# Plain Language Summary: Congressional Disapproval of Marine Archaeological Protection Rule

Congress is voting to reject a new rule created by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that was designed to protect shipwrecks and other archaeological sites on the ocean floor. The rule, which went into effect in September 2024, requires companies working on offshore energy projects to take steps to avoid damaging these historical sites. If this bill passes, that rule would be completely canceled and would no longer have any legal effect.

This is a pretty straightforward power move by Congress. There's a special process in federal law that lets Congress reject rules created by government agencies if they don't like them. This bill uses that process to say "we don't want this archaeological protection rule anymore." If it passes both the House and Senate, the rule simply disappears—it's like it was never written in the first place.

The practical impact depends on which side of this issue you care about. If you're concerned about preserving America's underwater history—including Civil War shipwrecks, sunken vessels, and other archaeological treasures—this would be bad news because those sites would lose their legal protection. On the other hand, if you work in offshore energy development or support expanding those industries, you might see this as removing a regulation that could slow down or complicate projects. Either way, companies doing work in offshore waters would no longer have to follow the archaeological protection requirements that the rule established.

Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management relating to "Protection of Marine Archaeological Resources".

Ezell, Mike

This joint resolution nullifies the&nbsp;final rule issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) titled Protection of Marine Archaeological&nbsp;Resources and published on September 3, 2024. The rule requires operators and&nbsp;lessees conducting oil and gas exploration or development on the Outer Continental Shelf and that are seeking BOEM approval for such activities to also provide BOEM with an archaeological report for the area of potential effects.&nbsp;The report must identify potential archaeological resources (material remains of human life or activities that are at least 50 years old and that are of archaeological interest) on the sea floor. The rule modified regulations that only required such a report when a&nbsp;BOEM regional director has reason to believe that an archaeological resource may be present in the lease area.&nbsp;