Status: Proposed, pending · Comments closed: 21 August 2026
EPA has proposed removing the federal minimum public participation requirement for minor New Source Review permitting and leaving those decisions to state and local agencies.
The proposal is Minor New Source Review Program Air Permitting Public Participation Requirements for State Implementation Plans, published 7 July 2026 at 91 FR 41591, docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-1212, RIN 2060-AV67. The comment period closed 21 August 2026. It has not been finalized.
What it would and would not do
If finalized, the rule removes a federal floor. It does not change any state’s requirements on its own.
A state can leave its existing SIP-approved public participation rules in place. A state that wanted to change them would need to develop a SIP revision through its own notice and hearing process and submit that revision to EPA.
So the practical sequence is: EPA finalizes, then a state decides whether to act, then that state runs its own rulemaking. Nothing reaches a permit applicant until all three happen.
What we can and cannot conclude yet
We have verified the proposal’s contents, docket, publication date, comment deadline and current status.
We have not found any state proposal to revise public participation rules in response.
Texas has multiple Air NSR authorization mechanisms, including permit by rule, standard permits and case-by-case permits. DCU does not have data showing how data center backup generation is distributed among those mechanisms.
We do not know whether EPA will finalize the rule, or when.
Why it is on the watch list rather than reported as a change
Nothing has changed for any permit applicant. We are tracking it because the outcome could affect public visibility into minor source permitting, one of the public record streams DCU monitors.
Primary source
Government source. 91 FR 41591, 7 July 2026 — also as the official Federal Register PDF. Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-1212, RIN 2060-AV67.