UPHE Comments to EPA on proposed rule change to speed up data center construction

On May 28, 2026, UPHE joined a virtual EPA hearing on their proposed rule change. The change would allow “non-polluting” portions of developments like data centers, or power plants to be built BEFORE they receive an air quality permit. UPHE made the following comments on this proposed change:

This proposed rule change is so absurd, under normal circumstances it would not even be taken seriously. It is an unambiguous capitulation to Big Tech, admittedly intended to fast track the construction of AI data centers.  In just the last few months, these controversial projects have managed to accomplish a remarkable national unity. Everyone hates them.  In red states and blue states citizens are demanding a stop to the AI data center building frenzy.  In states throughout the country, including red states like Texas,  Florida, Idaho and Utah, projects are being delayed or cancelled out because of citizen push back. 

Eighty percent of Americans want rules for AI safety and security even if it means developing  AI more slowly. Seventy-six percent say AI information is not trustworthy.  Seventy percent of Americans don’t want an AI data center constructed in their community; environmental and resource concerns, like water and electricity use, were the primary reasons. Noise pollution is the second most hazardous type of environmental pollution after air pollution.  The constant noise generated by these facilities is extremely disruptive to the health, well-being, and quality of life of their neighbors.

A majority of Americans believe AI will do more harm than good to their daily lives. Even Pope Leo released a 42,000 word “papal encyclical” on AI, essentially an moral indictment of the damage of AI on humanity in general.

Given the explosion of citizen opposition to these projects, for the EPA to propose a rule that turns the mission of the EPA inside out and makes it even easier and quicker to build them, is a staggering disconnect from public sentiment, from the EPA’s mission, and from its statutory obligation, established by the Clean Air Act. This particular rule change may be the crown jewel in the EPA’s deregulatory frenzy under this administration that is leaving Americans exposed to more air pollution, water pollution, toxic industrial chemicals, and the ravages of the climate crisis—and all their deadly health consequences.

There is simply no rational defense for this rule change.  The EPA’s national air quality standards are already too weak, as virtually every relevant medical organization in the country points out whenever there is a review of those standards.  Over 70,000 studies on the health hazard of air pollution point increasingly and consistenly in one direction.  There is no safe level of air pollution. Period. All of it has health consequences, even at the lowest concentrations.  This rule change will make a mockery of even these far too weak standards.  Imagine the impossible task of “unapproving” a project after the infrastructure, foundation, walls, and roof have all been built and the only thing left is to install the gas turbines and the diesel generators, the source of the inevitable pollution.  The mere proposal of this rule change is an insult to the public’s intelligence, and a cynical, complete abandonment of the EPA’s mission.

In Utah this rule change could be even more onerous because of a state law passed this year that prohibits state agencies from making any environmental rules stricter than the EPA’s.  Taken together, these two rules could make it nearly impossible to stop construction of AI data centers in Utah until it’s too late.

UPHE calls on the EPA to abandon this rule change.