Approval of Data Center Facilities

HB 1517 2026

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A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to the approval of data center 2
facilities; providing a short title; creating s. 3
377.714, F.S.; requiring applications for the approval 4
of data center facilities to include specified 5
disclosures; requiring the Department of Environmental 6
Protection to make such information publicly available 7
on its website; providing that such applications may 8
not be approved before such information is posted for 9
a specified period of time; requiring certain local 10
governments to make such information publicly 11
available on local government websites; requiring that 12
written notice be provided to certain residential and 13
commercial landowners and renters; requiring existing 14
data centers to disclose specified information; 15
requiring data centers to comply with specified 16
standards; providing a penalty; prohibiting tax 17
credits for certain facilities; prohibiting certain 18
exemptions, protections, and restrictions for such 19
information; requiring the department to adopt rules; 20
providing an effective date. 21
22
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 23
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Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Data Center 25

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Transparency Act." 26
Section 2. Section 377.714, Florida Statutes, is created 27
to read: 28
377.714 Approval of data center facilities.— 29
(1) Any application for the approval of a data center 30
facility must require a detailed disclosure of the following: 31
(a) A plan for energy management of the electricity or 32
power supply for the data center, including but not limited to: 33
1. The energy sources, such as full or partial self-power. 34
2. If connected to a regulated utility, include impact on 35
the grid. 36
3. Any renewable energy. 37
4. Energy use efficiency, conservation, and use 38
management. 39
5. The carbon footprint from servers. 40
6. Storage equipment. 41
7. Networking devices. 42
8. Uninterruptible power supplies. 43
9. Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems and 44
other essential infrastructure, and cost-sharing with other 45
users on the grid, such as nearby residential and commercial 46
consumers for both the operation of electronic information 47
technology equipment and cooling. 48
10. A statement of actual or anticipated greenhouse gas 49
emissions, including direct emissions, such as emissions from 50

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onsite equipment and power generators, and indirect emissions, 51
such as emissions from electricity suppliers, in accordance with 52
the United States Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. Anticipated 53
versus actual figures should be based on existing measurements 54
by substantially similar data centers under similar climate 55
conditions for the area. 56
11. For those data centers connecting to a public utility 57
grid, an energy cost-sharing statement that includes: 58
a. The results of any agreement negotiated through the 59
rate or tariff setting process with the Public Service 60
Commission regarding large load customers with a demand greater 61
than 75 megawatts who pay monthly minimums equal to 80 percent 62
of their capacity or transmission costs. 63
b. Any collateral requirements. 64
c. Contract termination fees to prevent data centers costs 65
from being laid onto residential and other low load consumers. 66
(b) For data centers using water for cooling or any other 67
purpose, a detailed description of the plan for water management 68
and cooling, including but not limited to: 69
1. The water sources, including whether the water is 70
fresh, purchased from a local water utility, purchased from 71
onsite reservoirs, or from some other source. 72
2. The cooling method, such as moving chilled air through 73
large ductwork, moving chilled water in a piped cooling loop, or 74
room-scale air conditioners. 75

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3. The amount of water in gallons that is being consumed 76
daily. 77
4. Cost sharing for water resources with local residents 78
and businesses. 79
(c) To proactively avoid any toxic substances being 80
released into the environment, a plan for waste management to 81
dispose of or recycle electronic waste such as racks, computing 82
equipment, monitors, circuits, and other electrical components. 83
(d) A statement of the presence of any emissions from 84
hydrofluorocarbons, which are commonly used as refrigerants for 85
cooling systems. 86
(e) Any agreements with the local, state, or federal 87
governments regarding any zoning treatment or economic 88
incentives, such as tax credits or other favorable tax 89
treatment, or other special considerations. 90
(f) An environmental impact study. If not included in 91
environmental impact assessments, state data centers shall 92
provide a statement regarding compliance with the Clean Air Act 93
and the National Environmental Policy Act. 94
(g) Any agreements with local governments for economic 95
incentives, tax credits, or other special considerations. 96
(h) A plan for worker safety, including but not limited 97
to, compliance with the United States Occupational Safety and 98
Health Administration permissible exposure limit of 90 dBa for 99
employees working for 8 hours per day. The plan must specify any 100

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safety equipment or personal protective equipment required to be 101
used by and provided to workers, procedures limiting employees 102
from working in close proximity to electrical hazard areas, and 103
compliance with the National Fire Prevention Standard 70 and 70E 104
to manage electrical hazards appropriately. 105
(i) A statement of any preventative mitigation measures 106
for harmful noise emissions, such as maximum sound levels of 60 107
dBa during the daytime and 55 dBa at night, or any other amount 108
based on a sound study, for residents and businesses within one-109
quarter mile of the proposed data center location. 110
(2)(a) The Department of Environmental Protection must 111
post the information in subsection (1) on its website. An 112
application for a new data center facility may not be approved 113
before such information is posted on the department website for 114
no less than 30 calendar days. 115
(b) Each local government within the proposed data center 116
location and each local government within 100 square miles of 117
the proposed location shall post the information in subsection 118
(1) on its website. 119
(c) In addition to publication through the government 120
websites, written notices shall be provided to all residential 121
and commercial landowners and renters within a 5-mile radius of 122
the proposed data center location. 123
(d) An existing data center facility must disclose the 124
information in subsection (1) to the department no later than 125

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August 1, 2026. The department must post the information on its 126
website. 127
(3)(a) Data centers shall state adherence to industry 128
security standards, which may be updated over time, but in 2026 129
should include whether or not the data center complies with the 130
International Organization for Standardization No. 27001; the 131
Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements No. 16; the 132
International Standard on Assurance Engagements No. 3402; and 133
the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014. 134
(b) Data centers that deal with personal information of 135
any potential European users shall state whether they comply 136
with privacy standards set forth in the General Data Protection 137
Regulation. 138
(c) Data centers that deal with payment information must 139
comply with state adherence to the Payment Card Industry Data 140
Security Standard, commonly referred to as PCI DSS, or any other 141
applicable industry standard designed to secure financial data 142
against breaches during credit, debit, or any other financial 143
transactions. 144
(d) Data centers that provide services to entities covered 145
by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 146
(HIPAA), such as healthcare providers and clearinghouses, must 147
have a plan to comply with all 19 standards set forth by HIPAA 148
to secure electronic protected health information. The plan must 149
include, but is not limited to, any technical, physical, and 150

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administrative safeguards to ensure the security and privacy of 151
data and measures like encryption for safe transmission of 152
identifiable health information. 153
(4) Data centers that fail to comply with the reporting 154
requirements under this section may be subject to fines of up to 155
$10,000 per violation. A high resource use facility may not 156
receive any tax incentive if the owner or operator fails to 157
properly submit a disclosure report pursuant to the section. 158
(5) The information in subsection (1) may not be granted 159
an exemption or protection from disclosure based on trade 160
secrets, confidentiality agreements, or any other restriction 161
that would impinge on the public policy interest in full 162
transparency. 163
(6) The department shall adopt rules to implement this 164
section. 165
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 166