On Monday, Nov. 9, the U.S. Senate will vote on a bill that, if passed, could have far-reaching consequences for tribal preservation, sacred sites, and cultural resources across Indian Country.
The Senate Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (BAAJA) aims to accelerate federal environmental review of project proposals. The bill proposes significant changes to long-standing environmental laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act. The bill was introduced in September, with no congressional oversight, public hearings or tribal consultation.
Advocates and lawmakers opposing BAAJA say that while the bill includes provisions that would advance clean energy initiatives, other provisions would devastate tribal sovereignty and environmental protections by allowing developers access to public lands for uranium mining, oil and gas pipelines, large-scale data centers, and more, without judicial review.
As well, it would narrow which projects receive review under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, which mandates tribal consultation to determine how projects will affect areas of cultural significance to tribes.
At a virtual press conference held on Friday, Nov. 6, by conservation nonprofit Earthjustice, tribal leaders and advocates outlined their opposition to the bill.
All Pueblo Council of Governors chairman Joey Sanchez said the council is taking direct action and urged lawmakers to vote against the bill.
“APCG is headed to Washington, D.C., to make sure our voices are heard opposing this harmful legislation,” Sanchez said.
National Congress of American Indians President Mark Macarro (Pechanga Band of Indians) said many cultural and religious sites are outside reservation boundaries, making Section 106 crucial to protecting sacred lands.
“This is such an existential threat to Indian Country in the way that we try to protect our religion, our culture, our homelands,” Macarro said. “Having most of our land, having had it be stolen over the years, over the decades, over the centuries, there’s so much off our existing reservations and tribal lands.”
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., said that while permitting reform needs to happen to bring down the cost of energy, the bill would only do so at the expense of tribal sovereignty.
“So many of us want permitting reform, but we’re not going to do it by selling out and throwing under the bus Section 106 tribal consultation and these important environmental bedrocks, and that’s why I’m against this bill,” Leger Fernández said.
Native American Rights Fund staff attorney and Navajo Nation citizen Daniel Cordalis also spoke at the press conference, saying that BAAJA would roll back generations of hard-won tribal rights.
“Rights that we have fought for for generations, the bill, as written, blindly reduces and even stops the ability of tribal governments to participate as sovereign partners in federal decisions that can impact our legally protected rights in land, water and species interests,” Cordalis said.
While its rumored forthcoming amendments could ease the bill’s implications on tribal consultation, Macarro said they would fall short.
“The premise of the product is all wrong, and one of the reasons that it’s wrong is procedurally it is lacking in consultation with tribes,” Macarro said. “As leaders of tribal nations, sovereign leaders of tribal nations, we expect tribal consultation. That hasn’t happened, and a bill of this magnitude should not be the product of a rushed process at the end of a congressional session. It requires order and a deliberate process, where tribes have the opportunity to submit comments, not just on the fly.”
