By: Morgen Snyder, Director of Policy and Programs
On September 30, 2026, Senators Shelley Moore Capito, Mike Lee, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Martin Heinrich introduced a sweeping permitting reform bill that threatens to undermine the bedrock environmental laws protecting tribes, communities, and ecosystems across the country. The “Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026” would set the stage for weakened oversight of industry-caused environmental impacts by gutting key provisions of the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the National Heritage Preservation Act, and the National Environmental Protection Act.
These foundational environmental laws were hard-won and are critical to ensuring the health of our communities and ecosystems. In 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught on fire due to the toxins, oils, and waste clogging the waterways. That same year, Santa Barbara’s beaches were stained black from the worst oil spill in U.S. history at the time. Polluters went unchecked, dumping toxins into our rivers and streams. Only one third of all waterways were safe to swim in. Because of this crisis, Congress took action with the creation of the Environmental Protection Act in 1970. Only two years later, seeing the growing threats facing our waterways, the federal legislature came together to override President Nixon’s veto of the Clean Water Act, reaffirming the need to safeguard waterways, communities, and ecosystems across the country.
Fifty years after the Clean Water Act was established, over 50% of U.S. waterways remain impaired. That means over half of our waterways are not swimmable, fishable, or drinkable due to continued contamination. Yet today, federal legislators threaten to rollback critical protections by loosening environmental permits, and limiting legal challenges and state authority over water and energy projects. The proposed legislation would rollback critical Endangered Species Act protections and significantly limit what challenges can be brought under the National Environmental Policy Act.
Importantly, this bill also jeopardizes Tribal sovereignty, limiting and creating exemptions for review processes central to protecting Tribal cultural sites, introducing federal oversight of Tribal Heritage Preservation Officers that far oversteps, and creating significant limits to judicial review.
Energy and water development cannot come at the expense of environmental safeguards, state and Tribal authority and the health and wellbeing of Californians. Just over 50 years ago, we vowed never to allow another U.S. river to catch fire. There is no reason for Legislators to fold to the whims of this administration. Legislators must reject this proposal and instead ensure any permitting reform goes hand in hand with the protection of our environment and communities.
Find your representative here and urge them to oppose SB 5653.