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The Trump administration signaled plans to aggressively accelerate construction of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers by opening federal lands to massive technology campuses and fast-tracking environmental approvals.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) last week announced it will convert the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky into a $100 billion AI data center campus powered by 2 gigawatts of natural gas generation and 2.6 gigawatts of battery storage.
The project is the third former Cold War nuclear site the administration has targeted for AI development this year.
“The U.S. government is leveraging its assets — like our federal lands — to add power generation, create jobs, and ensure the United States wins the AI race,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in announcing the Kentucky project.
In July 2025, President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order to dramatically accelerate federal permitting for AI data centers and the energy infrastructure needed to support them.
According to the fact sheet released with the order, the U.S. must remove regulatory barriers if it wants to remain globally competitive in the AI race and protect U.S. economic and national security.
Environmental groups launch legal challenges
This is the second executive order promoting AI Trump has signed. The first was in 2019.
“My Administration has inaugurated a golden age for American manufacturing and technological dominance,” Trump said in the order, which includes substantial reductions in environmental regulations and makes federal land and resources available for data center construction.
But the administration’s approach is already facing legal challenges from environmental organizations and local governments. They argue that federal agencies are bypassing environmental review and limiting opportunities for public input.
A lawsuit over a proposed AI data center on public land near Boulder City, Nevada, is expected to become a test of how far the administration can go in accelerating AI development without violating longstanding environmental laws, Newsweek reported.
A recent Gallup poll found that 7 in 10 Americans oppose constructing AI data centers in their local area and nearly half would “strongly oppose” a new data center in their neighborhood. Noise, pollution, energy and water usage, and higher costs of living top their list of concerns.
In the first quarter of 2026, at least 75 data center projects worth about $130 billion were delayed or shot down by local opposition — “the largest single-quarter concentration” of disrupted projects — according to Data Center Watch, a project by the AI research firm 10a Labs.
Trump administration repurposing DOE land for data centers
Rather than approve privately owned developments, the Trump administration is increasingly repurposing DOE-owned federal properties with existing electrical infrastructure into AI campuses capable of supporting the enormous computing demands of artificial intelligence.
Last year’s executive order also calls for the creation of an interagency initiative to identify federal lands suitable for data center development and supporting energy infrastructure. Federal agencies are instructed to identify sites that could accommodate large-scale AI facilities.
Placing data centers on DOE land may be a workaround for growing resistance to the facilities because, historically, military bases have been exempted from many environmental regulations under the legal doctrine of “sovereign immunity,” Mother Jones reported.
The DOE has identified 16 possible sites that have existing energy infrastructure and the ability to fast-track permitting for new energy, including nuclear energy.
The Kentucky Paducah campus will be built on portions of a retired uranium enrichment facility that ceased operations in 2013 and has been undergoing environmental cleanup.
According to the DOE, the project will be privately financed through a partnership involving NextEra Energy, Brookfield and regional utilities, with construction expected to be completed in 2031.
The Kentucky development follows two similar federal initiatives announced earlier this year.
The DOE previously unveiled plans to convert portions of the former Portsmouth uranium enrichment complex in Piketon, Ohio, into a proposed 10-gigawatt AI campus, while the National Nuclear Security Administration is exploring a 1-gigawatt data center at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina.
One gigawatt of gas provides enough power for approximately 750,000 homes, according to Reuters.
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Trump orders federal agencies to streamline, accelerate environmental reviews
Last year’s executive order directed federal agencies to streamline environmental reviews and prioritize permits for qualifying data center projects and associated infrastructure, which includes electric transmission lines, substations, natural gas pipelines, water systems and telecommunications facilities.
The White House said the initiative is intended to reduce construction delays for large-scale computing facilities needed for AI development.
Agencies were instructed to coordinate reviews and identify ways to accelerate approvals while remaining consistent with existing law.
Under the directive, the White House Council on Environmental Quality must work with agencies to identify or create categorical exclusions under the country’s foundational environmental protection legislation, the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, for certain data center-related activities.
A categorical exclusion occurs when the government decides that a project that would typically be subject to NEPA review won’t have significant environmental impacts and therefore doesn’t need to be reviewed.
Agencies were also instructed to make greater use of existing expedited permitting authorities and establish a coordinated federal process for qualifying projects.
The administration said that lengthy permitting timelines have become a major obstacle to investment and innovation.
The executive order didn’t eliminate environmental review requirements or amend federal environmental laws. Instead, it directed agencies to use existing legal authorities more aggressively, improve coordination and identify opportunities to shorten review timelines while remaining within statutory requirements.
That would likely involve using strategies already flagged by environmental advocates that allow projects to streamline water pollution permits and exploit air pollution permitting loopholes.
For example, rather than having site-specific reviews, many data centers can now apply for a “nationwide permit” for projects regulated by the Clean Water Act. These types of permits are typically awarded to projects anticipated to have “minimal” impacts on waterways.
The Trump administration opened AI data centers to this type of permitting earlier this year.
A Politico investigation found at least 26 data centers in the U.S. using streamlined water pollution permits for projects being built in sensitive streams and wetlands.
Dozens of others have been exempted from regulation because of changes the U.S. Supreme Court made limiting the Clean Water Act in 2023.
A separate investigation by Floodlight News found that data centers in Texas are exploiting loopholes in air pollution laws to avoid having to undergo the extensive environmental review required for permits for large-scale building.
These strategies also exempt the developers from the public consultation process required by the more stringent environmental regulations they are avoiding.
Related articles in The Defender
- Cheating the System: How AI Data Centers Bypass Water and Air Pollution Laws and Permits
- Watch: AI Data Centers ‘Spreading Like an Aggressive Cancer’
- Survey: Rural America More Concerned About Data Centers Than People Who Live in Cities or Suburbia
- ‘The New Enemy’: Noise Pollution From AI Data Centers Causing Nausea, Insomnia
- Will Maine Become First State to Block Data Centers?
- Noise, Heat, Depleted Water Reserves — How to Protect Your Town From Unwanted AI Data Centers
