The EPA is planning to scrap public review rules for data center pollution
The EPA is planning to scrap public review rules for data center pollution
美国环保署计划取消数据中心污染的公众审查规则
Americans don’t agree on much, but that’s not the case when it comes to data centers. Seven in 10 Americans oppose building data centers for artificial intelligence in or near their communities. Despite this, the federal government is moving to make it easier for them to be built. And in some places, residents won’t even get the chance to raise concerns publicly or even know if a data center is coming to their neighborhoods. 美国人在很多问题上难以达成共识，但在数据中心问题上却出奇一致。十分之七的美国人反对在他们社区内或附近建设人工智能数据中心。尽管如此，联邦政府正采取行动，试图降低这些设施的建设门槛。在某些地方，居民甚至没有机会公开表达担忧，甚至根本不知道数据中心是否即将落户他们的社区。
The federal Environmental Protection Agency plans to scrap a federal requirement that states tell the public — and allow public comment — before approving air-pollution permits for industrial facilities. That includes the data centers rising across the country, as well as the power plants built to feed their enormous appetite for electricity. At the same time, the EPA last month also proposed another change that would let developers start building data centers before their permits are approved. 联邦环境保护署（EPA）计划取消一项联邦规定，该规定要求各州在批准工业设施的空气污染许可证之前，必须告知公众并允许公众发表意见。这涵盖了全国各地兴建的数据中心，以及为满足其巨大电力需求而建造的发电厂。与此同时，EPA上个月还提出了另一项变更，允许开发商在许可证获批前就开始建设数据中心。
The rural South, which is home to a disproportionate amount of Black communities, has seen the largest growth of these large data centers. The proposals and lack of transparency may worsen health risks, increase utility bills, and contribute to community displacement, residents told Capital B. The change at the federal level would mean that, in some places, residents could lose one of their few formal chances to ask questions, raise alarms, or learn that a data center is headed their way before the permits are signed and construction begins. 美国南部农村地区居住着比例过高的黑人社区，这里也是这些大型数据中心增长最快的地区。当地居民告诉《Capital B》，这些提案和缺乏透明度的做法可能会加剧健康风险、增加水电费支出，并导致社区流离失所。联邦层面的这一变动意味着，在某些地方，居民可能会失去为数不多的正式机会，无法在许可证签署和施工开始前提出质疑、发出警报或获悉数据中心即将落户的消息。
Paul Black, an environmental activist organizing against a data center complex the size of 1,200 football fields in rural South Carolina, said these moves “run counter to the way American democracy is sold to us.” “It is a betrayal of everything that this country should stand for, purports to stand for. It runs counter to the will of the people,” he added. The data center project currently being debated in his 40% Black community was only proposed there after developers tried — and failed — to build a similar campus in a predominantly white county in Georgia. 环保活动人士保罗·布莱克（Paul Black）正在组织反对南卡罗来纳州农村地区一个面积相当于1200个足球场的数据中心综合体。他表示，这些举措“违背了美国民主向我们兜售的方式”。他补充说：“这是对这个国家所应代表、所声称代表的一切的背叛。这违背了人民的意愿。”他所在的社区有40%是黑人，该数据中心项目之所以选址于此，是因为开发商此前在佐治亚州一个以白人为主的县尝试建设类似园区失败后，才转而选择了这里。
In a statement, the EPA said the proposal would “provide the state and local agencies most familiar with local issues the discretion to determine whether, when, and for how long to provide opportunities for public participation.” But many Americans are increasingly losing faith in their local governments to work in their best interests. In part of a growing web of secrecy, local governments have routinely signed nondisclosure agreements with tech companies to hide these projects and overruled legal orders in order to bury information about them. EPA在一份声明中表示，该提案将“赋予最熟悉当地问题的州和地方机构酌情权，以决定是否、何时以及提供多长时间的公众参与机会”。然而，许多美国人对地方政府能否维护其最大利益越来越失去信心。作为日益扩大的保密网络的一部分，地方政府经常与科技公司签署保密协议以隐瞒这些项目，并推翻法律命令以掩盖相关信息。
“What I am saying is that if we, as the community, the people who are responsible, can’t understand this, can’t have questions answered, can’t have information, then how can I look somebody in the eye and tell them this is good for you, trust me?” Davante Lewis, a Louisiana public service commissioner tasked with regulating industry, told Capital B last month. Lewis was the only member to vote in favor of releasing electricity use information tied to the current construction of the country’s largest data center in rural Louisiana. Nearly 200 advocacy groups and more than a dozen states, led by both Democrats and Republicans, have voiced opposition to the federal changes. “我想说的是，如果我们作为社区、作为负责任的人，无法理解这一切，无法得到问题的答案，无法获取信息，那么我怎么能直视某人的眼睛告诉他们‘这对你有好处，相信我’呢？”负责监管行业的路易斯安那州公共服务专员达万特·刘易斯（Davante Lewis）上个月告诉《Capital B》。刘易斯是唯一投票支持公开路易斯安那州农村地区全美最大数据中心建设相关用电信息的成员。近200个倡导团体和十多个州（由民主党和共和党共同领导）已对这些联邦层面的变动表示反对。
Where the biggest threats lie
最大的威胁在哪里
“In the more rural parts of the nation, we are under attack by data centers,” Black said. “They are seeking to get in as fast as possible, as quietly as possible, and do what they will to the places [where] we live, that we find precious, the places that we’ve preserved, and they want to come in in the dark of the night to build a data center.” Last month, South Carolina passed its own ruling that says power plants for data centers can be constructed without review or approval from the state’s regulatory commission. “在全国更偏远的地区，我们正受到数据中心的攻击，”布莱克说。“他们试图以最快、最安静的方式进入，对我们居住的、我们认为珍贵的、我们保护的地方为所欲为。他们想在深夜潜入并建造数据中心。”上个月，南卡罗来纳州通过了一项裁决，规定为数据中心供电的发电厂无需经过州监管委员会的审查或批准即可建设。
The burden of data center growth is already falling heavily on Black communities. Data centers can drive demand for gas-fired power plants and turbines, which emit smog-forming nitrogen oxides, fine particulate matter and, in some cases, hazardous air pollutants such as formaldehyde connected to a slew of cancers. “It’s beyond cruel for Trump’s EPA to silence front-line communities who bear the brunt of unhealthy air,” said Brandon Jones-Cobb, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. 数据中心增长的负担已经沉重地压在了黑人社区身上。数据中心会推动对燃气发电厂和涡轮机的需求，这些设施会排放形成雾霾的氮氧化物、细颗粒物，在某些情况下还会排放与多种癌症相关的有害空气污染物，如甲醛。“特朗普政府的环保署让承受不健康空气重压的一线社区噤声，这简直残忍至极，”生物多样性中心高级律师布兰登·琼斯-科布（Brandon Jones-Cobb）表示。
At the same time, the costs of building new utility infrastructure is often passed onto ratepayers. Black households, who on average face a higher energy burden than other groups, have been plagued by rising bills and subsequently power shutoffs related to data center growth. Industrial growth can also remake housing markets faster than rural communities can absorb. In communities surrounding where Meta is constructing the nation’s largest data center, a local mayor told Capital B that prices had doubled and families in trailer-home parks had been evicted to make room for higher-earning construction workers. The area’s median home and rental prices rose 80% in just one year. 与此同时，建设新公用事业基础设施的成本往往转嫁给纳税人。黑人家庭平均面临比其他群体更高的能源负担，他们一直受到账单上涨以及随后因数据中心增长而导致的断电困扰。工业增长重塑住房市场的速度也超过了农村社区的承受能力。在Meta建设全美最大数据中心的周边社区，一位当地市长告诉《Capital B》，房价已经翻了一番，拖车公园里的家庭被驱逐，以便为收入更高的建筑工人腾出空间。该地区的房屋和租金中位数在短短一年内上涨了80%。
The EPA said the proposed changes would “responsibly speed up permitting, supporting American economic development and energy dominance.” Last year, Lee Zeldin, who runs the EPA, said it was now the agency’s top priority to “make the United States the artificial intelligence capital of the world.” The 56-year-old agency was established in 1970 to protect the environment and public health. “The level of unequalness with these data centers cannot be understated,” Black said. “The government is rewriting the rules and the richest corporations in the world are supporting them so that one of our only ways to make our voices heard is erased.” The EPA is expected to finalize the proposal within the next year. EPA表示，拟议的变更将“负责任地加快许可审批速度，支持美国的经济发展和能源主导地位”。去年，负责EPA的李·泽尔丁（Lee Zeldin）表示，该机构现在的首要任务是“使美国成为世界人工智能之都”。这个拥有56年历史的机构成立于1970年，旨在保护环境和公众健康。“这些数据中心带来的不平等程度怎么强调都不为过，”布莱克说。“政府正在重写规则，而世界上最富有的公司正在支持他们，以至于我们让自己的声音被听到的唯一途径之一被抹去了。”预计EPA将在明年内敲定该提案。