HB 589 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Data centers; certain data from water users, water use consumption.

Summary

Certain data from water users; water use consumption of data centers. Requires any water user that provides water to a data center, as defined in the bill, and is required to register certain water withdrawal and use data with the State Water Control Board to report to the Board, on a monthly basis or as frequent a basis as practicable, the total volume of water, including the portion that is reclaimed water, provided to such data center during the reporting period.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Feb 18, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Substitute · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended from its original introduction to a substitute version after committee review. The substantive policy content regarding water data reporting requirements for data centers remains largely the same, though the substitute version adds clarification that data centers must have an air permit issued by the Department of Environmental Quality to trigger the reporting requirement, and it specifies that if monthly water measurements aren't available, quarterly reporting will suffice.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding which entities must report water usage data to the Board remains unchanged, but the substitute version adds a condition that data centers must have an air permit to be subject to the reporting requirement.

REQUIREMENT

Added a condition that data centers must have an air permit issued by the Department of Environmental Quality to be required to report water usage data to the Board.

TECHNICAL

Added provision that if water provided to a data center cannot be measured on a monthly basis, quarterly reporting will be acceptable instead of monthly reporting.

Removed original session metadata including introduction date (January 14, 2026), prefile date (January 13, 2026), and original committee referral information.

Added substitute bill header information including date offered for consideration (February 11, 2026), committee name, and patron designation.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

Left in Committee Agriculture Chesapeake and Natural Resources

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (7-Y 3-N)

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

House subcommittee offered

lower

Feb 9, 2026

Committee

Assigned HACNR sub: Natural Resources

lower

Jan 13, 2026

Committee

Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor