Bill speeds up federal permits and limits nature review.
S. 5653 — Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 · Filed by Shelley Capito (R-WV) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 30, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill sets strict time limits for federal nature reviews. Small reviews take one year. Big reviews take two years. It creates a new Chief Review and Permit Officer in each major federal office. The bill says NEPA only shares facts, not protects nature. It lets offices skip review if a state or tribe did one. Officials who miss deadlines face penalties.
Who it affects
Citizens, energy firms, builders, miners, and construction contractors are affected. The bill narrows what projects need federal nature review. Some projects skip it entirely. States and tribes may do more nature work instead.
One thing to notice
The bill says NEPA does not require the federal government to protect nature. It only requires sharing facts about projects. The Chairman's choices cannot be challenged in court.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 2 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Sep 30, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 30, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- NEPA — The National Policy Act, a federal law that requires nature review before big projects.
- Chief Review and Permit Officer — A new job in each federal office to oversee nature reviews and permit choices.
- major federal office — A big federal office that funds, approves, or runs projects needing nature review.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (50,094 characters) on Oct 9, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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