The No AI Data Centers on Federal Lands Act (H.R.9939) — not only halting new builds but requiring existing sites to stop and begin removal within 30 days
A bill prohibiting the construction or operation of AI data centers and associated infrastructure on Federal land. Beyond barring new builds, it requires agencies operating, leasing or constructing such facilities to cease within 30 days of enactment and begin removal, carried out consistently with the Superfund law (CERCLA).
Bill overview (primary data)
- Bill numberH.R. 9939
- TypeHouse Bill
- Congress119th Congress
- Latest actionReferred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.（2026-07-23）
Key points
- A bill prohibiting the construction or operation of AI data centers and associated infrastructure on Federal land.
- Beyond barring new builds, it requires removal — including demolition or deconstruction — of facilities already operating, leased or under construction.
- Agencies must cease operations or construction and begin removal within 30 days of enactment.
- Removal is to be carried out consistently with the Superfund law, including natural resource restoration or remedial action where required.
- Introduced in the House on 2026-07-23 and referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, with seven cosponsors.
- Beyond halting new construction, it prohibits building and operating on federal land and requires removal within 30 days.
1Not pausing but removing
Among the bills this site holds are one placing a temporary moratorium on new large AI data centers and one shielding households from their electricity costs. This bill operates a stage further on. On Federal land it prohibits construction and operation alike, and requires what already stands to be removed — with cessation and the start of removal due within 30 days of enactment, leaving little grace. If a moratorium is a measure for thinking it over, this one puts the conclusion first.
2Placing removal inside environmental law
That the text points to the Superfund law as the manner of removal matters. That statute governs cleaning contaminated land and who bears the cost, so this cannot end at knocking a building down. It reaches how the land is returned once a large facility with cooling and power equipment departs, and how natural resource restoration or remedial action is carried out where required.
The drafting treats a data center not as an information facility but as an industrial installation that burdens land.
3Referred to the Natural Resources Committee
This bill went to the House Committee on Natural Resources. Across the 114 AI-related bills this site holds as of 2026-08-31, referrals spread widely — Energy and Commerce, Homeland Security, Judiciary, Foreign Relations, Commerce Science and Transportation. Which committee an AI bill lands in shows what kind of problem it is being read as.
Here it is neither technology regulation nor consumer protection but a question of land policy: what Federal land is used for. This bill too stands at referral, the stage where 91 of the 114 — eight in ten — are stalled.
4Each step raises the measure
The bills this site holds on data centres line up as measures at different steps. This one sits at the strongest end.
- 1Protect households from the energy costAdjust how the burden falls
- 2Halt new construction temporarilyStop until impacts are assessed and rules are set
- 3Prohibit construction and operationNothing new may be built on federal land
- 4Remove what is already thereCessation and the start of removal are required within 30 days of enactment
If a moratorium is a measure for pausing to think, this places the conclusion first. That the text points to Superfund as the procedure for removal matters as well: setting it within a framework for cleaning contaminated land and assigning the cost means this is not a matter of simply demolishing a building. Referral to the House Natural Resources Committee likewise shows it treated as a question of land policy.
Why it matters
Data center siting is usually discussed as securing power and land. By placing removal inside environmental law, this bill brings the cost and responsibility of exit into the question as well. Together with the referral to a natural resources committee, it is an example of AI capital investment being examined from the side of land policy.
FAQ
Are existing facilities covered?
Why does the Superfund law appear?
Does it cover private data centers?
Sources (primary)
Source: Congress.gov (Library of Congress; U.S. legislative materials, public domain). Links go to the official site.
- Congress.gov (bill page, original)
- H.R. 9939（119th Congress）