Large data center applicants would share details for local review

A developer must provide project details and a plain-language public summary before its local application is complete. These rules cover applications for local approval of a large-scale data center, including a center designed or projected to use at least 25 megawatts of computing load or 50 megawatts of electricity. The application must include energy demand, water use, infrastructure needs, environmental effects, ownership, affiliates, phased plans, and a public summary. The information must be open for public review for at least 30 days; proprietary details other than the public summary may be withheld. A local government must post submitted information within 30 days, except details designated proprietary or otherwise exempt by law.

Local governments may weigh community impacts, require related agreements, and charge developers reasonable review costs. These options apply when a local government considers a decision about a large-scale data center. Agreements may impose requirements reasonably related to the center's community impacts. Review charges may cover only actual, reasonable application review and processing costs. The bill gives no separate start date for these options; the act would take effect 90 days after enactment.

People challenging a local decision must first use local remedies and give notice of procedural problems; courts may dismiss cases that skip these steps. This applies to a person aggrieved by a local decision about a large-scale data center. A challenger must give the local government at least 30 days to fix a procedural defect. The court reviews the existing record and may overturn a decision only on clear and convincing evidence of a listed legal or evidentiary flaw. The challenger must allow at least 30 days for the local government to fix a procedural defect; other filing deadlines set by law still apply.

A person who makes a material misrepresentation may face a civil fine, and public prosecutors may sue to collect it. This applies to people who make a material misrepresentation connected to a local decision. A false, incomplete, or misleading statement about an important fact is a material misrepresentation. A county prosecutor or the attorney general may bring the collection action. The bill takes effect 90 days after enactment and only if House Bill 6427 is also enacted.