United States of America: President signed Executive Order on Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Centre Infrastructure

On 23 July 2025, the President of the United States signed an Executive Order on “Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Centre Infrastructure,” establishing a national policy to prioritise the expedited development of large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) data centres and related infrastructure. The order defines “Qualifying Projects” as data centre or component infrastructure initiatives exceeding 100 megawatts in incremental electric load, entailing at least USD 500 million in capital expenditure, or designated by specified federal secretaries due to national security relevance. Covered components include energy infrastructure, dispatchable baseload power equipment, semiconductors, networking hardware, and data storage systems. The Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with relevant agencies, is directed to launch a financial support initiative for such projects. The order mandates streamlined environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), encourages the use of federal lands including Brownfield and Superfund Sites, and facilitates regulatory support through the Environmental Protection Agency and the Departments of the Interior, Energy, and Defense. It also enables project transparency and expedited permitting via the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council under the FAST-41 framework. The Executive Order revokes Executive Order 14141 of 14 January 2025 and provides for programmatic consultation under the Endangered Species Act and a review of permits under the Clean Water Act and Rivers and Harbours Act for efficiency in biological and water resource permitting.