Spartanburg data-center air hearing set June 25; comments due July 31
Spartanburg, SC — SCDES will take public comments June 25 on Valara’s draft data-center air permit, with written comments open until July 31.
Spartanburg residents have two near-term chances to weigh in on a pending state air permit tied to a proposed data center: a public hearing on Thursday, June 25, 2026, and a written-comment deadline that now runs through July 31.
The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services has scheduled the hearing for Valara Holdings High Performance Compute Center’s draft Synthetic Minor Air Construction Permit, listed as CP-50000422. SCDES says the facility, also referred to by parent company NorthMark Strategies, is a data center located in Spartanburg.
The permit has not been approved. SCDES says no permit decision will be made at the June 25 hearing, and the agency does not currently have a timeframe for when a decision may be made.
When and where the June 25 meeting happens
The meeting will be held at Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium, 385 N. Church Street, Spartanburg, South Carolina 29303. Doors open at 5:15 p.m.
The first part is an availability session from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. SCDES says that session is meant for one-on-one questions. Staff from the Bureau of Air Quality and Bureau of Water are expected to be available, and SCDES says representatives from Spartanburg Water and Valara also plan to take part.
The formal public hearing begins at 6:45 p.m. That portion is for written and oral comments on the draft permit. SCDES says staff will not answer questions during the hearing itself because the hearing is focused on receiving formal comments for the agency record.
People planning to attend are encouraged, but not required, to pre-register by noon on June 25. Those who do not pre-register will be asked to register in the lobby. SCDES also notes that oral comments are generally limited to 3 minutes per speaker, or 5 minutes for elected officials and people speaking on behalf of an organization.
What the draft air permit covers
SCDES says Valara submitted its second synthetic-minor air construction permit application on March 4, 2026. The application seeks permission to generate additional onsite electricity using 11 natural gas-fired turbines and to operate under new emissions limits.
That makes this hearing narrower than the broader public debate over data centers in Spartanburg County. The state item is an air construction permit tied to onsite power generation and emissions requirements. It is not a final local vote on whether data centers should operate in the county, and it does not cover every possible land-use, utility, water, wastewater, or infrastructure question that may apply to the project.
SCDES says Valara previously received a synthetic-minor air construction permit in September 2025 for onsite electricity generated by 24 permanent natural gas-fired generators with pollution-control equipment and federally enforceable emissions limits.
How residents can comment
The public comment period began May 26, 2026, and has been extended to July 31, 2026. Residents can provide oral or written comments at the June 25 hearing, submit comments online through SCDES ePermitting, mail comments to the SCDES Bureau of Air Quality, Air Permitting Division Director, 2600 Bull Street, Columbia SC 29201, or email comments to AirPNComments@des.sc.gov.
SCDES says all comments received during the comment period will be reviewed before a permit decision is made. The agency says a written response to comments will be provided along with the eventual permit decision.
How this differs from the county moratorium debate
The state air-permit process is separate from Spartanburg County’s land-use and policy discussion. FOX Carolina reported that Spartanburg County Council voted to allow the county manager and county attorney to draft a possible one-year moratorium on data centers. That vote did not put a moratorium in place; it only started the process of considering one.
FOX Carolina also reported that some residents raised transparency concerns about how the moratorium discussion appeared on the county agenda and questioned when county leaders understood that data-center proposals were active.
Upstate Forever, an environmental advocacy organization, is urging residents to attend the SCDES hearing and has raised concerns about air emissions, water, grid demand, infrastructure, and transparency. Those concerns help explain why the hearing is drawing attention, but the official permit status and comment rules come from SCDES.
For Spartanburg residents, the practical takeaway is timing: June 25 is the in-person chance to ask questions during the availability session and put comments on the record during the hearing. July 31 is the deadline for written comments before SCDES finishes reviewing the draft air permit.
Sources
- SCDES Valara Holdings High Performance Compute Center project page
- FOX Carolina report on Spartanburg County moratorium discussion
- Upstate Forever advocacy alert on Spartanburg data-center air permit
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