The Osage Nation Congress voted 10-2 on Monday, Oct. 5, to require its approval before any data center can be built on the reservation. The bill targets Google's proposed facility near Sand Springs.

ONCA 26-70 bars any Osage Nation agency or entity from approving a data center within tribal boundaries unless Congress signs off, as first reported by Osage News. It also requires at least 90 days before bringing the project to Congress before any data center proposal reaches a vote.

The legislation passed on the final day of the Tzi-Zho session. It now awaits Principal Chief Joe Tillman's signature. Because the session has ended and a veto override is no longer possible, Tillman could pocket-veto the bill. He had not responded publicly as of Monday.

Project Spring's path through Sand Springs

The bill is a direct response to Project Spring, a proposed Google hyperscale data center planned for an 827-acre site near Highway 97 and Rock School Road in southern Osage County. The Sand Springs City Council voted 6-1 on Feb. 3 to rezone the land from agricultural to industrial light. On May 15, the council voted 5-0 to approve a project plan that includes a 25-year ad valorem tax exemption and a one-time $1 million payment to the city.

But the project cannot move forward without a federal 214 lease from the Osage Minerals Council, which oversees the tribe's 1.47-million-acre oil and gas subsurface. The Minerals Council has withheld approval, saying it wants more information about the project's impacts, according to Osage News.

ONCA 26-70 would bar Congressional approval on top of that requirement.

Supporters and opponents split on authority

Congresswoman Angela Pratt, who sponsored the bill, said it does not ban data centers. The Minerals Council can still approve a 214 permit, she said, but the project would then have to come before Congress.

"I didn't do it to be popular. I did it because people are concerned, and it's a real threat," Pratt said during the Oct. 5 session.

She compared the situation to wind farm development that moved through the reservation before tribal leaders could respond. She also said Google has approached community members directly, asking what they wanted and what their price was.

The bill was originally limited to hyperscale data centers but was amended before the vote to cover any data center, KGOU reported.

Congresswoman Maria Whitehorn and Congressman Eli Potts cast the two opposing votes. Whitehorn, who chairs the Natural Resources Committee, said she personally opposes data centers on the reservation but called the bill unconstitutional. She cited provisions in the Osage Nation Constitution that vest leasing authority in the Minerals Council, which is elected solely by mineral shareholders.

Potts made a similar argument, pointing to Article XV, Section 4, which establishes the Minerals Council as an independent agency with the power to approve leases.

Congressman Billy Keene, a co-sponsor, pushed back. He said the federal 214 regulation still references a tribal council that no longer exists and that the Bureau of Indian Affairs is still working to update the rule.

What comes next

The bill's fate rests with Tillman.

Pratt and Congresswoman Jodie Revard proposed forming a data center subcommittee, modeled on one Congress created for water rights. Whitehorn said she would place the subcommittee on the Natural Resources Committee's next agenda, along with a briefing from the chief's office and the Minerals Council.

A separate lawsuit is pending. Land Legacy, a conservation nonprofit, has sued the Ringel family and Google over a conservation easement covering 270 acres of the project site. Osage County District Court Judge Burl Estes denied a motion to dismiss the case on Sept. 2, according to The Frontier.

Google and White Rose Partners, the project's developer, have not publicly responded to the bill's passage.