Getting it Right/Local Approaches to Data Center Development: Southern Environmental Law Center Report
February 02, 2026
By:
Walter G. Wright
Category:
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
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The Southern Environmental Law Center (“SELC”) announced on January 21st that it published a report titled:
Getting It Right: Local Approaches to Data Center Development (“Report”).
SELC describes the Report as providing guidance to communities facing data center development. The Report is stated to:
- Distil SELC’s experience into guidance.
- Provide best practices for local governments and communities who are interested in increasing transparency/accountability around data center development.
SELC states that the Report provides:
- General information on some of the community and environmental impacts that data centers can cause and that are important for communities and their elected officials to understand.
- Discuss various options for how local zoning ordinances can effectively empower local governing bodies 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 localities in Virginia.
- Offer general suggestions for how local residents can engage most effectively on individual data center proposals.
SELC states that it is utilizing significant experience from the development of data centers in Virginia in crafting the Report.
The sections of the Report include (besides the introduction) the following:
- Environmental and Community Impacts.
- Addressing Data Centers in Local Zoning Ordinances.
- Data Center-specific Development Requirements.
- Tips for Effective Public Engagement.
A copy of the Report can be found here.
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