{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/release/gao-2016-tongass-plan-amendment-is-a-rule", "GAO: 2016 Tongass Plan Amendment is a Rule", "2017-10-24", "2017", "2017-10", "Republican", "House", "AK", "Lisa Murkowski", "M001153", "www.murkowski.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "10.24.17\n\t\t\t GAO: 2016 Tongass Plan Amendment is a Rule \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tSen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today welcomed the Government Accountability Office\u2019s (GAO) determination that the U.S. Forest Service\u2019s 2016 Amendment to\u00a0the\u00a0Tongass Land Management Plan (TLMP Amendment) is a\u00a0\u201crule\u201d and therefore subject to the Congressional Review Act (CRA). Murkowski\u00a0asked GAO to determine whether the TLMP Amendment met the definition of a \u201crule\u201d earlier this year, and GAO\u00a0announced\u00a0yesterday that it does.\u00a0\r\n\u201cI welcome GAO\u2019s determination that the 2016 TLMP Amendment is a rule and subject to congressional review,\u201d\u00a0Murkowski said. \u201cEvery sector of the Southeast Alaska economy needs greater access to the Tongass, but this rule failed to provide it. Most concerning was the Forest Service\u2019s decision to accelerate a transition to young-growth timber harvesting, even though it never completed an inventory to ensure it would be carried out successfully. While\u00a0this rule can be improved administratively or legislatively, disapproving it entirely is now another option that we will consider in the days ahead.\u201d\r\nSpanning a total of 16.7 million acres, the Tongass covers most of Southeast Alaska and is the largest national forest in the United States. Despite its expansive size, the Forest Service has increasingly restricted access for timber, mining, transportation, renewable energy, and even recreation. Those restrictions increased\u00a0when the Obama administration finalized the\u00a0TLMP Amendment on its way out of office in December 2016, which was finalized without completing a comprehensive inventory of young growth, a key recommendation of the Tongass Advisory Committee, and largely dismissed more than 1,000 objections.\r\nThe Congressional Review Act became law in 1996. It helps maintain the balance of power between the branches of government by allowing Congress to pass a joint resolution of disapproval to overturn executive branch regulations.\r\nMurkowski is chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Following GAO\u2019s release of this determination, the CRA provides for 60 legislative days to file a resolution of disapproval that would nullify the 2016 TLMP Amendment.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n    \n    \n\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n    \n\t\n     \n\t\n \n\t\n    \n    \n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t Related Issues:\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t         \n\t\t\t\t\t     \n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tEnergy\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t \n\t\t\n\t\t  \n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/press/release/gao-2016-tongass-plan-amendment-is-a-rule"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6494990084320307, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}