FEAT Act
Department of the Interior: Moving Cases to Federal Court
The FEAT Act is currently in the early stages of the legislative process. It was recently introduced in the Senate and sent to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for review. No further actions are scheduled at this time.
Legislative Progress
This bill is supported only by members of one party and deals with a controversial topic regarding how much power government agencies should have.
Key Points
- This bill allows people and businesses to move their legal cases out of the Department of the Interior and into a federal court. It applies to cases where someone is asking for a permit to use public land or trying to fight a fine from the agency.
- Currently, these cases are often decided by the agency's own internal judges. This change would let a regular federal judge look at the facts from scratch instead of just reviewing what the agency already decided. This is called a de novo review.
- A person or company has 60 days after a case starts to ask for it to be moved to a U.S. district court. Supporters say this gives people a fairer shot when they have a disagreement with the government over land use or penalties.
- The bill specifically targets cases handled by the Interior Board of Land Appeals and the Departmental Cases Hearings Division. These offices deal with things like mining, grazing, and energy projects on federal land.
Impact Analysis
Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.
Milestones
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
Votes
No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.
News
No related news coverage found for this legislation yet.
Source Information
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
FEAT Act
Data Sources
Sponsor
Cosponsors
(5)Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.