My Proposed Data Center Bill of Rights Act

Preamble

Americans, from the inception of the United States of America, have taken pride in their support for free enterprise. While this support was initially limited to the sorts of wealthy, land-owning men who signed the Declaration of Independence, multiple corrections throughout American history have expanded the beneficiaries of this national support for free enterprise: an end to slavery, after which Black Americans received their first (albeit limited) access to free enterprise; the passage of the 14th Amendment, which expanded those Americans explicitly granted the rights necessary to participate in a free economy; the Civil Rights Act and preceding civil rights revolution, which provided further access to free enterprise for Black Americans and other minority groups; and women’s suffrage, banking law changes, and the Roe v. Wade decision which finally granted women agency within the U.S. economy.

Despite the U.S. Constitution explicitly disallowing titles of nobility, at times throughout American history a de facto aristocracy has arisen comprised of unimaginably wealthy Americans with immense influence on, and at times complete control over, our democratic processes. Whether through Congress’ elimination of the Spoils System during the presidency of Chester A. Arthur, or the deconstruction of the unfair influence wielded by the Business Trusts during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, America has occasionally had to make significant changes to its legal and regulatory framework to preserve the fidelity of its democratic institutions and protect the standards of living of everyday Americans. With the advent of large-scale data centers funded by the extraordinarily wealthy, which impact the residents of surrounding communities in an unprecedentedly wide and deep manner, the time has come for another such legislative correction to the American economy.

Many of the attributes of a society based upon free enterprise which some would consider unfair or unjust arise from a phenomenon which economists refer to as negative externalities. A negative externality describes something a person, company, or organization does or creates which allows them to pass on some of the cost of that action or good to third-parties who receive no portion of the benefit. Some examples of negative externalities include environmental pollution from manufacturers, monetary inflation from financial institutions, and added traffic volume and higher gas prices for local residents when large new commercial complexes are built in their area. Given the sheer scale of the latest generation of data centers, these operations represent a complex assortment of very large negative externalities for the communities which surround them. As such, this Act represents an attempt to limit the extent to which Large Data Centers, specifically, can subject their local communities to negative externalities which erode the standards of living of the Americans living within them.

Article I: Definition of a Large Data Center

To preserve the full benefits of America’s free enterprise system for small data center developers and operators, the provisions of this Act shall only apply to those data centers which meet or exceed one or more of the following parameters concerning their costs, resource usage, or operational footprint:

1. The combined gross total of both initial and long-term capital investments equals or exceeds $100,000,000.
2. Construction or operations will occur on a land parcel or collection of land parcels which in total exceed 25 acres of land.
3. Total annual gross electricity usage for construction and operations will exceed 250 megawatts.
4. Total annual water usage, including or excluding initial fill-up, will exceed 200,000,000 gallons.

Article II: Mandatory Approval from Local Residents via Referendum

No data center which meets one or more of the criteria for a Large Data Center as defined in Article I shall be built anywhere in the United States of America without first receiving simple majority approval via referendum vote from the residents of the municipality or township in which the data center is to be constructed.

Upon petition by a data center developer or other interested party, municipal and township governmental entities shall conduct a referendum vote among its residents requesting their approval for the proposed initiative. Locality governments are to follow their own defined procedures for conducting such a referendum via ballot following their existing voting calendar. No locality government shall be compelled to conduct an off-cycle vote for the purposes of such a referendum.

At least ninety days prior to any such vote the data center developer or other interested party must release an extensive public disclosure containing a variety of details regarding the proposed initiative, the specific requirements of which are detailed in Article III, and a copy of which shall be mailed to each resident of the locality in question within two week following the initial publication of the public disclosure documents. Mailings containing an overview of the disclosures, subject to approval by the corresponding township board or city council, which provide a link or links to digital versions of all disclosures required under Article III shall be considered sufficient for the purposes of this requirement.

There shall be no process for appeal should a data center developer or other interested party fail to meet this deadline, and any scheduled referendum vote shall be immediately canceled. Data center developers or other interested parties who miss this deadline resulting in canceled votes may reapply for a second referendum through the same process described previously, to be considered by the locality for inclusion in a future election in accordance with the locality’s election calendar.

Article III: Required Public Disclosures Prior to Referendum Vote

The required public disclosures described in Article II shall contain all of the following, without exception:

1. A wholly unredacted copy of any contracts between the data center developer or other interested parties signed or merely proposed with any and all utility companies, including but not limited to water, electric, and gas providers, whether publicly or privately owned, with subsequent annual public disclosures of any new or modified contracts.
2. A wholly unredacted copy of the data center developer or other interested party’s operating agreement and/or by-laws, with subsequent annual public disclosures thereafter.
3. A wholly unredacted schedule of the names of all individual, business, organizational, and governmental investors in the project, with subsequent annual public disclosures thereafter.
4. A wholly unredacted schedule of the names of all company officers, with subsequent annual public disclosures thereafter.
5. Wholly redacted copies of all studies or other documents produced in compliance with Articles IV through VII of this Act along with the documented decisions and payments resulting from or to township or municipality leadership.

There shall be no exceptions to the requirement for public disclosure of wholly unredacted disclosures:

1. Financial, personal, or political confidentiality concerns shall not be valid cause for an exception to the requirements of this Article.
2. National security shall not constitute a valid cause for an exception to the requirements of this Article.
3. The only recourse a data center developer or other interested party shall have to begin or continue a data center project in compliance with this article is to restructure the development plan, operations plan, and/or other initiative structure so as to remove any potential national security or confidentiality concerns, such as explicitly forbidding contracting with the U.S. Military and other sensitive agencies in the data center’s operating agreement or divesting any investors from the project who may have confidentiality concerns.

Article IV: Energy Protections for Local Residents

Large Data Centers are required to make any and all financial, legal, and other contributions and/or concessions to ensure that the residents of the locality do not face service rate increases for electricity as a result of the construction or operations of the data center, regardless of how extensive or expensive they may be. Parties representing the Large Data Center must commission a detailed cost impact study from all electricity providers who will service the data center, as well as commission a qualified and independent third-party to do the same. The Township Board or City Council for the township or municipality in question shall review all cost impact studies and determine a total cost which the data developer or other interested party must render to the electrical utility provider(s) so as to offset any costs of new infrastructure which might otherwise result in rate increases for local residents, including new or improved substations, new or improved power lines, or any other infrastructural improvements.

Any documents or other artifacts produced in accordance with this Article shall be included in wholly unredacted fashion alongside the other public disclosures described in Article III.

Article V: Water Protections for Local Residents

Large Data Centers are required to make any and all financial, legal, and other contributions and/or concessions to ensure that the residents of the locality do not face service rate increases for water as a result of the construction or operations of the data center, regardless of how extensive or expensive they may be. Parties representing the Large Data Center must commission a detailed cost impact study from all water providers who will service the data center, as well as commission a qualified and independent third-party to do the same. The Township Board or City Council for the township or municipality in question shall review all cost impact studies and determine a total cost which the data developer or other interested party must render to the water utility provider(s) so as to offset any costs of new infrastructure which might otherwise result in rate increases for local residents, including new or improved reservoirs or other storage facilities, new or improved aqueducts or pipelines, or any other infrastructural improvements.

Should the construction or operations of the data center cause any geological or other disruptions which in any way jeopardize the ability of the local population to access water, such as (but not limited to) impacting water table and drainage systems such that the wells of local residents run dry, the Large Data Center or other interested parties will be completely financially and legally liable for all costs incurred providing residents on a temporary and/or emergency basis, as well as all costs of remediation necessary to restore water access, up to and including the costs of constructing new Municipal and Township central water distribution systems.

This Article further forbids the use of water from any public rivers, reservoirs, lakes, or other bodies of water without payment to the Local, State, or Federal authority with regulatory authority over the body of water at rates equal to those of local water utility providers, the revenue from which those authorities are to allocate explicitly to the maintenance of these water systems. Data center developers and other interested parties are further prohibited from discharging any amount of water in such a manner that it overwhelms the capacity of, or exceeds pollution allowances for, any local ditches, drains, rivers, or other water systems surrounding the data center, without exception. Any water discharged shall be held to the highest standards for water discharged into public ditches, rivers, and other waterways per the standards of the Environmental Protection Agency, Army Corps. of Engineers, and Department of Natural Resources, superseding any State or Local variances, exceptions, or abatement regarding water quality standards.

Any documents or other artifacts produced in accordance with this Article shall be included in wholly unredacted fashion alongside the other public disclosures described in Article III.

Article VI: Other Environmental Protections for Local Residents

Because Large Data Centers tend to generate a large amount of noise pollution, the developers of Large Data Centers and other interested parties must invest in the necessary mitigation equipment so as to maintain noise levels which do not exceed 70 decibels during the day and do not exceed 60 decibels at night, during both construction of the facility and during ongoing operations, regardless of the presence or absence of any local ordinances which may otherwise allow higher decibel levels. Regardless of the presence or absence of any local ordinances regarding the use of air brakes (also known as jack brakes), no transportation operators working in service of the Large Data Center or other interested parties shall make use of air brakes within a five mile radius of the Large Data Center location.

Because Large Data Centers tend to generate a large amount of light pollution at night, the developers of Large Data Centers and other interested parties must invest in the necessary mitigation equipment so as to maintain light levels which do not exceed a twenty percent increase to ambient light in any area within a two-mile radius of the Large Data Center location, as measured in lux.

For any other environment concerns the local residents may have, those residing within the same Municipality or Township of the proposed Large Data Center shall have the right to request an environmental impact study to be financed by the Large Data Center or other interested parties and conducted by a qualified third-party. Such an impact study may be requested for any reasonable concerns (as decided by the township board or city council) which impact either the environment, per se, or the impacts to the area as a habitat for the local animal and human populations, including the impact to the physical and mental health of all human residents. Any such requests shall become a matter of legal obligation for the Large Data Center or other interested parties any time the residents of the Municipality or Township collect the requisite number of signatures via petition, the requirements for which shall be the same as those defined by the State or Local authorities for other ballot referendums, however residents need only collect a number of signatures equal to or exceeding the smaller of a) 5% of the Township or Municipality population or b) 20 individual persons.

Residents requesting any such additional impact studies must do so within 30 days of the Large Data Center’s initial public disclosure in advance of the referendum. Large Data Centers or other interested parties must in turn provide a supplemental public disclosure with the details of any such impact studies and commentary from the township board or city council within 30 days or face immediate cancellation of their upcoming referendum vote.

Article VII: Roadway and Other Travel Protections for Local Residents

Both the construction and operation of Large Data Centers results in a large influx of additional road traffic and costs for the residents of the surrounding area, creating opportunities for the developers of Large Data Center or other interested parties to generate negative externalities for local residents in the form of roadway overuse, accelerated roadway deterioration, and the corresponding long-term financial costs associated with remediating any such accelerated deterioration, costs which ultimately fall to local residents via the taxes they pay to the State and Local governments responsible for maintaining those roadways.

Transportation operators working for the Large Data Center or other interested parties during its construction or operation found in violation of a) any provisions of this Act or b) any other local traffic laws shall face double fines, with the excess portion deposited into a fund administered by the township board or city council for the benefit of anyone injured or otherwise harmed in incidents and accidents surrounding the Large Data Center’s construction or operations. Any fund balance remaining following a five year period shall be allocated in its entirety towards the repair and improvement of the public roadways surrounding the Large Data Center location, distributed in a prorated fashion across the various government entities responsible for road maintenance, using the ratio of the aggregate mileage of each authority’s roadways within a 10 mile radius of the Large Data Center location to the total public roadway mileage spanning all authorities within that same area.

Article VIII: Consequences for Repeat Violations

Because of the extraordinary economic resource imbalance between the developers of Large Data Centers and other interested parties from the local populations of the Municipalities and Townships in which they wish to build, some could feasibly afford to pay the fines associated with violations of both this Act and local laws yet continue the project uninjured. To prevent any such scenarios, should the developer or operator of the Large Data Center or other interested parties exceed the threshold of violations as defined by this Article, the entirety of operations and/or construction of the Large Data Center shall immediately cease, and the Large Data Center or other interested parties must conduct a new referendum as outlined in Article II to request the local population’s permission to continue construction and/or operations.

The threshold incident count at which the Large Data Center or other interested parties must cease construction and/or operations is hereby established as 20 or more violations.

Violations for the purposes of this Act shall include any of the following:

1. Any violations of the provisions of this Act, with each way in which the Large Data Center or other interested party is out of compliance representing a separate violation to be counted towards the statutory threshold.
2. Any violations of Federal, State, or Local regulations as defined by their corresponding regulatory agencies. In States where the full regulatory authority of the Environmental Protection Agency, Army Corps. of Engineers, or other government agencies normally have jurisdiction, any such Federal agencies shall have new authority to cite Large Data Center developers or other interested parties with violations in the absence of enforcement actions from State and Local agencies or authorities.
3. Any violations of Federal, State, or Local traffic laws committed by those working for or on behalf of the Large Data Center during either its construction or operations.
4. Any other other violations of Federal, State, or Local law committed during the course of constructing or operating the Large Data Center, whether committed by the Large Data Center itself, any of its employees, or anyone else with any financial interest in the Large Data Center, whether direct or indirect.

Article IX: Applicability to Existing Data Centers

All existing data centers within the United States which otherwise meet the criteria for classification as a Large Data Center as defined in Article I shall have several options for achieving compliance with this Act, completing one or more of the following within one calendar year of its passage:

1. Conduct a referendum as defined in Article II, including the release of Public Disclosures as defined in Article III at least ninety days prior to the scheduled election during which the referendum vote is to occur.
2. Establish a community fund, chaired by residents of the same locality as the data center elected during its next election cycle, and contribute $1,000,000,000 to the fund without any legal or contractual conditions, with the explicit charitable mission of providing payments to residents to mitigate the financial impact of the negative externalities of the Large Data Center, providing financial support in accordance with the relative economic impact on each resident, such as providing higher compensation to those in more immediate proximity to the operations site, those living along roadways essential to traffic to and from the site, and so forth, with further compensation provided to residents on a prorated basis with respect to their usage of shared utility providers.
3. Cease operations immediately, liquidate or remove all non-real estate assets, and sell or donate the land the data center occupies to the municipality, township, or county. Federal and State agencies shall be forbidden from purchasing Large Data Center sites under these conditions.

Failure to complete one of the above actions within one year from the passage of this Act will subject the land the data center occupies and all personal property remaining on it to immediate forfeiture to the municipal or township government with jurisdiction over the Large Data Center site. There shall be no extensions offered nor timeline variances granted under any circumstances.

Article X: Data Centers Meeting Large Data Center Criteria After Subsequent Construction or Operational Expansion

Over time, some small data centers will inevitably grow in such a way as to meet the criteria defining a Large Data Center. Should this occur, such newly designated Large Data Centers shall be subject to the same remediation provisions outlined in Article IX, but shall have three years to complete all remediation actions rather than one year. There shall be no further extensions offered nor timeline variances granted under any circumstances.