Media Contact: Alex Downing, alex@centerforcoalfieldjustice.org, 412-229-7061
Washington, PA – The Executive Order signed by Governor Shapiro today strengthens and implements the Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) Standards for data centers in Pennsylvania. It takes steps towards transparency by banning state agencies from signing nondisclosure agreements dealing with data centers and by removing data centers from the state’s ‘fast-track’ permitting program.
The new requirements incentivize developers to comply with GRID while giving communities more control during permitting by ensuring state permits are not issued until local governments approve a project for zoning and land use. It also adds meaningful roadblocks — ensuring, in the Governor’s words, “no pathway” for approval — for operators that fail to comply by placing them at the back of the DEP’s permitting queue, requiring all permits to be submitted before a proposal can be considered, and restricting access to tax incentives.
While this is a step in the right direction, the order still stops short of the enforceable protections communities like ours have been asking for. Keeping the unpopular data center sales tax exemption in place as a negotiating tool allows public money to continue supporting corporate polluters. It also encourages developers to offer “robust community benefits agreements” without defining what they must include or requiring them to be signed.
“Senate Republicans’ refusal to take action on meaningful measures that have passed the House, including ending data center tax breaks, has left Pennsylvanians without the binding protections they deserve,” said Center for Coalfield Justice Community Organizer Sarah Sweeney. “The new regulations signed by the Governor show this administration understands what communities are asking for, yet it still gift-wraps them with tax breaks and favorable permitting for the businesses they claim to be keeping in check. We need the Governor to show true leadership by requiring strict, enforceable protections from any developer, Big Tech firm, or fossil fuel provider looking to profit off our communities.”
This order comes after community members across Pennsylvania demanded transparency and protections over the past year. It’s clear our voices can no longer be ignored and, now more than ever, we have the power to demand a state where everyone has clean air and water, protection from greedy Big Tech and fossil fuel developers, and a fair say in our futures.
###
CCJ fights for coalfield communities through advocacy, education, and organizing.