SELC provides data center guidance to localities in new report 

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — In a new report, the Southern Environmental Law Center is providing guidance to communities facing data center development.  

For several years, SELC has been working on data center issues at the local government level in Virginia, the “data center capital of the world.” SELC’s new report distills their experience into guidance and best practices for local governments and community members who are interested in increasing transparency and accountability around data center development.  

In this new report, “Getting It Right; Local Approaches to Data Center Development,” we:  

• Provide general information on some of the community and environmental impacts that data centers can cause; 

• Explain various options for how local zoning ordinances can effectively empower local governing bodies — and by extension, the public — to address data center development in an informed, responsible, and transparent way; 

• Discuss the inclusion of data center-specific development requirements in zoning ordinances and summarize examples of provisions from several Virginia localities; and 

• Offer suggestions for how communities and individuals can engage most effectively on individual data center proposals. 

“In Virginia and many other states, local government often provides the public with its best opportunity to influence whether, where, and how data centers may be built.” said Senior Attorney Morgan Butler. “In this report we aim to give communities helpful guidance and a few tools they can use to promote informed and accountable decision-making on data centers and to reduce their harmful impacts.” 

Read the report here.