Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act of 2019
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act of 2019
This bill withdraws any federal lands and interests that are within the boundaries of the Chaco Cultural Heritage Withdrawal Area and any land or interest located in such area which is acquired by the United States after enactment of this bill from
entry, appropriation, and disposal under the public land laws;
location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws.
The Department of the Interior may convey the federal lands to, or exchange such lands with, an Indian tribe in accordance with an approved resource management plan.
Certain oil and gas leases for federal lands on which drilling options have not started before the end of the primary term of the applicable lease and that are not producing oil or gas in paying quantities
must terminate by operation of law pursuant to the Mineral Leasing Act and federal regulations, and
may not be extended by Interior.
Any portion of federal land subject to such a lease that has been terminated, relinquished, or acquired by the United States shall also be withdrawn as described above.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House" stage on October 30, 2019. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on October 31, 2019: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Ben Luján (D-NM) introduced it on April 9, 2019, and 10 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 9 Democrats, 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on April 9, 2019, 2711 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2506 days ago, on October 31, 2019.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers