Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026: Federal Permitting Reform Bill Introduced in the Senate

What project developers, energy companies, manufacturers, and data center operators need to know.

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, introduced in the U.S. Senate on September 30, 2026, is a federal permitting reform bill that would make sweeping changes to the federal environmental review and permitting framework governing energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, mining, and other major development projects.

Introduced by a bipartisan group of senators, the legislation seeks to accelerate project approvals while maintaining federal environmental review requirements. The bill proposes substantial amendments to the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), and the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), while also advancing reforms to expand electric transmission infrastructure and domestic energy development.

Although the legislation remains in the early stages of the congressional process, it represents one of the most comprehensive federal permitting reform efforts proposed in recent years. It could have significant implications across a broad range of industries.

NEPA Reform Remains the Centerpiece of Federal Permitting Reform

The bill’s most consequential provisions are in its extensive revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq. The legislation would codify new procedures governing environmental reviews, agency coordination, project applications, and judicial review. Among other changes, the bill would establish statutory procedures for determining the appropriate level of environmental review, require greater coordination among federal agencies, expand the use of programmatic environmental documents, and facilitate broader adoption of categorical exclusions developed by other federal agencies.

The proposal would also revise the role of the Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) and create new mechanisms intended to improve permitting transparency and accountability, including an Environmental Review and Permitting Tracker.

For project developers, investors, and infrastructure owners, these provisions signal a congressional effort to reduce duplicative review processes, provide greater certainty regarding permitting timelines, and limit procedural delays that frequently arise during federal environmental review.

Clean Water Act, ESA, and NHPA Changes Aim to Reduce Regulatory Bottlenecks

The legislation would also amend several key provisions of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. §§ 1251 et seq. Proposed reforms address water quality criteria, permitting and state certification procedures, permit terms for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) permits, dredge-and-fill permitting under Section 404, and timelines for judicial review of permitting decisions.

At the same time, the bill would revise portions of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531 et seq. The proposal would set timelines for Section 7 consultations, address projects within existing operational rights-of-way, create a framework for states to assume certain consultation responsibilities, and modify both judicial review procedures and species listing determinations.

The legislation also contains significant amendments to the National Historic Preservation Act (“NHPA”), including a new framework for historic-preservation consultation that would operate alongside NEPA review and establish defined consultation timelines.

Together, these reforms are intended to address several sources of federal permitting delay. For projects requiring multiple federal approvals, the combination of NEPA, ESA, CWA, and NHPA reviews can materially affect project schedules. The legislation seeks to provide greater predictability while retaining the underlying environmental and historic-preservation review framework.

Project Certainty Provisions Seek to Protect Approved Projects

A dedicated section of the bill focuses on what legislators characterize as “Project Certainty.” These provisions are designed to preserve federal authorizations and permits for projects with non-federal sponsors, ensure equitable treatment among covered projects, and discourage unreasonable permitting delays after significant federal review is complete. These provisions may matter most for project sponsors and financing parties that have long raised concerns about post-approval litigation, shifting agency positions, and regulatory uncertainty that can affect project viability even after permits are issued.

Electric Transmission and Grid Expansion Receive Significant Attention

The legislation devotes an entire title to electric transmission development and grid modernization. The bill would establish reforms relating to transmission permitting, transmission planning, reconductoring activities within existing rights-of-way, generator interconnection queues, advanced transmission technologies, and access to grid data. The legislation would also require collecting information on computational load entities, reflecting growing concern about rapidly increasing electricity demand from data centers and similar large-scale facilities.

The transmission provisions reflect a growing bipartisan consensus that expanded electric infrastructure will be necessary to support economic growth, domestic manufacturing, electrification initiatives, deployment of new generation resources, and increasing energy demand from artificial intelligence and data center development.

Federal Energy Development Would Also Benefit from Streamlined Permitting

Beyond transmission infrastructure, the bill includes numerous provisions to accelerate energy and resource development. These provisions affect renewable energy projects, electric grid infrastructure, hardrock mining operations, rights-of-way across Indian lands, offshore energy development, geothermal projects, and hydropower facilities. The geothermal subtitle is particularly extensive and includes leasing reforms, royalty provisions, permitting improvements, inspection and cost-recovery mechanisms, and the creation of a geothermal ombudsman and permitting task force. Hydropower operators would also benefit from provisions intended to remove development barriers and streamline licensing requirements.

The breadth of these provisions demonstrates that the legislation is not limited to a single energy sector. Rather, it represents a comprehensive effort to accelerate development of a wide variety of domestic energy and infrastructure projects.

Which Industries Should Be Paying Attention to Federal Permitting Reform?

Given the legislation’s scope, businesses across numerous sectors should evaluate whether potential permitting reforms could affect existing operations, pending permit applications, or future development plans.

Industry operators that are likely to be particularly affected include electric utilities, transmission developers, renewable energy developers, conventional power generators, oil and gas infrastructure operators, mining companies, manufacturers, transportation and logistics developers, industrial facilities requiring federal permits, offshore energy developers, hydropower owners, geothermal developers, large-scale data center operators, entities currently navigating federal permitting requirements, and companies planning future investments that may depend upon federal approvals. For many businesses, the legislation could alter permitting timelines, litigation risk assessments, project financing assumptions, environmental compliance strategies, and acquisition due diligence analyses.

Companies pursuing projects involving federal lands, waters of the United States, federal funding, transmission interconnections, endangered species consultations, or major federal permits should also watch the bill’s progress through Congress. Even before enactment, the legislation provides insight into the direction of federal permitting policy and the reforms that may ultimately emerge from ongoing bipartisan negotiations.

What Happens Next for Federal Permitting Reform?

The bill has been referred to a Senate committee for consideration. The next phase of the legislative process is expected to include committee review, stakeholder engagement, potential hearings, amendment negotiations, and committee markup before any floor consideration. Developers, infrastructure owners, investors, lenders, utilities, manufacturers, and energy companies should monitor developments closely. If enacted in anything close to its current form, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act could become one of the most consequential federal permitting reform measures enacted in decades.

Scarinci Hollenbeck will continue to monitor the legislation as it moves through the Senate. For questions about the bill or federal environmental permitting generally, don’t hesitate to contact Daniel T. McKillop or another member of the firm’s Environmental Law group.