Calling on Falls Township to Take Action

A 1-million-square-foot Amazon data center project underway in Falls Township and nearby 10-building data infrastructure campus hold the potential to use massive amounts of energy and water, while producing constant noise, polluting the air and driving up the cost of our electricity. 

The basic question of how to stop such a site from coming online is a frustrating one to answer. 

First, we face a landscape where many local government officials are wooed by tech-giant names and the promise of negligible permanent job creation compared to the cost. Governor Josh Shapiro and state officials are leading the charge to attract massive data center projects with limited guardrails in place. The current framework subsidizes hyper-scale data centers through massive tax breaks, while fast tracking permits and offering weak, voluntary safeguards. 

There is great risk to our Commonwealth and communities in letting huge data center projects proliferate without solid regulations, oversight and enforcement options in place.

Even when our elected officials are concerned about potential threats to our health and environment, they are often limited in their options for blocking such projects. Pennsylvania does not allow exclusionary zoning codes, which means that local governments cannot simply ban a type of business use. If they do, businesses can sue for the right to build anywhere in the jurisdiction, regardless of zoning. 

Falls Township residents and surrounding communities face a tough situation. Not only is the deck stacked in favor of big business, the data center in question has been approved by the Township for more than a year. While we believe the Township made numerous missteps in transparency and approvals, we must also recognize that they do not have the power to wholesale revoke their approvals.

In consultation with experts across the state, we developed a multi-prong approach to do everything we can, peacefully and within the democratic process, to oppose the massive Amazon data center in Falls Township, and to ensure we can protect our children, communities and environment. We crafted a set of demands to show the Township it still has the power and obligation to do the right thing.

Our demands are:

1. Full transparency

2. Support strict PA DEP regulation

3. Moratorium on future hyper-scale AI data centers

4. Ordinances put in place and enforced

1. Full transparency

We believe information and transparency are cornerstones to a functioning representative government. 

Disclose Additional Information

We call on Falls Township to immediately release all documentation including permit applications, site layouts and maps, inspection reports, analyses, and other information related to the data center sites in its jurisdiction to answer key questions, including:

• What is the status of the primary 1M sq. ft. data center project underway at the Keystone Trade Center (600/1 Ben Fairless)? When is it expected to come online?

• What is the status of the additional “data infrastructure campus” at 700 S. Port Rd? Can the 10 primary buildings totaling up to 2M sq. ft. on that site be reasonably considered data centers? If not, what are these buildings?

• How much power will be used at the sites? What will be the source of the power? What assurances are there that the site can be reasonably supplied with these energy loads?

• How much water will be used at the site? Where will it be sourced from? Where will it be discharged? How will the water be treated?

• How many permanent jobs are expected to be created?

• How much tax revenue is expected to be generated through the data center parcels?

To the extent necessary, we also believe the Township can facilitate discussions to allow Amazon or NorthPoint Development to provide answers to these questions.

Ban Township Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)  & Dissolve the Current NDA Related to Data Center(s)

The Board must protect the public trust by banning non-disclosure agreements, such as the agreement adopted related to the data center site. Our government must remain transparent to allow informed public participation. NDAs fundamentally undermine public trust and perpetuate perceptions that the government is not acting in the public interest.

Additionally, we demand that the Township enter discussions with Amazon and/or NorthPoint development to voluntarily dissolve the existing NDA. There is precedent for this. Facing public backlash, Microsoft announced its decision to end NDAs with local governments. If the true purpose of the NDA was to cover discussion of the name of the operator (Amazon) before the name was publicly announced, the purpose has been served, and both parties should have no concerns in dissolving the agreement.

2. Represent Falls Township’s interests and support strict Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Regulation of the site(s)

Adopt an Ordinance or Commit to Publishing all Act 14 Notices to the Falls Township Public Website Within 48 Hours

While Falls Township is not in charge of air or water quality regulation, which is under PA DEP’s purview, the Board of Supervisors has a duty to both make its residents aware of upcoming PA DEP applications, and to submit comments and concerns to PA DEP.  Under Pennsylvania law, all applicants for DEP permits must alert the local municipality and county of their intent to file a permit 30 days before they plan to file their application with DEP. These notices, known as Act 14 notices, can serve as an early indicator to the public of plans they may want to consider. Knowing about these requests allows residents to raise any concerns with the Board, which can then formally submit comments to DEP ahead of the submission of the application or even ask for additional time to review and submit comments.

3. Pass a municipal curative amendment with 180 day pause on new data centers and their supportive infrastructure

Pause to Review and Update Zoning

Data centers, and their supportive infrastructure, bring with them significant considerations that we believe are not addressed in the Township’s zoning ordinances. The Township does not define data centers or cover the specific issues that apply to data center sites, including proper setbacks, noise regulation and more. A municipal curative amendment would allow the Township the time to consider what should be included in an updated zoning code.

For additional details, Falls Township can consult the numerous municipalities pursuing this path, including Bensalem. 

4. Adopt ordinances to protect our communities and environment

Update Township Zoning Code

We must also look to the future, to ensure any proposals to come before the Board are considered in the proper framework and our communities have proper protections. We recommend the Board consider two options (1) limit data center use to only the 600 Ben Fairless Dr. and 700 S. Port Rd. sites already approved and (2) adopt a robust ordinance integrating data centers into the Township zoning code.

The second recommendation aligns with the Township’s own Environmental Advisory Council’s recommendation.

Any adopted code should address numerous concerns, including:

• Updating definitions (Data center, data center accessory use, etc.)

• Water withdrawal standards

• Water feasibility study requirements

• Groundwater protections and standards

• Certification of electrical capacity from service provider

• Noise and vibration standards, including tone frequency standards

• Emergency management

• Setbacks

• Landscape buffer and fencing 

• Equipment screening

Resources, including information from Bucks County, other Pennsylvania counties and PennFuture, detail zoning elements that are within municipal authority to regulate.

Noise Ordinance

The Board of Supervisors must adopt a noise ordinance that protects residents. Persistent noise and vibration from hyper-scale data centers have been consistently documented across the country. This ordinance should address decibel limits at day and night, as well as for specific frequencies and vibrations.

However, the Falls Township Zoning Hearing Board previously granted the two parcels for data center use at the Keystone Trade Center a noise variance, dissolving noise restrictions at the property line of the sites. While the attorney for NorthPoint Development indicated in his comments that this was because of the buffer and comparable noise from the rest of the Trade Center, we believe the Township has made it so that there is now little to no recourse if the data center locations become a persistent noise or vibration problem for the community. This is why a new noise ordinance must be adopted into the Township’s general ordinances to apply at any residential property line. We believe adopting a version of the PennFuture ordinance language on this topic in the general Township ordinances is the best path forward.

What do we do now?

This is our community. Our children. Our future. We must be the change we wish to see. These demands call on the Falls Township Board of Supervisors to rise to the moment and take concrete steps to open transparency and protect their jurisdiction and beyond. 

We must continue our opposition to the data center project and its impacts, at the local and state level. We must back a statewide moratorium on data centers to allow the General Assembly to adopt the true protections we need to safeguard our Commonwealth. We must raise challenges in regards to legitimate health, safety and environmental impacts on data center-related permits filed with the PA DEP. And we must work together, with a unified voice, with those in our Commonwealth and across the country to realize these possibilities. 

It’s about doing the right thing, looking out for our neighbors, and putting people before profits.