Sponsors (5)
The bill preserves local control and reduces federal leverage over data center siting—improving local authority and developer predictability—at the cost of potentially slowing infrastructure deployment, complicating national-security coordination, and increasing federal program costs.
State and local governments keep authority over siting and permitting for data centers on non‑Federal land and are protected from being forced to cede that authority to receive federal funds, preserving local planning control.
Data center developers and investors face more predictable rules because the bill limits federal preemption of local approvals, reducing regulatory uncertainty and easing project planning.
Communities and businesses (especially small businesses) may see slower deployment of infrastructure such as broadband and cloud capacity where federal incentives can no longer be conditioned on meeting uniform siting or permitting standards.
The federal government may have reduced ability to coordinate or accelerate data center projects tied to national priorities, potentially complicating responses related to national security or critical federal needs.
Federal programs could incur higher costs if they must accommodate a patchwork of local requirements rather than using conditional funding to enforce standard siting or permitting rules, which may increase taxpayer burdens or reduce program reach.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bars federal agencies from conditioning federal funds on states or localities surrendering or limiting zoning, siting, permitting, or land‑use authority for data centers on non‑Federal land.
Official title: To prohibit the preemption of State or local land-use, zoning, siting, or permitting authority for data centers on non-Federal land, and for other purposes.
Introduced August 20, 2026 by Tom Barrett · Last progress August 20, 2026
Prohibits federal agencies from requiring states or localities to give up, limit, or change their land-use, zoning, siting, or permitting authority as a condition of receiving federal funds for data centers on non‑federal land. The rule applies regardless of other laws and binds federal funding decisions involving such data centers. The measure preserves state and local control over where and how data centers are sited and permitted by blocking federal funding conditions that would override those authorities.