Artificial Intelligence Environmental Impacts Act of 2026

This bill aims to address the growing environmental and energy footprint of artificial intelligence by mandating several key actions. It requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a comprehensive study, in collaboration with other federal agencies, on the full lifecycle environmental and energy-related impacts of artificial intelligence and its associated data centers. This study will examine issues such as energy and water use, air and water quality effects, greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and the impacts of hardware manufacturing and e-waste, forecasting these changes over 2, 5, and 10-year periods.

Furthermore, the bill requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to convene a consortium of diverse stakeholders, including tribal communities, local governments, academia, and industry. The consortium's primary goals are to identify future measurements, methodologies, and standards for reporting the environmental and energy impacts of AI, facilitate consistent reporting, and recommend ways to mitigate negative impacts while promoting positive AI applications. This collaborative effort seeks to establish a standardized approach to understanding and addressing AI's environmental footprint.

Finally, the legislation directs the EPA to develop a mandatory reporting system for artificial intelligence data centers, defined as facilities with over 50 megawatts of power capacity. These covered entities will be required to annually submit reports detailing their environmental impacts, including resource consumption (energy and water), local pollution, and e-waste. The EPA will establish guidelines for these reports, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and public disclosure, with provisions for enforcement against non-compliant entities.