Data-center law in Georgia
Subnational jurisdiction · as of 2026-09-06
Georgia's principal data-center-specific measure is a dedicated sales and use tax exemption for high-technology data center equipment, O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3(68.1), running for investments made from July 1, 2018 through December 31, 2031 and repealed by operation of law on January 1, 2032, conditioned on county-population-tiered job and investment thresholds certified by the Department of Revenue; a separate, broader exemption for computer equipment sold to designated high-technology companies sits at paragraph (68) of the same Code section and sunsets earlier, at the end of 2028.
Outside the tax incentive, Georgia's data-center permitting spine runs through the general local-government Zoning Procedures Law, O.C.G.A. §§ 36-66-3 and 36-66-4, which governs rezonings and special-use permits through statutory notice and hearing requirements, rather than through any data-center-specific land-use statute.
One divergence from California is worth flagging directly: the Georgia Environmental Policy Act, O.C.G.A. § 12-16-3, defines the 'proposed governmental action' subject to its environmental-review process to exclude 'any action or undertaking of a nongovernmental entity, even if that action or undertaking requires a permit, license, or other approval by a government agency,' so a privately developed data center falls outside GEPA's review process even though it still needs local land-use and state environmental permits, unlike California's CEQA, which reaches a private project through the local permitting agency's own status as CEQA lead agency.
Utility interconnection, construction-code, and air-permitting statutes specific to data centers were not researched within this visit's search budget.
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Instruments on record
3 instruments on record, grouped by the family of approval each one governs.
Land use
Who decides whether a data center may occupy a site, and through what approval?
Zoning Procedures Law, notice and hearing requirements for rezonings and special-use permits
Enacted, not yet in force
O.C.G.A. §§ 36-66-3, 36-66-4
Applies to government
The Zoning Procedures Law requires a local government to hold at least one public hearing before making a 'zoning decision' as the Law defines it, a term that reaches adopting or amending a zoning ordinance, rezoning property, and granting or denying a special-use permit or variance, the categories a data-center project typically needs.
Notice of a hearing must be published in a newspaper of general circulation at least 15 and not more than 45 days before the hearing and posted on the affected premises, with posting required every 500 feet where more than 500 parcels are affected. Where the decision would authorize multifamily use or a deviation from single-family zoning, additional hearings and specific notice content apply, including at least one hearing held between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Source: Full text of law
Environmental review
What impact review must precede approval, and who leads it?
Georgia Environmental Policy Act, exclusion of private development from environmental review
Enacted, not yet in force
O.C.G.A. § 12-16-3
Applies to government
The Georgia Environmental Policy Act requires an environmental effects report only for a 'proposed governmental action,' defined as a land-disturbing activity, a sale or exchange of more than five acres of state-owned land, or a harvest of five acres or more of trees, undertaken by a state government agency or funded by a state agency grant.
The definition expressly excludes any action or undertaking of a nongovernmental entity even where that action requires a government permit, license, or other approval, and excludes a municipal or county action unless more than half its cost is state-agency-funded or a state grant exceeds $250,000. A privately developed data center therefore falls outside GEPA's review process even though it still needs local land-use approval and any applicable state environmental permits.
Source: Full text of law
Public agreements
What fiscal agreements attach a data center to its host jurisdiction?
High-technology data center sales and use tax exemption
In force
O.C.G.A. § 48-8-3(68.1)
Effective 2018-07-01 · Applies to private
For the period commencing July 1, 2018 and ending December 31, 2031, the sale or lease of high-technology data center equipment is exempt from Georgia sales and use tax where the data center's investment budget plan meets a county-population-tiered minimum investment threshold: 25 new quality jobs and $250 million in aggregate expenditures over any consecutive seven-year period in a county over 50,000 population, ten jobs and $75 million in a county between 30,001 and 50,000, or five jobs and $25 million in a smaller county.
The Commissioner of Revenue must determine that a center will more likely than not meet its threshold before issuing an exemption certificate, and a center that fails to meet it must repay the tax exempted or refunded. This paragraph, paragraph (68.1), stands repealed by operation of law on January 1, 2032.
A separate exemption for computer equipment sold to designated high-technology companies generally, not specific to data centers, sits at paragraph (68) of the same Code section and stands repealed at the end of 2028.
Source: Full text of law
Every entry cites the instrument it describes.
None of it is legal advice: verify a citation before relying on it. Full
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