Data Center Zoning & Community Benefit Agreements (HB6136)

Current understanding

HB6136 would amend Sec. 205 of the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act (2006 PA 110, MCL 125.3205) to make local zoning authority subject to a new Data Center Community Benefit Agreement Act established in HB6137. The change would layer a state-level community benefit requirement on top of municipal zoning decisions affecting data centers, potentially constraining how localities approve siting and imposing new obligations on data center developers. Status: introduced; tie-barred to HB6137, and part of the broader HB6135–HB6142 data center package.

Evidence log

• 2026-06-04 — Businesses: other; Michigan zoning enabling act; make subject to the data center regulation act. Amends sec. 205 of 2006 PA 110 (MCL 125.3205). TIE BAR WITH: SB 1018’26: SB1019 mirrors HB6136’s MCL 125.3205 amendment structure but ties the Zoning Enabling Act to SB1018’s Data Center Regulation Act (moratorium) rather than to a community benefit act, indicating parallel Senate vehicles using the same zoning hook for different substantive data-center regimes. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-06-04 — Businesses: other; moratorium on certain approvals for and operation of any new data centers; provide for. Creates new act. TIE BAR WITH: SB 1019’26: SB 1018 introduces a statutory moratorium on approvals for new data centers, which would override the local zoning/community-benefit approval pathway HB6136 layers onto MCL 125.3205 while the moratorium is in effect. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-06-18 — Businesses: other; Michigan zoning enabling act; make subject to the data center community benefit act. Amends sec. 205 of 2006 PA 110 (MCL 125.3205). TIE BAR WITH: SB 1050’26: SB1051 introduced as the Senate companion to HB6136, making the identical MCL 125.3205 amendment but tie-barred to SB1050 instead of HB6137, indicating parallel Senate/House vehicles for the zoning-plus-community-benefit linkage. (novelty: 2)
• 2026-06-25 — Public employees and officers: other; nondisclosure agreements related to the construction of data centers; prohibit. Creates new act. TIE BAR WITH: HB 6135’26, HB 6141’26, HB 6137’26, HB 6138’26, HB 6142’26, HB 6139’26: cross-connection with data-center-nda-prohibition: HB6140’s NDA prohibition would prevent public officials from concealing terms of the local zoning and community benefit negotiations HB6136 authorizes, directly reinforcing public visibility into those local processes. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-06-25 — Businesses: other; community benefit agreements; require certain data centers to be subject to. Creates new act. TIE BAR WITH: HB 6135’26, HB 6136’26, HB 6140’26, HB 6141’26, HB 6138’26, HB 6142’26, HB 6139’26: HB6137 (the referenced Data Center Community Benefit Agreement Act) was introduced as a new standalone act, supplying the substantive community benefit framework that HB6136 hooks into via the Zoning Enabling Act amendment. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-06-25 — Businesses: other; Michigan zoning enabling act; make subject to the data center community benefit agreement act. Amends sec. 205 of 2006 PA 110 (MCL 125.3205). TIE BAR WITH: HB 6137’26: cross-connection with data-center-large-load-rates: Both bills are part of the HB6135–HB6142 data center legislative package tie-barred through HB6137, coordinating utility ratemaking (HB6135) with local zoning and community benefit obligations (HB6136). (novelty: 2)

Open questions

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