OPENING LINES AS EPA MOVES TO FAST-TRACK DATA CENTERS, SOME CITIES ARE MOVING TO SLOW THEM DOWN Source: www.smartcitiesdive.com, Robyn Griggs Lawrence, Editor, First Published Dec 17th, 2025 The EPA is streamlining the Clean Air Act permitting to accelerate development. Will local communities pay the price? Tech companies are investing billions of dollars to build data centers to train and run AI platforms. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order forbidding state AI laws that conflict with his administration’s AI-forward policies and threatening to restrict federal funding if their laws are found to be burdensome.That order follows one Trump signed in January calling for a national AI action plan “to sustain and enhance America’s global AI dominance.” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced in July that the EPA was “committed to increasing certainty in the permitting process that is crucial to securing power demand for data centers” and partnering with state, local, and tribal air-quality agencies to promote “ways for Americans to invest and develop AI domestically.” EPA is updating Clean Air Act rules requiring companies to “maintain proper pollution control” that it says “have not been updated to reflect technological advancements of the 21st century,” according to last week’s press release. “EPA is diligently working to eliminate burdensome regulations and ensure data centers and related facilities can be built in the U.S. as we Power the Great American Comeback,”Zeldin said in a statement 9 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 12
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