NGOs reject EPA proposal that could end public input on data center air permits
A data center in Ashburn, Virginia, July 16, 2023. The US Environmental Protection Agency has proposed allowing states to determine public input requirements for air permits for data centers and certain other facilities. Credit:
AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey
The US Environmental Protection Agency has proposed to stop requiring states to notify the public when companies apply for certain new air pollution permits. The rule would apply to new construction or expansion of data centers, ethylene oxide sterilizers, chemical manufacturing plants, and other facilities that qualify as minor sources under the Clean Air Act.
“Opposition to data centers is growing in communities across the country, yet EPA’s response is to cut the public out of air pollution permitting and allow permits to be approved behind closed doors,” Sheena Patel, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), says in a statement.
The NRDC is one group in a coalition of almost 200 environmental, health, and community nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that filed a comment on the EPA’s proposal. Other advocacy groups, as well as the state attorneys general from California, Massachusetts, Michigan, and 11 other states, also filed comments opposing the EPA’s suggested changes. Groups that commented in support of the EPA’s proposal include the Ohio state EPA, the American Petroleum Institute, and the North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA).
The EPA proposed the rule on July 7 and received more than 4,200 public comments by the Aug. 21 deadline.
According to the proposal, the EPA suggested the change to “provide State and local air agencies with greater discretion to identify the requisite level of public participation that is appropriate in their minor [New Source Review] programs.”
Under current EPA rules, states have to give public notice and open a 30-day comment period when minor sources file a draft air pollution permit. This draft permit is an application to the state environmental agency that details potential air emissions from the facility. A facility qualifies as a minor source if it emits less than 9,072 kg per year of any hazardous air pollutant or less than 22,680 kg per year of any combination of hazardous air pollutants.
The advocacy group outcry over the proposal follows a lawsuit filed Aug. 14 challenging the EPA over the approval of two chemicals used in semiconductor manufacturing. CHIPS Communities United and the Sierra Club say the agency approved the chemicals despite potential health risks including cancer, neurological harm, and sudden death.
Both the company using the chemicals and the chemical names are redacted from the lawsuit filing (PDF) since the company claimed both are confidential business information. The filing refers to the chemical as “the PMN substance” that’s used as a photoacid generator. The generic description is “aromatic carboxylic acid, halogenated heteromonocycle ester, polymer with: haloaromatic iodonium tricyclo salt with polyhaloalkyl carbomonocycle hetero-acid, modified.”
—Leigh Krietsch Boerner
DHS proposes $103,000 fee for H-1B visas following prior legal setback
The US Department of Homeland Security proposed a new rule on Monday that requires some foreign workers petitioning for an H-1B work visa to pay $103,265 on top of any existing fees.
Unlike the Donald J. Trump administration’s previous attempt to propose a new fee for H-1B visa applicants, this proposal would not apply to workers planning to work at institutions of higher education, nonprofit research organizations, or governmental research organizations.
Last year, Trump issued a presidential proclamation imposing a $100,000 fee for H-1B visas. The H-1B visa program, Trump claimed, was being used to avoid hiring American workers.
In response to last year’s proposed fee, the Association of American Universities and the US Chamber of Commerce filed a joint lawsuit claiming the fee would cause “a shortage of highly skilled, specially trained personnel, particularly in the dynamic world of scientific and technological research and innovation.” Twenty state attorneys general led by California attorney general Rob Bonta also sued the administration, saying the fee creates “unnecessary—and illegal—financial burdens” on employers.
In June, a US district judge declared the fee unlawful (PDF), saying, “The President had no power to levy a tax on H-1B petitions.”
According to the DHS, the newly proposed fee “would generate revenue to recover a portion of the federal government’s costs for administering the lawful immigration system,” an action that is permitted by the Immigration and Nationality Act. The DHS estimates that the fee would generate approximately $8.8 billion annually.
Zuzana C. Wootson, deputy director of federal policy at the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, says in a statement that even though the proposed rule would not include most colleges and universities, it will make the US “a far less attractive destination for the world’s most talented students.”
She adds, “International students do not choose where to study based on the classroom experience alone. They also consider whether they will have a meaningful opportunity to apply their education after graduation.”
The DHS proposal is open for public comment through Sept. 24.
—Krystal Vasquez
FDA expected to appoint new leaders focused on AI, drugs, per reports
The US Food and Drug Administration may be getting two new senior officials: a deputy commissioner for drugs and another for technology, health, and artificial intelligence.
CNBC first reported the news on Tuesday, citing sources within the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the FDA. Neither the HHS nor the FDA has publicly confirmed the reporting. The FDA did not respond to C&EN’s request for comment.
The FDA currently has four active deputy commissioners, for strategic initiatives; policy, legislation, and international affairs; food; and operations. They serve under acting commissioner Kyle Diamantas, the agency’s temporary head.
Several industry groups declined C&EN’s request for comment on the new roles.
The jobs would be a “no-brainer given the enormous scope of what FDA oversees,” Jessica Adams, a former regulatory affairs officer for pharmaceutical companies who served one year at the FDA, posts on the social media platform X.
Last week, President Donald J. Trump nominated Heidi Overton to lead the FDA.
“The transformative nature of medtech helps ensure that patients are in control of their own health and doctors are empowered to treat patients with the most innovative technologies,” Scott Whitaker, president and CEO of medical technology association AdvaMed, says in a statement about Overton’s nomination. “It is essential that we continue the progress we have made to ensure that transparency, consistency, and predictability remain the hallmarks of the review process.”
—Laura Dattaro, special to C&EN
