HB 496 Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Certain data from water users; water use consumption for domestic, etc., purposes, data centers.

Summary
Certain data from water users; water use consumption for domestic, commercial, and industrial purposes and from data centers. Requires any water user required to register water withdrawal and use data to the State Water Control Board that provides water to another person offsite to include in its report, submitted on its regular reporting schedule, the total volume of potable water and, reported separately, the total volume of reclaimed water, as defined in the bill, provided during each month for each of the following categories: (i) a data center with an air permit issued by the Department of Environmental Quality and (ii) to the extent available without utility billing system modifications, (a) domestic purposes, (b) commercial and industrial purposes, separately or combined as available, and (c) all other non-categorized purposes. The bill has a delayed effective date of January 1, 2027. This bill is identical to SB 553.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 12, 2026 Signed Apr 13, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

Local Government Substitute Chaptered · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill was converted from a Senate substitute draft into an officially enacted chapter of the Virginia Code. The substantive policy change involves updating the reporting requirements for water users who supply data centers, shifting the focus from a single combined volume report to a detailed breakdown separating potable and reclaimed water. This change aims to improve data accuracy for water planning by distinguishing between fresh water and treated wastewater used by data centers.
Scope change
The scope of the reporting requirement was expanded to require specific categorization of water types (potable vs. reclaimed) for data center users, whereas the previous version only required a total volume report.
REQUIREMENT

Reporting requirements for water users supplying data centers were modified to mandate separate reporting of potable water and reclaimed water volumes, replacing the previous single total volume requirement.

DEFINITION

A new definition for 'reclaimed water' was added to clarify that it refers to water treated and repurposed from wastewater or non-potable sources.

TECHNICAL

The bill text was formatted from a legislative substitute draft into the final official code chapter, including the addition of an effective date of January 1, 2027.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 3, 2026 · House of Delegates Feb 17, 2026

How they voted

390
Passed
Total votes 39
Mar 3, 2026
D Democratic20
20 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican19
19 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
44
Key actions
14
Committee
11
Apr 13, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 623 (effective 7/1/2026)
executive
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 30, 2026
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB496ER)
lower
Mar 14, 2026
Upper · Passed
Conference report agreed to by Senate (26-Y 13-N 0-A)
upper
Mar 14, 2026
Lower · Passed
Conference report agreed to by House (78-Y 19-N 0-A)
lower
Mar 14, 2026
Legislature · Passed
Conference Report released
legislature
Mar 10, 2026
Committee
Senate requested conference committee
upper
Mar 4, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate with substitute (25-Y 15-N 0-A)
upper
Mar 3, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
upper
Mar 2, 2026
Upper · Passed
Reported from Local Government with substitute (11-Y 4-N)
upper
Feb 18, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Local Government
upper
Feb 17, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (74-Y 23-N 0-A)
lower
Feb 13, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported from Counties, Cities and Towns with substitute (20-Y 1-N)
lower
Feb 13, 2026
Lower · Passed
House committee offered
lower
Jan 23, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 1-N)
lower
Jan 20, 2026
Committee
Assigned HCCT sub: Subcommittee #3
lower
Jan 12, 2026
Committee
Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns
lower
1 primary · 7 co-sponsors

Sponsors