TCEQ Backtracks, Suspends Data Center Permits Issued After Investigation Shows It Ignored Abbott’s Pause
Advocates identified permits across the state that were approved and issued, despite the governor’s vow that the agency would stop
AUSTIN, Texas — In a swift reversal, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has suspended at least 17 permits issued to data center developers after agency watchdogs found that they were issued after Gov. Greg Abbott vowed to pause them.
The agency continues to deny it ever issued the permits, despite its own data showing it did. Public Citizen and FracTracker found that the agency’s database labeled each permit as “approved” and “active,” with a permit start date after Abbott’s Sept. 21 directive.
Though the agency and the governor’s office deny that the TCEQ’s actions contradict Abbott’s Sept. 21 directive ordering a pause on all data center permits, the TCEQ took the extraordinary step on Tuesday of suspending the water quality permits it had issued and closing its online permit application database, STEERS. On Wednesday, the agency’s home page displayed a banner saying it temporarily shut down the portal to ensure applications are reviewed by agency staff to determine whether they are related to data centers.
Public Citizen and FracTracker identified yet another permit the agency approved as late as Wednesday.
“The TCEQ failed to follow the governor’s directive and is trying to gaslight Texans about it,” said Kathryn Guerra, director of Public Citizen’s TCEQ Watchdog Campaign, who is a former TCEQ staffer whose role was to educate operators on how to obtain these permits. “Once the permit record says approved, the TCEQ has granted the permit – and with it, legal authority for that data center to begin construction. In this case, the agency’s rubber stamp worked so well, even the agency had difficulty stopping it. Texans don’t need another reason to distrust TCEQ, but here it is.”
On Monday, Public Citizen, FracTracker, and residents monitoring projects in their communities released information showing dozens of examples of the state environmental regulator taking action on data center permits. Those actions included outright approval and issuance of multiple construction stormwater permits, which, once issued, let developers move forward with construction.
“TCEQ retroactively suspending construction stormwater approvals in the wake of FracTracker and Public Citizen’s scrutiny means that any clearing, grading and excavation at these sites must stop immediately. The confusion surrounding these approvals further proves the need for a moratorium: TCEQ is proving itself incapable of meeting complex regulatory challenges posed by data centers without further study,” said Sam Law, researcher and manager of communications at FracTracker.
Abbott issued the pause in response to growing backlash over the industry moving quickly to build data centers across the state. However, Abbott has resisted grassroots demands that the Texas Legislature implement statewide regulations to protect people and property.
Critics argue that without new legislation signed into law, Abbott’s attempt to address the issue through press releases and letters to state agencies will not be enough to protect people from the resource-intensive industry. The TCEQ’s actions after Sept. 21 and its sudden backtracking this week further show that state leaders like Abbott need to act with urgency.