HB607 • 2026

Aggregate air pollution; Department of Environmental Quality to study, data center generators.

<p class=ldtitle>A BILL to direct the Department of Environmental Quality to conduct a study that researches and models a variety of scenarios regarding aggregate air pollution in areas with a large volume of data centers and provide recommendations for future handling of minor air permits for generators and the need for increased air quality monitoring in the Commonwealth; report.</p>

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Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Laufer
Last action: 2026-01-27
Official status: Continued
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

While the bill text provides a comprehensive outline of what needs to be studied, it does not specify how the study will be funded or provide clear guidance on specific recommendations beyond handling minor air permits and monitoring needs.

Study on Air Pollution from Data Centers

This bill requires the Department of Environmental Quality to conduct a three-year study on air pollution caused by data center generators and report recommendations for handling minor air permits and monitoring.

What This Bill Does

Requires the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to conduct a three-year study on aggregate air pollution in areas with many data centers.
The DEQ must model different scenarios involving planned outages, increased actual outages due to grid strain, demand response use, and primary power supply until grid power is available.
Includes an analysis of emission levels, geographic impacts, exposure risks for sensitive populations, and environmental justice communities.
Considers the public health impacts of long-term versus short-term generator operation during high ozone days.

Who It Names or Affects

The Department of Environmental Quality
Data center operators in areas with a large volume of data centers

Terms To Know

data center generators: Large machines that provide power to data centers, which are buildings filled with computer servers.
minor air permits: Permits issued for smaller sources of pollution that do not require extensive environmental impact studies.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify how the study will be funded.
It is unclear what specific recommendations the DEQ must provide beyond handling minor air permits and monitoring needs.

Bill History

2026-01-27 Rules
Continued to 2027 in Rules (Voice Vote)
2026-01-23 Studies Subcommittee
Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2027 (Voice Vote)
2026-01-22 Studies Subcommittee
Assigned HRUL sub: Studies Subcommittee
2026-01-13 House
Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102759D
2026-01-13 Rules
Referred to Committee on Rules

Official Summary Text

Department of Environmental Quality; study of aggregate air pollution; data center generators; report.
Directs the Department of Environmental Quality to conduct a three-year study to research and model a variety of scenarios regarding aggregate air pollution in areas with a large volume of data centers and provide recommendations for future handling of minor air permits for data center generators and the need for increased air quality monitoring in the Commonwealth. The Department is directed to report its findings and any recommendations to the Chairs of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources by October 1, 2029.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

A BILL to direct the Department of Environmental Quality to conduct a study that researches and models a variety of scenarios regarding aggregate air pollution in areas with a large volume of data centers and provide recommendations for future handling of minor air permits for generators and the need for increased air quality monitoring in the Commonwealth; report.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.
§ 1.
That the Department of Environmental Quality
(
the
Department)
shall conduct a
three-year
study t
o
research and model a variety of scenarios regarding aggregate air pollution in areas with a large volume of data centers
, as that term is defined in subdivision A 43 of §
58.1-3506
of the Code of Virginia,
and provide recommendations for future handling of minor air permits for
data center
generators and the need for increased air quality monitoring in the Commonwealth.

The
study shall provide a cumulative assessment of air pollution in such areas
as a result of a high number of data center

generators
previously
approved under minor air permits
that only consider
ed
the net output of each generator
.

In its study, the Department shall examine the maximum emissions for such generators
compared to the baseline of current use for 2025 under the following four scenarios
: planned outage events, increased actual outage events due to grid strain, use for demand response, and use for primary power supply until power is available from the grid.
The study shall also consider the following
: (i) emission levels and pollution output
, including consideration of
the
type of generator, how many generators are operating at once, and the cumulative impact of various scenarios; (ii) a geographic
analysis, including an evaluation of proximity impacts, dissipation, and reach of different criteria pollutants on nearby and distant communities
;

specific consideration of exposure risk to sensitive receptors such as the elderly, schools, daycares, or hospitals
;
or specific consideration of environmental justice communities including low
-
income
communities
, majority
-
minority
communities
, and communi
ties already burdened by underlying poor air quality; (iii) a temporal analysis, including consideration of
how long generators are operating and the public health impacts of continuous exposure versus short
-
term exposure, when generators are operating and the average underlying air quality at such time, whether the o
peration of generators coincides with high ozone days and, if so, the public health impacts and pollution metrics of output with such coincidence,
and the necessity of demand response and the underlying air pollution levels at such time; and (iv) the public health impacts of different
types of pollution exposure, including consideration of long duration, continuous exposure from sustained use of various types of generators and an evaluation of the different public health impacts from continuous lower level exposure from gas generators operated for primary power versus short
-
term exp
osure from diesel generators.
The Department shall report its findings and any recommendations to the Chair
s
of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources and the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources by October 1, 202
9
.