Four Senate committee leaders release a 400-page bipartisan bill to speed energy permits, with no vote until after the Nov. 3 midterms

The leaders of the Senate's energy and environment committees released the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act on Wednesday, Sept. 30. The bill runs more than 400 pages and aims to speed approval of power plants, power lines and pipelines. Shelley Moore Capito (Sen-R West Virginia), Mike Lee (Sen-R Utah), Martin Heinrich (Sen-D New Mexico) and Sheldon Whitehouse (Sen-D Rhode Island) negotiated it for more than a year. "It's monumental and it's legacy-setting," Capito said. The reviews. It caps environmental impact statements at two years, and shorter assessments at one. These are the federal studies a big project needs before it can get a federal approval. (TS: those deadlines have been law since the 2023 debt-limit deal; what's new here is enforcing them) Opponents would get 150 days to sue under the main environmental laws. Repairs to existing power lines, pipelines and telecom lines would no longer trigger review. The permits. No administration could block or stall permits for an energy source it dislikes. The bill names onshore and offshore wind, coal, gas, nuclear and geothermal. The grid. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC, the agency that oversees interstate power sales) would get power to approve power lines that cross state lines. Data centers would have to pay for the grid upgrades they need. The House. New Democrat Coalition leaders said they are "encouraged." Reporter Ari Natter wrote that the deal "could be in trouble in the House already," naming Jared Huffman (Rep-D California), the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee. What next. Senators will not vote until a lame-duck session after Nov. 3. Lame duck means the weeks before newly elected members take office. Whitehouse says one question is "unresolved": how the Trump administration will handle wind and solar permits. That will be worked out alongside amendments. The bill dies if it has not passed by Jan. 3, 2027, when the new Congress is sworn in.

How long federal reviews take now, against the bill's two-year cap:

• Average environmental impact statement, 2010–2018: 4.5 years from start to final decision, per the White House Council on Environmental Quality
• Average final statement issued in 2025: 3.0 years, the shortest in the National Association of Environmental Professionals' records
• SunZia, a 550-mile New Mexico–Arizona power line Heinrich points to: 17 years to permit and build