Tech Companies Accused of Splitting Permits to Dodge Air Pollution Rules

Environmental advocates state that datacenter developers are dodging strict US air pollution rules by splitting their emission sources into multiple smaller permits. Companies need federal permits to release pollutants like nitrogen oxide, ozone, and greenhouse gases. By dividing projects into minor sources, firms avoid major reviews that take more time, cost more money, and require public scrutiny. Michael Koerber, a retired EPA official who now works with the Environmental Protection Network, calls this practice lego permitting. In North Carolina, Amazon and Duke Energy planned to install 649 diesel generators for a hyperscale center by submitting two separate permits. This avoided a major review in a low-income area already suffering from high pollution and high rates of heart disease, cancer, and respiratory illness. Kathleen Sullivan, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, stated that regulators blindly trusted powerful companies without verifying lease agreements or contracts. An Amazon spokesperson defended the move, stating the separate permits reflect the actual ownership and operational structure of the projects. In New Mexico, developers of the Project Jupiter datacenter tried to use two minor permits for natural gas microgrids that would have released up to 44 tons of hazardous air pollution combined, staying just under the 25-ton federal limit for a single minor permit. Attorneys called this attempt audacious and insulting, and developers withdrew the application in April after strong community pushback and opposition from the New Mexico environment department. Cheryl Vetter, a former EPA employee, noted that while divided permits are allowed in some cases where companies are separate, they are not permitted when all polluting activities share common control.