On April 9th, the Natural Resources Committee passed the Expedited Appeals Review Act, or EARA. This bill seeks to address a long-standing problem within the Department of the Interior (DOI) involving the backlog of appeals to the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA), an appellate review board within the DOI that is tasked with resolving disputes involving public lands and natural resources under the DOI’s jurisdiction.
Long-standing inefficiencies in the appeals process combined with the high volume of cases has resulted in a backlog of over 650 pending appeals dating back to 2014; of the cases decided, over 90% are resolved in the government’s favor. This bill would create an alternative path for expedited review, allowing stakeholders to request an accelerated decision of their appeals to take place within six months of the request. Should the DOI fail to meet this deadline, the decision would immediately become eligible for de novo judicial review outside of the DOI.
This bill will alleviate the backlog in the IBLA, put the appealing parties on a level playing field with the DOI, and promote efficiency.
