All Roll Calls
Yes: 5 • No: 6
VirginiaSB10462025 Regular SessionSenate
Data centers; noise abatement.
Sponsored By: Danica A. Roem (Democratic)
Failed
Summary
Data centers; noise abatement. Provides that any local government land use application required for the siting of a data center shall be approved only in accordance with certain notice and noise abatement requirements. The bill provides that residents within a half-mile radius of the parcel shall receive notice of the proposed data center and that the data center operator shall hold two neighborhood meetings. The bill requires a data center operator to design and build the data center to incorporate sound mitigation methods sufficient to prevent the sound levels emanating from the data center from exceeding the ambient noise levels that were observed in a baseline study, as determined by a third-party acoustic engineer. The bill also provides that upon issuance of a certificate of occupancy, and for five years thereafter, the data center operator shall conduct a noise study performed by a third-party acoustical engineer to document noise levels emanating from the data center measured at the property line of the nearest property to the data center property that is planned or zoned for residential land uses, or other noise-sensitive use as reasonably determined by the locality, during peak operation of the data center mechanical equipment. The bill also provides that if the data center operator intends to use backup power generators on the parcel, the operator shall maintain a public website announcing the times when the generators will be in operation. Finally, the bill provides that any noise ordinance adopted by a locality shall set maximum allowable sound levels for data centers, including by (i) using alternative low frequency noise metrics and (ii) setting noise rules and enforcement mechanisms in its zoning ordinance, separate from existing noise ordinances.
Personalized for You
How does this bill affect your finances?
Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.
Bill Overview
No Economic Impacts Identified for this Bill
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
Danica A. Roem
Democratic • Senate
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 1/27/2025
Failed to report from Local Government with substitute
Yes: 5 • No: 6 • Other: 4
Actions Timeline
Failed to report from Local Government with substitute (5-Y 6-N 4-A)
1/27/2025SenateReferred to Committee on Local Government
1/7/2025SenatePrefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-08-2025 25104257D
1/7/2025Senate
Bill Text
Substitute
1/27/2025
Introduced
1/7/2025
Related Bills
HR671, Commending JR's Auto Care.
Commending JR's Auto Care.
SB941, Robbery; use of air or gas operated weapon, etc., penalty.
Robbery; air or gas operated weapon, etc.; penalty. Expands the crime of Class 3 felony robbery to include robbery committed by any person by using or displaying any air or gas operated weapon or any object similar in appearance to a firearm, whether capable of being fired or not.
HB1746, Public safety officer; definition.
Public safety officer; definition. Adds dispatchers and animal control officers to the definition of a public safety officer for purposes of possible selection by the Governor for the Commonwealth Public Safety Medal of Valor, presented for performance above and beyond the call of duty involving extraordinary valor in the face of grave danger, at great personal risk. However, the bill specifies that dispatchers and animal control officers are not included in the definition of public safety officer for the purpose of an injury where weather constitutes a particular risk of a public safety officer's employment to be compensable under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act.
HB1600, Budget Bill.
Budget Bill. Amends items of and adds items to Chapter 2 of the Acts of Assembly of 2024, Special Session I.
SB1449, Data centers; site assessment for high energy use facility.
Siting of data centers; site assessment; high energy use facility. Provides that prior to any approval of a rezoning application, special exception application, or special use permit for the siting of a new high energy use facility (HEUF), as defined in the bill, a locality shall require that an applicant perform and submit a site assessment to examine the sound profile of the HEUF on residential units and schools located within 500 feet of the HEUF property boundary. The bill also allows a locality to require that a site assessment examine the effect of the proposed facility on (i) ground and surface water resources, (ii) agricultural resources, (iii) parks, (iv) registered historic sites, and (v) forestland on the HEUF site or immediately contiguous land. The provisions of the bill shall not apply to a site with an existing legislative or administrative approval where an applicant is seeking an expansion or modification of an already existing or approved facility and such expansion does not exceed an additional 100 megawatts or more of electrical power. Finally, the bill provides that its provisions shall not be construed to prohibit, limit, or otherwise supersede existing local zoning authority. This bill is identical to HB 1601.
HB1609, Essential health benefits benchmark plan; Commission to consider coverage for infertility treatment.
Health insurance; coverage for fertility services; essential health benefits benchmark plan. Requires the Health Insurance Reform Commission to consider coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility and for standard fertility preservation procedures in its 2025 review of the essential health benefits benchmark plan.