For more than 50 years, Washingtonians have relied on regulatory tools and the stewardship of local agencies and tribes to protect our environment. Most notably, the Washington State Department of Ecology was the first governmental agency in the U.S. to focus on clean water and the environment. Ecology pre-dates the federal Clean Water Act and goes above and beyond federal requirements for protection of water, land and wildlife.
Because of strong state-level policies, Washington has been relatively insulated from the assaults to well-established environmental protections by the current administration. Prioritizing local control over development and the protection of lands and waters in our communities is essential to meeting the demands of growing populations and a warming climate. RE Sources has long advocated for infrastructure development focused on community values and needs, and with their input—starting with those who have been most impacted, such as tribes and industry workers.
The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (S.5653 or BAAJA bill) significantly threatens the ability of states and tribes to protect our local environment. While this permitting reform bill is intended to speed up infrastructure development—including improvements to the national grid and transmission lines that are important for clean energy development—it simultaneously dismantles critical components of our environmental regulatory system. This is not an acceptable tradeoff.
This bill would push through energy projects and AI data centers, led by international corporate industries and billionaires, at the expense of our environment, communities and people. By intention, this all comes at the same time that the House republicans’ reconciliation bill includes language to allow increased mining, drilling and pipeline construction.
Help fight this bill!
Learn about some of the major issues with this bill below, and if any of these concern you, take a moment to contact your lawmakers to tell them to vote NO on the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026. We are urging people to call their senators, as this is one of the most impactful ways to make your voice heard. We’ve prepared two versions (short and long) of a script you can use, or you are more than welcome to create your own talking points. If calling isn’t your thing, then please send an email. You can use this form with a pre-drafted (but editable) statement.
Some of the major issues with proposed 417-page BAAJA bill include:
Narrowing the definition of Water Quality Criteria so that they would no longer fully protect Washington waters.
- Orca and salmon protections rely on habitat restoration such as removing fish barriers on spawning creeks, restoring estuaries, managing water quantity, increasing Chinook salmon populations, reducing toxics, and quieting our waters. This bill would make these definitions of water quality harder to defend and, therefore, easier to impact.
Severely limiting state and tribal authority for protecting local waters.
- States and tribes will lose their authority to impose restrictions on or deny feral permits and will have an even more limited amount of time for review. Future federal projects like fossil fuel pipelines or AI data centers could impact our local waters and we would no longer have the ability for state agencies and tribes to weigh in. Tribal knowledge will no longer be acknowledged.
Making permits for dredging and filling weaker and easier to get.
- In 2016, the proposed Gateway Pacific Coal Port Terminal at Cherry Point was struck down when the Army Corps of Engineers denied the dredge permit because of the Lummi Nation’s treaty-protected fishing rights. Permits like this would be fast tracked and would limit tribal consultation.
- Pebble Mine in Alaska was vetoed by the EPA because the proposed mining permit had significant unacceptable adverse environmental impacts. This bill will severely limit the EPA’s ability to veto future permits like this one.
Doubling the duration of certain pollution discharge permits from five to ten years.
- This would allow outdated pollution controls to remain in place longer before renewal. New and hazardous chemicals such as PFAS (forever chemicals) and 6PPDQ (tire dust particles) would not be regulated in permits for 10 years, 20 years, or even longer, despite the overwhelming evidence of how harmful they are to people and wildlife.
Making it more difficult to update guidance for water quality criteria based on the latest science.
- This bill would require scientific guidance to go through a full blown rulemaking process, which would effectively prolong protections. Normally, criteria were updated regularly with best available science and not through a more elaborate, time-consuming process. This is designed as a delay tactic.
Reducing public comment by shortening the review period and only considering “sufficiently detailed“ comments.
- RE Sources both writes and encourages community members to write comments for clean water permits on a regular basis. Permit writers are then required to read and respond to all comments. This bill aims to limit community comments by reducing the timelines and narrowly defining an acceptable comment. Reducing the public comment is a scary trend that we are seeing locally and nationally.
Just last week, it was reported that the Southern Resident Orca population has officially grown by two! A glimmer of hope in the face of so many challenges, this likely could not have happened without all the efforts that have been made to restore critical habitat, increase prey availability, and reduce contaminants in our waters. The BAAJA bill would undo so much of this progress in record time.
This bill will streamline permitting for natural gas pipelines, transmission lines, AI data centers, and other major infrastructure while limiting certain environmental reviews. Faster permitting should not mean failing to protect our wetlands, rivers, oceans, and drinking water sources. America can modernize our permitting system and build the infrastructure needed for a reliable, affordable clean-energy future while also protecting clean water. Help us protect Washington state’s environment and all that depend on it by advocating for your lawmakers to vote NO on the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026.