Virginia is at the epicenter of the data center boom. Over 70% of the world’s internet traffic runs through the Commonwealth, with most of these energy and resource hungry facilities located in Northern Virginia’s “Data Center Alley.”
With the proliferation of data centers has come a host of issues, which this legislation will help address.
This package of legislation boosts transparency in the development and operations of data centers by requiring site assessments for noise impacts, enabling localities to require information on potential impacts to water quality, agriculture, forests and parks, and disclosing whether these facilities will require costly utility infrastructure like transmission lines and substations in order to operate.
HB153 passed out of the House 91-7; SB94 passed out of the Senate on a vote of 21-18 with one abstention. Both bills were signed into law by Governor Spanberger.