The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) today applauded the introduction of the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026. The bill is a major bipartisan breakthrough that would help America build faster and more cheaply, lower energy costs, and strengthen its competitive edge. The bill delivers on Congress’s promise to reduce costs for working Americans and advance environmental justice by accelerating the infrastructure needed to deliver reliable, cleaner power to communities that have long borne the brunt of high bills and pollution.
Introduced Wednesday by Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), the bill unites the Republican chairs and Democratic ranking members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources and Environment and Public Works committees behind a plan to speed federal environmental reviews, give approved projects certainty that their permits will stand, and require data centers to pay all of their associated transmission costs.
The bill closely tracks the agenda in “Bureaucracy Blocks Green Progress: 9 Ideas for Democratic Permitting Reform,” authored by Colin Mortimer, Senior Director of Partnerships at PPI. Released in November 2025, the report argued that Democrats have much to gain by engaging in the permitting debate and set out to expand the proposals they could bring to negotiations with Republicans, warning that durable reform could not happen through one-party action.
“Permitting reform has stalled for years because Democrats feared losing environmental protections and Republicans feared a deal that would only help renewables. Sens. Heinrich, Lee, Capito and Whitehouse have shown there is a bargain that works for both sides,” said Mortimer. “This bill would get power lines, clean energy and critical infrastructure built faster and lower costs for families while keeping strong safeguards in place.”
The report documented the toll of the current system. According to the American Clean Power Association, permitting delays have cost more than $100 billion in lost investment, 150,000 U.S. jobs and 550 million metric tons of additional carbon emissions this decade, and the Business Roundtable estimates that about $1.5 trillion in investment is awaiting federal permits. Major clean energy projects such as the SunZia transmission line have taken nearly two decades to move from conception to construction.
“Permitting reform is an affordability issue and an environmental justice issue. Black and Hispanic families, including many in communities represented by members of the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus, spend a larger share of their income on energy and shoulder the cost when energy supplies do not meet demand,” said Neel Brown, Managing Director at PPI. “Building more supply and new transmission faster means lower bills and lower emissions. That is why getting this bill across the finish line matters.”
The bill reflects the report’s recommendations in seven areas:
Environmental review shot clocks: PPI’s report called for strict enforceable deadlines for completing environmental reviews, after which a decision must be issued, citing models such as Washington state’s two-year deadline for environmental impact statements. The bill would strengthen enforcement of the existing one-year deadline for environmental assessments and two-year deadline for environmental impact statements, and require agencies to decide on outstanding permits within set windows once reviews are complete.
Limits on the scope of review: The report urged Congress to codify the Supreme Court’s 8-0 ruling in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, which held that agencies need not analyze upstream or downstream impacts of activities they do not directly regulate, and to further define reasonable limits on the scope of review. The bill would require courts to give substantial deference to agencies on the scope and contents of their environmental reviews.
A 150-day statute of limitations: Because lawsuits under the National Environmental Policy Act can be filed up to six years after a final agency decision, the report recommended extending the 150-day window Congress set for surface transportation projects to all major federal permitting decisions, providing predictable timelines while preserving judicial review. The bill would set a 150-day deadline for challenges under environmental review, clean water, endangered species, and historic preservation laws, and for challenges to energy, mining, and forest restoration approvals under any federal law.
A “single front door” for federal permits: Drawing on reforms in New South Wales, Australia, and the Netherlands, the report called for a lead agency and coordinator responsible for one consolidated timetable, one environmental record and one final decision, with agency reviews conducted in parallel rather than in sequence. The bill would require concurrent agency reviews, a single environmental document and binding resolution of interagency disagreements.
Federal authority over power lines: The report recommended expanding FERC’s backstop siting authority to approve interstate transmission projects when states are slow to act or deny approval, preventing single-state vetoes of regionally necessary energy projects. The bill would strengthen federal transmission approval authority, including by dropping the requirement that lines sit in a federally designated corridor, and allow federal and state reviews of major lines to proceed simultaneously.
Resources and shared data for faster reviews: Arguing that permitting reform only works if agencies have the people and tools to carry it out, the report called for added review capacity and a centralized permitting repository of environmental data and past reviews, an idea the Department of Energy has begun to explore. The bill would authorize a $20 million annual permitting fund from 2027 to 2033, $150 million a year through 2031 for endangered species consultations, and shared data systems to help agencies reuse information from previous reviews.
Protection for approved projects: Pointing to presidents of both parties who have halted projects after approval, from the Keystone XL pipeline to the Revolution Wind offshore wind farm, the report called for preventing the unilateral revocation of duly approved projects. The bill would protect existing permits from cancellation or interference, with defined exceptions for court orders, violations of law, fraud, and urgent harm supported by new information.
The report also recommended two reforms the bill does not adopt: a “loser-pays” rule requiring unsuccessful plaintiffs to cover litigation costs, and revenue-sharing arrangements, like those in France and North Dakota, that deliver direct benefits such as property tax relief to towns and cities that host energy infrastructure. The bill does advance the report’s broader goal of reducing litigation delays by limiting who can sue and barring courts from halting projects over NEPA paperwork errors.
Read and download the November 2025 report here.
Founded in 1989, PPI is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Find an expert and learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org. Follow us at @ppi.
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Media Contact: Ian O’Keefe – iokeefe@ppionline.org
