County study on data center impacts, regulations, underway

Martin Kidston

(Missoula Current) As Missoula County's temporary moratorium on new and expanded data centers nears its second month, staff members have already initiated a study to identify potential impacts and remedies focused on the expanding technology.

The county adopted the moratorium in early July after one data center sought approval. State law requires the county to initiate its study within 30 days. That process has already begun, officials said this week.

“We're happy to report that we hit the ground running on that,” said Svein Newman, the county's climate action program manager. “We started the study the next day. We're well under way there.”

The temporary moratorium lasts one year from the date of adoption, giving the county until next July to implement any long-term zoning – though it could still seek another one-year extension.

Newman said the county's approach will start with the impact study and potential options, followed by a regulatory phase.

“We'd like to move the study and impact assessment phase as efficiently as we can because we want to provide as much time as we can to work on any regulatory path,” said Newman. “Our intent is to complete the study draft over the next eight weeks or so.”

That draft would go to the Land Use Board and commissioners in November.

“The purpose of the study is to verify the emergency that the county declared, to identify any big-picture area of challenging problems, and then to bring forward a variety of possible paths,” Newman said. “We plan to speak toward a wide array of impacts, from noise to air quality and water.”

Newman said the county has already identified 10 potential impacts, though others could be uncovered in the coming weeks.

Still, the state's regulatory environment could limit any county remedies and the timing of the Legislature could prove disruptive to the county's chosen path toward potential zoning.

County planner Jenny Dixon has seen at least three bill requests around data centers, including a “right to compute” law. Others could be coming.

“We certainly have the ability where there are identified impacts to regulate those impacts,” she said. “But as we draft this, the whole state landscape around this could change.”

While the timing of the Legislature may be tricky, Newman said other potential remedies that don't fall squarely under zoning have emerged. Addressing those may fall to the Missoula County Health Department, including issues around air and water quality, and hazardous waste.

Commissioner Josh Slotnick said the county will look to the health department to help address any issues.

“The backup diesel generation required for a megawatt is basically a utility-scale facility right here. That's a lot of impact on our air,” Slotnick said.