAPTCHA) to validate commenters as humans and U.S. citizens before their comments are counted in BLM rulemakings for public lands.