S. 2262 — American Voices in Federal Lands Act

This section revises the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) definition of "public involvement" to mean the opportunity for participation by affected citizens of the United States, in accordance with new FLPMA section 310(d), (from affected citizens) and replaces FLPMA section 310 to (1) authorize the Secretary of the Interior (for public lands) and Secretary of Agriculture (for National Forest System lands), subject to subsection (d), to promulgate rules and regulations under chapter 5 of title 5, U.S. Code (Administrative Procedure Act), without regard to 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2); (2) require administration of applicable lands under existing rules and regulations, to the maximum extent practicable, before new rules are promulgated; and (3) for public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, limit consideration of public comments to those received from citizens of the United States and require use of CAPTCHA to deter artificial intelligence in any public involvement process. (Thus, BLM rulemaking processes will exclude non-U.S. citizen input and AI-generated comments.)