Applies to all data centers constructed in Boone County’s unincorporated areas and requires them to incorporate external noise-attenuation measures into their design and construction.

Before construction or operation, the owner and operator must notify all residents and homeowners’ associations within a half-mile radius of the property line, notify the County Judge, and file proof of notification with the County Clerk within 30 days.

Before construction or operation, the property owner must obtain a baseline sound study from a third-party acoustic engineer, including measurements at eight property-line locations, provide it to the County Judge, and file it with the County Clerk within 30 days of completion.

Before construction, the property owner must have a third-party architectural or design firm prepare a building plan containing adequate noise-attenuation measures and must submit and file the plan with the County Judge and County Clerk within 30 days of completion.

Mechanical equipment must be shown on the proposed plan and fully screened on all sides; equipment not screened by the building facade must be screened by a visually solid fence, screen wall or panel, or parapet wall compatible with the building.

Any addition, change, or expansion of a data center must comply with the ordinance’s noise-attenuation requirements and be designed and submitted to the County Judge and filed with the County Clerk within 30 days of completion of the required report.

After completion and before beginning operations, the operator must obtain a post-construction noise study from a third-party acoustic engineer while mechanical equipment is operating at full capacity, including HVAC units and generators, with measurements at the same eight locations.

A data center may not begin operations until the post-construction noise study is completed, submitted to the County Judge and County Clerk, and demonstrates compliance; if it is noncompliant, operation is prohibited until required attenuation and noise limits are met.

Operators must conduct annual noise studies under the baseline and post-construction study requirements and file the results with the County Judge and County Clerk within 30 days after the anniversary of the first sound-study report.

Data centers may not cause or permit external noise at or above 65 dB from 8 A.M. to 10 P.M. or at or above 55 dB from 10 P.M. to 8 A.M., measured at the receiving property’s property line by a third-party acoustic engineer.

The ordinance makes exceeding the noise limits, failing to incorporate the approved attenuation measures, failing to file required sound studies or building plans within 30 days, or violating another ordinance provision a violation.

Violations are misdemeanors punishable by a $1,000 fine for a specified offense, double that amount for a repeat offense, and an additional $500 per day for a continuing violation; injunctions and civil remedies may also be pursued.

A data center must cease operations until it complies with the ordinance, implements the required noise-attenuation measures, and meets the noise limitations.

The ordinance expressly permits data centers to be built and operated in unincorporated Boone County if they comply with its requirements.

A data center may add, change, or expand its facilities, provided the expansion complies with the ordinance’s noise-attenuation requirements and the required plans and reports are submitted.

The building plan does not have to adopt every recommendation from the acoustic engineer; it only must include noise-attenuation measures that the third-party architectural or design firm considers adequate for compliance.

The ordinance establishes specific operating noise thresholds—less than 65 dB from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and less than 55 dB from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.—so compliant operations are permitted under defined limits.