On September 30, Senate Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) joined their respective committee chairs, Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.), to announce a new version of the Manchin-Barrasso industrial deployment bill “to reform the federal environmental review and permitting process” to fast-track energy and mining projects.
They also stated they expected moving the bill forward to be the first vote of the lame-duck session after the November midterms.
Their 417-page legislation, dubbed the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, combines new sections with elements of Manchin-Barrasso, the SPEED Act (H.R. 4776), ePermit Act (H.R. 4503), PERMIT Act (H.R. 3898), ESA Amendments Act of 2025 (H.R. 1897), SPEED and Reliability Act of 2025 (H.R. 5600), Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 9340), High-Capacity Grid Act (H.R. 6633), Mining Regulatory Clarity Act (H.R. 1366), Geothermal Energy Advancement Act (H.R. 5631), HEATS Act (H.R. 5587), Geothermal Cost-Recovery Authority Act (H.R. 398), Geothermal Energy Advancement Act (H.R. 5631), and a Trump Advisory Council on Historic Preservation proposed rule to weaken historic preservation protections.
At their press conference, Capito praised the involvement of the White House Energy Dominance Council, Department of Energy, Department of Interior, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
Whitehouse thanked his staffers Dan Dudis and Kara Allen and Capito’s staff director Adam Tomlinson.
“The other piece that is still outstanding is the question of returning to regular order for wind and solar projects in the Trump administration. And that is unresolved.” Whitehouse said. “They want to land this in good faith.”
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