The 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act dictated that federal lands, managed by the Department of the Interior, should serve the “national interest.” The Act was one of the key regulatory tools the department employed in its push to lease western coal to private companies from the early 1980s onward.
How might competing definitions of the “national interest” shape federal energy policy?
How might the concept of the “national interest” balance competing goals, including environmental protection, economic development, and access to energy?
Citation:
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, Public Law 94-579, Bureau of Land Management, Office of the Solicitor (1976).
Library Item Date:
1976
Teaching Unit: