Congress is weighing a permitting reform bill that could put Native burial grounds, sacred places and ancestral landscapes at risk. Lawmakers should remove Division B, Title III from the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (S. 5653) before the bill moves forward.

Title III would rewrite Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. Since 1966, that law has required federal agencies to weigh how a highway, pipeline, power line or other federally backed project could affect historic places, with a process for Tribal Nations to weigh in. Many of the places that matter most to Tribes lie outside today’s reservation borders, and Section 106 is how Tribes take part in federal decisions that touch them.

The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) warns the bill would make Tribal consultation optional at key stages. Agencies could push ahead after just 30 days without hearing from a Tribe. Federal officials would get more say over what counts as historic and whether a project does harm. The bill would also limit the power of courts to pause a project, which NCAI says could let a sacred site be damaged while a legal challenge is still underway. Once a burial ground is bulldozed, no court ruling can bring it back.

New roads, energy and jobs do not have to come at the cost of sacred land. “Tribal Nations should never have to choose between infrastructure development and protecting our cultural heritage,” according to NCAI. Any changes to Section 106 belong at a table where Tribal Nations have a real seat.

The National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (NATHPO) is urging people to contact Congress before November 9. Sign the petition to tell Congress to withdraw Title III and protect sacred places before they are lost for good.