HR 677 United States House · 119th Congress

EARA

HR 677 (the Expedited Appeals Review Act or EARA) sets new deadlines for appeals to the Board of Land Appeals regarding certain Department of the Interior decisions. If an appellant requests expedited review, the Board must issue a final decision within 6 months of receiving the request (but not sooner than 18 months after the appeal was filed). If the Board misses this deadline, the original Interior decision is treated as final, and courts must review it from scratch. This applies to all pending and future appeals covered under the specified Interior regulations.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2026

House Passage

May 2025

Senate Passage

President

Introduced Jan 23, 2025 Last action Feb 12, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced in House → Engrossed in House · 2 edits · May 13, 2025

MINOR

The Engrossed version of HR 677 makes two substantive changes: it clarifies that de novo judicial review overrides the standard APA review framework under section 706, and it adds a new conflict provision stating that the EARA deadline takes priority over existing deadlines in the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. These changes strengthen the bill's enforceability by removing ambiguity about which legal standards apply.

ENFORCEMENT

Section 2(b)(2) now explicitly states that de novo judicial review applies 'notwithstanding section 706 of title 5, United States Code,' making clear it overrides the normal Administrative Procedure Act standard of review (arbitrary and capricious or substantial evidence).

SCOPE

New subsection (d) provides that if the EARA deadline conflicts with deadlines under section 115(h) of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 or section 525(b) of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, the EARA deadline controls.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Feb 12, 2026

Upper · Passed

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held.

upper

May 14, 2025

Committee

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

upper

May 13, 2025

Introduced

On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H1973)

lower

May 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H1973)

lower

May 13, 2025

Introduced

Mr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.

lower

May 5, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 119-88.

lower

Apr 9, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held

lower

Jan 23, 2025

Committee

Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

lower

Jan 23, 2025

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors