BLM approved 167MW AI data center on Boulder City public land by recycling a 2023 solar review, skipping public comment

On June 26, 2026, the Bureau of Land Management's Las Vegas Field Office approved an amended right-of-way letting developer Townsite Solar 2 replace a previously authorized 19-megawatt solar-and-battery-storage project on federal land in Boulder City, Nevada, with a 167-megawatt AI data center — roughly 8.8 times the original capacity — without a new environmental review or public comment period.

BLM Las Vegas Field Office Manager Bruce Sillitoe approved the switch by invoking a Determination of NEPA Adequacy, a mechanism that lets an agency reuse an existing environmental review when a new proposal is judged "substantially the same" as what was previously analyzed. Sillitoe found the solar project and the data center substantially similar based on shared acreage, boundaries, and construction timelines, despite the data center's far larger power draw and different use. The approval bypassed the public-input process Boulder City itself required when the developer separately sought a related permit on adjacent city-owned land: the city's Planning Commission voted 6-1 against that local proposal, after which Townsite Solar 2 withdrew it and relied instead on the federal approval secured less than half a mile away.

Boulder City officials said they had no advance notice or opportunity to weigh in before BLM's decision. The City Council voted unanimously on July 14, 2026, to appeal the approval to the Interior Board of Land Appeals. The developer's joint venture, which includes Arevon, had retained lobbyists from the Bernhardt Group — headed by David Bernhardt, Interior Secretary during Trump's first term — around the time of its application; no direct evidence of intervention in the approval has been found, though the timing drew scrutiny from Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.).

Updates

2026-07-23 — Rep. Tlaib introduced federal bill banning AI data centers on public lands [7]

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) introduced the No AI Data Centers on Federal Lands Act (H.R. 9939), citing BLM's approval of the first AI data center on public land in Nevada as justification; the bill would permanently prohibit large AI data centers on federal land, including military installations, and require removal of existing qualifying facilities.

2026-07-24 — Boulder City filed IBLA appeal challenging BLM decision [5, 6]

Boulder City's attorney's office filed an administrative appeal with the Interior Board of Land Appeals, arguing BLM improperly relied on the 2023 solar-project environmental review to approve a fundamentally different data center and that the Federal Land Policy and Management Act does not authorize a right-of-way for a facility that consumes rather than generates or transmits electricity. The filing included a petition asking the board to stay BLM's approval pending the appeal.

2026-07-27 — Environmental groups filed second IBLA appeal and stay petition [4, 6]

The Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter, joined by Boulder City residents, filed their own administrative appeal and petition for a stay with the Interior Board of Land Appeals, arguing BLM unlawfully sidestepped environmental-review and public-participation requirements.