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5
73-2-25
73-5-8.3
0
Data Center Water Transparency Amendments
2026 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Jill Koford
Senate Sponsor: Scott D. Sandall
Cosponsor:
Jake Fitisemanu
Stephanie Pitcher
John Arthur
Sahara Hayes
David Shallenberger
Jennifer Dailey-Provost
Jason B. Kyle
Jason E. Thompson
James A. Dunnigan
Trevor Lee
Joseph Elison
Clinton D. Okerlund
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill addresses reporting related to water use and large data centers.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
defines terms;
directs land use authorities to issue certain notices;
requires certain large data centers to communicate with water providers;
requires reporting by operators of certain large data centers before construction and
annually;
addresses disclosure of the reported information;
provides for enforcement mechanisms;
addresses rulemaking; and
makes technical and conforming amendments.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
73-2-25
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2014, Chapter 369
ENACTS:
73-5-8.3
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section
73-2-25
is amended to read:
73-2-25
. State engineer enforcement powers.
(1)
For purposes of this section, "initial order" means one of the following issued by the
state engineer:
(a)
a notice of violation; or
(b)
a cease and desist order.
(2)
(a)
Except as provided in Subsection
(2)(b)
, the state engineer may commence an
enforcement action under this section if the state engineer finds that a person:
(i)
is diverting, impounding, or using water for which no water right has been
established;
(ii)
is diverting, impounding, or using water in violation of an existing water right;
(iii)
violates Section
73-5-4
;
(iv)
violates Section
73-5-9
;
(v)
violates a written distribution order from the state engineer;
(vi)
violates Section
73-3-29
;
(vii)
violates a notice or order regarding dam safety issued under
Chapter 5a, Dam
Safety
;
(viii)
fails to submit a report required by Section
73-3-25
;
or
(ix)
engages in well drilling without a license required by Section
73-3-25
.
; or
(x)
fails to submit a report required by Section
73-5-8.3
.
(b)
The state engineer may not commence an enforcement action against a person under
Subsection
(2)(a)(i)
, if the person directly captures, or stores, precipitation on the
surface of, or under, a parcel owned or leased by the person, including in a catch
basin, storm drain pipe, swell, or pond, if the collection or storage:
(i)
is consistent with local laws and ordinances;
(ii)
does not interfere with an existing water right; and
(iii)
is designed to slow, detain, or retain storm water or protect watersheds from
pollution with the intention that the precipitation:
(A)
absorbs into the ground or is released for discharge; and
(B)
is not put to beneficial use.
(c)
To commence an enforcement action under this section, the state engineer shall issue
an initial order, which shall include:
(i)
a description of the violation;
(ii)
notice of any penalties to which a person may be subject under Section
73-2-26
,
except a person who violates Section
73-5-8.3
is subject to the penalties in Section
73-5-8.3
; and
(iii)
notice that the state engineer may treat each day's violation of the provisions
listed in Subsection
(2)(a)
as a separate violation under Subsection
73-2-26(1)(d)
or Section
73-5-8.3
.
(d)
The state engineer's issuance and enforcement of an initial order is exempt from
Title
63G, Chapter 4, Administrative Procedures Act
.
(3)
In accordance with
Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act
, the
state engineer shall make rules necessary to enforce an initial order, which shall include:
(a)
provisions consistent with this section and
Section
Sections
73-2-26
and
73-5-8.3
for enforcement of the initial order if a person to whom an initial order is issued fails
to respond to the order or abate the violation;
(b)
the right to a hearing, upon request by a person against whom an initial order is
issued; and
(c)
provisions for timely issuance of a final order after:
(i)
the person to whom the initial order is issued fails to respond to the order or abate
the violation; or
(ii)
a hearing held under Subsection
(3)(b)
.
(4)
A person may not intervene in an enforcement action commenced under this section.
(5)
After issuance of a final order under rules made
pursuant to
in accordance with
Subsection
(3)(c)
, the state engineer shall serve a copy of the final order on the person
against whom the order is issued by:
(a)
personal service under Utah Rules of Civil Procedure
, Rule
5; or
(b)
certified mail.
(6)
(a)
The state engineer's final order may be reviewed by trial de novo by the
district
court
with jurisdiction
in:
(i)
Salt Lake County; or
(ii)
the county where the violation occurred.
(b)
A person shall file a petition for judicial review of the state engineer's final order
issued under this section within 20 days from the day on which the final order was
served on that person.
(7)
The state engineer may bring suit in a court
of competent
with
jurisdiction to enforce a
final order issued under this section.
(8)
If the state engineer prevails in an action brought under Subsection
(6)(b)
or
(7)
, the
state may recover all court costs and a reasonable attorney fee.
Section 2. Section
73-5-8.3
is enacted to read:
73-5-8.3
. Reporting by large data centers.
(1)
As used in this section:
(a)
"Construction activity" means a physical activity necessary to construct a new large
data center as may be defined by the division by rule made in accordance with Title
63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act.
(b)
"Division" means the Division of Water Rights.
(c)
"Land use authority" means:
(i)
a land use authority, as defined in Section
10-20-102
, of a municipality; or
(ii)
a land use authority, as defined in Section
17-79-102
, of a county.
(d)
"Large data center" means a facility with an annual water withdrawal of 75 acre feet
per year or more that:
(i)
houses a group of networked server computers in one physical location to
disseminate, manage, and store data and information as the primary service of the
facility;
(ii)
consists of one or more buildings that in total equals or exceeds 10,000 square
feet;
(iii)
includes facilities and infrastructure for:
(A)
environmental control, cooling, and security required to deliver the desired
service with respect to a specific facility; or
(B)
generation by the operator of the large data center of energy to power a
specific facility delivering the desired service;
(iv)
is owned or leased by:
(A)
the operator of the data center facility; or
(B)
a person under common ownership, as defined in Section
59-7-101
, of the
operator of the data center facility; and
(v)
is located on one or more parcels of land that are owned or leased by:
(A)
the operator of the data center facility; or
(B)
a person under common ownership, as defined in Section
59-7-101
, of the
operator of the data center facility.
(e)
"Municipality" means the same as that term is defined in Section
10-1-104
.
(f)
"New large data center" means a large data center that begins operations on or after
July 1, 2026.
(g)
"Operator of a large data center" means the owner or operator of a large data center,
or other person who has comparable rights of use over a large data center, including
any person responsible for allocating space for external use of information
technology and network telecommunications equipment within the large data center.
(h)
"Water provider" means:
(i)
a retail water supplier, as defined in Section
19-4-102
; or
(ii)
a water conservancy district formed under Title 17B, Chapter 2a, Part 10, Water
Conservancy District Act.
(2)
Before a land use authority of a municipality or county approves a land use application
for a new large data center, the land use authority shall notify the following by mail or
email:
(a)
the division;
(b)
the Division of Water Quality; and
(c)
the relevant water provider, if any.
(3)
On or after July 1, 2026, at least 90 days, but no sooner than 360 days, before the
operator of a large data center begins construction activities related to a new large data
center, the operator of the large data center shall:
(a)
notify in writing the water provider that provides water to the area where the new
large data center will be located to detail the anticipated water consumption needs of
the new large data center so that the water provider can determine whether the
anticipated water consumption of the new large data center is compatible with the
location in which the new large data center is being located; and
(b)
report to the division:
(i)
the municipality, if applicable, and county in which the new large data center will
be located;
(ii)
the estimated withdrawal amount of water that the new large data center will
withdraw annually;
(iii)
plans to treat discharges, if applicable;
(iv)
whether and, if so, the estimated extent to which discharge temperature will be
adjusted; and
(v)
whether and, if so, the planned extent to which the new large data center will
engage in water reuse or activities to replace water used by the new large data
center.
(4)
(a)
Subject to Subsection
(4)(b)
, after a new large data center begins operation, the
operator of the large data center shall report to the division for the calendar year
being reported on:
(i)
efforts made to reduce water consumption over the calendar year;
(ii)
actual withdrawals for the calendar year;
(iii)
efforts to protect the environment and public from polluted water, if applicable,
in the calendar year; and
(iv)
other information required by the division by rule made in accordance with Title
63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act.
(b)
On and after July 1, 2026, the operator of a large data center that is a new large data
center shall report to the division the information required by Subsection
(4)(a)
:
(i)
unless the state engineer requires the new large data center to report water data by
rule made in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative
Rulemaking Act, under a statute other than this section regardless of whether the
scope of the report required by rule includes all water data for the new large data
center; and
(ii)
(A)
annually by no later than July 1; and
(B)
for the previous calendar year.
(5)
(a)
The division shall publish water withdrawal data for each new large data center
that is reported under Subsection
(3)(b)
or
(4)(a)
on the division's public website by
no later than September 1 for the previous calendar year, and not in the aggregate.
(b)
Notwithstanding Subsection
(5)(a)
, the division shall treat information as proprietary
information that may not be disclosed as a protected record under Subsection
63G-2-305(2)
if:
(i)
the operator of the large data center complies with Section
63G-2-309
; and
(ii)
the information is reported to the division under:
(A)
Subsections
(3)(b)(iii)
through (v);
(B)
Subsection
(4)(a)(i)
or
(iii)
; or
(C)
Subsection
(4)(a)(iv)
, if at the time the division requires the information by
rule, the division provides that the division will treat the information as a
protected record in accordance with this Subsection
(5)(b)
.
(c)
The division shall annually disclose by no later than September 1 aggregated and
anonymized data based on the information that is a protected record described in
Subsection
(5)(b)
:
(i)
on the division's public website, organized by county; and
(ii)
to each municipality or county in which is located a new large data center
required to report under Subsection
(4)
.
(d)
Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Subsection
(5)
, the division shall
provide non-proprietary information from a report under Subsection
(3)
or
(4)
to the
Division of Water Quality and the relevant water provider, if any.
(6)
(a)
The division may enforce the reporting requirements in accordance with this
Subsection
(6)
.
(b)
If the operator of a large data center fails to submit a report required under
Subsection
(3)
or
(4)
or submits an incomplete report, the division shall notify the
operator of the large data center of the failure or incompleteness.
(c)
If the operator of the large data center fails to submit a complete report after receipt
of notice under Subsection
(6)(b)
, the division shall impose a fine in accordance with
Section
73-2-25
of up to $100 for each day the operator of the large data center fails
to comply with this Subsection
(6)
.
(d)
The division shall deposit money collected under this Subsection
(6)
into the General
Fund.
Section 3.
Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on
May 6, 2026
.
3-6-26 2:40 PM