43 C.F.R. §§ 3809.800–3809.807

A party adversely affected by a decision under this subpart may ask the State Director of the appropriate BLM State Office to review the decision.

An adversely affected party may bypass State Director review and directly appeal a BLM decision under this subpart to the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) under part 4 of this title. See § 3809.801.

If you intend to appeal a BLM decision under this subpart, use the following table to see when you must file a notice of appeal with OHA:

In order for OHA to consider your appeal of a decision, you must file a notice of appeal in writing with the BLM office where the decision was made.

Your written appeal must contain:

You must submit a statement of your reasons for the appeal and any arguments you wish to present that would justify reversal or modification of the decision within the time frame specified in part 4 of this chapter (usually within 30 calendar days after filing your appeal).

Your request for State Director review must be a single package that includes a brief written statement explaining why BLM should change its decision and any documents that support your written statement. Mark your envelope “State Director Review.” You must also provide a telephone or fax number for the State Director to contact you.

When you submit your request for State Director review, you may also request a meeting with the State Director. The State Director will notify you as soon as possible if he or she can accommodate your meeting request.

The State Director may accept your request and review a decision made under this subpart. The State director will decide within 21 days of a timely filed request whether to accept your request and review the original BLM decision. If the State Director does not make a decision within 21 days on whether to accept your request for review, you should consider your request for State Director review declined, and you may appeal the original BLM decision to OHA.

The State Director will not begin a review and will end an ongoing review if you or another affected party files an appeal of the original BLM decision with OHA under section § 3809.801 before the State Director issues a decision under this subpart, unless OHA agrees to defer consideration of the appeal pending a State Director decision.

If you file an appeal with OHA after requesting State Director review, you must notify the State Director who, after receiving your notice, may request OHA to defer considering the appeal.

If you fail to notify the State Director of your appeal to OHA, any decision issued by the State Director may be voided by a subsequent OHA decision.

The State Director will promptly send you a written decision, which may be based on any of the following:

Any decision issued by the State Director under this subpart may affirm the original BLM decision, reverse it completely, or modify it in part. The State Director's decision may incorporate any part of the original BLM decision.

If the original BLM decision was published in the Federal Register, the State Director will also publish his or her decision in the Federal Register.