Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has directed the state's environmental regulator to stop issuing air and water pollution permits for new or expanding data centers until July 1, 2027. The order to Leah Feldon, director of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), freezes most data center development in one of the largest data center markets in the United States.

The pause covers air quality permits and applications from municipalities seeking to renew or modify wastewater treatment plant permits to accommodate data center discharge. Neither Kotek nor the department has commented publicly beyond the directive itself.

What does the governor's letter say?

"I am asking you to exercise your existing administrative authority and discretion to pause processing and issuance of air or water discharge permit applications until July 1, 2027, that involve new or expanded data center facilities within Oregon," Kotek wrote to Feldon.

She framed the halt as time-limited and procedural. The window, she said, "will provide an opportunity for me to evaluate and digest recommendations forthcoming from the [Data Center] Advisory Committee, and to provide space for policy and/or regulatory reforms that may be considered in the upcoming 2027 session of the Legislature with my support."

The DEQ freeze follows a separate land-side order. Last month, Kotek directed state agencies to pause land transactions for data center projects, also until July 2027, to enable a statewide evaluation of long-term impacts from large-scale builds. In August, she blocked the sale of 32 acres at the Mill Creek Corporate Center in southeast Salem to Verrus for a proposed data center.

In short: permits, land deals, or both are now closed to new data center projects in Oregon for roughly two years.

How have advocates and operators responded?

The non-profit Food & Water Watch called the move a "massive victory" that would "give communities breathing room from more data center development."

"This is a monumental moment for the Oregonians who have made it clear that we don't want water-intensive data centers that will only raise our bills and make it harder to reach our climate goals," said Lilli DiPaola, Food & Water Watch's Oregon organizing manager. "We urge this to be just the first step towards regulating the aggressive Big Tech industry already harming Oregonians."

The organization said Oregon still needs a three-year moratorium to determine the full impact on residents and the necessary protections.

Kaleb Lay, Oregon Rural Action's director of policy and research, said the pause is necessary but incomplete. "It's not enough to just pause DEQ permits without changing anything. This buys us time, and the Legislature needs to use that time to pass the laws that will stop the pollution, end the secrecy, protect our farmland, and hold these corporations accountable," Lay said.

Amazon, which has operated in the state for more than 15 years and maintains a sizeable footprint, pushed back. "This directive was issued abruptly, without meaningful stakeholder engagement of the workers, businesses, and municipalities it will affect," Shannon Kellogg, vice president of Amazon Web Services Public Policy for the Americas, told KLCC. "Amazon has been a committed partner in Oregon for over 15 years, and we will continue to advocate for policies that protect communities and support responsible growth."

What precedents already exist in Oregon?

The state-level actions extend a pattern of local and legislative measures:

• Hillsboro imposed a 120-day moratorium on data center projects at the end of July 2026.
• In June 2025, the Oregon House of Representatives passed a bill requiring data centers and cryptocurrency operations to cover a fair share of the costs of new power plants and transmission lines.
• In August, Kotek blocked Verrus's 32-acre land purchase at Mill Creek Corporate Center in Salem.

Oregon hosts a number of operators with facilities concentrated around the Hillsboro area of Portland, alongside Amazon's buildout. The state has attracted large-scale investment with available land and power, and the permit pause now sits directly across that pipeline.

The Legislature's 2027 session, backed by the governor's stated support for reform, becomes the decisive date. Until then, Oregon's data center pipeline runs on permits already issued.