November 5, 2026 - Permitting delays are crippling this country. They damage our economy, create national security risks, send investment dollars to countries with more predictable permitting processes, and are part of the reason the U.S. is dangerously reliant on mineral imports. There is broad bipartisan awareness of the urgent need to lower the permitting process barriers that hinder efficient development of renewable and conventional energy infrastructure, mining, advanced manufacturing, and other projects. 

That’s why the permitting bill that Senators Moore Capito, Whitehouse, Lee, and Heinrich recently introduced is so important. In their roles as the Chairs and Ranking Members of the Senate Environment and Public Works and the Energy and Natural Resources Committees, they developed the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (S. 5653). This landmark bill would reduce the permitting problems that impede the efficient development of domestic energy, mining, manufacturing, and infrastructure projects essential to our economy and national security. 

These senators negotiated for months with their colleagues to develop practical reforms for four key statutes encumbered with complex, burdensome, and time-consuming permitting processes: the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act. S. 5653 would eliminate many of the procedural hurdles that make the permitting processes under these laws inefficient while preserving the laws’ underlying purposes and environmental protection mandates.

The bill lowers permitting roadblocks by setting clear timelines for environmental reviews and accelerating how federal agencies review permit applications, seek public input, develop NEPA Environmental Impact Statements, and make final permitting decisions. At the same time, S. 5653 ensures environmental protection because it retains important public review protocols and mandates compliance with existing stringent environmental standards. 

Permit challenges and litigation frequently create long and costly permitting delays. S. 5653 proposes judicial reforms to rein in permitting litigation risks. Only entities that submitted substantive comments during public scoping would have standing to sue in federal court to challenge an agency’s permit or NEPA document. Lawsuits would have to be filed within 150 days of an agency’s final permit decision. Under current law, projects can be litigated for up to six years after agencies have completed their NEPA reviews, allowing lawsuits against projects that are already built and operating.

Plaintiffs would no longer be able to use litigation to routinely stop projects because the bill directs judges to send defective permits or NEPA documents back to the agency to fix the deficiencies rather than revoke the agency’s project approval. Judges could only invalidate a permit or enjoin an agency-approved project if the project could cause imminent injury and direct harm to the plaintiff or the court finds the project violates federal environmental protection laws. 

The bill changes the venue for litigation from the district courts to the circuit court in which the proposed project is located. This would prevent forum shopping in the district court system where plaintiffs frequently choose to litigate in districts with judges who have histories of ruling against project development. 

Enactment of S. 5653 would mean that project developers with projects that comply with environmental protection requirements would no longer have to face years of permitting uncertainty or anticipate several years of litigation as a routine and expensive phase of the permitting process.

The bill mandates technology neutrality and prohibits the executive branch from cancelling a previous administration’s permit approvals based solely on policy preferences. S.5653 defines 46 covered project types spanning the gamut from renewable and conventional energy production, transmission lines, mining, mineral processing, pipelines, battery energy storage, and other projects that must be treated equitably during the permitting process. This would provide crucial permit certainty for project developers and assurances for project financers that permits cannot be arbitrarily denied or cancelled.

The permit streamlining measures in S. 5653 would positively impact every sector of the U.S. economy and stimulate investment in U.S. infrastructure projects – including mines to produce the minerals that underpin manufacturing, technology, renewable and conventional energy systems, and national defense. Increasing domestic mineral exploration, production, and processing would reduce U.S. dependency on minerals from adversaries and ensure that future American infrastructure can be built with American minerals produced from the cleanest and safest mines in the world.

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act is one of the most important bills that Congress has proposed in a long time. Hopefully, the Senate and House will be able to pass this essential legislation in the remaining days of the 119th Congress.