In a move that environmental lawyers are calling a masterclass in 'ask forgiveness, not permission,' the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed allowing gas power plants, data centers, and factories to start building non-polluting bits like piping, wiring, and cement pads before they bother getting those pesky air-emission permits.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, in a news release that likely didn't mention the Clean Air Act's feelings, announced Monday that the changes aim to solve issues that have 'held up critical American infrastructure' and help the U.S. win a global AI race against China and other adversaries. Because nothing says 'technological forefront' like pouring concrete before checking if you're allowed to poison the air.
The proposed rules, which will undergo a 45-day public comment period, are part of the Trump administration's broader effort to reduce environmental protections and speed up construction. Big Tech companies like Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Google are frantically building data centers - massive facilities with networked computer servers - to power energy-intensive AI, and they're increasingly seeking their own natural gas-fueled power plants to avoid waiting in long queues for grid upgrades.
David Baron, a senior attorney with Earthjustice, noted that the construction definitions have been a critical part of the Clean Air Act for decades. Without them, he said, it will be 'much, much harder for communities to protect the air they breathe.' Under current rules, companies could do small amounts of site clearing and grading, but not invest hundreds of millions of dollars before obtaining a permit. Baron warned that significant pre-permit investment makes it 'politically difficult' to reject air permits for facilities that promise hundreds of jobs and tax revenues.
Keri Powell, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, painted a vivid picture: under Zeldin's proposed rules, a gas plant could be nearly complete except for the technology central to the air permitting process. 'Once you have the layout of the plant... there's going to be a lot of sunk costs there,' she said. 'The political pressure that would be brought to bear on a local agency or state agency that's charged with making those [permit] decisions would be very, very high.'
The EPA's proposal mirrors similar actions in Virginia, which has more operating data centers than any other state or nation besides the U.S. In January, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality released guidance allowing construction on data center buildings before air permits, as long as the building didn't house the backup generators requiring the permit. The state's largest utility, Dominion Energy, says data center developers now request over 70 gigawatts of power - nearly three times Dominion's record peak demand of 25 gigawatts in January.
So, in the race to win AI supremacy, the EPA is basically saying: build first, ask the Clean Air Act to forgive you later. What could possibly go wrong?