EPA moves to scrap public review rules for data center pollution permits

The US Environmental Protection Agency plans to scrap a federal requirement that states tell the public - and allow public comment - before approving air-pollution permits for industrial facilities, Capital B News reported on 9 September. The change would cover the data centers being built across the country as well as the power plants constructed to feed their enormous appetite for electricity.

In a statement quoted by the outlet, the EPA said 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.” A separate change floated by the agency last month would let developers start building data centers before their permits are approved.

Where the pressure is greatest

Seven in ten Americans say they oppose building data centers for artificial intelligence in or near their communities, yet the rural South - home to a disproportionate share of Black communities - has seen the largest growth of these large campuses.

Paul Black, an environmental activist organizing against a data center complex the size of 1,200 football fields in rural South Carolina, said the moves “run counter to the way American democracy is sold to us” and to “the will of the people.” The project in his 40% Black community was proposed there only after developers tried - and failed - to build a similar campus in a predominantly white county in Georgia.

Health risks, bills and displacement

Residents told Capital B News that the proposals, combined with a wider lack of transparency, could worsen health risks, increase utility bills and contribute to community displacement. Data centers drive demand for gas-fired plants and turbines that emit smog-forming nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter, and in some cases hazardous pollutants such as formaldehyde, which has been linked to a range of cancers.

The cost of new utility infrastructure is usually passed on to ratepayers, and Black households, which on average face a higher energy burden than other groups, have been hit by rising bills. Around the country’s largest data center under construction, in rural Louisiana, a local mayor said prices had doubled and families in trailer-home parks were evicted to make room for higher-earning construction workers; median home and rental prices rose 80% in a single year.

“It’s beyond cruel for Trump’s EPA to silence front-line communities who bear the brunt of unhealthy air,” said Brandon Jones-Cobb, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Opposition and next steps

Nearly 200 advocacy groups and more than a dozen states, led by Democrats and Republicans alike, oppose the changes. Louisiana commissioner Davante Lewis cast the only vote to release electricity-use data tied to his state’s data center construction, asking how people can accept a project they are not allowed to understand. The EPA says the changes would “responsibly speed up permitting”; administrator Lee Zeldin calls making the US “the artificial intelligence capital of the world” his top priority, and the agency expects to finalize the rule within a year.