H.R. 6984

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6984 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6984

To require reports on the effects of data centers on air quality and 
water quality, and on electricity consumption by data centers.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

January 8, 2026

Mr. Menendez (for himself and Mr. Casar) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To require reports on the effects of data centers on air quality and 
water quality, and on electricity consumption by data centers.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Data Center Transparency Act''.

SEC. 2. REPORTS ON THE EFFECTS OF DATA CENTERS ON AIR QUALITY AND WATER 
QUALITY; REPORTS ON ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION BY DATA 
CENTERS.

(a) Reports on the Effects of Data Centers on Air Quality and Water 
Quality.--Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this 
section, and not less frequently than once every 3 months thereafter, 
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall submit 
to Congress, and make publicly available on a website, a report that 
identifies, with respect to the period of 3 months preceding the 
submission and publication of the report--
(1) the total amount of water consumed by data centers 
located in the United States;
(2) how such data centers reuse water, and the amount of 
such reused water;
(3) how such data centers affect local water systems, 
including with respect to--
(A) the availability of potable water;
(B) whether the data center increased demand on 
local water utilities;
(C) any potential data on service disruptions for 
other customers of local water utilities;
(D) any changes in residential rates for water 
services; and
(E) the type and amount of pollutants (as such term 
is defined in section 502(6) of the Federal Water 
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362(6))) discharged 
into water by data centers;
(4) the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted from such 
data centers; and
(5) the effect of such greenhouse gas emissions, including 
the cumulative effect on overburdened communities.
(b) Reports on Electricity Consumption by Data Centers.--
(1) Collection of data.--The Administrator of the Energy 
Information Administration shall collect data on the total 
amount of energy consumed every 6 months by each data center 
located in the United States.
(2) Reports.--Not later than 6 months after the date of 
enactment of this section, and not less frequently than once 
every 6 months thereafter, the Administrator of the Energy 
Information Administration shall submit to Congress, and make 
publicly available on a website, a report that identifies, with 
respect to the period of 6 months preceding the submission and 
publication of the report--
(A) the total amount of energy consumption by data 
centers, disaggregated by State;
(B) how such energy consumption may have changed 
during such period of 6 months;
(C) the number of data centers that began operating 
during such period of 6 months;
(D) how household energy bills may have changed 
during such period of 6 months; and
(E) the average household energy use and cost.
(c) Data Center Defined.--In this section, the term ``data center'' 
has the meaning given such term in section 453(a) of the Energy 
Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17112(a)).
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