Applies to all data centers in Faulkner County's unincorporated areas and requires the owner or operator to notify the County Judge of the proposed location before construction or operation.

The County Clerk or County Judge's office must issue public notice, and the County Judge must place the proposed data center on the Quorum Court agenda for public comment within 90 days after notification.

Before construction or operation, the owner or operator must obtain a baseline sound study from a third-party acoustic engineer, measuring sound at the property line in eight specified directions, and file the report with the County Judge and County Clerk within 30 days after completion.

Before construction, the owner or operator must consult a third-party architectural or design firm and prepare a noise-attenuation plan adequate to prevent prohibited noise levels.

The noise-attenuation plan must address measures such as soundproofing, screens, panels, fences, enclosures, buffer yards, or other recommended measures.

Mechanical equipment must be shown on the construction plan and fully screened on all sides by the building facade or by a visually solid fence, screen wall, panel, or parapet wall compatible with the nearest building facade.

The owner or operator must file the noise-attenuation building plan with the County Judge and County Clerk within 30 days after completing the plan and before construction begins.

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

After construction, the operator must obtain a third-party post-construction noise study while mechanical equipment, including HVAC units and generators, operates at full capacity, using the same eight measurement locations, and file the report within 30 days after completion.

A data center may not begin operating until the post-construction noise study is completed, filed, and demonstrates compliance; if it is not compliant, operation must wait until required attenuation measures and noise limits are met.

The operator must conduct and file additional noise studies annually, with results submitted within 30 days after the anniversary of the first sound-study report.

Noise is prohibited when measured at the receiving property's property line at 60 dBA or higher from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. or 55 dBA or higher from 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.

Noise measurements must follow specified procedures, including calibrated meters, placement at least four feet above the ground or reflective surfaces, high/average/low readings or three readings at varying intervals, and documentation of specified monitoring information.

The operator, equipment operator, employer, and property owner or renter may each be held responsible for violations, including excessive noise, failure to install planned attenuation measures, or failure to timely file required studies or plans.

Violations are misdemeanors subject to fines of up to $1,000 per offense, with continuing violations treated as separate offenses and possible additional fines of up to $500 per day after conviction.

The County or any citizen may seek an injunction and other legal or equitable remedies to abate a nuisance and compel compliance.

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

The ordinance applies only to noise disturbances originating in unincorporated Faulkner County, leaving data centers in incorporated municipalities outside its scope. only apply to noise disturbances originating within the unincorporated areas

The current ordinance requires the owner or operator to notify the County Judge and provide the proposed location, while the County Clerk or County Judge’s office handles public notice and places the proposal on the Quorum Court agenda within 90 days. It does not retain the prior requirement to mail notice to every address and homeowners’ association within a half-mile radius or file proof of that mailing. The County Judge will add the proposed Data Center to the Quorum Court agenda within ninety (90) days

A proposed data center does not have to adopt every recommendation from the third-party acoustic engineer; its building plan only needs to include noise-attenuation measures that the architectural or design firm considers adequate for compliance. The building plan is not required to adopt any or all of the noise attenuation recommendations

The ordinance establishes objective operating noise thresholds: noise is treated as a disturbance at 60 dBA or higher from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. or 55 dBA or higher from 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., measured at the receiving property’s boundary. This gives compliant facilities a defined maximum noise standard, subject to the ordinance’s additional factors for evaluating disturbances below the threshold. 60 dBa or higher during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. or 55 dBa or higher during the hours of 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.

Before construction or operation, the owner or operator must notify the County Judge of the proposed data center and its location. The County Clerk or Judge’s office must make public notice, and the Judge must place the proposal on a Quorum Court agenda for public comment within 90 days.

The owner or operator must obtain a baseline sound study by a third-party acoustic engineer, measuring sound at eight property-line locations and recommending mitigation. The report must be given to the County Judge and filed with the County Clerk within 30 days of completion.

Before construction, the owner or operator must consult a third-party architectural or design firm and prepare a building plan with adequate noise-attenuation measures. Mechanical equipment must be shown and fully screened; the plan must be provided to the County Judge and filed with the County Clerk within 30 days of completion.

Additions, changes, and expansions must comply with the noise-attenuation requirements, and their designs must be submitted to the County Judge and filed with the County Clerk.

After construction, the operator must pay for a third-party acoustic engineer’s study measuring noise with mechanical equipment, including HVAC units and generators, running at full capacity. The study uses the same eight property-line locations, and its report must be provided to the County Judge and filed with the County Clerk within 30 days of completion.

A data center may not begin operating until the post-construction study is completed and submitted and its results show compliance. If it does not comply, operation cannot begin until required noise measures and limits are met.

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

Noise at the receiving property line may not reach 60 dBA or higher from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., or 55 dBA or higher from 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. Other noise-disturbance assessments may consider volume, time, duration, whether the noise is recurrent, intermittent, or constant, and whether reasonable attenuation methods were followed and maintained.

Violations can result in misdemeanor liability and a fine of up to $1,000 per specified offense; each day of a continuing violation is a separate violation, and a court may impose up to $500 per day for conduct continuing after conviction. The County may seek an injunction, and the County or a citizen may pursue legal or equitable remedies, including injunctive relief and court-determined civil damages.

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

The noise ordinance applies only to disturbances originating in Faulkner County’s unincorporated areas, so data centers whose noise originates elsewhere are outside its scope.

Operators must notify the County Judge of a proposed data center, but the amended ordinance does not require them to mail notice directly to residents and homeowners’ associations within a half-mile. The County Clerk or Judge’s office provides public notice, and the Judge must place the proposal on a Quorum Court agenda within 90 days.

A data center’s noise plan does not have to adopt all or any of the acoustic engineer’s recommendations, provided a third-party architectural or design firm considers the plan’s attenuation measures adequate for compliance.