Dunham Law & Policy

Recent analysis

Plain-language guides to the federal legislation and rulemaking that affect the clean energy and green chemistry sectors.

Study guideOctober 1, 2026

Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (S. 5653)

What the bill does, how it changes current law, and where the debate is.

BAAJA is the most consequential piece of federal energy legislation since the Inflation Reduction Act, re-writing the rules for building energy infrastructure in the United States.

This guide walks through each title, compares it to current law, and closes with a clean energy scorecard and a cheat sheet of key numbers.

PDF · 20 pages · 427 KB. Based on Senate Legislative Counsel draft KAT26639. This guide describes the bill as drafted. It is not legal advice and takes no position on the legislation.

Contents
  1. 1The bill on one page; six themes; the provisions that matter most; deadlines to sue
  2. 2NEPA (environmental review)
  3. 3Clean Water Act (sections 401 and 404)
  4. 4Endangered Species Act
  5. 5Project certainty: protecting issued permits
  6. 6Transmission today: how the system works
  7. 7What the bill does to transmission
  8. 8Energy permitting: oil and gas, geothermal, hydro, offshore
  9. 9Historic preservation (NHPA section 106)
  10. 10Clean energy scorecard
  11. 11Key numbers cheat sheet

Questions about what S. 5653 means for your projects?

Tell us what you are building and where Washington stands in the way. We will tell you candidly whether we can help.

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