Congress moves to ban AI data centers from federal lands
H.R. 9939 — No AI Data Centers on Federal Lands Act · Filed by Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) · 9 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 23, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill prohibits the construction and operation of artificial intelligence data centers on all federal lands and requires any existing AI data centers on federal property to be shut down and removed within 30 days. The bill defines AI data centers broadly to include any facility with over 20 megawatts of power capacity or advanced cooling systems, and requires removal to comply with environmental cleanup laws.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a categorical prohibition on a specific industrial use (AI data centers) on federal property, coupled with a mandatory removal requirement. This is a land-use and environmental protection measure, not a subsidy, tax carve-out, or deregulation.
What the text implies
- Removal requirement may trigger significant environmental remediation costs borne by federal agencies, potentially diverting funds from other priorities.
- Broad definition of 'associated infrastructure' (transmission lines, power substations, natural gas plants) may affect non-AI energy projects on federal lands if they share facilities with AI operations.
- Prohibition may accelerate private data center development on non-federal lands, potentially increasing environmental pressure on state and private lands without federal oversight.
- 30-day removal deadline is extremely tight for large industrial facilities and may be operationally infeasible, creating legal ambiguity about compliance.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill protects federal lands from industrial development and environmental degradation, a public benefit. However, it may increase AI infrastructure costs and energy prices for consumers by restricting where data centers can be built, and it forecloses potential federal revenue from leasing federal lands for data center operations.
Named in the bill
Department of Defense, Federal agencies, Indian Tribes, VRSN (Verisign), AMD, HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise), CTSH (Cognizant), CSCO (Cisco), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
Where it stands
9 cosponsors: 9 Democrats.
- Jul 23, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 23, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (3,381 characters) on Jul 30, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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