Депутат штата Юта предлагает ограничить полномочия агентства по развитию военных объектов из-за строительства дата-центра

Utah House Representative Jason Thompson is developing legislation to significantly narrow the authority of the state’s Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA), arguing the agency has stretched beyond its original military mission in light of its recent involvement with the Stratos Project data center in Box Elder County. Thompson said his proposal would generally limit MIDA projects to five miles within a military installation and require them to be directly connected to military training, operational readiness or the security of military facilities. MIDA was created by the Utah Legislature in 2007. The agency describes its mission as supporting military installations and communities by facilitating economic development, and its website currently lists eight active project areas across Utah. “One of (MIDA’s) main focuses was to support our military bases and the surrounding areas, especially during a time when we didn’t know what military bases around the country would be closed,” Thompson said. “MIDA in its original form, in its original intent, in my opinion, serves a very important purpose.” The decision to pursue the legislation comes after months of controversy surrounding the Stratos Project. MIDA and the Box Elder County Commission each approved the project in April and May, respectively, and MIDA continues to characterize the project as one that would strengthen the military readiness and national security through energy and computing infrastructure. But Thompson said lawmakers need to determine when that mission has expanded too far. “There is a certain point where we have to push pause and say, wait, are we going beyond the scope of what our original intent was? If so, we’ve got to rein this back in,” Thompson said. “I do believe that this specific project is definitely outside of the scope of what the original intent of MIDA was.” He said he could not identify a single point when MIDA began moving beyond that purpose, noting he was not in the Legislature when the agency was created or when lawmakers subsequently expanded its authority. However, he said the use of MIDA as a broader economic development mechanism — which in his opinion, the Stratos Project is — raises concerns. “When we start using MIDA more as an economic development tool than its original tie to military-specific projects and supporting our military bases, then we have to start to ask some serious questions,” Thompson said. That is where Thompson and MIDA officials differ sharply over Stratos. During an April presentation to the Box Elder County Commission, MIDA Project Area Director Hilary Venable said MIDA was originally created in part to generate revenue that could be reinvested into aging military infrastructure. At Falcon Hill, Venable said revenue from development has helped make it possible to replace aging World War II-era buildings at Hill Air Force Base. “That’s what’s wonderful about this opportunity — to create a revenue source for military,” Venable said. Venable argued Stratos fits that same broader mission. The proposed development centers on a large data center campus for artificial intelligence and cloud computing with on-site energy generation. MIDA has said that infrastructure can contribute to military energy resilience and mission-critical systems. “This type of infrastructure directly supports energy resilience and mission-critical systems tied to military operations,” Venable told commissioners. When Commissioner Boyd Bingham asked what percentage of Stratos would actually constitute military use, Venable didn’t give a number but pointed to potential national security and energy benefits and to the revenue the project could generate for infrastructure at Hill Air Force Base, Utah National Guard facilities and other military installations. MIDA board member and Clearfield Mayor Mark Shepherd made a similar argument during a July 14 public forum on data centers. “It’s what it does for the rest of the military within the state and the commitments from that income — that’s where the military benefit is,” Shepherd said. An attendee at the public forum asked directly if MIDA has outgrown its purpose, using national security as an excuse for development. Shepherd responded that in his eyes, the need is very real. “Has MIDA outgrown itself? I don’t believe so,” Shepherd said. Shepherd said he had recently attended Air War College discussions about China, Russia, artificial intelligence and drone technology and came away convinced of the military’s growing need for computing infrastructure. “I’ve just been … told how desperate our situation is from a national security standpoint, for AI, for those things. There’s a huge benefit to our military here,” Shepard said. “Those are the guys that I worry about. Those are the guys that live in my community. Those that work in my community and throughout the state. … It will greatly benefit the airmen in Hill (Air Force Base).” Thompson said these kinds of reasonings become too indirect. “I believe that MIDA simply said, ‘Hey, listen, data center, military contracts, national defense. OK, it checks the military box. Boom, let’s go with it,’” Thompson said. “For MIDA to reach, it’s a stretch.” Under Thompson’s proposed legislation, recreational developments and AI or data center projects generally would not qualify as having a military purpose unless they met a much more direct need. He said an exception could still be appropriate if the federal government identified a strategic need associated with a military installation. Still, Thompson said he does not want lawmakers micromanaging individual MIDA decisions. Instead, he wants the Legislature to establish clearer boundaries within which MIDA’s board would continue making project decisions. “The legislative framework that’s established has to be one that keeps MIDA within its operational bounds and limits, just like it would anything else,” Thompson said. Thompson acknowledged that allowing MIDA to determine whether projects satisfy those requirements could draw skepticism from people who believe the agency has already interpreted its authority too broadly. He said stronger legislative guardrails and public scrutiny should provide accountability without requiring lawmakers to approve individual projects. “The biggest thing is accountability and transparency,” Thompson said. “Transparency alone is a huge accountability mechanism, because not only do you have the Legislature watching, you have the public watching.” Thompson also said his review will not necessarily stop with MIDA’s land-use authority. MIDA has access to development financing mechanisms and tax structures intended to encourage private investment. Thompson said he wants lawmakers to look more broadly at tools such as public infrastructure districts, or PIDs, and tax increment financing, or TIF. “I love it when the burden of economic development and performance is on the innovator because innovators are going to take risks that they feel, in a calculated way, that they’re going to be successful on,” Thompson said. Thompson noted the legislation is not an attempt to reject data centers generally. He said he remains in what he described as a “question-asking phase” about how Utah should regulate the rapidly growing industry, including its impacts on water, air quality, energy and surrounding communities. “I came out in opposition of this particular data center, not because I’m opposed to national security, not because I’m opposed to data centers per se,” Thompson said, “but because I am opposed to a process where the people feel that they didn’t have a voice and that there wasn’t transparency and there wasn’t accountability.” Thompson said he is not the only lawmaker looking at changes to MIDA and that other legislators have also opened bill files related to reforming the agency. For his proposal, Thompson said success would mean MIDA continuing to help military installations while operating under clearer boundaries and with greater public transparency. “I envision having projects that truly enhance our ability to serve the military and have the military fulfill its duties and its purpose for being here,” Thompson said. “That’s what success to me looks like.” He added that the Stratos controversy should prompt a wider discussion not just about MIDA, but about how Utah evaluates major new developments. “We need to be having good, healthy conversations and dialogue and getting information in the back and forth to figure out,” Thompson said. The legislation remains in the drafting process, and he said details could change as he continues researching and speaking with stakeholders.