The mission of the Virginia DEQ is to, “protect and enhance the environment of Virginia in order to promote the health and well-being of the Commonwealth's citizens, residents, and visitors in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.” It is time for the DEQ to prioritize protecting public health instead of allowing DEQ's proposed change could be easily expanded to allow the data centers to run these generators during periods of grid stress, as was proposed back in January 2023.

This will contribute to more unnecessary pollution and put us on a slippery slope that could lead to these generators being used for demand response during periods of grid stress, which is not their intended use.