EPA moves to curb public input on data centers
- The San Juan Daily Star
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
By MAXINE JOSELOW
The Trump administration is moving to make it harder for communities to weigh in on proposed data centers, even as a backlash against the behemoth projects grows across the country.
The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate a federal requirement that states publicize and solicit public input on applications for air pollution permits for a range of industrial facilities, including new data centers and the power plants needed to run them.
The move could prevent residents from raising concerns about — or even learning about — data centers before permits are approved and construction starts.
Nearly 200 advocacy groups and more than a dozen states have voiced opposition to the change, making it the latest flashpoint in the national debate over the data centers powering the artificial intelligence boom.
“People need to have a chance to have a say before they see bulldozers,” said Keri Powell, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, a nonprofit legal advocacy group.
Tech companies are increasingly building their own gas-burning power plants to fuel energy-hungry data centers, sometimes in response to pressure to keep the facilities from raising electricity costs.
But gas plants can release greenhouse gases that are driving climate change as well as harmful pollutants like particulate matter and nitrogen oxides, which can contribute to asthma, heart disease and other ailments in people living nearby. In some states, the permitting process is the only time the public is notified about plans for the plants.
Carolyn Holran, an EPA spokesperson, said in an email that the proposal would “provide the state and local agencies most familiar with local issues the discretion to determine whether, when, and for how long to provide opportunities for public participation.”
Holran said the move was intended to “responsibly speed up permitting, supporting American economic development and energy dominance. Our proposal does not alter emission standards or weaken environmental protections.”
In March 2025, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin declared a top priority was to “make the United States the artificial intelligence capital of the world.” He has reframed the purpose of an agency that was established in 1970 to protect the environment and public health.
The EPA has also proposed another sweeping change that would let developers start building data centers before their permits are approved. And it has exempted the gas plants that fuel many data centers from limits on pollutants that cause acid rain.
The latest proposal would apply to industrial facilities that the EPA classifies as a “minor source” of air pollution. The category includes car repair shops, data centers, landfills, laundromats and steel mills.
Environmentalists argue that the phrase “minor source” is misleading, since such facilities can emit up to 250 tons of hazardous pollutants per year, a significant amount from a public health perspective.
“It is a misnomer,” said Jessica O’Donnell, a senior attorney at the Environmental Law & Policy Center, a nonprofit.
Several “minor source” permits can have a large cumulative effect.
In a part of Virginia called Data Center Alley, for instance, Amazon holds enough “minor source” permits to allow its backup generators to emit 4,200 tons of nitrogen oxides annually, roughly equivalent to the nitrogen oxides released by a medium-size coal plant in a year.
Josh Weissman, Amazon’s director of data center delivery, said that backup generators made up less than 4% of regional nitrogen oxide emissions, adding that they did not run around the clock.
“It is important to distinguish between what’s permitted and what’s actually emitted — being permitted for backup generation doesn’t mean those generators are running,” Weissman said in an email.
Polls have shown a bipartisan revolt against data centers, with Democrats and Republicans alike citing concerns about noise, air pollution and energy and water usage. Governors in both parties have called for more public input on the projects, not less.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, has directed state agencies to provide “transparent, meaningful and thorough opportunities for public comment” on proposed data centers. Texas’ Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has paused approvals of permits for data centers until state regulators can audit their effects. And Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, has required developers to craft “detailed community outreach plans.”
“Even if the Trump administration is willing to limit local input, Pennsylvania will continue to conduct stringent review of all data center permits,” Will Simons, a spokesperson for Shapiro, said in an email.
In a joint letter, Democratic attorneys general from 14 other states voiced opposition to the EPA proposal, though none of the states is a data center hub.
Public comments on permits have sometimes influenced state officials.
Last year, for instance, environmentalists wrote to Indiana regulators about a draft permit for Project Maize, an $832 million Google data center campus planned along Lake Michigan. Regulators then revised the permit, though they still approved it. (Devon Smiley, a Google spokesperson, said the project complied with all state and federal regulations.)
The EPA is expected to finalize the proposal within the next year.
Comments