AN ACT relating to high intensity technological infrastructure.

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AN ACT relating to high intensity technological infrastructure. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 65 IS CREATED TO 3
READ AS FOLLOWS: 4
As used in Sections 1 to 10 of this Act: 5
(1) "Community benefits agreement package" or "CBA package" means the binding 6
agreement and supporting documentation submitted with the site review plan that 7
identifies the community benefits to which the developer has committed, broken 8
out by interim, immediate, and long -term benefits, including funding 9
mechanisms, verification, and signatures of the developer or end user and the 10
receiving local government or beneficiary; 11
(2) "Community benefits analysis" or "CBA" means a narrative and quantitative 12
analysis submitted with the community impact report evaluating potential 13
community benefits, infrastructure improvements, public -resource impacts, and 14
associated costs or feasibility; 15
(3) "Community impact report" or "CIR" means a publicly available, licensed, 16
professional engineer -sealed document that discloses project impacts and 17
commitments; 18
(4) "Conditional use permit" or "CUP" has the same meaning as in KRS 100.111; 19
(5) "HARP" means a high inte nsity technological infrastructure administrative 20
review permit; 21
(6) "High intensity technological infrastructure" or "HITI" means a facility, 22
including but not limited to data centers, together with associated substations, 23
intake and outfall works, fuel s torage, and backup generation, that has an 24
expected or actual monthly electrical load factor of sixty percent (60%) or 25
greater, with significant associated heat rejection and water-cooling needs; 26
(7) "Local government" means any city, county, charter count y government, urban-27
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county government, consolidated local government, unified local government, or 1
a special district; and 2
(8) "Site review plan" or "SRP" means a sealed engineering package submitted 3
after discretionary approval to verify compliance with t he requirements of 4
Sections 1 to 10 of this Act and community impact report commitments. 5
SECTION 2. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 65 IS CREATED TO 6
READ AS FOLLOWS: 7
(1) (a) The provisions of Sections 1 to 10 of this Act shall not limit or preempt more 8
stringent local ordinances, land use regulations, impact mitigation 9
requirements, design standards, or conditions of approval adopted by local 10
governments. 11
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, local gover nments 12
shall retain all authority to adopt standards and requirements more 13
stringent than those reflected in applicable federal or state permits, building 14
codes, or national engineering standards. 15
(2) Local governments shall retain discretionary authority to approve with conditions 16
or deny proposals where substantial evidence demonstrates that impacts cannot 17
be mitigated; however, approval with conditions is preferred where feasible. 18
SECTION 3. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTE R 65 IS CREATED TO 19
READ AS FOLLOWS: 20
(1) In jurisdictions with planning and zoning, a HITI project shall obtain one (1) of 21
the following from the planning commission or locally established HITI review 22
board prior to construction: 23
(a) A CUP when located outs ide heavy -industrial districts or in sensitive 24
contexts designated by local ordinance; or 25
(b) A HARP when located within heavy-industrial districts. 26
(2) A local government may, by ordinance, certify its board of adjustment for HITI 27
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review authority if the board has adopted HITI procedures, completed technical 1
and hearing training, and retained independent experts through the applicant -2
funded escrow required by Section 4 of this Act. 3
(3) CUP decisions are discretionary and shall be supported by substantial evidence in 4
the record. HARP approvals are ministerial upon a complete and compliant 5
record, and approvals may impose enforceable conditions necessary to ensure 6
compliance with CIR and SRP commitments and applicable law. 7
SECTION 4. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 65 IS CREATED TO 8
READ AS FOLLOWS: 9
(1) In any county lacking planning and zoning authority to issue a CUP or HARP, a 10
HITI shall not commence construction without a construction certificate issued 11
by an entity identifi ed in subsection (2) of this section that provides procedural 12
equivalents to the pathways in Section 3 of this Act, which shall include: 13
(a) A professional engineer-sealed CIR; 14
(b) Mailed notice and a public hearing held in the host county; 15
(c) A developer -funded escrow deposit in an amount sufficient to cover the 16
actual and reasonable costs of independent technical review and inspection 17
retained by the decision -making body, which shall be replenished upon 18
request and refunded upon conclusion of review; 19
(d) Utility validation letters; 20
(e) An SRP prior to the issuance of construction permits; and 21
(f) Conversion of the CBA into a CBA package. 22
(2) The Kentucky State Board on Electric Generation and Transmission Siting 23
established in KRS 278.702, or an alternati ve panel designated jointly by the 24
Energy and Environment Cabinet and the Department for Local Government, 25
shall administer construction certificates for HITI in counties without planning 26
and zoning. 27
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(3) A construction certificate review established under subsection (2) of this 1
sectionpanel shall include the following persons who shall participate fully in all 2
hearings, deliberations, and issuing conditions of approval: 3
(a) Two (2) voting representatives from the host community: 4
(b) The county judge/executive from the host community or designee; and 5
(c) An additional representative designated by the fiscal court for the host 6
community or, if applicable, by a joint city-county governing body. 7
SECTION 5. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 65 IS CREATED TO 8
READ AS FOLLOWS: 9
(1) The HITI project owner and operator of record shall be disclosed prior to any 10
public hearing on the CUP, HARP, or construction certificate. 11
(2) A confidentiality agreement relating to the siting, construction, or operation of a 12
HITI project shall not restrict a governing body, its officers, or its retained 13
independent consultants from disclosing the identity of the owner or oper ator, the 14
nature and scale of proposed facilities, or anticipated demands on public 15
infrastructure as presented in the CIR and SRP. Proprietary technical details 16
may be redacted pursuant KRS 61.870 to 61.884, but not the disclosures required 17
in this subsection. 18
SECTION 6. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 65 IS CREATED TO 19
READ AS FOLLOWS: 20
The CIR shall be prepared, signed, and sealed under the responsible charge of a 21
Kentucky-licensed professional engineer and include at minimum the following: 22
(1) An executive summary, not to exceed two (2) pages, typewritten on white paper, 23
size eight and one -half (8 -1/2) by eleven (11) inches, single -spaced in a twelve 24
(12) point font, which shall include: 25
(a) The project purpose, site, schedule, high-level impacts, and mitigations; and 26
(b) The order of probable construction costs with class accuracy, basis, and 27
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major costs; 1
(2) The following graphics and visuals without substitutions: 2
(a) Plan view site layout showing building footprints, including any substations, 3
tanks, generators, intake or outfall structures, stormwater facilities, fire 4
lanes, and security areas; 5
(b) Vicinity and context maps of at least a one (1) mile radius around the HITI 6
showing zoning, neighborhoods, schools, public f acilities, waterways, and 7
floodplains; 8
(c) Massing and elevations for principal buildings and illustrative renderings 9
from public rights-of-way; 10
(d) Electric interconnection one (1) line diagrams and conceptual utility 11
diagrams, including diagrams for public water supply, discharge mains, and 12
gas lines if applicable; 13
(e) Water balance schematics and conceptual cooling process diagrams; 14
(f) Traffic and haul-route maps, with estimated volumes by phase; and 15
(g) If modeling is performed, hydraulic model figures , noise isopleths, lighting 16
photometrics and glare diagrams, and thermal plume graphics where 17
surface discharge is proposed; 18
(3) The following water sourcing narratives, as applicable: 19
(a) For public water systems, sources, service points, hydraulic modeli ng 20
summaries, upgrades and cost responsibility, and redundancy and 21
emergency supply provisions; 22
(b) For surface water, intake and outfall locations, expected withdrawals and 23
discharges, seasonal variations, hydraulic and thermal summaries, 24
entrainment and impingement protections, and permitting paths; and 25
(c) 1. For groundwater, hydrogeologic settings, wellfield concepts, modeling 26
summaries, well monitoring programs, sealed by a Kentucky 27
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professional engineer or geologist. 1
2. Where site access for groundwat er testing is not yet obtained, the CIR 2
may include a desktop hydrogeologic assessment based on publicly 3
available data, regional aquifer studies, and state groundwater maps. 4
Full field-verified modeling, if groundwater is selected as the primary 5
water source, shall be included in the SRP; 6
(4) Operational approach narratives, for land-use compatibility purposes only, which 7
shall include: 8
(a) Cooling configuration, emergency generation, and controls for type, count, 9
and fuel; 10
(b) Stormwater strategy, construction sequencing, traffic management, 11
monitoring and incident reporting cadence; 12
(c) Nonsensitive cybersecurity description, waste -heat han dling, lighting 13
systems, noise control; and 14
(d) Diesel and fuel storage, fire protection, and on-site security; 15
(5) Utility validation letters, which shall include: 16
(a) Electric interconnection capacity, required transmission and distribution 17
upgrades, cost allocation, and a narrative assessment of retail rate impacts 18
on existing customers; and 19
(b) Publicly supplied water capacity and redundancy, required upgrades, cost 20
allocation, and a narrative assessment of retail rate impacts on existing 21
customers; and 22
(6) Notarized affidavits of accuracy by the applicant and principal preparers and 23
Kentucky-licensed professional engineer seals on all applicable components. 24
SECTION 7. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 65 IS CREATED TO 25
READ AS FOLLOWS: 26
(1) The SRP shall be prepared and sealed by appropriate Kentucky -licensed design 27
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professionals and shall include: 1
(a) Engineering drawings and basis-of-design memoranda for: 2
1. Civil, architectural, structural, electrical components, including 3
substation concepts, mechanical and process components; 4
2. Fire protection at a Class 3 level or equivalent; and 5
3. Preliminary specification schedules for major equipment; 6
(b) Final utility coordination documents and an updated water -sourcing 7
package ali gned to the selected pathway, and pretreatment and effluent 8
concepts, if applicable; 9
(c) Environmental and stormwater design summaries, spill prevention, and 10
secondary containment layout where fuels or oils are present, and 11
monitoring points and reporting cadence; 12
(d) Construction sequencing, haul -route management, and traffic control, 13
emergency access geometry, hydrants and water supply, and fire alarm and 14
suppression concepts; 15
(e) Appropriate compliance cross -walk mapping for CUP, HARP, and 16
construction c ertificate conditions and CIR commitments to SRP features 17
and drawings; and 18
(f) A community benefits agreement package ready for execution. 19
(2) With regard to SRP enforcement: 20
(a) A grading, building, or utility release shall not be issued until the SRP is 21
accepted and approved as conforming to conditions and CIR commitments; 22
(b) The decision-making body may issue stop work orders, withhold certificates 23
of occupancy, and require corrections where the SRP is inadequate, 24
inconsistent, or misleading; and 25
(c) Material deviations discovered at SRP shall require a CUP or HARP 26
amendment or construction-certificate amendment, as applicable. 27
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(3) In heavy -industrial districts proceeding under a HARP, a grading, building, or 1
utility interconnection shall not approved u ntil a HARP is issued and the SRP is 2
approved. The governing body may issue stop work orders, withhold certificates 3
of occupancy, and impose civil penalties for noncompliance. 4
SECTION 8. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 65 I S CREATED TO 5
READ AS FOLLOWS: 6
A community benefits agreement package required by subsection (1)(f) Section 7 of 7
this Act at a minimum shall include the following: 8
(1) Benefit categories and deliverables, dollar values or in -kind valuations, 9
disbursement schedules, and local vendor and labor targets; 10
(2) Quarterly or semiannual public reporting posted on the local government 11
website; and 12
(3) Escrow or bond amounts, dispu te-resolution mechanisms, default and step -in 13
terms, and tie-ins to public incentives, if any. 14
SECTION 9. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 65 IS CREATED TO 15
READ AS FOLLOWS: 16
(1) The decision-making body of a local government shall provide mailed notice to 17
owners and addressed occupants within one (1) mile of the proposed HITI project 18
boundary and shall provide publication and website posting where available or 19
practicable. A public hearing shall be held prior to any CUP decisi on or 20
construction-certificate issuance. 21
(2) The decision-making body of a local government shall first consider conditions 22
that would mitigate identified incompatibilities between the proposed use of a 23
HITI site and its zoned use. If substantial evidence demonstrates that impacts 24
cannot be mitigated, the CUP may be denied, with written findings. 25
(3) All decisions under Sections 1 to 10 of this Act shall be supported by substantial 26
evidence in the record. 27
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(4) Appeals from final actions under Sections 1 to 1 0 of this Act shall be taken in 1
accordance with applicable law governing appeals from conditional use and 2
planning commission decisions. 3
SECTION 10. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 10 IS CREATED TO 4
READ AS FOLLOWS: 5
(1) Any material expansion, parcel acquisition, utility -demand increase, 6
infrastructure modification, or transition to on -site electricity generation shall 7
require prior written approval by CUP amendment, HARP modification, or 8
construction-certificate amendment, as applicable. 9
(2) HITI project siting and construction applicants shall attest that design and 10
operations will comply with all applicable federal and state requirements and 11
recognized industry standards appropriate to HITI operations. The CIR or SRP 12
shall include a non-exhaustive listing of referenced standards used as the basis of 13
design. 14