Scope
Pierce County Ordinance No. O2026-557 is an emergency ordinance adopting a development moratoria under RCW 36.70A.390, prohibiting the siting, expansion or establishment of certain data centers, adopting a work plan to establish data center development regulations and setting a public hearing. The County Council's release describes it as prohibiting filing, processing or approval of permits for new and expanded data centers exceeding 10 megawatts in unincorporated Pierce County for up to one year, with no new applications for such data center development accepted, processed or approved there during that period.
- Geographic scope
- Unincorporated Pierce County, Washington
- Jurisdiction
- Local
- Authority type
- Local government
- Issuing authority
- Pierce County Council
Dates
- Adopted
- 25 August 2026
- Effective
- 27 August 2026
- Scheduled expiration
- See completion condition
- Ended
- Not recorded as ended
- Completion condition
- The County Council's release states that the emergency moratorium under the ordinance remains in place for one year unless extended or lifted by the Council. The ordinance text was not read, so no end date is stored.
- Source document
- The source page states no document date
- Last checked
- 30 October 2026
Summary
On 25 August 2026 the Pierce County Council passed Ordinance No. O2026-557, an emergency ordinance adopting a development moratorium on certain data centers, by a 6-1 vote; the Council's legislative record lists 27 August 2026 as its effective date. As the Council's release describes it, the ordinance prohibits filing, processing or approval of permits for new and expanded data centers exceeding 10 megawatts in unincorporated Pierce County for up to one year while county staff assess impacts and develop regulations. It is a temporary emergency ordinance, not a permanent prohibition, and does not by itself order existing facilities to shut down.
What this does not establish
- The ordinance text was not read. Its title, status, vote and effective date come from the Council's legislative record; the 10-megawatt threshold and the one-year term come from the Council's news release.
- The Council's news release prints the number as Emergency Ordinance No. 2026-577; the Council's legislative record for the same ordinance, with the same 25 August 2026 vote, gives Ordinance No. O2026-557, which this record uses.
- The release set a public hearing on the ordinance for 20 October 2026; the outcome of that hearing was not checked.
- No end date is stored. One year from the 27 August 2026 effective date would fall in late August 2027, but the ordinance text that states the term was not read.
- It applies to unincorporated Pierce County only, not to cities and towns in the county.
Unresolved questions
- What the ordinance text states about its term, exceptions and the 10-megawatt threshold, and whether the 20 October 2026 public hearing led the Council to change or end the emergency ordinance.
Relationships
Supersession means a later instrument replaces the earlier legal effect. Repeal links identify the repeal instrument and the measure it ends. A later implementation or related letter is not treated as a replacement unless the record says so.
- No related action is recorded.
Sources
Primary source: Pierce County Council page on online.co.pierce.wa.us
- Pierce County Council news release, 26 August 2026 — Describes the 10-megawatt threshold, the one-year term and a 20 October 2026 public hearing; it prints the number as 2026-577 · 26 August 2026