LAS VEGAS— A federal panel today halted construction on a massive data center near Boulder City, Nevada, granting environmental groups and local residents a stay in their fight against the hyperscale facility before construction began.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter and local Boulder City residents filed the appeal against the Townsite data center, which would have been the first data center in the country located on federal public land.

“We’re thrilled that this data center has been stopped dead in its tracks,” said Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Trump administration is pulling out all the stops to let tech companies build massive data centers on our public lands. This tremendous victory proves communities have the power to fight back and win.”

The Interior Board of Land Appeals found that the appeal was “likely to succeed on the merits” in showing that the Trump administration unlawfully approved the Townsite data center without conducting a project-specific environmental review. The administration instead relied on a years-old approval process for a solar project at the same location.

Today’s order prevents the project from moving forward while the panel considers legal challenges against the proposal.

The Townsite project was the first data center to be approved on public land in the United States. The Bureau of Land Management is considering other data center proposals on public land elsewhere in Nevada. Today’s ruling will ensure that those proposals are subject to rigorous environmental review.

“This decision is a victory for democracy, public participation and the principle that our public lands should serve the public,” said Olivia Tanager, director of the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter. “The people of Boulder City have made clear that they do not want a data center on public lands, and this ruling gives their voices the weight they deserve. Data centers do not belong on public lands, and we will continue to fight unfettered data center development.”

Local residents from Boulder City who are members of the Center and Sierra Club joined the appeal, describing how their health and lives could be harmed by data center development in their town.

“We love our community and our desert, and we’re so grateful to our friends and neighbors for working hard to protect both,” said Brynn deLorimier, a Boulder City resident who joined the appeal. “We’re also grateful to the Interior Board of Land Appeals for recognizing that this case matters far beyond Boulder City and could set an important precedent for public lands in Nevada and across the country.”