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Committee amends and advances Roem bill to limit data centers to industrial zones with mixed-use exception
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Summary
Lawmakers amended and reported SB94 after hours of testimony from environmental groups, industry and unions. The bill would generally limit data-center development to industrially zoned land, allow a limited mixed-use exception tied to shared energy projects, and add an amendment to consider fence-line community health data.
The Senate Local Government Committee advanced SB94, a bill from Sen. Ghazala Roem that seeks to limit large data-center development to industrially zoned areas and add guardrails for future mixed-use projects that share waste heat.
Roem said the change addresses land-use placement that in some localities has allowed high-energy facilities near residential areas. She offered amendments to make the zoning limit workable for localities that currently lack formal zoning ordinances and to allow future mixed-use projects where data centers and adjacent facilities are designed and built together for shared energy use.
Environmental and conservation witnesses told the committee that data centers built like modern facilities are industrial in nature. Blair St. Leger Olsen of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters supported the bill, saying, "Data centers should be zoned for industrial purposes." Witnesses from Piedmont Environmental Council and Chesapeake Climate Action Network cited noise, genset emissions and other neighborhood impacts.
Industry groups opposed the bill as too restrictive and said state intervention would undermine local planning and economic development. Nicole Riley of the Data Center Coalition told senators the JLARC report cautioned against broad state mandates and that localities need flexible tools, not a single-state zoning rule. Labor unions and construction-trade witnesses warned the committee that the industry supplies substantial new capital investment and jobs.
The committee adopted an amendment adding baseline public-health and environmental-condition language intended to protect fence-line communities, clarified language for localities that do not have zoning ordinances and agreed in concept to a limitation allowing certain paired energy uses when built together. After taking testimony and amendment votes, the committee reported SB94 with a recorded margin (Eyes 8, No 5, 1 abstention).
Next steps: SB94 was reported as amended and will move to Finance or the next assigned committee for further consideration and fiscal review, if applicable.
