First Data Center Project Enters Federal 'FAST' Permitting Program
Designation responds to federal push to streamline approvals for AI infrastructure amid rising demand.
April 10, 2026 – A Virginia data center project has become the first to enter a federal permitting program designed to speed up approvals for major infrastructure developments.
The data center expansion located near Richmond, Va., has been designated a FAST-41 “covered project” by the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council. The designation comes from the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act.
The designation would allow the project to benefit from enhanced federal coordination and a more transparent permitting timeline, and may mark a milestone for data centers, which have not previously been included in the FAST-41 program, historically used for sectors such as energy, transportation and broadband.
FAST-41 does not change environmental or permitting requirements themselves. Instead, it establishes a framework for improved coordination among federal agencies and requires a single, publicly available schedule for permit reviews.
The voluntary program brings together 13 federal agencies under a centralized process aimed at reducing delays caused by fragmented and overlapping reviews.
The federal Permitting Council reports that projects in the FAST-41 program reach a record of decision nearly 18 months faster than comparable projects not in the program.
The project, located in Chirisa Technology Parks in Chester, Virginia, is part of an existing campus with four operational data center buildings. The new phase includes two additional facilities, with construction expected to begin by January 2028 if federal approvals proceed on schedule.
“I am thrilled to welcome the QTS Richmond Technology Park Data Center 5 project as the first data center to gain FAST-41 coverage,” said Emily Domenech, executive director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council in a release.
“This project advances President Trump’s vision for a new era of American leadership in technology and artificial intelligence,” Domenach said, “I believe it will be the first of many data center projects to benefit from the coordination and transparency of the FAST-41 process.”
The designation follows a broader policy push to accelerate data center development. An executive order President Donald Trump issued last July directed federal agencies to identify and expedite qualifying data center projects, including through FAST-41.
Under that framework, projects can first be designated as “transparency projects,” making their permitting timelines publicly visible, before being elevated to full FAST-41 “covered project” status.
The program is aimed at addressing longstanding inefficiencies in federal permitting, which has been criticized as complex, costly and slow.
Much of that complexity stems from environmental reviews required under the National Environmental Policy Act, which mandates agencies evaluate potential environmental impacts before approving projects, although the law has been significantly reshaped in Trump’s second term.
FAST-41 seeks to streamline that process without changing underlying environmental protections.
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