Before the new, Democratically-controlled Congress arrives in January, Senate negotiators, led by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), are pushing forward permitting reform legislation that poses one of the most significant threats to America’s public lands, cultural heritage, Tribal sovereignty, and environmental protections in decades. The deceptively-named Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA) would weaken bedrock environmental laws, limit public participation, fast-track development projects, and make it far more difficult to challenge harmful decisions affecting public lands.
This legislation goes far beyond streamlining federal permit processes. It includes a wish list of priorities for anti-public lands politicians like Senator Lee while undermining safeguards that protect some of America’s most treasured landscapes and cultural resources.
Here are 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 the 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%.
- 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 restrict what is considered an important cultural site, make consultation with Tribes and communities optional, and require fewer environmental impacts to be taken into consideration.
- 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.
Please take a few minutes to tell your senators to oppose this legislation and to work towards better protections for public lands and wild places.