Rep. Watson Coleman Introduces Bill to Study Impact of AI Data Centers on Local Communities

Rep. Watson Coleman Introduces Bill to Study Impact of AI Data Centers on Local Communities

Today, Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) introduced the Data Center Community Impact Act, legislation that would authorize a federal study on the environmental, economic, and public health impacts of data centers, with a focus on communities of color and low-income communities.

Due to the ongoing AI boom, we will continue to see more data centers pop up across the country. With this development, we need to protect and safeguard our communities from negative repercussions. The impact of large data centers on surrounding communities is not well understood. The Data Center Community Impact Act would authorize a federal study that would provide the data and analysis needed to inform responsible policymaking and protect communities that have too often been overlooked.

"Infrastructure projects, like the AI data centers being built, are important to the success of industry and economic growth in this country, but we must first protect the health of people and the planet," said Watson Coleman. "Communities of color and low-income neighborhoods are often over-burdened and disproportionately impacted by large-scale infrastructure projects. For example, for decades the consequences of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 exposed Black and Brown communities to toxic air pollution causing lasting health effects. Congress has the responsibility to make sure to not make the same mistake."

The Data Center Community Impact Act is endorsed by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Climate Justice Alliance, GreenLatinos, Food & Water Watch, and Climate Revolution Action Network.

"As billionaires and big tech manipulate and control more and more of our everyday lives, it's critical that communities have access to the real impacts of data center infrastructure on their pocketbooks, health and environment," said Legislative Director of Climate Justice Alliance Mar Zepeda Salazar. "We appreciated the opportunity to work with Representative Watson Coleman's office on the Data Center Community Impact Act which we believe will help ensure that frontline communities, those hit first and worst by new data center construction, have the ability to hold industry, elected officials, and our federal government accountable. This bill is an important step forward in ensuring our federal government takes a more proactive position when it comes to safeguarding the public health and well-being of all communities."

"We thank Representative Coleman for introducing the Data Center Community Impact Act to help ensure that economic growth does not come at the expense of public health, community stability, or environmental justice," said GreenLatinos Sustainability Program Manager Roberto Madrid. "As more and more Data Centers are being built in low-come minority communities like Santa Teresa, NM where Project Jupiter, a $165 billion data center campus was approved in less than a month, over the objections of a predominantly Latinos working-class community that has spent decades fighting for basic safe clean drinking water. Our community already lives with legacy of arsenic contaminated water from utility companies that failed us and now our already low precious water resources are being offered to power billion dollar AI data centers that will produce 500 tons of NOx emissions annually from the two separate power generating microgrids each producing 249.97 tons per year."

"Data centers are expanding at a breakneck pace, but our understanding of real-world impacts is not keeping up. What we are seeing in real time from this data center boom are increasing pollution, massive amounts of water usage, and more dirty energy," said Jim Walsh, Policy Director at Food & Water Watch. "Representative Watson- Coleman's legislation is an important part of stopping this unchecked buildout of data centers by requiring a hard look at the impact of these massive projects. Good policy on data centers starts with information to ensure communities and the public are not left paying the price for Big Tech's profit driven schemes with their wallets, health, and drinking water."

"Across the country, communities are waking up to the reality that data centers bring enormous demands for electricity, water, and land. Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman is stepping up at the right moment to make sure we understand who is bearing those costs," said Ben Dziobek, Executive Director of Climate Revolution Action Network. "As artificial intelligence infrastructure rapidly expands, we need transparency and accountability so that working families and historically marginalized communities are not left paying the price."

The Data Center Community Impact Act is cosponsored by Representatives Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-At Large), Summer Lee (PA-12), Valerie Foushee (NC-04), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Rob Menendez (NJ-08), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), and Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07).

Text of the bill can be found here.

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