S 2262

Introduced

American Voices in Federal Lands Act

To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to clarify the nature of public involvement for purposes of certain rulemaking, and for other purposes.

Introduced Jul 10, 2025

Latest action (Dec 17, 2025) Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.

Referred to

Energy and Natural Resources Committee

Policy area

Public Lands and Natural Resources

Legislative subjects (4)

Administrative law and regulatory procedures Department of Agriculture Land use and conservation Public participation and lobbying

Summary

This bill amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act to limit public involvement in rulemaking for federal public lands to U.S. citizens and to require CAPTCHA verification in public comment processes for Bureau of Land Management lands. The bill specifies that the Secretary of the Interior can only consider public comments from U.S. citizens when developing regulations for public lands. The bill requires the establishment of CAPTCHA technology to deter artificial intelligence from participating in public involvement processes. The bill also clarifies that rulemaking must follow the Administrative Procedure Act and that existing regulations continue to apply until new ones are adopted.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)

Sen. Barrasso, John [R-WY] (R-WY)

7 cosponsors

Actions (4)

Dec 17, 2025 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably. · senate
Dec 2, 2025 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held. · senate
Jul 10, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text: CR S4317-4318) · senate
Jul 10, 2025 Introduced in Senate

More bills on these subjects (8)

Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

Committee action

What happened to this bill in committee — the meetings where it was considered and every recorded vote taken on it.

Meetings where this bill was on the agenda

Business meeting to consider S.291, to establish an interest-bearing account for the non-Federal contributions to the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program, S.858, to authorize the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation to establish a commemorative work on the National Mall to honor the extraordinary acts of valor, selfless service, and sacrifice displayed by Medal of Honor recipients, S.1341, to amend the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 to add certain land to the Sarvis Creek Wilderness, S.1363, to provide for greater cooperation and coordination between the Federal Government and the governing bodies and community users of land grant-mercedes in New Mexico relating to historical or traditional uses of certain land grant-mercedes on Federal public land, S.1377, to ensure the maintenance of a herd of horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, S.1470, to require the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to prioritize the completion of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, S.1787, to establish the Dolores River National Conservation Area and the Dolores River Special Management Area in the State of Colorado, to protect private water rights in the State, S.1860, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey to Brian Head Town, Utah, certain National Forest System land, S.2015, to direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to encourage and expand the use of prescribed fire on land managed by the Department of the Interior or the Forest Service, with an emphasis on units of the National Forest System in the western and southeastern United States, to acknowledge and support the long-standing use of cultural burning by Indian Tribes and Indigenous practitioners, S.2016, to exchange non-Federal land held by the Chugach Alaska Corporation for certain Federal Land in the Chugach Region, S.2033, to direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study on existing programs, rules, and authorities that enable or inhibit wildfire mitigation across land ownership boundaries on Federal and non-Federal land, S.2262, to amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to clarify the nature of public investment for purposes of certain rulemaking, S.2273, to amend the Act of July 10, 1890, to modify certain provisions relating to the disposal of public land in the State of Wyoming for educational purposes, S.2546, to provide for an extension of the legislative authority of the National Emergency Medical Services Memorial Foundation to establish a commemorative work in the District of Columbia and its environs, S.2881, to provide for the transfer of administrative jurisdiction over certain Federal land in the State of California.Energy and Natural Resources CommitteeDec 17, 2025Business meeting

Full text

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

July 10, 2025

Mr. Barrasso (for himself, Ms. Lummis, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Risch, and Mr. Curtis) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to clarify the nature of public involvement for purposes of certain rulemaking, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “American Voices in Federal Lands Act”.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IN CERTAIN PUBLIC LAND RULEMAKING.

(a) Definition of Public Involvement.—Section 103(d) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(d)) is amended by striking “citizens” and inserting “citizens of the United States, in accordance with section 310(d), as applicable,”.

(b) Public Involvement Relating to Certain Rules and Regulations.— Section 310 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1740) is amended to read as follows:

“SEC. 310. RULES AND REGULATIONS.

“(a) Authorization.—

“(1) Secretary.—Subject to subsection (d), the Secretary, with respect to public lands, shall promulgate rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of—

“(A) this Act; and

“(B) other laws applicable to public lands.

“(2) Secretary of agriculture.—The Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to land in the National Forest System, shall promulgate rules and regulations to carry out the purposes of this Act.

“(b) Requirement.—The promulgation of rules and regulations pursuant to this section shall be in accordance with chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, without regard to section 553(a)(2) of that title.

“(c) Absence of Regulation.—Before the promulgation of a rule or regulation pursuant to this section with respect to public lands or land in the National Forest System, the applicable land shall be administered under existing rules and regulations concerning the land, to the maximum extent practicable.

“(d) Public Involvement Relating to Bureau Land.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, with respect to public lands managed by the Bureau, the Secretary—

“(1) in promulgating any applicable regulations pursuant to this or any other Act, may take into consideration only public comments received from citizens of the United States; and

“(2) in any public involvement under this Act or any other provision of law (including regulations), shall establish and implement a process commonly known as ‘Completely Automated Public Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA)’ to deter attempts at public involvement via artificial intelligence.”. <all>

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