Boulder City says BLM ignored environmental concerns in appeal over proposed data center

Boulder City has filed an appeal with the U.S. Department of the Interior's Interior Board of Land Appeals, challenging the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) approval of the proposed Townsite 2 data center. The city argues that the BLM improperly relied on a 2023 environmental assessment for a solar power project, rather than conducting a new review for the data center, which Boulder City describes as a "fundamentally different development." The original solar project was slated for 19 megawatts, while the revised data center proposal encompasses a 300,000-square-foot facility with an estimated electrical demand of 167 megawatts, approximately three times Boulder City's current load.

Boulder City contends that its federal right to public involvement and coordination with local governments was violated due to the BLM's failure to initiate a new public process for the data center project. Furthermore, the city argues that the Federal Land Policy and Management Act does not authorize a federal right-of-way for a data center, as the law is intended for facilities that generate or transmit electricity, not those that consume it. The appeal includes a petition for a stay, requesting that the Interior Board of Land Appeals suspend the BLM's approval pending the case's resolution. News 3's attempt to contact the Bureau of Land Management for comment received no immediate response.