EPA is loosening the reins on a long-standing industrial permitting program created to ensure that major plant projects don’t worsen air quality.
In a new interpretation of the New Source Review program announced Tuesday, the agency will now allow companies to begin work on new plants before getting a permit as long as the construction doesn’t extend to “emissions units” that release air pollution.
“This action provides flexibility to begin certain building activities that are not related to air emissions, such as installing cement pads, before obtaining a Clean Air Act (CAA) construction permit,” the agency said in a news release.
Administrator Lee Zeldin previewed the change in July in a Fox News op-ed, saying that faster permitting is needed to ensure American dominance in the field of artificial intelligence by expediting construction of both new data centers and the power plants to feed their enormous electricity needs.
