HouseH.R. 10465119th Congress
Public Lands Accountability Act
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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10465 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10465
To clarify the requirements for authorizing the use, occupancy, and
development of public lands for hyperscale data centers, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 16, 2026
Ms. Titus introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on
Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To clarify the requirements for authorizing the use, occupancy, and
development of public lands for hyperscale data centers, and for other
purposes.
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 ``Public Lands Accountability Act''.
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR AUTHORIZING HYPERSCALE DATA CENTERS ON PUBLIC
LANDS.
(a) Applicability of NEPA.--The issuance, amendment, modification,
renewal, or revision by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management
of any permit, lease, or other authorization for the use, occupancy, or
development of public lands for a hyperscale data center shall be
considered a major Federal action that significantly affects the
quality of the human environment under section 102(2)(C) of the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)).
(b) Public Engagement.--The Director of the Bureau of Land
Management shall offer the public an opportunity to provide feedback on
a draft version of each environmental impact statement prepared
pursuant to subsection (a) through a written comment period of not less
than 45 days and at least one public hearing in the affected community.
(c) Additional Required Analysis.--The Director of the Bureau of
Land Management shall, in addition to the analysis otherwise required
by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (U.S.C. 4321 et seq.),
include in each environmental impact statement prepared pursuant to
subsection (a) analysis on--
(1) as applicable, the amount of water expected to be
consumed in the on-site generation of electricity serving the
hyperscale data center during the period of 10 years beginning
on the date on which the permit, lease, or other authorization
is issued, amended, modifiied, renewed, or revised;
(2) the amount of electric energy and water expected to be
consumed by the cooling system of the hyperscale data center
during such period of 10 years; and
(3) the effect, including cumulative effect, of the
hyperscale data center on--
(A) the short- and long-term supply of water in the
region in which the hyperscale data center is proposed
to be, or is, located;
(B) the drought resilience of such region; and
(C) the source of water the hyperscale data center
relies upon or is expected to rely upon.
(d) Inapplicability of Categorical Exclusions.--The Director of the
Bureau of Land Management may not apply a categorical exclusion with
respect to issuing, amending, modifying, renewing, or revising any
permit, lease, or other authorization for the use, occupancy, or
development of public lands for a hyperscale data center.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Hyperscale data center.--The term ``hyperscale data
center'' means a commercial or industrial consumer of electric
energy that--
(A) is located at a single site behind one or more
points of interconnection;
(B) has a peak load of 50 megawatts or greater; and
(C) requires electric energy primarily to operate
information technology infrastructure, and related
systems, pertaining to data storage or computational
applications and services.
(2) Public lands.--The term ``public lands'' has the
meaning given such term in section 103 of the Federal Land
Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702).
SEC. 3. WORKFORCE PLANS FOR PROPOSED HYPERSCALE DATA CENTER PROJECTS.
Section 501(b) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of
1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(4)(A) The Secretary shall require an applicant for a right-of-
way for the use, occupancy, or development of public lands for a
hyperscale data center to submit, as an addendum to the application for
the right-of-way, a workforce plan with the following information:
``(i) The number of jobs that the construction of the
hyperscale data center, and all associated infrastructure
necessary to operate the hyperscale data center, is expected to
create during the period of 5 years beginning on the date on
which the right-of-way is granted, issued, or renewed.
``(ii) The number of construction-related jobs that are
expected to be filled by workers who already reside in the
State in which the hyperscale data center will be constructed.
``(iii) Whether the applicant plans to compensate workers
who are constructing the hyperscale data center prevailing
wages (as defined in section 3141 of title 40, United States
Code).
``(iv) The number of permanent jobs expected to be created
as a result of the construction and operation of the hyperscale
data center during the period of 20 years beginning on the date
on which the right-of-way is granted, issued, or renewed.
``(B) In this paragraph, the term ```hyperscale data center''' has
the meaning given such term in section 2(e) of the Public Lands
Accountability Act.''.
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