美国环保局计划取消数据中心污染公众评议规则

美国环保局正计划取消联邦公众评议规则，允许数据中心在获得空气污染许可前开始施工1。这一改革将限制公众对工业设施许可的审查机会，特别影响南部农村的黑人社区，他们将面临污染和成本负担1。环保局还曾提议允许开发商在完全获得许可前就启动建造工程1。

该计划引发广泛反对，近200个倡导组织和超过一打州已表示反对这些变化1。调查显示，70%的美国人反对在自己社区建造人工智能数据中心1。环保局主管李·泽尔丁表示，让美国成为人工智能资本是该机构的首要任务1。南卡罗来州已率先通过规则，允许数据中心电力厂无需州监管委员会审查或批准即可建造1。在Meta建造的美国最大数据中心周边地区，房价和租金价格在一年内上涨了80%1。

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving to rescind federal rules requiring states to inform the public about air pollution permits for data centers, potentially allowing construction to begin before pollution licenses are finalized 1. This regulatory shift would strip residents—particularly Black communities in rural Southern areas—of their opportunity to comment on industrial facility permits and expose them to increased pollution burdens 1.

The proposal has drawn opposition from nearly 200 advocacy organizations and more than a dozen states 1. The EPA has also separately proposed allowing developers to commence construction on data centers prior to obtaining necessary permits 1. South Carolina has already enacted rules permitting data center power plants to be built without state regulatory commission review or approval 1. Meanwhile, communities around Meta's data center—the largest in the United States—have experienced housing price and rental increases of 80 percent within a year 1.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has stated that making the United States an artificial intelligence capital is the agency's top priority 1. Public sentiment, however, runs counter to these efforts; 70 percent of Americans oppose constructing AI data centers in their communities 1.