(a) Any party to a case who is adversely affected by a decision of the Bureau or Office or an administrative law judge has the right to appeal to the Board, except:

(1) As otherwise provided in Group 2400 of chapter II of this title,

(2) To the extent that decisions of Bureau of Land Management officers must first be appealed to an administrative law judge under §4.470 and part 4100 of this title,

(3) Where a decision has been approved by the Secretary, and

(4) As provided in paragraph (e) of this section.

(b) A party to a case, as set forth in paragraph (a) of this section, is one who has taken action that is the subject of the decision on appeal, is the object of that decision, or has otherwise participated in the process leading to the decision under appeal, e.g., by filing a mining claim or application for use of public lands, by commenting on an environmental document, or by filing a protest to a proposed action.

(c) Where the Bureau or Office provided an opportunity for participation in its decisionmaking process, a party to the case, as set forth in paragraph (a) of this section, may raise on appeal only those issues:

(1) Raised by the party in its prior participation; or

(2) That arose after the close of the opportunity for such participation.

(d) A party to a case is adversely affected, as set forth in paragraph (a) of this section, when that party has a legally cognizable interest, and the decision on appeal has caused or is substantially likely to cause injury to that interest.

(e) For decisions rendered by Departmental officials relating to land selections under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, as amended, any party who claims a property interest in land affected by the decision, an agency of the Federal Government or a regional corporation shall have a right to appeal to the Board.

[47 FR 26392, June 18, 1982, as amended at 68 FR 33803, June 5, 2003; 75 FR 64665, Oct. 20, 2010]