Air permits for data centers heated topic ahead of EPA rule revision

A Trump administration plan to let states determine whether to allow public input on certain Clean Air Act permits has garnered broad attention — in large part because the move could affect data center construction across the US.

The US Environmental Protection Agency proposal, now being finalized, has prompted comments from thousands of individuals nationwide. It has also energized oil and gas companies, civil rights and environmental groups, manufacturers, health experts and state officials — all of whom claim a stake in the matter.

The EPA rule would eliminate federal requirements that states provide notice and hold public hearings before so-called "minor source" permits are issued under the Clean Air Act's New Source Review program.

Industrial facilities that emit pollutants below certain thresholds can qualify for minor source permits and obtain faster approval than facilities requiring major-source permits, which are subject to extensive and sometimes costly environmental reviews. Data centers and their energy providers often rely on minor permits when seeking preconstruction approval for backup diesel generators or power sources.

Industry supporters argued in comments filed on the EPA plan that the agency never provided clear rules on how public participation should be handled as the New Source Review program evolved. Practices for notifying and involving the public when companies request minor source permits are often inconsistent and vary from state to state, according to commenters on both sides of the issue.

"EPA's proposed rule strikes an appropriate balance by acknowledging that the best reading of the Clean Air Act ... is that Congress afforded EPA and states and local air agencies discretion to determine whether, when and to what extent to include public participation requirements in regulations of the modification and construction of stationary sources," the American Petroleum Institute wrote in its comment on the agency's rulemaking.

The EPA plan fits into a broader effort to modernize federal permitting, the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma told the agency.

"By reducing unnecessary permitting processes for lower-emitting projects, it complements other federal administrative and legislative initiatives aimed at delivering more efficient, predictable permitting for energy, manufacturing, and infrastructure projects without compromising core environmental protections," the trade group said in its comment.

Opponents of the proposed EPA rule said states routinely issue minor source permits that result in significant pollution for communities near industrial facilities.

"Many of our organizations represent or partner with communities where large data centers, refineries, chemical plants, processing facilities, asphalt plants, concrete batch plants, chemical pyrolysis plants and an array of other highly polluting facilities are sited and expanded — permit after permit — often without our knowledge until construction has already begun," 193 local groups wrote in a comment filed on the EPA plan.

The comment period closed Aug. 21.

Georgia data center lacked generator permit

In Georgia, environmental regulators in July issued a stop-work order to VoltaGrid LLC after local activists sent aerial photos to the state showing that the company was installing natural gas-fired generators without a permit next to a data center in Covington southeast of Atlanta.

Houston-based VoltaGrid specializes in temporary energy solutions for data centers and had been tapped to provide 33 natural gas generators as a 90 MW "bridge" electric generating unit. The data center is expected to connect to Georgia Power's grid about a year.

The photos also showed that the data center developer, ServerFarm LLC, had installed 36 of the 37 diesel-fired backup generators proposed in its application to the state even though it lacked an air quality permit.

Both companies are being investigated by the state and could be fined, Sara Lips, a spokesperson for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division said in an email.

Maurice Carter, president and co-founder of the small nonprofit Sustainable Newton, said he drove to the data center site in mid-June and took photos after learning that someone had seen construction activity. The photos led to the drone fly-over and aerial images that prompted the state to take action, he said in an interview.

"I go by every day and take pictures and visit," said Carter, a former project executive with IBM who formed the nonprofit as a retiree. "It's one of the difficulties with holding a project like this accountable. The more EPA tries to ease the rules and let the companies do more, who on the ground can discern what's going on?"

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) posted a notice about the project on its website in November 2025, as required under federal law, prompting the group's investigation. Carter said the EPA proposal could make it harder to get such notices and protect local communities.

VoltaGrid and ServerFarm did not return requests for comment.

Permitting flexibility

Some states commenting on the EPA proposal agreed that they are best equipped to handle public input on Clean Air Act permits.

States take seriously the public's involvement in permitting actions, "but this does not mean that an across-the-board public notice mandate for state and local minor NSR permitting is lawful or appropriate," the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services wrote in comments to the EPA.

Ohio has a 30-day public comment period for all its New Source Review permits, including minor source permits, and takes such comments into account, wrote the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

"The proposed rule would allow Ohio EPA to continue its current public participation process but also provide the option to tailor the process for minor NSR permits, general permits and permits by rule," the agency wrote in its comment. "Ohio EPA appreciates such discretion, and as such, supports the proposal."

Meanwhile, the Georgia community groups are pressing forward with their challenges to the Covington data center permits, even as the EPA and some states question the need for such engagement.

During the first three months of the year, 75 data centers worth an estimated $130 billion were disrupted by local opposition, according to Data Center Watch, published by AI research firm 10a Labs.

Emission concerns, PSC schedules hearing

The activists in Covington urged state regulators not to split the data center's 37 diesel backup generators and 33 gas generators between two minor permits since they serve a single facility but rather collect them under a single major permit. The same argument was raised for a $10 billion data center in North Carolina for which state regulators on Aug. 28 approved two separate permits.

Sustainable Newton, together with the group Altamaha Riverkeeper and attorneys with the Southern Environmental Law Center, also argued that the Covington data center energy project needs approval from the Georgia Public Service Commission.

Since VoltaGrid is intent on operating as an energy provider under its own permit and independent of the data center, the company must be regulated by the commission as a cogenerator, the groups said in a July filing with the PSC.

VoltaGrid, in a response, pushed back against the notion that it is an electric retail supplier under the jurisdiction of state utility laws. The company is still awaiting the air permit needed to resume installation of the gas generators.

The Georgia commission set a hearing for December 9. A similar appeal was rejected by South Carolina utility regulators on Aug. 27.