Release: Rep. Khanna Introduces Data Center Bill of Rights

Washington, DC — Today, Congressman Ro Khanna (CA-17) introduced a Data Center Bill of Rights that would give Americans and local communities greater control over the construction and operation of AI data centers. The resolution calls for prohibiting data centers in residential areas and within 2,500 feet of homes, schools, childcare facilities, hospitals and nursing homes.

More than 4,400 data center facilities are listed across all 50 states. As the industry expands, communities are increasingly concerned about its effects on local water supplies, air quality and public health. Berkeley Lab projects that U.S. hyperscale data centers, whose growth is being driven largely by AI workloads, could directly consume as much as 33 billion gallons of water annually by 2028. Diesel generators and gas turbines can also emit pollutants linked to respiratory and cardiovascular harm, while cooling systems and other equipment can create persistent noise that may disrupt sleep.

“Families should not face higher electricity bills, depleted water supplies, or increased pollution from data centers in their communities. Americans deserve the right to know what is being proposed, to decide what gets built in their neighborhoods and to share in the economic benefits,” said Rep. Ro Khanna. 

The resolution affirms that every American and community affected by an artificial intelligence data center should have the right to:

• ban data centers in residential areas and within 2,500 feet of homes, schools, childcare facilities, hospitals or nursing homes;
• reject any proposed data center through a transparent community process 
• preserve the authority of counties and municipalities to prohibit or regulate data center development without being preempted or overruled by the State;
• adopt statewide pauses on new data centers until the state passes real protections that stop ratepayers from seeing higher electricity bills, prevent the draining of local water supplies, and give communities a genuine say over what gets built in their backyard;
• demand no increase in electricity rates or fees for households or small businesses; 
• require every data center to use clean and reliable energy while meeting strict limits on noise and air pollution 
•  receive, before project approval, an independent and publicly available impact report assessing the data center’s effects on electricity demand, utility bills, public health, noise and air pollution, price of consumer goods, rents, and housing availability, as well as a complete accounting of the number and types of jobs the project is expected to create and economic impact to the community over 10 years;
• require enforceable community benefit agreements that support affordable housing, neighborhood improvements, water and infrastructure upgrades, public computing resources, local venture capital, workforce training and permanent technology jobs;
• require data center operators to disclose projected water consumption to local water providers and obtain a written compatibility determination before approval and submit semiannual water usage reports for public review; and 
• require data center owners, operators, and developers to pay their fair share of State and local taxes and ensure that any tax exemption or public subsidy includes strong labor standards, full transparency, and clawback provisions when those conditions are not met.

Read the full text here.

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