Senate bill could let Washington approve lines Wisconsin rejects

S. 5653 is a bill in the U.S. Senate. It would make it harder to sue over environmental reviews. It would also let a federal agency approve big power lines like MariBell and BECI after Wisconsin has said no.

Header photo: 765,000-volt towers on farmland near Plymouth, Indiana, not the Driftless. Photo: Michael Browne / No 765 Line.

A bill in the U.S. Senate is being called “permitting reform.” Permitting is how the government approves big projects like power lines, pipelines and mines. This bill could weaken protections for clean water and historic places. Tribal organizations warn that it would also weaken protections for sacred places.²

The bill’s full name is the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act. Its number is S. 5653. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito filed it with Sens. Mike Lee, Sheldon Whitehouse and Martin Heinrich.¹

The Native American Rights Fund says the bill “curtails Tribal consultation requirements, and restricts access to legal recourse in court.”² On October 9, nine Tribal organizations, including the fund, asked Congress to take out the parts of the bill that would weaken Tribal consultation and protections for sacred places and cultural resources.²

The bill makes it harder to challenge a permit in court

Section 1110 of the bill sets new rules for lawsuits that say a federal agency did its environmental review wrong.¹ The steps below show how such a lawsuit would work.

The bill would let a federal agency approve a line Wisconsin turned down

Today, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) decides whether a big power line can be built in Wisconsin. If the PSC says no, the line is not built here.

FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, is a federal agency in Washington. A 2005 law gave FERC a backup power to approve power lines.⁵ A 2021 law said FERC could use that power after a state says no.^{5, 6} But FERC can use it only inside special areas, called corridors, that the U.S. Department of Energy draws on a map. There are no corridors today, so FERC cannot use this power in Wisconsin.^{5, 7}

Section 2101 of the bill would get rid of the corridors.¹ FERC could then approve a line in Wisconsin if any one of these things happens:^{1, 6}

1. The PSC says no.
2. The PSC takes more than one year to decide.
3. The PSC says yes, but only with conditions that make the line “not economically feasible” (too expensive to build), or that keep it from significantly easing crowding on the power grid.

If a line passes the bill’s tests, the bill says FERC “shall” approve it.¹ In a law, “shall” means must.

MariBell and BECI would each be 765,000-volt lines. The bill has a special rule for lines of 345,000 volts or more. The company can file with FERC on the same day it files with the PSC.¹ That means a federal case could run at the same time as the Wisconsin case.

The federal clock can run out before Wisconsin’s deadline

The bill’s one-year clock starts on the day the company files with the PSC.¹ Wisconsin’s clock works differently. The PSC first has up to 30 days to decide whether the application is complete.⁸ Then it has 180 days to decide. The PSC can add up to 180 more days for good cause.⁸

So a Wisconsin case can take longer than one year and still be inside Wisconsin’s legal deadline. Under the bill, FERC could issue its own permit at the one-year mark anyway. If the PSC misses its own deadline, Wisconsin law says the permit is approved.⁸

The bill would let some work on existing lines skip federal reviews

Section 2102 of the bill adds a rule for work on power lines that are already built.¹ The work has to stay on the strip of land the old line already uses, called the right-of-way, plus the smallest extra strip needed to meet electrical standards or to do the work. Work that stays inside that area would skip the federal environmental review. It would also skip the federal review that protects historic places, called Section 106.¹

The bill lists the kinds of work this rule covers. One of them is “an increase in operating voltage,” meaning the line carries more voltage than before.¹ Whether this rule could apply to MariBell or BECI is a question for lawyers and regulators.

The public would still have some say at FERC

Under the bill, FERC must take landowners’ views into account.¹ It must consider any part of the PSC’s record that Wisconsin sends it.¹ And it must allow at least 45 days for public comments.¹ So comments Wisconsin residents file at the PSC could be read in Washington too. None of these rules lets a landowner or the state stop a FERC permit.

What you can do

1. Call or write your two U.S. senators. Find their phone numbers and contact forms at senate.gov. Tell them you oppose S. 5653 as it is written now. Ask them to protect three laws: NEPA (the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires environmental reviews), the Clean Water Act and the National Historic Preservation Act.
2. Read the bill yourself. The full text is free at govinfo.gov. On that page, search for “SEC. 1110,” “SEC. 2101” and “SEC. 216A.”
3. Get our updates. Join our email list. We will tell you when the PSC opens public comments on MariBell or BECI.

Legal note. This article describes S. 5653, a bill Congress had not passed as of November 3, 2026. It is general information, not legal advice.

Sources & notes

1. U.S. Senate, S. 5653, Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, introduced September 30, 2026: Sec. 1110 (new National Environmental Policy Act Sec. 111(b)(1), (b)(2), (c)(5) and (c)(6)(B)); Sec. 2101 (new Federal Power Act Sec. 216(a), (b), (d)(3), (d)(4) and (d)(6)); Sec. 2102 (new Federal Power Act Sec. 216A(b)), govinfo.gov.
2. Native American Rights Fund, “ACT NOW: Senate permitting reform bill negatively impacts Tribes,” October 20, 2026 (the quotation; the October 9 joint letter of nine Tribal organizations; “A Senate vote is scheduled for November 9”), narf.org.
3. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Democrats, “What They’re Saying: Heinrich’s Bipartisan Permitting Reform Deal Will Deliver Cheaper Energy, More Jobs, Responsible Growth,” October 9, 2026, energy.senate.gov.
4. Roll Call, “Transmission overhaul threads careful needle in permitting bill,” October 27, 2026 (a key procedural vote on the legislative vehicle when senators return on November 9), rollcall.com.
5. Federal Power Act Sec. 216, 16 U.S.C. 824p, current law: subsection (a), corridors; subsection (b)(1)(C), a state that has denied an application, added by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, law.cornell.edu.
6. Congressional Research Service, Insight IN12746, October 14, 2026 (the bill “would not make changes to this set of criteria”), everycrsreport.com.
7. U.S. Department of Energy, announcement that it will not designate the three proposed National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors, August 12, 2026, energy.gov; DOE Grid Deployment Office, “National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor Designation Process” (“now complete, with no NIETCs designated”), energy.gov.
8. Wis. Stat. § 196.491(3)(a)2 (30 days to decide whether an application is complete; refiling allowed) and (3)(g) (180 days, up to 180 more for good cause, and the permit considered issued if the PSC misses its deadline), docs.legis.wisconsin.gov.