in effect
Executive Order 14318, signed July 23, 2025, directs federal agencies to speed up the permitting and approval process for large AI data center construction projects and the infrastructure that supports them. It also opens federally owned land — including some military installations — for use by qualifying data center developers.
Projects requiring more than 100 megawatts of new power load for AI workloads, or costing at least $500 million in capital expenditures, qualify for expedited federal review under the order. Agencies must identify existing environmental review shortcuts (called “categorical exclusions”) within 10 days and work to create new ones for data center projects. Federal financial assistance covering less than 50 percent of a project’s total cost is presumed not to trigger a full environmental review under NEPA. The EPA must, within 180 days, develop guidance to fast-track cleanup and reuse of contaminated brownfield and Superfund sites for data center development. The Army Corps of Engineers must review within 180 days whether existing Clean Water Act permits adequately cover data center construction activities. A previously issued executive order on AI infrastructure (EO 14141, January 2025) is revoked and replaced by this one.
Private companies and developers building large AI data centers or manufacturing the components that power them (chips, networking gear, power equipment) face fewer procedural delays when seeking federal permits. Federal agencies — including the EPA, Interior, Energy, Defense, and Commerce departments — take on new coordination duties and face specific deadlines. State governments and private landowners seeking to redevelop contaminated sites for data center use may receive new federal guidance to help them move faster.