Data centers in Little River County’s unincorporated areas must be designed and built with external noise-attenuation measures.

Before construction or operation, the owner and operator must notify all residents and homeowners’ associations within a half-mile of the property line and file proof of notification with the county clerk within 30 days; they must also notify the county judge.

The property owner must obtain a third-party acoustic-engineer study documenting baseline sound levels at eight property-line locations, including mitigation recommendations, and file it with the county judge and clerk within 30 days of completion.

Before construction, the owner must obtain a building plan from a third-party architectural or design firm that includes adequate noise-attenuation measures, shows all mechanical equipment, and fully screens that equipment; the plan must be submitted to the county judge and clerk within 30 days of completion.

Additions, changes, or expansions of a data center must comply with the ordinance’s noise-attenuation requirements and must be designed and submitted to the county judge and clerk within 30 days of completion of the applicable report.

After construction, the operator must obtain a third-party acoustic-engineer study while mechanical equipment is operating at full capacity, measure noise at the same eight property-line locations, and file the report with the county judge and clerk within 30 days.

A data center may not begin operations until the post-construction noise study is completed and filed, and the results demonstrate compliance; if the results show noncompliance, operation is barred until required attenuation measures and noise limits are met.

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

Noise from a data center is prohibited from reaching 65 dBa or higher from 8 A.M. to 10 P.M. or 55 dBa or higher from 10 P.M. to 8 A.M., measured at the receiving property line.

Violations include failing to incorporate the submitted attenuation measures, failing to file required studies or the building plan within the stated 30-day deadlines, or otherwise failing to comply; all data centers must be compliant before beginning operation, or they may face an injunction or stay preventing operation.

Violations are misdemeanors punishable by a $1,000 fine per specified offense, $2,000 for a repeated offense, and $500 per day for a continuing violation; injunctions, civil damages, and cessation of operations may also be imposed until compliance.

A proposed data center may use noise-attenuation measures selected by its architectural or design firm; it is not required to adopt every recommendation from the acoustic engineer, as long as the plan includes measures the firm considers adequate for compliance.

The ordinance establishes measurable operating limits: noise below 65 dBa from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and below 55 dBa from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., measured at the receiving property line, is not deemed a noise disturbance under the stated threshold.

Data centers may expand, add equipment, or make changes, provided the additions, changes, or expansions comply with the ordinance’s noise-attenuation requirements and the required plans or reports are submitted.

Mechanical equipment may be screened using any of several listed methods, including a building facade, visually solid fence, screen wall or panel, or parapet wall, allowing design flexibility while meeting the screening requirement.

A data center may commence operations once the required post-construction noise study is completed and filed and the study shows compliance with the ordinance’s noise requirements.