This bill, known as the "Data Center Transparency Act," mandates comprehensive reporting on the environmental and energy footprint of data centers across the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator would be required to submit quarterly reports to Congress and make them publicly available. These reports would detail data centers' total water consumption , how they reuse water, and their specific effects on local water systems, including impacts on potable water availability, utility demand, and residential rates. The EPA reports would also identify the type and amount of pollutants discharged into water and the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted from data centers, assessing their cumulative effect on overburdened communities. In parallel, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) Administrator would collect data on and report semi-annually on data centers' electricity consumption. These EIA reports would cover the total energy consumption by state , changes in consumption over time, the number of new data centers, and the potential impact on household energy bills and average household energy use and cost.
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Timeline
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Environmental Protection
Data Center Transparency Act
USA119th CongressHR-6984| House
| Updated: 1/8/2026
This bill, known as the "Data Center Transparency Act," mandates comprehensive reporting on the environmental and energy footprint of data centers across the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator would be required to submit quarterly reports to Congress and make them publicly available. These reports would detail data centers' total water consumption , how they reuse water, and their specific effects on local water systems, including impacts on potable water availability, utility demand, and residential rates. The EPA reports would also identify the type and amount of pollutants discharged into water and the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted from data centers, assessing their cumulative effect on overburdened communities. In parallel, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) Administrator would collect data on and report semi-annually on data centers' electricity consumption. These EIA reports would cover the total energy consumption by state , changes in consumption over time, the number of new data centers, and the potential impact on household energy bills and average household energy use and cost.