A moratorium prohibits construction or expansion of data centers in McIntosh County while the moratorium is in effect.

Data centers require a conditional-use permit and may also require zoning-map amendments, subdivision platting, or variances.

The application fee is 3% of construction cost for each site, plus County engineering-consulting fees and other applicable conditional-use and building-permit fees.

Applications must include extensive project, utility, water, acoustic, site-plan, sensitive-property, regulatory-compliance, and power-purchase documentation.

Data centers must generally be at least three miles from dwellings, schools, animal-production facilities or feedlots, churches and similar religious institutions, and public parks, unless an applicable property signs an allowed exception.

New data centers must be at least three miles from any lawfully existing data center, and setbacks from residential areas and incorporated cities or towns must be at least a three-mile radius.

Buildings, structures, and appurtenances at a data-center site may not exceed 40 feet in height.

Electrical wiring must generally be buried at least 24 inches underground, except at interconnections, and must comply with the North Dakota State Electrical Code.

Data centers must have a secured perimeter fence at least six feet high, using chain-link, solid wood, or masonry and meeting the ordinance's commercial-solar-facility fencing standards.

Sound buffering is required around the entire property perimeter, with the specific buffering determined by the Planning and Zoning Board.

Exterior lighting must use County-approved fixtures, minimize off-site glare, and be limited to what is necessary for safety and security unless an exception is approved.

Adjacent exterior access roads must meet a 3,400-foot setback from residences and schools, receive County Highway Superintendent approval, and be covered by a road-maintenance agreement.

Operations may not exceed 50 dBA during the day or 45 dBA at night at an occupied residence or other sensitive receiver, measured over 15 minutes; additional limits apply to pure tones.

Commercial data centers must post entrance signage with a 24-hour emergency contact, company and representative information, and local power-company and telephone numbers.

A Fire Marshal-approved suppression system capable of handling electrical, oil, and natural-gas fires, along with a certified fire plan, is required.

Applicants must submit an emergency-response plan and fund local fire-department training concerning hazards at the property.

Applicants must provide a reclamation bond of at least $1.5 million, as determined by McIntosh County.

Water-based cooling must use a County- and State-approved source or obtain a North Dakota Department of Water Resources permit and address water volume and potential effects on local supplies.

Data centers must comply with the ordinance's storm-drainage, erosion-control, grading, and drainage requirements for subdivisions.

A development agreement may require the developer to install public improvements at its own expense and provide financial security equal to 150% of their estimated cost.

Conditional-use permits are non-transferable, so a change involving the operator or other permit holder may require new County approval.

Before building permits are issued, applicants must secure estimated decommissioning costs through an approved escrow, performance bond, letter of credit, or other surety; the estimate must exclude salvage-value reductions and be recalculated every five years.

Upon abandonment or cessation, the owner or operator must remove improvements and restore affected agricultural ground where applicable.

The County may hire acoustic or decommissioning engineers to review proposals or cost estimates, with the applicant responsible for those costs.

The ordinance creates a specific approval pathway for data centers: applications for construction, installation, or modifications beyond routine maintenance may proceed through the conditional-use-permit process, subject to any required zoning amendments, platting, or variances. Applications for the installation or construction of a data center

Routine maintenance of a lawfully existing data center is excluded from the special data-center application requirement; only modifications beyond routine maintenance require the specified application process. modifications to a lawfully existing data center beyond routine maintenance

A data-center applicant may conduct wind or site monitoring, soil testing, and surveying before obtaining a conditional use permit, allowing preliminary development work before final approval. applications shall include the following

Data centers located solely on an oil-and-gas well site or underground gathering-pipeline facility under the exclusive jurisdiction of the North Dakota Industrial Commission are exempt from the ordinance’s special data-center requirements. Data centers which are solely located on an oil and gas well site

New data centers must be at least three miles from any lawfully existing data center, creating a spacing buffer that protects an existing facility from a nearby future data-center development. New data centers shall be set back at least three (3) miles

The ordinance expressly provides a lawful operating route for water-cooled data centers by allowing cooling water from a county- and state-approved source or under a North Dakota Department of Water Resources permit, subject to water-appropriation requirements. Cooling through water must be through a county and state-approved water source