The US Environmental Protection Agency has proposed scrapping the federal minimum requirement for public notice and comment on "minor" industrial air pollution permits, a change that critics say could allow polluting datacentres to be built with little or no community warning. The Environmental Protection Network, a group of former EPA staff, argues the shift would hand state and local regulators sole discretion over whether the public is informed about new or modified pollution sources, including fossil-fuelled generators increasingly used to power AI datacentres.

The proposal targets minor New Source Review permits under the Clean Air Act, which could let large-scale gas turbines built to power datacentres avoid stricter major-source review and its associated public scrutiny. Many datacentre developers have turned to on-site gas generation to bypass lengthy grid-connection delays, but this raises local pollution levels, including smog-forming nitrogen oxides. The move follows EPA administrator Lee Zeldin's stance that datacentre environmental oversight should rest with states, a position critics say clashes with his own earlier pledge of "the fullest possible public participation" in EPA decisions. It also comes as a Gallup poll found over 70% of Americans would oppose a datacentre being built in their neighbourhood, even as President Trump has voiced strong support for the industry's expansion.