Two investigations agree that Texas environmental regulators continued processing data center permits after Governor Greg Abbott ordered a pause on September 21. The oil and gas watchdog FracTracker Alliance, working with Public Citizen and local activists, reviewed public records from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). They found the agency reviewed documents, assigned engineers, and in some cases issued approvals for data center-related projects after the governor’s directive.
The two sources differ slightly in scope. Inside Climate News focuses on FracTracker’s analysis, while 404 Media adds that Public Citizen identified more than 15 permits and FracTracker found 35. 404 Media also reports specific examples: air-emission certificates for a Houston data center, stormwater coverage for projects in Abilene, Barstow, and Royse City, and expedited reviews for gas plants serving data centers. Abbott’s press secretary told 404 Media that “no permits have been approved” and that TCEQ has not taken proactive actions, but TCEQ did not respond to questions about permits listed as approved.
FracTracker’s Sam Law said TCEQ told him it was accepting applications but not reviewing them, which he said the records show is not true. He also noted that stormwater construction permits, which are often the final approval needed to prepare a site, can be added to a pre-existing generic permit—a loophole that lets large projects like the Stargate facility move forward despite the pause. Both sources agree that the pause has not stopped the data center boom in Texas, where hundreds of projects are operating, under construction, or planned. As Public Citizen’s Kathryn Guerra put it, “The TCEQ’s own data indicates that it’s business as usual for data centers.”