Author: Maryland A.G. Staff    Published: 11/9/2026    Maryland A.G. Press

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Media Contacts: press@oag.state.md.us 410-576-7009

 BALTIMORE, MD — Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today joined a coalition of 16 attorneys general in sending a letter to the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) and Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committees regarding the proposed Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026, commonly known as the permitting reform bill. The draft bill, introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, is a wide-ranging package to reform energy permitting and infrastructure. Today’s letter highlights concerns with the bill and requests that the Senate postpone voting on the bill until more revisions can be made that ensure the bill achieves its stated goals and contains appropriate environmental and public health protections.

The current draft bill is a varied package that would transform energy permitting and infrastructure. Without further amendment, the bill would harm states’ and tribes’ abilities to protect water, historic, and cultural resources under the Clean Water Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Endangered Species Act, and would impinge on state and tribal sovereignty. Additional amendments could ensure the bill achieves its goals of improving clean energy permitting, reducing energy costs, and creating jobs.

The coalition states are home to a wide variety of natural resources, including wind and solar resources, waterways, large landscapes, cultural districts, tribal resources, and parks. In the letter, the states offer a unique and diverse perspective, as they possess significant existing authority under the Clean Water Act and National Historic Preservation Act that the bill would undermine. The states also regularly participate in National Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act processes that would be affected by the bill, and the bill’s permitting certainty provisions would impact countless projects in the states.

In sending today’s comment letter, Attorney General Brown joins the attorneys general of California, Massachusetts, New York, Washington, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Virginia, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

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