October 2, 2026 Week in Review
Becasue both chambers are out of session through the week of Election Day, returning on November 9, NSDA's next advocacy publication will be on that date. We will continue to provide real-time updates as needed.
Congress:
- Permitting: On September 30, the Senate Environment and Public Works and Energy and Natural Resources Committees released text for their energy permitting reform package, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act. The package streamlines the siting of interstate transmission lines, including by removing the Department of Energy’s role as a national transmission planner, and establishes a cost-allocation framework under which customers would pay for transmission projects only if they are determined to benefit from them based on reliability factors. The legislation also imposes a 150-day statute of limitations on lawsuits filed under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), narrows the circumstances under which states can block projects under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, and limits the executive branch’s ability to revoke permits except in specified circumstances.
- Ratepayer Protection Act: (Data Centers) The Senate failed to advance the Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 9340) in a 57-43 vote on September 30. The bill requires states to consider adopting a federal standard directing data centers to pay the full cost of new generation and transmission upgrades needed to serve their facilities. The House passed the legislation 417-3 shortly before leaving Washington for recess.
Trump Administration:
- NLC, USCM Hold Webinar on 2030 Census Rulemaking: NSDA will be submitting comments on the Census Bureau’s proposed rule that would make significant changes to the 2030 Census. On September 28, NLC and USCM hosted a joint webinar on the NLC and USCM emphasized that the changes could affect congressional apportionment, redistricting, and representation at all levels of government, as well as impact federal formula funding, including for programs such as Community Development Block Grants (CDBG). NLC has provided template comment letters to the Census Bureau, available here, and to congressional offices, available here. The Census Bureau has extended the public comment deadline to November 2, 2026.
- White House Proposes $810M Pocket Rescissions Package: On September 25, the White House proposed rescissions of approximately $810 million in previously appropriated funding across health, immigration, education, housing, economic development, and other programs. Submitted days before the end of fiscal year (FY) 2026, the proposal seeks to withhold the funds until they expire on September 30 through a “pocket rescission” process. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) wrote a letter to congressional leaders, arguing that President Trump acted unlawfully in unilaterally canceling this funding.
- FTA Releases CIG Policy Guidance: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) published a proposed policy guidance for the Capital Investment Grants (CIG) program. The proposal tightens project readiness and funding requirements, standardizes project evaluation criteria, and more directly links the federal CIG share to project performance. The proposal places greater emphasis on cost-effectiveness, ridership, congestion relief, and lower requested federal shares, while introducing a formal methodology for calculating CIG funding levels, including adjustments based on corridor birth and marriage rates. Comments on the proposed rule are due November 16, 2026.
- 21st Century ROAD to Housing Implementation: On September 30, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to ease environmental and inspection requirements for housing. As described in Section 802 of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, the MOU states that HUD and USDA will evaluate excluding some housing activities from the environmental review process, find ways to avoid duplicative environmental assessments across agencies, and consider joint physical inspections for developments that receive funds from both departments.