Expedited Appeals Review Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Hageman for drawing attention to the issues with the Interior Board of Land Appeals.

The IBLA resolves disputes related to public lands and natural resources under the Department of the Interior. However, the IBLA can take too long to decide these cases, leaving people waiting for years for a decision.

For example, at the end of fiscal year 2023, the IBLA had cases on their docket from fiscal year 2017. The Expedited Appeals Review Act would attempt to address this problem by creating an optional process for appellants to get expedited review from the IBLA.

Under this bill, if the IBLA does not make a decision by the expedited review deadline, the appellant can take the case directly to district court. The court would start the case de novo, compiling the facts of the case without deference to the original agency's decisionmaking.

While I agree with Representative Hageman that the IBLA timelines are a problem, I do have some concerns that the proposed solution doesn't get to the root of the problem. The underlying cause behind the IBLA's delays is a lack of capacity and resources.

The Board has stated it does not have the resources needed to resolve every appeal filed every fiscal year. Instead of setting more deadlines that we know the IBLA can't meet, we should be appropriately staffing our agencies and review boards across the Federal Government.

Additionally, I am concerned this bill will create a fast-tracked review procedure that advantages wealthier appellants. Taking the case to district court is time-and resource-intensive, so only the wealthiest appellants are likely to use the expedited review process.

By making the IBLA focus its limited resources on expedited appeals, anyone without the money to take their case to district court may have to wait even longer.

I hope my Republican colleagues will work with us on providing the IBLA with the resources that would address the underlying problem here while also having an expedited review process.

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Ms. HOYLE of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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