Rep. Rob Bishop from Utah has worked up a bill to limit new national monuments to 640 acres, with any designations larger than that requiring environmental impact statements and potentially approval from relevant state and county officials, says Deseret News. The bill is slated to come before the House Committee on Natural Resources, which Bishop chairs.
Bishop claims that recent presidents have overstepped their authority in creating large-scale monuments, including President Obama’s designation of the Bears Ears National Monument in southwestern Utah.
“For the first half of the century, presidents used the Antiquities Act sparingly,” Bishop said. “Most of the presidents have been very circumspect and differential to local interests. Four of the last six administrations have abused the power.”
Bishop’s bill would also allow presidents to make monument reductions, something the Trump administration is considering in light of recommendations by Ryan Zinke, head of the Department of the Interior.