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2025-2026 Bill 4583: The South Carolina Data Center Responsibility Act - South Carolina Legislature Online
South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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H. 4583
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Cromer, Gilreath, Oremus, Chumley, White, Reese, Lawson and Atkinson
Companion/Similar bill(s): 724
Document Path: LC-0452SA26.docx
Introduced in the House on January 13, 2026
Currently residing in the House
Summary: The South Carolina Data Center Responsibility Act
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS
Date
Body
Action Description with journal page number
12/16/2025
House
Prefiled
12/16/2025
House
Referred to Committee on
Labor, Commerce and Industry
1/13/2026
House
Introduced and read first time (
House Journal-page 29
)
1/13/2026
House
Referred to Committee on
Labor, Commerce and Industry
(
House Journal-page 29
)
1/20/2026
House
Member(s) request name added as sponsor: White
1/21/2026
House
Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Reese
2/10/2026
House
Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Lawson
2/18/2026
House
Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Atkinson
View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
12/17/2025
A bill
TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS SO AS TO ENACT
THE "SOUTH CAROLINA DATA CENTER RESPONSIBILITY ACT"; AND BY ADDING CHAPTER 81
TO TITLE 39 SO AS TO ENSURE THAT DATA CENTERS OPERATING IN SOUTH CAROLINA DO SO
RESPONSIBLY, SUSTAINABLY, AND WITHOUT BURDENING TAXPAYERS.
B
e it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
S
ECTION 1.
This act may be cited as the "South Carolina Data Center Responsibility
Act."
S
ECTION 2.
T
itle 39 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:
C
HAPTER 81
D
ata Centers
S
ection
39-81-100
.
F
or purposes of this chapter:
(
1)
"Data center" means any facility over five thousand square feet that houses
computer systems, servers, networking equipment, or storage systems, whether
for commercial, governmental, or private use, and includes co-location centers
and modu
lar or containerized data units located on
the same parcel.
(
2)
"Energy independent" or "complete energy independence" means that one hundred
percent of the facility's energy demand, including backup power, cooling, and
ancillary load, is generated on site without any physical or contractual
connection to state-funded utilities, public power grids, or off-site
generation systems, except as required for emergency protection systems.
(
3)
"Closed-loop water or liquid cooling system" means a sealed cooling process in
which the same water or coolant circulates continuously without withdrawal from
or discharge into municipal systems, groundwater sources, or surface waters,
except for de minimis losses defined by regulation.
(
4)
"Full-time employee" means a W-2 employee of the operator who works a minimum
of thirty-five hours per week on site at the facility and is not a temporary
worker, independent contractor, or employee of a staffing agency.
(
5)
"Facility floor space" means all interior square footage dedicated to computing
equipment, cooling infrastructure, mechanical rooms, electrical rooms, and
support systems, including mezzanines and conditioned auxiliary areas.
S
ection
39-81-110
.
(
A) A data center must
operate with complete energy independence.
(
B) A
data center may not be physically interconnected to, receive power from, or
participate in load-swap, demand-response, or standby agreements with
state-funded utilities or any public power grid.
(
C)
Backup generators must be part of the on-site energy system.
(
D)
Fuel deliveries for generators may not constitute more than ten percent of
annual energy consumption.
S
ection
39-81-120
.
(
A) Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, a data center may not receive direct or indirect state
or local taxpayer-funded incentives, grants, tax abatements, subsidies, utility
rate reductions, or infrastructure improvements provided primarily for the
benefit of the facility.
(
B)
This prohibition applies regardless of whether benefits are provided to an
affiliate, parent company, subsidiary, contractor, or related entity.
(
C)
All permitting, infrastructure, and operational costs must be fully funded by
the data center.
S
ection
39-81-130
.
(
A) A data center must
employ a closed-loop water or liquid cooling system resulting in zero net water
withdrawal and zero wastewater discharge.
(
B) A
facility may not extract groundwater, use municipal water for cooling, or
employ evaporative or open-loop cooling systems.
(
C) A
facility must submit annual closed-loop certification including third-party
verification and documentation of water losses, chemical treatment processes,
and fluid replacement volumes.
S
ection
39-81-140
.
(
A) A company that
operates a data center is strictly liable, without the need to prove
negligence, for:
(
1)
environmental damage including, but not limited to, contamination of the soil,
water, air, or wildlife habitat; and
(
2)
public health impacts arising directly or indirectly from the data center's
operations.
(
B)
Liability may not be transferred, indemnified, shielded, or assigned to
third-party contractors, shell entities, or special purpose subsidiaries.
(
C) A
company must maintain environmental bonding or liability insurance in an amount
not less than fifty million dollars, or a greater amount set by regulation
based on facility size.
(
D)
Enforcement authority for this section is vested in the Department of
Environmental Sciences (SCDES).
S
ection
39-81-150
.
(
A) A data center must
employ a minimum of one full-time, on-site employee for every one thousand
square feet of facility floor space.
(
B)
Remote workers, contract workers, temporary workers, or workers employed by
another entity may not count toward the required ratio.
(
C)
On-site employees must be present during all operational hours, including
emergency operations.
S
ection
39-81-160
.
B
y January first each year, a company
that operates a data center must submit to the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, the President of the Senate, and the Governor a report
detailing:
(
1)
energy production and consumption;
(
2)
water usage metrics and closed-loop verification;
(
3)
environmental monitoring; and
(
4)
employment compliance.
S
ection
39-81-170
.
(
A) A company who owns a
data center that knowingly and wilfully violates this chapter is subject to an
administrative fine in the amount of one thousand dollars for each violation.
(
B)
In cases of repeated violations, the Department of Consumer Affairs may suspend
the operating permit of a data facility or shut down the facility.
S
ECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.
----XX----
This web page was last updated on January 13, 2026 at 2:41 PM