Protect American AI Act of 2026
Sponsored By: Representative Baumgartner, Michael [R-WA-5]
Introduced
Summary
Insulate data center permits from automatic vacatur. This bill would set rules to keep permits and approvals for data centers and their infrastructure in effect during environmental-review challenges while channeling cases into fast-track appellate review.
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- Data center developers and infrastructure builders would see permits, licenses, and approvals remain usable during litigation, letting projects continue while agencies address review problems.
- Federal agencies would be required to correct statutory violations on remand under Administrative Procedure Act standards while the bill bars vacatur as a remedy for covered applications.
- Courts and litigants would face a new path for challenges: exclusive review in the U.S. Court of Appeals where the project sits, expedited dockets, prompt docketing after pleadings, a strict 90-day filing window for many claims, and transfer of pending petitions into that system.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Faster court review for data centers
This bill would send court challenges about data-center permits to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the project's circuit. That court would have exclusive, original jurisdiction and must expedite the case; petitions filed before enactment could be moved there on motion. If a court finds an environmental review violated listed federal laws (for example NEPA or the Clean Air Act), the court would remand the matter to the agency but could not vacate the permit, and the agency would have to keep processing covered applications while fixing the problem. A federal claim challenging a permit would be barred unless filed within 90 days after the Federal Register notice that the agency action is final. The bill would also say it does not create a new right to sue or stop existing enforcement claims.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Baumgartner, Michael [R-WA-5]
WA • R
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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