A5646

An Act concerning data center development and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. As used in this act:

“Community advisory board” means a coalition of organizations, residents, and local government officials charged with negotiating, monitoring, and enforcing a community benefits agreement with the developer of a data center. A majority of members of the community advisory board shall be residents, workers, and community-based nonprofit organizations from the impacted community. A community advisory board shall not include a data center developer or an employee of a data center developer.

“Community benefits agreement” means a legally binding and enforceable agreement between a community advisory board or a community coalition and the developer of a data center for the purpose of ensuring that the developer provides measurable enforceable benefits to host communities, protects environmental and cultural resources, and advances equity and justice.

“Community coalition” means a group of two or more community-based organizations, such as workforce development and training organizations, labor unions, environmental and social justice advocates, local governmental entities, other organizations that represent community interests and residents of the political subdivision where a proposed data center will be located. The term “community coalition” shall include residents of the municipality in which the data center will be located. The term “community coalition” shall not include a data center developer or management employees employed by a data center developer.

“Data center” means a facility: (1) whose primary services are the storage, management, and processing of digital data; and (2) that is used to house computer and network systems, including associated components such as servers, network equipment and appliances, telecommunications, and data storage systems, systems for monitoring and managing infrastructure performance, Internet-related equipment and services, data communications connections, environmental controls, fire protection systems, and security systems and services.

“Data Center Transparency Dashboard” or “dashboard” means the online dashboard established by the department pursuant to section 3 of this act.

“Department” means the Department of Environmental Protection.

2. a. The owner or operator of a data center that has obtained all necessary federal, State, and local permits, is fully constructed, and is operating in the State shall submit to the department on an annual basis, in a form and manner determined by the department, a report that contains the following information, at a minimum:

(1) basic information relating to the data center, including:

(a) the name of the data center;

(b) the owner or operator of the data center;

(d) the month and year that the data center commenced operation;

(2) a copy of any community benefit agreements entered into on behalf of the data center;

(3) the total direct greenhouse gas emissions that stem from the data center and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from consumed electricity, steam, heating, or cooling purchased or acquired by the data center;

(4) a detailed assessment of the data center’s energy demands and if data center demands more than 50 megawatts of electricity per year;

(5) a detailed assessment of all violations at the data center concerning water quality standards, if any; and

(6) a copy of any other reports the data center has submitted to the department that are required by State law, rule, or regulation.

b. The owner or operator of a data center that is proposed for construction in the State or has commenced construction and obtained all necessary federal, State, and local permits but is not operational shall submit to the department on an annual basis, in a form and manner determined by the department, a report that contains the following information, at a minimum:

(1) basic information relating to the data center, including:

(a) the name of the data center;

(b) the owner or operator of the data center;

(d) the month and year that the data center plans to commence operations;

(2) the status of any permits required for the data center, including, but not limited to, any permits related to the siting, zoning, and construction of the data center and its affiliated projects;

(3) a detailed assessment of the data center’s proposed energy demands and if data center plans to demand more than 50 megawatts of electricity per year; and

(4) any other information as deemed necessary by the department.

c. Each report submitted pursuant to this section shall be accompanied by a fee, determined by the department, in an amount that does not exceed the costs necessary to establish and maintain the Data Center Transparency Dashboard.

d. (1) The owner or operator of a data center that has obtained all necessary federal, State, and local permits, is fully constructed, and is operating in the State after the effective date of this section shall submit the report required pursuant to subsection a. of this section, no later than 90 days after the data center is operational.

(2) The owner or operator of a data center that is proposed for construction in the State after the effective date of this section shall submit the report required pursuant to subsection b. of this section, within 90 days of proposed construction.

(3) The owner or operator of a data center that is operational, proposed for construction, or has commenced construction by the effective date of this section shall submit the report required pursuant to subsection a. or subsection b. of this section, as applicable, within 90 days of the effective date of this section.

3. a. No later than 90 days after the effective date of this section, the department shall design and implement an online dashboard accessible to the public, to be known as the “Data Center Transparency Dashboard.” Through the dashboard, the department shall publish the reports submitted pursuant to section 2 of this act, inclusive of any redactions for the purposes of confidentiality or privacy as required by federal or State law. The department shall design the dashboard to display data in a manner that is easily understandable and accessible to residents of the State. All data sets published on the dashboard shall be available in electronic format for access and use by the public.

b. The department shall provide public notice to all State residents that are located within a five-mile radius of a data center that is reported in the dashboard. The public notice shall be provided on an annual basis and contain information concerning how to access the dashboard.

4. This act shall take effect immediately, except that section 2 shall take effect on the 90th day after the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill would require data centers that are operational in the State or proposed for construction to submit certain information in a report to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on an annual basis. Additionally, the bill would require the DEP to establish a publicly accessible online dashboard to be known as the Data Center Transparency Dashboard (dashboard).

Under the bill, data centers that have obtained all necessary federal, State, and local permits, are fully constructed, and operational would be required submit the following in a report: (1) basic information concerning the data center; (2) a copy of any community benefit agreements entered into on behalf of the data center; (3) the total direct greenhouse gas emissions that stem from the data center and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from consumed electricity, steam, heating, or cooling purchased or acquired by the data center; (4) a detailed assessment of the data center’s energy demands and if data center demands more than 50 megawatts of electricity per year; (5) a detailed assessment of all violations at the data center concerning water quality standards, if any; and (6) a copy of any other reports the data center has submitted to the department that are required by State law, rule, or regulation. The bill would require for proposed data centers or data centers that have commenced construction and have obtained all necessary federal, State, and local operating permits but are not operational to include the following in a report: (1) basic information concerning the data center; (2) the status of any permits required for the operation of the data center, including, but not limited to, any permits related to the siting, zoning, and construction of the data center and its affiliated projects; (3) a detailed assessment of the data center’s energy demands and if data center plans to or currently demands more than 50 megawatts of electricity per year; and (4) any other information as deemed necessary by the DEP.

As enumerated in the bill, the data centers would be required to submit the report within a certain timeframe. The DEP would assess a fee associated with the submission of the report which would cover the costs to implement and maintain the dashboard.

The DEP would have no later than 90 days after the bill’s effective date to establish the dashboard. The bill would require the DEP to publish the reports submitted pursuant to the bill to the dashboard. Finally, the bill would require the DEP to provide public notice to State residents located within a five-mile radius of a data center reported in the dashboard with information concerning how to access the dashboard.