This bill, titled the "Let America Build Act of 2026," introduces comprehensive reforms aimed at expediting federal permitting and leasing processes for oil, gas, and mineral development. It seeks to reduce regulatory burdens, limit the impact of environmental reviews and litigation on project timelines, and enhance the role of states in permitting decisions. The legislation covers a wide array of activities, from onshore and offshore oil and gas leasing to critical mineral extraction and the export of liquefied natural gas. Its primary objective is to accelerate domestic energy and mineral production by streamlining federal authorization procedures. For onshore and offshore oil and gas leasing , the bill mandates that protests to lease sales be resolved within 60 days, precluding further environmental review if a protest is denied. It clarifies that litigation challenging environmental reviews for lease sales will not affect lease validity or delay drilling permit timelines, requiring courts to remand, rather than vacate, leases for environmental violations. Lease cancellations are significantly restricted, generally requiring lessee agreement, and a 60-day limit is imposed for judicial challenges to lease sales or permits. The bill also promotes cooperative federalism by allowing the Secretary of the Interior to delegate authority to states for issuing Applications for Permit to Drill (APDs), approving drilling plans, and granting rights-of-way on "available Federal land." This delegation is contingent on state programs demonstrating effectiveness and compliance, and state processing of applications continues regardless of federal environmental reviews. The legislation specifies that federal permits to drill are not required for wells primarily on non-federal land, even if the wellbore accesses federal minerals, provided certain conditions are met and state or tribal requirements are observed. This aims to reduce federal oversight where federal mineral ownership is limited, while still requiring notification to the Secretary of the Interior. Furthermore, the bill defers to State and Tribal authority for hydraulic fracturing regulation , prohibiting federal enforcement where states have their own rules and requiring states to submit their regulations for public transparency. On tribal trust lands, federal enforcement of hydraulic fracturing regulations is barred without the express consent of the beneficiary. To boost liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports , the bill establishes a strict 45-day deadline for the Secretary of Energy to issue decisions on LNG export applications after environmental reviews are complete. If this deadline is missed, the application is automatically approved, and the environmental review is deemed sufficient. It also expedites approval for small-scale LNG exports and exports to free trade agreement nations, deeming these consistent with the public interest. In mineral leasing and permitting , the bill expands permitting improvements to all minerals, not just critical minerals, and requires land use plans to assess mineral significance for national security. The legislation streamlines coal leasing by deeming a specific environmental assessment sufficient and requiring regular lease offerings. It modifies critical mineral definitions and criteria to include fuel minerals under certain conditions, aiming to broaden the scope of domestic mineral production. Significant permitting process improvements include setting firm deadlines for environmental assessments (1 year) and environmental impact statements (2 years) under NEPA, with a 90-day window for final authorizations after NEPA document publication. Crucially, the bill imposes a 60-day statute of limitations for judicial review of mining permits and limits judicial remedies, preventing permits from being vacated or delayed unless there is an imminent and substantial environmental harm with no other equitable solution. For the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) , the bill significantly alters NEPA review requirements for natural gas and power projects. It narrowly defines "effects" to include only physical, reasonably foreseeable, and directly causally related changes, explicitly excluding upstream or downstream emissions and "but for" causation. FERC is designated as the sole lead agency for NEPA reviews of natural gas projects, tasked with coordinating with other agencies and ensuring timely authorizations. The bill extends the period for FERC to act on rehearing applications from 30 to 60 days and allows for de novo judicial review of civil penalties, further aiming to accelerate project approvals and limit regulatory delays.