The Trump administration has accelerated deregulatory efforts to expand data centers, including rollbacks on clean water rules and coal mining on public lands. The Environmental Protection Agency is fast-tracking reviews of new chemicals for these facilities. Experts warn this could approve novel forever chemicals with minimal oversight.
In recent months, the Trump administration has pursued aggressive deregulation to boost data center construction. This initiative includes directives to roll back clean water regulations and permit coal mining on public lands, aiming to support the growing infrastructure needs of artificial intelligence and data processing.
A key aspect involves the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prioritizing the evaluation of new chemicals intended for use in data centers. These substances are essential for cooling systems and other operations in the facilities.
Experts express concern that this accelerated process might lead to the rapid approval of new types of forever chemicals—persistent pollutants known for their environmental and health risks—without sufficient regulatory scrutiny. Forever chemicals, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), have been linked to various harms, and introducing variants could exacerbate contamination issues.
The push aligns with broader goals to enhance energy and computational capacity, but it raises questions about long-term environmental safeguards. As data centers proliferate to meet AI demands, the balance between innovation and oversight remains a point of contention among policymakers and scientists.