Help Stop Data Centers from Polluting Your Air

Administrator Zeldin

For nearly 50 years under the Clean Air Act, major polluters have had to prove their facilities won't pollute and harm the air you breathe — before they break ground.

Trump's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants to illegally end that requirement for data centers, power plants, and other industrial polluters.

A new proposal would let these facilities finish major parts of the construction before ever getting the air pollution permits the Clean Air Act requires. By the time anyone measures and tries to counter the health damage, hundreds of millions of dollars are sunk into the project and there's no turning back.

Sign NRDC Action Fund’s petition and send a letter to the EPA stating your opposition to this illegal plan. >>

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To: Administrator Zeldin
From: [Your Name]

I am writing to oppose the EPA's proposed rule redefining "begin actual construction" under the Clean Air Act's New Source Review program.

For nearly 50 years, major sources of air pollution — including data centers, power plants, and industrial facilities — have been required to obtain preconstruction permits before breaking ground. This is not a technicality. It is the law's core protection for the families who live, work, and raise children in the shadow of these facilities.

This proposal would let major polluters complete most of their construction before the public ever has a chance to weigh in on the health and air quality consequences. That is backwards. Once hundreds of millions of dollars are sunk into a half-finished facility, the pressure on regulators to approve the permit becomes overwhelming — no matter the cost to public health. The public's right to participate, to demand stronger pollution controls, and to see a permit denied when the harms are too great would all be gutted.

Communities deserve a say in what gets built next door before the concrete is poured — not after. I urge the EPA to withdraw this proposal and preserve the preconstruction permitting protections that have safeguarded American air quality for half a century.

Thank you for your consideration.