Data-center law in South Carolina

S.C. Code Ann. §§ 6-29-720, 6-29-800

Applies to both

Once a local governing body has adopted at least the land use element of its comprehensive plan, it may adopt a zoning ordinance regulating the use, size, location, and other aspects of buildings, structures, and land within zoning districts. A board of appeals created under the same chapter hears variances and permits uses by special exception subject to the conditions the zoning ordinance sets for that use; a data-center rezoning or special-exception case proceeds under this authority.

No single confirmable commencement date is stated for the current text; the section carries an amendment history rather than a discrete effective date.

Source: Full text of law

S.C. Code Ann. §§ 58-33-110 to 58-33-190

Applies to both

A utility must obtain a Public Service Commission certificate before constructing, operating, or maintaining a major utility facility (a large generating or transmission facility), showing the need for the facility and that its probable environmental impact is justified considering the state of available technology and reasonable alternatives; once a certificate issues, no other state or local agency may impose an additional approval, permit, or condition on that facility's construction, operation, or maintenance.

No single confirmable commencement date is stated for the current text; the section carries an amendment history rather than a discrete effective date.

Source: Full text of law

S.C. Code Ann. § 6-9-50

Applies to both

The state Building Codes Council adopts by reference, and may only amend, the latest editions of nationally recognized building, residential, gas, plumbing, mechanical, fire, and energy codes published by the International Code Council, plus the National Electrical Code; local building officials administer and enforce these codes and issue the building permit for a structure.

No single confirmable commencement date is stated for the current text; the section carries an amendment history rather than a discrete effective date.

Source: Full text of law

S.C. Code Ann. §§ 48-14-10 to 48-14-170

Applies to both

Land-disturbing activity requires an approved stormwater management and sediment control plan and a permit from the implementing agency, which is the state environmental department, a delegated local government, or a delegated soil and water conservation district; the department may order a stop-work order or withhold further building or grading permits for outstanding violations.

No single confirmable commencement date is stated for the current text; the section carries an amendment history rather than a discrete effective date.

Source: Full text of law

S.C. Code Ann. §§ 48-1-10 to 48-1-340

Applies to both

The state environmental department (defined in this chapter's own text as the Department of Health and Environmental Control) issues, denies, revokes, suspends, or modifies air-contaminant discharge permits and orders discontinuance of an unpermitted or unlawful discharge; a data center's on-site generator fleet permits under this chapter's air-pollution-control authority.

A wilful, grossly negligent, or reckless violation of the chapter or a permit condition is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars nor more than twenty-five thousand dollars per day of violation, or imprisonment of not more than two years, or both, and the department may separately pursue a civil penalty of up to ten thousand dollars per day of violation.

No single confirmable commencement date is stated for the current text; the section carries an amendment history rather than a discrete effective date.

Source: Full text of law

S.C. Code Ann. § 12-36-2120(79)

Applies to private

Exempts from sales and use tax original or replacement computers, computer equipment, and computer hardware and software purchased for use within a datacenter, and electricity used by the datacenter and its eligible business property (but not electricity for administrative offices, parking, or other non-computing uses), where a taxpayer invests at least fifty million dollars, or two or more taxpayers invest an aggregate of at least seventy-five million dollars, in real or personal property at the facility over a five-year period, and the facility creates and maintains for three consecutive years at least twenty-five full-time jobs paying at least one hundred fifty percent of the state's or county's per capita income, all certified by the Department of Commerce.

The exemption applies only to a datacenter certified before January 1, 2032, though a datacenter certified by that date keeps the exemption for an additional ten years. No single confirmable commencement date is stated for the current text; the section carries an amendment history rather than a discrete effective date.

Source: Full text of law

S.C. Code Ann. § 12-6-3360

Applies to private

A taxpayer that creates at least ten net new full-time jobs (or, for a business with ninety-nine or fewer employees, at least two) at a facility of a type the statute lists, including a 'technology intensive facility' defined to include data processing, hosting, and related services under NAICS code 518210, is allowed an income tax credit for five years per new job, ranging from one thousand five hundred dollars per job in the least-distressed 'Tier I' counties to twenty-five thousand dollars per job in the most-distressed 'Tier IV' counties, with an additional one thousand dollar credit for a job in a jointly developed multi-county industrial park.

No single confirmable commencement date is stated for the current text; the section carries an amendment history rather than a discrete effective date.

Source: Full text of law