09-04-2025
Crypto mine regs move to JC commission — more work to do on noise
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Zoning updates to regulate noise and other impacts from cryptocurrency mines and data centers are headed to the Johnson City Commission after planning commissioners approved them Tuesday, though the work is not yet complete.
'We are at least putting a Band-Aid on a risk that we're taking by not having any regulations on these,' planning staffer Brice McNamer told commissioners. A more complete fix, he said, will require more research into how the city can best set requirements to limit noise impacts, which have created the most complaints about such facilities around the country.
Staff spent months studying data centers and cryptocurrency mining before trying to determine where the centers should be permitted, what concerns or nuisances they cause and what mitigation efforts local governments can require to limit the negative effects.
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What's currently heading to the full commission limits the centers to the I-2 (heavy industry) zones and requires the operations to be enclosed inside buildings. It also requires that any center be at least 200 feet from the nearest residence and include visual screening.
But planning commissioners and McNamer acknowledged the regulations don't yet adequately address noise and vibrations — the most common negative impacts data centers, and particularly crypto mines, have caused. Most of the noise tends to come from cooling units needed to keep the advanced computers that 'mine' cryptocurrency or perform other data functions from overheating.
'Within the noise ordinance, we are currently looking at different amendments that can specifically address the humming and the consistency of the vibration,' McNamer said.
The city's current noise ordinance allows 24-7 decibel levels up to the limit within the various zones, from residential to commercial to industrial. That means 'quasi-steady sounds' can be constant up to 50 decibels.
It was those types of quasi-steady sounds that drew sharp criticism from neighbors of a Bitcoin mine in Limestone and eventually a related lawsuit. (Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are verified and 'mined' by high-powered computers performing complex algorithms.)
'What we are currently looking into and working with administration and the legal department is implementing a section within the noise ordinance that would require a noise study to be performed for each data center,' McNamer said.
He said the process would be similar to traffic impact analyses that the city often requires from developers when their projects are likely to add significant traffic to an area. The city is now requesting qualifications from acoustic engineers who could help the city hone its regulation strategies even further.
Asked by commissioner Bob Cooper whether he'd found any difference in noise levels between 'a vanilla data center' and a cryptocurrency mine, McNamer said he hadn't. He said the majority of community complaints have surrounded crypto mines mostly because data center operators tend to be big companies like Google and Amazon that can afford to locate further away from communities and provide any necessary mitigation.
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'Probably when these started coming around they had a lot of issues because they were, one, not regulated, and two, they did not know exactly how to build them in compatibility to the surrounding area,' McNamer said.
'But between data center without cryptocurrency and with cryptocurrency, the noise is no different … they essentially do the same thing on the inside.'
Cooper said he hoped city staff would pursue what he called the 'acoustic angle' as soon as possible.
'Sooner or later, I think we've got to get some pretty good teeth in our codes related to that,' Cooper said. 'Six inches above the equipment (for buffering) doesn't necessarily solve much of the acoustic problem, especially if the facility is a lower piece of property and the residents are up the hill.'
The Johnson City Regional Planning Commission voted unanimously to move the proposed changes forward. The City Commission would need to pass the changes on three readings to approve them.
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