Water / permits · OH
ContradictedCommon reading; no one is quoted
Checked 12 September 2026
Treating Ohio EPA's draft general permit as final blanket permission or proof of actual discharge.
What the evidence supports
Ohio EPA's Community Notice dated 21 July 2026 states that draft permit OHD000001 will not be finalized and that individual NPDES permitting remains the appropriate path. The official notice was retrieved and preserved on 12 September; a later live recheck was unavailable. The abandoned draft was never blanket permission, and an individual permit is still permission—not proof of actual discharge or site compliance.
Still unknown
Individual permits for named data-center outfalls were not inventoried. An individual NPDES permit is permission, not measured discharge or proof of compliance.
Evidence details
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Ohio EPA draft OHD000001 → Gov. record
Exact location https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/epa.ohio.gov/Portals/35/permits/Data_Centers/OHD000001_Draft.pdf
What it supports Draft OHD000001 was never blanket permission.
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Ohio EPA Community Notice: proposed data-center general permit will not be finalized → Gov. record
Exact location Recent Activities → Ohio EPA Will NOT Finalize Proposed Data Center General Permit → Community Notice (July 21, 2026)
What it supports Official agency notice that the draft general permit will not be finalized and individual NPDES permitting remains the appropriate path. The preserved official page was reviewed; a later live recheck returned unavailable.
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Ohio EPA notice republished by The Clermont Sun (July 21, 2026) → Institution
Exact location https://www.clermontsun.com/2026/07/22/ohio-epa-will-not-finalize-proposed-data-center-general-permit
What it supports Newspaper republication of the agency notice. This is not the agency record itself.
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Rep. Rader Applauds Ohio EPA Decision to Require Individual Wastewater Permits for Data Centers → Gov. record
Exact location press release: Ohio EPA would not finalize a proposed statewide general wastewater discharge permit and would continue with individual NPDES permits
What it supports Ohio House government page corroborates the agency decision.
Counterevidence
None recorded.
Next check
None recorded
History
Correction · 11 September 2026 · DataCenterData review
Record → Water / permits
Field Water / permits
From Draft Ohio data-center general NPDES permit treated as if it were a final, measured water authorization.
To Ohio EPA said on July 21, 2026 that it would not finalize draft OHD000001 and would continue with individual NPDES permits. A permit is not measured discharge.
Why Correction chronology uses the recorded date, not the 21 July agency-event date.
Correction · 12 September 2026 · Software-assisted second check
Record → Water / permits
Field Water / permits
From The direct Ohio EPA decision notice had not been retrieved.
To The preserved official Ohio EPA Community Notice is cited with its dated heading and exact page location.
Why Primary-record follow-up recovered the agency's own notice, and the second review re-read it; a later live recheck was unavailable and is not treated as a retraction.
Evidence https://epa.ohio.gov/divisions-and-offices/surface-water/permitting/npdes-general-permits →
Data + actions
Suggest a correction → Claim ID ohio-water-permit and the page are prefilled. Accepted material corrections appear publicly on Changes.