The EPA wants to end the 30-day public comment on the permits that let data centres run diesel generators
The agency has proposed removing the federal floor that has required state and local air agencies to publish notice and take 30 days of public comment before approving 'minor source' air permits — the category covering the backup diesel generators and gas turbines increasingly bolted onto data centres. Under the proposal, each state would decide whether, when and for how long the public gets to comment, and the requirement to notify the EPA of minor construction actions goes with it. The Environmental Protection Network, a group of more than 800 former EPA scientists and policy staff, filed against it on 21 August, arguing it contradicts the administrator's own March 2026 memo promising 'the fullest possible public participation', and noting that large facilities are often permitted as minor or synthetic-minor sources precisely to avoid tougher review.
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