A federal appeals panel issued a stay halting construction of the Townsite data center project near Boulder City, Nevada, marking a significant setback for the facility before any groundwork commenced. The Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter, and local residents had filed the appeal against the facility, which would have been the first data center of its scale located on federally managed public land in the United States.
The Interior Board of Land Appeals determined that the appeal was “likely to succeed on the merits” in demonstrating that the Trump administration had not conducted a project-specific environmental review before approving the facility. Instead, regulators relied on an environmental assessment process that had been completed years earlier for a solar project at the same site. The board’s decision prevented the project from advancing while the panel considers the full legal challenges against the proposal.
Environmental advocates and community members argued that the approval process was inadequate and that public lands should not be developed for commercial data center operations. Officials noted that the Bureau of Land Management is evaluating additional data center proposals on public land elsewhere in Nevada, and the current ruling will require those projects to undergo comprehensive environmental assessments.
Local residents involved in the appeal expressed concerns about potential impacts to their community and the surrounding desert environment. Supporters of the decision contended that it reinforced principles of democratic participation and proper land stewardship, while establishing a potential precedent for how future commercial projects on public lands in Nevada and elsewhere should be evaluated.
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