California Congressman Ro Khanna has introduced a new bill in the US House of Representatives to give local communities greater control over the construction and operation of AI data centers.

If passed, the Data Center Bill of Rights would prohibit data centers in residential areas and within 2,500 feet (762 meters) of homes, schools, childcare facilities, hospitals, and nursing homes.

“Families should not face higher electricity bills, depleted water supplies, or increased pollution from data centers in their communities. Americans deserve the right to know what is being proposed, to decide what gets built in their neighborhoods, and to share in the economic benefits,” said Rep. Khanna.

According to Khanna, the resolution would provide communities the power to reject any proposed data center through a transparent community process, preserve the right of counties and municipalities to prohibit or regulate data center development without being preempted or overruled, adopt statewide pauses on new developments, and require all data centers to use clean and reliable energy while meeting limits on noise and air pollution.

The bill would also provide communities with an impact report assessing the data center’s effects on electricity demand, utility bills, public health, noise and air pollution, price of consumer goods, rents, and housing availability, as well as require ata center operators to disclose projected water consumption to local water providers and obtain a written compatibility determination before approval and submit semiannual water usage reports for public review.

Finally, it would require data center owners to pay their fair share of state and local taxes and ensure that any tax exemption or public subsidy includes strong labor standards, full transparency, and clawback provisions when those conditions are not met.

The proposed bill is the latest to hit the legislative docket targeting the impacts of the data center market on local communities.

In June, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) proposed a countrywide moratorium on new data center builds with a capacity exceeding 20MW.

There has also been significant movement at the state level, with several states and utilities bringing in new rate classes for data centers. Notable examples include Oregon, Ohio, North Carolina, and Virginia, to name a few.

Some states have also reached for full-scale moratoriums, with New York becoming the first US state to enforce one late last month.