How 5 Indiana data centers avoided needing federal water permits
Five Indiana data center projects with wetlands, streams or ponds avoided federal water permits after a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision narrowed the Clean Water Act. The projects are instead overseen by Indiana regulators, reducing federal review and public participation, while environmental advocates question the state’s wetland protections and mitigation program.
Five data center developments under construction in Indiana contain wetlands or other waterways that may previously have required federal Clean Water Act permits. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision narrowing federal jurisdiction, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management is now overseeing surface-water impacts at sites that fall outside federal authority, limiting public review and avoiding some federal mitigation requirements.
Amazon’s Project Rainer campus in New Carlisle is seeking federal approval to fill about five acres of wetlands while creating roughly 10 acres of replacement wetlands. At Google’s Project Zodiac campus in Fort Wayne, state regulators authorized impacts to wetlands and required the company to purchase mitigation credits, although the Army Corps later found Indiana’s mitigation program out of compliance with federal timelines. Environmental advocates, including Hoosier Environmental Council policy director David Van Gilder and Conservation Law Center attorney Kim Ferraro, criticized the reduced oversight, while Indiana Department of Natural Resources official Mark Becker cited regulatory delays and described plans to address the mitigation backlog.