Thank you to Patrick Keck from Gongwer News for covering this vital legislation to protect Ohioans!
“Residents should get a greater say in determining if data centers can be built in their community, a lawmaker and medical freedom group contend.”
“Rep. Jennifer Gross, R-West Chester, sees her recently filed proposal with Rep. Michelle Teska, R-Centerville, as a way to ensure that voice is heard.”
“Under the bill, in order to construct a new data center or expand an existing one, the project must be approved by voters in municipalities 5 miles away from the project area (HB 983.)”
“I think it's more balanced to say, ‘Let's give communities and the people a voice,’” she said in an interview. “Or the people are going to come back and say, ‘Then forget it, it's a complete moratorium,’ and I don't think that's a win-win.”
“Gross is working with Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom, which wrote the language.”
“OAMF President Stephanie Stock said the plan also creates penalties for data centers that exceed discharge or emissions limits and bars any emergency order, administrative action or development agreement from preventing the public vote.
Stock, who was defeated in the primary election in her bid to join the House, previously called on lawmakers to bar data centers from using water cooling and require such projects to be approved at the ballot by voters living within a 5-mile radius of a proposed facility.”
“Unfortunately, many of the elected officials are taking matters into their own hands, and they are not actually listening to the citizens,” Stock said in an interview. “That's why getting citizen approval first, we believe, is an important pathway forward to ensure that every local citizen, in fact, is being heard.”
“Gross emphasized that protections are needed to make sure that “we're not putting things into our water that could be harming the people drinking the water.”
“If it's approved by the EPA, and the EPA says they're following standards, I'm OK with that,” she said. “The challenge is that if they're adding new things into the water that the EPA never tested for like forever chemicals, like PFAS, like glyphosate.”
“If those things are not already removed, and even if they are, if they're adding more to the system and it's overwhelming our water processing, then we need to work with our water processing plants and be sure that they can handle it.”
“Gross said she hopes the Legislature will also pick up HB983 in November, but added she does not expect the bill to advance this GA given the relatively small window of time left to move new legislation.”
“Getting the conversation going for sure, helping people understand we are listening, I think, is very important,” she said.”
