Senators on Thursday voted to overturn a rule implemented by the Biden administration that limits the use of motor vehicles in environmentally vulnerable areas within the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. 

In a 50-43 vote, the Senate passed a resolution that repeals the National Park Service rules governing the use of motor vehicles, off-highway vehicles, and all-terrain vehicles in the national park, which is located in northern Arizona and southeastern Utah.  

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The final rule was published in January and updated the NPS’s 2021 regulation. It bans off-road vehicles and all-terrain vehicles on 24 miles of park roads and implements stricter quiet hours for some areas of the park. 

The House passed the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution last month, meaning that it is now headed to President Donald Trump’s desk for signing. It was sponsored by Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-UT) who said the NPS regulation “leaves locals with less open spaces to recreate on – in a National Recreation Area.” 

The CRA allows Congress to bypass a filibuster and vote in a simple majority to repeal a regulation. Republicans in recent months have used the CRA in an attempt to repeal former President Joe Biden’s energy or climate regulations that are not aligned with the current administration. Trump has signed five CRAs, according to GovTracker.

The use of motor vehicles in the national park has been a contentious topic for years. During Trump’s first term, NPS finalized a management plan to address off-road vehicles, but it allowed for a broad range of vehicles to drive on Lake Powell’s shorelines and some remote routes. 

Trump’s NPS plan was then legally challenged in March 2023 by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which argued that it failed to consider environmental effects. SUWA and the National Parks Conservation Association, which sued separately, entered into a settlement agreement a year later with NPS to require the agency to issue a new regulation. 

The rule was proposed in September 2024 and finalized in January. 

“This legislation eliminates a commonsense rule for Glen Canyon that limits off-road vehicles in some of its most sensitive areas, including the remote Orange Cliffs and fragile shoreline around Lake Powell,” Erika Pollard, Campaign Director, Southwest Region for the National Parks Conservation Association, said after the House passed the resolution. 

“It also seems to be a solution in search of a problem, as there are already more than 250 miles throughout Glen Canyon National Recreation Area for off-road use,” Pollard added.