US HB8037

H.R. 8037 - Protect American AI Act of 2026

• Prevents environmental lawsuits from invalidating permits, licenses, or approvals already issued for data centers and supporting infrastructure, even if courts find violations of environmental laws including NEPA, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act

• Courts finding environmental review violations must remand matters to federal agencies to resolve issues rather than vacate or set aside existing permits, allowing data center construction and operations to continue during remediation

• Establishes exclusive jurisdiction in U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals (where the project is located) for judicial review of federal agency orders on data center applications, with mandatory expedited review

• Imposes 90-day statute of limitations for filing legal claims challenging federal permits for data centers, beginning from Federal Register publication of final approval

• Covers data centers (facilities primarily processing, storing, or transmitting digital information) and "covered infrastructure" (any facility primarily constructed to support a data center, such as power generation or transmission)