AG Brown calls for additional revisions on permitting reform bill

Attorney General Nick Brown co-led a coalition of 17 attorneys general in sending a letter to two U.S. Senate committees regarding the proposed Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, commonly known as the permitting reform bill, which aims to streamline the process for approving energy projects.

The draft bill, introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, is a wide-ranging package to reform energy permitting and infrastructure. While the bill has laudable goals, it contains problematic provisions that would risk abuse by polluting industries and impinge on state and tribal sovereignty. The coalition's letter highlights concerns with the bill and requests that the Senate postpone voting on the bill until more revisions can be made to ensure the bill achieves its stated goals and contains appropriate environmental and public health protections.

"Federal lawmakers are rushing through this process, jeopardizing key environmental safeguards and putting Washington's rivers, lakes, and coastline at risk," Brown said. "We urge Congress to slow down this process to allow for more input from states, including Washington, and avoid weakening long-standing federal protections like the Clean Water Act."

Without further amendment, the current draft bill would harm states' and tribes' abilities to protect water, historic, and cultural resources under the Clean Water Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Endangered Species Act, and would impinge on state and tribal sovereignty. Additional amendments could ensure the bill achieves its goals of improving clean energy permitting, reducing energy costs, and creating jobs.

The coalition states are home to a wide variety of natural resources, including wind and solar resources, waterways, cultural districts, tribal resources, and parks. In the letter, the states offer a unique and diverse perspective, as they possess significant existing authority under the Clean Water Act and National Historic Preservation Act that the bill would undermine. The states also regularly participate in National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act processes that would be affected by the bill, and the bill's permitting certainty provisions would impact countless projects in the states.

In sending the comment letter, Brown joins the attorneys general of California, Massachusetts, New York, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Virginia, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

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