Lawmakers are proposing a succession of tighter permitting requirements before a special law intended to facilitate the construction of artificial intelligence data centers, or AIDCs, has even taken effect. As the government relaxes AIDC recognition criteria and accelerates infrastructure expansion, proposed additional regulations to protect residents' safety and living environments are drawing attention to their potential effects on future projects.
According to industry sources on November 2, Democratic Party lawmakers Chae Hyun-il and Han Jeoung-ae recently each introduced a partial amendment bill to the Special Act on the Promotion of the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Industry. Although the two bills differ in their specific regulatory approaches, both would strengthen protection of residents' living environments during AIDC development.
The core of Chae's bill is a requirement to obtain permission from the head of the relevant local government when constructing an AIDC above a scale specified by presidential decree or substantially expanding an existing facility. It would add a permitting procedure for new and expanded AIDCs separate from existing building permits.
The permitting authority, whether a metropolitan city mayor, provincial governor, municipal mayor, county head or district head, would have to consult the minister of science and ICT and disclose the project plan to residents in advance. The bill also includes requirements to gather residents' views and review effects on residential and educational environments and disaster safety before deciding whether to grant permission.
The bill was prepared to address residents' concerns over noise, vibration and fire risks arising from data centers being built near residential areas and schools. However, because the definition of a large AIDC requiring permission is left to presidential decree, the actual regulatory scope and facilities covered are expected to depend on subsequent subordinate legislation.
Han's bill focuses on partially restricting the existing special law's provisions for consolidated permitting. It would exclude certain building permits intended to protect residential and educational environments from the special provision under which permits and approvals are deemed to have been completed.
It would also require consideration of regional electricity self-sufficiency and the proportion of electricity-consuming facilities that use locally generated power when designating AIDC special zones. The bill would establish a basis for giving priority support and special provisions to AIDC developers that consume locally generated electricity within the same region. The intention is to disperse data centers concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area to other regions and improve regional electricity supply-demand balance.
The two bills intersect with the special AIDC law's emphasis on faster permitting ahead of its scheduled commencement on March 10 next year. To support AIDC development, the existing law provides for consolidated permitting, special provisions for electricity grid impact assessments outside the Seoul metropolitan area, and the designation and support of AIDC special zones. It does not exempt facilities from building permits themselves, but focuses on helping related administrative procedures proceed more quickly.
The government is also accelerating the preparation of subordinate legislation ahead of the special law's implementation. It is reportedly discussing lowering the total power capacity of AI computing equipment required for AIDC recognition from the initially considered 10 megawatts, or MW, to about 5 MW. The approach would also relax minimum power requirements for AI equipment and its share of total IT equipment power capacity to support the conversion of existing data centers to AI use. The final criteria have not been confirmed.
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Concerns are therefore being raised that introducing additional permitting procedures while expanding the scope of AIDC recognition could increase the burden on developers. Particular issues include how the separate permit under Chae's bill would interact with existing consolidated permitting and whether different regulations would apply to ordinary data centers and AIDCs. There are calls for a regulatory framework that secures community acceptance while minimizing effects on AI infrastructure construction schedules.
An industry representative said, "A key issue going forward is to establish clear permitting criteria and procedures that address residents' concerns while accelerating infrastructure development in line with the purpose of the AIDC special law."
Original Korean article: ZDNet Korea
English brief by Korea Wind Intelligence, koreawindintel.com
