Data Center Record.

Laws · Virginia · H.B. 496

H.B. 496: Certain data from water users; water use consumption for domestic, etc., purposes, data centers.

Virginia, 2026 Regular Session. Signed, April 13, 2026.

Last verified

Status Signed Signed, .

Official summary

No official summary is on file yet. The full text is on the legislature's page, linked below.

Description

Certain data from water users; water use consumption for domestic, commercial, and industrial purposes and from data centers. Requires any water user required to register water withdrawal and use data to the State Water Control Board that provides water to another person offsite to include in its report, submitted on its regular reporting schedule, the total volume of potable water and, reported separately, the total volume of reclaimed water, as defined in the bill, provided during each month for each of the following categories: (i) a data center with an air permit issued by the Department of Environmental Quality and (ii) to the extent available without utility billing system modifications, (a) domestic purposes, (b) commercial and industrial purposes, separately or combined as available, and (c) all other non categorized purposes. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027. This bill is identical to SB 553.

As published by the legislature, found through LegiScan, source 1. It is the legislature's own line about the measure, not a summary of it.

Measure Bill.

Sponsors Elizabeth Guzman (D); Shelly Simonds (D); Jessica Anderson (D); Nadarius Clark (D); Joshua Cole (D); Nicole Cole (D); Amy Laufer (D); Destiny LeVere Bolling (D); Sam Rasoul (D); Charlie Schmidt (D)

Subjects None on file. The legislature's own list.

Related measures S.B. 553 (2026 Regular Session). The same text enacted twice: Chapter 623 (H.B. 496) and Chapter 896 (S.B. 553) of the 2026 Acts of Assembly, each reenacting section 62.1-44.38 in the same words. The cached chapter texts are identical. Neither row is merged: each measure keeps its own record, its own history and its own page.

Official page lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB496. Found through LegiScan (bill 2072462), whose data is CC BY 4.0; the citation is the legislature's own page.

What happened, and when

  1. January 1, 2027 In effect

    H.B. 496 took effect on January 01, 2027. The date is the one the act's own second enactment clause sets, not a date the record has observed the act operating on. lis.virginia.gov primary source [1] The official action text: Second enactment clause: that this act shall become effective on January 1, 2027..

  2. April 13, 2026 Signed

    H.B. 496 was signed. lis.virginia.gov primary source [1] The official action text: Approved by Governor - Chapter 623 (effective - 1/1/2027).

  3. March 30, 2026 Passed second chamber

    H.B. 496 passed the Senate. lis.virginia.gov primary source [1] The official action text: Enrolled.

  4. March 14, 2026 Passed first chamber

    H.B. 496 passed the House of Delegates. lis.virginia.gov primary source [1] The official action text: Conference report agreed to by House (78-Y 19-N 0-A).

  5. March 4, 2026 Passed first chamber

    H.B. 496 passed the House of Delegates. lis.virginia.gov primary source [1] The official action text: Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute.

  6. March 2, 2026 In committee

    H.B. 496 went to committee in the Senate. lis.virginia.gov primary source [1] The official action text: Reported from Local Government with substitute (11-Y 4-N).

  7. February 18, 2026 In committee

    H.B. 496 went to committee in the Senate. lis.virginia.gov primary source [1] The official action text: Referred to Committee on Local Government.

  8. February 16, 2026 Passed first chamber

    H.B. 496 passed the House of Delegates. lis.virginia.gov primary source [1] The official action text: Engrossed by House - committee substitute.

  9. February 13, 2026 In committee

    H.B. 496 went to committee in the House of Delegates. lis.virginia.gov primary source [1] The official action text: Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with substitute (20-Y 1-N).

  10. January 12, 2026 In committee

    H.B. 496 went to committee in the House of Delegates. lis.virginia.gov primary source [1] The official action text: Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns.

  11. January 12, 2026 Introduced

    H.B. 496 was introduced in the House of Delegates. lis.virginia.gov primary source [1] The official action text: Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns.

Newest first. A stage is never overwritten; each entry carries the source it rests on. The status at the top is derived from the newest entry. The action text in Researcher mode is the legislature's own wording.

Sources

  1. H.B. 496 on the legislature's site lis.virginia.gov

Bill data from LegiScan, licensed CC BY 4.0. The record chooses the bills, writes each stage in its own words and cites the legislature's own page for every bill. Bills on this record are also found through the legislatures' own records; the citation is always the legislature's own page or the clerk's own file. This bill was found through LegiScan.

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Data Center Record, "H.B. 496: Certain data from water users; water use consumption for domestic, etc., purposes, data centers.", https://datacenterrecord.org/bills/va-2026-hb-496. Data: Data Center Record, datacenterrecord.org, CC BY 4.0.

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