Dear Chair Rory M. Christian,  

Thank you for the opportunity to provide comment on the Draft Scoping Document for the Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) on data center development as authorized by Governor Kathy Hochul’s Executive Order 62. The development of data centers is impacting communities across our state—from rising energy costs to noise pollution, to air pollution, to threats to our water sources. This GEIS is essential to understanding the effects of data centers and to establishing a framework for responsible development that prioritizes protecting our communities.  

This year, the NY State Legislature passed my bill, the Responsible Data Center Development Act (S10642 GONZALEZ /A11560 BARRETT). This omnibus legislation included a comprehensive environmental impact report, targets for renewable energy usage, mandates for public engagement and long-term community benefits, and created separate energy and water billing classes for large energy facilities. The Responsible Data Center Development Act passed with statewide bipartisan support. 

I embarked on a statewide listening tour this August to collect feedback on my legislation and to better understand local data center fights. Over the course of 9 days, I visited 13 existing and proposed data center sites to hear directly from residents across the Hudson Valley, the Capital Region, Western and Central New York. There were several unifying demands from local communities, the most pressing of which was a need for real public engagement in the permitting process. Meaningful public engagement means transparency on the details of hyperscale data center proposals and open forums for comment prior to a state or local permit being issued. In this tour, several communities were only made aware that there was a local data center project in the New York State Independent System Operator (NYISO) queue by proactively seeking out that information online. While this information is available online, it is unreasonable to put the onus on every community to verify if their neighborhood is a potential hyperscale data center site. Of the 37 projects currently in the queue, many are in marginalized community where public engagement and transparency are key tools to empowering residents. For this reason, it is critical to expand community input in the GEIS and any review of data centers.  

Additionally, the Responsible Data Center Development Act requires an environmental review that involves multiple agencies and studies a broader range of environmental and community health needs. Notably, this review would be spearheaded by the Department of Environmental Conservation, as opposed to the Department of Public Service. I recommend expanding the scope to better align with the Responsible Data Center Development Act, including adopting the following suggestions: 

1. Partner with the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of Public Service, the Department of Health, Environmental Facilities Corporation, and the New York Independent System Operator to cover a broader range of issues and concerns that data centers have posed on local communities 

2. Conduct at least one in-person public hearing in at least five of the following regions: Western NY, the Finger Lakes, the Southern Tier, Central NY, the Mohawk Valley, the North Country, the Capital Region/Hudson Valley, the City of New York, and Long Island, so that communities have sufficient time to organize responses and have their voices heard 

3. Expand the GEIS to address the number, size in acreage, average and peak electric load, and location of current data centers in the state, active proposals for new data centers, and projections for future growth of data centers 

4. Expand the GEIS to address electricity consumption by data centers 

Include the amount of electricity used by data centers within the state, the identification of the generation sources for such electricity, the projections for the changes to the amount under proposed and projected growth of data centers in the state, the amount of discounted or subsidized electricity used by data centers within the state, and the amounts of such discounts and subsidies. 

5. Expand the GEIS to address water consumption and discharge by data centers 

Include the amount of water used by data centers for cooling (including the sources of such water), the daily rate of consumption of water, the amount withdrawn, temperature of, and impact of discharge of water, the amount of water consumed by cooling systems, projections for the proposed and projected growth of data centers in the state, and the impact of data center development on the management of  the state's water resources 

6. Expand the GEIS to address land use for data centers 

Include the total acreage used for existing data centers, projections for the proposed and projected growth of data centers in the state, impacts on farmland, including an analysis of impacts on prime farmland mineral soil types 1-4; and whether data centers are locating on and redeveloping existing previously developed and under-utilized publicly owned lands 

7. Expand the GEIS to address pollution from data centers 

Include the amount of greenhouse gases emitted, the types and quality of air pollutants emitted, the types and quality of water pollutants emitted, potential public health impacts due to reduced air and water quality, and the level of noise pollution, for each existing and proposed data center 

8. Expand the GEIS to address electronic waste from data centers 

Include the current volume of electronic waste produced by data centers, the methods of which electronic waste is being disposed of or recycled, and the projected for the changes to the amounts for proposed and projected growth of data centers in the state 

9. Expand the GEIS to address the health impacts of air, water, and noise pollution, of current, proposed, and projected data centers on disadvantaged communities and federally or state recognized indigenous nations located within a ten-mile radius of such data centers 

10. Consult with the Empire State Development Corporation and the authorities’ budget office to identify the amount of public funds received by data centers, including in the form of state and local tax incentives