{
  "id": "97-274",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "97-274",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 316327,
      "date": "1997-02-26",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:59:41.234941",
      "title": "Federal Land Management: Appeals and Litigation",
      "summary": "This document also available in  PDF Image .\n  The Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Land Management in\nthe Department of the Interior each currently have a system of administrative appeals for most\nagency land management decisions. Critics assert that administrative and judicial appeals are\nstopping or unacceptably slowing the decision-making processes and the use of federal lands and\nresources; that many appeals are \"frivolous\" and brought for the purpose of frustrating rather than\nimproving land management actions, and that appeals greatly increase the costs of management. \nOthers respond that appeals have not been excessive or unwarranted, that few appeals are frivolous\nand there currently are means to deal with such appeals, and that Congress intended the federal land\nmanagement systems to include review of the agencies' decisions in order to ensure public\nparticipation and that the agencies actually and adequately take into account the various factors and\npolicies Congress intended be implemented. \n  The December 5, 1996 draft of the \"Public Land Management Responsibility and\nAccountability Restoration Act\" would affect administrative and judicial appeals of land\nmanagement decisions of the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management in several ways. \nSome of the bill provisions are procedural -- for example, those that would specify time limits within\nwhich certain actions must be taken. Other provisions would change the nature of the \"appeal\"\naction -- for example, those that would limit an appeal to the filing of a petition to amend a plan. \nStill other provisions would significantly modify the substance of the current land planning and\nmanagement requirements and processes so that the grounds for appeals would be significantly\nchanged. \n  This report presents an overview of the current appeal systems of the Forest Service and the\nBureau of Land Management, includes current statistics on judicial review of agency actions, and\ndiscusses how the draft bill might affect appeals and litigation of agency decisions.\n  This overview was prepared at the request of the Subcommittee on Forests and Public Land\nManagement of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources as background for one of\nits series of workshops on proposed legislation on federal land management.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
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}