The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Air Act Resources for Data Centers page, last updated Sept. 14, 2026, frames federal air oversight of AI data centers as cooperative federalism: a hub of existing Clean Air Act rules, modeling tools, and case-by-case technical assistance rather than a new AI-specific national air standard.
On that page, EPA says state and local air agencies issue most data-center air permits under programs approved as meeting federal minimum requirements. The same resource still points operators to New Source Performance Standards and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for stationary turbines and engines, nonroad-engine standards, New Source Review and Prevention of Significant Deterioration permitting, and EPA modeling guidance.
The explicit statement that EPA will not set nationwide environmental requirements or recommendations for AI data centers comes from Administrator Lee Zeldin's June 10, 2026, remarks at the POLITICO Energy Summit, as reported by POLITICO and summarized by Crowell & Moring. Zeldin said states and local communities should decide appropriate practices. That line is attributed journalism, not an EPA rule text located in this pack.
Separately, on May 11, 2026, EPA proposed clarifying "Begin Actual Construction" so that certain non-emitting components or structures for essential power, data centers, and manufacturing could be built before a major New Source Review permit if the proposal is finalized. The proposal does not eliminate the underlying NSR permit requirement for covered emissions sources, and it remains a proposal rather than a final rule.
Independent health context arrived Sept. 10, 2026. The Environmental Protection Network, representing more than 800 former EPA employees, released The Hidden Health Costs of AI Data Centers, covered the same day by The New York Times. EPN reports a cited 2026 study's modeled 2028 range of about $11.7 billion to $20.9 billion in annual public-health costs, with roughly 600,000 asthma-symptom cases and 1,300 premature deaths in the high-growth scenario. EPN says pollution can come from onsite generators and turbines and from distant power plants. Those figures are modeled estimates, not observed outcomes tied to EPA's devolution posture.
EPN also catalogs at least 30 federal actions since January 2025 that it says raise pollution-related health risks as data centers expand, 17 of them explicitly targeting AI or data centers. What remains open is how the state-and-local permitting patchwork, remaining federal turbine and engine standards and NSR duties, and citizen-suit exposure interact, and whether health costs rise if safeguards or fossil generation diverge from the study's assumptions.