State environmental agency takes permit portal offline after data center approvals slipped past Abbott's pause

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has switched off part of its online permitting system and is requiring paper applications, after watchdog groups reported that the agency kept approving stormwater permits for data center construction despite a pause ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott, The Texas Tribune reported Wednesday.

The agency posted a notice Wednesday that its electronic filing system "used for automatic authorizations" was temporarily disabled. TCEQ also said it had suspended the specific data center permits the groups flagged this week.

"To ensure all applications are thoroughly reviewed by agency staff to determine if they are related to data centers, applications must be physically provided to TCEQ," agency spokesman Ryan Vise said in a statement quoted by the Tribune.

What the groups found

Public Citizen, an advocacy group that has opposed data center projects alongside residents, and FracTracker Alliance, a nonprofit that studies the effects of industrial development, said they identified several stormwater permits the agency had approved for large construction projects tied to data centers.

Their review came about a month after Abbott directed TCEQ to halt "all permits related to data center projects" while other state agencies and the grid operator reviewed the facilities' planned water and power use.

The groups said they also found other kinds of permits moving forward.

How the system works

The online portal, known as STEERS, handles many kinds of applications, including air and water permits, and companies use it to file operating reports. For construction stormwater coverage, a company files a notice of intent online, and the system approves it automatically, according to the Tribune. Stormwater permits address pollution that rain can wash off a construction site.

The portal could not be reached Wednesday, the Tribune reported.

Reaction

Sam Law of FracTracker Alliance said in an email that the shutdown showed the pause had not taken hold until reporters and watchdogs looked into it, and he called for a moratorium written into law. Kathryn Guerra, who directs Public Citizen's TCEQ Watchdog Campaign, said in a statement that the agency's automatic approvals had worked so smoothly that the agency itself struggled to stop them.

The Tribune's report does not say how long the electronic system will stay offline or how many permit applications are affected.

Sources

The Texas Tribune