The US Government Is Letting a Key Data Center Regulation Expire

US Government Is Letting a Key Data Center Regulation Expire">

The US government is quietly planning to allow a rule outlining the standards for federal data center usage and operations, known as the Federal Data Center Enhancement Act (FDCEA), to expire, according to sources who spoke to WIRED. Neither Congress nor the Trump administration appears to be making significant moves to protect or extend the rule, or put alternate plans in place.

Data centers have become a hot-button issue in recent months, as the tech industry goes all in on artificial intelligence and the infrastructure needed to power it. According to a Gallup poll from May, more than 70 percent of Americans oppose the construction of data centers, the energy- and water-intensive buildings that power the AI boom, in their communities. From Utah to Georgia , residents across the political spectrum have united to voice their resistance to the data center build-out.

Despite the public backlash, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the government agency that sets guidance for how agencies implement policies in line with the president’s agenda, is not providing any plans for how federal agencies should manage the sunset or continue to implement reporting beyond the timeline of the law. This, current and former workers at OMB and the General Services Administration (GSA) say, signals that the Trump administration is set to take an even more hands-off approach to data center oversight and regulation.

A replacement for the requirements laid out in FDCEA would, in other administrations, have been in the works for months ahead of its expiration. An employee with the GSA, the agency that oversees the government’s IT services and helps to implement the FDCEA, says that the lack of any sort of plan is highly uncommon. The employee spoke to WIRED on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

“Never in the history of data center policies has a policy expired without another one having been painstakingly worked on for three years behind the scenes,” says the GSA employee. “The technology has changed so much it's not about getting everything right, it’s about doing the best they can and updating to a new policy. They claim they’re going to make sure private companies pay their fare share, but they haven’t explained how they’ll do that.”

As the federal government continues to push agencies to adopt AI tools, demand for data centers and other technical infrastructure is only set to grow. The Electric Power Research Institute, a nonpartisan research organization, estimates that by 2030, data centers could be consuming at least 9 percent of electricity in the US.