NRDC Releases Permitting Reform Bill Analysis
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 19, 2026) – As debate around the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (BAAJA) has increased on Capitol Hill, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is releasing an assessment of the bill’s language from its expert staff.
Following is a statement from Manish Bapna, President and CEO of NRDC:
"Rhetoric around the bill came hot and fast, but our team of experts has been methodical in developing a real-world accounting of the impacts this bill would have if signed into law. Given the climate crisis before us, we must update and speed up the transmission buildout and permitting process in the United States, but at this point changes to the bill are needed.
“Even as decisionmakers focus on the bill, the Trump Administration continues to undercut the agreement as it wages war on clean energy—just last week, swinging at a wind project already supplying power to communities. The Administration’s attacks on new clean energy projects are doubly corrosive, not only threatening this potential permitting deal, but also negatively impacting the wider economy.”
NRDC’s analysis of the bill is available at https://www.nrdc.org/media/nrdc-assessment-baaja-2026-permitting-transmission-bill
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Established in 1970, NRDC (the Natural Resources Defense Council) works to safeguard the earth, its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. Our team of more than 800 lawyers, policy experts, scientists, economists, and communications specialists work across the United States and around the world, from offices in Washington D.C., New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and Santa Monica, as well as a representative office in Beijing and affiliate offices in New Delhi (through NRDC’s wholly owned for-profit subsidiary, NRDC India Private Limited) and London (through its UK-based partner NRDC International).