Permitting delays cost manufacturers about $8 billion a year, according to the National Association of Manufacturers. A bipartisan Senate bill introduced Sept. 30 now takes direct aim at that number.

The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, sponsored by Sens. Martin Heinrich, Mike Lee, Shelley Moore Capito and Sheldon Whitehouse, would impose firm deadlines on environmental reviews, narrow the reach of the National Environmental Policy Act and restrict litigation against permitted projects. The full Senate is set to take up the bill in the coming weeks.

NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons called the legislation a "game-changing agreement" that "delivers long-overdue reforms to our nation's permitting process, while maintaining American's commitment to environmental stewardship."

"Our nation's permitting system is outdated and burdensome, delaying projects across industries and contributing to rising costs across the economy," Timmons said in a statement. "Removing these barriers would unlock greater investment and growth. Manufacturers are ready to build, and modernized permitting will help us race to the future."

The four sponsors, two Republicans and two Democrats, framed the bill as the product of broad consultation. "This legislation reflects input from members of Congress on both sides of the aisle and from a diverse group of stakeholders," they said in a joint statement.

For plant planners and construction teams, the most consequential provisions are the timelines. Projects that remain subject to NEPA review would face a two-year deadline for an agency to complete an environmental impact statement and a one-year deadline for an environmental assessment.

The bill also narrows the definition of "major federal actions" that trigger NEPA review. Projects with no or minimal federal funding or involvement would be excluded, as would projects receiving only certain forms of federal support, such as loans or loan guarantees. That carve-out matters for privately financed industrial construction that currently gets pulled into federal review through peripheral funding instruments.

On transparency, the bill requires permitting agencies to build and maintain a "unified interagency data system" — interconnected agency systems and shared services for environmental reviews and authorizations. The system would track and display real-time data, let project sponsors submit required documentation and allow metrics to be monitored over time.

The litigation provisions are equally specific. Claimants would have 150 days to file a claim under NEPA, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Historic Preservation Act. The bill limits who can file and constrains when a court can issue an injunction that halts a project.

Other provisions set deadlines for agency actions such as confirming receipt of permit applications, expedite permitting for projects on federal lands, and bar the federal government from rescinding permits for previously authorized projects except in specific circumstances — a court order or a permit violation, for example.

The bill also establishes a Permitting Improvement Fund to help agencies deliver timely reviews, authorized at $20 million per year through fiscal 2033.

Industry groups have pressed for these changes for years. Witnesses told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in January that permitting bottlenecks were stalling industrial projects. The Trump administration has moved in parallel: its proposed EPA budget sought an additional $14 million for permitting reform even as it cut the agency's overall funding.

The claims of an $8 billion annual cost come from NAM's own advocacy materials and reflect the association's estimate of delayed hiring, construction and expansion — a figure suppliers and OEMs should weigh against their own project timelines rather than take as audited data.

What to watch next: Senate floor consideration in the coming weeks, where the bipartisan coalition behind the bill faces its first test on amendments to the litigation limits and the NEPA scope carve-outs.