LANDs Act

A federal agency could make a land withdrawal affecting more than 5,000 acres in total only with express congressional authorization. An exception applies to a temporary public land order that expires within five years and has not been extended beyond that period, if the President determines it is necessary for national security.

The bill would limit national monument designations to protecting specified objects of antiquity, such as relics, artifacts, human remains, fossils other than fossil fuels, and certain older buildings. Natural features, landscapes, ecosystems, and values would not qualify as objects of antiquity under the bill.

A monument could not be designated in a configuration that is both larger than 640 acres and less than 50 miles from another national monument. The bill also says monument designations cannot increase federal funds authorized for any fiscal year.

A monument could not include non-federally owned property within its boundaries without the owners’ express written consent. A designation could not reserve water rights; water rights could be acquired only under the law of the state where they are based.

A monument of any size could be designated temporarily to prevent imminent and irreparable harm to an object of antiquity, but that designation would end after one calendar year. The land could be designated this way only once and could not later be permanently designated as a national monument under this law; valid existing rights and uses allowed under the applicable land plan would remain in place.