The draft of the proposed data center zoning regulations in Lincoln County was released Tuesday for the public to see.

County officials worked overtime to draft nine pages of updates after it became apparent that the existing county regulations were written with smaller, warehouse-size buildings in mind, whereas data centers that span a square mile or more are quickly becoming foreseeable.

A public hearing on the new regulations will be held Tuesday, Aug. 11. The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.

The proposed new zoning regulations address community benefits, noise, water, electric use, location and minimal setbacks from other property and appearance.

Also, the proposed regs set requirements for decommissioning and removal if a data center becomes outmoded or unusable.

Here are some key parts of the draft regulations:

• A legally binding, negotiated agreement will be required from a proponent/developer, outlining the benefits the community and local government will receive in return for support of or non-opposition to a project.

• The applicant’s study or studies shall encompass noise mitigation, decommissioning, water consumption, wastewater treatment, electric consumption, emergency response, road agreement, environmental and community impacts, and the negotiated community benefits agreement. An application will not be deemed complete until all the items above are completed and received.

• The project must demonstrate that it will have sufficient water and wastewater capacity. Annual water and wastewater sampling will be required.

• It cannot materially impair the electrical reliability for existing customers. The data center may be required to provide dedicated electrical generation and energy storage, or a combination thereof, sufficient to offset 100% of the facility’s projected electrical demand.

• Each data center shall be located on at least 10 acres. Setbacks shall match industrial district standards — Front setback of 30’, Rear 25’ and Side 10’. Buffer zones may be required.

• Any water cooling and other uses must use a closed loop or recycled water system. The applicant shall, as part of the required water consumption study, state the amount of water lost along with the amount needed to replenish the closed loop or recycled water system.

• Air cooling or other non-water cooling methods are preferred and strongly encouraged. No data center shall be approved unless the applicant demonstrates that there is an adequate supply of water and not endanger or adversely affect the quantity or quality of groundwater supplies nor surface waters in the vicinity.

• It must be responsible for costs to extend infrastructure to the site, including but not limited to roads, water, wastewater, storm water, generation, transmission, distributions, substations, or utility upgrades. The applicant shall be solely responsible for all project-related infrastructure costs, including necessary road repairs after construction.

• Emergency response plans must be in place to address potential hazards such as power outages, fires, and natural disasters.

• Specialized fire suppression chemicals or equipment specific to the data center shall be supplied to the appropriate responders and paid for by the property owners.

• The project must ensure adequate radio coverage for emergency responders outside and within the building based upon the existing levels of the Lincoln County Public Safety Radio Communications System, including mutual aid partners.

• Lincoln County reserves the right at any time to hire a third-party professional at the property owners expense to review elements of project.

• Visually, the appearance of commercial office buildings is encouraged. Data center campuses containing more than one building are encouraged to provide variety in building size, massing, siting, and appearance by transitioning from smaller or lower buildings along street frontages to larger and taller structures on the interior of the site.

Also

• Battery energy storage systems must comply with applicable federal, state, and local regulations.
• The project must be designed and operated to maximize energy efficiency.
• The applicant shall provide an environmental and community impact analysis extending 500 feet from the boundaries of the property.

Noise

The project must implement noise mitigation, including sound-insulated walls and equipment enclosures, to minimize impacts on nearby residential areas. Routine noise testing shall be conducted from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon-Fri.

Permitted noise levels:

• Daytime 7 a.m.-9 p.m. — 65 dBa & 75 dBc.
• Nighttime 10 p.m.-7 a.m. — 55 dBA & 65 dBc.

(For reference, 70 decibels (dB) is equivalent to a shower or a dishwasher. Noise in the upper 70s dBs are said to be annoyingly loud to some people, according to soundproofingguide.com.)

The difference between dBa and dBc:

• The human ear doesn’t hear all sounds the same, we hear some frequencies of sound more sharply.
• dBa is a way to measure the noise where the meter listens in the same way the human ear does — it gives more weight to some high frequency noises.
• dBc is more of a flat response — all frequencies are treated equally.
• In noise safety, the focus is the average dBa over time, usually an entire day, not really how high it goes in individual instances. Source: https://www.thenoisechap.com/noise-safety-information/dba-and-dbc-data-in-noise-assessments

Decommissioning

Due to their limited operational lifespans and the potential for residual materials or infrastructure that may require specialized removal or remediation at the end of use, applicants shall submit a decommissioning plan for removal of obsolete equipment and site restoration at the end of the facility’s operational life.

That includes dismantling and removal of all equipment and appurtenances related thereto, including but not limited to:

• special cabling and electrical components.
• electronic equipment.
• special cooling equipment.
• special power generation.
• batteries and other associated facilities.
• removal of any buildings deemed condemned or uninhabitable.

Also, the owner of the land shall provide financial security, in the form and amount of a bond, acceptable to Lincoln County Commissioners to secure the expense of decommissioning, dismantling, removing, and disposal of the Data Center specific components and equipment, in the amount of 125% of the estimated decommissioning.

Lincoln County reserves the right to review once every five years an engineer’s new estimate of probable cost of decommissioning and to hire a third-party professional at the property owners expense to oversee any decommissioning elements.

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Top photo: Construction at a Google data center in northwest Omaha in March (Naomi Delkamiller/Flatwater Free Press)

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