Establish Enforcement Mechanisms
Ensure that a city has the ability to enforce the agreements made throughout the approval process. Enforcement must occur after the data center is approved, at any point during development or implementation of the data center, and once the data center is in operation on a consistent basis. The local government must also create the ability to institute penalties that go beyond nominal fines, including revoking a data center’s permit or certificate of occupancy.
Note: The specific mechanisms for continued monitoring, enforcement, and penalties will depend on each component of the application and are outlined in each corresponding section below.
WEAK example
In Benton County, Arkansas, violation of the data center ordinance is punishable by a fine of $1,000. This is not a sufficient penalty for a billion-dollar company.
