Democratic candidate for Public Utilities Commission Frank Kloucek and Republican Public Utilities Commissioner Chris Nelson aren’t the only South Dakotans with concerns about the federal permitting reform act coming up in the Senate for its first procedural vote on November 9. The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, a sprawling bill that would affect electrical transmission, gas pipelines, data centers, mining, and all sorts of environmental protections, would also change the National Historic Preservation Act in ways that Rapid City-based NDN Collective says constitute “the most direct attach on tribal sovereignty and federal trust obligations in our lifetime.” Here’s the letter NDN Collective is circulating to invite other organizations keen on protecting Native rights to sign on and urge Congress to kill this bill:
Dear Members of Congress:
We, the undersigned organizations, represent grassroots frontline Indigenous communities. Our communities are already directly harmed by fossil fuel development and stand to be harmed further by the rapid expansion of AI data centers. We write to express our strong opposition to the so-called “permitting reform” bill, also known as the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA), and to urge you to vote against it.
This bill is presented as a measure to lower costs and speed up development. In reality, it is another example of putting profit above everything else through deregulation. More than that, it is a direct attack on Tribal sovereignty and on the legal standing of Native peoples in the United States. We cannot overstate this. This bill proposes the elimination of our culture as it will result in the destruction of the remains of our ancestors. This cannot be equated to denial of history by removing statues or renaming parks; it is the actual removal of our history by destroying the bones of our ancestors.
We always stand in protection of our ancestral lands, sacred sites and ways of life. We are actively engaged in defense of sacred, life giving lands and waters across Turtle Island, from Pe Sla, to Pipestone, to Oak Flat, and across the Pacific at Mauna Kea and Guahan.
The bill represents an egregious overreach by tech and fossil fuel interest corporations to clear the path towards even more absurd profits for their shareholders at the expense of future generations and our environment. Its mere introduction is the most direct attack on tribal sovereignty and federal trust obligations in our lifetime.
The bill undermines Tribal sovereignty
The bill would allow the federal government, through the executive branch, to assume control of a Tribal Historic Preservation Office (THPO) if federal authorities decide it is not adequately fulfilling its statutory duties. THPOs and State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs) are responsible for protecting and stewarding irreplaceable historic, archaeological, and architectural resources. For Tribes, THPOs protect cultural resources that are inextricably tied to the existence of our peoples and our ways of life.
Giving federal authorities the power to take over the work of THPOs is a direct attack on Tribal sovereignty. Decisions about how to protect our ancestors, sacred places, and cultural heritage belong to our people, not to the agencies that are often proposing the projects in question.
The bill weakens consultation under Section 106
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) requires federal agencies to consult with Tribal organizations, including Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian organizations, when federal projects may affect sacred sites, cultural resources, and historic properties. It is one of the few places in federal law where Native peoples have a guaranteed seat at the table before irreversible harm is done.
This bill strips the Section 106 process of any meaningful role in project review. It would allow a federal agency to end the process through its own unilateral decision that historic preservation is not a priority for a given development. Consultation that can be ended by one party is not consultation at all.
The bill guts core environmental protections
Beyond its direct attacks on Indigenous peoples and cultures, the bill strips key protections for our environment, natural resources, and public health by weakening the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act. These laws safeguard the water we drink, the lands we steward, and the species and ecosystems that sustain our communities. Native communities are often the first to feel the effects when these protections are removed, but are treated as the most disposable stakeholders.
Lastly, but not least the bill gives mining companies free reign over public lands while taking away the ability of impacted people to challenge projects that can harm them. Public lands include ancestral homelands, sacred places, and the watersheds our communities depend on. Mining projects can contaminate drinking water, destroy cultural sites, and leave damage that lasts for generations. Those who live closest to these projects must keep the right to be heard and to challenge decisions that threaten their health, water, and cultural heritage. Removing that right does not bring clarity. It silences the people with the most at stake.
Our request
We urge you to Oppose the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act and any permitting reform measure that removes or weakens Tribal authority over THPOs. We also urge you to Meet with frontline Indigenous communities and Tribal leaders to develop solutions to actual obstacles our communities face in developing solutions to our most urgent and pressing needs on the ground.
Permitting that works for people begins with Native peoples having a real voice in decisions that affect our homelands. We stand ready to work with you on solutions that protect our communities and our shared environment without sacrificing Tribal sovereignty. We urge you to stand with us and reject this bill [NDN Collective, sign-on letter to Congress: “Oppose the Permitting Reform Bill,” retrieved 2026.10.31].
Senate Democrats are already listening to and working to address tribal concerns:
Right now, rank-and-file Senate Democrats are asking for adjustments to the bill’s changes to the National Historic Preservation Act, two people familiar with the negotiations said. Native tribe representatives and some Democrats criticize those changes as blocking tribal consultations on projects proposed in their communities.
The NHPA section, and tribal nation’s almost unanimous concern, is the “number one challenging issue” that could jeopardize Democratic support, according to a Senate Democratic aide who also said that 70 votes would push House Democrats to support the bill.
“It’s fraught for everyone,” the aide said. “On one hand, if you’re being a true partner to tribal nations, their ask is to strike the entire section. We are told by negotiators that’s not gonna be possible. It’s too much of a priority for [Utah Republican Sen. Mike] Lee” [Pavan Acharya, Nico Portuondo, James Bikales, and Ben Lefebvre, “Permitting Backers Want Senate to Rack Up Vote Count to Send Message to the House,” Politico, 2026.10.29].
The permitting reform is a messy mixed bag, promising greater electrification and maybe, someday, lower electric bills. But we shouldn’t sacrifice tribal sovereignty for such promises.