Data centre developers could soon build new facilities without notifying nearby residents, under a proposal from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that would remove a long-standing public participation requirement from the federal air permitting process.
The change arrives as new data centres face mounting opposition from neighbouring communities. The EPA plans to discard a federal rule that requires public notice and an opportunity to comment when certain industrial sites apply for an air permit. Advocates warn the move would let developers and other industries break ground without giving nearby residents a say, or even advance warning that construction is planned.
“You can see why that would be so interesting to an administration that wants to rush through the construction of data centers,” said Keri Powell, senior attorney and air program leader at the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC). She warned that permits could be issued “in secret behind closed doors” until “the bulldozers are out there.”
How the permitting process would change
The proposed changes apply to a permitting process in place since the 1970s known as New Source Review, which covers a wide range of facilities including landfills, paper mills and power plant expansions. With the rise of generative AI, these permits have become a flashpoint for opposition to new data centres, as well as to power plants built to supply electricity for the servers.
In July, the EPA announced it would eliminate the federal public participation requirement for a large set of polluters and shift that responsibility to states. The plan would leave it to state and local air agencies to decide whether to notify the public about certain new sources of pollution, prompting concern that many agencies would forgo the process entirely. Air pollution is often regulated federally because it can travel across the country, affecting residents in one state even when the source lies in another.
“The state and local authorities closest to the issues and the public should be making the decisions on the permitting process as much as possible, not Washington,” EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement at the time, describing the move as “cutting unnecessary and burdensome red tape.”
Debate over ‘minor’ pollution sources
The change applies to so-called “minor” sources of pollution, which the EPA says have “relatively low emissions and limited environmental impact.” Powell’s group contends the “minor” label is a misnomer, arguing the process routinely covers projects that can have significant consequences for neighbours.
Colossus 1, xAI’s data centre in Tennessee that the company billed as the “most powerful AI training system yet,” applied for a minor source permit in 2025. That led to a hearing and thousands of comments on a public notice posted by the local health department. The SELC and NAACP threatened to sue xAI over unpermitted gas turbines installed at the site the same year.
The SELC was among nearly 200 health and environmental groups that filed comments asking the EPA to withdraw its proposal on New Source Review.
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Image: theverge.com
