FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 21, 2026
CONTACT:
Aaron Bharucha, Public Relations Associate
(509) 429-1699 and epn-press@environmentalprotectionnetwork.org
EPA Proposal Threatens Public Notice for Some Data Center Air Permits
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Environmental Protection Network submitted formal public comments this week strongly opposing a proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule that would dismantle a 50-year-old Clean Air Act requirement. The proposed rule seeks to eliminate mandatory public notice and comment for minor New Source Review (NSR) industrial air pollution permits in state plans, making public participation entirely optional at the state level.
Under the proposed framework, states would be permitted to grant public participation only “in a manner and extent the agency considers appropriate.” EPN experts warned this will leave communities in the dark regarding fast-expanding heavy industrial developments—including massive fossil-fueled buildouts for AI data centers that may be permitted as minor or synthetic-minor sources and therefore avoid more stringent major-source review.
“By eliminating the long-standing federal requirement for public notice, this proposal continues efforts by the current administration to turn its back on the fundamental EPA principle of transparency,” said Mike Koerber, former Deputy Director of EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. “This proposed rule could force states whose laws forbid being stricter than federal rules to strip away public notice rights entirely, creating an unlevel playing field where citizens in one state are kept completely in the dark about new data centers and heavy industrial emissions in their backyards while neighboring states maintain oversight.”
In its comments, EPN highlighted several key concerns with the proposed rule:
- Direct Conflict with EPA Policy: The proposal directly contradicts Administrator Lee Zeldin’s March 2026 transparency memorandum, which pledged that “the public must be able to trust our work” and called for “the fullest possible public participation in our decision making.”
- Risks from AI Data Center & Industrial Expansion: Proliferating AI data centers may include numerous generators and other onsite power sources. Pyrolysis and advanced recycling plants can emit pollution from multiple processes and raise evolving questions about how they should be classified. Without public review, flawed emissions calculations or unenforceable limits may go undetected, allowing facilities to avoid major-source controls.
- Ignores Inspector General Recommendations: The EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has repeatedly warned that the lack of public participation in minor source permitting is a critical failure that deprives citizens of their right to evaluate local health risks.
- Erosion of EPA Oversight: The proposed regulatory changes quietly remove the requirement to notify both the public and EPA of minor construction actions, leaving the agency unable to catch permit errors.
- Threats to Tribal Sovereignty: The proposal limits the ability of Tribal governments to evaluate or request consultation on air permits for facilities whose pollution affects Tribal lands, undermining their ability to protect their communities and natural resources.
EPN’s team of former regulators urged the agency to preserve mandatory public participation—or, at a minimum, maintain required public notice for synthetic-minor pollution sources—rather than abdicating oversight under the guise of state flexibility.
Read EPN’s Public Comments opposing the rule here.
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ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION NETWORK
The Environmental Protection Network is a nonpartisan organization comprising more than 800 former EPA scientists, toxicologists, chemists, biologists, engineers, and policy analysts — many of whom spent decades as career experts inside the agency. They assessed cancer and developmental risks, studied links between pollution and fertility and chronic disease, investigated contaminated communities, and brought enforcement actions to hold corporate polluters accountable. EPN was founded in 2017 to serve as an independent voice promoting science-based policies that protect families’ health.