Stories / Issue · Sep 10 – Oct 5, 2026
Data Center Transparency and Community Empowerment Acts
Six Democratic members of Congress are advancing legislation and criticism regarding data center development and community oversight. Blunt Rochester introduced bills requiring federal environmental impact reporting and community involvement, while Wyden introduced a bill banning data center development on federally-owned public lands. Dingell announced a draft federal data center Bill of Rights, and Kelly, Gallego, and Duckworth pressed the EPA to maintain public input rules for air permits.
AI summary of the releases below · Oct 7, 2026
How the conversation moved
Democrat Republican · one dot = one action| Action type | Wk ofSep 61 | Wk ofSep 131 | Wk ofSep 203 | Wk ofSep 275 | Wk ofOct 41 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sent lettersTo agencies, companies, officials | 4 | |||||
| CriticizedA policy, decision or person | 2 | |||||
| Filed or pushed billsNew, reintroduced or passed | 4 | |||||
| Other | 1 |
Where they stand
Support · 4
- DBlunt Rochester DEIntroduced bills to improve data center transparency and community involvement
- RBarrett MICo-sponsored No Secrets for Data Centers Act to increase transparency
- DLarsen WADemanded data centers include labor standards and community benefits agreements
- DVasquez NMChampioned bills to stop data center developers from forcing communities to subsidize construction
Oppose · 7
- DKelly AZOpposed EPA rollback of public notice period for data center permits
- DGallego AZOpposed EPA rule eliminating 30-day public notice period for data centers
- DDuckworth ILOpposed EPA rule eliminating 30-day public notice period for data centers
- DWyden ORIntroduced bill to ban data center development on public lands
- DMarkey MAOpposes EPA deregulation favoring data center construction
- DWarner VAArgued Ratepayer Protection Act does not go far enough; urged mandatory transparency requirements
- DCastor FLOpposed data centers without ratepayer protections
What each party did · Democrats 10 · Republicans 1
- 4Sent letters0
- 2Criticized0
- 3Filed or pushed bills1
- 1Other0
Most active
By state
+2 more with fewer actions
Every action
11 actions · 14 releases- Oct 5, 2026
- Letter
DKelly AZ, DGallego AZ, DDuckworth IL
Pressed EPA and data center companies to maintain public input rules for air permits.
- Letter
- Oct 1, 2026
- Bill
Introduced bills requiring federal data center environmental impact reporting and community involvement in development.
- Statement
Announced draft of federal data center Bill of Rights to ensure community input on large-scale projects.
- Bill
- Sep 30, 2026
- Bill
Introduced bill banning development of data centers on federally-owned public lands.
- Criticism
Released report criticizing EPA deregulation of environmental protections for data center construction.
- Bill
- Sep 29, 2026
- Criticism
Called for stronger data center regulations on water, energy, and transparency requirements.
- Criticism
- Sep 25, 2026
- Letter
- Sep 24, 2026
- Bill
Introduced bipartisan bill to ban non-disclosure agreements on data center projects.
- Bill
- Sep 23, 2026
- Letter
Joined letter demanding data centers follow strict guardrails on electricity and water impacts.
- Letter
- Sep 16, 2026
- Bill
Backed data center moratorium and championed bills to protect communities from data center costs.
- Bill
- Sep 10, 2026
- Letter
Opposed data center development in Hillsborough County, citing utility cost increases.
- Letter
Summaries, action types, amounts and positions are read from each press release by AI and can be wrong. Joint releases (same day, same action, matching title or amount) count once. How it works