Congress Attempting to Rewrite Environmental Regulations

This week, the Senate has voted 73-25 to pass a procedural motion to proceed to amend and then vote on a new massive bill that would substantially destroy the checks and balances that average citizens have in challenging environmentally destructive projects in their town, county and state. This is the work of both the  Republican Party and a few Democrats  doing what their big donors have asked them to do. 

The bill features a restructuring of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) enacted in 1969, which requires government agencies to evaluate the environmental impacts of their proposed actions before making decisions. It has allowed many people to challenge such activities as geoduck farms being planned for their local cove. I have documented some of the more egregious attempts to misuse NEPA here in the past, also the courts seeing through these and calling them out. The new bill essentially ends the practice, putting a “God Squad” board in place in Washington D.C. (theoretically under the President’s control) that would ultimately decide what projects go forward. It also appears to give Tribes the ability to act as their own judge and jury in deciding these projects. Likely the Jamestown are cheering this new bill. Also cheering it are local geoduck farmers. Some of our larger ones in the region have been spending tens of thousands in lobbying for decades to get NEPA killed or gutted. Looks like their lobbying money worked. 

Nearly all Senate Republicans joined over a dozen Democrats to advance the legislation past the 60-vote threshold. Notable Democratic supporters included key negotiators like Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), alongside others such as Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV)—who noted she voted to proceed so she could offer amendments, though she would oppose final passage without changes to tribal provisions. Senators Murray and Cantwell voted against cloture.

Here is a Gemini A.I. generated review of the 400 page bill.  

Part One: Speeding up and removing challenges to A.I. Datacenters, mines like Pebble Mine, and much much more. 

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (S. 5653) is essentially a massive “speed-up” bill for building big infrastructure—like power lines, solar and wind farms, oil and gas pipelines, mines, and bridges.

The Big Picture: Supporters call this an “affordability and jobs” bill because faster permitting means cheaper energy, a more reliable power grid, and quicker construction jobs. Critics of these kinds of bills usually worry that rushing reviews and limiting lawsuits makes it harder for local communities and environmental groups to stop projects that might pollute water or harm wildlife.

Right now, if a company wants to build a major energy project, it can take years—sometimes over a decade—just to get government permission (“permits”) and survive lawsuits. Additionally, subsequent Congress’s and Presidents can reverse the permits (i.e. Pebble Mine)  This bill changes the rules so the government has to say “yes” or “no” much faster, and makes it harder for lawsuits to stop projects once they are approved.

1. Putting the Government on a Strict Timer

• Hard Deadlines: Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), agencies have to study how a project will affect nature before approving it. This bill locks in strict timers: 1 year for smaller environmental reviews and 2 years for massive ones.
• Consequences for Slowpokes: If a government agency misses a deadline by 60 days, the head of that agency isn’t allowed to travel more than 25 miles from their office on business until they finish the paperwork.
• Upgrading the Tech: The government has to build a modern, single online portal (called ePermit) using AI and shared data so companies don’t have to submit the same paperwork to five different agencies.

2. Limiting Lawsuits (“Judicial Review”)

• Short Window to Sue: If someone wants to sue to stop a project’s environmental permit, they only have 150 days after it’s approved to file the lawsuit.
• No “Drive-By” Lawsuits: You can’t just sue out of nowhere; you have to prove the project directly harms you and that you already submitted detailed complaints during the public comment period.
• Keep Building During Fights: Even if a judge decides the government made a mistake on a permit, the project usually doesn’t have to stop construction while the agency fixes its paperwork.

3. Protecting Approved Projects (and Punishing Delays)

• No “Take-Backs”: Once the federal government approves a project, it can’t suddenly change its mind and revoke the permit later—unless there’s fraud, a court order, or an immediate threat to life or national security.
• Financial Penalties for Bias: If the government intentionally stalls or denies a specific type of energy project (whether it’s offshore wind, solar, natural gas, or nuclear) compared to how it usually treats them, the company can sue and force the government to pay up to 50% to 100% of the project’s construction costs.

4. Upgrading the Electric Grid & Data Centers

• Faster Power Lines: It makes it much easier to upgrade existing power lines (“reconductoring”) and build new high-voltage lines across state borders so electricity can get from where it’s made to where it’s needed.
• Making Tech Giants Pay Their Share: AI data centers and crypto mines use massive amounts of electricity. The bill creates rules ensuring that big tech companies pay the full cost of the grid upgrades needed to power their servers, rather than passing those costs onto regular families’ electric bills.
• Home Batteries & Solar: It creates a voluntary, fast-track local permitting system for rooftop solar, home batteries, and EV chargers, and lets neighborhoods pool their home batteries together to sell power back to the grid.

5. Energy, Mining, and Water Tweaks

• All-of-the-Above Energy: It streamlines permits for renewable energy (solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower) and fossil fuels (oil, gas pipelines) and hardrock mining (used for things like lithium and copper).
• Tribal Authority: It gives Native American Tribes more direct power to approve rights-of-way (like power lines or roads) across their own land without waiting for the federal government to sign off.
• Clean Water & Endangered Species: It tightens deadlines for states to do water-quality checks (capping them at 1 year) and speeds up wildlife reviews under the Endangered Species Act, even allowing states to take over some of those wildlife reviews themselves.

Part Two – Gutting NEPA 

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (BAAJA) includes sweeping reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which is the foundational law requiring federal agencies to evaluate the environmental impacts of major infrastructure projects.

The primary changes to NEPA focus on narrowing its scope, accelerating timelines, overhauling how public comments are handled, and heavily restricting legal challenges.

1. Narrowing What Triggers NEPA

• Fewer projects trigger a full review because the bill redefines or exempts certain actions, ensuring NEPA only applies strictly to qualifying “major federal actions”.
• It introduces specific exemptions—for instance, certain smaller grant-funded projects (like those receiving under $10 million from the Department of Transportation) or actions where state, tribal, or other federal reviews already serve a similar function. (Note: Major federal loan programs like TIFIA and RRIF remain subject to NEPA).

2. Strict Timelines and Standardized Public Comments

• Hard Deadlines: It locks in strict time caps for environmental reviews (typically targeting 1 year for smaller environmental assessments and 2 years for comprehensive environmental impact statements).
• Standardized Public Input: It establishes a standardized window for public comment periods (ranging from 45 to 60 days, extendable to 75 days only if both the lead agency and project sponsor agree).

3. Restricting Lawsuits and Legal Remedies

• No “Drive-By” Lawsuits: Plaintiffs are barred from challenging a permit unless they actively participated during the public comment period and specifically raised the exact issue they are later suing over.
• Bypassing District Courts: NEPA-based challenges to federal authorizations bypass the standard federal district courts and go straight to the appropriate U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, creating a faster, single-appellate-panel review process.
• Elimination of “Vacatur” Remedies: Perhaps the most significant legal change is that a court finding a NEPA violation can no longer “vacate” (nullify or cancel) the underlying permit. Instead, courts are restricted to sending the paperwork back to the agency (“remand”) to fix its errors, meaning a NEPA violation alone can no longer stop a project or halt ongoing construction.