The Environmental Protection Agency is weighing a rule change that could leave communities with less warning before some new air-polluting facilities are built near them, including gas plants and diesel generators used to power data centers.
The agency held a public hearing Wednesday on a proposal that would let state and local regulators decide how the public participates in permitting for certain new or modified “minor” sources of air pollution. An EPA spokesperson said the change would put agencies “most familiar with local issues” in charge of whether, when and for how long public participation happens. The spokesperson said the proposal would not change emissions standards.
That sounds bureaucratic because it is. It is also where a lot of the action is now happening. Data center operators are facing more resistance from residents, and air permits are one of the few places where ordinary people can see what is being built, ask questions and slow a project down.
Major permits, minor permits and a large loophole
Under the Clean Air Act, companies must get permits for facilities that release air pollution. Bigger polluters go through the “major” source process when they meet or exceed thresholds for particular pollutants. Those projects face federal and state review, public steps such as hearings, and requirements before and after construction.
Facilities below those thresholds can be treated as “minor” sources. That category is broad. It can cover dry cleaners and auto body shops, but also diesel and gas engines. Those engines are increasingly relevant to data centers, which need large amounts of reliable electricity. Operators including xAI and Meta have used minor-source permitting to build behind-the-meter gas plants, according to WIRED’s reporting.
Federal EPA rules currently require some public involvement for minor-source permits. State implementation varies, leaving a patchwork in which the public process can be robust in one state and thin in another. The proposed rollback would remove a federal floor and push more discretion to states.
Vanessa Lynch, a Pennsylvania organizer with Moms Clean Air Force, told the EPA hearing that communities dealing with data centers want a voice in what gets built around them.
Why states matter
Keri Powell, an Atlanta-based attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, said Georgia’s public notice and participation rules have allowed legal and community groups to spot issues through air permit applications. The group recently alerted Georgia’s state utility about construction issues at a data center using information from public air permit filings.
If the EPA drops its federal requirement, Powell said, groups in Georgia could receive little or no advance notice and lose a practical route to challenge or review projects. “Georgia is an example of a place where I can say I’m concerned,” she said.
Sara Lips, communications director for Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division, said the agency is reviewing whether the federal proposal would affect public participation requirements under state rules.
Kentucky has stronger public participation laws for minor-source permits as well. Byron Gary, a senior attorney at the Kentucky Resources Council, said state agencies have informally committed to keeping those rules in place even if EPA changes course. He warned that a later state administration could revisit that position.
Texas shows the other side of the map. The data center boom there has driven construction of private gas plants that often rely on minor pollution permits. Lower levels of enforcement have left some residents surprised by the scale of fossil fuel infrastructure appearing near their homes, according to WIRED.
The proposal arrives as the Trump administration pushes federal agencies to speed data center development and promote artificial intelligence. The EPA spokesperson said the agency is working to make the United States “the AI capital of the world.” Powell said she sees the permitting change as part of a broader effort to make AI data centers easier to build.
This story draws on original reporting from WIRED.
