Protecting Local Control of Data Centers Act
Summary, written by a model from the CRS summary
This bill would preserve or strengthen the authority of local governments to approve, condition, or reject data center projects. It matters because AI-driven data center expansion often overrides local zoning and community input.
Model-rated AI relevance 30%.
Sponsored by
Tom BarrettRepublicanMIData as of: bills Sep 9, 2026 · votes Sep 11, 2026 · statements Sep 9, 2026. What changed
Progress
Introduced
Aug 20, 2026
Reported by committee
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Passed House
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Passed Senate
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Became law
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Latest action · August 20, 2026
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
What members said
Releases that cite this bill first, then releases on the same topics.
Barrett introduces bills barring federal override of local data center zoning and banning congressional NDAs, and touts cosponsorship of AI safeguards on chatbots for minors, nuclear risk, and autonomous weapons.
Source ↗Warnock calls for a statewide moratorium on AI data center construction unless projects guarantee no utility cost hikes, no NDAs, no tax giveaways, and no pollution.
Source ↗Hawley is investigating AI surveillance camera companies, arguing Congress never authorized these invasive AI-driven networks and that corporate self-policing is an inadequate safeguard.
Source ↗Barrett's bipartisan Doctors Not AI Act would bar AI from making medical-necessity insurance denials and require disclosure of AI use.
Source ↗Evans promotes American open-source AI leadership against China while adding commonsense consumer guardrails and mandated federal risk assessments of adversary models.
Source ↗Landsman's Doctors Not AI Act would keep licensed clinicians, not algorithms, in charge of medical-necessity decisions with transparency for patients.
Source ↗Schrier's Doctors Not AI Act would require doctors rather than AI systems to make health coverage decisions, with oversight and disclosure.
Source ↗Harrigan backs bipartisan monitoring of self-improving AI through NIST while stressing the bill imposes no new mandates and won't impede innovation.
Source ↗Bill data read 2026-09-09T02:09:45.522Z