Critical digital infrastructure facilities may be located only in the Limited Industrial or General Industrial zoning districts, within a designated Community Growth Area, and within 2 miles of existing 69 kV-or-greater high-voltage transmission lines.

Critical digital infrastructure facilities are barred from Priority Preservation Areas, Rural Legacy Areas, Treasured Landscape Management Areas, and land designated No Planned Service in the Water and Sewerage Plan.

A critical digital infrastructure facility generally may not abut residentially zoned or residentially designated land. An exception allows such siting only if the front, side, and rear setbacks are increased to 200 feet from property lines.

The measure imposes specified minimum lot-area, lot-width, and front-, side-, and rear-yard requirements for critical digital infrastructure facilities, including larger minimum setbacks and lot standards than some other industrial uses.

Critical digital infrastructure facilities are subject to site-plan review, including submission of architectural renderings or plans and a viewshed analysis for review by County staff and the Planning Commission.

Applicants must demonstrate that impacts on scenic, rustic, historic, environmental, recreational, residential, institutional, educational, and other nearby uses will be avoided or minimized to the maximum extent practicable, and that the project will not disproportionately negatively affect overburdened or underserved communities.

Critical digital infrastructure facilities must screen ground-level and rooftop mechanical and electrical equipment, generators, cooling and storage facilities, utility substations, and related infrastructure from adjacent roads and properties.

The measure requires extensive landscaping, buffering, and screening, including multilayer evergreen and deciduous plantings, minimum planting sizes, maintenance in living condition, preservation of existing forest or hedgerows where practicable, and installation before occupancy; occupancy may not be granted if required screening is not installed.

Security fencing for critical digital infrastructure facilities must be screened from public view with vegetation, and chain-link or similar woven metal or plastic fencing may not be used.

Lighting must comply with specified standards, pole-mounted and building-mounted lights may not exceed 18 feet, and lighting must include measures such as amber or yellow tints, timers, motion detectors, or light-sensitive switches to reduce impacts on wildlife and circadian rhythms.

Applications must comply with County parking, loading, signage, bicycle-rack, and other applicable industrial development requirements.

Each site-plan application must include a registered engineer's certification that the facility complies with the performance standards. Repeated violations may lead to suspension or revocation of the zoning certificate and certificate of occupancy and cessation of operations.

Noise from critical digital infrastructure facilities, including electrical equipment, air handlers, generators, and other mechanical devices, is limited to 70 decibels at industrial property lines, 64 decibels at commercial property lines, and 55 decibels at residential, institutional, and other property lines.

Applicants must submit an environmental-acoustics sound study covering assessment methods, equipment specifications, predicted operating and generator-testing levels, emergency operation, construction phases, and recommended controls. Actual sound levels must be measured within 6 months of occupancy and biennially thereafter, with corrective action required within 180 days if limits are exceeded.

Critical digital infrastructure facilities may not produce vibration discernible without instruments beyond the property line or particle velocity exceeding 2 inches per second, and applications must include a vibration-impact study followed by measurements and biennial reporting, with corrective action required within 180 days for violations.

Generators must meet EPA Tier 4 or equivalent emission standards, be installed at ground level, and generally may be tested only Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; only one generator per building, or the minimum operational number, may be tested at once and generally for no more than 60 minutes.

Stand-alone fuel-storage tanks are limited to one per critical digital infrastructure building, a maximum capacity of 20,000 gallons, and a minimum 100-foot setback from property lines and wells, subject to applicable fire-code, containment, alarm, and wellhead-protection requirements.

Fuel tanks attached to stationary equipment are limited to 10,000 gallons per attached tank and generally must be at least 100 feet from property lines and wells, with containment, alarms, and applicable regulatory compliance required.

Where multiple lots are proposed, a private street may satisfy frontage requirements only with Planning Commission approval and compliance with requirements for public-street connection, limited public access, County street-design standards, maintenance arrangements, and recorded easements, agreements, and covenants.

A critical digital infrastructure electric substation may be established only in the Limited Industrial or General Industrial districts, within a Community Growth Area, within 2 miles of existing 69 kV-or-greater transmission lines, and outside Priority Preservation Areas, Rural Legacy Areas, Treasured Landscape Management Areas, and No Planned Service areas.

A critical digital infrastructure electric substation may be constructed only to provide power to a critical digital infrastructure facility that has received Planning Commission site-plan approval. The substation application may be processed concurrently with the facility application.

A critical digital infrastructure electric substation may connect to another regional electrical system, but expansion to support other uses or users must comply with the rules and procedures for nongovernmental electric substations.

Substation applications must document adjoining-property conditions within 1,000 feet and address environmental and ecological effects, electromagnetic-field impacts, safety and reliability, emergency operations and shutdowns, preservation-area visual impacts, and mitigation of waste, air-quality, visual, and noise impacts.

Electric substations must meet specified landscaping, screening, buffering, lighting, and fencing requirements, including 18-foot maximum light-pole height, installation of required screening before occupancy, and prohibitions on chain-link or similar woven fencing.

Electric substations are subject to maximum sound levels of 70 decibels at industrial property lines, 64 decibels at commercial property lines, and 55 decibels at residential, institutional, and other property lines, with required sound studies, measurements within 6 months of operation, biennial reporting, and corrective action within 180 days for exceedances.

Electric substations may not produce vibration discernible without instruments beyond the property line or particle velocity exceeding 2 inches per second, and applications must include a vibration-impact study.

The Planning Commission may approve an electric-substation height increase only after finding no adverse impact on nearby properties; for every 3 feet above the normal maximum height, front, side, and rear setbacks must increase by 1 foot.

Existing Critical Digital Infrastructure Facilities and electric substations are exempt from the new requirements if they had submitted a site plan to the Division of Planning and Permitting by the bill’s effective date. This protects projects already in the approval process from future restrictions. submitted a site plan

A Critical Digital Infrastructure Electric Substation may be approved specifically to provide power to a Critical Digital Infrastructure Facility, and the substation application may be processed concurrently with the facility application. may be processed concurrently

A Critical Digital Infrastructure Electric Substation may be connected to another electrical system within the region, supporting regional interconnection and operational reliability. connected to another electrical system within the region

The Planning Commission may reduce, but not eliminate, required yard setbacks between adjoining Critical Digital Infrastructure Facilities when the reduction improves open space, buffers, environmental protection, or compliance with the design criteria. may approve a reduction to, but not elimination of

Critical Digital Infrastructure may be established next to residentially zoned or designated land if the front, side, and rear setbacks are increased to 200 feet, providing an alternative to an outright prohibition on such sites. so long as the designated setbacks are increased to 200 feet

For multiple lots proposed for Critical Digital Infrastructure, a private street may satisfy lot-frontage requirements if it connects to a public road, serves limited nonpublic uses, meets County street-design rules, and is properly maintained and documented. the lot frontage requirement

The Planning Commission may approve an alternative landscaping, buffering, and screening plan that meets the purpose and intent of the requirements, giving projects flexibility in how screening obligations are satisfied. an alternate landscaping, buffering, and screening plan

Substation height may exceed the normal maximum if the Planning Commission finds that the additional height will not adversely affect nearby properties. The required setbacks increase by one foot for each three feet of additional height. may approve an increase in the maximum height

Critical Digital Infrastructure Facilities may use generators meeting Tier 4 or equivalent emission standards, with generator testing allowed Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; testing is generally limited to one generator per building, or the minimum necessary, for no more than 60 minutes at a time, subject to legal or utility restrictions. Generators must meet or exceed Tier 4

The measure expressly allows fuel storage for facility operations, including one above-ground standalone tank per building with a capacity up to 20,000 gallons, or attached storage tanks up to 10,000 gallons each, subject to containment, setbacks, fire-code, wellhead-protection, and other regulatory requirements. capacity not to exceed 20,000 gallons

Sound and vibration compliance reports for Critical Digital Infrastructure Facilities are required biennially after the initial post-occupancy measurement, rather than annually, reducing the frequency of recurring monitoring obligations. biennially

Critical Digital Infrastructure Facilities are subject to minimum bulk standards in the LI and GI Districts, including an 80,000-square-foot lot, 200-foot lot width, 50-foot front, side, and rear yards, and a 60-foot height limit.

Site plans must include architectural renderings or plans, and publicly visible building facades must use specified design features to avoid long, plain, undifferentiated walls.

Mechanical equipment, generators, cooling and storage facilities, substations, and related utility infrastructure must be screened from adjacent roads and properties using a principal building or an approved opaque screen.

Staff must refer Critical Digital Infrastructure Facility site plans to the Architectural Review Committee before the plans are scheduled for Planning Commission review. This requirement is delayed until the Committee has been appointed and confirmed.

Facilities must provide landscaped buffers along road-facing front yards and, except where adjoining another Critical Digital Infrastructure use, along side and rear yards, with specified multi-layer vegetation and minimum planting sizes.

Existing forests and hedgerows must be preserved to the maximum extent practicable where screening or buffering is required, and all required landscaping, screening, and buffering must be maintained.

A landscape, buffering, and screening plan must be submitted with the site plan, and occupancy may not be granted unless the approved screening and buffering have been installed.

Parking, loading, signage, lighting, and bicycle facilities must meet specified zoning requirements; light poles may not exceed 18 feet, subject to potentially more restrictive Planning Commission requirements.

Subdivision of property for Critical Digital Infrastructure uses must comply with County subdivision rules. Private streets may be used to satisfy frontage requirements only with Planning Commission approval and subject to conditions concerning public-road connection, limited access, design, maintenance, and recorded easements and agreements.

Site plan applications must include certification by a registered engineer that the facility complies with the applicable performance standards. Continued or frequent violations can result in suspension or revocation of the Zoning Certificate and Certificate of Occupancy and immediate cessation of operations.

Facilities must meet maximum sound-pressure levels measured at adjacent property lines: 70 decibels for industrial uses, 64 for commercial uses, and 55 for residential, institutional, and all other uses, with air handlers, generators, and other mechanical devices included.

Facilities may not produce ground-transmitted vibration discernible without instruments beyond the property line or vibration exceeding 2 inches per second at or beyond the property line, except between adjoining Critical Digital Infrastructure Facilities.

Critical Digital Infrastructure Electric Substations may be built only to provide power to a Critical Digital Infrastructure Facility and only after that facility has received Planning Commission site plan approval; the applications may be processed concurrently.

Expanding a Critical Digital Infrastructure Electric Substation to support other uses or users must follow the rules and procedures applicable to nongovernmental electric substations.

Substation applications must provide information about adjoining properties within 1,000 feet and assess environmental effects, electromagnetic fields, safety and reliability, impacts on designated preservation or historic areas, and methods to mitigate waste, air-quality, visual, and noise impacts.

Critical Digital Infrastructure Electric Substations are subject to landscaping, screening, lighting, noise, and vibration requirements, including an 18-foot lighting-pole limit and the same 70-, 64-, and 55-decibel sound limits.

The Planning Commission may approve a substation height increase only after finding no adverse impact on nearby properties; for every 3 feet above the applicable height limit, required front, side, and rear setbacks must increase by 1 foot.

Adds Critical Digital Infrastructure Facilities as a permitted subject-to-site-plan use in the Limited Industrial and General Industrial districts, allowing data centers to seek approval in those districts. The use table lists Critical Digital Infrastructure Facility as “PS PS”.

Defines accessory components that may be included in a data center, including offices, air handlers, generators and storage, cooling and water-storage facilities, and supporting utility infrastructure. The facility may also include customary accessory uses.

Allows a Critical Digital Infrastructure Electric Substation to be constructed to serve an approved data center, with the substation application processed at the same time as the facility application. An application for a Critical Digital Infrastructure Electric Substation may be processed concurrently.

Permits a qualifying electric substation to connect to another electrical system in the region, supporting power reliability and interconnection. Any expansion intended to support other uses or users must instead comply with the rules for a nongovernmental electric substation. A Critical Digital Infrastructure Electric Substation may be connected to another electrical system within the region.

Allows the Planning Commission, during site-plan review, to reduce—but not eliminate—required yard setbacks between adjoining Critical Digital Infrastructure Facilities when the reduction improves open space, buffers, environmental protection, or compliance with design criteria. Building-code-required separation still applies. The Planning Commission may approve a reduction to, but not elimination of, the required yard setbacks.

Allows multiple lots used for Critical Digital Infrastructure to satisfy lot-frontage requirements through an approved private street, provided the originating parcel has public-street frontage, the street connects to a public road, serves no uses frequented by the general public, meets subdivision standards, and is maintained by an owners’ association or similar organization. The lot frontage requirement may be met by construction of a private street.

Allows the Planning Commission to approve an electric-substation height increase above the normal district maximum if the increase will not adversely affect nearby properties. For every three feet above the maximum, front, side, and rear setbacks must increase by one foot. The Planning Commission may approve an increase in the maximum height.

Temporarily delays the Architectural Review Committee review requirement for data-center site plans until the committee has been appointed by the County Executive and confirmed by the County Council, allowing applications to proceed without that review during the interim. The requirements regarding review by the Architectural Review Committee shall not take effect until the Committee has been appointed.

Data centers are barred from 99% of County land, and the acreage zoned for them was cut in half, according to the County Executive’s page (“cut the number of acres zoned for data centers in half”).

Provides a personal-property tax credit for qualifying data centers, subject to the measure’s eligibility requirements. Personal-property tax credit