\u201cI really think the standards need to be requirements, not hopes,\u201d Hutchins-Knowles told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.\u00a0\u201cThere should be a moratorium in place while they\u2019re developing the standards because we don\u2019t want to grandfather in any projects before they\u2019re in place.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to a memo<\/a> from Mayor Matt Mahan and Councilmembers Peter Ortiz, Domingo Candelas and David Cohen, these standards would help mitigate environmental impacts<\/a>, provide a process for community engagement and support cleaner infrastructure. The goal of creating these standards isn\u2019t to simply regulate data centers, but to create a flexible framework to support economic growth and responsible development, the memo states.<\/p>\n \u201cThe public response to recent data center proposals has made it clear that we need to approach data center development differently in San Jose. We must establish strong environmental protections and quality-of-life standards that safeguard our neighborhoods,\u201d Candelas said in a statement. \u201cEqually important is a transparent and meaningful community engagement process that brings developers, residents and the city together early and throughout the process. Technological innovation should not come at the expense of the quality of life our residents deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n Masheika Allgood, a data center and AI ethics researcher, said San Jose does not have the infrastructure to handle an AI data center boom. She said most of those contaminants from AI data centers are highly toxic, and the technology to treat these atypical contaminants hasn\u2019t caught up yet.<\/p>\n \u201cWe clearly don\u2019t have the power grid, and there\u2019s been no studies, no reports, nothing written about the types of chemicals that are discharged from data centers, and whether our wastewater treatment has the technology to (remove) them,\u201d Allgood told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.\u00a0\u201cThey aren\u2019t normal things that you just would automatically as a wastewater treatment plant have capacity to address. That\u2019s why you have to do a study of what these contaminants are.\u201d<\/p>\n Angelina Cayabyab, a San Jose resident and former employee at the Bay Area Air District that provides air permits, said San Jose should study the cumulative effects of having multiple development projects in one area, such as Alviso that is already heavily impacted by industrial developments.<\/p>\n Cayabyab said San Jose should require developers to disclose whether a data center is used for AI or not.<\/p>\n \u201cThat distinction matters,\u201d Cayabyab told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cRight now, it does not track whether a data center is AI focused or a traditional facility, and that distinction drives water usage, discharge and generator activity.\u201d\u00a0 Allgood said if the city wants residents to trust the process, it has to show that it is being transparent. However, the city continues to label a proposed 250-megawatt Google development<\/a> as a \u201clarge energy-use project\u201d distinct from a data center, despite blueprints showing it has all the characteristics of a data center.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re saying that you\u2019re serious about standards, but you\u2019re still in the process of approving the largest data center that has been built in the Bay Area, then that\u2019s not trustworthy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n![\"In-line](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/interactive-321838904008.png\")
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