Data centers: water use disclosures.

Plain English Breakdown

The exact penalties for non-compliance with the bill's requirements are not specified in the official source material.

Data Centers: Water Use Disclosures

AB-2469 requires data centers to disclose their water use and plan for water scarcity, and it sets conditions for city and county approval of new or expanded data center projects.

What This Bill Does

• Prohibits cities and counties from approving permits for new data centers or expansions unless certain conditions are met.
• Requires applicants to provide a water scarcity plan, supply assessment, and use assessment when applying for permits.
• Prohibits construction in critically overdrafted groundwater basins without special permission.
• Requires the Department of Water Resources and State Water Resources Control Board to create specific performance measures for data centers by December 31, 2029.
• Makes applicants responsible for any water infrastructure improvements needed due to their project.

Who It Names or Affects

• Data center companies applying for new permits or expansions in California.
• Local governments (cities and counties) that issue permits for data centers.
• Water suppliers who provide services to data centers.

Terms To Know

Critically overdrafted groundwater basin

An area where the amount of water taken out is more than the amount naturally replaced, leading to a shortage.

Performance measures

Specific goals or standards set by government agencies for how much water should be used in certain industries.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify the exact date when performance measures must be adopted.
• It is unclear what specific penalties will apply if data centers do not comply with these requirements.
• The bill's impact on existing data center operations that are already built and operating is not detailed.

Official Summary Text

AB 2469, as amended, Papan.
Data centers: water use disclosures.
The Planning and Zoning Law authorizes the legislative body of any county or city to adopt ordinances that, among other things, regulate the use of buildings, structures, and land as between industry, businesses, residences, and open space, as specified.
This bill would prohibit a city, county, or city and county from approving a discretionary or ministerial permit or other entitlement that would result in the construction, or an expansion that increases the maximum peak
water
use, of a data center unless specified conditions are satisfied, including, among others, that the applicant provides the city, county, or city and a county prescribed information. The bill would include in this prescribed information a water scarcity plan, a water
supply assessment, and a water use assessment, each as provided. The bill would also include in the specified conditions that the construction or expansion is not within the boundaries of a groundwater basin designated as critically overdrafted by the Department of Water Resources, except as specified, and that the applicant assumes responsibility for the full cost of any required water conveyance, treatment or storage, or distribution infrastructure improvements necessary to serve the project, as determined by the Department of Water Resources or the applicable water supplier. By expanding the duties of local agencies to administer these provisions, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law requires the Department of Water Resources to recommend, and the State Water Resources Control Board to adopt, as prescribed, performance measures for water used by commercial, industrial, institutional, and large landscape water users (CII water use).
Existing law requires each urban retail water supplier, as defined, to implement the performance measures adopted by the board under these provisions.
This bill would require the department to
recommend,
recommend no later than June 30, 2028,
and the board to adopt, no later than
an unspecified date,
December 31, 2029,
a CII water use classification for users that qualify as large consumptive use facilities, including data centers. The bill would require that this classification be separate and distinct from classifications applicable to other CII water use.
The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF