Environment be dammed!! Nothing stops this AI semiconductor train!!!
President Joe Biden signed legislation on Wednesday exempting semiconductor manufacturing facilities that received funding under the CHIPS and Science Act from federal environmental reviews.
The Building Chips in America Act exempts manufacturing projects, like those from Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., from needing review under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. The result, chipmakers hope, will be a more streamlined construction process for their projects.
Environmental groups like the Sierra Club, on the other hand, say it creates a dangerous path for an industry that uses PFAS in production to circumvent necessary reviews. The group pushed unsuccessfully for Biden to veto the bill.
“This bill would remove the last remaining federal lever to assess the impact of massive semiconductor fabs on drinking water, air quality, climate change, and community health,” Harry Manin, Deputy Legislative Director for Industrial Policy at the national Sierra Club, said in an Oct. 2 statement.
PFAS are often present in the chemicals used to manufacture semiconductors, such as photoresist liquids that resist exposure to UV light, as well as the equipment, including high purity water distribution systems in chip plants, according to industry group Semi.
The NEPA process is a drag so I understand why the administration is doing this it’s just a shame it’s for microchip companies that already have billions upon billions in market cap.