Trump EPA proposes changing air pollution reporting rules for data centers

The Trump administration is proposing a new rule that would basically give data centers the ability to pollute as much as they want.The Environmental Protection Agency’s rule change, The Guardian reports, would remove the Clean Air Act requirement that data centers publicly disclose their air pollution, making the disclosures voluntary at the discretion of state and some local officials. But since many state and local governments have business agreements with data center companies, this would likely end most pollution disclosures for data centers nationwide.Now people with data centers in their community won’t know what substances they’re being exposed to, and won’t have evidence to cite in any legal challenges. In effect, the move seems to be aimed at squashing public criticism and oversight of data centers, according to the EPA’s former assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation Joe Goffman. The existing rule is supposed to protect members of the public, giving them “an ironclad promise,” Goffman told The Guardian.“The administration is basically saying: ‘You all may have thought this was an ironclad promise, but it no longer is,’” said Goffman, who has co-authored comments on the proposed rule. While the rule’s public comment period just ended, it could still face legal challenges if finalized.Data centers have faced heavy public opposition across the country due to their power consumption, pollution, the lack of jobs many create, and the noise they generate, among other issues. The response from President Trump has been denial and an insistence that data centers benefit communities.“Frankly, communities that don’t take a data center, they’re making a mistake because there’s plenty of communities that want them. Because it means jobs, and it means tremendous tax revenue coming into the towns and cities that take them. So you know, it’s like the smart ones are saying, ‘I want them so badly,’” Trump said in an interview just last week.

Trump administration proposes new rule to dismantle requirement for datacenters to publicly report air pollutionA new rule proposed by the Trump administration aims to kill public notification for datacenter air pollution, public health advocates warn, and allow emission permits to be issued behind closed doors.The datacenters are often sources of nitrogen oxide, which helps form ozone, carbon monoxide and heavy metals, among other pollutants. Continue reading...