EPA proposal puts 4,900 air comments on the line

The EPA’s proposed minor-source air-permitting rule could let states weaken federal public-notice and comment floors for facilities such as data centers, while more than 4,900 comments await review. EPA’s regulatory page says the July 1 proposal gives state and local agencies greater discretion; a coalition of nearly 200 groups argues it would erase the minimum public-participation requirement, and The Verge reports that the docket passed 4,900 submissions before finalization. For data-center builders, permitting visibility is now a capacity variable: model community and state-process risk before treating a powered site as shovel-ready, alongside the grid pressure already moving AI costs onto households.