Virginia DEQ's revised guidance APG-576 ('Diesel Engine-Generator Set Procedure for Writing New and Modified Permits') became effective April 9, 2026. New sections set presumptive BACT for both emergency and non-emergency gen-sets at data center stationary sources: SCR (or equivalent) for NOx, diesel oxidation catalyst (or equivalent) for CO, and DPF (or equivalent) for PM — i.e., Tier-4-equivalent control. Applies to permit applications received on or after July 1, 2026.
Primary source · Hunton The Nickel Report ↗
Why it matters
Direct update to longhorn-air-permit-case-study.md, air-permit-case-study-scope.md, air-consultant-outreach-plan.md. This is a hard regulatory clock with two consequences: (1) any VA data center that wants the cheaper Tier-2 / Tier-3 generator package needs to file before July 1 — that creates a 60-day rush window where the air-permit GTM is at peak urgency for VA developers; (2) presumptive BACT means the permit-engineering judgment call shifts from 'what control technology is BACT' to 'what's equivalent to Tier-4' — exactly the kind of unstructured-text-to-structured-data interpretive work the Cliff air-permit wedge is positioned to do. Pair with rice-neshap-dr-carveout.md: VA's Tier-4 stance combined with the federal RICE NESHAP 100-hour limit is a stack of constraints that rules out most cheap diesel BTM. The case for natural gas / fuel cell / battery primary backup just got stronger in VA.
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