Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has ordered state environmental regulators to stop issuing air and water pollution permits for new or expanding data centers until July 2027, a directive that could effectively pause most large-scale data center development in the state. Kotek sent the direction to Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Director Leah Feldon in a letter dated Friday. She also told the agency to stop processing applications from cities and counties seeking to renew or change wastewater permits to accommodate data centers. The governor said the temporary pause would give her time to consider recommendations from a state advisory committee and allow room for potential policy and regulatory changes during the 2027 legislative session. Lawmakers are due to convene in January. The new permitting freeze broadens an earlier moratorium on data center development on state-owned land. Without air or water permits, large facilities known as hyperscale data centers would generally be unable to proceed on either public or private property. Kaleb Lay, policy and research director for Oregon Rural Action, said the pause could hold development until lawmakers have had a chance to act during the first half of next year. The grassroots organization, which focuses on social justice and environmental sustainability in Eastern Oregon, shared Kotek’s letter. Lay said he hopes lawmakers will address data centers’ heavy use of water and electricity, as well as transparency and nondisclosure agreements. He argued that a permitting pause alone is not enough and called for new laws to protect communities from large corporations. Amazon, which operates more than a dozen hyperscale data centers in Morrow and Umatilla counties, criticized the directive. Shannon Kellogg, Amazon Web Services’ vice president of public policy for the Americas, said the move came without meaningful engagement with affected workers, businesses and municipalities. The company said the policy could cost Oregon thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in planned investment. Data center development has become a campaign issue in the race for governor. Kotek, a Democrat, and Republican state Sen. Christine Drazan have both said they support a moratorium and have criticized each other over their approaches to restricting the projects. The pause comes as Oregon faces choices about how to manage the growing industry’s demands on local infrastructure and resources. Recommendations from Kotek’s Data Center Advisory Committee are expected to inform debate over possible legislation next year.