(The Center Square) – The U.S. Senate has voted to advance the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, a colossal permitting reform bill that would expedite the buildout of energy-related infrastructure.
The primary purpose of the over 400-page bill is to expedite the permitting approval process for energy-related projects – such as natural gas pipelines, drilling and mining, and data center infrastructure – by scaling back environmental and judicial reviews.
Sponsors of BAAJA say it will increase energy supply, lower electricity costs and create more jobs as the country enters a new era of energy demand. It also requires owners of data centers that draw more than 20 MW of power plugging into the electric grid to pay for the associated grid upgrade costs.
“This is an affordability bill. The American people spoke loud and clear that they wanted results on affordability,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, who helped craft the bill, told reporters prior to the Monday evening vote. “People want to see Congress do good, big things. This is a good, big thing.”
Critics of BAAJA have voiced concerns that it would trample state and local rights, mainly by limiting litigation and local input, overriding environmental rules, and restricting states’ and communities’ ability to deny large projects, including data centers.
The four architects of the bill — U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico; Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia; Mike Lee, R-Utah; and Whitehouse — attempted to mitigate concerns from environmental and tribal rights groups with a package of amendments.
Among other measures, the amended bill strengthens impacted tribal governments’ say in transmission permitting planning, allows harms to “human health” and “the environment” to justify agency action against a permit or project, and establishes in the Department of Energy the Data Center Community Assistance Program, which would provide technical assistance on request to communities impacted by data centers.
Those and other changes, Heinrich assured reporters, “don’t change what this bill was always about: lowering energy costs, building the infrastructure our country so desperately needs, creating good-paying jobs, protecting our communities, and making sure data centers pay their fair share.”
But several “troubling” provisions in BAAJA remain unaddressed, dozens of critics say, particularly the bill’s amendments to the Clean Water Act regarding pollution control and environmental impact assessments of large-scale projects.
“This permitting legislation is a giveaway to America’s most polluting industries. By loosening bedrock environmental laws, this bill will fast-track toxic industrial agriculture pollution nationwide,” Food and Water Watch’s policy director Rebecca Wolf, joined by dozens of other organizations, stated Monday. “Congress must stop this cynical industry ploy.”
