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Key developments
Data centers are bypassing federal water permits
E&E News by POLITICO’s Miranda Willson reported that data center developers are benefiting from reduced Clean Water Act jurisdiction after the Supreme Court’s 2023 wetlands ruling and narrower Trump administration implementation. A POLITICO review of 95 Army Corps documents found at least 26 data centers since January 2024 using streamlined federal water pollution permits, plus at least 27 sites where regulators found water resources but determined no federal dredge-and-fill permit was required. The reporting cites an Amazon-backed project near Canton, Ohio, and a Stargate-linked site in Milam County, Texas, where developers withdrew a permit request after concluding wetlands were no longer federally regulated.
Why it matters
Federal water permitting had been one of communities’ strongest tools for scrutinizing data center siting, and its narrowing accelerates projects while reducing public leverage.
Sources & driving stories
E&E NEWS BY POLITICO · Miranda Willson
E&E News by POLITICO coveragePOLITICO · Miranda Willson
Politico coveragePrince William blocks Dulles Cloud South
Prince William County supervisors voted 8-0 Tuesday to reject a rezoning and comprehensive-plan amendment for the Dulles Cloud South data center proposal, Virginia Mercury’s Shannon Heckt reported. The project would have opened roughly 1,760 to nearly 2,000 acres near the Loudoun County border to industrial data center development, with up to 43 million square feet of floor space. The vote followed the recent collapse of the nearby Digital Gateway project after years of litigation over a 1,760-acre complex near Manassas National Battlefield Park.
Why it matters
The decision marks a major reversal in one of the world’s most important data center markets and signals that even pro-data-center Northern Virginia localities are hitting siting limits.
Sources & driving stories
VIRGINIA MERCURY · Shannon Heckt
Virginia Mercury coverageNEWSWEEK · Jasmine Laws
Newsweek coverageTribal data center conflicts intensify in Oklahoma
The New York Times’ David W. Chen and Tamir Kalifa reported that Big Tech and developers are increasingly looking to Native American land for large AI data center projects, raising disputes over water, power, noise, sovereignty, and consultation. In Oklahoma, the Seminole Nation imposed a moratorium after a nondisclosure agreement with a developer surfaced, the Muscogee Nation rejected rezoning of 5,570 acres for a technology park, and the Cherokee Nation formed a task force to study impacts. The report also highlights Project Clydesdale, a $1 billion, 500-acre data center under construction in Tulsa County, and talks involving Colusa Indian Energy to build a power plant for a data center by year-end.
Why it matters
AI infrastructure developers are testing whether tribal sovereignty can speed approvals, but tribal governments are emerging as pivotal regulators rather than passive hosts.
Sources & driving stories
THE NEW YORK TIMES · David W. Chen and Tamir Kalifa
The New York Times coverageWorth noting
WORTH NOTING
Virginia power tax takes effect
GovTech reported Virginia’s budget compromise created what appears to be the first U.S. tax tied directly to data center electricity use, effective July 1, while preserving the state’s equipment sales tax exemption through 2035.
WORTH NOTING
Massachusetts Senate advances strict rules
The Greenfield Recorder reported the Massachusetts Senate passed S.3143 in a 32-8 vote, including requirements for new or expanded data centers to bring clean power, phase out fossil backups, report energy and water use, and forfeit tax exemptions for noncompliance.
WORTH NOTING
Local pauses spread beyond Virginia
Fort Worth zoning commissioners rejected proposed data center rules for more work, while Sarasota County and Knoxville approved moratoria, showing fast-moving local resistance centered on water, noise, power, and land-use impacts.
Still unclear
OPEN QUESTION
Will state rules replace federal water oversight?
If Clean Water Act permitting no longer captures many data center sites, state and local governments may become the primary venues for environmental review and public participation.
OPEN QUESTION
Can tax policy keep pace with load growth?
Virginia’s electricity-use tax and Massachusetts’ proposed clean-power requirements test whether governments can recover grid and water costs without pushing projects to less regulated jurisdictions.