An Act providing for a permitting process for data center siting; and imposing powers and duties on the Department of Environmental Protection.

PRINTER'S NO. 1142
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 991
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY BARTOLOTTA AND STEFANO, SEPTEMBER 5, 2025
REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY,
SEPTEMBER 5, 2025
AN ACT
Providing for a permitting process for data center siting; and
imposing powers and duties on the Department of Environmental
Protection.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Data Center
Siting and Permitting Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Data center." A facility used to house computer systems and
associated components, including servers, storage systems and
networking equipment.
"Department." The Department of Environmental Protection of
the Commonwealth.
"NPDES." The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
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under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (62 Stat. 1155, 33
U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.).
"Power generation facility." A plant, equipment or system,
whether located on a single site or across multiple contiguous
parcels, that is designed and operated for the purpose of
producing electricity from a fuel or energy source, including
coal, natural gas, petroleum, nuclear, solar, wind,
hydroelectric, geothermal, biomass, waste-to-energy or any other
alternative resource, for delivery into the electric
distribution system or regional transmission system or for on-
site consumption.
"State agency." An office, department, authority, board or
commission of the executive branch.
Section 3. Preapproved sites.
(a) Duty to select sites.--Not later than 90 days after the
effective date of this subsection, the department shall
establish a list of at least 15 sites that the department, in
consultation with the Governor's Office and any other relevant
State agency, finds appropriate for locating data centers in
this Commonwealth. At least five of those sites selected shall
be located on sites that are power generation facilities that
are decommissioned or are scheduled to be decommissioned in the
next two years.
(b) Public posting.--The department shall post the list
established under subsection (a) on the department's publicly
accessible Internet website.
(c) Funding.--The Department of Community and Economic
Development shall provide funding to the department from the
Pennsylvania Strategic Investments To Enhance Sites, or PA
SITES, Program.
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(d) Preapproved sites.--
(1) The department shall use the funding provided under
subsection (c), appropriated or otherwise made available to
the department for the purpose, to commence work related to
identifying which State environmental permits are required
for a data center site and to take action deemed necessary by
the department to expedite permit reviews for locating a data
center on a site identified on the list established under
subsection (a).
(2) If an applicant submits to the department an
accelerated permitting initiation notice under section 4, the
department shall provide to the applicant all preliminary
work related to permitting that the department has conducted
on the preapproved site to the applicant.
Section 4. Accelerated permitting initiation.
(a) Notification to department.--An applicant that proposes
to build or operate a data center within this Commonwealth shall
notify the department of the following on a form posted by the
department on the department's publicly accessible Internet
website:
(1) The location of the proposed data center.
(2) The energy source and capacity of any proposed power
generation facility that will at least partially be used to
power the data center and any electric transmission
infrastructure.
(b) Condition for accelerated permit.--A person may not file
an application for an initial accelerated permit under section 5
until the notice has been submitted in accordance with this
section.
Section 5. Phase 1 accelerated permit.
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(a) Application.--A person that has submitted a notice under
section 4 may file an application with the department to
participate in an accelerated permit process for all required
permits for a data center, a power generation facility and any
transmission infrastructure associated with the data center.
(b) Fee.--The person must pay an initial permit fee to the
department in the amount of $10,000 at the time of filing the
application.
(c) Zoning clearances.--The application must include a copy
of any zoning clearance or approval and concept and commitment
document for the project that contains such information as the
department may require.
(d) Certification required.--The information in the
application must be certified and sealed by a professional
licensed to practice in this Commonwealth. The professional
shall certify that the information in the application meets or
exceeds the standards required by all applicable laws and
regulations to which the permit pertains.
(e) Notice to proceed.--Within three days of receipt of an
application under subsection (d), the department shall confirm
receipt to the applicant and issue a notice to proceed.
(f) Effect of notice to proceed.--
(1) After receipt of the notice to proceed, the
applicant may begin site preparation, brownfield
rehabilitation, demolition work, storm water installation,
earthmoving and other preparatory site work, excluding
building construction of the data center or associated power
generation facility.
(2) Before moving to Phase 2 permitting under section 6,
the applicant must submit to the department fully completed
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permitting for all environmental justice requirements, NPDES
permits, earthmoving permits and brownfield requirements.
Section 6. Phase 2 permitting.
(a) Final design and engineering plans.--At least 60 days
before commencing the building construction stage of the
project, the applicant must submit to the department all final
design and engineering plans along with air quality permit
applications.
(b) Certification required.--All requirements shall be
certified and sealed by a professional licensed to practice in
this Commonwealth. The professional must certify that the
information in the application meets or exceeds the standards
required by all applicable laws and regulations to which the
permits pertain.
(c) Notice to proceed.--Within three days of receipt of an
application under subsection (a), the department shall confirm
receipt to the applicant and issue a notice to proceed.
(d) Effect of notice to proceed.--An applicant upon
receiving confirmation of receipt may begin final construction
of the project.
Section 7. Site inspection.
(a) Power of department.--After an applicant submits a Phase
1 permitting application to the department, the department may
conduct inspections of the site in question.
(b) Cease order.--If the department finds that the applicant
is violating any statute or regulation during an inspection, the
department may issue an order to the applicant to immediately
cease all work until the violation is corrected.
Section 8. Prevailing wage.
In order to be eligible for the accelerated permitting
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process under this act, an applicant must provide assurance that
all jobs created during the construction process at the site
shall be prevailing wage jobs.
Section 9. Litigation.
If a civil action is filed against any permit or aspect of a
data center project, the department shall toll any timelines for
use of a permit while the civil action is proceeding.
Section 10. Expiration.
No person may submit an application under this act after
December 31, 2040.
Section 11. Continuation of existing projects.
Notwithstanding section 10, a project that begins the
permitting process under this act before the expiration date may
continue through the process even after expiration.
Section 12. Effective date.
This act shall take effect immediately.
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