Prohibit Trade-Secret Exemptions From Public-Disclosure Laws

Public-record and agency disclosure laws grant the public the right to inspect government records. This is a critical way for the public to learn about industries that are attempting to move into their communities. Congress can act to clearly specify that information collected during local, state, and federal data center application processes does not constitute sensitive information or trade secrets and cannot be redacted or exempted from public-disclosure laws. Such information includes:

• noise study and mitigation 
• projected and actual energy usage and mitigation 
• on-site energy emissions 
• projected and actual water usage and mitigation 
• value of tax abatements developer is receiving for the project 
• names of all companies involved in the data center project (including developer, shell companies, data center operators and/or end users, and financers) 
• jobs (short-term and permanent, hiring efforts, permanent employee wages) 
• the results of a displacement and holistic environmental-impact report, centering environmental justice considerations (such as those emerging from redlined/fenceline communities), and establishing that the data center will not exacerbate the displacement of residents and local businesses