Federal Data Center Enhancement Act of 2022

Federal Data Center Enhancement Act of 2022

This bill modifies requirements relating to data centers of federal agencies and extends the sunset of provisions regarding the federal data center consolidation initiative.

Specifically, the General Services Administration (GSA) must establish minimum requirements for new data centers, including regarding

• the availability and use of new data centers;
• the use of sustainable energy sources;
• uptime percentage;
• protections against power failures, including on-site energy generation and access to multiple transmission paths;
• protections against physical intrusions and natural disasters; and
• information security protections.

During the development and planning lifecycle of a new data center, an agency must report to the GSA and Congress upon determining it is likely to make a management or financial decision relating to such center.

An agency must (1) regularly assess the application portfolio of the covered agency and ensure that each legacy application is updated, replaced, or modernized, as appropriate, to take advantage of modern technologies; and (2) prioritize and, to the greatest extent possible, leverage commercial cloud environments rather than acquiring, overseeing, or managing custom data center infrastructure.

An agency must oversee and manage the data center portfolio and the information technology strategy of the agency in accordance with federal cybersecurity guidelines and directives.