November 9, 2026 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SUWA Statement on initial Senate vote on Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 – 11.9.26
Bill would gut bedrock environmental laws that protect Southern Utah’s wildest places
Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org
Washington, DC – Today, the US Senate voted 73-25 on a motion to proceed that would expedite passage of the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (BAAJA), which is being championed by Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM). Below is a statement from SUWA DC Director Travis Hammill and additional information on the bill’s potential impact on public lands in Southern Utah.
“Southern Utah’s wild places and cultural sites have remained intact in no small part because of bedrock environmental and historic preservation laws. This bill imperils those hard-won protections and places industry in the driver’s seat,” said Travis Hammill, DC Director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA). “If you care about keeping public participation a core component of public lands decisions, the federal government being forced to think before it acts, Tribal sovereignty, or clean air and water, you should be opposed to this bill and we encourage you to reach out your Senators, immediately.”
Additional information:
Here’s just a few ways the bill would impact Southern Utah’s wildest public lands:
- It will lock in harmful development projects on public lands, preventing future administrations from taking any action on these permitted projects even if those projects were approved illegally. This includes permits for data centers, oil and gas drilling approvals, and hard rock mining authorizations. In Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, this bill could preclude future administrations from taking corrective action on the more than 110 mining claims filed on lands within the original boundaries of the monuments that President Trump unlawfully cut by nearly 90%. The bill will also make it extremely difficult for the public to challenge development of those mining claims, permanently greenlighting endless development and harm for these iconic landscapes.
- It will undermine Tribal sovereignty while threatening sacred and irreplaceable cultural sites. Southern Utah holds tens of thousands of cultural sites reflecting thousands of years of human history. The bill effectively rewrites provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act to diminish or preclude protection of important cultural sites, make consultation with Tribes and communities optional and withdraw effective court remedies to prevent irreparable damage to cultural sites.
- It will fast-track the already rapid acceleration of data center proposals on public lands. In Utah and across the country, communities are demanding greater transparency and input as data centers are rapidly built. Proposals like Project Beehive in Carbon County have many unanswered questions about their legality and potential impacts, but would be expedited if the bill passed.
- Decreases transparency in decision making by narrowing the projects subject to environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and limiting the public’s ability to review and comment on projects that impact public lands.
Analysis and materials by other organizations and recent media:
- More Than Just Parks: Why Martin Heinrich Sold Out Public Lands. Nov. 5, 2026
- High Country News: New bill slashes tribes’ role in projects that impact ancestral sites, water and wildlife. Nov. 5, 2026
- Center for Western Priorities: BAAJA would lock in destruction at Bears Ears and beyond.
- 6 threats to public lands in the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, The Wilderness Society, Oct. 15, 2026
- John Podesta Says Permitting Deal Hands Trump ‘a Loaded Howitzer, Heatmap, Oct. 27 2026
- Podesta warns of ‘loaded howitzer’ in permitting bill, Politico, Oct. 27, 2026
- Senate Permitting Reform Bill: If It Passes, Will It Work?, Center on Global Energy Policy, Oct. 27, 2026
- The Worst Thing That’s Ever Happened to Public Lands Could Be a New Bill You’ve Never heard Of, Wes Siler. Oct. 28, 2026.
- ‘Permitting Reform’ Is a Giveaway to Data Centers and Fossil Fuels, Common Dreams, Oct. 26, 2026
- A ‘Bipartisan’ Bill to Dismantle the Nation’s Bedrock Environmental Law, The Revelator, Oct. 23 2026
- Center for Western Priorities: The Senate permitting bill would lock in data centers and nuclear waste on public lands. It only gets worse from there. Oct. 21, 2026.
- More Than Just Parks: Senate Permitting Bill Is a Betrayal of Our Public Lands. Oct. 16, 2026
- Native American Rights Fund statement: “(BAAJA) has significant impacts on the ability of Tribal Nations to participate meaningfully in permitting issues that can effect their land, water, and cultural interests.” Oct. 15, 2026
- The National Congress of American Indians and 8 other tribal letter to Congress, arguing BAAJA undermines Tribal sovereignty and threatens sacred sites, Oct. 9, 2026.
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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards a world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org.
