The Environmental Protection Agency announced last week a new initiative in which the agency will prioritize the review of new chemicals under the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) intended for use in data center projects pursuant to Executive Order 14318, ‘Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure.’
Under TSCA, manufacturers and processors are required to submit pre-manufacture notices for new chemicals. They are also required to submit a significant new use notice if they plan to use existing chemicals for new uses.
In particular, Section 7 of the Executive Order directs the EPA to expedite the permitting of federal and non-federal lands that impact the development of projects, such as AI data centers or the manufacture of related covered components, such as high voltage transmission lines. The purpose of EPA’s review is to streamline the permitting of critically needed chemicals for data centers and to prioritize certain chemicals in order to reduce the regulatory burden to company investments so that data centers and related facilities can be powered and operated in a clean manner.
EPA will prioritize the review of submissions for new chemicals that are intended for use in data center projects or in the manufacturing of covered components that pertain to a data center project, defined as a qualifying project under the Executive Order. New chemical manufacturers may also seek to prioritize the review of a new chemical under the directives of the Executive Order if the chemical has such an intended use. In addition, to help companies determine if their chemical and intended use qualify for prioritized review, EPA has provided instructions for submitters to make their request and provide necessary information to support the request. For example, companies with new chemicals qualifying for prioritized review can identify their submission as a chemical intended for use in a data center project or for the manufacturing of covered components by submitting a cover letter through the Central Data Exchange with their new chemical submission identifying the use and the data center where the new chemical or covered component will be used.
Notably, some of the chemicals used for data centers are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, used to produce cooling refrigerants. The prioritization of reviews will start with submissions received on or after September 29.