Earthworks Urges Senate to Vote NO on Permitting Bill That Sidelines Tribal Nations, Silences Communities and Hands Public Lands to Mining Companies

(WASHINGTON, D.C.)–On Monday, November 9th, the Senate is expected to vote on advancing S.5653, the so-called Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act. Earthworks is urging senators to vote no because of harmful provisions that threaten to drastically reduce or cut community voices from the permitting process for mines and fossil fuel infrastructure. 

The bill would let agencies approve mines, pipelines and other projects that threaten sacred sites, cultural resources and ancestral lands without meaningfully consulting the Tribal Nations affected, while also providing a fast track to fossil fuel projects and cutting communities voices from the decision-making process, despite the impact to their health and safety. 

Less say for the public and Tribes. The bill limits public comment to a single window and lets agencies ignore new science. It does not recognize Tribes’ right to be consulted about projects that affect their lands and sacred places.Tribal consultation would become optional and State and Tribal authority under the Clean water Act would be weakened.

 A giveaway to the mining industry. The bill would expand the 1872 Mining Law so companies could claim nearly unlimited public land for waste dumps, roads, pipelines and power lines. The demand for minerals for the energy transition is real but it is no excuse to let mining companies take more public land with fewer safeguards, under a law that already prioritizes mining ahead of other land use.

A fast lane for fossil fuels. Interstate gas pipelines would no longer count as major federal actions allowing companies to skip environmental review entirely. Future presidents could not change projects approved under the current administration, essentially locking in today’s approvals for decades. 

“We need a fast, fair transition to clean energy, but not one built on the backs of communities that live next to mines and pipelines. These communities are the ones drinking the water and breathing the air and this bill gives them fewer protections,” said Lauren Pagel, Policy Director at Earthworks. “Mining has left a long legacy of poisoned water and destroyed sacred places on tribal lands and pipelines continue to poison communities living downstream. Our government should be prioritizing the health and safety of people and safeguarding land rather than finding yet more giveaways for extractive industries.”